History Part II

The Big Family Vacation Fantasy
I have always had this dream of taking a vacation with our whole family - my family, my parents, younger brother and his family, my great aunt and uncle, etc.

In my imagination, The Big Family Vacation resembles a Caribbean resort commercial with children dressed in prinstine white cotton, playing and giggling in the cloudless sunshine. The adults are all smartly clad in neat khaki shorts and brightly colored golf shirts; smiling and laughing without a care.

If The Big Family Vacation was at the beach, we'd swim and sunbathe all day, and at night, the grill would sizzle with lobsters or steaks. After our angelic children were all tucked into bed, the adults would relax on a deck, which, naturually, would glow softly from strings of white lights overhead (or flickering tiki torches). We'd enjoy an adult beverage, soak in the hot tub and laugh late into the night.

If The Big Family Vacation was at WDW, we'd all share a gorgeous Grand Villa. We'd rise early each day, plan our day over a delicious hot breakfast, then go the parks and enjoy all the attractions together. If we got hot or tired, we'd return to our resort to enjoy the pool before returning to the parks. At night, we'd dine at a great WDW restaurant, see a dinner show, or and prepare a delicious dinner in our villa. Peace and harmony would abound. Ahhhhhh....

2005-2007 - Fantasy, Schmantasy!
As I mentioned, the December 2005 trip included my mom, aunt and uncle. There was so much tip-toeing and trying to avoid disagreements and hurt feelings that we really didn't enjoy the trip at all. In fact, it was such a disaster and a blur that we refer to it as the "Lost Disney Vacation".

In June 2006, we spent a week in a large Myrtle Beach condo with my parents, my brother and his family. We quickly discovered that four kids ranging in age from 3 to 12 spend a lot of time bickering and like to push their boundaries when there are other relatives around. We also discovered that six adults with strong opinions also can't agree on much. The constant tension made it hard to relax during what was supposed to be a time to unwind.

In August of 2007 my mom and stepdad accompanied us to WDW, and we rented another home in Windsor Palms. My stepdad abhors all things Disney, something we didn't know ahead of time. Since he also hates heat, he was miserable the whole trip. Misery loves company, so everyone else shared in his discomfort.

Those three trips made us realize no matter how wonderful the idea of The Big Family Vacation seems, it is difficult and stressful to travel with others; especially with differing age groups. The glamour and allure of The Big Family Vacation was gone.

Big Beautiful Beach Club
We have always been fans of the whole Boardwalk/Yacht & Beach Club area. We've stayed at the Dolphin several times, so got to spend quite a bit of time around the Boardwalk. We love the boat transporatation to and from Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios. We also like being able to see Spaceship Earth, and just love the overall atmosphere.

On our August 2007 trip, we enjoyed our first meal at Beaches and Cream, got to experience the fabled Kitchen Sink, and took a close up look at Stormalong Bay. Wow! Pools are always a big factor for us when we plan a vacation, and Stormalong Bay is, without a doubt, the best pool on WDW property.

The grounds surrounding the Beach Club/Beach Club Villas area are beautiful, and the resort's pastel seaside theming is comforting and relaxing. We liked everything that we saw.

2008 - Here We Go Again
In early 2008, I was planning yet another WDW trip. This time, sad to say, it's just the four of us, because my mom is no longer well enough to travel. We initially made a reservation at another Windsor Palms vacation home, but cancelled it because of my mom's questionable health. The home has a six-week cancellation policy, and we didn't want something we couldn't cancel at the last minute if something were to happen. We also didn't want the house badly enough to pay for trip insurance.

After cancelling the house, we decided it would be fun to stay on-site again, and since there were just four of us, it opened up a lot of possibilites. We decided to book a room at Port Orleans French Quarter, where Freddie and I honeymooned in 1991. I did a lot of research online about the current condition of the resort, and was pleased with what I was reading.

A month or so later in mid-March 2008, I keep thinking back to how beautiful Stormalong Bay was, and got an urge to stay at the Beach Club resort. The room rates were much more than we were willing/able to spend, so I looked into renting points from a DVC owner. In the process, I learned more and more about the Beach Club and Beach Club Villas, like the Beach Club's nightly beachside campfires and movies. We enjoy camping, so we are always suckers for a good campfire.

Alas, however, it was too late in the game to get a Studio reservation at BCV. Since I was frequenting DVC message boards, my interest in DVC re-surfaced again, and I requested information from Disney's web site. I mentioned it to Freddie and he said he would think about it. He had liked the idea when we first talked about it, and our vacation needs had changed considerably since we decided that DVC wasn't right for us.

March/April 2008 - Third Time's The Charm
On March 31, we got a phone call from DVC. The first lady I spoke to made sure we had requested DVC info, and then transferred me to, of all people, Betty -- the very same DVC Guide we had spoken to back in 2005. Betty was very gracious and helpful, and spent 25 minutes telling me all about the new Animal Kingdom Villas, Saratoga Springs Resort and current incentives.

When I asked her about the possibility of buying a Beach Club Villas membership, she said she could help me with that, but they had a long waiting list (I'm almost certain she said a year). She also told me that it was $104 a point, as was Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge Villas. Old Key West was $102 a point. Yikes!

I didn't express my surpise at the prices, but knew from visiting various DVC member web sites that points could be had for far less on the resale market, and it may only take a few weeks or months to find exactly what you were looking for.

That night, I looked around on a couple of resales web sites (Timeshare Store and DVC By Resale) to see what the current going rates were for DVC points at resale. I also did a little looking into what was passing Right of First Refusal (ROFR).

A brief primer for folks unfamiliar with ROFR -- Disney has established the right to approve all resales of DVC points, presumably to protect the value of their resorts. If someone makes an offer that Disney deems is too low, Disney will invoke their right of ROFR. If ROFR is invoked, there is no opportunity for the buyer to make a higher offer. The sale between the DVC member and the prospective buyer is effectively dead and Disney will purchase the points back from the seller and re-sell them as add-on points for current DVC members or non-members on the waiting list to purchase. My understanding (and I am not 100% sure on this) is that current DVC members take priority over non-members, so it's easy to see why it takes a long time for a non-member to purchase BCV though Disney.

I made a spreadsheet and we crunched some numbers to see what we might be able to afford. We tinkered with 125 - 200 points to see what things looked like. Our new Magic book and DVD arrived on Thursday, April 3. I looked through the book that night while Freddie watched hockey on TV (to each his own!).

On Friday, April 4, I again looked at the available BCV listings on the resales sites and sent out a couple of e-mails asking about how we might be able to get on a waiting list if we decided to proceed.

On Saturday April 5, Freddie and I watched the DVD. I had also put together another spreadsheet where we could plug in points and see which rooms would be in our reach during certain times of the year. After looking over everything, we decided to pursue a BCV purchase.