Anybody Stay At DVC On Weekends?

[lah3hh]

We live too far away to just do an extended weekend but if this works for you then I say go for it! I agree with what most have said on this thread, if you bought the points to use however you choose to use them, then enjoy them for special times even if the 'price' is higher than normal. For a birthday and anniversary you will never forget...priceless!

That's why we love DVC...flexibility!!! By the way, when we come down we always use weekend times...try to stay as long as we can with only 1 weekend involved but always stay through one of them.

Make it special...go for it. A little goes a long way in marriage!

 

[Raivyn]

You bought the points to use them. There are times when it makes sense to pay cash instead, but there are times when it doesn't.

I think its nice that you want to take DW for a special weekend. Unless you have alternative plans for those points, I think they are points well spent.

I tend to be penny-wise, pound-foolish, so what do I know.

 

[jamstew]

I don't use my points for weekends on solo trips since it isn't a big deal for me to move, even twice. I don't mind staying in a value or moderate for two nights, hopefully with a good AP discount. That way, I can spend 10-12 nights, which is my ideal length trip.

Family trips with my kids and grandkids include weekends. I can't imagine packing up 8 people, including 3 toddlers, to move.

 

[OKW Lover]

We try to plan our vacations so that we have only one weekend night, if that. Its not unusual for us to fly in on a Saturday but stay off-property that night. Sunday bright and early we are at WDW checking into our DVC resort.

 

[Tiger926]

We always do! We love split stays and in fact, just stayed at 5 resorts in May over 15 days, but for only a couple of weekend days, that is too much commotion just to save a few points. We have enough points for weekends.

That being said, we always do split stays, and so sometimes we stagger our resorts based on the amount of weekend points needed as some resorts are higher on the weekends than others. For example, we usually stay at AKV through the weekend due to fewer points, and check into Beach Club or Boardwalk on a Sunday, instead of Saturday in order to save a few points.

Have a great vacation, Tiger

 

[jrbdad]

I like the idea of using points for the weekends -- that's why you have them. Plus, you have the convenience of Disney transportation.

Hope it works out and you enjoy your time together.

 

[gracelrm]

lugnut33: We sometimes use points for weekends and sometimes use cash -it just depends on what we have planned for our points for that year. But as a teacher myself, a May trip, right near the end of the school year would be worth every point and more. I think that would be a wonderful celebration for you and your wife. Furthermore, I think if you stayed offsite - you'd be wishing you had spent the points and stayed on property. You've stated you have the points - so I say go for it. Your wife will be very, very happy!

 

[TDC Nala]

I usually stay Saturdays.

 

[lugnut33]

lugnut33: We sometimes use points for weekends and sometimes use cash -it just depends on what we have planned for our points for that year. But as a teacher myself, a May trip, right near the end of the school year would be worth every point and more. I think that would be a wonderful celebration for you and your wife. Furthermore, I think if you stayed offsite - you'd be wishing you had spent the points and stayed on property. You've stated you have the points - so I say go for it. Your wife will be very, very happy!

You make some very valid points there Grace about stress levels near the end of the school year. Actually, everyone in this thread has made some good points (haha, we are talking points). I guess I could break it down a bit more.

I currently have 120 points with 120 more coming June 1. Already have a family trip planned for August that will require either 170 points, or 155 depending on if I can get a 2br at OKW instead of SSR. Next trip wouldn't be until late 2010, at which time I'll get another 120 points. So, if I use 155 + 55 (for the one I'm thinking about taking with the wife), that will leave us with 150 points to use in 2010. So, I could do 5 weekday nights in a one bedroom at the end of August in 2010.

 

[uicbear]

When we do our trips we will usually do an 8 to 10 night stay with only 1 weekend. We, like most want to maximize our point usage. But the thing that would keep me from just taking a quick weekend getaway would be the airfare rather than point usage. If the airfare wasn't a concern, I'd love to be able to spend a few nights at the World using points... that's why we bought them, right?

 

[Merilyn]

We joined in 1994 and have never moved on the weekends. We bought enough to stay our whole trip. I agree with many that moving is a real pain, too many people and too much stuff to move. I go on vacation to enjoy it not to move around and pack and unpack. Hope your trip in May is great!

 

[allshookup]

If we were getting a 2 BR & bringing family or friends, I would most likely plan a stay for Sun-Thurs. However, we just took friends & went to MNSSHP & the F&W & it just worked out that the kids had a 5 day weekend from school so that's when we went. When we go over the summer, we usually try to stay more than a week & I would never move. When we settle in to a Villa, we really settle in. We stock the kitchen, fill the drawers & throw our belongings on just about every flat surface. Packing everything up at the end of a trip is bad enough, I can't imagine doing it more than once.

 

[eliza61]

I've been trying to decide if I want to book a quick get-away for me and my wife at the beginning of May (for her birthday, our anniversary, mother's day). However, to do that we have to travel on the weekend Friday thru Monday since she's a teacher (she'd also have to use a couple personal days). So, I have the points available to do it, but is it worth it?

The cheapest weekend is a studio at AKL (it might be full?) for 55 points (OKW is the next cheapest). Well, if you figure $10 a point that's $550 to stay for 3 nights, which is pretty steep. I know I can find something off-site cheaper, yet it still costs money where the other is just points. I always see people on this site harping about not using weekend points, but why is that such a big deal, it's just points.
Any opinions about that?

Whenever I go to wdw its always over a weekend stay (many times 2) so imo it's absolutely worth it. Pretty much you're last statement is my philosophy, I purchased the points to use at disney to have a vacation, if it needs to happen on a Friday, Sat & Sunday no worries.

 

[Leenie74]

We are relatively new DVC members, so I don't have the experience that others do with using points. But I can say that we bought our points with the intention of being able to stay on weekends if we wanted to. I am a teacher as well, so I have to use weekend points for a short getaway on those treasured 3-4 day weekends we occasionally get. The opportunity of getting away for a long weekend greatly outweighs using a few extra points. For a typical summer family vacation, we usually drive to Disney and leave home on Sat morning and start to return home the following Saturday (only using 1 night of weekend points).

 

[bangzoom6877]

We will be staying 10 nights, 2 of which are Fri and Sat nights. However we are making sure that only one weekend is included in our stay.

 

[DVC Tina]

We have not vacationed using our DVC points yet but I can tell you we plan on using our points for weekend stays. We knew going in that the weekend stays would be more expensive so we accounted for that.

 

[CarolA]

If my plans call for a weekend visit, I go. I try not to move once I arrive unless Disney makes me, I don't to save points!

 

[Buckeye Fan]

My biggest issue would be changing rooms. For the entire stay, I would either get a room with a king bed at a value, or use points for the entire stay if you don't want to pay for a room.

At the end of the day, that's why I purchased points. I realize that I may not get as much for my money by staying Friday and Saturday nights, but we don't live close to WDW. We wouldn't make several trips down a year, so when I do go, I want to spend as much time as I can there.

Hope you and your wife have a wonderful time! The two of you getting away for a nice weekend would be worth the points for DH and me!

 

[StayFLA]

OK, I'm cheap. Drive two days down from PA. Arrive 4:00 Sun. Leave Fri. 3days to get home. 3 Hr drive to first hotel so we spend the last day at WDW. Weekend points are brutal.

Ralph

 

[hellerjw]

We too always stay over on the weekends, at least one day, often both. We bought enough points initially to cover weekends and have every intention of continuing to stay a full week each time.

We have never stayed longer than 10 days at one time but if we were thinking of staying longer I would probably end the extended stay on a Thursday to avoid getting hit by a 2nd weekends worth of points. But then again, that's a reason for another add-on so you never know.