New to Dis; DVC Question for West Coaters?

[Piscesqueen]

We are a family of 6 who live in N. Idaho and my question is whether or not west coaster's think it's worth the investment into DVC even with the distance . We are a bigger family and wouldn't be able to make the trip as often as we'd like but still think this may be an investment since we would typically need two hotel rooms. We are also wondering if we should wait and see if we can purchase our "home" at Disneyland since it's somewhat driveable (20 hours, LOL) and still feasible for all 6 of us to frequent. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Donald is #1]

I'm not a west coaster so I can't help with insights from that end. But, how often do you see yourself going to WDW: every year, every 2 years, every 3 years, something else? Or if you bought your points at Dl, how often do you see yourself going to DL?

 

[Piscesqueen]

If traveling to Disney World we would probably only be able to make it every other year, where as, Disney Land we could visit up to twice a year. We don't like shoulder to shoulder crowds so we would most likely pull the kids out of school and travel during off-seasons.

 

[disneydenisel]

We live on the West Coast (Northern California) and own 170 points at Beach Club Villas (BCV). We find that we can go every other year (we are going next month, yay ). I don't think that we could go every year, especially with airfares being as crazy as they have been. However, WDW is such a different experience than DL. We will probably try and get some CA DVC pts for a 3-4 night stay there per year, though, because it is a lot closer to home.

My DH is wanting to buy a motorhome for vacationing, so we may end up selling our BCV points in the near future.

We are very happy with our DVC purchase, even being so far away! Good luck with your decision .

 

[Donald is #1]

If traveling to Disney World we would probably only be able to make it every other year, where as, Disney Land we could visit up to twice a year. We don't like shoulder to shoulder crowds so we would most likely pull the kids out of school and travel during off-seasons.

Excellent, then in either case the "math" should work for you. i.e. if you were going less often, then if you try to calculate when you break even versus booking an on-site hotel, then it will take much longer.

Now fo DL versus WDW, which one would you prefer? If you would prefer to visit DL, then I would buy your points there and then jsut book WDW at 7 months if you wanted to go. If you prefer to go to WDW, then I would buy your points there.

 

[bethy]

I am a West Coaster. I agree that the question is how often do you want to visit a Disney Park? We much prefer visiting DL because of the MUCH shorter flight from Seattle and also because everything there is within walking distance and is original.

BUT as our kids get older we could see ourselves wanting to branch out - both by trying WDW and occasionally trying a cruise or Interval exchange. As our kids get older the flight to WDW won't seem so excrutiating. We do other non timeshare travel as well.

So anyway we figured it couldn't hurt to buy a few points at WDW and use them both there every 2-3 years or use them for hotel rooms at DL. We bought at Animal Kingdom villas b/c we wanted our time at WDW to be as different from our time at DL as possible. Our own personal Magic Kingdom is in Anaheim. We also bought so that we could guarantee the opportunity to buy into the Grand Californian Villas when they go on sale. We expect to stay there the most frequently. We'll save up our AKV points and via banking and borrowing go to WDW every 2-3 years on average. Or again, we could use those points on DLR hotel rooms or maybe possibly at VGC (but we're not counting on having a 7 month booking option there.) We figure it will be easier to use our DL points at WDW than vice versa.

Sorry for the rambling, but that's what we've decided to do in a nutshell.

 

[Piscesqueen]

I know this may sound really crazy but we've actually never been to WDW but the kids love all things Disney. They are still young enough for us to enjoy many more years vacationing with them. I brought my oldest daughter to Disneyland for her 9th birthday and we stayed off-site; we enjoyed the vacation very much and could see ourselves visiting often. We are planning our first family trip to WDW as we speak. With the amount of $$ (about 15K )we would be spending on the whole 2 week vacation, I thought maybe that we should invest some of the funds into DVC and use points for our stay.

 

[lisah0711]

Welcome to the Disboards, fellow North Idahoan!

