Wisconsin/Minnesota DVC Owners

[vicarrieous]

Hello all! Just checking to see if there are WI or MN DVC Owners that want to connect. Looks like there are a couple other threads for owners by state and I didn't see one for Wisconsin so I thought I would start one! (If I missed the thread, feel free to let me know and I will delete this one)

I can introduce myself to get things rolling! We are BCV owners and have 150 points. We live just outside of La Crosse, WI. So far we have stayed at DVC resorts: BCV, POLY, Grand Cali, BWV, AKL. We just got back from an 8 day trip in early July and our next trip is planned for Jan 2022 to escape the Wisconsin Winter! lol.

 

[schultzywi]

Thanks for opening this thread. I am from Menomonee Falls (outside of Milwaukee). We currently own 75 points at CC. We recently sold 50 points at VGF to help in the purchase of a business (but I wish I had the points back). We are also heading down in January of 2022 to escape the cold. We are staying at BCV 1/22-1/28 to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary. I rented points to get a 2-bedroom and a 1-bedroom as there are 11 of us. When is your trip planned?

My last January stay was when it was the week of record lows in WI in January of 2019. Our flights were cancelled due to the cold temps so we rented a car and drove straight through because we were not missing the trip. It was well worth the drive.

We have stayed and BWV, Poly, CC, SS so far, in addition to may stays at other non-DVC Disney resorts.

 

[vicarrieous]

Thanks for opening this thread. I am from Menomonee Falls (outside of Milwaukee). We currently own 75 points at CC. We recently sold 50 points at VGF to help in the purchase of a business (but I wish I had the points back). We are also heading down in January of 2022 to escape the cold. We are staying at BCV 1/22-1/28 to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary. I rented points to get a 2-bedroom and a 1-bedroom as there are 11 of us. When is your trip planned?

My last January stay was when it was the week of record lows in WI in January of 2019. Our flights were cancelled due to the cold temps so we rented a car and drove straight through because we were not missing the trip. It was well worth the drive.

We have stayed and BWV, Poly, CC, SS so far, in addition to may stays at other non-DVC Disney resorts.

It's nice to "meet" another WI DVC owner Looks like we will be there about the same time! We are scheduled to be at BCV from Jan 20-30th. It may shift a day depending on flights.

I do remember that January! We headed to Disneyland that year and just slipped out before the cold and bad weather. We were glad to be gone and by the time we were back it was warmer and snow melting. That is one of the only reasons we hate going in January is the potential for cancelled flights.

 

[MonaMN]

Yes! Minnesotan here who was wondering if we had a thread!

We just bought our first contract this year (150 points at Copper Creek) and will use it for the first time on trip number eight in March.

We live just north of St Paul and typically do winter trips to escape. We have a middle schooler so we do spring break for now - that may change when she is off to college… but we have a few more trips before then!

Glad to connect with you!

 

[vicarrieous]

Yes! Minnesotan here who was wondering if we had a thread!

We just bought our first contract this year (150 points at Copper Creek) and will use it for the first time on trip number eight in March.

We live just north of St Paul and typically do winter trips to escape. We have a middle schooler so we do spring break for now - that may change when she is off to college… but we have a few more trips before then!

Glad to connect with you!

Welcome! Copper Creek is one resort I haven't toured yet, but the rooms look nice! Where will you be staying in March? At your home resort?

 

[MonaMN]

Welcome! Copper Creek is one resort I haven't toured yet, but the rooms look nice! Where will you be staying in March? At your home resort?

Yes - we actually ended up transferring points from another CC owner because we have friends coming with us and we needed more points to stay at Copper Creek. So it will be our first time in a two bedroom… exciting!

 

[vicarrieous]

Yes - we actually ended up transferring points from another CC owner because we have friends coming with us and we needed more points to stay at Copper Creek. So it will be our first time in a two bedroom… exciting!

That does sound fun! Enjoy

 

[ookitarepanda]

Minnesota here! We're in Oakdale, just east of St. Paul.

