VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[jimmytammy]

Greg
Great to see you! I understand the life getting in the way issues and trying to decide what’s best for your family
Though I can’t give opinion on what you should do, for me and my family we have been there and came close to giving up points for financial reasons and in time glad we didn’t
If I can gently suggest have you considered renting your points out either through an agent or yourself?
I can’t speak as if I have done this but I know others who do this
It can be helpful and even make money and in the end you will still have points available for the future
Just another approach as option

 

[Granny]

The conversation about the AP closing and the remarks about MF(s) increases, and DVC savings over rack rates as drawn me out of the shadows to post this note. We are at a bit of a crossroads right now, season in life changes and all that. We have a daughter going to a university for the Jr/Sr years next fall. I must come up with cash (lots of cash), and that is in collision with the home stretch of our careers going into retirement. Thus, it is a time for choosing.


We are seriously considering reducing our position in DVC points by one third of what we hold now. I am really torn between doing so and holding onto what we currently have. I have been pretty savvy in my purchases over the last few years. My first DVC investment was for 40% below market prices and the highest that I paid is about 20% below current rates (all resale). So, I am very hesitant to give up any DVC points. I can’t begin to number all the family memories we have made over these many years and my daughter still considers MK as her happiest place on earth. However, while we still enjoy going to WDW very much, a lot of the luster has come off the castle. It really seems like the mouse continuously nudges us to give up things, accept less while paying more.




Wishing you all the best and a blessed Christmas season.

Greg...those are tough decisions you are facing. But if you really need the cash now for college, then giving up 1/3 of your points is (IMHO) much better than going into debt. If you only needed, for instance, to save the costs of dues on those points you could just rent them out for a couple of years and have them more than pay for themselves as far as dues. But it sounds like you need more than the dues savings number to provide what you need financially.

If you are like my DW and I, you will be able to downsize the accommodations you use at WDW if it's only the two of you. For us, we went from a 2BR to booking a 1BR for our empty-nest trips. Hopefully you and your family will be able to still make some meaningful trips on the 2/3 of the points that you will retain.

Thanks for stopping in, and good luck with your decisions. It's hard to take the emotions out of decisions like these but it's all about priorities. And it sounds like you've got those pretty well lined up.

Have a blessed Christmas season and enjoy your Christmas trip.

 

[DVC Jen]

I thank y'all for the thoughts and prayers.
They did a procedure on Clay this morning that removed some old childhood shunt tubing from his abdomen area that had compromised the colon. They said there was infection there and along with the UTI, it looks like those were the roots of the infection and they now have him out of ICU and in a regular room. They are still monitoring him thru the first part of next week. We still have a few more issues to deal with when he has recovered, but the doctors feel we are on the road to recovery.

The weather has really been different this year. Texas has had more rain lately than we know what to do with it and the cold temps we are experiencing this early in the year has been unusual. We are used to Indian summers for so long and it feels like we went straight from summer to winter. We are supposed to have a nice weekend so we will keep the fingers crossed.

Will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. My oldest daughter has hydrocephalus with the shunt and tubing. She has had a few revisions but no issues with the tubing. I hope this clears everything up for him.

I agree with you on the weather. Very usual fall here. Part of me wants the warm temps back but I live in Rowlett and I remember all too well what warm temps in December can do here (the EF 4 tornado that went through the day after Christmas in 2015). It would be nice if it just decided what it is going to do instead of changing every few days. We all all sick with nasty colds and I am sure the weather has to be partially to blame (even it if isn't really lol ).

 

[DVC Jen]

Just got the official OK from Ian. We will be back for our just us, no kids trip December of 2019. He mentioned trying for Copper Creek - but we are doing BWV in June and I really want to be back in our home of BRV if we are there in December. I do want to check out CC at some point but I don' t think for that trip. May change my mind between now and then.

I am already envisioning sipping a glass of wine while sitting in those huge rocking chairs in front of the fire. That is the life!

 

[Brian Noble]

I am having trouble deciding what to do.

I find that when I need to make a hard decision, if I just slow down and listen, the right answer comes to me. My life has also changed enormously in the past 15 months, and I've discovered that change isn't nearly as bad as I thought. If you told me 15 months ago that I'd be happy to be where I am now, I would never have believed you.

 

[wildernessDad]

Yo, groupies. I don't read any chatter on any meet-ups. What gives?

 

[Dizny Dad]

W'Dad . . . .waiting for the invite to you and Toni's house. Hope there's plenty of parking in your driveway!

 

[Dizny Dad]

Brian . . . . It is always a pleasure to hear of one's success! Being happy is one of the best! Keep at it, and when you feel you are slipping, let the Groupies help lift your step.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Kathy . . . Our continued prayers for Clay.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Hi Groupies,

Live from SSR report. Magical moments do live on. So, we arrived on Saturday and my wife’s terminally ill BFF did make the trip! She stayed back Saturday night as we adventured over to Studios, Did the Alien Saucers thing & RNR (missed the window on Star Tours). We also stumbled into a 30 minute stand-by for TSMM (Never ever happens!) , so rode this as well. When we got back, our guest ventured to DS solo, which we thought was an encouraging sign! Then, we slept in Sunday morning as we were tired from early morning travel the day before. Sunday we did the Edison for lunch at DS, really liked it! Then off to AK around 2, did FP’s then finally got word that our guest was feeling well enough and joined us at AK about 6 PM. She got in both FOP & NRJ along with the Tough to be a bug show. So, good, she got that Avatar stuff off the list, as she had seen the movie 4 times in the theater.

