2016 Point charts

[keaster]

Just noticed the 2016 point charts are up on the MS site. Not sure if there are any major changes/updates!

 

[TeeterTots]

I just noticed that aulani has lower points for hotels rooms....is this new?

 

[drusba]

WDW resorts look like no change except for usual different dates for higher point Thanksgiving and Easter time. HH and VB also look the same. Cannot really confirm there has been a change at VGC but it looks like the Christmas season has become five days shorter with the pre-Christmas Dec days moving back into choice season but since I do not follow VGC much I do not know if that is just some expected annual shift based on the the day of the week of Christmas or is a real change. At Aulani, correct that hotel room points have gone down for all but premiere season where they stayed the same. Also, for the GV's, points went down for both standard and ocean view GV's in magic season, stayed the same for ocean view in choice season but standard view went down, and in adventure season the standard GV went up and the ocean view GV went down.

And of course, Polynesian is not there yet

 

[wildernessDad]

As far as the points required, it looks like Aulani was the only one that changed.

 

[johde]

Definitely good news about the point drop prior to Christmas to VGC. Not that I'll be able to get in at 7 months but was hoping to take a pre Christmas trip in 2016. Theoretically, something should have gone up though. Unless, it's a formula like leap year that's built into the system that Premier runs from the Friday before Christmas until the Saturday after News Years. In which case, the extra 5 days could be in 2017.

 

[dsnydaddy]

At Aulani, correct that hotel room points have gone down for all but premiere season where they stayed the same. Also, for the GV's, points went down for both standard and ocean view GV's in magic season, stayed the same for ocean view in choice season but standard view went down, and in adventure season the standard GV went up and the ocean view GV went down.

And of course, Polynesian is not there yet

So with so many of the point values going down at Aulani, where did they go up to compensate? (not that it really makes a big difference, I'll not be staying in a GV, LOL)

 

[wdrl]

So with so many of the point values going down at Aulani, where did they go up to compensate? (not that it really makes a big difference, I'll not be staying in a GV, LOL)

At Aulani, 25 discrete accommodate types had changes in 2016 compared to 2015. Of those 25, 20 types went down and 5 types went up. All changes were for only one point, except Hotel Room in Magic Season, which went down two points.

On the surface, it may look like it would take less points to book the entire resort in 2016 compared to 2015. However, that is not the case. The adjustments in the accommodation types are counterbalanced by changes in the number of days in each of the four Seasons. The Adventure Season and Premier Season increased by 33 days and 38 days, respectively while the Choice and Magic Seasons decreased 19 days and 51 days, respectively. Note: Since 2016 is a leap year, it has one more day than 2015.

I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I'll probably find that the changes in point charges, when combined with Season changes, result in a zero sum change at Aulani.

 

[dsnydaddy]

At Aulani, 25 discrete accommodate types had changes in 2016 compared to 2015. Of those 25, 20 types went down and 5 types went up. All changes were for only one point, except Hotel Room in Magic Season, which went down two points.

On the surface, it may look like it would take less points to book the entire resort in 2016 compared to 2015. However, that is not the case. The adjustments in the accommodation types are balanced by changes in the number of days in each of the four Seasons. The Adventure Season and Premier Season increased by 33 days and 38 days, respectively while the Choice and Magic Seasons decreased 19 days and 51 days, respectively. Note: Since 2016 is a leap year, it has one more day than 2015.

I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I'll probably find that the changes in point charges, when combined with Season changes, result in a zero sum change at Aulani.

That makes sense. I can see where changing the seasons would require a shuffling of points.

 

[maburke]

At Aulani, 25 discrete accommodate types had changes in 2016 compared to 2015. Of those 25, 20 types went down and 5 types went up. All changes were for only one point, except Hotel Room in Magic Season, which went down two points. On the surface, it may look like it would take less points to book the entire resort in 2016 compared to 2015. However, that is not the case. The adjustments in the accommodation types are balanced by changes in the number of days in each of the four Seasons. The Adventure Season and Premier Season increased by 33 days and 38 days, respectively while the Choice and Magic Seasons decreased 19 days and 51 days, respectively. Note: Since 2016 is a leap year, it has one more day than 2015. I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I'll probably find that the changes in point charges, when combined with Season changes, result in a zero sum change at Aulani.