We are DVC members and go to WDW every other year. That is why we bought DVC because we were being priced out of our nice deluxe accommodations.

It's not too hard to get to Orlando from Spokane through Seattle on Alaska but it is an all day trip unless you like to take the red eye.

We have used our points several times at DLR. Some people don't think that it is a good value but for us it is so much easier to get to DL than WDW. We love the Grand Californian and own at VWL and AKL.

If you are thinking that you might be interested in buying GC DVC then you will want to buy at DLR so you can get first crack at buying. Feel free to pm me if you would like a referral to a California guide.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[bethy]

Welcome to the Disboards, fellow North Idahoan!

We are DVC members and go to WDW every other year. That is why we bought DVC because we were being priced out of our nice deluxe accommodations.

It's not too hard to get to Orlando from Spokane through Seattle on Alaska but it is an all day trip unless you like to take the red eye.

We have used our points several times at DLR. Some people don't think that it is a good value but for us it is so much easier to get to DL than WDW. We love the Grand Californian and own at VWL and AKL.

If you are thinking that you might be interested in buying GC DVC then you will want to buy at DLR so you can get first crack at buying. Feel free to pm me if you would like a referral to a California guide.

Good luck with your decision!

I love that I can hop on a plane and be at the DLR turnstiles 3 hours later.

I find it so interesting that you bought at VWL Lisa. The one thing I don't like about VWL or the Grand Californian is that they look like so many hotels and buildings up here in the Pacific Northwest, including one about 5 miles from my house. We live right in the Cascade Foothills - trees and lodges every where! Even houses here are built in that style as I'm sure they are by you too. However I'm still buying VGC because it'll be the only DLR DVC for a while and such a great location.

 

[lisah0711]

I love that I can hop on a plane and be at the DLR turnstiles 3 hours later.

I find it so interesting that you bought at VWL Lisa. The one thing I don't like about VWL or the Grand Californian is that they look like so many hotels and buildings up here in the Pacific Northwest, including one about 5 miles from my house. We live right in the Cascade Foothills - trees and lodges every where! Even houses here are built in that style as I'm sure they are by you too. However I'm still buying VGC because it'll be the only DLR DVC for a while and such a great location.

I know, Bethy, we laugh that we travel over 3,000 miles to look at more pine trees!

We just aren't that into the beachy style resorts. But we really love our AKV and that is totally different that the Great Northwest.

I agree that you can't beat the location of GC. We stayed at the DL hotel in August and sighed everytime we had to keep on walking . . .

It takes about 6 hours from our leaving our driveway to get through the turnstiles at DL. I love it when that happens!

 

[Piscesqueen]

Beth & Lisa, you two are cracking me up because that's exactly what my DH and I have discussed...we will NOT be buying into VWL just for that exact reason...although, we absolutely love the Northwest and I think N. Idaho is one of the most beautiful places in America BUT we live it everyday and don't want to see it on all vacations.

I also live in (well, very near) Cda, that's so hilarious...small world!

Thanks for all of the advice so far; it really is helping with our decisions. We also like the idea that DL does not take ALL DAY on a plane .

 

[pycees312]

I'm a northern californian DVC member and for us we love dvc. Mind you we were a family who went to Disneyland 3 to 4 times a year with or without dvc. do it depends on how often you plan to use and go.

 

[Tinkerbell.RN]

We am no longer a West-Coasters...but we were when we bought DVC. We lived 10 miles from DL (and had annual passes), but were still making almost yearly trips to WDW. I'm not sure if we would still be doing that with the flight prices now. We live in Virginia and drive most trips to WDW. We are planning a trip to DL next summer if we can work it out.

Summer 2007, we used our DVC points to enable us to do the Mediteranean cruise on DCL.

In about a month, we will be staying in a Grand Villa at Old Key West (our home resort) with some of my DH's family.

 

[ccoymsrd]

We live about 22 miles south of DL and have APs. We just bought at AKV because we love WDW and have been going once per year for the last 2 years, and plan to continue going annually for many years to come. We are excited about the fact we have paid accomodations for nearly 50 years!

