Back in 1992 when our children were 3, 7 and 10 we were vacationing at Disney, staying at our usual resort, the Polynesian, and we decided to visit the Preview Center at “Disney Vacation Club” on a whim when we saw a sign in the Magic Kingdom advertising this new concept for vacationing at Disney.
We fell in love. We knew we had to buy in!
But the salesperson that day told us it wasn’t for us. We were too far away (Massachusetts), didn’t come to Disney often enough (hoped for every year, but every other was more reasonable) and he explained this was really meant for frequent Disney visitors. So we ate our free ice cream, got a family picture taken with the iconic hot air balloon background, collected our kids from the childcare area, and sadly took our DVC packet with us. We got home and thought about it- a lot! Who cares what the salesman thought? We wanted in! So we called him and over the phone bought 230 points at the “Disney Vacation Club” (not yet called Old Key West resort) and the rest is history.
In those days you got free park admission for every trip you took – passes for half the people on the reservation – ie- a studio with 4 persons got 2 length of stay passes, a grand villa got 6 tickets, etc. An amazing perk! But it was only promised through the turn of the century, and sure enough when 2000 dawned those incredible “free” passes magically went away.
Over the years…
DVC has grown and changed (we eventually bought 150 more points at Boardwalk when it opened ) and as our family grew we enjoyed countless vacations at both our DVC properties with family, friends, grandparents, and now with grandchildren. The perks too, have grown and changed, but they’ve never really been a part of why we love DVC, rather they are just an added bonus, a little surprise that may or may not work for our family in any given time. We have purchased the DVC discounted Annual Passes and Tables in Wonderland when multiple trips in a year with a big group make it worthwhile. We of course use the discount for merchandise and meals when it applies. But many perks we’ve never been able to access such as Moonlight Magic, and we’re fine with that because “perks” are not what DVC is about .
If you’re considering a DVC purchase buy into the resort where you want to stay so that you get the 11 month reservation advantage. Buy because you love Disney, want to go fairly often, and want to stay in a deluxe accommodation. Don’t buy because of whatever special deal or perk is available at the moment, because as we’ve learned in our 25+ years as members, that can, and will change. Buy for the Love of all things Mickey, you will not be sorry!
