ray3127
Life goal = Quarterly vacation
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2018
I was going to start a new thread called "Jumping back in," but thought my comments fit just as well with these great stories. Our long-term plan has continually evolved over the last 3 years. Here's our journey so far.
June 2018: Stayed at Disneyland Hotel with my wife, son (4 at the time), and daughter (6 months at the time). We always loved Disney, but this trip opened our eyes to all kinds of magic with our family. When we walked by the Grand Californian, I said "we're staying there next time." Then I came home, priced out GCH, and realized that probably wouldn't happen too regularly. I soon stumbled across DVC, and became intrigued. I had looked at DVC before, but could never justify it. Thinking about the future with our family, this time was different.
Several spreadsheets later...
ACCUMULATION PHASE
- Fall 2018: Bought 200 BCV & 160 BLT (resale)
- Early 2019: Bought 125 VGC (resale) & 75 BLT (direct for benefits)
First DVC stays were June 2019 (BCV), Sept. 2019 (Poly), and Dec. 2019 (VB, BLT, BCV).
ADDONITIS STRIKES
After the September stay we bought 100 more BLT resale. We couldn't get enough!
COVID - HOPEFUL
Then Covid…
COVID - LOSING HOPE
But as the reality set in that things wouldn't snap back quickly, we lost faith. We didn't like the feeling of having points we *needed* to use or lose. No fast passes, no fireworks, no characters, and wearing masks was not our idea of Disney. Concerned about how long this would last, and realizing we enjoyed more vacation flexibility, by Fall 2020 we listed some of our points for sale.
My sister's wedding finally happened in October 2020, and we had a nice stay at BWV. It was nice to finally return, though much was still missing.
We still sold all our WDW points except for our 75 direct BLT, and were dangerously close to selling our coveted VGC points (the whole reason this DVC plan was hatched in the first place) without ever getting to use them.
CALMING DOWN
We continued with a visit over Christmas & New Year's 2020 (which we booked in January 2020), again staying at VB, BCV, and BLT. Though it wasn’t perfect, there was enough Disney magic to bring back a spark for us. The trip gave us the courage to hold on to what we had a little longer.
We’ve sat tight on our 200 remaining points since returning home in January, but over the last few weeks we've been very encouraged. Seeing the masks finally go away, the return of fireworks, and the comments from many that "it's like pre-covid Disney" have brought an enormous amount of excitement to my family. We can't wait to get back.
We have a VGC trip lined up for October that looks great from here, and a Dolphin/BLT split stay over New Year's. Looking to the future, we are excited to get more Disney trips on our calendar.
EVALUATING OUR NEEDS (Finally, here’s the “Long-term plan”!)
Having owned and used DVC for over 2 years, we now know how we can use the program to maximize our benefits. This includes:
JUMPING BACK IN
We’ve also learned that our absolute favorite WDW resort is Beach Club. When we stayed at Boardwalk in October, I walked through/by Beach Club and missed home. When we left Beach Club in December, I longingly wondered when we would return. In planning our trip for December 2021, not being able to book Beach Club bothered me. A lot.
We knew we needed 75 more points for our long-term plan, and we weren't getting Beach Club studios with other points… so, we (gasp) just added on 75 direct Beach Club points. October UY, so we get 2020 points as well. I know it’s overpriced, but compared to the stripped small-point resale contract prices, it’s closer than you might think.
Of course, Beach Club expires in 2042. Our kids are currently 7 & 3. The time between now and then, especially the next 10 years, is extraordinarily precious. By 2042, my family will be 55, 54, 28, and 24. If all we get is 4-5 nights in Beach Club studios for the next 21 years, then it's worth it to me.
We toured Riviera in December, and it was lovely. The rooms and pool look incredible. It is a really nice resort, and I hope we get to stay there someday.
For us, after staying at 4 DVC resorts across 5 WDW stays, nothing beats the Crescent Lake area, Stormalong Bay, walkability to two parks, and simply the vibe of Beach Club. It was our first DVC stay, and it is home. If we wanted 125+ points, we’d scour the resale market. But for 75 in a specific UY, I’m not sure we could do much better via resale.
CLOSING
So we are back up to 275 points, which seems like a very reasonable number after ballooning up to over 800. And most importantly, we are happy.
The 150 between BLT & BCV will be used for 3 stays (4-5 nights each) in studios every other year, during which we will leverage the Gold APs. Likely a fall/spring/fall pattern, as we do not like the summer heat!
The 125 VGC will be used during the summer and/or to fill in long weekends when we don’t go to WDW.
In 3 years we went through several phases (accumulation, addonitis, downsizing, and now right-sizing). I’m not naive enough to think our needs won’t change again as time moves on. But we are making decisions now with years of using DVC under our belt, and I think we’ve thought them through a fair bit. Hopefully they stick a little longer this time.
June 2018: Stayed at Disneyland Hotel with my wife, son (4 at the time), and daughter (6 months at the time). We always loved Disney, but this trip opened our eyes to all kinds of magic with our family. When we walked by the Grand Californian, I said "we're staying there next time." Then I came home, priced out GCH, and realized that probably wouldn't happen too regularly. I soon stumbled across DVC, and became intrigued. I had looked at DVC before, but could never justify it. Thinking about the future with our family, this time was different.
