Reflections after first year of DVC ownership

[tidefan]

As a now 18 year owner, the one thing that I'll throw in is that how you think you will use your points now will almost certainly change in the future. For us, the opening of Aulani was a big one. I had never been to Hawaii prior to Aulani opening, and now I've been 6 times. I also find that the need to go to the parks as much lessens over time. Not saying you won't go to the parks, because you will, but you may find that the "commando" days of park visits go away. Our theory is that if we haven't gotten to something this trip, we'll get there next time...

Also, for us, we love things about most all of the resorts, so we are pretty much happy to stay at any of them, so the "buy where you want to stay" doesn't really hold too much water with the lone exception of being able to get a BLT studio over Labor Day weekend for MNSSHP, though this past year we actually switched to a cabin at CFW and actually enjoyed that more, I think!

 

[Instagramhusband]

Oo I feel bad coming down on a beloved resort especially because my experience was a one time thing and I recognize it’s not fully fair to judge it on 1 short experience. And I should say, we didn’t hate it. There were definitely some positives, and we will likely stay again if the opportunity is there, but I guess we expected to love it…and just didn’t.

We spent 4 nights there over Labor Day weekend and maybe it was just my expectations were too high? I LOVE the boardwalk area and Crescent Lake in general, it really is so special but for some reason I didn’t really enjoy the hotel as much. The rooms were fine, we got pretty lucky actually and were right on the village green. But they were loud. I could hear all the kids screaming both from the hallway and outside. And though not their fault, people were loudly rolling their suitcases in the courtyard area early in the morning, 2 days in a row. So that wasn’t great. We’ve now stayed at all the park resorts except BLT, BRV and VDH and by far, that room had least soundproofing from our all of our experiences. But I’m sure the room location didn’t help, so there’s that.

I also have never really liked the lobby. Its setup is strange to me and just feels off idk I’m sure I’m the only one with that random nitpick so take that with a big grain of salt lol. The main pool was fine but felt a bit outdated and boring and kind of cramped. The slide was fun though.

The boats weren’t operating the 2x we wanted to go to HS because of the rain. I didn’t even know they stopped them because of rain. The skyliner was even working still which surprised me. Though now that I think about it, maybe there were other reasons why it was down But what was worse, both times we waited nearly 30 mins for a bus…to HS. (And I know other resorts share buses but man, I hate that 3 resorts share a bus here) I’m sure this wasn’t a common thing, they probably rarely need buses to HS so setting up takes a bit of time but it was just all these small things that left me with a very meh feeling about it all.

But again, I recognize that one mediocre stay doesn’t mean they’ll all be like that it just means that for now, I’m really glad I have 2 other Epcot resorts to call home. Addonitis was kept at bay for once after a trip.

ETA: sorry for derailing your thread a bit @Instagramhusband ! Probably should’ve kept my explanation a bit shorter

No problem. We thought about BWV for a home resort for one of our contracts because I love the location so much but frankly I felt the same about the lobby and the rooms once I stayed on a cash visit.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

No problem. We thought about BWV for a home resort for one of our contracts because I love the location so much but frankly I felt the same about the lobby and the rooms once I stayed on a cash visit.

Oh good so I’m not alone in feeling the slight awkwardness of the lobby. Idk what it is exactly, maybe it’s feng shui is misaligned for me I was all ready to buy a contract in the weeks leading up to our stay, too. It worked in our favor nothing really came up

 

[PlutoNotPlanet]

Idkkkk obviously they're hard to book but I've booked the hotel room category with my AUL points and got a week last year and another week this year and in total spent 250 points so roughly 125 points per visit. Room service is nice but it isn't THAT nice LOL

You must have booked on the day of 11 month mark. That’s not easy to book!

 

[PlutoNotPlanet]

Resale. My wife has had several cash stays at Riviera over the years and didn't care that the points weren't usable elsewhere. The difference was just too great to ignore in savings.

