DVC Split Stay?

[GradysDogDad]

Anyone buy two DVC contracts for less than a full trip's worth of points with the plan of staying 3-4 nights at each consecutively (split stay)?

We have done a few trips and really like starting out at Contemporary and moving to Beach Club after our MK days. Walking to MK and then being able to enjoy Epcot, boats to Studios and the Bay Lake area while walking home at the end of the day has become very valued by us.

I started looking at DVC resale contracts and got to thinking maybe 2 separate ones (BLT & BCV) with enough points for 3-4 days a year, each, could be coupled together for a nice split stay similar to what we have been doing at CR & BC.

We have access to SOG for ticket purchases, would not be going more than 1 time per year. Immediate drawback that I thought of is having to coordinate 2 bookings at 11 months instead of 1, so I figured I'd post here and ask for feedback from some more experienced folks. Thanks!

 

[Coronator]

Sounds like a good plan to me! Many people own a MK/Epcot combo for this exact purpose.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Sounds like a good plan to me! Many people own a MK/Epcot combo for this exact purpose.

Agree. And if you end up not wanting to do the split stay (maybe for a shorter trip), you can borrow points from one contract and bank points in the other so you have enough or one reservation and just alternate resorts.

 

[Hubalorian]

If you aren’t ever planning on trading out you might want to consider Riveria for Epcot/HS. Longer years to use and if you aren’t ever planning to trade out, the restrictions wouldn’t be too impactful.

 

[Sandisw]

We do split stays almost every trip for this reason. We own RIv and VGF so we can do exactly what you mention!!

 

[GradysDogDad]

Agree. And if you end up not wanting to do the split stay (maybe for a shorter trip), you can borrow points from one contract and bank points in the other so you have enough or one reservation and just alternate resorts.

Hmm, had not considered the ability to borrow or bank across contracts - will have to research more. Thank you!

 

[GradysDogDad]

If you aren’t ever planning on trading out you might want to consider Riveria for Epcot/HS. Longer years to use and if you aren’t ever planning to trade out, the restrictions wouldn’t be too impactful.

Could you explain "trade out" a little more? I was kind of concerned about the 2042 deed date for BC but a lot of the research I did so far said not to buy somewhere you don't plan on staying. Walking out the international gateway into BC at night has us feeling like royalty every time - so we would definitely want to stay there. Appreciate your comment, thank you.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Hmm, had not considered the ability to borrow or bank across contracts - will have to research more. Thank you!

It wouldn't be across contracts. Let's say you buy two contracts: 50 pts @ BCV and 50 pts @ BLT and don't want to do the split stay.

Year 1: Use 100 pts to stay at BVC by borrowing 50 BVC pts from Year 2
Year 2: Use 100 pts to stay at BLT by banking 50 BLT pts from Year 1

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We almost always to the split stays. For us, it's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Beach Club Villas - a perfect mix for what we do. And yes, the walk to and from the International Gateway entrance to so nice! We enjoy the EP festivals, and that's a perfect location. You also have an amazing pool with Stormalong Bay.

 

[Sandisw]

Could you explain "trade out" a little more? I was kind of concerned about the 2042 deed date for BC but a lot of the research I did so far said not to buy somewhere you don't plan on staying. Walking out the international gateway into BC at night has us feeling like royalty every time - so we would definitely want to stay there. Appreciate your comment, thank you.

I think they are referring to trading at 7 months to other home resorts.

If what you buy will be used exclusively at the home resort, then it doesn’t matter.

If BCV is it, it’s worth it even with 2042 end date.

 

[ray3127]

Anyone buy two DVC contracts for less than a full trip's worth of points with the plan of staying 3-4 nights at each consecutively (split stay)?

We have done a few trips and really like starting out at Contemporary and moving to Beach Club after our MK days. Walking to MK and then being able to enjoy Epcot, boats to Studios and the Bay Lake area while walking home at the end of the day has become very valued by us.

I started looking at DVC resale contracts and got to thinking maybe 2 separate ones (BLT & BCV) with enough points for 3-4 days a year, each, could be coupled together for a nice split stay similar to what we have been doing at CR & BC.

We have access to SOG for ticket purchases, would not be going more than 1 time per year. Immediate drawback that I thought of is having to coordinate 2 bookings at 11 months instead of 1, so I figured I'd post here and ask for feedback from some more experienced folks. Thanks!

We own at BLT and BCV for this exact reason. Highly recommend it!

Coordinating 2 bookings is not a huge problem. If you want BLT Standard View, you need to be on top of things (and possibly walk a reservation, depends on time of year). But overall it's well worth it.

Ours happen to be the same UY, but it's not really necessary. If you aren't using those BCV points anywhere else, it truly does not matter if they line up with your other contracts. So being open to different UYs can provide flexibility when shopping.

 

[Disdreaming479]

I don’t think booking two reservations for a split is a big deal at all, except if you need std deluxe studios at BLT. They are walked, but also open back up sometimes. It might take days for rooms to open back up, so that’s annoying. If you want to book and be done with it, buy enough for Lake view.

 

[GradysDogDad]

It wouldn't be across contracts. Let's say you buy two contracts: 50 pts @ BCV and 50 pts @ BLT and don't want to do the split stay.

Year 1: Use 100 pts to stay at BVC by borrowing 50 BVC pts from Year 2
Year 2: Use 100 pts to stay at BLT by banking 50 BLT pts from Year 1

Understood - thank you for the example, it really helped, and I like the idea of having this option.

I think they are referring to trading at 7 months to other home resorts.

If what you buy will be used exclusively at the home resort, then it doesn’t matter.

If BCV is it, it’s worth it even with 2042 end date.