Wow, that seems like a huge change in the seasons at Aulani. I'm going to have to take a closer look. Clearly they are still figuring out the booking trends there.

 

[keaster]

At Aulani, 25 discrete accommodate types had changes in 2016 compared to 2015. Of those 25, 20 types went down and 5 types went up. All changes were for only one point, except Hotel Room in Magic Season, which went down two points.

On the surface, it may look like it would take less points to book the entire resort in 2016 compared to 2015. However, that is not the case. The adjustments in the accommodation types are balanced by changes in the number of days in each of the four Seasons. The Adventure Season and Premier Season increased by 33 days and 38 days, respectively while the Choice and Magic Seasons decreased 19 days and 51 days, respectively. Note: Since 2016 is a leap year, it has one more day than 2015.

I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I'll probably find that the changes in point charges, when combined with Season changes, result in a zero sum change at Aulani.

We are staying at Aulani in a 2-bedroom island view in March 2015 which was 441 points for a week. The same room in 2016 will be 434 points. However, our time frame in 2015 falls in Magic Season while in 2016 it would be crossing over between Magic season and Premier season.

 

[TLPL]

Oh that's good news. No big changes to the point charts. I can't wait to see the chart for Poly.

 

[zavandor]

I'm still wondering why they keep the first two weeks of December as Adventure Season and the last two of August as Dream. Putting both in Choice would seem more rational to me.

 

[drusba]

I'm still wondering why they keep the first two weeks of December as Adventure Season and the last two of August as Dream. Putting both in Choice would seem more rational to me.

Dec 1-14 based on current demand could easily be premiere season. Last two weeks of Aug as Dream is probably close to correct or only a little high based on demand. But of course if you raised one and lowered the other you would probably change the demand.

A barrier to changing Dec 1-14 and Aug 16-31 at WDW to choice is that any increase in the number of points has to have an equal offsetting decrease of points somewhere. That Aug 16-31 decrease would not be offset by the Dec 1-14 increase. That Dec time is 14 nights and that Aug time is 16. Also, the point increase from adventure to choice per night is for the most part less than the point decrease per night from Dream to Choice at the WDW resorts. In other words, besides changing Dec 1-14 to choice, you would need to make a number of point increases elsewhere to offset the total decrease resulting from putting Aug 16-31 in choice.

 

[rfc0001]

I've updated my WDW point spreadsheet and PDF. Only changes for WDW resort are slight date changes for seasons. Point values remain the same for all seasons.

 

[Canadian Girl]

Just noticed a big season date change for AKL for March 2016. In 2015 the season doesn't change until the end of March. For 2015, it changes on the 19th. Easter is earlier in 2016. Will things revert in 2017? I have limited points and Canadian March Break often falls in the middle of March.

 

[drusba]

Just noticed a big season date change for AKL for March 2016. In 2015 the season doesn't change until the end of March. For 2015, it changes on the 19th. Easter is earlier in 2016. Will things revert in 2017? I have limited points and Canadian March Break often falls in the middle of March.

There is no real change. Every year the week before and of Easter is in premier season. But the date for Easter changes every year. The same occurs for the Wed--Fri of Thanksgiving week, which nights are in magic as opposed to choice season.

 

[DebbieB]

Easter is April 5 this year, March 27 in 2016 and April 16 in 2017. So Premier Season will shift around.

 

[rfc0001]

Easter can be any time between March 21 and April 25, so wreaks havoc with Spring Break...our spring break (same week) was in Magic last year and Premier this year, and we didn't realize this and made the mistake of inviting grandparents, so had to book a 2 bdrm in Premier this year (and already bought 4-day passes which expire for them so too late to back out) -- ouch