Congrats on your DVC purchase! Please tell us all about it....I'm curious to know more about it myself. (what you get, what benefits there are to ownership, pricing, etc.) Thanks!
I will post those details in my next update to share with everyone, just in case someone else is interested as well.
Just bear in mind that
- Developer points cannot be banked so you have 12 months to "use 'em or lose 'em"
- You can only bank points into the next year, you can't just keep rolling them over
Since you will have to go in 2009 anyway to use your Developer Points you could stay at AKV on cash (using your DVC member discount to get 25% off rack rates) for a couple of nights just to "get your fix" and then bank your Use Year points into 2010 for the trip with your friends. That's what Dad and I are doing in April next year - I found that, although we only had enough Developer Points for a week at SSR, if I made the trip longer I could use mileage points with the airline to get the flight cheaper, which paid for the cost of another week at SSR using cash, and being from the UK I could get a 14 day ticket for the same price as a 7 day meaning there was no cost increase there either.
WOW! That is so awesome that you are able to go for 14 days for the same price as 7!!
I wish we had mileage points like that to justify another week. That is so so great!
I would love to know more about it also. If only I could talk DH into going on a DVC tour.
I will include the details in my next update for you guys - I was a bit surprised as to how open my DH was about it all-then he got really excited and was all for it! I hope your DH will be willing to go on a tour as well. Sometimes they do offer big promotions (in gift cards) to even go on a tour.
I think your dreams of DVC sound lovely. You are such a sweet person, Brook.
Aw, thanks.
It really is exciting for us to be able to do this!! I look forward to all the wonderful memories we will be able to share with friends and family too.
That was a quote from me, not posted as a quote and not from me. It was wierd!
Anyways, I did call Disney Merchandise as directed from another kind reader and one is on the way. Unfortunately, I waited too long and they can't guarantee christmas delivery but I took the chance. (I'm too cheap to pay the express delivery charge ) I figure our tree will be up until new years so if it comes a couple days late, I will put it under the tree with a note that it had gotten lost in the bottom of the sleigh. He's 4, he'll buy that
I'm so jealous of your DVC purchase. I would love to do that but I am sure that unless I win the lottery, my non-Disney loving hubby would never go for it. I'm afraid I can be of no help to your question but best of luck in making your decision.
I about teared up at the story of your sister. what a sweet and wonderful thing to want to do for her! Her (insert choice of words here) ex-husband may have been an **** but she is very lucky to have you.
Oh yes, your DS will totally buy the "lost in the bottom of the sleigh" thing. I bet he'll think it's really cool! His toy got to travel with Santa allllll over the world! How neat is that?! And that also means Santa visited his house TWICE. He's that special!
Your words are so sweet.
My sister really is an incredible woman, so strong!!
I would take another family trip in Sept 2009. This is simply because if I new I had the points I wouldnt be able to resist using them, its like some kind of disney urge that I can never get ride of, but Im not complaining I LOVE DISNEY!
I so know what you mean, the Disney urge is strong...and we have made a decision-which I will share in my next update!
Something you might consider is getting studios for everyone. We did that for my in-law (got 3 studios) and will be doing that for my family. It saves a lot of points. We don't own a lot of points and want to get as much use out of them as possible. My dream is to go twice a year. The only way to do this is to stay in studios (and some standard views). Each family has there own space that way too. It is just a thought. I know I would want to get that annual pass.
Also, we drive to save money, but I know that is not for everyone. If we flew we would only be able to go once a year. Good luck in whatever decision you make!
That is a great idea about the studios for family instead of doing a bigger room - it's nice to get your own space from time to time too. There is a limit as to how much family everyone can handle sometimes...
I have been looking into driving as well-even if we rented a big car and drove down it would be much cheaper than flying. Something I will be keeping in mind, thank you for the advice!!
This made me teary, Brook. How very sweet of you and Joe to have others in your plans. And your desire to make your sister's life happy, even for a short while, is wonderful. I know you will make it happen. I can't wait to read that TR!
Thank you - such nice words!
I really can't wait to tell her boys...I will have to do some reserach on how to surprise them! They are going to be soooo excited. My sister said her youngest brings up Disney World almost everyday!! I can't wait to write that TR!
You and Joe are just too sweet. I tear eyed reading about your DVC Dreams. That is so very nice. I don't really have any advice for what to do but I know if it was me, I would want to go in 2009.
I am really looking forward to spreading that Disney magic - it will be so much fun!! I very much want to go in 2009 too...just thinking about it all-and having an AP...
