- Joined
- Aug 14, 1998
When we purchased at OKW back in 1993 we planned to use DVC to continue to enjoy our family trips to WDW.
Since the mid-70s we had been going to WDW about every 18 months with our children. They grew up enjoying the resorts and parks.
When we purchased in 1993, I was 46 and our oldest was in college and later joined by her sister in 1996 - so DW and I began to travel to WDW sans kids with using our DVC points. Like many, we enjoyed the resort(s) and parks enough to make multiple trips - eventually going 4-5 times each year for up to 10 days each time (Jan, May, Sept, Dec and sometimes Oct). During that time we acquired a bad case of "addonitis" and purchased additional contracts and Memberships - both direct and resale.
We eventually began starting planning life-after-retirement and the early consensus was that we could spend about 3 months each winter enjoying WDW in hopefully nicer weather than Indiana. We even purchased some non-DVC timeshares to supplement this plan for stays on the way to/from WDW.
We also started traveling to HH when our daughters were in high school since the weather was pleasant in March. We even purchased at the HHI DVC Resort in 1995 while it was under construction on one of those Spring Break trips.
Eventually, we acquired a Quartershare (13 weeks/year) right across the harbor from the DVC Resort at HH and were driving there for 2 weeks every other month. That plan eventually led to purchasing a 2nd Quartershare at the same resort so that we now had 4 consecutive weeks every other month. I was able to rearrange my office schedule to accommodate that and we still had the retirement plan of spending 3 months at WDW.
After enjoying the month-on-month-off schedule, we started looking at HH condos and, in 2010, found one also across the harbor from the DVC Resort, where the annual costs would be less than what our expenses were with the 2 Quartershares. So, we tried to sell the Quartershares - which was not a simple task in 2010 but OK since the cost of the condo was positively affected for buyers by the same real estate market.
During that time approaching retirement, it became apparent that we were enjoying being at HH enough to not "need" three months at WDW each winter. We ended up selling one DVC membership to help with the condo purchase.
By this time, I had retired and our plan had evolved from 3 months at WDW each winter to selling our home and purchasing a condo in Indiana so that we'd have a condo in IN and one in HH.
We soon became a bit disenchanted with the condo (but NOT Hilton Head) as the owner's in the unit above passed away leaving their property to children who had no interest in being there - so it became a rental unit and we found ourselves with new neighbors almost every Friday night - sometimes for a week, sometimes for a weekend.
So, we decided to see what the real estate market had available for homes at HH, which would be dependent on selling our home in IN, buying the condo there, selling the HH condo and buying a home there. The annual expenses of owning and maintaining our home are actually less than the condo (which was less than the 1/4shares) - property taxes, maintenance, phone, utilities, water, lawn care, etc.
The first summer found little interest in the home in IN, so we took it off the market (since we were now living at HH in the condo) and continued then occasional trips back to IN. That winter we put the IN home back on the market and made the decision not to purchase the IN condo. After couple of months, we got the news that our home had an offer and was soon under contract. We put the HH condo on the market and had an offer about a month later (a far cry from the current market) and once that was under contract we made an offer on a home we had been interested in all during this time.
So, the stars aligned, the IN home sold, the HH condo sold 6 weeks later and we closed on the HH home the next day with immediate possession.
Our initial plan has long been replaced by Plan B, C and now D.
During those first few years of retirement (now 8 years ago), we found ourselves busy with life at HH and had little time to visit WDW at all. Family was able to use some of our points and we did something we had never expected - even rented and transferred DVC points - as we no longer had any need for enough points to spend 3 months at WDW.
The past few years we have been going with family and by ourselves mostly once/year. We had some banked RCI points (from the 2 Quartershares) and have used those to exchange into Orlando area timeshares and our final RCI points will run out with a trip this November. We also have a trip to OKW planned in January and have enough points to enjoy a couple of DVC stays each year as well as having enough for family to use at their convenience. We are now only a 5 hour drive to WDW (almost all Interstate).
We have been back twice since WDW reopened in summer 2020 and enjoyed both stays. We are also in the process of downsizing our DVC ownership to a more manageable level to support (and enjoy) 10-15 days each year.
(Sorry for the length of this!)
DVC Plans may be only to visit once every 3 years or as challenging as spending lengthy retirement time at WDW. We have had past reports of DVC Members spending many weeks (months) at WDW over winter months.
