snowbirding

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Yes, but notice the sunshine! In Ohio, a day like that would be cloudy and drab besides freezing!
Bobbi

Yes! Here in nj too (as you prolly know)! Leaving the constant greyness would be heavenly. A bit of warmth would be nice too though! And being next door to Main Street, USA ain't too shabby either!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes! Here in nj too (as you prolly know)! Leaving the constant greyness would be heavenly. A bit of warmth would be nice too though! And being next door to Main Street, USA ain't too shabby either!

We've had a home in Cape May for 12 years now and there's never been a winter like this past one! We don't live there, DMom does and it was very hard for her.

DH would love a 1 bedroom at OKW for however long our points last, (we don't own at OKW so it would be a 7 month booking) and I would like 1-2 weeks in an inn room at VB. I think our first chance at doing that will be January 2013, so it's not too too far away.

Bobbi

 

[disney ny]

This thread makes me dream! I would love, love to do this someday. However, my DH does not have the Disney bug yet so I amy have to retire with my sister for a few weeks. After teaching school for that long the 2 of us will sure be ready. It's a long way off but nice to dream!

 

[castleri]

We went the other route and bought a "manufactured" home in Palmetto on the gulf coast to do our snowbirding. We are fortunate in that our immediate neighbors are all year round residents and great people who keep an eye on the place when we are gone. I plan to use our points for family trips for the children when they want to visit and for a couple of weeks for DH and I to visit WDW and that part of the state. The downside was that due to family illnesses and issues this past winter we were only there about 6-7 weeks instead of the 6 months we had planned on. Now I also have points that need to be used so will have to decide what to do about them soon. I am just glad I don't have several thousand of them I would need to deal with.

 

[SamSam]

Our plan is similar, except we plan on 3 weeks during October for the Food and Wine Fest, then back again for 4 weeks in January. We definitely will be in a 1 bedroom instead of a studio so will need more points.
We have 610 right now and will be acquiring more over the next few years.

We contemplated going the condo route, but decided we much preferred staying on property.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

I agree staying on property is a HUGE consideration...but I worry about less availability possibly one day & being restricted to having to plan in advance all the time...Decisions Decisions!!!!!

 

[spiceycat]

does anyone plan to use dvc as a winter snowbird getaway?
like from sometime in december thru march or april or any part of that time.
we are going from jan 3 to 29 this year. hopefully in 2 years (retirement!!!)
we will buy more points to go from jan 2 to approx march 1.
who else????? please share

you might consider a house in the area - the prices will never be lower than now.

you can get an excellent bargin.

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

But . . . .

I am not throwing stones here, just some initial thoughts. Who supports the condo association? What incentive do they have of keeping up maintenance fees to meet expenses to keep things as they are? Who takes care of the condo when the owner is not there? Just thoughts. I am obviously not a condo owner, nor know anything about it. I just wanted to express these thoughts for conversation in this thread.

I like the idea that Disney is really motivated to keep things up for the public reputation thet need to have to continue to be the world's number one vacation spot.

I have to agree with this sentiment. We have stayed in Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood timeshare resorts near WDW, as well as several independently owned condos. The experiences were never up to Disney standards, in most cases not even close -- quality of furnishings, general upkeep, staff availability, amenities, etc. Some of our experiences were so bad that they nearly ruined our vacations.

I hope someday we will own enough DVC point for 6-8 weeks per year at WDW, and maybe a little more for some other locations. I've seen enough of other timeshares to cross that off our list of considerations.