The moment you knew .

[lovinthemouse]

We knew on our first trip to WDW in 2001. It was just not a good time for us financially. Once we had the money it was a no brainer. We go so often. It just made sense for us to purchase. We spent so much money on just the value resorts. This is so much nicer. We have also done VB and HHI with our purchase too. It has just been great. I know that initial payout is hard, but it is well worth it. It has given us wonderful memories in just the 18 months we have owned.

 

[jade1]

Great post-fun to read.

Mine was super obvious as well. We purchased VWL when it opened, but reserved a 2BR BWV Preferred view for our first DVC trip. I had "convinced" my BIL and family to purchase as well and they came with on the first DVC trip. Everyone went to ESPN when we arrived, and I went and checked us in. You guessed it-BW VIEW (you could only request it back then). So I snuck up to the room and checked it out first-OMG how fun was this (we usually all stayed at Allstars). Went back and had dinner and said I was not sure where the room was but it was ready. Its was a great walk back to the room and when everyone saw the room and got out on the balcony to see the BW and SE-lets just say it wont soon be forgotten.

 

[abeyst]

Great post-fun to read.

Mine was super obvious as well. We purchased VWL when it opened, but reserved a 2BR BWV Preferred view for our first DVC trip. I had "convinced" my BIL and family to purchase as well and they came with on the first DVC trip. Everyone went to ESPN when we arrived, and I went and checked us in. You guessed it-BW VIEW (you could only request it back then). So I snuck up to the room and checked it out first-OMG how fun was this (we usually all stayed at Allstars). Went back and had dinner and said I was not sure where the room was but it was ready. Its was a great walk back to the room and when everyone saw the room and got out on the balcony to see the BW and SE-lets just say it wont soon be forgotten.

Sorry, OT! I hope my first trip in Dec brings me great results like yours - WOW!! Is that where you took the pic in your sig? Thats a great nighttime pic of the boardwalk - it's so clear! And it looks like it was taken from one of the villas.

 

[theoarn]

Ms WasHere
That was a great story. Especially the part where your dad really recognized the wonder of it all and spoke his wonderment outloud.
We never had the opportunity as a child to travel to places such as DisneyWorld as well and I am hoping that DVC will allow me to treat my friends and family.
Theo

 

[lisaviolet]

We never had the opportunity as a child to travel to places such as DisneyWorld as well and I am hoping that DVC will allow me to treat my friends and family.
Theo

I'll tell you Theo. That is IMO, hands down, the best thing about DVC. Sharing our points with family and friends has been such an absolute joy. We "feel" so rich to treat others. Not to mention WDW becomes brand new through others' eyes.

All the best,

Lisa

 

[lisaviolet]

We purchased in 1993, while at WDW. We literally, took the tour, review the program, and signed the papers that day, and then just 10 minutes later, we were checked into a 1-B/R villa at OKW (then named Disney Vacation Club). (Back then the resort wasn't sold out yet, and there were plenty of empty villas that were available)

When I sat down in the huge OKW Living Room, realized we were actually on WDW property (we had been in a hotel off site), I knew it was the right decision.

(And immediately took advantage of going to the parks with our free park passes. As many of you know, those who purchased early got free park passes into the theme parks up till 01/01/2000)

Love it Caskbill. That must have been so exciting to sign and check in right away. Wow. Nice story.

 

[lisaviolet]

These are all great stories. I've reread all posts for the second time today!!! Thanks for the thread SusanWasHere. Great mid-winter thread, eh? Nice.