What DVC Plans do you have (or did you have)??
Please share your plan(s)!
Since the mid-70s we had been going to WDW about every 18 months with our children. They grew up enjoying the resorts and parks.
When we purchased in 1993, I was 46 and our oldest was in college and later joined by her sister in 1996 - so DW and I began to travel to WDW sans kids with using our DVC points. Like many, we enjoyed the resort(s) and parks enough to make multiple trips - eventually going 4-5 times each year for up to 10 days each time (Jan, May, Sept, Dec and sometimes Oct). During that time we acquired a bad case of "addonitis" and purchased additional contracts and Memberships - both direct and resale.
We eventually began starting planning life-after-retirement and the early consensus was that we could spend about 3 months each winter enjoying WDW in hopefully nicer weather than Indiana. We even purchased some non-DVC timeshares to supplement this plan for stays on the way to/from WDW.
We also started traveling to HH when our daughters were in high school since the weather was pleasant in March. We even purchased at the HHI DVC Resort in 1995 while it was under construction on one of those Spring Break trips.
Eventually, we acquired a Quartershare (13 weeks/year) right across the harbor from the DVC Resort at HH and were driving there for 2 weeks every other month. That plan eventually led to purchasing a 2nd Quartershare at the same resort so that we now had 4 consecutive weeks every other month. I was able to rearrange my office schedule to accommodate that and we still had the retirement plan of spending 3 months at WDW.
After enjoying the month-on-month-off schedule, we started looking at HH condos and, in 2010, found one also across the harbor from the DVC Resort, where the annual costs would be less than what our expenses were with the 2 Quartershares. So, we tried to sell the Quartershares - which was not a simple task in 2010 but OK since the cost of the condo was positively affected for buyers by the same real estate market.
During that time approaching retirement, it became apparent that we were enjoying being at HH enough to not "need" three months at WDW each winter. We ended up selling one DVC membership to help with the condo purchase.
By this time, I had retired and our plan had evolved from 3 months at WDW each winter to selling our home and purchasing a condo in Indiana so that we'd have a condo in IN and one in HH.
We soon became a bit disenchanted with the condo (but NOT Hilton Head) as the owner's in the unit above passed away leaving their property to children who had no interest in being there - so it became a rental unit and we found ourselves with new neighbors almost every Friday night - sometimes for a week, sometimes for a weekend.
So, we decided to see what the real estate market had available for homes at HH, which would be dependent on selling our home in IN, buying the condo there, selling the HH condo and buying a home there. The annual expenses of owning and maintaining our home are actually less than the condo (which was less than the 1/4shares) - property taxes, maintenance, phone, utilities, water, lawn care, etc.
The first summer found little interest in the home in IN, so we took it off the market (since we were now living at HH in the condo) and continued then occasional trips back to IN. That winter we put the IN home back on the market and made the decision not to purchase the IN condo. After couple of months, we got the news that our home had an offer and was soon under contract. We put the HH condo on the market and had an offer about a month later (a far cry from the current market) and once that was under contract we made an offer on a home we had been interested in all during this time.
So, the stars aligned, the IN home sold, the HH condo sold 6 weeks later and we closed on the HH home the next day with immediate possession.
Our initial plan has long been replaced by Plan B, C and now D.
During those first few years of retirement (now 8 years ago), we found ourselves busy with life at HH and had little time to visit WDW at all. Family was able to use some of our points and we did something we had never expected - even rented and transferred DVC points - as we no longer had any need for enough points to spend 3 months at WDW.
The past few years we have been going with family and by ourselves mostly once/year. We had some banked RCI points (from the 2 Quartershares) and have used those to exchange into Orlando area timeshares and our final RCI points will run out with a trip this November. We also have a trip to OKW planned in January and have enough points to enjoy a couple of DVC stays each year as well as having enough for family to use at their convenience. We are now only a 5 hour drive to WDW (almost all Interstate).
We have been back twice since WDW reopened in summer 2020 and enjoyed both stays. We are also in the process of downsizing our DVC ownership to a more manageable level to support (and enjoy) 10-15 days each year.
(Sorry for the length of this!)
DVC Plans may be only to visit once every 3 years or as challenging as spending lengthy retirement time at WDW. We have had past reports of DVC Members spending many weeks (months) at WDW over winter months.
What DVC Plans do you have (or did you have)??
Please share your plan(s)!