ever stay at non dvc hotel to save points...

[kristenrice]

We are driving down next April with my parents. We scraped together every single point we have to do a Su-Th stay at AKV. It works out great since the kiddos start spring break on Friday. We don't arrive until Sunday and then we have to leave early Friday morning to get back by Saturday night.

Yesterday, I told my dad that the girls do not have school on that Friday. Thursday is their last day before spring break. He says, "Let's leave Thursday then." So, since we have no points and a cash rate for the night before Easter would be , I started looking elsewhere. I found a Residence Inn about 15 minutes away (per MapQuest) that has a 2BR suite available. Since my dad is a "senior" (don't try to tell him that!) we can get it for $180 total. He gave me his credit card and now we have a room officially booked for our 2010 vacation! We'd considered something on-property, but there is really no advantage for us. We are a party of six so we'd need two rooms or a 2BR villa. We could not do that for under $180. DH and I will have AP's so if we want to hit a park on our arrival day, we won't have to pay for parking. The only thing we lose out on is EMH and I am sure that the regular park hours during that time of year are plenty late for us. Obviously, we don't need DME either since we are driving.

DH and I tried Pop Century for 2 nights last January (Fri-Sat) before moving to OKW. The resort itself was nice, but the rooms are SO small! The entry door only clears the bed by about 6" when you open it! It served our purpose for that trip, but I would certainly not stay there more than one or two nights.

 

[Sheribo]

I used to book a moderate or deluxe resort using the AP discount on Fri/Sat nights to save points. However, I grew weary of changing resorts and just bought more points. With the point reallocation, it's also less of an issue.

That's what we're going to do. Five nights is just not enough and we want to get into vacation mode as soon as we check in. We'll probably do a small add on in the near future.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We have a strong aversion to moving, so we will use points as much as we can.

Just this past weekend, I was able to add Fri and Sat night to our 5 night AKV Concierge stay. I looked at Pop and AS but we are using ME and will not have a car. DH is joining us later in the week and will pick up rental which we will use to drive to Port Canaveral and back, so already a move scheduled.

I know Disney will transfer luggage, but I'd rather have ME drop us off and get checked in and stay in one place. We are checking in late on friday night, but I will still use that time to get us settled in, unpacked and when we wake up on Saturday morning we will be in vacation mode, not check in mode.

For me, travel days are "work days". If I can take care of all the work on my designated travel days, including getting checked in and unpacked, then my vacation days are that much more better

Also, when I take into account the additional luggage handling, tipping, and wait time associated with changing villas/resorts, or paying cash, my $10 point that I am saving, now becomes a $2 to $4 point. For that, I'd rather get settled in.

 

[wildernessDad]

Nopers. I've purchased enough points to stay DVC for our entire vacation. It's nice not having to change resorts.

I find it hard to even imagine paying for a cash stay now.

 

[Nikisha421]

i will be staying at the CBR for in early Sept just to use the free dining n plus it will be my bday.

 

[Disneypirate85]

We do that alot, Last Christmas we spent 2 days at Pop before heading over to OKW,AP discount just too good to pass up,. This June we will arrive and spend saturday night at Pop before heading over to BWV for a week. Shawn

 

[Disneypirate85]

Wow, I can't believe POP is $141! DVC is starting to be an even better deal!

DW and I was JUST discussing this! Our 1st stay together was in June/July 2005 and when I made the ressie at Pop it was $69.00 a night! Goodness we had so much fun, when we checked to add on a night for our annual 4th of July trip I couldn't believe it was $143.00 for 1 night at Pop same time of year I thought I was doing something wrong so we called Disney, NOPE right price, I agree DVC is the way to go anymore, Boy if we only had those 3 vacations back now that we paid cash for
Sorry didn't mean to get so far

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We love POR. I can't believe we paid $240 for night during Spring break.

Thank goodness for DVC. I don't know if we could afford to go to Disney without it. We definitely wouldn't go as much.

 

[photobob]

I have a reservation for off property for next month.

I am no longer willing to pay Disney prices for hotels that don't meet the industry standards so I rarely stay on site if it's not with my DVC points. IMHO you get much better value for your money with the hotels in the Lake Buena Vista or DTD area.

$141 for POP??? A hotel with outside corridors and lacking most of the other features you see at "value" hotels of chains like Marriott and Hilton (coffee makers, free fridges, free breakfasts, ability to earn points for free stays,interior corridors, "free" king beds etc.) Fantasyland is not only in the MK!

When we found out that Pop would be that much I checked around and got a 1200 square feet 2 bedroom condo with full kitchen and tremendous looking pool area for $99. We are going to Orlando a day before heading to Vero Beach.

 

[Mississippian]

Can anybody here share any stories of staying at non dvc properties just before or after your dvc vacation to save on points? We are going in August sun-thursday. I was thinking on going down on sat, and staying at non dvc property just to save on points for that 1 day. I looked at pop century and it is 141 per night, tax included. I also saw a double tree hotel in downtown disney for 134 per night. What are your thoughts regarding this?
Thanks
Jim

We recently spent a Saturday night recently in a 3-bedroom at Floridays Resort for $198. A 2-bedroom would have been around $150. I found our unit to be nicer than the standard DVC unit. The pool was nice, there was a nice pool bar, but no food available except for walk-up. So you couldn't sit down and order anything.

It was a great value, and I would stay again. I would probably choose Floridays other than a DVC resort in a bad location for my entire stay.

You can't go wrong with Floridays.

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

We have done this often in the past and usually we stay at the "other" park resorts when doing so. We go there mainly to get front of the line access (perk stayting in the lowes resorts) at both parks if we are visiting those parks during a given trip. We have also stayed on-site at non-dvc (Pop, CB, PO) to save points and extend trips in any given year. We did this on weekend nights (fri & sat) prior to the point reallocation for 2010 and by doing so got an additional trip by doing so each year. We will have to check and see if this remains the same, since the change in points going forward...

 

[dairyqueenmom]

Well I just decided to borrow the points from our 2010 use year and add the Saturday night instead of staying offsite or at the POP. This is our no kid getaway and it is only a short stay. I hate to use the Saturday points but it will be nice to not have to change hotels during our short stay. I was surprised a value studio was available for Oct.