Ok - I'm getting teary too here, over my morning coffee! Brook - you are such a sweet sister and it is such a wonderful thing for you and Joe to do!
As for your trip dilemna - I vote for the Sept.2009 trip also! (I'll always vote for not putting off trips!) Get those APs and fit in as much as possible. For 2010, if you need more pts. for a trip, you could always "borrow" from the next year's pts. I'm constantly borrowing/banking. It gets tricky but if you plan your trips right, you could really make it work!
The banking/borrowing can get SO confusing! The other day I finally broke down and figured out our "what ifs" to help make a decision. (Which we did!) But, I was baffled for a bit on all the points. I kept forgetting we can borrow....took me three tries of writing it all out to figure it all out!
But, now I think I "get it" all. Of course after I explained what I figured out to Joe, his response was "Ya, I kinda figured that out in my head."
(lurker coming out of hiding...)
As someone else only mentioned, you can only bank points for one year... so your 2009 use year points have to be used in use year 2010 if you've banked them, otherwise you lose them...
Also, I'm going to 2nd the recommendation that when you book these trips for other people, you book studios for everyone... DH & I are planning a Christmas 2009 trip (which will be our 3rd trip next year) for our entire families... a Grand Villa would sleep everyone, as would two 2-bedrooms... but its a better point value to book 4 studios - plus since we own at 2 different resorts, this lets us book all of the rooms we need at the 11 month mark... we're going to stay at AKV and put everyone else at SSR.
We decided that, when vacationing with friends or family, it'll be better to give everyone their own space and some freedom to do their own thing.
If I were you guys, I'd still go in Sept. 09, but maybe stay in a savannah view studio, and then bank the rest of the points into 2010. But of course, as I mentioned already, we're going 3 times next year and we don't even have kids.
Well, hello lurker!
Thank you for your advice! The banking and borrowing gets confusing the with UY. I am hesitant to do a Stuidio until Henry is older because one of the biggest reasons we are excited about DVC is that he will have a seperate space and we can put him down for bed, but we can easily stay awake and watch TV, etc. In a studio we would have to be more quiet after he went to bed-but I do like the idea of saving points versus a GV! Plus, the seperate space from family is sometimes necessary...
For now, in general we'll probably do one bedrooms though-even if it means 1 trip a year.
That is so great about 3 trips in a year!!!
I'm jealous!
I think your Disney Dreams are great! I hope you will be able to spread all the pixie dust as you intend to in the future! I can understand a bit, how it is to have a sibling who has less good fortune in life that oneself (even though my sister's situation was never as difficult as your sister's, she has been through some problems, too). I think your idea to take her and her kids on a trip is fantastic!!
As to your dilemma: I would also like to suggest to go in September 2009, but stay in a studio. This way you can save points for 2010 to use in order to take someone else. But your family will have to budget for your payments for the DVC in the next months (and years? I have no idea how much it costs..) and I guess it will bring situations where you will miss that money because you can't spend it on other things. So I think you deserve to have some fun out of it just for your family as well!
I'm so excited to take my siter and the boys! And other family members and friends - they will be such magical trips.
I do like your thinking on the 2009 trip too...DVC is definetly something we'll be paying on for a few years...I wish I could say it will be paid off in a few months though!
What a wonderful update! You are so very generous!
My sister is a wonderful person-she works so hard, and has had a rough, rough time in her adult years. She deserves this and sooooo much more!
And I cannot wait to see those boys' eyes LIGHT UP when they arrive and experience the wonders of WDW!
1st, you and your DH are wonderful people to think of your family and friends like that!!!
We were originally taking my sister and her family, who couldn't do it on their own, in January. But, due to some circumstances they can't come
We were really looking forward to it! My 13 year old niece decided her parents hate her and thats they cancelled out
You have a tough decision to make with the points!! I'm not sure what I'd do!!!!
Oh no! That's awful about your family having to cancel and your niece thinking her parents hate her.
Hopefully they will be able to go sometime in the near future, Disney is worth waiting for though!
I realized something the other day which helped our decision-and reading all the comments here has really helped as well! It was a tough back and forth for a while though.
just read your tr and i love it, it reminds me of the first time my hubby and i took our son , he was 15 months old and we also did chef mickeys. seeing your sons little grin with just a couple of teeth is so familiar. i cant believe my son is in kindergarten already and my daughter is 2. time flies. congratulations on your dvc. that is so sweet wanting to take your sis and her boys. i am sure they will be thrilled when the time comes. i cant wait to read the rest.
Welcome!!