I guess I need to stay at Rivera once and feel the magic haha. Maybe I’ll take RIV out of my resale filter XD

 

[Disney Spaz]

Oh good so I’m not alone in feeling the slight awkwardness of the lobby. Idk what it is exactly, maybe it’s feng shui is misaligned for me I was all ready to buy a contract in the weeks leading up to our stay, too. It worked in our favor nothing really came up

You both are not alone. We stayed there for a long trip in summer 2017 and I thought DH would want to add on there for an Epcot resort to complamient our VGF points. We got there and while we liked the resort and area the lobby just seemed a miss for us. We were also over the green area and it was very loud many days in our room.

The win for me is DH told me to get on the VGF wait-list for points and two months later our guide called and we doubled our points.

 

[Brian Noble]

I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of the Crescent Lake area, but I am clearly in the minority on that.

 

[kanerf]

15 years for me and waiting on two small resales to get loaded that will take me over 1000 points. Of course that means almost $9000 in dues, but when I consider what the rooms that I usually reserve (mostly 1 bdrms) would cost if rented from Disney, it is still a bargain.

 

[Potigant]

I don’t think you can see the transferred points in the dashboard, but they will be there when you go to book.

I agree that the ability to transfer banked/borrowed points makes things easier….

But then I think of someone in the ROFR thread a while back who was new to DVC and said they purchased 5 different home resort in 5 separate UYs just because they were trying to get the lowest ppp….. what a future nightmare….

I'm that idiot! Close recollection, except one contract has been in the family since 1998 with 9 different resorts visited in that time. Each additional contract is generally intended for a specific trip at a specific time of the year. All have enough points to stand on their own, with 700 in total. Transfer rules have made things even easier than I expected and the family is excited! Just because it isn't for you doesn't make it a burden for others. I would find commenting here 6-7 times a day for more than 2 years straight a burden, but I assume you enjoy it!

 

[Jwaire]

You get spoiled by the newer DVC resorts that are shiny, more compact and all-inclusive in terms of amenities, but Boardwalk still has the old Disney charm and a great points chart. There's not many resorts you can stay an entire week for ~70 points, much less one outside a major theme park.

 

[Jwaire]

The boats weren’t operating the 2x we wanted to go to HS because of the rain. I didn’t even know they stopped them because of rain.

We went last month during the "Great Florida Freeze" (LOL). They stopped the boats the day it was 40 degrees because "It was just too cold to operate them. Guests would be uncomfortable." at Saratoga.

Hilariously, they suggested we walk from the Carriage House boat dock to Disney Springs because that screams comfort.

The previous day every time it sprinkled they stopped them at Crescent Lake for a good 30 minutes each time. No lightning, no high winds, the waves were fine, visibility fine, etc.

In my opinion, they are just using any excuse now to stop the boats. It's a huge inconvenience for guests because they aren't exactly prepared for Plan B. It's always a surprise for the Crescent Lake resorts—scramble the buses, no-one at the boat dock to tell you what to do it or where to go, etc.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I'm that idiot! Close recollection, except one contract has been in the family since 1998 with 9 different resorts visited in that time. Each additional contract is generally intended for a specific trip at a specific time of the year. All have enough points to stand on their own, with 700 in total. Transfer rules have made things even easier than I expected and the family is excited! Just because it isn't for you doesn't make it a burden for others. I would find commenting here 6-7 times a day for more than 2 years straight a burden, but I assume you enjoy it!

Nice try.

 

[BetterInTheWildnerness24]

We went last month during the "Great Florida Freeze" (LOL). They stopped the boats the day it was 40 degrees because "It was just too cold to operate them. Guests would be uncomfortable." at Saratoga.

Hilariously, they suggested we walk from the Carriage House boat dock to Disney Springs because that screams comfort.

The previous day every time it sprinkled they stopped them at Crescent Lake for a good 30 minutes each time. No lightning, no high winds, the waves were fine, visibility fine, etc.

In my opinion, they are just using any excuse now to stop the boats. It's a huge inconvenience for guests because they aren't exactly prepared for Plan B. It's always a surprise for the Crescent Lake resorts—scramble the buses, no-one at the boat dock to tell you what to do it or where to go, etc.

It was absolutely uncomfortable on the boats that week, at least the CCV ones. Fuh-reeeezing. However that’s no reason to stop them lol. That week or two was such a bummer!!!