When you first bought DVC...

My 8 yr old son was 15mo old with our first purchase (BWV), and by our second purchase (BLT), my kids were 4 and under a year old.....

I was almost 40yrs old for my first purchase and 43yrs old for my second purchase. We had kids late.
 
I was 48, my daughter was 17 and my son was 11 when I discovered DVC, we were already making yearly trips to WDW. Don't know why I didn't see it before. I was married at that time. Now kids grown up, separated from hubby. I still love my DVC and use it once a year. When the kids have time they come with me. Had a trip with DD about a year ago when she was between Uni and job. I don't mind going solo, but have also travelled with my sister, my brother and his family, and one of my friends. This year a solo trip Dec 9-17. That period is a great value for points and I would like to see the Christmas decorations and shows. I've sometimes considered selling as it is a big expense to have just for me, but always talk myself out of it. Life changes, so plans change. If you love WDW and it isn't going to cause you financial difficulties, go for it. At least it keeps its resale value.
 
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My 8 yr old son was 15mo old with our first purchase (BWV), and by our second purchase (BLT), my kids were 4 and under a year old.....

I was almost 40yrs old for my first purchase and 43yrs old for my second purchase. We had kids late.
Not as late as me. 43 for my one and only kiddo and 47 for my first DVC contract. But we can be the old lady club at DVC.:grouphug:
 


Bought a resale at SSR for $66pp in 2012. I was 44, wife 42, DS 14, DD 11. As you can see by signature we had been a bunch of times by then...I had been lurking on the resale boards for awhile looking for a contract around 100 points so when the SSR one popped with 90 points we made an offer right away...glad we bought.
 
Bought DVC 3 years ago when I was 34 while on a Disney cruise. Married with 2 kids, ages 5 and 8 then. I wasn't a big timeshare fan until being a DVC member. We bought 200 points and have been going to Aulani, our home resort, every year since we bought in. We financed at first but paid it off cash within 2 months after realizing that the interest rate is just too
much and hoping to "break even" sooner. We've had tons of amazing family vacations because of DVC and it's one of the best purchases we've had.
 
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I just celebrated 10 years DVC! I was 32 years old and my daughter was 6. I did take out a loan on our 160 points. Life sure has changed since then. I divorced my husband; and made sure that the DVC was mine! It was in my name anyway, so that wasn't very difficult TBH. I struggled financially a few years after the divorce, but I always made sure that payment was made! Seriously.... those trips were on a VERY tight budget (cooking in the villa; limited park time) but they were our constant reminder that we were and would be OK. I even had to give points to my sister one year b/c I couldn't afford to get to Orlando. And, I was happy to do it. Happy that I could gift her something that we love so much!

Now - I've fully recouped emotionally & financially from my divorce. Paid off the loan early (2 years ago). I am in a committed relationship with a man who has caught on to our love of Disney....and has more "addonitis" than I do! My daughter is now 16 years old. We took advantage of the DVC annual pass discount and we are scheduled to take 2-3 trips home this year.

So.... I don't for a second regret my DVC purchase. It has been a huge part of my daughter's and my life and now my significant other's life.
 


Not as late as me. 43 for my one and only kiddo and 47 for my first DVC contract. But we can be the old lady club at DVC.:grouphug:

Add me to that club too. Kid are 6.5 and 2.5, we celebrated DH's 50th last summer with a Disney cruise + WDW extravaganza family vacation, and I'm turning 50 this year. Planning a secret surprise adults-only 25th anniversary trip to WDW next summer. (Don't tell DH)
 
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DH and I were in our mid 30s with two young children (4 year old and a baby that was a few month old). We bought a resale contract, and about a year later we bought another resale contract. We now have another child, why is why we purchased the second resale contract. Honestly, with the resale market the way it is now, we could sale our points for me than we purchased them for after taking several vacations.
 
I just celebrated 10 years DVC! I was 32 years old and my daughter was 6. I did take out a loan on our 160 points. Life sure has changed since then. I divorced my husband; and made sure that the DVC was mine! It was in my name anyway, so that wasn't very difficult TBH. I struggled financially a few years after the divorce, but I always made sure that payment was made! Seriously.... those trips were on a VERY tight budget (cooking in the villa; limited park time) but they were our constant reminder that we were and would be OK. I even had to give points to my sister one year b/c I couldn't afford to get to Orlando. And, I was happy to do it. Happy that I could gift her something that we love so much!

Totally relate to this! I was in my mid 20's and had no business purchasing DVC. Divorced 5 years later. Paid that loan by myself making 18K/yr. Stupid financial decision. But I kept making the payments and my children had something constant in their lives - something a little 'better' than their lifestyle - something to strive for - to believe about themselves and their mother.

I remember nearly having a heart attack when my son threw up at Olivia's - had to get a doctor 'on call" @ $80 - double ear infections. I remember all too vividly when not packing well (forgetting medicine, sunscreen, FILM - OMG, film) was the difference between a vacation that was okay and one that might not be.

