Avoiding Friday and Saturday Night stays

[tk1652]

What's the best solution to avoiding the point-heavy Friday/Saturday night stays when you're a DVC member?

I look at the points required for staying on those 2 nights alone and it seems like we could stay 5 more days if we could avoid spending points on these 2 nights.

Do you take Disney buses to another on-property Disney hotel? Is it even allowed to take luggage on the buses?

Do you take a cab to another hotel?

Do you bite the bullet and just pay the points?

I'd love to hear strategies about this.

Thanks!
Rick

 

[Chuck S]

Personally, we tend to stay 9 to 12 days per trip with one weekend in the middle of the trip, so the points aren;t so bad. I would never schedule a trip to encompass more than one weekend on points.

If you want to stay off-site, you can take a cab or rent a car. When we first joined we stayed offsite on weekends...we got tired of moving and added more points.

If you want to transfer to another Disney resort, bell services will transfer your luggage for you, while you go enjoy the parks.

 

[JohnNJ]

In the past I always tried to maximize my time at WDW while minimizing my vacation days from work. That meant arriving Friday night and staying through the following Sunday.

That plan doesn't work with DVC because of the two weekends worth of points. Now I still come down Friday night but I stay someplace on cash for the first Friday and Saturday nights and use points for the second set. It's kind of a compromise. There's now way I'd change rooms more than once.

 

[Candace]

What's the best solution to avoiding the point-heavy Friday/Saturday night stays when you're a DVC member?

I look at the points required for staying on those 2 nights alone and it seems like we could stay 5 more days if we could avoid spending points on these 2 nights.

Do you take Disney buses to another on-property Disney hotel? Is it even allowed to take luggage on the buses?

Do you take a cab to another hotel?

Do you bite the bullet and just pay the points?

I'd love to hear strategies about this.

Thanks!
Rick

To save on those weekend points, I have arrived and checked into a moderate resort for the weekend, and I have also once stayed the weekend at a Universal Studios hotel so my boys could have the FOTL privelege there for a couple of days. If you move at the END of your stay, just take your luggage to Bell Services; they will tag it and move it to another Disney hotel. You can then do whatever you like for the day, then take the bus to your new location. They make it very easy to stay on site!

 

[auntsue]

It is hard to use those points on the weekend, but we, personally, just find it too much of a hassle to move for the weekend. We just force ourselves to divide the whole amount by seven, so it doesn't seem so bad.

While I was working, we would fly down on Friday night and either spend the night off-site or at the Dolphin or Swan for the teacher's rate. Off site was very economical. We never had a car, so we would just have the car service that we used from the airport pick us up in the morning and drive us over to the BWV. It was very reasonable.

From the Dolphin, Swan or any Disney hotel, they have a luggage transfer service which moves your luggage for you.

You can often find discount codes at Mousesaver's.

I think it is a lot easier to move at the beginning of the trip rather than at the end. Just pack a small overnight bag, and then you're ready to move on. Towards the end of the trip, you just don't have the energy you had at the beginning, and you probably have a lot more stuff to pack up.

 

[WDWLVR]

When we made our initial purchase we did so figuring an entire week (including weekends) in a one bedroom). I'd rather just get there and enjoy than worry about moving.

 

[OKW Lover]

Although we have done Friday and/or Saturday night stays, we often will try to avoid them by arriving on Sunday and leaving on Friday. When we do that, we usually fly in on a Saturday but stay off-site that night. We then get Sunday breakfast at Perkins (just across the road from Hotel Plaza Blvd) and head for DVC.

 

[flyerron]

Yeah, We bought enought points to stay a week (and a couple days extra if we want). The hassle of moving grows old & take valuable time. We think it is better to bite the bullet & buy a few more points & be comfortable staying in one location. Money is replaceable. being aggrevated on a Disney vacation can ruin the trip, & if it is a regular thing, it is not worth it.

 

[mowog]

We have a trip at BCV coming up. We have Sunday to Friday booked in a 2BR.

Anyway- We've decided to fly down Sat AM by ourselves and get another day in. I booked a room at All Star Movie for mid $90. I'm fearing check in, so inquired about a night at AKL, since we have Jiko booked for dinner. A Savannah view room would be about $360 inclusive for 1 night! The DVC rate is 16-23 points for a studio, while BCV is 22. At my price per point (not counting time value of money) this is $110-160 per Saturday night (studio). So although double the week day rate, the DVC weekends are still a good value. I came late to the "buy enough points for the weekend" train of thought, but now I'm a believer.

