DVC owners with a pop up

[Tomskatt]

So now we have this pop up and we absolutely LOVE camping but we are weighing it out vs. our DVC in Hilton Head and Saratoga Springs. I am wondering if getting reservations for the campground at FW is so ridiculous that maybe we should camp off site ... but we are so spoiled and really don't want to leave the "compound"! What has been everyone's experience with getting decent reservations? Thanks in advance for everything!

 

[Donna]

Do you mean, you don't know if you want to stay at your DVC or stay at FW? They are two totally different experiences but you can surely do both! Or, you can use your points at FW!
What we did was sell off 352 of our points and kept one contract at Hilton Head since its the hardest DVC reservation to get (summer). The only problem with that is, we like to do hilton head after our FL vacation (when we have the RV) and HH isn't exactly RV friendly. We may find ourselves still making a special trip down to HH in our van. Although it'd kill me to go that far (pa to SC) in a tiny town and country van! where's the bathroom? where's the refrigerator, lol.
As far as getting FW reservations, I've had no trouble whatsoever (going next month for two weeks). In fact, i changed them 3 times to differentn weeks and each time had no trouble whatsoever getting what i wanted. I even booked some of those days with points via Member Services and had no trouble at all.
It's nice to do both and get the DVC benefits!

 

[Tomskatt]

Ahhhhhhhh! Donna! You are so smart!
I don't know why that hadn't occurred to me! Thank goodness for these boards! It makes thinking optional!

 

[Camping Cat]

Want to know how much we love Fort Wilderness? We didn't buy into DVC until they started letting you use your points there. We bought in December 2005, and had our first DVC stay at FW last December. We stayed 15 nights and didn't have any trouble getting our reservation. We did have a little trouble this year, but I think it was only because we had an inexperienced person at MS helping us. But when I spoke to someone who knew what they were doing, there was no problem at all. We stayed at OKW in May and we're doing another 15 nights at FW in December. Staying at FW sure lets you stretch out those points.

 

[Tomskatt]

I am having problems finding the points for FW.Is it the same as for a cabin? I am sorry if I am posting too much off topic. Maybe I should shuffle this over to the DVC boards ...Thanks For the heads up ladies!!!

 

[bianca]

We have DVC and stay at FW, too. We tend to use DVC points for the Sun-Thurs days and pay cash for weekends. Occasionally, we reserve nights at the DVC resorts in addition to FW. For the Christmas/New Year holiday, we always have the site at FW, but also have a 2 bdr. reserved at Saratoga for New Years' Eve and New Years' Day. There is definitely a lot of flexibility with DVC!

 

[Donna]

I am having problems finding the points for FW.Is it the same as for a cabin? I am sorry if I am posting too much off topic. Maybe I should shuffle this over to the DVC boards ...Thanks For the heads up ladies!!!

I never tried to find them online, i just took the points out of our Member Handbook, under Disney Collection. I know the points look low but they are high considering you are only getting a slab of cement and the same amount of points would get you a studio at, say, OKW. Now that the disney hotels are going to charge more for Fri/Sat. nights, that will be more in line with what we deal with in DVC on the weekends.

 

[pjadtl]

Go to the point chart on the member website. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the chart. I believe it's the last one in it's own seperate section. I think the cabins are listed right above the sites. Good luck!

 

[Tomskatt]

Thanks so much! found the chart and now I have some planning ahead of me!!!!!

 

[mousy_in_canada]

May I ask how many points are needed for a Sunday - Thursday Stay in December say 7-12 2008?
I rent points (don't own them.. yet) BUT DH loves to camp so this may help to make the decision to buy into it since we can use points at FW.

 

[Camping Cat]

May I ask how many points are needed for a Sunday - Thursday Stay in December say 7-12 2008?
I rent points (don't own them.. yet) BUT DH loves to camp so this may help to make the decision to buy into it since we can use points at FW.

I'm looking at the 2007 points chart for the time period you are talking about and it's 6 points for week nights and 11 points for Friday and Saturday. We go in December each year and stay 15 nights at Fort Wilderness, including two weekends and it only takes 110 points for our whole trip. That leaves us another 50 points to play with. This year, we also went in May and stayed in OKW from Sunday through Thursday night. Not bad for a total of 160 points.

 

[clkelley]

I'm looking at the 2007 points chart for the time period you are talking about and it's 6 points for week nights and 11 points for Friday and Saturday. We go in December each year and stay 15 nights at Fort Wilderness, including two weekends and it only takes 110 points for our whole trip. That leaves us another 50 points to play with. This year, we also went in May and stayed in OKW from Sunday through Thursday night. Not bad for a total of 160 points.

Renting points and staying at Ft. Wilderness is not a good deal. At an average of $10 a point, the price would be more than just booking with Ft. Wilderness directly.

 

[Camping Cat]

Renting points and staying at Ft. Wilderness is not a good deal. At an average of $10 a point, the price would be more than just booking with Ft. Wilderness directly.

Yes, but mousy_in_canada didn't sound like she was looking to rent at FW as much as she was wondering about buying into DVC with the option of using her points there. That's what decided Mike and me about finally becoming DVC members. Although we will stay at DVC resorts sometimes (like we did in May), our long December trips will be at FW. Not only can we bring our cat with us (not possible at the resorts), but we can stay longer than we could at the other resorts. It's a win/win situation for those who love camping and also want to own DVC.

 

[Donna]

To get around it not being cost effective, alot of people will rent out their points and use the money to stay where they choose, you'd have money left over !