11 days, 3 rooms ... is this poor conduct?

[Shawn]

Hi folks,

Future DVC owner here, trying to figure out how many points I need. I see that many folks stay off site during a weekend to avoid the high point rates, but rather than do that, I would rather just switch to a studio during the weekend.

That is, what is the likelihood of booking something like the following for 11 nights at WDW? And then the next question, if the following can be booked is this type of usage considered bad conduct? Point example is from SSR Magic season.

Sun - Thu. 1BR.. 27 x 5 = 135 pts
Frid - Sat. Studio 29 x 2 = 58 pts
Sun - Wed 1BR... 27 x 4 = 108 pts
Total ...............................301 pts

What I would more likely do would be to try and mix it up a bit rather than staying all 11 days at SSR, but you get the idea.

Is this type of use valid or is it poor conduct?

BTW there are 4 in our family. 2 adults and 2 girls, who will be 9 and 10 next summer when we would plan this type of trip. We could handle a weekend in a studio together, but 11 nights would be far too long.

- Shawn

 

[Beca]

It's your points...do what makes you happy. No one will know, or even care that you move three times in your stay.

However...let me caution you about moving so much. Some people don't mind it (me) and others simply despise it (dh). I don't think it is a viable, long term plan for every visit to WDW.

But, as far as how you use your points....that is really only your business (unless you are having a frat party of 28 in your studio, or bringing the family pets with you).

Have fun!!!



Beca

 

[AFMom]

Sounds like a great plan as long as you don't mind moving around a bit! We tend to fill up the kitchen and I'm too lazy to move the stuff back and forth. I don't see how that could be considered poor conduct at all - hey! You're opening up a 1 bedroom for the weekends!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

Whatever works for you and your family!

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

11 nights is a FUN trip!!!! I'm jealous!!!
But I would suggest that if you do move for the weekend, that you move to one of the Universal Hotels and try Universal FOTL for that weekend. The girls woudl probably love the Hard Rock Hotel, you can often get a good deal using AAA or Entertainment discounts, and the front of the line pass will defintely spoil you. Still leaves you with a lot of days at Disney, beginning and end in a lux 1 bedorrom, and then either Discovery Cove/US/IOA for a change of pace.

 

[WDWLVR]

If it works for you and you don't mind moving than do it. We don't care for moving so we bought enough points that we can do a one bedroom for our entire stay.

 

[rocketriter]

Many members either move around or take for-dollar quarters on weekends. It's not poor conduct. However, it's a lot of packing and unpacking during a time when you could be pampering yourself.

In my family, with that number of points, we'd go ahead and pay the higher points cost to stay in one place even if it meant a shorter vacation. 11 days would be too long for us to stay at Disney in any case; we find 7 nights--8 days--to be generous. Other families develop their own preferences.

The bottom line is that this is your vacation. Optimizing points or nights is something you can do to suit your family's preferences without worrying about anyone else disapproving (or even noticing).

 

[Shawn]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions!

-Shawn

 

[SueOKW]

That's not a bad idea - certainly I would understand why you did it - and would not think less of you. Like AFMom we fill up the kitchen, so for us moving would be a major pain.

I also like the Universal idea - if you can find a good price.

We spent 10 nights at OKW one spring, and boy, did we use up the points. I may never get out of the hole from that trip.

 

[Nanajo1]

My comments are to remember you must be out of your room by 11am and your next room might not be ready until 4pm so you are "homeless" for the day. We don't move for this reason. You could plan an off site day that would fill the time or a full day at the pool/park but we are back to the room for a rest before our night activities people. I also like the Universal idea but you want to use you Disney points.
It is not in bad form to split your trip. Hope to be welcoming you home soon.

 

[deerh]

Hi, and WELCOME to the disboards. I think it is a good plan, as we have a 12,16yr olds, and it is not a pain to move. However, it is being " without a home" for 6 hours, and then you have to go back, check in, unpack, then pack up, move out, check in, etc...

But hey, its your points, and it is a great way to "save points"!!

Enjoy your DVC, and use it however you want!!

DeerH

 

[crisi]

Its also really hard to spend two nights in a room with your kids after you've been used to having them in their own room. We are regretfully doing it this trip (because sometimes I let my husband make plans) and spending our last Saturday night at AKL. Should have done it the Saturday we arrive, but my husband wanted to leave on Friday and come back on Saturday. That means pulling the kids from school an extra day and it wasn't until we got one in school that he started to recognize I was serious when I said we want to minimize the number of days we have the kids out.

 

[Tamar]

Your plan is fine, it's a perfectly valid use of points. You might want to consider actually taking a side trip for the weekend...St. Augustine to see the Fountain of Youth, Cape Canaveral, Tampa/St. Pete for Busch Gardens and the beaches. Whatever you decide, you'll have fun!

