people who influenced you DVC purchase

[Peterd]

My wife after we stayed at the Boardwalk our first night. She was very happy there, wife happy good, wife not happy bad!

 

[mickeys#1fan]

Noone really influenced us, except for the great guides we encountered along the way. We used to live a stone's throw from VB and took the tour just to see what it looked like. The units were more attractive than our apartment!

A few we years later we took the tour again at HHI and we were hooked, but we couldn't afford it. It had always been a dream of mine to spend more than a day at a time at WDW and stay on property. DVC was the means to making that dream come true.

Then came Christmas 2000. We stayed at POFQ, which was great. As we packed to leave, I had to go to the lobby to ask for more laundry bags. Temptation overcame me, and I made an appointment to talk things over at BWV. Three hours later we were the proud owners of 250 points at VWL - the best decision I ever made!

 

[Granny]

Originally posted by Peterd
My wife after we stayed at the Boardwalk our first night. She was very happy there, wife happy good, wife not happy bad!

Amen, brother!

The flip side of this question is we probably would have looked into DVC earlier if not for the absolutely horrible reputation of time shares!! Should have known Disney would do it right!

As I said earlier, the people on this board were the most influential in my purchase decision. Can't thank you all enough.

 

[Lesley]

My answer will be a bit different.....it was my dh! After hearing every day of our marriage "when can we go back to Disney World?" DVC was the thing to do without question! It's been almost 10 years now (the marriage) and we'll be taking our second DVC trip at Thanksgiving. We wanted to join back in 1994 but couldn't....but did as soon as we could.

And I owe a lot to the members of this board who were our greatest encouragement when it was time to join!

 

[Cruelladeville]

My husband also influenced our buying DVC. WE have been staying on-property every year since 1978, and DH constantly bemoaned the dollars that were "out the door with nothing to show for it". When I saw the sign for tours I knew that the time had come to buy a timeshare at Disney.

 

[DeeP]

Desperado.
Do not let repetative negative comments about certain DVC resorts that you read here influence your decesion or desire to own DVC. The negative comments do not have a word of truth to them and should just be ingnored as they hold no merit at all.
Why any DVC member would enjoy consistently downgrading any DVC resort is beyond the understanding of a lot of posters on this board, but unfortunately it happens and even more unfortunately it gives prospective DVC owners like yourself entirely the wrong impression of DVC and the DVC resorts.
ALL the DVC resorts are wonderful and owning DVC is a fantastic way to give your family great vacations in superior resorts.
I sincerely hope you reconsider a DVC membership, it has truly been the wisest vacation investment I have ever made.

 

[shelbyjosh]

A big thank you goes to WDWmom and WDWdad. They first introduced us to OKW in 1999. We shared a 2 br. at OKW and absolutely loved it! We contemplated buying then, but DH could not justify spending "that kind of money". After a 2nd trip to OKW in 2000, we figured it was time. We knew that we would be going at least once a year. We took the plunge and got 231 pts. and regret not buying MORE!

 

[DeeP]

For me it was not "who" influenced me to buy a DVC membership it was "what". I had looked into DVC when it first started but at the time there was only one DVC resort open and it did not appeal to me or fit our family's vacation wants. Then one trip while at WDW we went to the Boardwalk to look around, they had just opened BWV. Well that is all it took, I fell in love with BWV and I was sold! I came home bought my DVC membership and have never regretted it.

 

[mickey7861]

We'd heard of DVC at the beginning of the program but never bothered to investigate. In August 2000 we were at WDW with some friends , they were BWV members. We were going to dinner at Tepanyaki that night so we met at their 1 bdr villa (Boardwalk View!) before dinner. That sold us. When DH saw the actual villa he was amazed, I had been ready to buy all along. The next morning DH took me to the Boardwalk (supposedly for breakfast) and we took the tour and purchased our 200 points.

 

[StevieD]

I agree with others - the folks on DISboards really influenced our decision. Obviously, the allure of Disney is what promoted our original interest (and we already knew about the convenience of staying on-site). After reading hundreds of posts here (I really taxed the old search engine here), we became more convinced that this was right for us. Our guide, Julie Hughes, also helped - no pressure, very helpful, always returned calls promptly. However, I'm not sure we would have bought if we did not see so many happy DVC'ers on this board. Oh, and the issue about "whose home resort is best" yada, yada............I just chalked that up to friendly rivalry. I think its great that each of the resorts, while all up to the impeccable Disney standards, are just different enough that they offer something for everyone. Can you imagine how boring and inflexible it would be if you had 6 DVC resorts, all of which were identical???? We wouldn't really want that, would we?

While BCV (we just bought 270 points, yay!) appeals to us most right now, I can see how OKW, BWV, VWL will appeal to us at different times in our life. I like that we have choices.

Vive la difference!!!!

 

[drtpaper]

We had friends who lived cross country. They invited us to spend 5 days in a 2 bedroom at BWV. We had the vacation of a lifetime. My wife was pregnant with our third and our friend brought along 4 kids and their nanny. 11 people in the two bedroom and we had plenty of room.

We bought a resale with banked points and have our week planned this year and paid for it by renting the banked points. I could resell it now and break even on the entire deal. I wouldn't think of selling. Even if you don't go often, you can still justify it based on the ease of renting it. It is always there to use and we can't stop planning family vacations. We have already asked friends to go down next year and they will probably join after seeing the place.

