Confused, care to speculate?

[cobbler]

Ok, hubby really wants his brothers and their families to join us next year for our trip the week after Thanksgiving

So I am looking at all their options, value, moderate etc. Well one brother is a bit of a challenge because he has 5 in his party, 2 of the kids are considered adults.

So we look at WL, Cont and GF, well it turns out he can stay at Cont cheaper than WL and GF even cheaper than both Cont and WL. So we look into having him stay at a DVC property. Do my search and request Saratoga, figure we can stay home and he can stay there too.

Now guess what? The only resort that comes up (after we request Saratoga) is Beach Club Um, isn't this the smaller resort that should be harder to get into?? Why would that show up and not Saratoga which by most accounts should be a piece of cake to get into??

 

[cobbler]

Nevermind. I really need to learn how to read It shows just regular Beach Club not the Villas.

But still why wouldn't it show any availibility at the Villas anywhere?? Esp Saratoga?

 

[robinb]

Are you looking into using points at SSR, or paying cash? I wouldn't be surprised if SSR was not available yet through CRO almost a year into the future.

We have treated family to DVC and we usually book a 2BR (so we can have a central meeting/hanging out place) and studios. What is the make up of your family and your brothers in law's families? Perhaps that will work out for you. Or ... maybe a Grand Villa for everyone.

 

[cobbler]

We were going to have them stay on a cash basis so they could have tickets and/or their choice of dining or not.

We have 4 total in our family
Brother 1 has 4 total
Brother 2 has 5 total
Brother 3 has 3 total

So 16 in our group. Brother 1 and 3 can stay basically anywhere, it's just brother 2 that is a challenge having 5 in his party.

When do you think the Villas will be released to CRO for that time frame?

 

[Muushka]

I can't answer any of your questions (sorry) but I have one of my own!

So we look at WL, Cont and GF, well it turns out he can stay at Cont cheaper than WL and GF even cheaper than both Cont and WL.

Are you saying that it is cheaper to stay at GF than to stay at WL or Cont?
Just wondering where you are getting these prices from?

Merry Christmas and have fun planning .

 

[DebbieB]

That time of year is very popular for DVC members. Getting rooms through CRO may be difficult.

 

[robinb]

We were going to have them stay on a cash basis so they could have tickets and/or their choice of dining or not.

We have 4 total in our family
Brother 1 has 4 total
Brother 2 has 5 total
Brother 3 has 3 total

So 16 in our group. Brother 1 and 3 can stay basically anywhere, it's just brother 2 that is a challenge having 5 in his party.

When do you think the Villas will be released to CRO for that time frame?

I agree with DebbieB. The Villas have not been released because they are usually booked by members.

Do you usually get a studio or 1BR? I think you could get away with 2 2-bedrooms (if 2 kids from brother 2 and 3 can share the pull-out) and another 2BR for you and brother 1. Getting 2 2-bedrooms is about 120 more points (for a week) than 4 studios.

 

[RobDoc]

Since we are not yet at the 11 month priority for Thanksgiving, 2006 - no reservations may be booked at any of the DVC resorts yet (on points or cash). SSR will probably for cash reservations open up shortly after the end of this year since there is likely to be developer inventory available thru CRO for cash reservations, unless they are projecting the completed buildings to be sold out by that time (doubtful IMO).

I'd expect that you will have no problem getting cash reservations for your group all at SSR for your dates.

Enjoy!

 

[ACDSNY]

I would think it would be cheaper to have the brothers rent points, buy MYW tickets and add the dining plan if they wanted then doing a cash reservation.

It was quite a bit cheaper for us to rent points last Oct to supplement the trip I won from Alamo. We didn't close on our DVC resale contract until Nov.

 

[cobbler]

I can't answer any of your questions (sorry) but I have one of my own!



Are you saying that it is cheaper to stay at GF than to stay at WL or Cont?
Just wondering where you are getting these prices from?

Merry Christmas and have fun planning .

Yes it actually was for the brother with 5 in his group to stay cheaper at GF then Cont or WL which really blew my mind. I went to disneyworld.com to plug in prices so I could give them a rough idea of how much they would have to pay at the very most.

WL came up with a deluxe bunk bed room, Cont only gave me the Tower as an option for the least expensive and GF I could choose garden view which turned out to be cheaper than both WL and Cont.

Actually when I plugged in Cont for everyone it only gave me Tower view as an option for the least expensive room period.

We don't have enough points to get a 2 bdrm nor do we really want to. Renting might be ok but I am not sure they would be comfortable with it. They are all about numbers and not accomodations so most of them will go with value except the brother with 5, I am sure he will go with Riverside.

 

[robinb]

We don't have enough points to get a 2 bdrm nor do we really want to. Renting might be ok but I am not sure they would be comfortable with it. They are all about numbers and not accomodations so most of them will go with value except the brother with 5, I am sure he will go with Riverside.

Ah, well. That's different. It's too bad that there are no daybeds at SSR because the cost of a Studio (95 points per week) is really not a whole lot more than the cost of the Values. BWV has units that can sleep 5 (with a day bed) but it would be hard to get one for right after Thanksgiving. Are the cousins of an age where they could share a room? Maybe the brothers can split a "kids room" between them and put 4 kids in one room.

 

[Dean]

For that group I'd get at least one AP just to get access to the room discounts and the DDE. Then get the rooms using the AP discount. I forget the limit on how many rooms you can get per AP discount but the number 3 comes to mind, I'm sure someone else will know. SSR will be available for then since DVD still will own a fair amount of the resort that's finished but not declared into inventory and WILL NOT be available for members to book with points. I don't know how early they will be available but it should be in plenty of time for reservations. Just work out the details with each group. Regardless, it's likely that AKL would be your cheapest option for this group for a deluxe, possibly as low as $119 per night for a standard room, plus tax. I know that Riverside has rooms with a trundle bed that will sleep 5 though they are more expensive. I'm not sure if any of the other moderates have similar. Also, you could get connecting rooms at the Values or moderates and still be cheaper for one extra room than the resorts you are talking about.

For that group, you might also consider getting a 2 BR at SSR plus 2 studios or two 2 Br units. There are other options to make it work even if you don't have enough points. You could get transferred points or pay cash for weekend nights. You could have them get together and rent points. Having a real kitchen can also save a fair amount of money, esp on that size group. Just be careful that everyone pays their fair share, we don't want you getting stuck.