 

[Lesli54]

We just did the same thing in June. Originally we planned to stay only at BCV but couldn't get some of the dates to work out. So we stayed BWV for 3 nights, BCV for 4 & SSR for 4. It worked out well in that we got to experience the different properties and really see where we like to stay the most. The only down side was that it seemed as if you were always packing everything and moving. (You tend to bring more when in villas than in hotel rooms.) Next time we will probably only stay at one place (two tops if we had to).

It's all up to you on what you choose to do. Make it an adventure and try different resorts.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

You purchase the amount of points that work for your family and use them in a manner that you can get the most stays for what you can afford to purchase, its all good.

Just keep in mind that after you move so many times in your first trip you may not want to do that again. One nice thing is the staff will move all your luggage for you.

We are moving three times during our upcoming August trip, actually four

Lake BV Inn 8/13 in two room suite (6 of us)
BCV 8/14 to 8/19 dedicated two bdrm (6 of us)
AK 8/19 to 8/21 pool side view (4 of us) on ap discount
OKW 8/21 to 8/25 one bdrm villa (3 of us)

It sounded so good and reasonable when i planned and booked this. Now i'm dreading all the moving - i hate living out of a suitcase..

oh well, gonna stretch those points for Oct & Dec trips

 

[patsal]

I think it is an excellent plan, and one I am planning on using next year myself--I'm tired of moving to other resorts on the weekends and I just LOVE OKW sooooo much that I don't like leaving there. I plan Sun-Thurs in 1BR, Fri and Sat in a studio and Sun-Wed in 1BR with a final Thurs-Sat at AKL. For me I just don't own enough points yet to take the weekend in a 1BR--maybe someday but not right yet. With a 13 YODS I have very little food to worry about by the time Friday rolls around anyway!

 

[Shawn]

Good to hear I wouldn't be the only one moving to a studio for the weekend. Part of the reason for a long stay (rather than two 5 day stays for instance) is that we live in Oregon. It's a *long* flight and somewhat expensive, so working in two 5 day trips a year doesn't work well.

We have a long ways to go. I so appreciate all the discussions I listen in to here. I can't wait to be one of you for real. I'm sure I'll yell it out loud here when it happens!


-Shawn

 

[Dancind]

We just did an extended trip with FOUR resorts! We had a rental car, so it wasn't all that bad. Of course, my DH says different. We stayed four nights at POP at the beginning, while DH and DD went scuba diving in Ft. Lauderdale for three days (so just me in the room for two of the nights). When they returned, we had one night at POP, then checked into OKW for five nights. That wasn't bad. We were careful with buying groceries (past experience), and checked into AKL for the next weekend where my brother's family joined us. Again, easy move, took the luggage in the car, our room was ready when we got to AKL. On Sunday, we all moved to BWV for five nights. Here's where things went wrong, because we had Disney move our luggage. When we called for our luggage at BWV later that day, we had to wait in our room for 2 1/2 hours for bell services to bring it! They said we HAD to be in the room (so we could tip them, no doubt). It ruined our evening plans.

But, if you have a car and can leave your luggage there for the day, piece of cake! If not, you will be dealing with bell services quite a bit, plan lots of cash for tips. I think the OKW bell services is better than BWV, at least they aren't as busy. And the rooms tend to be ready earlier in the day.

DD and I are going again tomorrow, and we have a studio at BCV for ten nights, including the weekend. I used points for Saturday night, and to save points , I booked Friday night for cash with the DVC discount. It's $211 plus tax versus 32 points, I think. But, we don't have to move! We'll get some maid service, and we can move to another room without penalty if we really want to! Looking on the bright side here.
Good luck with your trip!

 

[canwegosoon]

We love to switch resorts..I find the key is packing light (and doing laundry more frequently)...there is less to move, and keep track of , then usually we call bell services ASAP on moving day. I have a bag packed with swim suits (or kids wear them with shirts while touring park), sunblock etc. When we go off to a park I check the bag in a locker right away, so I am not draging it around. We usually plan to get to new hotel between 2-3 (if room is not ready it is off to the pool for a break before dinner). I like switching so that we tailor our park visits to the closer resorts...I find it saves a lot of time. So I hope you have lots of fun on your vacation too!!!

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

We switch rooms occassionally. I have found bell services just fine in getting our stuff moved out and back in, but maybe we've always just timed it right and gotten lucky.

I will say that we realized early into our DVC ownership that we didn't want to move for the weekends to save points though, and have added on as we could so that we have enough points now for two one-week trips each year. We especially love the one and two bedrooms at OKW due to their low point cost and honestly have never stayed in a studio, even though that was our plan when we initially bought in.

Do whatever you want though - you're paying for the points, you should enjoy them as you see fit. I'm all for stretching my vacation into as many days as possible!!!