Profile of a DVCer ...

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by twinmomplus2new
he purchased me a second contract outright, and gave it to me no interest.

I make one large payment per year. And it has been great,
Due to my brothers generosity, I have been able to share with my mom and other family members.

Wow - that is a great brother! You are blessed!

 

[twinmomplus2new]

 

[Morganpics]

I just noticed this thread.

My DH & I are in our early 50's, DS & DD grown and out of the house. I have a horse (one of my vices). He works for the state, I work for the Fed. We have been to WDW 3 times - 1995, 2002, 2004. The last time was just the two of us. We have already decided when we retire in about 4 years we will NOT be wintering here in Maine. We have just bought into OKW and I have read with a great deal of interest the post about wintering in a resort at WDW! We have raised our kids, put one through college, recently paid off our house. We don't talk much about Disney except to say (me, anyway!) that I just LOVE being there. There is something about driving under the banner and then walking into a park-I am truly on vacation. I turn into a 10 year old!

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

I know I am a little late responding to this thread, especially since I did not discover the Disboards until 3 months ago

Dh and I each developed our own love of Disney before we ever met in 1997. Then, we got married and celebrated our honeymoon at WDW of course!

DH is 46, I am 43 and we have my two ds, 15 and 12. We are also solid middle class DH is a corporate pilot and I am a mortgage loan officer

We are very debt averse and if it were not for a good year in the mortgage business, I doubt I could have convinced DH to buy DVC I'm saving our pennies again because after our trip in October, I bet I will want more points

Thanks, Lisa

 

[travelbug]

bump

 

[AFMom]

This thread could keep me reading for a while! Really interesting to see how diverse a group we all are! I turned 30 this year, DH is 31. We've been married almost 12 years!! I'm a stay at home mom - DS's are 6 and 7, and DH is a Air Force helicopter pilot. We've moved 6 times in the last 4 years and are getting ready for move #7!!! Disney, for us, is a little escape from deployments, TDY's, training, moving, et cetera! It's a place to focus solely on our family, and with DVC - we'll be sure to go at least every other year to use up our points! Sort of like quality time insurance! Can't wait for our trip!!!

 

[debloco]

Since we are closing on our 1st contract next week at VWL, I figured I would add to the list.

My DH is 43 and I am 38. We will be celebrating our 17th anniversay tomorrow! We have one DD (14) who will be a sophomore in high school this year. My DH started out as an electrical engineer for Motorola, and moved to Agilent Technologies as a Senior Strategist four years ago when they spun off of Hewlett Packard. I have been a stay at home mom but took the opportunity when my DD was a little older to finish my college degree. I graduated in Dec. 2002. I also did (and still do!)a lot of volunteer work at my DD's school and our church. But, I just applied for a PT job at our church yesterday. I might need some pixie dust!

We looked at DVC when they were selling the VWL and came close to buying, but DH wasn't ready. My parents moved to Florida last October and so now we will be going down for the holidays every year, but didn't necessarily want to be in Deerfield Beach every year. It was my DH's idea to buy into DVC and then we could spend Christmas with them at Disney instead! We are already looking at doing another contract, either at VWL or BWV. And we are definitely thinking about taking future grandkids!

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Hey everyone. I just found this thread and must agrre with everyone it is a truly great one.

we just bought in this year at SSR with the 150 point minimum(would love more eventually).

We are both absolutely nuts about everything Disney. I was fortunate enough to visit WDW a few times while growing up and to me they were the best family times ever spent together.

My wife had never been, so I knew I had to get there. Needless to say she now loves it too, so much so we were married at WDW in April of 2003.

No kids yet but hopefully soon we will be planning a WDW trip with some!

 

[tjhsr]

We just joined dvc in May but have been going to WDW since 1971 Grandparents move outside of orlando.I was 16 at that time.Have been many many time over the years.My DW and I have never said on site.We have been down twice this year and joined DVC on our last visit in May. Will be home in oct.SSR. Then AKL in dec 50th birthday visit.Wife is in Dr. office billing dept.part time lots of vaction time.I over see a local lumber yard. 2 grown children who still go with us to WDW. They have gone almost every time we go.We really love the Orlando area and have looked at moving there later kids can use DVC then.I want to be a tram drive at WDW.

 

[ScottNBecky]

We ( both 33 yrs old) became SSR members a month ago and found this site just after that. We have 2 DD's (7 and 5). I just found this thread. I read most of the posts, but I know there are probably a few out there like we are. We really dont have much $. W elive pay check to paycheck (we get by with a little extra) but we are both teachers, so not a ton of $. But as others said, we prioritize vacations. My wife and I took small vacations throughout our childhood, but no major ones. Our time with our kids is precious and we wanted to do something that would be memorable for them. Sure it is expensive initially, but it provides a great service for our family.

