DC 2002 points.....Calling all Rainman!

[Johnnie Fedora]

Where is Rainman when you need him?? I need someone with a calculator brain to figure the entire DC point chart out........

Well, I have just spent 2.0 hours trying to compare the new DC points to the old DC points and have calculated the following:

I calculated the total points it would take if you stayed at the Poly resort for 365 days. I took into account the number of days in each of the 5 seasons for the 2001 chart, and the number of days in each of the four seasons for the 2002 chart. I also assumed for both calculations that 5 of 7 days were Sun-Thurs and 2 of 7 days were Fri-Sat.

For the Poly Resort (garden view room):

Total points for 365 days - 2001: Approx. 13996 Avg: 38.3 pts/day

Total points for 365 days - 2002: Approx. 15491 Avg: 42.4 pts/day

This means that the average number of points needed for a stay increased by 10%

What appears to be missing from the new chart is a value season. I would be interested to know what others have calculated, and if the other resorts have increased (or decreased) more than 10%

 

[PamOKW]

Okay -- I'm not the only wacko!

I think we've basically got to say that using DVC points to stay at WDW resorts has never been a good idea. The points have made a dramatic change to accomodate hotel seasons instead of DVC season and to offer us several different price point options. Hopefully, this is the transition year and in the future the points will remain more or less constant as they have in the past. A GF room is roughly equivalent to a BWV Preferred or VWL two-bedroom or more. I took a close look at GF but I think analyzing these charts is probably just nuts....we either pay to stay or we don't. For those who are interested, here are some ideas I had on the GF chart.

In the past, DVC points usually gave you a Lagoon View at the GF. Now, there are three levels of points Garden, Lagoon and Concierge. Comparison to Lagoon view would be roughly equal to what we had in the past but there is also the lesser point option as well (or higher Concierge). I compared DVC seasons from last year to the new hotel seasons. I did not look for when specific dates fell on weekends or weekdays.

January up 15 points S-Th and 29 points F-Sa +58% and 64%
Feb 1-13 up 7 points S-Th and 12 points F-Sa +21% and 19%
Feb 14-15 up 20 and 35 or 32% and 31%
Feb. 16-Mar. 23 up 11 and 19 or 26% 24%
Mar. 24-April 6 up 3 points S-Th and down 5 F-Sa or +6%
and –5%
April 7-20 up 11 and 19 or 26% 24%
April 21-30 up 3 and 5 points or 7% and 6%
All of May-June 10 up 12 and 21 points or 15% and 13%
June 11-July 3 up 3 and 5 points or 7% and 6%
July 4-Aug 15 down 2 and 4 points or –5% for both
Aug 16-31 up 7 and 12 points or 21% and 19%
September up 15 and 29 points or +58% and 64%
Oct. 1-2 up 11 and 21 points or +37% and +40%
Oct. 3-Nov. 2 up 16 and 30 or +53% and +57%
Nov. 3-26 up 11 and 21 or 37% and 40%
Nov. 27-29 down 2 and 4 points or –5% for both
Nov. 30 up 11 and 21 or 37% and 40%
Dec. 1-14 up 15 and 29 points or +58% and 64%
Dec. 15-19 up 11 and 21 points or +37% and +40%
Dec. 20-23 up 30 and 55 points or 100% and 104%
Dec 24-31 up 9 and 6 or 18% and 6%

It is possible to book Garden View and reduce the amount of the increase or to actually show some decreases. The decreases are March 24-April 6; April 21-30; June 11-Aug. 15; Nov. 27-29 and weekends Dec. 24-31. The decreases range from 8%-21% or 4 to 21 points per night.

 

[PamOKW]

Using points to stay at the Moderates is always an odd choice. You can, or almost can, stay in a one-bedroom in almost every case. However, the new point charts do bring the cost down, sometimes significantly, in most cases. Some go up, January & September go up 2 points per weekday and 8 points per weekend and Dec. 20-23 are up 5 weekday and 13 weekends. Dec. 24-31 are down 14 on weekdays and 12 on weekends. Overall, it looks like the moderates are coming out ahead in the adjustment.

A less in-depth look at the Contemporary shows Tower view in 2002 ranging from 35-86 points. Tower view in 2001 ranged from 22-92 points. Looks like we are seeing mostly increases here. Garden ranged from 20-89 in 2001. Now there are two levels -- Garden Standard from 24-63 and Garden View from 28-70. It looks like there may be some savings in the higher end times.