 

[edk35]

due to my extreme giddiness about my 2nd trip to BCV in august, I thought I would post this. what is the moment you knew you made the right decision in buying DVC? I am a single girl and had major “buyers indecision” and then even a bit of “buyers remorse” wondering if I was making a huge mistake in such a long-term commitment – esp since I bought totally sight unseen. just saw the websites and the books. I arrived for my first trip home in the early fall at the BCV and when I walked into the lobby and the man at the counter gave me my first “welcome home” at the desk, I literally almost started jumping up and down. then when I walked out the back doors towards the beach area and saw the view of BW, YC, and the rest of BC it sincerely took my breath away. I can vividly remember walking towards Epcot and totally feeling a happiness come over me and knew it was the best decision I had made. then to add to it, my mom and dad arrived a little while later. we didn’t have money growing up so never went out of state for vacations, never went to Disney, never stayed anywhere “fancy”, mostly campgrounds (which was still awesome). but walking with my mom and dad (who had both survived major sicknesses – strokes and cancer) from Epcot to BC and my dad stopped, looked up and said “I can’t believe WE are staying HERE”. it just sealed it even more! so I’m just curious if anyone else had those moments that erased any doubts they may have had! thanks for listening!! I must be PMSing to have this emotional sappy moment. LOLOL!

WHAT A GREAT STORY. I loved reading this.

 

[jade1]

Sorry, OT! I hope my first trip in Dec brings me great results like yours - WOW!! Is that where you took the pic in your sig? Thats a great nighttime pic of the boardwalk - it's so clear! And it looks like it was taken from one of the villas.

Thanks, Actually it was taken 2 years later from the Villa's, but it was almost the same location that first time but on the second floor-which is not as good a view in general, but very fun at night watching the bw.

 

[RealMickey]

due to my extreme giddiness about my 2nd trip to BCV in august, I thought I would post this. what is the moment you knew you made the right decision in buying DVC? I am a single girl and had major “buyers indecision” and then even a bit of “buyers remorse” wondering if I was making a huge mistake in such a long-term commitment – esp since I bought totally sight unseen. just saw the websites and the books. I arrived for my first trip home in the early fall at the BCV and when I walked into the lobby and the man at the counter gave me my first “welcome home” at the desk, I literally almost started jumping up and down. then when I walked out the back doors towards the beach area and saw the view of BW, YC, and the rest of BC it sincerely took my breath away. I can vividly remember walking towards Epcot and totally feeling a happiness come over me and knew it was the best decision I had made. then to add to it, my mom and dad arrived a little while later. we didn’t have money growing up so never went out of state for vacations, never went to Disney, never stayed anywhere “fancy”, mostly campgrounds (which was still awesome). but walking with my mom and dad (who had both survived major sicknesses – strokes and cancer) from Epcot to BC and my dad stopped, looked up and said “I can’t believe WE are staying HERE”. it just sealed it even more! so I’m just curious if anyone else had those moments that erased any doubts they may have had! thanks for listening!! I must be PMSing to have this emotional sappy moment. LOLOL!

I loved your story Susan, and all the other posters stories as well.

Our story is similar to yours, except we are a couple with no children.

We bought into BCV in 02....on our first trip home we recieved welcome home's at the gate and check-in counter. When we got to the room I walked out on the balcony....we had a view of Spaceship Earth and I could hear the Beatles cover band playing in the UK pavillion in Epcot. We walked down and ate dinner at Cape May. After dinner we walked out on the beach, sat on the bench swing held hands and watched the lights of the boardwalk twinkling across the water. At that moment we both blurted out how glad we were that we had bought into DVC.

The best part is that every trip is just as magical, regardless of which DVC resort we stay in. We always have moments of joy when we just know how perfect DVC is for us!

 

[dwelty]

We are DLR AP holders. (DW,DD1,DD3,DS16) We have been going to DLR for years. We have spent alot of money staying at Disney owned hotels over the years. In August we toured the SSR model at the Disneyland Hotel We decided to buy then, and signed our paperwork that day. (We had never even been to WDW). We took our first trip in this December and stayed a week in a 2 bedroom at SSR. We invited my parents to join us. My mom has been fighting ovarian cancer for 2 years now. It was hit or miss if she was going to be able to go due to weakness from Chemo treatments & the 5 hour flight from LA. Well I had 2 moments, one was the look on my Mom's face when we entered the beautiful grounds at SSR and she was speechless, the other was when my 3 year old daughter squeeled with delight and ran and hugged Donald Duck at the main pool.
My mom told me later that it was the best vacation she had ever taken. I don't know how much time we have left with her, but I will always have this memory.

