January 2008 - QotM

[administrator]

Let's start out with a question both practical and potentially warm/fuzzy:

How has your DVC membership changed your family's vacation habits and experiences?

Has it made you stop and smell the roses in this otherwise busy world (or do you still bring that laptop with you on vacation)? Has it made you reach out to family members and friends you might otherwise not have? Have you built special memories or do they tend to blend into into each other?

[wdw1972]

My family now is nothing like it was 10 years ago when I first became a member. Back then I was a single mom with a 10-11 year old son. DVC allowed us to go from the moderate resorts to a really nice resort. We brought all of our friends & family on trips during the first few years - staying in the bigger villas and letting our guests use the free park passes that came with the membership.

Later DVC became my way of taking solo trips for cheap....no lodging cost. Then I became involved with someone and would take some "couple" trips and some solo trips each year. Luckily he loved Disney too - sadly it wasn't enough to keep us together.

I've used my points for several Disney cruises - took along a girlfriend who couldn't really afford the Disney prices. She'd pay the $75 booking fee, my tips, and the parking for the car at the port....great deal for her, I got to enjoy her company and save the out-of-pocket stuff. I wouldn't have done that if I was paying cash for both of us to cruise!

Now my son is 21 and he's enjoying sharing WDW with his girlfriend. My trips lately have included them - usually 2 studios but sometimes a bigger villa. I'm still doing my solo trips, as I get to go more often than they do!

The beauty of DVC is it still fits no matter how your life changes, and make no mistake...it WILL change. I cringe when I see people wanting to buy wherever their (young) kids will like best. Helloooo??? Do you realize your kids will not be living with you for the next 50 years and most of the membership you'll be enjoying after the kids have (hopefully) grown up and moved out?? lol

Before DVC I was a park commando....at the park before it opened, stayed there until it closed. Now I'm a smell-the-roses person...in the parks maybe 2 -3 hours a day, and that's plenty! WDW is so much more than a theme park, and DVC has given me the means to enjoy & appreciate that.

[harmrose22]

Being a new owner, I am not really sure yet how it will overall change our vacation habits... I do know that DH will still bring his laptop but hopefully with his transition to a diff. position this month, it may stay home on short trips!!!

What I like already is that I get to go to the place I would have wanted to go every year anyway, meet other great people who love it as much as I do, and slow down. When we went this past May (before buying) we did a major commando visit b/c we did not know if we were going to be going again for awhile. I am looking forward to taking it slower, looking for hidden Mickey's more closely and knowing that it will be there next time if I didn't make it this time.

Also, I am really looking forward to taking DS and seeing how the trips change for him every year as he gets older!!! I hope he loves Disney as much as I do!

[Delaware Mike]

Well, the very first thing to change was the type of Christmas present I gave to DW.

Sound strange....?

To explain, in 2006 I started looking for enough points for the two of us to stay on-property each October for the anniversary of her 29th birthday. After many annual trips to WDW, I thought of buying 120 SSR points for her Christmas present. This number of points allows us to stay in a SSR studio each October (it's only the two of us).

This solved two problems for me... One, she never expected something like 120 SSR points as a Christmas present, and two, we now have a nice place to stay each year while fixing our lodging cost at a 2006 discounted rate (we bought resale, and paid $81.00 per point in 2006).

However, this caused one unforseen problem for me... How do I top that 2006 Christmas present...?

..but I digress.

Beginning with our first stay at "home" this past year, our annual WDW vacation takes on a more subdued, civilized, tone. We breakfast at "home" instead of within the parks or at some resort (our favorite was 1900 Park Place). We found having breakfast on our SSR veranda overlooking PI to be superior to an overpriced buffet. Juice, coffee and fruit while watching ducks swim by on the lake is more civilized than a breakfast with characters. As an added bonus, we can sleep-in instead of setting an early alarm, showering, dressing and rushing to some form of transporation for a trip to a restaurant.

We can walk to Marketplace for lunch, if we choose. Or we can take our time getting to one of the Parks or Waterparks. Knowing we will be back next year, we can dispense with commando-style WDW vacations. Instead, we take our time and explore all the little things we missed while rushing through our trips.

While realizing a savings by being members and by locking in our costs, we have actually raised the catagory of our resort from Moderate to DVC without increasing our future, annual, lodging cost. Also our saving on lodging costs increases our "other" vacation values as well. With our savings, more money is available for non-WDW vacations, we can stay in better resorts/hotels on trips outside of WDW.

Ah...it's good to stay "home"...

[Niki]

DVC has really been awesome for me. I come from a really small family. None of my relatives would go on such a vacation, but my husband's really huge family has been able to come with us, giving me the sense that I really belong in his big family. Immediately, DH and I were able to bring one of his sisters (my friend who set us up) along with us. She was on holiday from a very tense stint working for the United Nations in Cambodia. Her stress levels were washed away the minute she saw Mickey Mouse.

In 2006, we took our niece, her husband and our grand-niece to WDW staying at Boardwalk. Sophia's first Disney trip was wonderful to witness. We went in December for the Christmas decorations, and it really was very sentimental.

DVC also helped my pay my mortgage after I was laid off and was setting up my own law practice. Renting points helped pay the bills when I was really short of cash. I know this was not my intended use, but sometimes life throws ya a curve ball. It was one more way Disney helped me get through a tough time.

