Do any of you pay cash to stay at other WDW resorts??

[vbarry]

Just wondering if any of you take extra trips during the year or pay cash just to stay at the other resorts...GF or Poly??

[Disneyhappy]

Absolutely! When we bought DVC, we did so with the intention that we would not give up the other resorts that we love. We usually save the big weekend points and move to a resort such as the Polynesian. In November, I hope to stay at the Contemporay. It has been so long since we have stayed there, I want to try it out again before we consider adding on points there.

[Chuck S]

We occasionally extend our trip by a day, or arrive a day early and stay at POP. Other than that we haven't paid cash for any nights on WDW property.

[parrotheadlois]

We're staying at POR in October so we can save our points for a vacation next year with the grand-kids.

[officer tigger]

My wife and I did a quick trip last year. We paid cash to stay at the Contemporary so we could save the points for an extended trip this year.

[PutnamDS]

Is it costly to do the cash ressie thing? Is there someplace you can find all the pricing information for these other Disney resorts?

[gracelrm]

The times that we've had an annual pass, we've stayed on cash at non-DVC places. Sometimes it was just a night here or there and sometimes it's been for several days or even a week. Having that pass and receiving an AP discount certainly makes those stays a little easier on the purse!

[photobob]

We have done a Saturday night at Pop Century to save points before but haven't stayed at another resort. We probably won't since we've made such an investment with the DVC. I reserve the right however to buy more points later on, once we get our children college educated..

[vbarry]

I was hoping some of you would talk me out of it! I was thinking of staying a few nights at the GF for Christmas and then moving over to BCV. We would actually stay at GF for Christmas Day! I am feeling pretty guilty about this since we own DVC. We are going to have to pay cash for four nights anyway at BCV but GF would be more!! Decisions...Decisions!

[keishashadow]

We've stayed the weekend @ CR-MK view in '06, way too pricey for us this year/October (come on CRV:wizard: )

Booked 5 nights @ DL Hotel for 1st trip to DL June/July this year:banana: :cheer2:

[senecabeach]

Actually...Yes.:goodvibes

In May Im staying at the Poly Con on cash then moving to the BCV on points and will be there a total of 16 days !!:cloud9: :cloud9:
BTW....its my yearly solo trip !! Ya Hoo!!! :woohoo:

[BCV23]

With only two exceptions, we've always combined a cash stay with DVC. We're too cheap to pay double points to stay at BCV on weekends. And this way, we get our Polynesian (or GF) fix. We typically stay 3-4 nights at the Polynesian and then move to BCV on Sunday. Next trip is 2 nights AKV club level, two nights in Hawaii at the Polynesian and five at BCV. We do prefer to end at DVC. As much as we love the Polynesian, it's hard to go from more space in a 1 or 2 BR to a regular hotel room and no w/d.:scared1:

Those AP discounts can be very nice.

[rayelias]

All the time!

Several times a year, Disney offers AP discounts to certain values or mods ($79-99 - sometimes even less!). If I can arrange cheap airfare, down to WDW we go for a few days!

[PEANUT1]

We haven't done it yet but I plan to. If you don't mind moving, you can save alot of points by staying somewhere else on the weekend. I would like to do a split stay at the poly/WL.

[dianeschlicht]

No, that always seems to me to defeat the purpose of buying DVC. We hafve only done it once, and that was to add a night at the beginning of a trip when we couldn't get flights for the day we wanted, and there was nothing available at DVC.

[kapeman]

We're staying at POFQ the Sat nite before our December trip to OKW.

From what I understand once the AP discount rates come out you can call back and change your reservation to reflect the new rate.

What if you haven't purchased the pass or activated the voucher?

I have read you can book or change reservations without actually having it at the time of reservation as long as you have it when you check in.

Is this correct?

[brianm27]

Yes! We purchased a small amount of points that gives us about a week in a studio every year. We love DVC but sometimes other resorts are more in order. I am not opposed to a $59 / night AP rate in a Value resort for a last minute long weekend. Usually that is a time when DVC is booked (i.e. F&W), weekend points are high, and I am only able to plan a month out.

We also like the Cabins at FW which I can book in the summer with an AAA rate of about $200 night.

We generally go two or three times a year. We never wanted our DVC points to cover every stay.

[DisFlan]

Just wondering if any of you take extra trips during the year or pay cash just to stay at the other resorts...GF or Poly??

Almost every time! This time it'll be Shades of Green for the first night. We've stayed all over WDW in the past. Last time it was Wilderness Lodge on the first night, BWV in the middle and the Dolphin for the last night. The Dolphin didn't really blow us away, but tastes differ, and it was one move too many for a week's stay.

DisFlan

[JimC]

This year we are doing a weekend at GC in DL, 4 night DCL cruise and 4 night 30th anniversary at the GF -- cash reservations. We don't do cash much anymore but this is a special year for us. We are looking forward to DVC at DL so we can cut out the cash reservations there.

[PrincessV]

Yep. I live nearby and knew I'd want to take the occasional last-minute, weekend trip with a Sat. stay. I figured I couldn't count on being able to get DVC accomodations AND I didn't want to "waste" points on a weekend night so I bought fewer points and budgeted a few value/mod resort stays into my year. I also get either an AP or FL Resident discount, which helps make that a better option.

That said, since staying at the Poly last year, it's the only non-DVC resort I'm interested in anymore. Consider my budget busted. :rolleyes:

[MinnieVanMom]

We stayed 2 nites at POR and loved the horses, trails, and lush landscape, along with a super food court. Then we called room service and they moved our luggage and us in van over to our DVC. It saved on points which I didn't have and we got a nice discount on the room.

Yes, I do get a room at a non DVC resort, get good and tired park running and then relax at the DVC and switch to a slower pace.

[Disneholic]

We were talking about doing that maybe in 2009 or 2010 because my son (6th grade now) is in the school band and our high school travels to Disney every 3 or 4 years. When he gets to go in a few years I'm sure the grandparents will be going with us so we will have to bank and probably borrow a years points to get a grand villa. It will be worth it though just to have everyone there to watch and cheer him on. His current goal is to play in a Disney band when he grows up. Who knows---dreams do come true.:rockband:

[MinnieGi]

Yes, we have done it several times! :)

We are also AP holders so several trips we have extended using a great AP rate to check out another resort. We also have paid cash on AP rates for a whole week. Last Feb. we stayed for a week in a FW cabin on an AP rate. We did that b/c we didn't want to borrow any more DVC points (this was before we added on more points). We don't mind moving as Disney bell services makes it so easy with delivering your luggage to your new resort and we like to check out new places. :)

[spiceycat]

when first owned DVC stayed at all the deluxes....now well Pop is excellent for what I want!

definitely for the weekends stay at Pop or offsite even these days.