Yes, it is expensive to fly there but I'm always on the lookout for low airfares (I get daily e-mails with airfare deals). Hopefully we will always be able to get good deals on the airfare, but if there's ever a time where the airfare is just too much to get to WDW, we can always use our points at DL.

We prefer to take our big vacations at WDW and that's why we bought at AKV. If you think you would be going to DL more, it may make more sense to wait and buy at VGC. You would then have the 11-month booking window instead of the 7-month window that we will have. I just imagine VGC will be very popular and difficult to get reservations since there will be so few units available.

Hope this helps a little and good luck with your decision!

 

[PinkTink63]

Another West Coaster here! We bought DVC in 2005 after renting from an owner. It works for us, because we do seem to go every year. Now we just get to stay longer! We have always loved DL, but we do really prefer WDW! We like to take the red-eye, but Alaska just got rid of all their night flights that we usually take!

We do hope to get to try VGC some time, but we will be primarily using our DVC at WDW. The resorts are really great by themselves! We got to try two new resorts this summer and loved both of them! (VB and AKV)

 

[wdw4life]

I average a trip to WDW about every other year. I still plan on going to WDW but will be staying at GCV much more often. In fact, I sold my add on contract to buy more points at GCV. I plan on buying a large contract there and figure if I don't end of using them all at the GCV I can always use them at WDW. I think it will be much easier to use my GCV points at SSR then my SSR points at the GCV. Plus, it's much cheaper for me to get to DLR as compared to WDW. My last trip to WDW I spent over $1000.00 in airfare and my last trip to DLR I spent $15.00-$20.00 in gas. Truth be told, my favorite park is DL. I know that once DCA remodel is complete it is going to be amazing! 2012 can't get here fast enough! I know I'll want to stay even more then!

 

[Castillo Mom]

I just bought at Kidani Village and I live in Southern California 15 minutes away from DL. We went to WDW for the first time in '04 and our 2nd trip was last year. We have a trip coming up next August for my middle son's graduation and then again in 2011 for my youngest son's graduation. Thereafter, I plan on visiting WDW once a year. We also have family in South Carolina so it would be nice to visit Hilton Head as well.

Even though we have DL nearby and are annual passholder's, we love WDW.

 

[Piscesqueen]

I can't thank all of you enough for all of the helpful information you're giving me and I'm leaning towards buying at both DL and WDW; I'm thinking SSR and GCV...that is "if" I'm able to buy GVC but I can hope ! I'm loving reading all of your experiences with living on the Westcoast and it's giving me courage to make the trip at least every other year...my biggest concern is that there are 6 of us and the airfare would be astounding on a yearly basis. Hey, the hubby and I could take a Sun-Thur short trip yearly (my kids will understand, right )!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

I have been to DL only once and to WDW many times. To us WDW is a destination, a vacation and the all the parks, busses and events. We love ME, DVC and even the regular resorts.

Yes, it is 4 hour drive the airport, then a 6 hour flight but when we plan a WDW trip part of the planning is an entire day of travel to arrive and an entire day to go home.

With airfare going up so high we really have cut back on trips and now are looking hard for good airfare deals. We are now planning on every other year.

Also, I don't go to WL since I don't want to see a fakey Yellowstone and pine trees.

I feel our DVC purchase was in investment in our children. I love to see smiling faces and the stories of Disney.

 

[Piscesqueen]

~*I feel our DVC purchase was in investment in our children. I love to see smiling faces and the stories of Disney.*~MinnieVanMom

MinnieVanMom, I couldn't agree with you more. I'm so excited to see the looks on my little ones faces that I'm bursting! I can't wait...the day can not come soon enough that we arrive! My DS5 asks almost daily "when can we go see Mickey Mouse" but he always says "no fireworks mom" he's deathly afraid of them !

I'm just so overwhelmed with anxiousness!