Things that happened to you that made you appreciate DVC.

[tvwalsh]

My daughter called and said that she was going to Florida for a week in April to visit her seriously ill mother-in law. My daughter has a five year old and a one year old, and it is a very long flight for her, her husband, and the two kids from Seattle to Orlando. I also know that there is not a lot to do there and she was not at all excited about the trip.

I suggested that she drive the 75 minutes to WDW and stay one night at a DVC resort with her five year old daughter. Her husband said it was OK with him if she went and left the one year old with him and Grandma for the two days.

I checked and found an AK savannah view studio available and made the reservation. When I called her, she was so excited she and her daughter jumped up and down and laughed together. She said it will be like that wonderful commercial where the mother and daughter are together at WDW and the Mother becomes the age of the little girl because of the way they are enjoying the experience together.

This room would have cost $500 or more, and I know my daughter would not have even thought of fitting that into the budget.

I felt wonderful about DVC that day.

 

[jpolak]

Having to stay in a regular hotel room with two kids!

 

[jodifla]

Having to stay in a regular hotel room with two kids!

Amen to that! We stayed a couple of years ago in a Days Inn room that was over $120 with tax.....that sure had me missing my DVC

 

[DebbieB]

When I bought in 1999, my mom thought I was totally nuts. So I took her to OKW for Mother's Day week and we stayed in a 1 bedroom. After we got to the room, she was looking at the kitchen, walking along with her jaw literally dropped. Afterwards, she was telling people about our "apartment". She never said I was crazy after that, in fact she complained when we took an "extra" trip for Halloween and stayed at CBR, she said she didn't like only having 1 room!

 

[Chellymouse]

Our friends (who are also are neighbors) have been wanting to take their DS to Disney for the past 2 years and were having trouble with the cost of going. DH and I invited them to join us this summer. We are spending 8 days in a 2BR at SSR and they are VERY excited. Between staying with us, our AAA discounts for their tickets and getting VERY lucky with $172 round trip airfare, their time at Disney is going to cost less than their annual trip to the beach! In 2010, we are taking DH's sis, BIL, our niece and nephew and DH's mom. Again, they all couldn't have really afforded to go, but staying with us, they are able. DVC is all about sharing the magic and we are grateful that we are finally able to share the magic with our family and friends!

 

[appleorchard]

Sharing the magic, absolutely! Being able to say to my sister, her daughter and grandson a month ago, "We're getting two BRs at BCV; why don't you just stay with us?" when we were both planning a spur of the moment trip.
And being able to take son, daughter in law, two grandkids and the "other mother in law" in Dec and all stay together in a 2 BR MK view at BLT!!!!!
Or being able to say," Let's just go down for a few days" for practically nothing when we've got APs, SW airline credits, and DVC!!!

Our only regret is not buying years before we did in 1999.

 

[Mom B]

My daughter called and said that she was going to Florida for a week in April to visit her seriously ill mother-in law. My daughter has a five year old and a one year old, and it is a very long flight for her, her husband, and the two kids from Seattle to Orlando. I also know that there is not a lot to do there and she was not at all excited about the trip.

I suggested that she drive the 75 minutes to WDW and stay one night at a DVC resort with her five year old daughter. Her husband said it was OK with him if she went and left the one year old with him and Grandma for the two days.

I checked and found an AK savannah view studio available and made the reservation. When I called her, she was so excited she and her daughter jumped up and down and laughed together. She said it will be like that wonderful commercial where the mother and daughter are together at WDW and the Mother becomes the age of the little girl because of the way they are enjoying the experience together.

This room would have cost $500 or more, and I know my daughter would not have even thought of fitting that into the budget.

I felt wonderful about DVC that day.

Wow! What a great story. That's beautiful!

 

[MinMouse]

What a nice thing to do!

I have to say I agree with the others that the extra space with the family is great. Shortly after buying into DVC in 2003 we went to Williamsburg with the kids. We were so cramped in our hotel room that we knew we had made the right decision! We hadn't even seen DVC yet but we had definitely outgrown a hotel room.

We also enjoy sharing DVC with my parents. For years we enjoyed their beach home and now we are the ones who can provide the lodging!

 

[kenny]

Definitely agree with everyone's comments on being able to share it. We were able to take my parents with us for a few nights during our Nov stay.

Also being able to "get away" when we truly need it. Both my wife's parents passed away within 3 days of one another a few months ago. Needless to say it has been a very trying few months. Throw in the fact that DW is 8 weeks pregnant and "praying to the porcelin goddess every morning" and the weather in NY has been less than spectactular this winter, we could all use a little disney magic.

