How much did you visit BEFORE your DVC purchase?

[MBTigger]

Everyone always says they wish they bought sooner. Same for us. just oddly enough, we couldn't afford it back when it was cheaper. But our financial life became better as we aged, but the price was much more.

Same with Houses, Retirement Funds, etc....

 

[stuartsong]

We bought after our first family trip. We realized how much we can save from the rack rate we paid staying at Boardwalk.

 

[ElizabethG]

We bought after our second trip, where we stayed at Bay Lake on cash (on opening day). We bought into BLT right after that trip.

 

[motherof5]

We used to go every other year for 7-10 days. One year we bought the annual pass and went 4 times. The rest was history. My family was hooked and without ever listening to a presentation I came back from a DVC vacation and bought points the very next day. Added on twice since. My only regret is I didn't do it earlier.

 

[Brian Carlisle]

Last summer, a trip I take every other year with friends fell through because one of the friends got a new job (good news!). Can't remember why I was even looking but came across a last minute rental at David's for a 1BR at BRV for $8/point. A month or so later, found another last minute rental for a 1BR at SSR for $11/point.

Besides being a bit inconvenient since both trips were booked less than a week before taking them, it became clear that those price points were quite the exception. Thus, began looking into buying into DVC. Sadly, didn't do so fast enough to avoid the most recent resale restrictions. Still, looks to be a good purchase with first trip planned for late October at BCV and BWV.

 

[Jedi Dad]

My wife and I both went separately as kids, but as adults, we went 3 consecutive years and bought after the 3rd trip. (We just bought back in March, our first trip as members is in December)

First trip, POR, was just the two of us.. Second trip, POFQ, my wife was pregnant. And the third trip we rented AKV points through David's, our daughter was 9 months old.

 

[rg35]

I went to Disney with my aunt in 1982 - we stayed at the Contemporary in one of the garden wing buildings.
My grandparents bought DVC in 1993 and we had big family trips to Old Key West in 1995 and 1997 (I was in college at this point).
My wife and I went to Disney in 2006 or 7 but stayed at a friends' timeshare near Sea World.

My wife and I bought DVC resale in 2012 buying AKV as our home resort without ever setting foot there. I watched youtube videos, did research, looked at floor plans and expiration years, and we chose based on those factors. Visiting the resort itself was not something we felt we needed to do, although I don't know that I would recommend this approach for everyone.

 

[mrsap]

I went once when I was in 3rd grade... 1986 to be exact! Wasn’t until our Honeymoon in 2004 that I went back again! We became instantly addicted... going once a year, every year since, for 2 weeks each trip. Since purchasing DVC in 2017, we go twice a year, for a total of about 4 weeks.

 

[mustinjourney]

first stay as a kid in 1989 at Fort Wilderness.
Two trips in high school with band trips (one was on-site)
Off-site stay in 2003 (very low crowds in early January back then -- everything was a walk-on).

Disneyland trip with my 2 year old and pregnant DW in 2015.
First WDW trip as a full family in January 2016 (split stay at POR and Grand Flo) -- we weren't planning to go back for at least 2 or 3 years -- but then my subconscious somehow remembered something about the disney timeshare thing -- so I started googling it in May 2016 --- and within a week I had an offer accepted for 150 points for VGF. Add-on-itis struck before I had even closed on the first contract, and I bought another 130 points at VGF...and then a third contract at BCV for 25 points for direct benefits -- all without a first stay at any DVC property -- or even taking an in-person tour (I did virtual tours of every property using youtube videos though).

So in short -- as an adult with my own family -- I really only did one Disneyworld stay prior to purchasing. And I went from likely going once every 2 or 3 years to going like 10 or so times in the last 3.5 years. Once you get that annual pass -- it is way too easy to talk yourself into taking a trip.

 

[BP Roo]

We stayed at WDW 4 times since '09. Mods 3 times and renting points at BWV on our last stay. And DLR 3 times since '11. Off-site once and renting DVC twice. We did on-site at DLP once in '14 and loved it. Our most recent vacation we spent 4 days at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort which was by far the best hotel experience we have ever had. Honestly, the quality of the cast at HHI is what convinced us to buy into DVC. We love VGC and decided to buy there as finding rental points was becoming more and more difficult. While searching for VGC a perfect stripped BWV contract fell into our lap and we bought it too. Both are small 50 pt contracts perfect for us right now as we rotate between CA and FL (an advantage of living in flyover country).

 

[DougEMG]

We had visited WDW a fair number of times, but never looked at any of the DVC resorts before we bought.