 

[DVCajun]

For me it was a Southern Living Magazine. I don't remember what year it was exactly, but it was around 1996 (probably was because I think that was the year BWV opened). I saw a one-page article that featured BWV. It talked about the Disney Vacation Club and that the Villas were owned by those members. There was a beautiful picture of the Villas from the lake. I was immediately jealous of all of those unknown DVC members and vowed to find out more. I got the phone number for DVC and the rest is history! I didn't take a lot of convincing. We bought "sight unseen," hardly a big risk when it comes to Disney. I rank that day right up there with my wedding day and the birth of my child.

I never claimed that my priorities were completely in order.

 

[mickeyc]

We have been going to Disney since it opened in 1971. We had taken the tour several times from when it DVC opened in 1993. I was not sure it was such a good value and never purchased.

A co-worker lent me her member guidebook prior to our trip in 2000, which helped me evaluate the program. While I was waiting to speak to a representative to arrange an appointment an older gentleman sitting on a nearby bench said he was a DVC member. He said he owned 210 pts and was going to purchase 50 more. He said he never traded his DVC. He bought a Marriot timeshare in Orlando for that purpose. Since he was retired he said he could not be happier with his purchase of DVC and they go to Disney several times a year.

We took the tour again, watched the video, and read the literature. I was getting ready to purchase through Disney when I found the timeshare store website. I got lucky and purchased a resale at the BWV. It is one of the best things we have done. I just wish we had purchased sooner.

Although we have taken other vacations during this time it seemed we always spent a week at Disney--that was the clicher. It takes me awhile to make the final decision. My son loves the place so much he applied for an internship at Disney this year through his school. If he is fortunate to be accepted I think it will be a good experience for him. He is a biology major and he loves to work with animals. His goal is to enter dental school, which he will be entering in one year. I think he wants to be the Disney Dentist! ( smile) We certainly enjoy Disney and now DVC!!

 

[nezy]

My brother and his (NOW EX) wife gave my husband and I a trip 7 years ago to OKW. We loved it.

We did not become Dvc members right away. We only had 1 2month old at the time and found it easy enough to travel to our then fav. place-- Puerto Rico.

After visiting othe r "timeshares" as well as Staying at DVC w/ my brother again and then at HH for a tour, after 2 more kids-- we Finally did what we should have 7 years ago-- became DVC members. Best choice we ever made.

No other place offers the quality and "MAGIC" of Disney.

We do not feel limited and love all of the choices and otions we do have. We will never be unpleasantly surprised when we check-in to our "HOME".

I would like to thank my brother and Bernard--my guide.
No hard sell--ever.

 

[SINK]

Actually I'm the reverse, while most people thank DIS for their DVC purchase, I would have to thank DVC for indirectly stumbling on this site. I was convinced that buying into DVC was a pretty good deal, especially for the "inexpense" one bedroom suites onsite. After signing the paper work, I wanted to see if there are additional information on the internet. Then by chance, discovered this site and have been hooked ever since. I have learned so much from here. Initially, I thought I knew enough to be dangerous, but was I a greenie compared to DISers. Anyhow, I don't know that finding this site was a good idea. I've spent way too... much time on this site, at work, at home,at friends house, etc.


I think we should have a DIS support group to help us kick our addiction to DIS!

 

[KellyDVC]

We were influenced by chance, when my best friend said she was going down to WDW with her daughter in april 1999. I thought about going down with her and my older daughter, and decided I could easily beat her "tour package" price (with a hotel up on International Drive!). I was sure we could find something closer, so I got on the internet to do some research. I stumbled on to a site by Brian Bennett, who had a very well-written description of DVC, including a good discussion of the pros and cons. I was very intrigued, so I printed it out and casually mentioned to my husband " why don't you read this, it sounds kind of interesting" Well, as they say, the rest is history. We are both Disney admirers, and had spent our honeymoon at WDW years before, so we felt comfortable that Disney would do the timeshare thing right. After running the numbers on what a week-long vacation with 3 kids would cost us, it was an easy decision.

We found the DIS site that same week, back when there were only 3-4 discussion boards, and proceeded to pump everyone for info (thanks, Doc!). We hooked up with the Timeshare Store and purchased sight-unseen about 3 weeks later, from start to finish. and here we are, 4 add-ons later, planning our 8th and 9th DVC trips! Like everyone else, we firmly feel this was the best purchase we have ever made, because we KNOW that we will take 2 GREAT family vacations every year!! How great is that!!!

 

[Jimbo]

We were convinced by an outspoken critic of the DVC!

Back in 1996, we started to plan our first family vacation to WDW since our grandaughters were born. We were kind of stunned by the cost, but booked anyway. Grandparents can always justify this sort of thing, right?

Anyway, I started to hang out at rec.arts.disney.parks on Usenet in order to prepare for the trip. That's where I first heard of the DVC, and I was intrigued. I eventually decided to make an offer - site unseen - on a resale at OKW, 300 points, park passes included, with a bunch of banked points, But I was still a little skittish about the whole thing.

There was one guy on radp that was <u>very</u> critical of DVC. He was the "turd in the punch bowl" of any DVC thread back then. He thought that you could do MUCH better at off site timeshares. And he was pretty persuasive, since he had the numbers to back up his opinion. So I emailed him with the details of the package that I was considering, and his reply was something like "Sounds like you're getting a good deal. Go for it."

So if it was good enough for the DVC curmudgeon, I figured that it was good enough for us. And it was and is!