What sealed the deal for you?

[gtrist4life]

What sealed the deal for us was the free lunch voucher which we used at Beaches and Cream after our tour/presentation

Seriously, we probably would have put off purchasing if we didn’t take the tour, and the vouchers sealed the deal for us to take the tour.

Also to affirm and add to what others have stated

• Flexibility –in size of accommodations (Studio to Grand Villa), dates (all year long), and locations (Hilton Head, Vero, WDW) I only stated the DVC locations as this is how your points are most effectively used, but you do have other (albeit more “expensive”) choices.

• Cost/Inflation hedge
• Quality of Resorts/Location – On WDW property

 

[dsneygirl]

What sealed the deal for us was the free lunch voucher which we used at Beaches and Cream after our tour/presentation

Free lunch! Now you only get an ice cream scoop.

 

[shelleyz]

We got 4 Quick & Casual(is that what they are called) vouchers a few weeks ago when we did the SSR tour. DH and DS6 got the scoop of ice cream too.

 

[TW1]

DW said to the guide.."Hey that's a nice pen" to which he said "Would you like it?" and she immeditately used it to sign the papers.

After that I've had this recurring vision of a hidden camera in the room, taking a picture of this moment and then using it in a training video to new agents with some cheesy voice over..."Now take at look at this quick thinking sales agent. See how he offers the customer exactly what interests them the most?"

My salesman-extraordinaire father always said "its the sizzle, not the steak." Well DVC is one tasty steak, and the sizzle ain't bad either.

 

[nuthut]

It was seven years of free park passes for me. No regrets here as my investment has grown in value beyond my wildest dreams!

 

[princess mom]

i think for us, knowing that IF we ever needed to sell, we could sell pretty quick. And not to mention that our children and thier children can enjoy the magic because of the purchase. missy

 

[Geubux]

What sealed it?

1) We saw the presentation the first time in 98. We had seen many timeshares, but there was no pressure and we were out in 40 minutes, not 3 hours. didn't buy then.
2) Saw a time share in Virginia Beach, VA in late April with the temp in the 50's. The lady tried to tell me I had more flexibility with them. I said, "come off it, everyone wants to trade for disney."
3) Dec 99. A rainy Saturday two weeks before Christmas. We had just spent a week in CBR with two kids. didn't want to waste a day at MGM when we were driving home that night anyway. Told our guide that day that I just wanted updated info and had no intention of buying. He said not a problem, they were slow that morning anyway and we just joked around as he went through the presentation since he said that was the only way he knew how to show the dial. Found out I COULD afford it AND Hilton Head, and Vero Beach, and even use points downtown Chicago that next summer(our next planned trip). Told the guide I was wrong, I did want to buy that day. We were still out of the place in 3 hours with everything signed and sealed. That was a normal timeshare presentation before. My kids, now 15 and 11, still think that was the babysitting club they had seen on the videos! LOL.
4) Trip to HH with my inlaws. Possibly the most relaxing vacation I have ever taken.
5) Trips to BWV with my parents, now 73 and 68. It's easier on them staying on property and they just like to go and watch the kids have fun. My mother even said last week that Epcot is probably her favorite place at Christmas with the choir.
6) Being on property in a LUXURY room. I can go to my fridge in my underwear at 5 am for breakfast ( if I can't sleep) and let every one else sleep in. Or just getting a glass of cold, fresh OJ at that time and going back to bed knowing we'll still be some of the first people into the park that am.
7) My wife telling me that no matter how nice the rooms are at the GF or any other hotel on property, they are still JUST a hotel room, with two beds, a TV and a toilet.
8) Taking my kids to Disney so many times that they actually have little favorite things to see, to do and to eat. They'll remember that long after I'm gone.

Why not?

