How much "sooner" could you have bought?

[bwvBound]

I don't know where that came from,

Hmm ... perhaps it was something in the "" ??

 

[erikthewise]

DW and I spent 5 days at the Polynesian in 92. We had been married 1 1/2 years, and that was only my 2nd time at WDW and her first. I wasn't thinking about future vacations, figuring they would just "happen".

DVC had a prominent display on the second floor of the Polynesian lobby, which I took a glance at several times. So in principle we had the opportunity to buy. But at that time, timeshares had a richly deserved reputation a couple notches below used car salesmen. My reaction was not "finally Disney will do timeshares right", but rather "how sad that Disney is debasing themselves by getting involved in timeshares". So I didn't take DVC seriously.

As it turned out we started having children, and didn't take another family vacation for 9 years! I brought DW and DS (15 mo) to a conference at the Dolphin in 94, but that hardly counts. I did see the sign on the uninhabited eastern shore of Lake Crescent which said "Disney's Boardwalk -- coming Summer 1996".

It's fun to imagine what might have happened if we bought in 1992 at $50 a point or whatever, but it worked out well for us to buy in 2002, and I don't really regret not buying in 92.

 

[DW Dad]

Went to WDW in 1996 and really at the time had no interest in it. Thought it was a good idea, but financially at the time really couldn't afford it. When we went in 2005 with our kids we thought what a great idea, and bought a month after our trip.

 

[tobidisney]

We saw the signs in 99 ish...though oh a time share....whatever not interested.

Went to disney 2 times a year, never spoke to DVC<

then on a trip with my sister and her family, my husband, my sister and I went to the sales center....spoke to the sales rep "ricardo" and said dont want the spiel, just the cost.

We got the cost, we both bought in ( good 30 mins for Ricardo)

Yes we wish we had bought sooner, we took about 8 trips before realizing what we were missing.

DH and i have since added on, and will add on more again, but timing was good for us, we sold our house, bought a new house and used some of out profit to pay for DVC in full ( nice feature)

happy DVC members since way back in 2004!!!

 

[bcpage]

I don't even remember exactly how we actually got turned on to DVC, but do remember that once we did, the disboards was an awesome resource while researching whether to buy in. I was considering buying during August-September of 2005 and requested the info packet with the DVD and got in touch with a guide. Between September and a trip that was planned for late November-early December 2005 (11 nights), I went back and forth on whether to buy (endlessly reading disboards during this time). After all my research, DW and I had pretty much decided to buy. So once the trip finally came, we went on the tour at the beginning of our stay and we put our deposit down. We closed in January 2006 (200 pts SSR).

How much sooner should I have bought??? During the time that I was pondering, it was suggested by some on disboards and I think even my guide, that I buy in then (September/October 2005) so that I could use DVC for the Nov./Dec. 2005 trip. Looking back, it would have been nice to have put the money that was spent on 4 nights at POP and 7 nights at POR towards DVC.

Oops, I almost forgot...the friends and family promotion was going on during our stay and had we bought in earlier, we would have missed that. So, waiting until our trip and paying cash for the POP and POR may have actually saved us money.

 

[slk537]

I wish we had been able to buy in when we first toured, but we couldn't have done it then. I'm very satisfied that we bought in as soon as we could.

We toured in 2002 when DS was just one year old. DH loved WDW from birth and was dying to just see what it was all about. His parents had a TS at Embassy Grand Beach so I couldn't understand why we'd want to spend all this money on DVC. And at the time we lived in an apartment so there was no way I was going to buy a second "home" before we had our first house.

The following April DH bought our own Interval timeshare and I knew DVC was out. I was totally okay with it. DH? Still had it as a future goal.

Then in May 2004 we were able to trade our II TS into OKW. I was so excited because the previous December we had ventured into ADR's and doing more on site so I was getting ready to see what staying onsite was all about. And I had just inherited some money two months before the trip from so it all seemed to fall into place when we stayed at OKW and realized we could never stay offsite again.

We bought the 160 minimum, but called when we got home to add 50 more to the initial contract. And then added on again by Christmas. Now? We're perfectly happy with 350.

Regrets? Yes. I wish we owned at VWL, which was the resort I fell in love with back in 2002. Other than that? None!!

 

[loribell]

Way back in 93 when I took my kids for the first time we saw the kiosks but never saw a CM at any of them. We stopped and looked through the book that was there at all the pics and loved it. Of course since we never saw a CM we just did that assumption thing and figured it was way more then we could afford.

We went again in 98 but never thought anything else about it. Both of these trips had included my mother, sister & niece and they would not pay to stay onsite.

