DVC with no park days

[bumbershoot]

Without buying park tickets, it's really a budget trip.

Yep. Especially for what I can get for me and my extended family.

 

[jarestel]

My question is, if your not utilizing DVC as a place to stay close to the Disney parks, why pay the inflated price of staying on property at all?

That's a good question, and there are probably many different reasons. IMO, I think the thing that attracts most of us to DVC initially is the proximity to the Disney parks but after a while, (for some anyway) the parks do tend to lose a bit of their luster. IE, how many times do I need to ride "Space Mountain" in a lifetime? And we start to realize that there are many other things we can do and still get our share of "Disney" experiences without going into the parks every day. We always have annual passes, but there are certainly days when we just don't feel like navigating the parks so we find other things to do like mini-golf, Disney Springs, resort hopping, and resort time.

Similarly, there are lots of cruise lines people can take cruises on, but many prefer Disney even at the inflated prices. There aren't any rides on the Disney cruise ships, but people are still able to enjoy the Disney experience even without them.

 

[Alexander]

We love the resorts. There's nothing like chilling at SAB! On non-park trips, we play mini-golf, visit the other resorts (walk the grounds, have a meal), spend more time at Disney Springs (catch a movie at the Dine-In theater, bowl at Splitsville). If we have a non-park trip planned, we usually buy APs (around $100/pp) for the waterparks and spend time there a few days. We like that everything at Disney is clean and it was a safe place for me to travel to alone with my 2 kids when they were younger.

 

[Ashley Jamerson]

I close on my first DVC membership in June and it comes with a good amount of points that expire in March 2020. We have a trip planned for October but would love to come down in August "just because" and have a full on resort-only trip at Animal Kingdom... IF WE CAN GET IN... luckily our schedules are super flexible so I am hoping for the best. When we toured the resort in November of last year it was amazing and one of the highlights of our trip. I can't want to get back.

 

[keishashadow]

We're not at the point where we'd completely skip the parks, but the way we visit the parks has completely changed with DVC and APs. We don't have to worry about "wasting" a park ticket if we arrive in the afternoon and want to have dinner in one of the parks. We can make a quick trip into the parks on a departure day. If we planned to go to the parks one morning, but decide to sleep in, spend the day at the pool, relax in the room, explore the resort, etc., it doesn't matter. We no longer feel as though we have to rush around and do everything. If we don't get a coveted fastpass and the wait time is too long, we'll catch it on another trip. If we decide to take a day break from the parks, we're still enjoying Disney in a different way!

We’ve yet to experience a resort only day when @ WDW. I really wish I could bring myself to do it. Wait, does doing a waterpark count? Lol. The siren song of the parks is just too strong for me, even if it’s only for a few hours of just strolling about or eating dinner.

 

[Livelovedance]

We’ve yet to experience a resort only day when @ WDW. I really wish I could bring myself to do it. Wait, does doing a waterpark count? Lol. The siren song of the parks is just too strong for me, even if it’s only for a few hours of just strolling about or eating dinner.

I know that siren song all too well! It’s very rarely happened, but when it has we spent time relaxing at the resort and/or visiting Disney Springs. When we stayed off-property with a car (pre-DVC), we visited an outlet mall. We’ve done a short time in the parks much more often than an entire nonpark day!

 

[Philsfan77]

I am a prospective DVC owner, but I have been reading a lot about DVC owners who come regularly quickly reducing the amount of park days per trip, and even many who never go to the parks anymore unless there is a special event.

My question is, if your not utilizing DVC as a place to stay close to the Disney parks, why pay the inflated price of staying on property at all? There are plenty of nice resorts around the country for a fraction of the costs of ownership. You can even take regular trips down to the Caribbean and stay at lovely all-inclusives for much less. What am I missing?

Edit: I probably should have mentioned this was geared more towards people who don't live a short drive away from Orlando. If your close by and can make short weekend trips, and don't have to pay for airfare, well that changes everything.