 

[dvcer97]

We had visited WDW a fair number of times, but never looked at any of the DVC resorts before we bought.

I bought dvc okw sight unseen no tours I found disboards back in 1996 back then we had a chat room and I learned everything I could about dvc since I was planning a Disney trip in 1997. I bought at 56.00 pp at Time share Store and it did force us to take vacation every year. I have not regretted it it was the best decision I made to buy in back then you got the free passes with resale for okw I also bought bwv 1998 and loved the location for Epcot
I have rented out excess points and used points 3 times for the cruises I love DVC
For the flexibility of different size rooms and not locked into a week stay but nights you can book in different seasons. I have booked 10 studios and a grand villa plus 2 cabins for a 3 day cruise all in aug one year for a big family trip all dvc points no cash so yes I got my money’s worth the second yr. I made lots of memories for families and friends that yr.

 

[jodistrock]

It took us 10 years & a daughter-in-law who had never been & my granddaughter

 

[James Rhoades]

we had gone once since having kids, back in Dec of 2014. At that point we realized that we'd like to join a DVC resort. We chose BWV and now since Dec 2014, have visited 8 times. By buying into a DVC resort, you will end up going there more than you anticipated.

 

[bumbershoot]

I had gone to WDW exactly zero times when we bought DVC.


We enjoyed Disneyland but had no interest in the Grand (still don’t), were planning to start going to Orlando, and figured that DVC would be better than hotel rooms.

I know WDW is for kids - but I think that applies mostly to the Magic Kingdom....

I don’t understand any part of that sentence.

 

[HickoryDickory]

I grew up in So Cal as a season passholder at Disneyland. Never visited WDW as a kid or young adult. I bought DVC after my first ever visit to WDW (stayed off-site) as an older adult with my then 2 year old kid. I knew I wanted my kids to grow up with frequent Disney trips and I quickly realized the value of DVC. So I came home from that trip and spent months researching DVC and the resorts. Currently, I own at BWV and BLT as my 'most valuable' points and in ROFR for SSR as hopefully my 'sleep around' points.

 

[jberndt10]

Bought as empty nesters after 5 times with kids and last without. We own Wyndham so stayed off property 5 of 6 visits. We decided to buy enough to get us a 2 bed every 3 years more often in smaller. 50 points direct and came home and bought 50 more resale AKV. We wanted the convenience of staying “at home”, not feeling like you had to be at the parks from dawn till dusk.. We don’t feel the need to go every year and still have our Wyndham for other trips. Our first trip home is in 10 days we’ll se how we feel after.

 

[glamdring269]

We went twice before buying in and it was every other year for those 2 trips. We're still doing every other year other than once when we skipped and basically traded our points for a cruise (resold the points and bought an off peak cruise with those dollars... much more effective than trading the points in for a cruise directly).

The problem I'm starting to have now is the relative value of a Disney trip vs. other trips. We're 2 adults / 0 kids and like to travel all over the place. We live in the Nashville area so could drive to Orlando but prefer to fly. Once you add up the flight, the park tickets, the value of the points on resale market, plus all of the other costs it's gotten kind of ridiculous. When I lay it all out and realize I could have spent a week in Hawaii or London it's starting to get be a bit much.

I definitely don't regret buying since we got the contract so cheap around 10 years ago and have more than made back our money. Worst case we'll stop going so frequently and will just rent out the points. Of course our every other year trip is less than 30 days out so I'm sure the magic will kick back in about a month from now.

 

[Networth]

Probably 10-15 times as a kid, and another 10 times as an adult for week long trips. Mind you we may go down for the day, the night or the weekend. We only live 2 hours away so.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I do not have children so we have always done adult only trips until this year when we took a friend with an 18 year old and 14 year old. DH first went in 1976 for his 12th BDay with family. I had never been. He promised me a trip and delivered on it Oct 2002 for our 8th anniversary. I saw the castle and was hooked. We went every year or twice a year and purchased at AKV in 2009. We have enjoyed each and every point. We have invited friends and family and also enjoy our couple trips. It has gotten less and less about the parks and more and more about the resort. I mean you can only ride the safari or Splash so many times before you think...gee why don't I fix a drink and just sit here on the balcony and watch that giraffe over there.

DVC changes your Disney vacation like a Corvette changes your drive to work. It isn't necessary, and more expensive, but dang is it fun and worth every penny!!!

Only buy if you love Disney or expect to travel to their other DVC resorts. The points are not worth wasting on a cruise or ABD. Those things are "too point expensive", but they don't tell you that. You learn that here.