Time just goes by so quickly doesn't it?! I can't even imagine Henry in kindergarten, but I know it will be here before I even realize it.
My Aunt didn't understand why we would take Henry at such a young age, but I think those smiles explain it all!
Yup, a little teary here too - you guys are so sweet!
I think you are the 4th or 5th crier...
I know they are happy tears, so they are good. I cry when I think of what my sister has gone through, and continues to go through (not so happy tears) and it just makes me all the more excited to do this for her! I know I'll have big happy tears when we finally get to do that though.
Great updates and you guys are so nice. I would also like to say I hope things are still getting better for your grandmother. I love it and cant wait for the next installment.
Thank you for your kind words! I haven't heard any updates from my Mom about Grandma in the past few days...I'm hoping "no news is good news", but I plan on touching base tomorrow.
I love that you want to spread the magic to others, especially your sister!
Thank you! I love spreading the magic, in little and big ways. Disney is just such a wonderful place, I want everyone to experience the wonder of it all!
Sorry to hear about the problems that your Grandmother is having.
I was over there on Thursday about 10 and there weren't many animals out. I asked one of the CMs about it (I thought that it was due to the tornado watch) and she said that most of them were in the barn being fed.
I agree with you. I went to look at the models during one of the daily DVC open houses and I thought that the studio was a bit strange with the bathroom vanity paired with the kitchenette.
Congratulations and welcome home!
Thank you!!
When we were outside it was probably around 10:30 or so, so I bet they were either all being fed still or in their after food nap!
That's a bit scary about the tornado watch too! Eep!
I wonder how many people comment about the strange bathroom vanity/kitchen sink setup, I've read quite a few people thinking it was not such a great layout too.
How was your trip? I bet you shared on the Jambo Lite thread-gotta get caught up there too.
Reading of your dreams warmed my heart on this bitterly cold Minnesota day. You and Joe have hearts of gold - what amazing memories to create with family and friends!
Are you guys snowed completly in?! I heard you were supposed to get BOMBED! It rained ice here...lovely. The roads are finally becoming more safe and tomorrow is supposed to hit 20!
It's our dream come true to spread the Disney magic to others!!!
Just found your TR....I am so sorry you were all so ill during your trip....HOWEVER, I guess with your recent DVC purchase and your trip to SSR in January you will be able to see what you missed fairly soon. Hopefully, this trip is without any type of illness....can't wait for the next installment!
Hello! Welcome!!! Yes, this trip better be illness free! No more Chef Mickey's Incidents!
I am looking forward to all the "must do's" from what we missed in November too!
Thursday at 10, it was still raining pretty hard, wasn't it? We were just coming back from our Epcot princess breakfast...probably arrived about 10 or 10:30 back to our room. DD and I were feeling pretty cruddy (the last remnants of a stomach bug...more on that in MY TR which is coming up), but I also noticed ALL the savanna's were pretty empty...at least the ones we could see. Might have been the tornado watch/warning...maybe they were in their pens? I know the wind got hard enough to blow around some of the furniture out on our balcony.
Same day, about 4 - 5 hours later (once the sun came out)...and the Sunset Savanna in the furthest spur down from the lobby...we had:
2 giraffe's
3 Zebras
6 Wildebeast
a TON of birds (crowned cranes and others)
Varying antelope (one of the great big ones, and 3 or 4 of the smaller ones)
all around that one spur, near (relatively) one of the people pens.
I have some awesome pics from that day that I'll upload tomorrow and will post with my TR when we get to that day. Initially we weren't keen on the view we ended up with (and that was the room we got AFTER wrangling...), but we saw TONS of animals, both early and late (before sun down, though).
Hey there! Welcome back!!!!!! I haven't been on the DIS for more than a few minutes this past week and I was wondering earlier today if you were back yet. I gotta get over to your TR and check out those pics...that is so great about seeing so many animals!! (and wrangling for the room, ugh) But scary about the tornado warning...eek!
We were going to go over Thanksgiving, but it was better for me and my brother to bump it up 2 weeks (we both have set work schedules that are 12hr shifts, so if you hit the "wrong week" the amt of vacay time neened is insane!!) But by moving it up 2 weeks, I saved almost 70 points!!
PLUS yearly maintenance (around $5 or so a point). This adds up quick! Disney does financing for 10 years and depending on your current credit rating you are either in their "standard" financing or "preferred". The "preferred" interest rate is still around 10%, so not all that great. However, there is no pre-payment penalty. Ive read some threads on the DVC board about people placing their purchase on a low-interest credit card.
