DVC/WDW newbie - dining plan?

[northshoremama]

thinking of going to wdw for the first time with my family. our home resort is aulani, but we go home every year and we use our points there. i do have some extra points...was thinking of borrowing points to make a stay possible at wdw, but not at any of the deluxe dvc resorts. looking at something like the caribbean resort since it more in our point-range. IF i book the caribbean resort, i think i have to pay $95, right? but my bigger question is.....can i add on the dining plan if i didn't make the hotel reservations directory with wdw?

sorry if that's a stupid question. when i look at look at the wdw website, it's like you can only add the dining plan if you are doing the 'magic your way' package?!

 

[supersnoop]

thinking of going to wdw for the first time with my family. our home resort is aulani, but we go home every year and we use our points there. i do have some extra points...was thinking of borrowing points to make a stay possible at wdw, but not at any of the deluxe dvc resorts. looking at something like the caribbean resort since it more in our point-range. IF i book the caribbean resort, i think i have to pay $95, right? but my bigger question is.....can i add on the dining plan if i didn't make the hotel reservations directory with wdw?

sorry if that's a stupid question. when i look at look at the wdw website, it's like you can only add the dining plan if you are doing the 'magic your way' package?!

Booking something like Caribbean Beach Resort will cost you more points than booking a normal, deluxe DVC resort.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

As PP has said take a look at the point charts. The WDW hotels are really costly in points like DCL. That wouldn't be a good use of your points. Resorts like AK and OKW, SSR are good value.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

CBR starts at 19 points a night via DVC points. Meanwhile, in similar season, you can stay at SSR for 12 points per night.

You can book a DVC resort by calling Member Services and can add dining at that time. Because you seem unfamiliar with the system, I would recommend that approach.

 

[northshoremama]

Looking at Easter week next year. When I plugged in my dates on the DVC website, DVC resorts went up to like 40 pts a day....unless I was looking up the points incorrectly?

Looking at 4/14/2017 through 4/23/2017. I can't book WDW DVC resorts yet cause I'm not in my 7-month window.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What size unit are you looking at? Given that you said CBR as an alternate, I was assuming you needed a studio villa.

A studio villa near Easter at Saratoga is 150 points for a week.

I don't have the 2017 point chart for Disney Collection handy, but this year near Easter, CBR for a week near Easter would have been 245 points for the same week.

 

[northshoremama]

What size unit are you looking at? Given that you said CBR as an alternate, I was assuming you needed a studio villa.

A studio villa near Easter at Saratoga is 150 points for a week.

I don't have the 2017 point chart for Disney Collection handy, but this year near Easter, CBR for a week near Easter would have been 245 points for the same week.

There are 5 of us. Me, DH, DD10, DD8, and DD4.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There are 5 of us. Me, DH, DD10, DD8, and DD4.

Studio Villas that sleep 5 are at the Poly, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk, and Grand Floridian. At 7 months, it is unlikely you will get GF, but others are certainly possible.

Points for potential options are:

• Boardwalk Pool View: 188 points/week
• Wilderness Lodge: 176
• Poly: 227
• Beach Club: 181

All of these are less costly than a trade of points for a Moderate.

Now, if you have to find a 1BR, things do get costlier, quickly. But if you book when your 7 month window open, your odds on the Boardwalk Pool view, Wilderness Lodge or the Poly are quite good.

 

[northshoremama]

Studio Villas that sleep 5 are at the Poly, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk, and Grand Floridian. At 7 months, it is unlikely you will get GF, but others are certainly possible.

Points for potential options are:

• Boardwalk Pool View: 188 points/week
• Wilderness Lodge: 176
• Poly: 227
• Beach Club: 181

All of these are less costly than a trade of points for a Moderate.

Now, if you have to find a 1BR, things do get costlier, quickly. But if you book when your 7 month window open, your odds on the Boardwalk Pool view, Wilderness Lodge or the Poly are quite good.

This is awesome!!!! I must've been doing something wrong on the website last night when checking out points.

So back to my original question. Looks like I should be able to add the dining option when/after I make my resort reservation. I'll be calling this reservation in I think at the 7 month mark just to be sure it's reserved correctly.

Thank you so much for your help!!!

 

[BillPA]

You best chance of booking is on line at 8am eastern time. That should be 2 am your time, I believe you are 6 hours behind eastern with daylight savings here in the east.
A 1 BR at OKW Easter week is 40 a week night, 50 on Fri and Sat. That may be what you saw.

 

[northshoremama]

You best chance of booking is on line at 8am eastern time. That should be 2 am your time, I believe you are 6 hours behind eastern with daylight savings here in the east.
A 1 BR at OKW Easter week is 40 a week night, 50 on Fri and Sat. That may be what you saw.

bill, i'm actually in seattle...so 5am PT. originally from HI so we visit once a year, which is why aulani is our home resort

yes, the points i saw last night for the resorts were way out of my points-budget so that's why i was looking at a wdw hotel instead (if i can swing it point-wise). i think i'll give member services a call and just get some help from them.

i also know that easter is probably not the best time to be going to wdw, but that's when my girls' spring break is...so trying to make it work out.

 

[BillPA]

My mistake, saw the screen name 'north shore momma' and Aulani as home and just assumed Hawaii.
Good luck with the plan, that's a hard to get time for DVC, and also super busy in the parks.

 

[BillPA]

You might try the DIS rent and trade board, to see if someone will trade home points for a shot at aulani at 11 months. I would, but can't get back there for a few years, air fare from the East Coast is a killer.

 

[northshoremama]

You might try the DIS rent and trade board, to see if someone will trade home points for a shot at aulani at 11 months. I would, but can't get back there for a few years, air fare from the East Coast is a killer.

I hear ya. Airfare for 5 of us from SEA to MCO is around $2,400.

So if you could recommend when to visit WDW (esp for a first-time visit), when would that be? I'm assuming I'd have to pull my girls out of school to go during a 'better/off peak' time.

 

[mort1331]

Google Josh's crowd calender, it gives you some of the best times to visit. Usually anytime in Sept, midJan to end of Feb are low times.

 

[northshoremama]

just a quick update....we will likely go the first week of may next year to avoid the easter crowds and to use less points for our first WDW DVC stay. can't wait til 9/14 when i can book (or at least try to book) our resort. i will be starting a new thread to get opinions on where to stay! =)

 

[Joben]

Google Josh's crowd calender, it gives you some of the best times to visit. Usually anytime in Sept, midJan to end of Feb are low times

sort of off topic but your post reminded me I've been trying to start planning my trip and March and have been waiting for an update on the crowd calender. The latest I have seen is Oct. 2016 Any insight on why there aren't later dates?

Nothshoremama: I would recommend a 1bdrm at OKW for your family. I'm biased but you can rent the points you need there pretty cheap and they have the largest square footage for your family, almost 1000 sq ft.

 

[BillPA]

Try this site: https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/August-2016/#disney-opening-hours

 

[northshoremama]

sort of off topic but your post reminded me I've been trying to start planning my trip and March and have been waiting for an update on the crowd calender. The latest I have seen is Oct. 2016 Any insight on why there aren't later dates?

Nothshoremama: I would recommend a 1bdrm at OKW for your family. I'm biased but you can rent the points you need there pretty cheap and they have the largest square footage for your family, almost 1000 sq ft.

Thanks for the input. I'll look into OKW. I'm trying my very best to not spend additional money on accommodations because airfare from Seattle and 8day PHs will already cost us an arm and a leg. Lol