A thread for DVC resort ownership with points at each resorts

[E2ME2]

I'm curious about staying in a studio for so long, since it has a really limited kitchen and no in-unit washer and dryer. I'm presuming you used the DVC laundry room, so that issue was solved, but the kitchen still seems like a challenge with no stove. It sounds like you ate out for almost every meal for a month?

Yes - the small kitchen was the biggest minus, but not at all insurmountable. We are light eaters (especially the DW). Each morning I would walk to BWV Bakery or Artist's Palette for a coffee, OR drive to the nearest Panera, and my usual breakfast is a couple cereal bars, or a bagel. We frequented Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and several times got subs from the BWV Bakery/BCV Cafe/Artist's Palette. Dinners were mostly off-property, or at Disney springs. The biggest/best meals being at Landry's Seafood, The Saltgrass, & Rainforest Cafe. We both belong to Landry's select club, and our birthday meals both come in January!
Then a few nights we hit D-Luxe Burger (my favorite), and several nights we drove to Panda Express/Uno's, etc. We often would have one dinner last us for 2 nights, & a lunch, and would get by with the mini-fridge & the microwave. We spent 2 weeks at Cabana Bay Beach Resort in USO, and did the same thing, getting a few carry out meals from their "Diner". So it can work, and you don't have to spend a ton of money. We have never even thought about the DDP, because we could never eat enough food to justify that expense. Next year, we will plan to eat at restaurants a few more times, assuming COVID is behind us!

 

[E2ME2]

I'm curious about staying in a studio for so long, since it has a really limited kitchen and no in-unit washer and dryer. I'm presuming you used the DVC laundry room, so that issue was solved, but the kitchen still seems like a challenge with no stove. It sounds like you ate out for almost every meal for a month?

Oh - and yes, of course we used the DVC & USO Laundrys. Lesson learned for Snowbird Trip # 2: We don't need to pack clothes for 7 weeks. 3-4 weeks worth would last, and we did laundry about once per week. When you're "vacationing" for 7 weeks or more, it's not as big a sacrifice to have a few "Laundry Days".

 

[PearlyJoy]

Well, PearlyJoy, let me tell you:
Our first 2 weeks were spent in BWV. We had waitlisted both weeks in a Studio - standard view, and 1 of them came avaialable at the last minute. Then, with the points saved, we got the 2nd week in a Studio-Pool View. When we checked in, we were happy to find that they put us in the "Pool View" room for both weeks, and we didn't have to move at the end of week #1. The following 15 days were spent at SSR- Preferred View/Congress Park. Then we went off property for 2 weeks (originally planned 14N at Drury Inn near Universal but, after being a little disappointed with the location after the first 2 Night, we switched to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort for the remaining 12 Nights. The last 5 nights were to be spent at the Spring Hill Suites - LBV, on POINTS & Award Nights. However, 4 days prior we got an email saying that we were being moved to a Courtyard, because of COVID impacts to the Spring Hill Suites. That was awful suspicious, as nowhere else seemed to be having those issues. We were fortunate to grab those 5 Nights at the Disney Dolphin. It did cost us considerable more points, and the award nights did not transfer, so we had some unexpected OOP$ for those nights. That's part of what drove us to jump on another resale last week. We have always had AKL as a target for our next purchase, and the BONVOY issues served as motivation to buy more now rather than later. (especially because we had a really good trip, COVID restrictions notwithstanding, so we are psyched about going back again to Snowbird Post-COVID)!
So we spent all 475 points that we had available, just on the 29 Nights, and for next next year we currently have 39 nights booked using 528 points. We hope our AKV contract comes through in time to snag another 10-14 Days there (according to what room levels are available by time we close on those).
We started out going in to the parks very cautiously, either early after opening, or towards the end of the day.
After a few jaunts, and having our temperatures taken several times per day, we built more confidence and increased our park time. We hav APs, and we had reserved a park each day of the 29 on-property. We were alo able to reserve another 3-Days of park time during our stay at the Dolphin. I'm glad we had that many pportunities, because I was only successful 2 out of 8 times in getting a boarding group for ROTR!
We ate at outside-dining venues only, or did carry-out back to the room.
I hope you find this info. helpful: I'm always willing to help add to somebody else's spreadsheet madness.
I spent lots of time on my spreadsheets also !

Sounds so wonderful!! Enjoyed reading every word.. thank you !! I wish for you that your AKL contract comes through in time for the 2021 trip !! This should be the way