When you first bought DVC...

[Deb & Bill]

I was 47, Bill was 44 and our son was 4. He's now almost 25. He worked there for two years and got the pixie dust from his eyes. He's in grad school now with no plans to work there ever again.

 

[bbn1122]

We bought kind of late for our family. We purchased in 2010, I was 47, DH was 49 and our sons were 16, 11 and 9. But we did not do our first trip to the following spring when the boys were 17, 12 and 10. Our older son is now 24 and has missed a few vacations with us due to college.

DH and I plan to use it by ourselves for a few years once our youngest is out of college.

We did not buy that many points. But we really do enjoy having a guaranteed vacation every year.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Bought in 94
late 20s - married - two children 3 yrs and 1yr.

 

[Woody412]

We bought resale at BLT a few months ago when we were still 30. We have 4 kids and would have to book suites to fit our brood. DVC just made sense to us over the long term. We can get deluxe accommodations for less than an AoA sweet. The plan for now is to (hopefully) book studios while our youngest is still “free.” Then upgrade to 2 bedrooms every other year. If we decide we still want to go annually we can always add on. I figure DVC will also force me to actually enjoy my vacation time instead of spending my “staycation” on the couch. DW and I enjoyed WDW before the kids so I’m not worried about what will happen when they’re all out on their own.

 

[kniquy]

Sometimes it isn't necessarily based on your stage in life but more your financial status. We bought - It was my 40th birthday present to myself - at the time my twins were 10 and DD 2. We had a lump sum of money that we could use to buy and had to stick to that budget so we bought a smallish 120 point contract at AK. Now that DD is going to be heading to kindergarten (ie no more preschool payments!!!!) We will likely save up and buy a smaller poly contract.

 

[piratepride]

We bought in 2010. Our kids were 4 & 7 at the time. We bought resale and purchased SSR (160 pts) for $65 per point. We still feel it is one of the best decisions we have made. We go every year and have never stayed at our home resort. We have also taken three cruises w/ our points. Our kids will be my age when our contract expires and should hopefully get several trips with their families!

 

[mernin]

Bought resale last year at 38 & 40 with two kids 9 & 4. Had been 4 times with the last on rented points and that pushed us over the edge. Wish we could have done it in 2009 when we first looked at it but couldn’t afford it then. Looking forward to trips many years with kids and then without. We have 120 points and plan to use them every other year but not sure if I can wait that long between trips anymore!

 

[Chuck S]

Mom and I purchased together, in 1992. I was 34, gay and single. (still single ) Mom was 68. All my other closely related kinfolk had already passed away, no aunts,uncles or siblings. A few second cousins left. I was also Mom's caregiver, as she had broken her hip at age 65, and wound up needing two revisions after the initial surgery. And while I was still working,my boss was always generous with unpaid vacation time for trips to Disney. We were, at the time, going annually for two weeks and staying in a tower room at the Contemporary. So financially, it made sense for us to buy at OKW. We did short term 3 year financing through Disney...we were also fortunate to have gotten in on the free park pass purchase incentive so we had park passes through 1999. We added on 3 times, and had a total of 345 points. After Mom passed, I considered selling some of the points, but ended up keeping them. About ½ my trips (like my trip later this month) are solo in an OKW one bedroom. Other trips are shared with friends as my guests. Next year, I'll be booking 8 nights in a Grand Villa AND a two bedroom unit for a group of 11 people total, 9 adults and 2 ten year olds) My Mom's final DIsney trip was at the age of 86, so she was able to fully enjoy 18 wonderful years as a DVC member. When I take friends, unless there are special circumstances, they pay their meals and park tickets. I don't charge for the room(s). They do usually buy me a nice meal.

 

[Phatscott25]

We bought our first contract in 2015, I was 36 and DW was 38. Our four children then were 11 (twins), 8, and 7. We've added on quite a bit in a short time and I truly wish I would've known about DVC years before.

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

We also bought our first contract in 2015, I was 45 and DH was 46. Our 3 children then were ds 4, twin sons 22, and dd 27. We had been going to WDW for years and DH and I talked about buying DVC every time we went but I could never get him on board. Finally one day I told him I was buying in and I wasn't asking permission. We've added on two more times since then and both times were his idea.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I was 38.

No spouse no kids, it was just for me.

 

[kboo]

We bought last year - late 40s, 2 young kids (we didn't start having kids until we were in our 40s). Previously we'd been DINK workaholics, squeezing in vacations in conjunction with work conferences, which was nice when we didn't have kids, and more difficult once we had small kids. We now own a total of 385 points at 2 resorts and have a hankering for more - we are most likely going in 1-2br in the future, traveling at Easter/Christmas and school vacations, and going more than once a year. :-\ Holding off on adding on for a while, though.

DVC forced us to take the time away from work and our day-to-day lives and vacation and treat ourselves.

This was a MAJOR reason for us. Otherwise we were always going to be trying to squeeze in ad hoc vacations around our wokr travels, which is NOT AT ALL relaxing, and pretty near impossible with kids on a school schedule.

I was 47, Bill was 44 and our son was 4. He's now almost 25. He worked there for two years and got the pixie dust from his eyes. He's in grad school now with no plans to work there ever again.