Our youngest DD was born with a kidney disease, and will have to have a transplant at some point (around 5 years from now). So we felt like, sure we could save $ for our retirement, or something, but she and her sis would miss out and fun things now, while they are young. So we decided that lets live for the moment and, as many of you have said, "made memories that will last a lifetime". We hope for the best with our daughter and feel lucky that she can receive a new kidney from a live person, which allows her a greater chance to live a long life. So because of this we know that yes she will have many more years of fun and vacations AFTER she gets a transplant, we want her to enjoy her time as a kid now.

Scott

 

[MOMO2DK]

Hi- great thread- very interesting!

When DD was born in 1999, I brought the subject up to my DH about thinking of how we want to vacation w/ DD, as I grew
up with 2 family vacations a year, and wanted to continue this for our kids. Prior to DD, DH and I were very hardworking, DH in his own commercial fishing business and me as a pharmacist w/ full-time and part-time jobs. We were very happy working hard, as I grew up in a self-emplyed family and know the level of committment a job like this involves, and when the opportunity arose we would take off for weekends. So DD arrives and I'm thinking maybe we should buy a summer house, then co-worker mentions her ownership in Marriot TS, sounds interesting, so I do a little internet search and lo and behold, w/ DH's blessing, we are buying at OKW sight unseen!

Many things have changed- DH sold his commercial fishing business and he know works 2 weeks at a time away from the house on a tugboat, me, still a full-time pharmacist, and added to our family in 2001 is our DS. We have a nice home that happens to be the house I grew up in. My father sold it to us, and now he is part of our family!

We have financed our OKW ownership and just bought the same amt of points in SSR- 1 contract for each child to potentially inherit. As all our focus and all we do is ALL about our children!!! DH and I make many compromises in our day to day lives, we live rather frugally and sometimes squeeze nickels into dimes, but we LOVE our family time in WDW. We are happy to be able to do this for our family. Ownership in DVC also makes sure we do take vacations, as we can be a bit to hardworking and a year could go buy without any vacations.

I am looking foward to raising a family w/ our DVC point , and when kids get older, using point for vacations outside of WDW, but for us right now, WDW is a wonderful place to vacation w/ small children.

 

[kathyseb]

I can't believe I have been spending hours each day on this forum and never saw this thread before.
My husband and I first looked into DVC on a trip to DW with my Mom in 1997. My Mom was quick to tell us we could not afford it and I had to agree with her.
We looked into it again in 2003 and after we got home we called our guide and took the plunge and bought into SSR.
Our first trip "home" will be in less than 14 days.
We have just recently purchased a small add on at BW.
We are in the lower end of middle class. We take three trips a year to DW for a total of four weeks.

And like the majority of the other posters, people just don't understand why we keep going back.
I keep telling them, when we have seen it all and done it all, maybe we will slow down a little. But until then.....Yes, we are going yet again.

We are both state employees and are constantly traveling with our jobs. One reason we go on so many vacations is that we are assured to be together during that time. We are worse than children, we start counting down the days about 3-4 months from our date of departure. Even after all the trips we have made together, our hearts do flip flops as we drive into Orlando.

 

[adriannabannana]

What an interesting thread!!! I've been slowly making my way through all the posts, and I have to say, I'm rivited. I'm actually trying to find a way that I can print this so that I can read it more conveniently!!

We are a facinating group, and all the assumptions I had when I first started reading the thread are completely wrong! We have almost all walks of life covered, and all types of personalities included. I figured we'd have families and Disney fanatics, but what we mostly have are practical, fiscally responsible people who saw a great deal and pounced on it! That appeals to me on so many levels that I almost can't stand it...

Which, I supposed, brings me to our family's profile. When we bought our share in 1999, I was a programmer/analyst for a Fortune 10 wall street company, and my husband was the principal of a project management consulting group. We were married in 1999, and spent our honeymoon at the Beach Club. In the two weeks we were there, we were introduced to the DVC concept and found out that we could have bought-in with the amount of money we had spent on the honeymoon itself. When we got back to our rooms, we broke out an Excel spread-sheet and went over the figures. It took us a few months to be certain of the investment, but the numbers all added up.

Three trips later, and the membership has already paid for itself. I'm now a stay-at-home Mom, (most cost-effective route for our family---I went back to work for six months, but our profits were a near wash with the costs of childcare, ect) and the hubby is working as a Project Manager for a competing Insurance company!! We've brought family down with us, and the sheer joy and memories are worth twice what we've paid for the membership. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, and we're seriously considering expanding our points, but not until we've taken care of a few (million) remodeling projects around the house. We haven't come close to fully exploring the 'World' yet, and the experience has changed so much with our daughter, that I doubt we ever will. I fully expect to be enjoying our membership as much on our 38th trip as we did on our first.

