Zdad here...need some strategy help.

[zdad]

For those not familiar, Mrs. Zdad and I are taking our 25th Wedding Anniversary trip in late April. We will be there for the Grand Fock Fest. which we look forward to with great anticipation.

The trip itself was our gift to each other, but I'm thinking of surprising the missus and taking it one step further. Maybe turning our tickets into Annual Passes and already having another trip booked, or maybe offering to buy into DVC while we're there. Not really sure how to start thinking about the possibilities though.

Who here lives as far away as us (Philly), and still has annual passes? How often do you get to WDW in a year? How do you do it? Do you just fly down on a whim when you can catch a cheap flight? IS it worth DVC or should we just vary our lodging to save $$ on occasion?

Who's got some ideas to get me started ????

 

[LaraK]

Wish I had advice...we're just down 95 and our goal is once a year. We're not getting annual passes...we got 8 day tickets. There is also the no expiration option...kind of an in between. (by the way, tomorrow is my 10th aniversary...congrats on making 25)

 

[Mousema]

I'm going to invest in an annual pass when I go this month. I was on a trip with DMom in September and I'm going back with a DFriend in October. This time I'm going because I found cheap air fare Each trip I take is for at least 7 days. The math says if you do more than 10 days in a year, your annual pass is paid for.

 

[boysmom5150]

Hi Zdad,first things first CONGRATS on 25 years, that is so great, I wish you another happy 25 together!
Ok we are from Jersey and just bought VWL in December, we have DS4 and DS1. We are going in Apr(you are leaving flora for us at GF) and again in Oct. We are going to be buying AP as we will prob be making 2trips a year. We will fly down ALWAYS(no car rides that long with 2 toddlers or for that matter older kiddies)Most likely we will have to plan ahead as DS4 starts kindergarten in Sep, however(dont flame me) I dont have a problem taking him out of school at this point to avoid crowds(did the summer thing-WONT do it anymore EVER). DH has been known to surprise us with little getaways, but never to WDW.Being a DVC member not sure how that would work with limited avail on rooms and short notice.
For us the DVC made alot of sense.We are Disney addicts. We always stay at GF or Poly with the occasional Contp thrown in there. For us if we would normally take 2 trips a year it pays for itself in just 2-3 yrs. We took the kids last Oct for the 1st time(dh and I have been many many times) and they were totally hooked(2 more addicts in the world).We are going again in Apr and Oct. I definitely think that is a great gift if you can find some ingenious/fun way of surprising Mrs Z.(im no help there sorry).Good luck and let us know what you decide. Take good care of Flora and we cant wait to get her in Apr. I am so bummed I am going to miss the Fockfest. But hopefully I will see some random dissers and can fock them.

 

[MikeS.]

Zdad, congrats on 25 the rest is all down hill...

Like it says above our 30th is in December, our plan this year is 7 nights at Vero Beach in August. With 2 or 3 days at the park. Will buy APs then. Will go back to SSR, our DVC home in December, the 15th - 22nd I think it is. The 17th is our anniversary so we will definetely be there then. Then we will take another trip in 2008 before the APs expire.

So in this case I think the APs will be worth it. We joined DVC last march when we were at WDW for the 1st time. We fell in love with it, both WDW and DVC.

Some extra special things to do, a fireworks cruise. A really special dinner, with champagne if you drink alcohol, which I seem to remember from other posts you do imbibe? Flowers of course in the room when you get there. A day at the Spa for her. There is just a lot of options.

 

[newholidayx2]

Congratulations!
When DS14 & I were last to WDW in Aug we stayed for 2 wks. 5nights VWL, 3nights AKL (over the wknd) and 6nights BCV (when DH join us). We bought 10day MYW ticks for the 3 of us (because of DP at AKL). Never activated as we had passes already (and still do).

This year Im celebrating "the year I turn 50"
Apr 20-27 (I'll be there for the Fock Fest) Im staying 2nights Pop before switching to 5nights BCV. I have 3 EpCot tours planned while there.
In Aug DS & I are going from 8/10-17 (DH joins us about every other year). We're planning on parasailing.
and in Nov I'll be back to celebrate my 50th bday! (looking forward to celebrating w/my "Men in Skirts"! (Off Kilter), princess meals, spa, etc
And early next Apr I'll be returning with a girlfriend who hasnt been since they added EpCot!

This year I'll be turning my 10day MYW tick to an annual pass.
We bought into DVC w/VWL as our "home" after our first stay at the WL back in Oct 2001.

 

[Miz Diz]

If you do decide to get AP and do buy into DVC - DVC gets a $100 discount on the AP. Also, if you go at least once a year for a week, you should get the AP. You can go 1 week now and just plan the next trip for the week before your AP expires.

We just bought DVC in Oct and already added on. We wish we had bought sooner. You can get last minute requests, too. In November, I was able to book 2 nights in December and March 28-April 2, which is part of my son's Spring Break.