Yikes. Right now our older DD wants to live at WDW when she grows up. But she's 6.

 

[merlib]

How old was everyone when you first bought into DVC? Also, what life stage were you at? Like, did you have young kids, older kids etc.

I’m asking as a 28 year old with no kids, but I go to Disney often. Just wanting to get some perspectives from people of different life stages of when to buy in

Well, my DD was three and she is now 28! My husband is retiring at the end of this month, and I have a few more years of work and I will be retiring too.

We have made so many good memories due to owning DVC. I can't even count the number of times we have been either as nuclear family or with family/friends. We have also used to trade out to other locations like Las Vegas, Colorado and Hawaii (before Aulani). It was one of the best decisions we ever made.

 

[mac_tlc]

We bought in 1992. I was 31, my DW was 32. Our daughter was 4 (now 31). Our son was still 2 years away (now 23).


75+ trips later, there are two grandsons in the tree now, plus a SIL and soon-to-be DIL. Everyone still looks forward to going to Disney and gets quite agitated if they don't have a trip on the drawing board.

mac_tlc

 

[jodifla]

We bought in 1996. We were in our mid 30s, no kids yet.

Probably the best purchase we ever made.

 

[jimmytammy]

I was 36, DW was 33. We had mid age kids, DD was 9, DS was 7. That was 2001.
IMO, any age, no matter the circumstances of life is a good time to buy in. If it makes you happy, doesn't set you back financially to a point of major debt, then go for it. It has been one of the best moves we ever made as a family, no regrets!

 

[Murron]

We bought in '92. We were 40 and our twins were 5.

 

[Matty B13]

We bought in 2016, DW was mid 30's, me early 40's, kids DD's 5 & 3 at that time, and our 3rd child on way. Have 370 points at 2 resorts, and hope to reach around 500 points total. We enjoy taking my folks with us, both to spend time with their grandkids and lets us take the older kids on the bigger rides while they watch our youngest, so we have only stayed in 2 bedroom units.

We got to the point where we had a good amount of money set aside for retirement and our girls educations already, and loved our 2015 Poly stay on cash. During all the research I did for the Poly 2015 stay, I saw a few website mentioning DVC but didn't really look into it. Well, after the 2015 trip which cost over $9k total, and saw a few of the DVC kiosks during the stay, I really started to look into the DVC system after our 2015 trip. Luckily I found Disboards and did some research and bought our first contract resale in spring of 2016.

 

[kboo]

We bought in 2016, DW was mid 30's, me early 40's, kids DD's 5 & 3 at that time, and our 3rd child on way. Have 370 points at 2 resorts, and hope to reach around 500 points total. We enjoy taking my folks with us, both to spend time with their grandkids and lets us take the older kids on the bigger rides while they watch our youngest, so we have only stayed in 2 bedroom units

We only have 2 kids, and are a little older than you. (Got started late with having kids) As a result, we are missing out a bit on enjoying the 3-generation trips. 2016 was our first and last with my parents because of my mom's dementia, though it's possible in a few years after my mom passes, he'll still have the energy to join us. This Thanksgiving we'll be bringing my MIL on her First Trip Ever. I can't wait to get her a first visit button and make sure she gets lots of attention. She will be 83 and we will probably have to get her a scooter - she can walk fine for shorter distances but her knees are creaky. FIL passed away in January, and so she was pretty housebound during the last few years of his life.

We got to the point where we had a good amount of money set aside for retirement and our girls educations already, and loved our 2015 Poly stay on cash. During all the research I did for the Poly 2015 stay, I saw a few website mentioning DVC but didn't really look into it. Well, after the 2015 trip which cost over $9k total, and saw a few of the DVC kiosks during the stay, I really started to look into the DVC system after our 2015 trip. Luckily I found Disboards and did some research and bought our first contract resale in spring of 2016.

Our first stay in a DVC was at BWV, also in 2015, on cash. We got a great deal on that trip, and I was 7 weeks pregnant with #2. It got us thinking about how our trips would be different with a little one, and how having at least a kitchenette, if not more, would be best. We started renting points and checking out other resorts and DVC in general. I wish we had bought before the 2016 restrictions had kicked in, but all in all, I'm happy with our choice, other than wishing we had bought more points sooner. Like you, we had (have) saved for all of the other things one should save for before buying a timeshare, and DH and I are in pretty recession-proof jobs.

 

[Matty B13]

She will be 83 and we will probably have to get her a scooter - she can walk fine for shorter distances but her knees are creaky.

I would definitely go with the scooter, after my father's chemo & radiation treatments in 2014-2015 (lucky for us it worked and he is cancer free so far, and he was able to make our 2015 Poly which we booked before his diagnosis in 2014). His mobility was significantly decreased and got tired easily and he definitely needed the scooter to keep up with everyone at the parks. The buses drivers are great about the loading and unloading of ECV's but they are a pain to deal with. I would just consider which park you are going to be at the most and try to book as close as possible, ie. BLT/Poly/VGF for MK and BWV/BCV for Epcot.

We bought in 2016 a week after the 2016 restrictions were put in place, and if we had gone to ROFR a couple of days earlier we would have gotten in under the deadline.