 

[byoung]

I knew it was right before going on the tour. DW said she new I was going to buy also.

 

[jimmytammy]

For us, it was our 2nd trip home. Our 1st time, we rushed too much, still trying to commando tour the place. But our next trip, we took my MIL, and promised her we wouldnt rush. And we didnt, and it made for a most awesome trip. We knew we were staying in places out of our reach otherwise, so that was plus. But it finally sank in, we will be back! Thats when we really understood the value we held in being DVC owners.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

My SIL/BIL were owners since 94. For us, I don't think it was a matter of if, but when. This past Christmas, DH teaches and he was off the week before so we decided to go to WDW. We stayed at OKW and I can't imagine having a better time. We decided to take a tour, even though we knew about the program and had seen SSR.

I was sitting in the lobby watching my kids play and thought back to my childhood. I have the most wonderful memories of vacations as a kid and still vacation often with my parents. I began to think about all of the memories we're creating with our kids (which, of course, you don't need WDW for!) and knew that now was the time. DH was on board and we're in the process of closing on 2 contracts at SSR. We haven't made our first trip home yet, but will be going the last week in July. Again, it was never a matter of IF, as I LOVE everything about Disney!

Thanks for sharing all of your stories. I'm so glad you're making wonderful memories, too!!!

 

[JodyTG]

We have 3 young kids who are just as crazy about WDW as their Mom (that would be me)! And DH and I both knew that we would be going to Disney for our vacations for many years to come. Based on all of this, I knew that DVC was the right decision for our family. BUT...I knew that DH would stress out about the initial buy-in even though we can afford it.

So...I do a lot of contract-type work. And I happened to pick up a contract that just *coincidentally* happened to be for the same amount that our SSR contract cost. So, I took the work, cashed the check, and bought SSR without DH knowing so that I could surprise him!

Talk about keeping the secret! lol I had to make sure that I got the mail every day (there always seems to be DVC mail coming!) and so on so that he would not find out. I felt like I was having an affair with my guide...she could only call my cell phone, etc.!

We had an adults-only trip planned for F&W and his bday, and my plan was to give him DVC as a present while waiting to board the plane. So there we are driving to the airport, and he starts a conversation like this...

"Hey, you know my friend Matt from work? Well he and his wife own this Disney timeshare thing...they have points or something...they own where we stayed last year at the horse resort and everyone said 'welcome home'...and it lets them go down whenever they want..."

I burst into hysterics! Here HE was trying to explain DVC to ME and tell me that it was a good idea for us! Meanwhile, I had spent the past year on these boards and knew DVC inside and out!

So I just said, "Stop. You need to stop right now...." He looked totally confused. So I reached into the back seat (where I had his Bday present) and took the DVC baseball hat out, put it on his head and said "Welcome Home!"

He was DELIRIOUSLY happy that we owned DVC...and it really felt like it was "free" because I had used contract-work money to pay for it and the money didn't have to come out of savings our household account or anything.

This was the moment that I knew I had made the right decision. I was nervous that he might say "Well, you should have told me about that extra money...we could have used it for something else..." (I know my DH very well, so I was pretty sure he would be thrilled, but still, it was a risk.....)

But we both agree that it was the best decision we made!


Fun stories, everyone!

This is so cool!

You're much better at keeping secrets than I am.