Then, Monday happened. My daughter & I got up and got to MK planning on my wife and her friend to join us at least by 2 PM for a dining reservation. Instead, her condition had worsened over night and my wife spent the morning and early afternoon getting our guest on a 2 PM flight back to Minneapolis, where she was met by another friend, brought to ER, and was admitted (and remains).

Disney was awesome. They picked up the cab fare to the airport and back for my wife. They inserted 3 FP’s usable anywhere onto the remainder of our party (had to be used by Monday night), and they are buying us a nice dinner out tonight (basically, we just had to make a reservation and they are picking up the tab to a $ amount that seemed ridiculously high which we won’t reach and I don’t feel comfortable disclosing). Then, the on sight manager at Saratoga stopped by with his card, asked my wife what he could do, and we had the sheets our guest was using swapped out. They really went above and beyond and with all the complaints you hear I just want to say that there is still magic.

While my wife was going to the airport, my daughter and I saw heavy crowds at MK, upon entering both POTC & HM were down. We saw 5 minute standby at Splash and decided to do that in front of our BTMR FP’s. Of course, we then got over to BTMR only to watch it go down. So now, there are 3 big attractions down at the same time at 10:00 AM and I can tell cast members are getting anxious about it. We decided to have nachos for breakfast at Pecos Bills before a PeterPan FP, and then we stumbled into HM coming back up. Then cruised over to Space Mountain and on the way observed a 210 minute wait for 7DMT (..not interested). {I later talked to a DVCer on the bus that claimed he had seen 465 minutes for Soarin’ one Christmas....???}. Anyways, we got in Tiki Room, TTA, & Country Bears before we found out what was going on with our guest, and we headed back to the resort to meet my wife after the whole ordeal. Went swimming, figured out we had to go back to MK to use the “special FP’s” they had given us mainly because MK was open the latest and we had to grab a quick bite before heading out. Got in BTMR, POTC, & Jingle Cruise. — kept things close so we could get in and out as we were exhausted.

Anyways, I will wrap this up for now & plug in a conclusion when I get home.

 

[Lakegirl]

So glad to hear your friend made it and enjoyed some Magic!!! Prayers for peace for your friend.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am glad your friend got to see Pandora and enjoy the rides.

 

[Granny]

Yo, groupies. I don't read any chatter on any meet-ups. What gives?

I turned the reins over this year to anyone who wants to put together some meets. I know that Mrs. Granny and I will be meeting up with Dizny Dad & Di but I haven't heard of any other scheduled meets.

 

[Granny]

Disney was awesome. They picked up the cab fare to the airport and back for my wife. They inserted 3 FP’s usable anywhere onto the remainder of our party (had to be used by Monday night), and they are buying us a nice dinner out tonight (basically, we just had to make a reservation and they are picking up the tab to a $ amount that seemed ridiculously high which we won’t reach and I don’t feel comfortable disclosing). Then, the on sight manager at Saratoga stopped by with his card, asked my wife what he could do, and we had the sheets our guest was using swapped out. They really went above and beyond and with all the complaints you hear I just want to say that there is still magic.

Ron...sorry to hear that your friend couldn't finish out the trip, but it sounds like she was able to do the Avatar stuff which much have been awesome for her, being such a big fan of the movie. And thank you for including Disney's response and actions. You are right, we tend to complain about rising costs and shutting down favorite attractions or restaurants, but in the end the Disney experience will always be about the Cast Members and their care and service especially in rough times as you described. I'm so glad that they came through for your family in flying colors!

 

[ottawagreg]

I find that when I need to make a hard decision, if I just slow down and listen, the right answer comes to me. My life has also changed enormously in the past 15 months, and I've discovered that change isn't nearly as bad as I thought. If you told me 15 months ago that I'd be happy to be where I am now, I would never have believed you.

Brian, I’ve not had the opportunity to chat it up with you. I am an AWOL groupie. Thanks very much for taking time to offer words of encouragement to me. I appreciate your kindness.

If I may, I would like to repay you in some small way. I abused alcohol for more than thirty years. Drinking scotch whiskey hard for twenty-five of those years. This past October 27th by the grace of God, I reached ten years clean and sober. Jesus is really the one who did the work and I’m blessed to be healthy and happily married to the same woman. My daughter is excelling in school and awarded with academic scholarships My business is thriving. God is so good. I have had no relapses and no slip ups.

You can experience the same peace and joy in living a clean and sober life. Trust your Higher Power and strive to serve others. It really does get easier to leave all the nasty choices behind and make a positive impact in your family and your circle of friends. I wish you all the best and may God richly bless you, one day at a time.

Kindest regards.

 

[Corinne]

Happy Thanksgiving Groupies!

 

[Corinne]

Twokats, I will keep your son in my prayers

 

[jimmytammy]

Ron
Thanks for sharing your trip with us, and reminding us that through all the mess and stuff going on with the corporate Disney, that the magic lives on through those CMs who were taught the "Walt" way of doing things. So glad you folks could share of yourselves for your friend.

Greg
This pretty much sums up life for me

Jesus is really the one who did the work

Thanks for saying it publicly God is good indeed!!

 

[jimmytammy]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

 

[Granny]