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

We're probably a lot like Winjos - we bought at our Sept. 2004 trip and just went home this past February. We love Disney, knew we'd be back at least every other year, and we also knew we'd be starting a family and loved the idea of having a 1 or 2 bedroom so that we didn't have to go to bed when the kids do. Plus the fact that even the studios feel like a deluxe room didn't hurt. We just factored out how much we had already spent on hotel rooms onsite and realized it would be a great deal for us in the long run! We're going to HH this summer and are already planning a family trip next spring in a 2 BDR and our own little one plus my sister, neice, and mom! I am sure I'll really appreciate having the laundry then!

 

[brivers222]

My DW would say the size and style of the rooms of course!

I personally look at the tab from our trip last year (NON DVC) for 4 people spending 10days at WDW at the AKL & ASMv is was about $4000.00.... Of that money $2000.00 of it was for the itsy bitsy rooms at both resorts. I could of stayed in the DVC rooms for a fraction of that price. Never again... DVC all the way

What was it that made you take the plunge for DVC?

So was there one thing that made the decision for you?

 

[DavidPJ]

Just signed up with Saratoga last week.

* We really liked Saratoga
* I really liked the idea of occasionally staying at Saratoga for a day while DW and daughter go to WDW
* Pay with today's dollars, hedge against inflation
* Better quality vacationing
* 500+ Interval exchange choices and opportunity to try many new destinations that without DVC we would not consider
* Ability to take Disney cruise where normally I wouldn't want to pay the cash premium for a Disney cruise (I know I still pay a point premium instead)
* Contract will outlive us, daughter can use until she's 54 years old
* More family vacations
* Opportunity to use DVC Hilton Head for drivable vacation
* My dear wife really wanted it

 

[DVCLiz]

Knowing that even if we occasionally got tired of a WDW vacation, we would never get tired of Hilton Head. Many of our friends go to the beach every year, and now we do too!!

 

[FanOfStitch]

I decided to join in 2001 on my first trip to WDW with my son. We had such a wonderful time and just figuring out how much the rooms would cost compared to how much I was spending on DVC, it just makes sense to become a member. Also, as corny as this sounds, I just love checking into my WDW room and have the CM "Welcome Me Home." My favorite DVCR so far is OKW.

 

[geffric]

we started looking at timeshare since '91 when my oldest DS was a baby..looked at lots of timeshare and they all told us that the reson to buy them was that they were close to Disney.. so we looked at Disney, free tickets, and other baby in the works.. it was a no brainer.. bought in 93, DS#2 was 4 months old. We were in a studio when the kids were small, moved to a 1 bedroom very soon.. the laundry, the full kitchen got to us.. now we are in a 2 bedroom.. DH was very agreeable would never NEVER spend the cash to stay in a deluxe.. now he loves DVC..

 

[JimMIA]

In addition to all of the other factors previously mentioned, I liked the banking/borrowing availability. That gives you the ability to leverage your points in ways that really maximize their value.

And...this was not something we considered during the decision-making process, but a value we realized afterwards -- DVC gives you the ability to do things you otherwise would not do.

I am one of those morons who said I would never bring in-laws to Disney on my nickel. Never! We were going to WDW for the holiday stuff in December, but I wasn't telling anybody!

But then I got thinking about our beloved Grandma and all the wonderful things she's done for Baby Girl ("I'm three!"). Grandma is in her 70's and has a wonderful sister who wishes she was. Both are in excellent health, but I asked myself, "How long is this going to last?" And, "Wouldn't it be great for Grandma to see Baby Girl's excitement?"

Then I looked at those "free" banked points I got with my resale. I also looked at those 400,000 frequent flyer miles in my American Airlines account.

And then I did some math. We could go and stay for a few days in a studio. Or...we could take Grandma and stay in a one bedroom. Or...I could fly Auntie down with FF miles and we could all stay in a two bedroom. The only real cost would be some FF miles I got for nothing and some banked points I got for nothing.

Needless to say, the five of us will be at OKW the first week of December. It's only a short stay, but it's something we would never have even dreamed of doing without DVC. I suspect it will also be a trip we will all cherish for many years to come.