DH and I have had some really awesome trips together with friends and family, but also as a couple. We spent our 15 year wedding anniversary there. We stayed at HHI while I nursed a bad bout of the flu (I know, doesn't sound romantic but it was), went horseback riding on the beach, rode RnR over and over until we were dizzy, had some of our best meals at BWV, I broke 100 for the first time at Eagle Pines using the DVC golf membership. I could go on and on. We have some of our happiest memories because of DVC.

My last trip was special because I took a friend of mine and his new wife. We grew up together. As an only child, and kinda a loner, I didn't have many friends, really only two. This guy was one of them. After he got married and joined the Navy, we lost touch for well over a decade. Recently, we found each other again and he visited me while in Chicago on business for a couple of months. When he mentioned his DW and he had never taken a real vacation together, I invited them to go with us. I know they don't have alot of $$, so I was really happy we could help them take a great vacation to WDW. His wife was great, and we all laughed for an entire week. I was really excited to meet up with my childhood friend and meet his new wife. It brought back great memories from my childhood, and I realized why I liked the guy so much in the first place. Who better to do Disney with, and be a kid again with, than your DH and one of your best friends when you were a kid. It was really special, warm and fuzzy.

My next DVC trip I plan to take my best girlfriend, the only other buddy I had as a kid, and her DH and two kids. We have remained BFF since we were three. We have cancelled this DVC vacation twice due to her fight with cancer. She is now in remission, and the prognosis looks really good. We hope to go later this year or next. Need a little pixie dust on that one.

I am looking forward to making more DVC memories with those I love in the future.

[Daitcher]

DVC has changed a lot of things for us with travel.

We really slow it down at WDW now. We do not feel the need to go commando through the parks because we know we'll be back soon. We take more time to enjoy the surroundings and do some "normal" things on vacation. We really just relax more.

It has also changed our travel habits overall. We look for Timeshare properties often and stay in many around the world for that extra space that DVC has gotten us acustomed too.



DAVE

[Daitcher]

I thought of buying 120 SSR points for her Christmas present. This number of points allows us to stay in a SSR studio each October (it's only the two of us).


However, this caused one unforseen problem for me... How do I top that 2006 Christmas present...?..



How about getting her 130 SSR points? That out to top it.:laughing:

p.s. You have one nice wife. If I gave a gift like that to my wife for Christmas she would be less than thrilled. I stick to gifts that are exclusively for HER. DVC would be just as much for me if not more so I would be in hot water....... I've learned that lesson.....


DAVE

[AZeno]

DW and I have been Disney fanatics for the past 25+ years, since the park in Florida opened often visiting every year, sometimes twice per year. But ironically, we only became DVC members a little over a year ago. In hindsight, the major hurdle was that word "timeshare". It was by visiting boards like this one, and especially this one (shameless pandering?), that we were able to get over that hurdle. Now, with our DVC membership, we see a completely different Disney experience when we visit.
I just cannot say enough about the feeling we get when we pull into the guard station at the start of each visit and the CM tells us "welcome home". This alone sets the tone for the rest of stay.
We've also found that since we dont have to consider the direct cost of accomodations when we visit, we find ourselves visiting more often. Since we became members in Dec 06 we've been "Home" seven times and have been able to enjoy events that we would not normally attempt, like MNSSHP, Epcot F&G, Epcot F&W, Osborne Lights, etc. In the past, if a visit coincided with one of these events we considered it a bonus, now we plan mini trips around these events specifically.
The other major difference is that with the assurance that we will be visiting repeatedly during the year it makes it way more sensible to purchase the annual pass, which in itself allows for a different Disney experience.
The more frequent trips and freedom to roam from park to park allows for a more liesurely visit, often times, we'll visit a park for one attraction, a favorite meal, and then kick back and relax at the wonderful DVC resort.
Now we look at each other in bewilderment that we did not join years ago.

[Daddio]

Our DVC membership has resulted in us visiting WDW several times per year now rather than the one of two trips we used to take.

A lot of this, in part, is because the cost is hidden and not so noticable. Before, we he had to scrape up the money to go. Now, with monthy dues taken out of the account, coupled with addonitis, five or six trips a year are not uncommon. Also, thank goodness for low fare air carriers and fantastic car rental deals.

I work hard so I can play hard. And that does mean that I have to take the laptop and be available while there. But if I have a choice of working in my DVC villa, or working in the office, DVC is always going to win.

[Nelle]

Our membership in DVC has allowed us to let our children take their own trips once they were out of High School. Being able to allow our daughter in college to invite 6 other friends down for spring break, was a great gift for us as well as them. They never would have been able to afford to go without our help. When my daughter called to let us know that they had all arrived safely, she said that her friends were so happy with the 2 bedroom at OKW they didn't even care if they went to the Parks. We also were able to give a week as a wedding present to our neice. We also enjoy planning a trip and asking family members to come along.

As for DH and I, the stress is gone about seeing everything during our stay. We know we are coming back. We also can take advantage of the different tours available and not feel we are missing something. We have been able to slow down and unwind. When we first bought, we planned on a vacation every other year and worried if we had too many points. How times have changed!

Nelle

[spiceycat]

my niece was 2 years old, my nephew was 4 -when I joined - he know is off at college (19) and she is in high school.

the bad part is my mother. Mother loved to go to Disney, especially DVC. She is now in a nursing home and trips together are over.

that is what so nice about DVC - people change over the years, DVC can change with you.