Much of DVC’s marketing materials seem targeted at families with young children or multigenerational families. I mean, how many ads can you recall that prominently feature children? However, I became a DVC member before I was even married. Looking back, even if I wasn’t the main target demographic at the time, I’m really glad my now husband and I became members before we had a family. Here’s why:
Plenty of Adult-only Trips
When my husband and I became DVC members, we were already visiting Disney World more than once a year. DVC worked well with our travel pattern of more than one trip a year, so why wait and keep doing cash stays? If DVC makes economic sense, there’s no reason to wait until you have kids. After all, Disney is for the young and the young at heart, and most DVC owners wish they had bought in earlier.
When it was just the two of us, we got to do tours, enjoy lounges, dine at plenty of signature restaurants, and do after-hours events that may be harder to attend while our son is still very young. We got to tour the parks at whatever pace we pleased without pausing for as many breaks, and rider switch wasn’t even a consideration.
One Less Expense to Worry About
We were warned: Kids are expensive. They weren’t kidding. We were fortunate to pay off our DVC contracts before our son came along. So now our flights, food, annual passes, and DVC dues are the only real vacation expenses, maybe minus the occasional souvenir. DVC was our hedge against inflation. As our budget now goes to categories like baby care and gear, it’s nice to know that our hotel rooms are more or less prepaid.
DVC Points to Enjoy Throughout Our Son’s Life
Since we already had our contracts, we were able to use DVC points for our infant son’s very first trip. During this stay, we just got a taste of those magical family moments you see depicted in the DVC ads. Our son smiled at Mickey. He was happy to meet Goofy and made us laugh when he didn’t want to let go of Goofy’s hand. He was fascinated by everything in the Seas with Nemo and Friends. Our little family of three strolled around the BoardWalk and caught fireworks from our balcony at night. Did that vacation leave me dreaming of more family trips? Absolutely!
Thanks to DVC, I know there will be more Disney vacations to come. Even our shortest contract that ends in 2042 will span his entire childhood into his late teens. That’s certainly plenty of years to make some core memories!
Our DVC trips as a family are already quite different from those of our pre-parenthood days, but I’m learning that it’s part of the beauty of DVC; it’s flexible enough to evolve with us as our lives continue to change.
Did you find the studios at Boardwalk to fit your family of 3 comfortably, or would a 1 bedroom be better for the washer and dryer + more space for stroller & stuff?
We haven’t done a BoardWalk studio yet with our son, but we have stayed at a Bay Lake Tower studio with him, and that’s even smaller. It still had plenty of room for his pack and play by the sofa bed and his stroller by the front door. A one bedroom clearly offers more space and the convenience of the kitchen and washer/dryer though, so if you have the points for it, a one bedroom is easier with a baby.
We kind of did it the opposite from Lauren. We already had two young daughters before we joined DVC. After our first ever trip to Disney World in 1992, we joined DVC. We had such a great time and we knew we wanted to return year after year. We came back home, talked to a DVC rep, and signed the papers. We never even saw the DVC resort (Old Key West Resort now) except thru photos. We were tight on money that’s for sure, but it all worked out and we were able to pay off our DVC loan quicker than planned. All our friends, family, and even people on a Disney message board said we were crazy to buy into DVC. That was almost 30 years ago. Now our family and friends are asking us if we have any “extra” points. 🙂 We went to Disney World every year except during the covid shut down. Now that our kids are adults and have their own families, we’re giving them our extra points so they can return to Disney World with their families. My wife and I have also been using the points to go on adult vacations.
So, here we are in 2023. My wife and I just recently retired and we are enjoying our DVC membership either at Disney World or other destinations. I always tell people not to think of a DVC membership as an investment. It’s not. Think of it as a guarantee you’ll always be able to go on a vacation EVEN after one retires. We have no regrets buying into DVC.
Thanks for sharing your DVC story!