Great, BCV is definitely where we want to be so I think that is the one we will pursue.

We own at BLT and BCV for this exact reason. Highly recommend it!

Coordinating 2 bookings is not a huge problem. If you want BLT Standard View, you need to be on top of things (and possibly walk a reservation, depends on time of year). But overall it's well worth it.

Ours happen to be the same UY, but it's not really necessary. If you aren't using those BCV points anywhere else, it truly does not matter if they line up with your other contracts. So being open to different UYs can provide flexibility when shopping.

Great to hear someone is already doing this, thank you for replying. I have some more homework to do on use years, but this is good info to have - thanks again.

I don’t think booking two reservations for a split is a big deal at all, except if you need std deluxe studios at BLT. They are walked, but also open back up sometimes. It might take days for rooms to open back up, so that’s annoying. If you want to book and be done with it, buy enough for Lake view.

Good to know about the standard studios at BLT - I'll look into the point charts for standard vs lake view.

Thank you to everyone for replying so quickly! Time to start browsing listings for smaller contracts and making spreadsheets to run the number$!

 

[CVG]

It probably makes it easier to book split stays at specific resorts for specific times of year, but on the whole it's not an issue. I bought a bucket-full of cheap OKW and my next stay will cover CCV, PVB, OKW, AKL and BWV (we're doing some onsite testing!).

 

[GradysDogDad]

It probably makes it easier to book split stays at specific resorts for specific times of year, but on the whole it's not an issue. I bought a bucket-full of cheap OKW and my next stay will cover CCV, PVB, OKW, AKL and BWV (we're doing some onsite testing!).

Got it - so you bought all points at one resort and are booking at 7 months for other ones, correct?

 

[intamin]

Anyone buy two DVC contracts for less than a full trip's worth of points with the plan of staying 3-4 nights at each consecutively (split stay)?

We have done a few trips and really like starting out at Contemporary and moving to Beach Club after our MK days. Walking to MK and then being able to enjoy Epcot, boats to Studios and the Bay Lake area while walking home at the end of the day has become very valued by us.

I started looking at DVC resale contracts and got to thinking maybe 2 separate ones (BLT & BCV) with enough points for 3-4 days a year, each, could be coupled together for a nice split stay similar to what we have been doing at CR & BC.

We have access to SOG for ticket purchases, would not be going more than 1 time per year. Immediate drawback that I thought of is having to coordinate 2 bookings at 11 months instead of 1, so I figured I'd post here and ask for feedback from some more experienced folks. Thanks!

Yep we do exactly this although the resorts we bought were more for value (which is why I don’t see us buying BC even though we love it there, the 2042 end date just doesn’t align with our plans although the point charts are better than RIVs) but we own RIV for our Epcot stays, going to own Polynesian for our MK stays. We’ll own enough for probably 4 nights at Poly and 6 at RIV in a 2BR, AKV we have a smaller amount at but we’re going to use that for value 1BRs and Aulani is well Aulani, we can use that to go every other year in a 1BR or be cheap and stay in a studio every single year.

Our ideology is diversify based on location which is why we won’t buy BW/BC or another MK resort besides Poly down the line. In hindsight I probably could have skipped AKV but we love owning there. While not easy we’ve been able to book value/club level studios multiple times and let me tell you, eating food from the concierge level while on your balcony overlooking giraffes and zebras is . I have a hard time convincing myself to buy at DL because my parents basically live down the street and I probably should be investing that money into the house instead but who knows, maybe a small VGC down the line or something but for now there’s still bigger fish to fry.

 

[CVG]

Got it - so you bought all points at one resort and are booking at 7 months for other ones, correct?

Yes. So long as you have enough points and are flexible on room types and dates, then it's easy to do plenty of split stays. Obviously I'm locked out of Riviera but that type of resort doesn't appeal to me. If it did, I'd just rent the points to check it out.

 

[atthebeachclub]

This is my plan in entirety. I like BCV and highly value walkability, so have no interest in ever staying at Riviera or other non walkable resorts if we are doing park visits. I am open to SSR, AKV, and OKW visits from time to time, simply to get out of the bad winter weather up north, but mostly I want to be right next to the parks! Also my family strongly dislikes the Skyliner, so Skyliner resorts are out.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

We almost always to the split stays. For us, it's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Beach Club Villas - a perfect mix for what we do. And yes, the walk to and from the International Gateway entrance to so nice! We enjoy the EP festivals, and that's a perfect location. You also have an amazing pool with Stormalong Bay.

AKV and BCV a perfect combo!

Split stays are the best.

 

[intamin]

This is my plan in entirety. I like BCV and highly value walkability, so have no interest in ever staying at Riviera or other non walkable resorts if we are doing park visits. I am open to SSR, AKV, and OKW visits from time to time, simply to get out of the bad winter weather up north, but mostly I want to be right next to the parks! Also my family strongly dislikes the Skyliner, so Skyliner resorts are out.

During our last trip we saw the value of being able to walk back to our resort when we stayed late at Epcot and saw the long line for the skyliner but at the same time we’ve been able to book Boardwalk without issue for the most part without much difficulty at 7 months. I actually had to stop myself from booking Boardwalk again recently because it would’ve been like.. our 3rd or 4th trip in a row that we didn’t stay at Riviera and we’re using our direct points on some of these stays LOL. It’s undeniable that BCV and BWV have the better location and I know this is a personal preference but we like the overall decor and size of the rooms at Riviera more so we were torn. The lack of a 3BR option at BC also gave us some pause but essentially the plan is to use our resale points at 7 months at BW primarily with RIV as a backup in case those waitlists don’t fill.

Just out of curiosity do you guys walk to HS then and back to BC? I grew up snowboarding so the skyliner never bothered me