Several spreadsheets later...
ACCUMULATION PHASE
- Fall 2018: Bought 200 BCV & 160 BLT (resale)
- Early 2019: Bought 125 VGC (resale) & 75 BLT (direct for benefits)
First DVC stays were June 2019 (BCV), Sept. 2019 (Poly), and Dec. 2019 (VB, BLT, BCV).
ADDONITIS STRIKES
After the September stay we bought 100 more BLT resale. We couldn't get enough!
COVID - HOPEFUL
Then Covid…
- Disney Fantasy cruise on March 14, 2020 cancelled (not DVC, but Disney related… yep, first cruise cancelled).
- April 2020, sister's WDW wedding postponed.
- June 2020, road trip west to VGC cancelled.
COVID - LOSING HOPE
But as the reality set in that things wouldn't snap back quickly, we lost faith. We didn't like the feeling of having points we *needed* to use or lose. No fast passes, no fireworks, no characters, and wearing masks was not our idea of Disney. Concerned about how long this would last, and realizing we enjoyed more vacation flexibility, by Fall 2020 we listed some of our points for sale.
My sister's wedding finally happened in October 2020, and we had a nice stay at BWV. It was nice to finally return, though much was still missing.
We still sold all our WDW points except for our 75 direct BLT, and were dangerously close to selling our coveted VGC points (the whole reason this DVC plan was hatched in the first place) without ever getting to use them.
CALMING DOWN
We continued with a visit over Christmas & New Year's 2020 (which we booked in January 2020), again staying at VB, BCV, and BLT. Though it wasn’t perfect, there was enough Disney magic to bring back a spark for us. The trip gave us the courage to hold on to what we had a little longer.
We’ve sat tight on our 200 remaining points since returning home in January, but over the last few weeks we've been very encouraged. Seeing the masks finally go away, the return of fireworks, and the comments from many that "it's like pre-covid Disney" have brought an enormous amount of excitement to my family. We can't wait to get back.
We have a VGC trip lined up for October that looks great from here, and a Dolphin/BLT split stay over New Year's. Looking to the future, we are excited to get more Disney trips on our calendar.
EVALUATING OUR NEEDS (Finally, here’s the “Long-term plan”!)
Having owned and used DVC for over 2 years, we now know how we can use the program to maximize our benefits. This includes:
- Staying in studios. We’ve stayed in 1-BR & 2-BR, and while they are nice, they aren’t necessary. We love the DVC resorts, but just don’t need all the space. We bought (and used) a bunch of extra points thinking we needed larger rooms, but they just weren’t worth it to us.
- We prefer shorter trips to keep the magic alive. 4-5 nights is great for us.
- At WDW, 12 months on/off is our plan. 3 trips in a 12-month cycle with APs is our ideal. Flying from Omaha or Kansas City to Orlando is usually reasonable, too.
JUMPING BACK IN
We’ve also learned that our absolute favorite WDW resort is Beach Club. When we stayed at Boardwalk in October, I walked through/by Beach Club and missed home. When we left Beach Club in December, I longingly wondered when we would return. In planning our trip for December 2021, not being able to book Beach Club bothered me. A lot.
We knew we needed 75 more points for our long-term plan, and we weren't getting Beach Club studios with other points… so, we (gasp) just added on 75 direct Beach Club points. October UY, so we get 2020 points as well. I know it’s overpriced, but compared to the stripped small-point resale contract prices, it’s closer than you might think.
Of course, Beach Club expires in 2042. Our kids are currently 7 & 3. The time between now and then, especially the next 10 years, is extraordinarily precious. By 2042, my family will be 55, 54, 28, and 24. If all we get is 4-5 nights in Beach Club studios for the next 21 years, then it's worth it to me.
We toured Riviera in December, and it was lovely. The rooms and pool look incredible. It is a really nice resort, and I hope we get to stay there someday.
For us, after staying at 4 DVC resorts across 5 WDW stays, nothing beats the Crescent Lake area, Stormalong Bay, walkability to two parks, and simply the vibe of Beach Club. It was our first DVC stay, and it is home. If we wanted 125+ points, we’d scour the resale market. But for 75 in a specific UY, I’m not sure we could do much better via resale.
CLOSING
So we are back up to 275 points, which seems like a very reasonable number after ballooning up to over 800. And most importantly, we are happy.
The 150 between BLT & BCV will be used for 3 stays (4-5 nights each) in studios every other year, during which we will leverage the Gold APs. Likely a fall/spring/fall pattern, as we do not like the summer heat!
The 125 VGC will be used during the summer and/or to fill in long weekends when we don’t go to WDW.
In 3 years we went through several phases (accumulation, addonitis, downsizing, and now right-sizing). I’m not naive enough to think our needs won’t change again as time moves on. But we are making decisions now with years of using DVC under our belt, and I think we’ve thought them through a fair bit. Hopefully they stick a little longer this time.