DVC vacations are what percentage of your vacations?

[twinsouvenirs]

Maybe this is a weird question, but I am wondering whether members or at least DIS DVCers vacation exclusively on WDW points, or whether their DVC membership represents just a portion of their trips. We are considering a non-disney cash getaway for a long weekend but we already feel the tug of our dvc saying "but we are sunk costs! come on down to try AKV!"

We also were considering making 2/3 vacations DVC and then 1/3 somewhere else (yellowstone, grand canyon, florida keys, alaska, new england, etc)

 

[lovin'fl]

We do DVC trips and we cruise (Carnival) and we travel with our girls softball. That's pretty much all our vacations. We do several shorter trips per year. Maybe 40% DVC and 30% cruise and 30% softball....that's not right...when I average nights per year, we do about 14 nights softball (that doesn't count all the overnights, just counts the longer trips) and 10 nights DVC and 5 nights cruise...per year. But the softball is mostly work and very little vacation/fun time.

 

[Micca]

Nearly all of our vacations are Disney trips, this pattern pre-dates our DVC ownership. DW and I have visited many places in the U.S. & Europe, but we just feel really comfortable at WDW.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We probably spend about 1/3 of our vacation time on DVC/WDW trips annually. We will use Spring Break for something else (DC, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc.) for the next few years. The other about 1/3 is used for long weekends at our family cottage, school days off (MLK, President's day) and extra days around the to holidays.

 

[DisneyDiana]

I agree with the 1/3 sentiment. I want to expose my family to many different experiences. We also travel to the National Parks, the Great Smokies are one of our favorites. We already live on a little island so we are a block from the beach, therefore, our trips are usually to the mountains and, of course, Disney.

 

[rkold]

Right now, I'd say trips to WDW take up about 1/2 to 2/3 of our vacations. With family spread out across the USA, we generally spend the rest of our trips visiting them. 2014 already looks like 4 trips to WDW, 1 trip to OH, 1 trip to see in-laws, 1 trip to SoCal, and possibly something else. DD is only 3, so I find traveling to places where it is easy to still go back to where ever we are staying so she can nap in the middle of the day a prime consideration.

 

[Sur]

1/3, but some family visit trips are tied to Disney trips....go visit relatives after wearing the kids out at the world or land..

 

[Simba's Mom]

About 75% of our vacations are DVC. DH takes 4 weeks per year-one week is non-DVC, usually a birding/wildlife photography trip (Yellowstone, north Utah, etc.). Next year will be birding/photography in Alaska. One week is HHI, the other two are DVC.

 

[Sammie]

1/3 to 1/2, it varies from year to year. We always take at least one Disney trip but might take several shorter trips to other places.

 

[Anal Annie]

Since buying our DVC in Dec. 2006 we have basically only done Disney trips because our accomodations are pre-paid but we have included the Hilton Head and Vero Beach properties. Sometimes only 1 trip per yr but usually 2 trips. Even in 2011 when we did Europe and skipped WDW entirely it was a DCL Med cruise and a quick visit to Disneyland Paris. Our 1 exception is usually a long weekend ski trip in January (although this yr is a 2nd Disney trip instead of skiing). Our plan for this summer is CA & Hawaii...at VGC & Aulani of course.

We hope to cruise again or go back to Europe again in 2015...it is highly likely that these trips will also be Disney related as well.

 

[bakerworld]

DVC is 2/3 our vacation - we try and force ourselves to do something different every year ... but it doesn't always work

 

[bwvBound]

Cool question and thread topic!

Generally, I'd say that DVC is less than 5% of our total vacation travel as we use most of our DVC points for staying at BWV for a business conference (not vacation).

This year, however, we skipped the conference in favor of 15 nights in South Africa and then went hog-wild using the points for both DVC stays (9 nights at The Grand Cal split across Feb, May and Dec) plus a Concierge Club reservation at the Manhattan Club (6 nights, Nov). As a result, DVC was almost 15% of our 'vacation' travel. (I'm counting 55 nights at our 'weekend house' into the one year total of 99 vacation nights. Without counting the weekend house, DVC soars to 1/3 of this year's travel!)

For 2014, we've traded into BWV through RCI for the business conference and will use our DVC points to host family and friends (multiple units) at AKV for a RunDisney event. Personally we will get only four nights ... which will again result in a low overall percentage against Costa Rica, multiple Worldmark and Wyndham reservations and using the weekend house.

 

[bookwormde]

WDW is about 1/4 of our vacations, but about 1/3 of our vacation days.

We go on points only (do rent/transfer in a few on occasion)

 

[Havana]

For the past few years DVC stays account for 3/4 of our vacation time. We do try to do one non- disney trip a year.

 

[AnnaS]

Since owning DVC since 2000 - the majority of our trips somehow are WDW/DVC points related. For instance - we have included Vero, Hilton Head, 5 cruises (eastern, western, West Coast & med), CA, Cancun come to mind right now.

We have taken some other trips (closer to home in between - Myrtle Beach, PA, VA, Jersey Shore). We do need to start branching out some though

 

[com_op_2000]

We plan at least one non-DVC trip per year and have for 20+ years.
We want to get to a point where we are making one DVC trip per month and two non-DVCs trips per year.

 

[Tink2312]

As a Brit, DVC accounts for about 1/3 of our vacations, but approx 65% of our vacation days. When we had a holiday home (which we sold just after purchasing DVC) the figures were of course much different. Having said that, DVC has an influence on all of our vacations - DVC ownership and thus not having to pay $$$ out for accommodation whilst in FL, has enabled us to spend more on our non-DVC vacations and vacation more each year.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'd say DVC accounts for 1/2-2/3 of our vacation time. We do a lot of travel for dog shows, but I'm not sure I consider that "vacation". This year we used a week of DVC in Hawaii, but had another week in a condo rental. We also did 11 days at Kidani.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Probably 2/3rds

 

[Chuck S]

The vast majority of vacations for me are DVC at WDW. I did take a Carnival cruise with friends in September (my first cruise) and really enjoyed that. I was thinking of a Disney cruise, but since Disney is pulling out of Galveston, it is no longer practical. So some Carnival cruises are likely in the future.

I also take an occasional trip, every few years, to California to visit friends, and usually do Disneyland/California Adventure for one day during that trip, but I stay at my friend's home in Fallbrook, near Oceanside.