Military and DVC

[TedraL00]

My husband is in the Army and we are looking into DVC after two trips to WDW last year. Because of his occupation, we never know what we are doing year to year. My question is this, we usually only have a four month window to make plans, would we still be able to book on this short notice. If there are any other military families that are members I would love some of your input as to how it works for you.

 

[toesmom]

There are some times of the year that are much slower and less busy than others (September, part of Oct, part of Nov, few weeks in January). Obviously peak times like school holidays (Christmas, New Year week, President's week, few weeks around Easter, Spring Break) require making long-term arrangements.

DVC is best suited for those who can make long-term plans in order to get the accommodations you are looking for and the travel dates that you are looking for.

With only a 4-5 month booking time frame, you may not get the room size and travel dates that you want or need.

Larger DVC resorts like OKW or SSR may have the space and travel dates you need on a short-term booking, but other DVC resorts may not, so you may be restricted to staying at the larger resorts. You can always wait-list for what you want, but it's not guaranteed to be available.

We're not in the military, but I hope this information gives you some insight.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Good response, Toesmom. You pretty much nailed it.

If you want to go at Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Spring Break, New Years, 4th of July, etc, you'll probably need to make a reservation earlier than 4 months out. If you plan to go mid-Jan, early May, summer months, Sept, you probably can get a reservation at less than 4 months.

But if you want a Grand Villa, Boardwalk view, standard view at the BW, BCV in June, you'll need the 11 months or at a minimum, the 7 months headstart with non-home resort points.

 

[TedraL00]

Thank you. I know this is very flexible being able to bank and borrow points. My DH sticking point is that also SSR is far away from MK and so forth (we have a 1 yr old and 4 yr old girls) and we stayed at the Poly in Dec. The ease of the monorail lured him in. If our home resort is SSR, we may end up staying there more often than not. I guess I should also be asking about the transportation from there to the parks. thanks again.

 

[BlakeNJ]

Thank you. I know this is very flexible being able to bank and borrow points. My DH sticking point is that also SSR is far away from MK and so forth (we have a 1 yr old and 4 yr old girls) and we stayed at the Poly in Dec. The ease of the monorail lured him in. If our home resort is SSR, we may end up staying there more often than not. I guess I should also be asking about the transportation from there to the parks. thanks again.

I wouldn't rule out SSR just yet. It is our home resort and although I have not stayed there as of yet, I have heard that it has a very kiddie friendly pool. Zero entry I believe. Plus, with DTD right there, you will have lots of dining options. I am sure the Poly was very convienient with the monorail but currently none of the DVC Resorts are on the monorail so if that's a selling point for DH, maybe you should wait out for the "rumored" DVC Contemporary--although the price per point will be pretty high, I'm sure. If you're DH is really interested in a DVC purchase, check out the VWL which has the option of the boat to MK.

Good luck.

 

[rinkwide]

...we never know what we are doing year to year... ...we usually only have a four month window to make plans...

You all sound like the perfect candidates for what is truly Disney's best kept secret, Shades Of Green.

 

[Olaf]

My two cents. We're military, and to be honest, it's difficult. I had to move our last vacation three times because of deployments, reassignments, boss's deployment, etc.

We just got back from a Dec visit to SSR, it was all we could get in July. Yes, I was on the waiting list. The resort was beautiful, but we really like BCV (yeah, we own at VWL ), and this time we felt something was lacking.

Shades of Green is another option, but it's not DVC. Once you've stayed in a 1-bedroom, you don't ever want to go back to a regular hotel room.

I've spoken to other military DVC members with some of the same issues. It really depends on your husband's job. With the current Ops tempo, it's just hard all the way around.

 

[jprsrethi]

We purchased at SSR last year and added on twice so far. We have been twice last year. We just got back from a short last minute trip Jan 6th -10th 2007. So far we have not had a problem booking. We don't want to go at a peak time so this helps in getting a room. The first time we went we were in a 2 bdrm and this time we were in a 1 bdrm. We like the flexability of being able to use the points at so many different places. Hope this helps.

 

[Spacedude]

I’m active duty Military and have owned since 1985. We own at OKW and SSR. DVC is about the only timeshare (Vacation Club) that is flexible enough for military families. With a little planning it should work well. We book as far in advance as we can, hoping the dates work for us, then adjust if needed within the DVC rules. I would say we have gotten what we wanted when we wanted 90% of the time… No doubt, with deployments and work loads/hours we have had to change...but you would any other vacation as well. Just have to be a bit more flexible while on active duty. There have been times where I have sent my family ahead for a vacation and have joined my family a few days later because of my job. My wife and children used DVC when I was deployed and we have banked a whole year a few times because the OPTEMPO. But that is the nature of being in the military with or without DVC. With that said...we have used DVC at Disneyland Paris (twice) when we were stationed in Germany, Disneyland California, the Disney Cruise, Hilton Head, and Vero Beach (numerous times), as well as every DVC resort at WDW in the 12 years of membership.