Then in the summer of 2001 my dh & I took our two youngest, it was dd's first trip to WDW. I said when we planned that trip that I would be staying onsite. We had dinner at Chef Mickey's one night & I talked to a guide then & booked a tour. We went over & feel in love. After we got home, I was telling my mother about how wonderful it was, yep the same woman that wouldn't pay to stay onsite, and we decided to fly back down a couple of months later for mom to check it out. Actually we went to buy, already had the financing lined up but used it as an excuse for a quick long weekend trip! We came home the owners of 240 points at VWL.

I must say that when we found out how little the cost per point was & about the park tickets we were sick that we hadn't made more of an effort to find out about it way back in 93!

 

[Beca]

We had an appointment to tour the timeshares in Dec 2002, when our dd was 11 months old. We made the appointment for the last day of our trip, and unfortunately, that's the trip where dd ended up in the hospital during the last 3 days of our vacation. Obviously, we missed our appointment. The really sad part is that DVC was selling BCV...I know I would've fallen in love on the spot (I had never even seen the BC before), and points would've been so much cheaper. We were definitely planning to buy, but after her hospital stay (plus she was hospitalized again 2 months later) we just forgot about it.

Interesting note though. When I did call DVC 2 yrs later to request information, the first thing the girl on the phone asked me (after I had identified who I was) was, "Why did you not show for you appointment two years ago?" Interesting....

 

[n2mm]

In 1994 we had a a reservation for a new Disney resort called Dixie Landing. One day I got a call from Disney wanting to upgrade us to OKW (I had never heard of this resort or DVC). The CM told us, it would include a frig and microwave....blah, blah. I said no, I wanted to stay at the new resort---DL. She couldn've believe I was turning them down. Then in 1998 hubby became a CM, so for the next 7+ years I could've bought in at the 15% CM WDC discount, but never did. I was enjoying the 50% off room rates and never thought of the fact that he would not be a CM forever. Bad planning on my part to say the least. We still bought in at the end....We bought in July 2005 and he ended his CM career in August 2005, so we cut it pretty close.

 

[poohmomof5]

Our story is similar.

When we went to our first trip to WDW, it was 2000 and we were going on our first real family vacation. We had 4 kids and had to travel with my parents because we needed two rooms. We had a little time to kill on the last day and did the DVC tour at BWV...

I remember walking into the BW and thinking that there was no way we could ever afford something like this...we were so young and broke then...

We thought it seemed like a great idea, but we would have had to borrow the money and we didn't know if we would ever take a vacation again...

Well, the next year my job starting going gangbusters and we decided to try a cruise. I guess that sealed my fate, I was truly hooked on Disney. We have gone several times now in the past 5 years, and with an even larger family (we added a new one to make it 5 kids) we have been thinking more and more about how we would continue to travel going foward as the last trip we took we stuffed ourselves into one room at the Contemporary Resort. We realized that we can't travel like that anymore now that the kids have gotten sooooooo much bigger.

That trip last August convinced us that we needed to finally commit to DVC for the space, but neither of us were really committed to SSR. So we delayed and I started reading the DISboards. I heard the rumor about the CRV, and thought, oh, we will just wait until the "right" resort for our family comes along...well, not less than a week later, the AKV announcement was made! That sealed the deal for us...we had spent 10 days there over Thanksgiving 2005 and we just loved the resort. We had so much fun just hanging out at the hotel that we actually didn't even go to the parks for 3 of those days. It is an amazing hotel.

To make a long story short, I feel that the timing worked out perfectly for us...we are able to afford it now and we have the perfect resort for our family! Yippee!

Poohmom

 

[poohmomof5]

Bump

Interesting stories here, any more? I love the "souvineers" and the !

Poohmom

 

[DVC Grammy]

We learned about DVC in '92 or '93, but at that time, we were of anything to do with timeshares! Also, the costs for hotels in WDW still seemed reasonable to us, so we saw no reason to make that $ commitment.

Fast forward a few years for when the prices of the deluxes and even the mods were creeping (galloping?) up, and we decided to stay at a value for two weeks (apologies right now to all those people who enjoy the value resorts). My DH became Mr. Curmudgeon. (To this day, he still complains about hearing the "bathroom habits" of the neighboring guests during that stay. )
So he, previously "Mr. Reluctant", booked a tour of BWV and we bought right then. Since then, we have added on twice, and still wish we had been "smarter" sooner.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I love reading the stories. So many ways of arriving at our common love!!!

In the '90's I remember riding past OKW's windmill, a DS asking about it, and wondering why anyone would want to be that "far out" when staying at WDW.
It's funny when you consider some of our happiest trips at that time were in the rental trailers in the campground!!! Still, it was Disney, so without going through a tour, DH/I called to inquire in 1996. Our 2 DS's were in college, one told us "Don't expect me to go to Disney with you." We figured out what the maintenance fees would be in our lifetime, and thought that "no way" would we spend that much going to WDW.