I've run the gamut on my DVC feelings including feeling bad that I hadn't taken my kids to Europe (one is there now) - we traveled to both coasts and Mexcio but still...I'm in my 50's now - we've taken many friends and family - hosting at no charge. Does Disney aggravate me from time to time? Sure! Ticket prices and (some) old attractions - UGH.

But, I am finally comfortable with my choice - I did the best I could at the time with what I had. My DD and her DF are coming home from Germany in September. Cannot wait to bring her back to what was a 1 - 2 x/yr adventure that she hasn't visited in 7 years and introduce him to what I hope will be their children's (someday??) favorite vacation spot.

For years of my life, it was the one material thing of value that I owned. Slapped my newly ordered DVC sticker on my car this morning. Liking it a lot.
 
Just bought late last year. DH and I are both in our mid-30s with a now 2 year old. Bought all of our contracts within about a month (direct first followed by a few resale), and now we have baby #2 on the way. We didn't follow the advice of just buying one contract first to "get your feet wet" and make sure DVC is really for you, but after all the research I had done and all the Disney trips we had already been taking I felt positive that it was going to be a good decision for us. We've had a few stays on our points already and are loving it so far, especially the larger villa options.
 
We bought when we were 28. Pretty newly married with no kids. We took full advantage of it, going on Disney trips annually. Now we have a daughter, and we're still doing the same thing!
 
How old was everyone when you first bought into DVC? Also, what life stage were you at? Like, did you have young kids, older kids etc.

I’m asking as a 28 year old with no kids, but I go to Disney often. Just wanting to get some perspectives from people of different life stages of when to buy in

My sister and I were 13 when our parents bought in early 1993. Mom was early 40s, Dad was early 50s. Mom died in 2011 and Dad transferred ownership to my sister and me when we were in our early 30s.

We have used it annually since they purchased, 235 at the original DVC (now OKW.) Most years we use all of the points, we've rented about half of them out a few times.
 
We were in our mid 50s with a grown daughter and young grandchildren when we joined 10 years ago. Sometimes we go with family and sometimes just DH and I go. Regardless, we always have a good time!
 
We were 42 with a 2.5 year old when we first bought DVC. It was our son's first trip. My BIL was a member for over 10 years at that point and filled us in on the program, so we were fairly aware of what we were getting into. We have used our membership to the max and have more than doubled our ownership over the past 10 years with resale points. Our home resort is AKV and all of our points are at that resort. We love AKV and have been fortunate to have had several stays in the value and concierge rooms over the years.
 
We were in our mid 30's with a 10 year old when we bought about 14 years ago. We bought in at an insanely low price (compared to current prices) and have gone 2 - 3 times per year ever since. We're now empty nesters & go even more than we did with a child at home. Every trip I play a fun little game & compare cash room rates. I'm always astonished at the value we get with DVC.

We also have a bunch of Wyndham resale points that we essentially got for free, for when we want a non-Disney vacation. Wyndham is also nice because we can book SSR fairly easily when we run out of DVC points for the year.
 
25 years ago, my 3 kids were elementary school age, and we only came to WDW from middle America about every 3 years due to the cost, especially with 3 kids as we had to stay in a Deluxe, a cabin or get 2 rooms. DVC was something I was VERY against until I walked into the models near Commodore House at OKW, and saw the 2 bedroom villa. A little "light" went on, and after a few days of number crunching, we joined DVC! :yay:

Kids are all grown up, grands coming along, and DVC serves me even better than before! I've added on several times and love booking GV's to try and get my brood together as they live all over the place. Love my DVC membership. And I still love OKW. :love:
 
We were retired and were 56 and 57 when we purchased. We had considered buying since 1995 but it wasn't until 2009 we did it. When working we had limited vacation time and had gotten used to spending less and getting more and traveling around the U.S and the world. And since DVC and even just going to Disney was expensive we felt taking a cruise or traveling to Europe or a National Park was better use of our vacation dollars and time. Then BLT was being built and we saw it during our first trip to WDW after a 13 year gap. We used to live in a high rise in downtown Denver and loved. BLT reminded us of those happy years. We had so much fun that anniversary trip that we decided to check again into DVC and we purchase our first DVC contract. It wasn't long that we decided we needed more points. Our biggest surprise is that neither of our families are interested on Disney vacations. Even if given a free room. But since we were retired it meant more trips for us. And now we combine trips to Disney with non-Disney cruises which are cheaper than DCL. We love our DVC. But realize since we are now over 65 that there will come a time when we will not be able to travel as much. We will be very sad when we have to sell our DVC.
 
We were 48, kids were 13 and 15 in 2004. We just brought our first granddaughter when she was 2 1/2 months old, and we're looking forward to more memories with grandchildren.

We bought direct twice, 500 points total because we didn't know about the resale market. I found out about resale from these boards.
 
We just turn 30, our son was almost 3 and my daughter wasn't even born yet. We bought our first membership points in 2002.
 

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