 

[HUFF590]

We are just a hard working couple my DW and I, have been married 23 years ds 21 dd 19 both married, gained more income when this happened. Both our kids where brought up Disney kids, even though they all work now and we dont get to go togather very often, one reason we bought DVC. We dont live paycheck to pc but used a home equity loan for the purchase, we have not got to use it yet we just joined ssr and will go june 2005.I work for GM and my wife lease adm for a sporting goods company, but I do have stock and 401k plans but my favorite thing to spend money on is WDW.

 

[dvcssr1]

DH and I are mid-middle class (if there is such a thing) we are 50 something with a 25 DS and a 23 DS. Oldest DS is also an owner with DH's sister (DS's aunt). DS and Aunt own at BCV, DH and I at SSR. Youngest DS just married and honeymooned at the World. Came back and they are contemplating purchasing too.
DH is a Hardware store manager and I work for the same company but "behind" the scenes. We have been vacationing at WDW since 1989 steadily with 2-3 visits per year. WDW is the only place we can go and forget bills, work and the day to day worries. We will continue to go until that is no longer the case. Besides we have yet to see everything there is to see and try everything there is to try and eat everything there is to eat.
We have found that Disney is ever changing and is not just for the young but for the young at heart. Some who ask "Why Disney AGAIN" and we answer "Why Not!"

 

[G8RFAN]

Let's see... after moving to South FL in my preteens, I must have averaged at least a trip to WDW once a year. My DW (we're both in our 30's) hated O-town when I first met her in '91. After a few trips to WDW and surrounding parks, I converted her to a fan. After trying to have a baby for months, we honestly felt that the one day at the GF Spa for her was what did the trick.

When my DS3 was 1 y.o., we took a trip to AKL and he loved it and the Dumbo ride at MK. We've been averaging 3-5 trips a year, mostly long weekend getaways with a week's stay once a year. We are both working professionals who probably feel a little guilty leaving him with grandmother all day, so we really look forward to the getaways.

 

[off to neverland]

We are an American family of four, living in Canada due to my husband's job. I'm a stay at home mom, though previously I worked in a congressman's office as an aide.

Because we move a lot due to my husband's work, we wanted one set place to return to every year withh our kids. We decided Disney would be the place since there is attractions there for every stage of our kids' life. My parents wonder why we don't consider their place our "set place to return every year" to, and I guess the reason is that though we do go back to my home frequently, and it will be a constant in my kids' life, it isn't relaxing for us. So DVC it is. We should have many years of happy memories there, no matter where we are living in the world.

We make a good living and are, by all means, comfortable, but we work hard for this money.

I loved the post about not feeling guilty about what you have. I find myself feeling this way frequently, and have been a bit embarrassed to tell my family we bought this~ I feel I almost have to justify it. So thanks for the post about enjoying what you have!

Rae

 

[newcomer52]

bump

 

[ALBA]

DH and I are originally from Scotland but moved to the south coast of England around 10 years ago for my husbands job. DH is an Air Traffic Controller and I am an Engineer for the same company.

We are in our early 30's, been married for 10 years, have no children, and I suppose we have a comfortable life despite the UK government taking as much tax from our earnings

We both love travelling (as you can see from my signature) and fortunately working in the industry we do, we are eligible for reduced travel rates. This has enabled us to also visit florida a few times and we decided one rainy day 3 years ago to find out what DVC was all about. We were hooked and bought points at VWL, then returned a year or so later and bought more points at VB.

We joined DVC because you can always be guaranteed a good standard of accommodation and we just love the flexibility of the points system and the different resorts you can choose from.

Alba

 

[MagikMom]

Hi everyone. I am a Pediatric RN and my husband is a firefighter. I work part-time & he does carpentry on the side. We have 2 kids DD 12 & DS will be 9 next week. We bought DVC on the last day of our vacation in 2002. My friends and family can't understand why we "spend so much money" on Disney. This drives me crazy!
No we are not wealthy and yes we had to finance most of our 200 points, but it's worth it to us. DH has an Identical twin brother who has an 11 year old DD, 0 debt and his house will be paid off in 6 years. So What!! I just have awhole diff. philosophy in life and I am seeing that alot of DVC owners share it. DVC gives us time together as a family being in a place that we all love. Life is too short. I know from both personal and professional experience that you have to live for today because you don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Oct. 2004 SSR (soon!)
Aug. 2003 BWV
Oct. 2002 All Star Sports/BCV
March 2001 All Star Sports