 

[MaryAnnBaum]

We returned from a SSR tour on March 31. We decided to go the resale route because you can often find contracts with banked points. We ended up with a 400 pt SSR contract with all 03 and 04 points at $84 a point. Disney would have been $87 per point with no 03 and 04 points. If you figure that a point is worth its rental rate of $10 per point(did you know you could rent out points!?!) we feel we saved $3 per point,$1200, and the $8000 value of the additional points. However, we paid $725 of closing costs and $1530 of '04 maint fees. We will close on our contract Mon. and it will probably take another week to get into Disney's system so all told it will have been 5 weeks to actually be able to use the points, so that is another consideration. Then there is the financing. Disney makes this easier but we used Tammac Financial and it has been very smooth.

Our reasons for wanting to join were:
We live in NC with 4 children, we wanted a vacation destination within reasonable driving distance since flying gets expensive for 6
We stayed at a 2br suite at the Quality Inn on our last trip and paid $2700(during Easter break) What a dump! I like to vacation at Ritz Carlton's but don't like to pay the price! SSR was as nice as the last Ritz room I stayed in but at a Quality Inn price!
My husband feels that we will be able to sell at a price reasonably close to what we paid while having vacationed in the intervening years. So there is less risk to buying DVC since there is such a good resale market. ( I think my husband is wrong... we will never sell...we'll probably add more points!)
We don't plan to spend much time at the parks! We bought in to have a nice place in Florida to stay, with nice fun pools, occassional trips to the beaches, VB and HH, in a desirable area.
If we don't want to go to Orlando we can rent out our points and go somewhere else cheaper (including a Disney Cruise) From my calculations,
you would be better off to rent your points and buy a Disney Cruise than using your points to cruise.

 

[WDWLVR]

We had pretty much made up our mind to buy when we flew down for a quick visit and stayed at All Stars. What sealed the deal when we took the tour:

• The king bed in a separate bedroom
• The full kitchen
• The jacuzzi tub

We love our one bedroom villas! This June we are even getting one with a Boardwalk view.

 

[jacksmom]

What sealed the deal for us.... My dh and I could not wait to take our only child to Disney! We planned a "Once of a lifetime trip" for him (Poly Concierge!) right after his 4th birthday! Well, he loved it!!!! On the long drive home, he asked dh "can we go back next week?" For months afterward he continued to ask to go back! For Christmas, he asked to go back, for his birthday he asked to go back! Finally dh asked me "why haven't you planned another trip?" So, 10 months after ds's first trip, we went back! (GF Lodge Tower) This was when dh decided we would probably be returning! And, returning often!! So, on our last day we took "the tour!" All the way home we discussed it! On Monday we called and bought at BCV before it opened! Would we do it again??? Yes! My ds still loves going to WDW! The memories of our family trips are priceless! It has been worth every penny for us!!!

 

[douggod]

Two years ago my oldest turned 9, my wife said "do you realize that we have had used up 1/2 the time she will live with us?"

That did it, no more "maybe next year"

I have wasted a lot of money on a lot of things, this has been priceless.

 

[DeeCee735]

Staying off-site and dealing with NY traffic in FLA - on a vacation - total bummer!

BWV - fell in love at first site

Forced Vacations in the best vacation destination in the world

Having it for me & DH, our kids, and hopefully, eventually our grandchildren!

Good luck with your decision

 

[Mike]

Staying at the WL with 3 kids (9, 7, 2). We were at a Deluxe and we were cramped. I soon realized that it wouldn't be long before we would be getting connecting rooms. I had been considering DVC since 2000. But back then we just had 2 kids and I wasn't sure if coming every year was a good idea because we would get sick of it. After trips in 2000, 01, 03, 04 and trips planned in 05 and 06, I finally saw the light and purchased an OKW resale for $70 a point. I could have bought in 2000 for around $62 a point. Add in the hotel bill for all my trips and I really wished I had done it sooner.