Summer is over, and Fall is here. For our family, that means the vacation "dead zone" has ended (the period of June through September when the heat and humidity keep us away from Walt Disney World).

I almost thought I wasn't going to make it! It's been almost 5 months since our last vacation at WDW the first week of May. For me, that's much too long.

We're leaving on September 29 for a week in a 1-BR at Disney's Old Key West! We'll hit Las Vegas in late October.

Then we'll be in a 1-BR Savannah view at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas the first week of December. Three months after that, it's another week at AKV the first week of March.

Then less than two months later, it's a Disney cruise followed by a few more days at Disney's BoardWalk Villas!

After all that, it's another long summer of waiting, but I spend the time planning for the next vacation season! Let's see, October at Beach Club Villas, then Christmas as the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge...

nice!;)

Wow! I wish I could do that!

Will you adopt me?;)

I have a DVC question for all of you memebers -
1) is it worth it? its really expensive!

2) My parents are thinking of joining . . . would they be able to transfer stuff to me? (times and such)?

3) What are your experiences? Do you like the villas? Do you HAVE to stay at teh villas?

any advice would be truly appreciated. Thanks!

Wow, are you retired? I have tons of time off, but DH started a new job this year so- no trip until next year.:( May you have safe & magic trips!

DoodleMushyBoo, may I suggest reviewing threads in the DVC forum, and if those don't answer your questions, then starting a new thread there.

ETA: Never mind, you already did!

Wow! That's a lot of fun traveling! Yeah.....can you adopt all of us? :fez:

Please fill us in later on.....sounds like loads of fun, fun, fun!!!!

I am soooo jealous......I agree that you should adopt all of us ;)

I am soooo jealous......I agree that you should adopt all of us ;)

Ditto! I'm in awe...

Back from our OKW trip...

On 9/29, we checked in to Port Orleans Riverside for one night and got a room in the Alligator Bayou section for our first night after the drive down. It was nice (and cheap with the AP discount). But it’s not a DVC 1-BR villa!

The next morning, we checked out of POR and went over to Old Key West. We were happy to find our room was immediately available when we checked-in at 10:30am.

We enjoyed the large size of the 1-BR at OKW, as well as the quiet, lushly landscaped setting. It was also nice to have our car parked just outside of the room. This was our first time with our car at WDW. We drove everywhere and didn’t rely upon Disney transportation at OKW.

OKW is simply too large and spread-out for us, and we missed the amenities at the DVC resorts we own at (air-conditioned indoor hallways, room service, valet parking, great restaurants). We feel the same way about SSR (which we visited and had lunch at).

DVC left us voicemails about adding on points at OKW (good through 2057), but we prefer the resorts attached to a deluxe resort rather than the condo-style resorts of OKW and SSR. To each his own, I guess.

We decided to go over to Epcot on 10/1 for the 25th anniversary festivities. We enjoyed the opening ceremonies and picked up some limited-edition retro Epcot gear. My wife also picked up a bunch of limited-edition 25th anniversary Epcot pins. We also ate (and drank) our way around World Showcase for the Food & Wine festival.

Amazingly, on this trip, we spent very little time at the parks. We spent most of our park time at Epcot, 3 hours at AK and just 2 hours at Disney Studios. This was the first trip we’ve been on where we never stepped foot in the MK. We spent most of our time relaxing at the resort we were staying at, or visiting the other DVC resorts.

On Friday, we checked out of OKW and went over to the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. Again, we were surprised to find our room was immediately available. Ah, we love this resort! We only spent one day here, but it was the best day of our trip. We just enjoy the magnificently rendered theme of the WL, and the peaceful and romantic setting.

The only negative of this trip was that it was hot (low 90’s) and very humid and it rained a lot.

We had absolutely some of the best dining experiences we’ve had at WDW, with great meals at Artist Point, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Jiko, Flying Fish Café, and Spoodles.

The whole time, we didn’t read a newspaper, watch TV or connect to the Internet. Upon our return home, we were pleasantly surprised to find out about the new Oahu resort Disney announced during our vacation.

We’re excited to be going back to WDW this Dec 1-9 to stay at the AKV with a savannah view. We’ll probably spend several mornings gazing at the animals and spent every evening gazing at all the Christmas decorations and lights at the parks and resorts. I can’t wait!