Do you ever pay cash?

[TravelingJen24]

We have been to WDW three times with our DVC and were thinking about planning a trip in March, but it is too late to get a room. Now we are considering paying cash for a room somewhere that we could typically not use our points. Any suggestions? What type of deals do they offer over there? AAA, costco, etc.? Thanks

[robinb]

I have payed cash plenty of times, but usually at a Value or Moderate resort. I like to stretch out my points and often I end up at a regular WDW resort over the weekend.

I have also paid cash while booking through member services. My mom once picked up the cost of a 2BR over a Saturday while we paid for the rest of the week with points. I also paid cash through member services for a 1BR at BWV for a couple of days over NYE 1999/2000 trip.

I would get on a waitlist at all WDW resorts for your times. Something might come through because people often wait until the last minute (at the 31-day mark) to cancel.

[Chuck S]

I haven't paid for a whole trip on cash since buying DVC, but have extended a trip or arrived early and stayed at POP Century for a night or two.

[Dawn16]

AAA rates are available at the WDW resorts (by calling the 407 W-DISNEY #) but I'd call right away as you're looking for March and there are only a certain number of rooms available with the discount. Good luck!

[robinb]

Here is a list of the current discounts:
http://www.mousesavers.com/disneyresorts.html#discountmenu

[mb168]

We like to do last minute trips and jet down on a Friday so there are many times I go to Mousesavers.com for a code and stay at a value or moderate. We haven't been quite as lucky the last two times this happened though and ended up once at the Holiday Inn right outside DTD and the other at the Hyatt in DTD. We are also AP holders so we get the AP rates when rooms are available and save our points for the good trips and bigger rooms.

[CarolA]

My theory is that Disney "deluxe" are WAY overpriced! So I will no longer pay.

Now, for my trip next week until I got my DVC room yesterday I was staying at the Hampton Inn LBV. I also pay for the Marriott Courtyard and/or hotels at the Marriott Village.

IF I can get a good discount (AP or something) I will consider paying for a mod or value. I won't pay rack rate for any Disney hotel.

[TravelingJen24]

It doesn't appear that I am going to be able to talk my husband into a trip over there until next year when we can use our points again. I just wanted to go before it got too hot and stay somewhere we've never been. I would love to take the kids to Japan see their Dis, but the kids are only 4 and 2. My husband is uncomfortable taking them on a plane for a long period of time. It looks like it will be Disneyland of somewhere else down south this year.

[Starr W.]

The only we will pay cash is through an II getaway(we have a Starwood week, so we have an II personal account). You never know what will come up on them, about pulled the trigger last fall when I could get Xmas week at the Hyatt in Tahoe. It was under $2000 for the week in a 2br.

I can sympathize with your DH, we really didn't start a lot of air travel until my youngest was about 4(more because DH was not keen on being trapped with a high energy 4 yr old on a long flight!).

[ariel & eric]

Haven't paid cash since we bought DVC and don't even plan to. That's why we bought. I personally can't imagine ever paying for a room again. I don't get why others do it, but I don't really care either.

[JimC]

We are paying cash for a four night stay at the Grand Floridian for our 30th anniversary this June. Nancy has wanted to stay there for some time. There are AAA, AP and other discounts available from time to time.

[disrailfan]

We used to do a cash night or two in association with our point stay. Typically if you book at a DVC resort they allow you to add nights for cash at a discounted rate. The discount is not guaranteed ever, but they do have the capability. :)

We used to do this to make our points stretch so that we could get two trips per year. Now that we have two contracts we no longer do this. :yay:

[robinb]

My theory is that Disney "deluxe" are WAY overpriced! So I will no longer pay.

Now, for my trip next week until I got my DVC room yesterday I was staying at the Hampton Inn LBV. I also pay for the Marriott Courtyard and/or hotels at the Marriott Village.

IF I can get a good discount (AP or something) I will consider paying for a mod or value. I won't pay rack rate for any Disney hotel.
ITA. I can't believe when people pay $300 and more for the Polynesian :scared1:.

[TravelingJen24]

Robin,
OT, but I'm curious since you have been to every park, which one is your favorite? Also, what did you think of the ones in Tokyo? We wanted to make it there in the next few years. Thanks

[summergolf]

We are paying cash for a four night stay at the Grand Floridian for our 30th anniversary this June. Nancy has wanted to stay there for some time. There are AAA, AP and other discounts available from time to time.

Congrats on your 30th...ours is a few months later in september :)

[robinb]

Robin,
OT, but I'm curious since you have been to every park, which one is your favorite? Also, what did you think of the ones in Tokyo? We wanted to make it there in the next few years. Thanks
My favorite park is the Magic Kingdom at Disneyland California. It's the park that Walk built and it is chock-a-block full of magic and theming. I love the place. It's also the first Disney park I visited way back in 1966.

We visited Disneyland Hong Kong and the Tokyo parks on our trip to Asia in August. The photo in my signature comes from Tokyo's Magic Kingdom. I really like both Tokyo parks. The Magic Kingdom is a lot like the MK at WDW. It's easy to forget that you're in Japan ... except everyone is Japanese! Disney Sea is nothing short of spectacular. It is so heavily themed that it makes Animal Kingdom look like a zoo in the middle of Great America. It is my DH's favorite park.