Shades of Green is a great option and a very nice resort; however, you can’t compare the rooms with a DVC room…same goes for regular rooms at any other Disney Resort…just can’t compare. …and Shades of Green gets booked up for the popular seasons as well. We are a family of six, so getting a two bedroom vice 2 hotel rooms is well worth the membership.

We just returned from a two week much needed leave, arrived on 25 Dec and returned on 7 Jan in a two bedroom at SSR, and enjoyed every minute.

Has DVC worked for us?...yes…so much so that we have added on 5 times…

Look forward to exploring more of what DVC has to offer once we retire…

Hope this helps…

 

[hematite153]

.... If our home resort is SSR, we may end up staying there more often than not. ....

Actually, if you aren't likely to book until 4 months out your home resort won't matter. That said, on our last trip (a spur of the moment New Year's trip with only 1-2 weeks of notice) we stayed at BCV and SSR and decided that SSR would likely be our preference with little kids--the pool was great and they had great activities for kids at the resort itself.

My recommendation for shorter-term booking is that you be flexible about resort, be willing to wait-list, willing to move resorts in the middle of your stay (bell services will transfer your bags if you wish), and be flexible about the size of unit you want. Even with all of these strategies you may not get exactly what you want (dates, resort, unit size). But, I imagine you find this already with your booking schedule in most places.

 

[offtheice]

My husband is in the Army and we are looking into DVC after two trips to WDW last year. Because of his occupation, we never know what we are doing year to year. My question is this, we usually only have a four month window to make plans, would we still be able to book on this short notice. If there are any other military families that are members I would love some of your input as to how it works for you.

U wont have a problem if you dont mind staying at SSR or okw at times.

 

[Eventer98]

My DF and I stayed at SOG in Aug and are going again in June. We love it!!! The only reason we "plan" to buy into DVC this fall is b/c he is leaving the Navy in July. Otherwise we would just continue to stay there. With his rank it is only $105 a night, no taxes. The rooms are 350+- sq. feet and very, very nice. Maybe not as nice as DVC rooms but for the price it can't be beat. Just my two cents

 

[TedraL00]

Thanks for all the information about Shades of Green. But with my husband's rank it cost us about the same as a moderate and we would not have the benefits of staying in the Disney Resorts. Package delivery, magical express, the dining plan (We used it both trips, what a savings for us.). That being said I do believe we are going to take the plunge later this year.

 

[HookdonWDW]

DH is in the Army, and we've owned DVC for a little over 6 years. We haven't regretted it yet, and have always been able to get reservations when we want them... we've had to stay at someplace other than our first choice resort on occassion, but as long as your flexible, it should work. For busy periods, we usually book further in advance... we usually know what the OP tempo will be at certain times of the year (Thanksgiving, Christmas) so that helps. Now that we've gotten the hang of it, we make the majority of our reservations between 11/7 months out. Best of luck making your decision. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[bearpele]

My husband too is in the military and we have gone every year to Disney - sometimes planning 3-4 months at non peak time frames and gotten the room that we did want (1 bedroom).
Shades of Green is nice but again rank pricing compares to Moderate resorts - we love our DVC and hopefully you will too.

Aloha,

 

[Olaf]

Thanks for all the information about Shades of Green. But with my husband's rank it cost us about the same as a moderate and we would not have the benefits of staying in the Disney Resorts. Package delivery, magical express, the dining plan (We used it both trips, what a savings for us.). That being said I do believe we are going to take the plunge later this year.

Tedra, you're right about the pricing at SOG. It can be hard to get in there at times as well. I have gotten some decent overflow rates from them though.

It's going to boil down to your husband's assignment. When we were at the Pentagon, and could plan out our leaves, it was a breeze. Now that he's back in an operational unit . . . well, stuff happens. As someone else has said, if you're OK with OKW and SSR, then go for it.

 

[Spacedude]

Very much agree it will be job dependent. But also remember that DVC will out live your active duty time, and there is life after the military…

 

[Kewz1]

Hello!

Another Army/DVC family checking in!

I can only remember one time we had to cancel a planned trip -- unfortunately it was the F&W festival for just DH & I. There may have been more times that his job intereferred with vacationing but evidently it all worked out since I can't think of them!

We have the added benefit of homeschooling which means the kids and I have a flexible schedule so it only leaves DH to worry about.

We have never regretted joining DVC. We have always joked that Jesus and DVC are the two constants in our kids lives. They may not know their way around the new town they've moved to but they know their way around WDW!

Have fun deciding!

Kristen

 

[TedraL00]

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions. My husband and I now have a new Home at SSR. We won't be in the army forever.

 

[hadleyzoo]

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions. My husband and I now have a new Home at SSR. We won't be in the army forever.

Congratulations Tedra! We bought in to SSR last August. And last week I called to see if we could reservations at any resort for any week in June or July because I figured it was going to be tough booking on pretty short notice. DH will be deploying in August and we really wanted to use this year's points and go on a vacation before he leaves. So the member asked me what week we wanted to look at first so I just picked the week of 18 June...then she asked me which resort so I told her what the heck, let's try to stay at our home resort...and we got it!

So we got in to SSR 3 months out.

Tiffany