When we saw the VWL being built I felt a stab of jealousy, that we couldn't have whatever they were building. I/we loved the WL, and the only time we were in Orlando without being at WDW, we ate at Artist Point, just to enjoy the area.

Then came 9/11. We already had a 3 generation trip planned for November '01 at the Dolphin... FAMILY vacations became even more important. DMom would be 85 in 2004, and, basking in the glow of this trip, I asked where she would like to celebrate her 85th, and immediately, she said WDW. Now, how exactly that translated to me as "Let's buy DVC and bring everyone!" I don't know, but it did. We bought in '03 in anticipation of the party. The "everyone" didn't happen then, ...our oldest DS and DDiL were family building and didn't make it to that party. However, last August, we did have a most wonderful 4 generation family trip at VWL. We pray there will be more, we have another one planned for October this year. DM is losing her grip on reality, this is very very sad to see, but if she can come she will.

I've done many things later in life. I got my first dog when I was 40. Why it never occured to me before that, that I was an adult and could finally get one, I don't know DH doesn't really agree with me regarding our dogs, but he and I are in accord regarding DVC...Next year we're planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with another party...at VB and BWV!

Bobbi

 

[DVC Grammy]

Lovely story, Bobbi.
You reminded me how 9/11 impacted us, too, and rearranged some of our priorities. Since then, we try never to forget what has REAL value, not just material worth. (And being able to share DVC with our loved ones is one of our "treasures". )

 

[mlill]

I really love reading everyone's DVC stories! We didn't know too much about DVC until we stayed at the Boardwalk in Sept. 1996, a month or so after it's grand opening. Up until then, we had stayed off-site since we were a young family just starting out, and finances were tight. I got a great deal at the Boardwalk, so we gave it a try. I was sold the minute we arrived. We didn't even have to take the DVC tour. Unfortunately, we didn't have the money to buy then.

Here is a short video of our kids in that first BWV studio in Sept. '96...

BWV Studio 1996

I went home from that trip, vowing to find a way to buy into DVC. Well, my wish was granted two years later in 1998 when we sold our rural home with 5 acres of land and moved into town. You see, we had one of those big John Deere tractors and didn't need it anymore, so it was sold and my Boardwalk DVC contract was bought. No financing. We paid cash. It was the best investment we've ever made. Since then, we have had many wonderful family vacations that we would NEVER have been able to have without DVC. I recently counted up how many nights we've stayed in WDW over the past 10 years, and it's over 100 now. 90% of those nights were in a 2-bedroom villa. We have gotten our money's worth and then some. NO QUESTION. Our last trip was for 2 weeks during Christmas, and the rack rate of the BWV villa was more than our initial contract price.

I look at that video and pictures of our many WDW vacations, and then look at my kids now - my oldest just graduated high school last Friday - and I get all choked up. We are very lucky to have been able to take so many wonderful WDW family vacations over the years. We have made memories that will last a lifetime. I look forward to many more vacations, and someday we'll be taking the grandkids... Life is GOOD!

 

[bobbiwoz]

What a great video and story mlill!

Bobbi

 

[gkrykewy]

I was a frequent WDW visitor as a child (27 now), and thankfully my wife is completely compatible with this obsession. My parents looked into OKW during its construction (1992?) but couldn't justify the buy-in cost.

Although my wife and I have been traveling to WDW frequently in recent years, we didn't seriously consider DVC because we were a) saving for our wedding, then b) saving for a house down payment. For a variety of reasons, we decided not to buy a house for a few more years, which freed up a portion of the down payment savings. Coincidentally, my parents had a little extra funding available after selling their house.

After my wife and I saw the AKV promo materials during our recent stay there, the 'perfect storm' was complete for our purchasing moment. Paid cash (would not have financed this) and split the membership's costs and points with my parents.

I can safely say that we bought as soon as we comfortably could and exactly where we would have wanted to.

 

[lovinthemouse]

The only regret I have is money spent on accomodations. If we would have bought in 2001 on our first trip as a family we could have saved money or at the very least broke even. I love it and I am glad we have it now.

 

[pilferk]

.Next year we're planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with another party...at VB and BWV!

Bobbi

In Sept '09 we plan on celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary at AKV. I'm already working on some surprises.

 

[tfc3rid]

My folks and I tourned OKW back in 1992 on our annual WDW trip... We wanted to buy but didn't... Until I did in 2000 as a present for my Master's Degree and new job!!

Been adding on since... But I think I'm done now...