Who is a WDW snowbird????

[drusba]

There is no 10 day rule. Only rule is that if you call exactly 11 months out from date of arrival, or 7 months out for non-owned resot, you can make reservation for only 7 nights. However, if say you call 9 months out for your home resort, you can make reservation for a two month stay (because of the 7 night rule, your departure date from WDW, when making reservation, cannot be more than 11 months plus 7 nights away from the day you call but theorectically if you called for a date of arrival only a month away from the date you call, you could reserve 10 months at the same time)). Your real limit is simply points you have and DVC owners are limited to 2,000 any one resort and 5,000 total.

 

[a742246]

Thank you for the info.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Does anyone know if there is a time limit for staying in one room for DVC? TIA

The front desk CM at BC told me 1 month, but the question is-do you believe front desk CMs on this?

 

[Judique]

The front desk CM at BC told me 1 month, but the question is-do you believe front desk CMs on this?

I believe this is correct in essence, but that you could check out and check back in again on a second reservation for an additional month. Someone who has actually read the POS will soon chime in

 

[DizGirl20]

Wow, thanks for posting; you all have given me something to think about. I am in my early 40's and to be honest never really gave much thought to spending an extended amount of time in WDW but what a fantastic idea! So thanks to this thread, now I am thinking along the lines of... better buy more points now rather than in 20 years when they are $500/point!

 

[dvc_john]

The front desk CM at BC told me 1 month, but the question is-do you believe front desk CMs on this?

In the past, I've seen parking passes in the windows of cars parked at OKW with check-out dates more than a month later.

 

[tea pot]

My wife and I are almost Disney snowbirds.

I just retired from the AF in Sept after 33 years. My wife is quitting work June '11 and then we are going on a 2 1/2 year vacation. We have 2570 DVC points and I planned ahead and banked 2010 points into 2011.
We hope and plan to stay at Disney World, Disneyland and Aulani about 6 months out of the year for 2011-2012-2013. By banking and borrowing I should have four years worth of points or around 10,000 to spread out over 30 months. We also have four other timeshares to use and plan to spend a lot of time at the beach.

WOW Sounds Wonderful
All the Best to You

 

[pb4ugo]

Wow, thanks for posting; you all have given me something to think about. I am in my early 40's and to be honest never really gave much thought to spending an extended amount of time in WDW but what a fantastic idea! So thanks to this thread, now I am thinking along the lines of... better buy more points now rather than in 20 years when they are $500/point!

better cost that out as opposed to what you are going to pay in closing costs and maintenance fees 'til you reach your goal!

 

[tomandrobin]

Thank you for your reply, It sounds like you already decided on the WDW route a while ago. Good for you. May I ask, Why did you decide on going the WDW instead of buying a condo somewhere???

First, the timeshares allow us to get away for just part of the year. It allows the time we need to escape. If we had a condo, it would sit empty at least 9 months of the year. We don't want have to worry about a property 1200 miles away, maintaining it and paying a year's worth of expenses for 3 months of use.
Plus, we like a little variety. Disney is our thing, but we also love visiting other destinations like the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Hawaii.

Also, we currently own three condos in Myrtle Beach. We have a management company take care of the units and rentals. But they are a money pit.....costing us way more then the timeshares cost us in MFs each year.

We make money on our timeshare rentals.....not so much on the Condos.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Once DH retires, and we're settled into a home, most likely in Tennessee with DH working at Dollywood p/t,(hopefully) we're determined to spend January and February using our DVC. My DSis has agreed to take care of our Dog, whomever we have at the time. (Dollywood closes for those months and I really don't want to deal with snow or ice!)

Bobbi

PS. 2012 is our retirement year, and we hope to be in Tennessee by the summer of that year, so winter 2013 should be our first as "snowbirds."

 

[tomandrobin]

Once DH retires, and we're settled into a home, most likely in Tennessee with DH working at Dollywood p/t,(hopefully) we're determined to spend January and February using our DVC. My DSis has agreed to take care of our Dog, whomever we have at the time. (Dollywood closes for those months and I really don't want to deal with snow or ice!)

Bobbi

PS. 2012 is our retirement year, and we hope to be in Tennessee by the summer of that year, so winter 2013 should be our first as "snowbirds."

I really hope your plans work out for you, and everyone else with these similar plans. We are 15 years away from that goal and I am looking at members like you as our guides/mentors for out snow bird planning.