My wife used to work at Disneyland as a teenager and we just have a love for the parks overall, so we did WDW as our honeymoon in 2018. My dad was jealous so we planned another trip for February 2020 with my parents and brother, and it was around that time that I had done a bunch of research into DVC because we foresaw more family trips to WDW now that we've hit a point where we can just do that. Toured at Riviera with dad, and it was actually him that just said, "at this point it would be dumb not to buy in."

Despite hemming and hawing about resale/direct, which home resort, what UY, we decided on buying 100 at Riviera to start. Since then we did a March 2021 trip - we had gotten vaccinated in February - and did a split stay between BLT and RIV. They were also offering tours at all the DVC resorts with the grand villas so we took a look at Poly's bungalows, CC's cabins, and VGF's 2800 sq ft gigantovilla.

And like the two other folks in this thread already, we will also be taking a trip in January of next year! We'll be doing another split between OKW and Boardwalk, as I start on my quest to try every DVC resort and decide where I'd want to add on points (so far, BLT is in the lead because of proximity to MK and availability/point-cost of rooms). But we may just miss people because our trip is around MLK. Typically our trip time will be around MEA, like a bajillion other Minnesotans, but October is a super fun time to be at Disney and we have yet to try a MNSSHP if it comes back!

 

[vicarrieous]

Minnesota here! We're in Oakdale, just east of St. Paul.

My wife used to work at Disneyland as a teenager and we just have a love for the parks overall, so we did WDW as our honeymoon in 2018. My dad was jealous so we planned another trip for February 2020 with my parents and brother, and it was around that time that I had done a bunch of research into DVC because we foresaw more family trips to WDW now that we've hit a point where we can just do that. Toured at Riviera with dad, and it was actually him that just said, "at this point it would be dumb not to buy in."

Despite hemming and hawing about resale/direct, which home resort, what UY, we decided on buying 100 at Riviera to start. Since then we did a March 2021 trip - we had gotten vaccinated in February - and did a split stay between BLT and RIV. They were also offering tours at all the DVC resorts with the grand villas so we took a look at Poly's bungalows, CC's cabins, and VGF's 2800 sq ft gigantovilla.

And like the two other folks in this thread already, we will also be taking a trip in January of next year! We'll be doing another split between OKW and Boardwalk, as I start on my quest to try every DVC resort and decide where I'd want to add on points (so far, BLT is in the lead because of proximity to MK and availability/point-cost of rooms). But we may just miss people because our trip is around MLK. Typically our trip time will be around MEA, like a bajillion other Minnesotans, but October is a super fun time to be at Disney and we have yet to try a MNSSHP if it comes back!

I totally agree about Jan and Oct. Its my two favorite times to go Right now I am watching flight prices for our Jan trip and excited to hear what else may open or change before we go again. Have fun at OKW & BWV. I think you will really enjoy the location of BWV too

 

[sethschroeder]

Wisconsin here with 300 Riviera and 150 Boardwalk

 

[vicarrieous]

Wisconsin here with 300 Riviera and 150 Boardwalk

Looks like we need a WI/MN meet up in January! hahahaha we all seem to be going the same time! We want to tour Riviera in January when we go. Any thoughts/tips/considerations for you Riv owners?

 

[sethschroeder]

Looks like we need a WI/MN meet up in January! hahahaha we all seem to be going the same time! We want to tour Riviera in January when we go. Any thoughts/tips/considerations for you Riv owners?

Riviera is a great resort and you for sure will want to stop by to see it and eat at Primo Piatto. Its actually a great way to get back from HS one day on your trip. Take the skyliner to CBR, then walk through CBR over to Riviera. Then you have just a short walk back from the Skyliner to BCV.

Its also a fairly consolidated resort so very easy to take in and see by just walking around.

 

[vicarrieous]

Riviera is a great resort and you for sure will want to stop by to see it and eat at Primo Piatto. Its actually a great way to get back from HS one day on your trip. Take the skyliner to CBR, then walk through CBR over to Riviera. Then you have just a short walk back from the Skyliner to BCV.

Its also a fairly consolidated resort so very easy to take in and see by just walking around.

Yes! We have done that already and really enjoyed Primo Piatto and the relaxing ride back from HS. Good point about it being consolidated. That is something we have struggled with at a few other resorts. We liked the grounds/vibe of the resort as well. My main questions/concerns are how is the Skyliner for Rope Drop and how are the room sizes/point charts. Are studios pretty difficult to get at 11 months out?