My wife and I aren't big drinkers, which is where most of the appeal for an all-inclusive typically lies IMO. We've done them a few times, and honestly, it just wasn't for us. Airfare and direct flights also become an issue for us in terms of cost...there are typically limited direct flights (most are only on weekends), and the cost is typically double, what it would cost us to get to Disney. We are going to Aruba this year with family in August (my parents own a Marriott timeshare there), and have a destination wedding to the Bahamas for friends and airfare for both is significantly higher than what it costs us to either drive to Florida or fly direct.

I get your point about there are plenty of other great resorts around the country for a fraction of ownership cost...ultimately for us it came down to we just love Disney (call it pixie dust or whatever you want to call it). I've yet to have a bad vacation there, and typically there is far more to do than your typical vacation destination place, even if you do non-park days.

We are going in December this year for a long weekend (4 nights) and doing a non-park trip. We actually opted to stay at Saratoga Springs for the trip because of the proximity to Disney Springs (where we will spent quite a bit of time), and the ability to catch a bus at Disney Springs to get to any of the resorts we want to visit (we are going to resort hop a bit and check out all the christmas decorations in the different resorts). We will go to the TOWL and catch the fireworks one night, and are doing the storybook dinner at Artist Point. We are going to do one of the carriage rides, and stroll the boardwalk another night. We will probably check out the animals at Animal Kingdom as well. I will probably play a round or 2 of golf as well.

I guess my point is there aren't too many vacation destinations where I could take one trip, and do all of these things, while still having the ability to relax by an amazing pool, and if I get the itch one day...I can still scratch it and head into one of the parks.

 

[Chuck S]

First consider that many of us long term owners are not as young as we used to be. That could be a contributing factor to cutting down on park days. In my case, I haven't cut down a lot, but on a 7 or 8 night trip, I do usually pick a day in the middle to just chill at the resort, or stroll Disney Springs. But I also grew up near Disneyland and went quite often. If I happen to have driven down to Florida, which I don't do as often anymore, I may spend a day a a local attraction since I have a car. I do have a DIsney AP, and I do get my money's worth out of it.

I also often take people with me, and on my trip next month, there are two seniors, a couple years older than I, that are Disney newbies, as well as a 10 year old that hasn't been there since she was 6, so in a way, I get to see thing through fresh eyes.

I'm sure it also depends upon how often you go, I generally go twice per year. If it is an annual pilgrimage to see the Great Mouse, then you'll very likely be going to the parks daily.

 

[chepic]

I'm sorry....OKW is not the Carribean? LOL

We are longtime owners having bought in 1997. When we first bought, we had no kids, and now we do and they are teens, they go into the parks and we lounge by the pool. We have taken advantage of staying in just about all the resorts on property plus California, Vero, and Hilton Head, and we are looking forward to staying in Hawaii in a few years. We have exchanged 3x for outside the park stays in ski country. We use our "home" as a base to go, just like anyone who buys a timeshare. To us, it wasn't about the parks, it was about a place that we knew we could afford to stay in every year for vacation and the parks were a bonus. And soon, our kids will be older and they may have kids and it will be a great place to take our grandchildren one day.

I can't think of a nicer system of resorts to stay in than Disney. Just my opinion. Enjoy.

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

We're not at the point where we'd completely skip the parks, but the way we visit the parks has completely changed with DVC and APs. We don't have to worry about "wasting" a park ticket if we arrive in the afternoon and want to have dinner in one of the parks. We can make a quick trip into the parks on a departure day. If we planned to go to the parks one morning, but decide to sleep in, spend the day at the pool, relax in the room, explore the resort, etc., it doesn't matter. We no longer feel as though we have to rush around and do everything. If we don't get a coveted fastpass and the wait time is too long, we'll catch it on another trip. If we decide to take a day break from the parks, we're still enjoying Disney in a different way!

Having an AP is makes so many things better (easier). Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[KCMA]

We are owners at OKW and although we haven’t done it yet we will be using it as a base camp for going to NASCAR races at Daytona certain years down the road... also as we get older and kids grow and may want to skip a Disney trip we will go and enjoy the resort and Disney Springs

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We go to one park per trip. The Disney resorts are very immersive so even when not in the park, we feel the Disney experience. Love all of the conveniences Disney provides. We don’t want a car while visiting, we utilize Disney transportation.