We had left over 2008 pts and AP's from our last trip. So for the price of airfare for 3, we booked another 11 day trip in March/April (as long as DW is "feeling better" by then). Given the state of the economy we probably would not be going on a second trip in 4 months, but SOOOO looking forward to this one.

Thanks DVC!

 

[mrsR123]

Really, really wanting to go away for spring break but feeling like we shouldn't spend a lot to rent a place at the beach made me grateful for my already paid for points.

Why spend money to go elsewhere when I can chill at WDW for free?

(I will say, though, I'm not buying park tickets this time-- I really don't want to spend a lot. We're doing Universal for under $400 for the five of us with the SuperBowl promotion.)

 

[DisDaydreamer]

On our (me, dw,dd, &ds) very first DVC visit (to BWV) we arrived at about 4:30 pm. Excited and ready to see our new home. We found no line and went right up to a window. Went through the check in process and at the very end the CM informed us that they were just informed the computer systems were down and probably would be for a couple more hours, which meant she couldn't print room keys... DW wife and I looked at each other and one of us said "what are we going to do?" The CM said "you can still go to the parks in the mean time".... DW said "we haven't bought our tickets yet, where do we go to buy them." The CM said "right here" and said "I see this is your first stay..." and asked if we were planning to go to the parks each day of our stay. Then she handed us four five day park hopper passes and said "no charge because of these problems". Talk about putting the smiles back on our faces



DW or I made the comment shortly after "this is why we bought Disney".

This was back in 1998... I don't think things are handled quite the same now.

 

[bobbiwoz]

On our (me, dw,dd, &ds) very first DVC visit (to BWV) we arrived at about 4:30 pm. Excited and ready to see our new home. We found no line and went right up to a window. Went through the check in process and at the very end the CM informed us that they were just informed the computer systems were down and probably would be for a couple more hours, which meant she couldn't print room keys... DW wife and I looked at each other and one of us said "what are we going to do?" The CM said "you can still go to the parks in the mean time".... DW said "we haven't bought our tickets yet, where do we go to buy them." The CM said "right here" and said "I see this is your first stay..." and asked if we were planning to go to the parks each day of our stay. Then she handed us four five day park hopper passes and said "no charge because of these problems". Talk about putting the smiles back on our faces



DW or I made the comment shortly after "this is why we bought Disney".

This was back in 1998... I don't think things are handled quite the same now.

Very nice! We were at BWV a few years ago, and packed our AP's and then checked our luggage right at the convenient place at the BWV. CM's helped us out by giving us day passes to AK, where we wanted to go that day. I really think that there are still extraordinary CM's around!

Bobbi

 

[DISNEY FIX]

This is going to sound weird....but watching our investments(401K.....) be cut in half our DVC is still whole.

 

[Tara]

Just today something happened...I'm planning a girlfriends' weekend and we had to find somewhere that was easy to get to quickly (non-stop flight, we're all on the east coast), is warm and has fun stuff to do with a good hotel & spa. Orlando fit the bill pretty well and we got a great deal on 2 rooms at the Gaylord Palms. (I would have volunteered my points, but I didn't have enough left over for us to use.)

Anyhow, our rooms are only $180 per person for the 2 nights and I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible since I have a lot of other vacation outlay this year. I planned to get a free ticket on Southwest, but realized today that my return date (March 29) isn't available for Rapid Rewards, but the next day is. I was fretting about what to do (airfare was about $330 for the weekend) but I didn't want to have to pay for another night of the room on my own. Then I realized, "HEY! I can just use my points for a studio at WDW!"

One phone call later, it was done!

Now I just need to plot out when I'm going to go make a Target run to get an electric griddle and iron skillet and other stuff to put in my second owner's locker.

 

[rkwier]

This may sound weird, but we do not have just one thing really. I think that it is just the stress of daily life, usually work related. Just knowing that we have an option to get away thanks to our DVC helps relieve that stress. We can just get away to our "home away from home" without all of the cares and worries of our regular home. If we stayed home for a vacation, we would spend it running errands or doing chores that have been on "the list" for a while. Going to WDW lets us leave all of that behind.

 

[garnet1240]

Sharing....we have been going to disney for the past 10 years. My DM, now in her 80's would say that's nice you enjoy Disney, but I knew she didn't get it. We took her to Vero in April. We had joining Ocean View Inn studio rooms. We walked in the lobby, she just smiled, walked out to look at grounds, she just smiled, up to our rooms.... she says..."nooow I get it!" She went out to the balcony, I really thought she was going to cry. It's the best feeling, sharing the magic.

Gail

 

[homedad]

first visit I was able to read before in my OWN room

 

[SunnieRN]

The reaction of my grandsons when we: borrow movies, sit on the balcony and watched the DTD fireworks; when he got to "paint" a little wooden car at community hall and so many other things!! Just awesome!!