 

[memeyers]

I too was single when I made the decision to purchase DVC. I had taken the tour twice before, knew it was for me but the expense couldn't be justified in my head. Then in 1996, my family stayed at OKW, it turned out to be the last family trip we took with my grandmother. She passed away two months after our trip. Now its 1998 and my family is back down in Disney. We are staying at Disney Institute and while the room was nice the family was depressed because my grandmother wasn't there. On our last day we were leaving EPCOT via International Gateway and my family wanted to take the boat to BWV. I wanted to walk. My aunt went with me. We went to the models and got the updated sales information. Called my guide that week and purchased 350 points. My family and I never looked back and we have shared many vacations since. (I actually only share my DVC with my parents and my aunt, uncle and their three kids who also share a love of Disney- I couldn't share with anyone else, but thats a whole other story!) Now fast forward again to two years ago, I got married and my husband and I go to Disney. His last trip was with his family in 1982 (EPCOT was not open yet). The best part, he is completely sold on DVC and bought me a 25 point add on for my birthday last year! Now we have 375 points with an eye at least 25 points more (More if CRV ever comes in to play)

Mary

 

[cruiseletters]

Living on the west coast I had grown up with a love for all things disney because about every two years my parents would save up enough money to take my sister and me for a vacation to DL. Come forward in time 35 years and my DH and I took our own kids to DL but had never been to WDW. We have some dear friends that are disney nuts but they love to go to WDW as well as DL. They invited us to join them at WDW in 2004, we purchased our airfare but they insisted on taking care of all the other arrangements. We had never even heard of the DVC, and they didn't tell us that they were DVC members and that our family would be staying along with their family at the BWV for 10 wonderful days. I kept pestering them for information and trying to make sure that they weren't over doing themselves financially taking us all.They would just smile and tell us everything was reserved and all taken care of. So the day came when we arrived at the BWV and walked into the lobby and I fell in love with everything about the DVC, from staying on property to the incredible transportation system to wonderful memories we were all making and I knew I wanted to share that same experience with other people that I loved that had been so generously shared with me. We sat our friends down one night after a day at the parks and said tell us about this, we then went on a tour and a few days before flying back to Ca. we bought in. Every year since then we have shared a trip with someone special in our lives and that has given us even more joy than simply owning it and going alone. DVC has been an awesome addition in our lives.

 

[Indea88]

I grew up going to Disney every year,my mom had sisters that always lived in Orlando. I went to college in Orlando and spent every week at Disney.My DH had never been to Disney.We made our first trip"home" 2 years ago and I'll never forget DH's face when they said "Welcome Home"at the VWL gate! He looked at me and said why are they all so nice here? It's Disney hon!! He says yeah but I'm from Jersey, nobody talks like that!!LOL!!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

My moment was last September, when I was ordering lunch at Epcot on our 2nd trip in 4 months!!!

I came close when we walked into the BW.....we loved it. So much we added on.

and OT- I LOVE the pic of your meezers. We have an exploded tortie meezer, I think she may have something else in there, too, but she is the best cat I have ever owned. Well, best cat that ever owned me, since we all know that the Meeze are in charge! She just started speaking to us again. She always ignores us for 3-4 days after we travel. She does NOT like DVC. She also hisses at me every time I come down with the suitcases.

 

[SusanWasHere]

My moment was last September, when I was ordering lunch at Epcot on our 2nd trip in 4 months!!!

I came close when we walked into the BW.....we loved it. So much we added on.

and OT- I LOVE the pic of your meezers. We have an exploded tortie meezer, I think she may have something else in there, too, but she is the best cat I have ever owned. Well, best cat that ever owned me, since we all know that the Meeze are in charge! She just started speaking to us again. She always ignores us for 3-4 days after we travel. She does NOT like DVC. She also hisses at me every time I come down with the suitcases.

lol thank you!! and yes they are very much in charge. mine are not happy about DVC either, or skiing every weekend in the winter for that matter. every time my bags come out my oldest gives me the bulging eyes and starts to yell at me, lol!!! and when i get home i get ignored... but followed. they want me in sight, but don't want to act like they care. how funny! like little people! and wow 2 trips that close - i am jealous! mine will end up being 11 months apart. i can't wait!!