 

[ookitarepanda]

Yes! We have done that already and really enjoyed Primo Piatto and the relaxing ride back from HS. Good point about it being consolidated. That is something we have struggled with at a few other resorts. We liked the grounds/vibe of the resort as well. My main questions/concerns are how is the Skyliner for Rope Drop and how are the room sizes/point charts. Are studios pretty difficult to get at 11 months out?

Studios and Tower Studios are pretty easy to get at 11-month mark. Right now when I see May it's got more booked up because it's a cheaper time of year, but April and June have lots of availability.

But YES when we stayed at RIV the Skyliner was amazing. They open it up long enough to get you in at the half-hour-prior rope drop at either DHS or Epcot for sure. Our one problem was on the day we wanted to get to Disney Springs early for some Gideon's, since the buses didn't start running until 11 - we took the Skyliner to DHS, then a bus to SSR, then we walked into Disney Springs and it was fast and easy. Also, Topolino's was a lot of fun and that view from the rooftop patio is gorgeous.

The downside about RIV for sure is that the points per room are definitely higher than many others. For our future October trips, studios are 14/18/22 (Tower/Standard/Preferred) for weekdays and 18/20/27 for Friday/Saturday, compared to the ones that are much cheaper like SSR, OKW, BWV. It's still about the same as a resort like BLT (17/19/24 for weekdays) though.

 

[thewesterberg]

Hello! Northern Minnesotan here!
We picked up a teeny tiny resale at AKV back in 2009. It’s worked out well for our family to go every few years as we bank/borrow our points in creative ways to make trips work! Took our DS who graduated this year to WDW in April to try to redeem a bit of his senior year. It will be a couple of years until we head back… absence makes the heart go fonder, right?!

 

[vicarrieous]

Hello! Northern Minnesotan here!
We picked up a teeny tiny resale at AKV back in 2009. It’s worked out well for our family to go every few years as we bank/borrow our points in creative ways to make trips work! Took our DS who graduated this year to WDW in April to try to redeem a bit of his senior year. It will be a couple of years until we head back… absence makes the heart go fonder, right?!

Welcome! The nice thing about waiting is by the time you go back there is usually a bunch of new things to try! Did these recent borrowing restrictions impact your travel schedule this past year?

 

[Shellyred8]

Minnesotan here. We own at BWV and BLT. Our next trip is at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct for the 50th. We also like to go in Jan/feb, but are going to take a break from WDW for a bit after our AP's expire in Dec.

 

[vicarrieous]

Minnesotan here. We own at BWV and BLT. Our next trip is at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct for the 50th. We also like to go in Jan/feb, but are going to take a break from WDW for a bit after our AP's expire in Dec.

It sounds like the MK - Epcot resort split is the way to go!

We just bought back in Jan of 2021 and REALLY were hoping to have AP's reinstated before our first trip in July. That didn't happen. So now we are talking about scaling back our Jan 2022 trip to less park days.

 

[thewesterberg]

Welcome! The nice thing about waiting is by the time you go back there is usually a bunch of new things to try! Did these recent borrowing restrictions impact your travel schedule this past year?

Exactly - always something new! I’ve managed to finagle trips with colleagues/friends when there’s been work conferences in Jacksonville and Anaheim so I had been to Galaxy’s Edge in DLR. This last trip allowed my DH and DS, the true Star Wars fans of of the family, to experience it. The borrowing restrictions didn’t help but we made it work. We were able to get a 1 bedroom value at AKV-Jambo for 4 nights. With a super early flight on arrival day, we arrived in time to eat lunch at Beaches and Cream. And then on departure day we had a late flight so we spent all day at AK. It was a bit intense but we made it work!

 

[robinb]

Hi everyone! We're from Madison, Wisconsin . We originally bought 230 points at OKW for $55 (resale), then 200 points at BWV for $62 (resale). We sold the OKW for $72 and bought 2 50-point contracts at AKV (direct) for $92. So now we have 200 BWV points and 100 AKV points. We love the Boardwalk View at BWV and the Club level at AKV. We don't mind studios and that's what we stay in most of the time.