 

[goofydiz]

When we first joined we figured we would just avoid the weekend. But it's just not that easy with our DDs schedule. It seems that everytime we plan a trip we end up forking over the extra points for the weekend. So we just suck it up and pay the points and enjoy our trip. I can't see taking time away from our trip to worry about moving. I'd rather enjoy my trip instead.

 

[kda]

We usually stay in another resort the first Saturday night (ie, Swan / Dolphin, POP, or one of the mods on a discount) and get there mid-afternoon or evening. The luggage is packed so the few things we need for that one night are in the carry on or on top of the suitcase, so there's not really much to unpack and re-pack. When I get up Sunday AM, I go check in to DVC and get our room. I really like to go early in the AM when staying at OKW because they have always offered us a choice of rooms, even though they're not usually ready.

Then we stay from Sunday to the following Monday at DVC in a 1 bedroom .......... so we're not really packing as much as we used to. We're usually there in the less busy months, so we're not using as many points anyway. It would be too much hassle for us to move the 2nd weekend, unless we could get a discount rate at one of the regular WDW resorts that we really want to stay in (or a Universal resort).

It's a really bummer that a quick 4 day weekend really takes a lot, but that's how it goes! Then we'd always stay in a studio. It's easier to look at the total # of points per week, rather than # of points for each night.

 

[R Dog Walt]

Everyone has a lot of ideas here. I agree that the "good shopper" in me thinks about the points needed for a weekend night. I like to get as many days as possible each year since we only have 200 points.

We've done a variety of things. We have bit the bullet and stayed 7 nights (and tried to forget about the weekend points).

If we're driving we live about 15 hours away, so we'll book an All Star for a Saturday evening. That way if we get in late, it's no big deal.

We've also split the difference before and flew in on Friday, stayed at a moderate (if we can get a good deal), and checked in to DVC on Saturday (therefore only using points for 1 weekend night). This plan makes a good 6 day trip.

As was said before, Disney will transfer your bags. It was no big deal- we went to the parks and came back, checked in, and then had bell services bring our bags.

 

[beacher]

We fly in on Sunday and leave on Saturday and stay all on points in one room. That only costs us 1 night at weekend rates and we have come to enjoy having the Saturday prep day before leaving and the Sunday unwind day after we come home.

Our first year or two I used to pay cash for weekend nights with the member discount but that has become impossible, since we like the standard views at BWV and the 2BR-2Q at BCV. Also availability of the rooms getting released for cash at members' discount started to become "iffy" and I'd rather be set.

 

[mprewitt]

For our next trip, we're staying 5 nights (Sun-Thu) in a 1 BR at OKW, and then switching to a Studio for 1 night (Fri) at VWL. I've never tried this, and it seems like it may be a big hassle, but I didn't want to pay double points for Friday night.

 

[Deb & Bill]

In June we spent 8 nights at BCV including two Fridays and one Saturday. We hate to move and it's more convenient to just stay.

 

[daisyduck123]

What's the best solution to avoiding the point-heavy Friday/Saturday night stays when you're a DVC member?



Thanks!
Rick

Our trip last month, we spent a Friday nite at POP before checking into SSR for 8 nights. That one night saved us a few points.

Later this month, we're spending 3 nights at the Dolphin before checking into BCV on a Sunday (and we'll check out of BCV the following Friday).

 

[DebbieB]

There will be a new twist if the rumor comes true that WDW resorts are going to charge more for Friday and Saturday nights in 2008.

 

[starbox]

My plan for 08 is going to be to do Sun-Thurs at WDW, Fri and Sat with member's cash at VB (rack rate is MUCH lower there), points Sun-Tues at VB and then points at WDW again Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[GEB@okw]

I can not believe no one else has tried this: Stay five nights on points, two nights on cash with member discount and then another five nights on points. MS can link the three ressies together for one stay with no moving. I have to say though that in the last 10 years the prices for cash on weekends vs. the weekend point cost has evened out to where it's cheaper on points for Friday/Saturday. IE- 20 points for an OKW studio when it's 279 a night plus tax.

 

[JohnNJ]

For our next trip, we're staying 5 nights (Sun-Thu) in a 1 BR at OKW, and then switching to a Studio for 1 night (Fri) at VWL. I've never tried this, and it seems like it may be a big hassle, but I didn't want to pay double points for Friday night.

But you are paying double points for the studio on Friday. It's less points than a one bedroom but it's still double.