 

[Donna M]

My parents went the condo rental route. They rented a 3 bd on the ocean in Ormond Beach; the same unit each year too. They went in April for the month and met others staying year after year too. My dad said it was great because if the place got hit by a hurricane they could just go someplace else, they didn't have to deal with upkeep or anything. The price was reasonable too.

Now, I plan on staying at WDW in a few years for probably 3-4 weeks a year. We are trying to figure out the best way to stretch our points.

 

[nickspace]

I want my winter travel plans to be flexible when I retire. With a combination of DVC and rentals and maybe something else mixed in we will be happy. At this moment I do not want to own anything. That may change but the idea of exploring different warm climate locations in the USA is appealing to me.

 

[a742246]

First, the timeshares allow us to get away for just part of the year. It allows the time we need to escape. If we had a condo, it would sit empty at least 9 months of the year. We don't want have to worry about a property 1200 miles away, maintaining it and paying a year's worth of expenses for 3 months of use.
Plus, we like a little variety. Disney is our thing, but we also love visiting other destinations like the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Hawaii.

Also, we currently own three condos in Myrtle Beach. We have a management company take care of the units and rentals. But they are a money pit.....costing us way more then the timeshares cost us in MFs each year.

We make money on our timeshare rentals.....not so much on the Condos.

One of the things I was going to look at is a condo with a management company taking care of it. In theory it should work out but as you mentioned
it became a money pit, that is what I am afraid of would happen to me.

So far to me DVC looks like the best option. As I said before, I would rather spend 6 weeks staying in a 1 bedroom DVC and live, then 12 weeks in a condo just being comfortable.

Thank you for the reply.

a

 

[a742246]

Once DH retires, and we're settled into a home, most likely in Tennessee with DH working at Dollywood p/t,(hopefully) we're determined to spend January and February using our DVC. My DSis has agreed to take care of our Dog, whomever we have at the time. (Dollywood closes for those months and I really don't want to deal with snow or ice!)

Bobbi

PS. 2012 is our retirement year, and we hope to be in Tennessee by the summer of that year, so winter 2013 should be our first as "snowbirds."

Good for you, I am glad to hear that your plans are almost a reality.

Are there any people out here that are actually spending their winter months in Disney?? If so, is there any advice you can give us??

Thank you.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

If you want a nostalgic Disney experience you can do what my Aunt is doing:

www.villageflorida.com

These are surplus cabins from Ft. Wildnerness that were sold and now rented by this community. It costs $4,600 for the year and you can stay as long or short as you want. It is a short drive from WDW and has planned activities.

That would be cheaper than the MF on 1,000 points. There are lots of similar condos around. Last year they rented on the beach in Panama City for $400 per month for the winter.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If you want a nostalgic Disney experience you can do what my Aunt is doing:

www.villageflorida.com

These are surplus cabins from Ft. Wildnerness that were sold and now rented by this community. It costs $4,600 for the year and you can stay as long or short as you want. It is a short drive from WDW and has planned activities.

That would be cheaper than the MF on 1,000 points. There are lots of similar condos around. Last year they rented on the beach in Panama City for $400 per month for the winter.

So cool! I never saw these before, except when we stayed in them on our first trips to WDW back in the 80s. I'd love these, but I still want my HHI.

 

[Disnydad]

I'm am a new WDW/Central Florida snowbird. Originally we had enough points to spend Januaray at OKW in a 1 bedroom unit. That was supposed to start January of 2012. BUT! We purchased a 2 bedroom home this fall in Poinciana, Florida which is a 35 - 45 minute drive to Epcot. I just returned from a two week stay in the new house and am returning for the first week of February, first week of March and first week of April this winter. In addition we have a one week stay at VWL coming up the first week of January. We are selling off some of our DVC contracts (one is in ROFR now). Next winter we'll be spending even more time at our second home. In 4 to 5 years we'll be in Central Florida pretty much full time from November to April.

This is our new home info: http://www.solivita.com/

 

[courtneylauren]

My wife and I are almost Disney snowbirds.

I just retired from the AF in Sept after 33 years. My wife is quitting work June '11 and then we are going on a 2 1/2 year vacation. We have 2570 DVC points and I planned ahead and banked 2010 points into 2011.
We hope and plan to stay at Disney World, Disneyland and Aulani about 6 months out of the year for 2011-2012-2013. By banking and borrowing I should have four years worth of points or around 10,000 to spread out over 30 months. We also have four other timeshares to use and plan to spend a lot of time at the beach.

We can't think of a better place to retire to then Disney World. It would be great to build a house at the Four Seasons property, but I don't have a spare 2-3 million laying around for the house

Wow that sounds amazing! Best of luck.