[DVC Mike]

We still plan on paying cash now and again -- for the non-DVC resorts. Every so often, I still like to stay a couple nights in a MK-view room in the Contemporary tower, a lagoon-view room at the Poly, or even a MK-view room at the GF. There's just something about the resorts on the monorail that ring the seven seas lagoon. Of course, if CRV comes to be, I probably won't need to do this anymore.

[christianweecare]

ITA. I can't believe when people pay $300 and more for the Polynesian :scared1:.

Can you believe DH & I Disneymooned at the Poly way back in 1975 for $50 a night?

[christianweecare]

DH & I have paid cash for a value or moderate in conjunction with our points stay. This upcoming Dec. we are staying 7 nights on points. We decided that we had the points and that is why we bought them so we will use them. It just depends on our situation from year to year.

[DebbieB]

Haven't paid cash since we bought DVC and don't even plan to. That's why we bought. I personally can't imagine ever paying for a room again. I don't get why others do it, but I don't really care either.

What if you want to do a last minute trip and there's no DVC availability?

I occasionally have business trips to Orlando and usually only know last minute. Sometimes I can get a DVC room, sometimes not. The last year I used points at POFQ for 1 night (no DVC availablility). This year with the $95 fee, that would not make sense (I could have got a $125 AP rate).

[DVC-Don]

Only once since 2000 when we joined DVC. For 1 night at ASMo before a Disney cruise in 2003. We do stay 2 or 3 times per year on points though.

[TravelingJen24]

When you went to Tokyo Disney did your child go? How was it on the plane ride? Thats what I am really worried about. We have never been out of the country except on cruises, and a little skeptical. I want to spend my money on something that we would remember forever as a trip of a lifetime. What would be a good age for those parks? Thanks in advance for all the info.

[JimC]

Congrats on your 30th...ours is a few months later in september :)

Thank you and congratulations right back at you!

[robinb]

When you went to Tokyo Disney did your child go? How was it on the plane ride? Thats what I am really worried about. We have never been out of the country except on cruises, and a little skeptical. I want to spend my money on something that we would remember forever as a trip of a lifetime. What would be a good age for those parks? Thanks in advance for all the info.Yes, she did. We flew from WI to Hong Kong (spent 4 days there), HK to Beijing (another 5 days), Beijing to Osaka (another 5 days) and then took the train to Yokohama (4 days for a convention) and then the train to DL-Tokyo for 5 more days. My DD turned 8-years old in Hong Kong and we celebrated it at Disneyland. We flew on airline miles and used hotel points for most of the hotels. We stayed at the TDL Sheraton on points and it was great!

The plane ride is quite long. I want to say ... 22 hours or so. It's really all a blur. They feed you 3 meals and keep you entertained with endless movies. My DD watched movies, colored, read and slept. Once you get there the jet lag is murder. We were awake at 3:00 AM for the first couple of days!

Asia is a wonderful place. The Japanese and Chinese are all very friendly. We didn't know either language and managed to get around fine as plenty of people speak English. Japan is very, very, very expensive so be prepared. Tokyo is the most expensive city I have ever visited ... more expensive than New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

I guess if you want to chat more about this, you should probably PM me as this is totally off-topic. Other than ... I would not recommend that you use your DVC points in Japan. It's not worth it. The Hilton and the Sheraton are very close to the monorail station and I don't see much of an advantage to staying at an official Disney Hotel.

[ariel & eric]

[QUOTE=DebbieB;22958622]What if you want to do a last minute trip and there's no DVC availability?

QUOTE]

In the 10 years we've had our DVC we have never had a problem with availibility. We always go as a family (or just me and DH) and plan accordingly. Heck I just extended our April trip a couple of days with no problem and I was less than 3 months out. Now we do own at OKW and only stay there. I'm sure if we wanted to stay at some of the smaller resorts it could be a problem, but we're not.

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We went to HHI over Thanksgiving weekend 2006 and paid oop with 25% discount for Saturday night, and used points for Friday and Sunday night.

It was our 1st DVC trip, and our 1st taste of the magic of DVC. We had 4 wonderful days at HHI/Savannah.

It was really easy to forget the purchase price and the maintenance fees, and say..."I just went on a great vacation for $81!"

We will be returning to HH in November, and will be conserving points by staying points and oop. (We never anticipated bi-annual trips to HH when we bought DVC so we've got to conserve somehow.)

[tomandrobin]

We paid cash once, then we bought DVC. We were young and inexperienced. Since then we have bought DVC and have not paid cash since. We have also stayed at the Swan and Dolphin on points from our Starwood points.

[goofeydec]

Yes, for some fridays and saturdays and when i run out of points.

[antree]

When we didn't have enough points for the weekends, we paid cash for a room either at Port Orleans French Quarters{LOVE IT} or POP{Not Bad. better then All Stars} and Animal Kingdom when there are discounts. We were actually talking about staying at AKL again and paying for it until they turned DVC. So Yes we have paid for other Hotels.