 Tanya's Daily Scoop Covering the West Coast & the World CURRENTLY IN: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA |  Elisa's Daily Scoop Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs CURRENTLY IN: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK |
| Howdy Folks! I've been over here at home prepping away for the next few trips that are on my calendar.  Next up is our Mountain Biking trip to Moab (UT) and Crested Butte (CO). Which begins tomorrow!! And then 15 days after our return from that trip is our quadrennial Family Disney World vacation. And 1 day after getting back is my trip to Sedona! WHEW!!! While each trip is so different, I'm looking forward to each of the trips in their own right. My mountain biking trip begins tomorrow. We'll head out of town and head for Crested Butte. Stopping along the way for dinner in Las Vegas and stay the night in Hurricane, Utah before arriving in...Crested Butte. Crested Butte happens to be a location of which I have been looking quite forward to visiting both in the wintertime for skiing and during the summer/fall for mountain biking.  Credit: Wikipedia  Credit: TripAdvisor But since it happens to be a fairly difficult and remote location to get to, it has taken all these years to finally put it on my travel calendar... I actually have Birdwald to credit for giving me the idea to add this sought out location to this trip!!! Thank you Birdwald. And if you can actually believe it - I still have to pack! The good news is that I pretty much all the plans in place and my packing shouldn't really be that big of a deal. Of course as you know there are certain trips that require more time and planning for my packing...Disney World being one of them!  Magic Kingdom (c)travelincousins.com  Olé at Mexico, Epcot Center (c)travelincousins.com And although I am not a DVC owner, I have stayed at a number of wonderful timeshare resorts. If we happen to be taking a vacation that having a kitchen would be useful to us and one where we would enjoy more space than just your typical hotel room/suite than I'm all for vacation properties, timeshare rentals, airbnb style accommodations. This Disney World trip definitely works better in a timeshare resort. In addition to the 4 of us going, there will also be Cosette's boyfriend Javier, his brother joining us at the parks and DY joining us on the last day of the parks and for the rest of the Florida trip. I booked a 3 bedroom timeshare unit that is located right outside of the Disney property and hopefully should suit our needs just fine! Not to jump back and forth, but that is exactly what I am about to do...I'm not sure if you remember but when I was on my last mountain biking trip, which was through Northern California, Oregon and Washington I had "lost" my sport glasses. They were left in our hotel room, we checked out and by accident I left them behind. We attempted to go back to the hotel to retrive the missing glasses but to no avail. I was highly disappointed and wound up using a pair of Martin's. Oh well fast forward until now when I've even the contacted the corporate office several times - which was pointless and they offered nothing and claimed no liability. HUFF So I purchased a new pair from REI, the new pair was suppose to arrive by early tomorrow. Well guess what folks...I've tracked them and they are now showing delivery on Friday...which doesn't help whatsoever. Anyhow, enough of my rant. I'll see you back here on Friday, -Travelin' Tanya | Happy Hump Day Everyone! Hope you are having a fabulous week! It has been quite a productive few days for me; getting lots accomplished. The mornings are working out beautifully now that me and the girls are into a system, this, the third week of school. Gianna gets up, sets herself up in the dining room for a full day of REMOTE school and Kelsey and I head out together, as I drive her to school each day for IN-PERSON school. We'll see if things change as cold and flu season gets closer.  Our afternoon snack time treat from Philly Pretzel Factory (c) travelincousins.com Yesterday, when Kelsey got home from school, the two of us paid a visit to our local Philly Pretzel Factory for their Tuesday Special - Buy 3, Get 3 Free. We couldn't even wait till we got back home to start munching away!! Honestly, it was just what the doctor ordered for a yummy afternoon snack!! As you know, here on TC, every week we feature something different, (and hopefully helpful!) to our Disney World loving followers on our Walt Disney World Wednesday blog I wanted to chat a bit today about the benefits of The Disney Vacation Club (DVC).  Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World (c) travelincousins.com We have been members since 2007, when my girls were 3 and 1 respectively, and I can wholeheartedly say that we have enjoyed every minute of our membership! If you are not familiar with the DVC, it is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Members purchase what's called a "real estate" interest in the form of "Vacation Points" which can be pretty much customized to your needs. Disney Vacation Points When you purchase your "real estate" interest, it comes in the form of a yearly allotment of Vacation Points, which are then used to book vacation accommodations at that Resort, at other Disney Vacation Club Resorts or in thousands of other destinations around the world. Based on the number of vacation points you purchase, you can use your annual points allotment any way you choose, whether it be for short stays or extended vacations. Home Resort Every member of the Disney Vacation Club has what's known as a "home resort." This is the official Disney resort that you hold your timeshare at, however, you are not limited to staying at this resort. Members can stay at any of the Disney Vacation Club resort in the Park, throughout the world and at participating locations designated by DVC, which is pretty extensive.  Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort (c) travelincousins.com Flexibility in Where to Stay The thing I like about the DVC membership is that there is a great deal of flexibility and it doesn't lock you into a specific resort. Members are free to choose exactly where they want to stay and this feature has allowed me and my gang to experience the broad range of themed resorts throughout the past 13 years. Our home resort is the Saratoga Springs, which is quite nice and possesses a great many amenities, we do like to switch things up each time we go! I will say, however, that because most DVC members are like us and want to try the variety of accommodations, availability in the designated "DVC" vacation rooms, suits and villas book up quickly, so one has to be vigilant about booking immediately upon the opening of the booking window for DVC accommodations. Guests can book their home resort 11 months in advance of check-in date and 7 months in advance of check-in date for all other resorts. Me and my gang literally wait till midnight of the 7-month advance date so we have the best chance of getting the resort of our choice. If your resort choice is booked, they allow you to make up to two wait list bookings, which they automatically fill if an opening becomes available. My gang LOVES The Boardwalk Resort and Villas and you can check out our article to find out why! Disney's Boardwalk Inn and Villas - 22 Reasons To Book Your Stay  Magic Kingdom at Christmas (c) travelincousins.com Choice of When to Travel The nice feature about the DVC "time share program" is that you have a choice of exactly when you travel. So, provided there is availability, you can book your trip whenever you like. There is also no rule about the length of your stay, so that is your choice as well, provided you have the points required for the length of your stay. We have stayed almost every time of year and at a great many of the resorts. Each season has it's pros and cons. For example, Christmastime in Disney World is just beautiful and festive, but it's generally very crowded. February, during Spring break is also a very busy time. October and early November are lovely in terms of the weather and it coincides with the Food and Wine Festival. Spring is quite nice as well. Summertime is terribly hot, but a great time for the water rides! Approximate Cost of Membership The current price to purchase ownership in the DVC, from Disney is approximately $140 – $165 per point with a 100-point minimum. This price range is based on the home resort. (based on the resort) There are often various incentives offered, usually in the form of a discount.  Disney's Grand Floridian Resort (c) travelincousins.com DVC Membership Benefits There are a number of member benefits, which include very nice accommodations.
Through the DVC website, you can always check for numerous deals and discounts during the time of your visit on park admission, dining, shopping and more. For instance, this morning, prior to writing this article, I checked the Member Benefits page of the website and noticed that there is currently a a limited-time offer to save 30% on merchandise at Walt Disney World owned and operated locations! You can also always find dining discounts of 10%-15% at a number of the restaurants as well as activities. Today I saw that there were three discounts offered at present, one of which I would have loved to take advantage of - $10 savings off tickets for Aerophile—The World Leader in Balloon Flight in Disney Springs. DVC Vacation Resorts There are currently 16 DVC resorts in total and 11 DVC resorts in Walt Disney World Florida. Hawaii:
Well, that's a Disney wrap - hope it was a bit of helpful information to you. And on that note, I'm going to head out now for my daily 4-mile walk (yes folks, I'm back up to 4 miles again!!!) See ya on Friday!! -Travelin' Elisa xoxo |
