First timers question

[kvichi]

Hi,

We bought DVC last year and just had our first stay at Aulani..loved it. Now we are booked to stay at AKV January 4th for 8 nights. AKV is our home resort but we have never been there. DH and I have been to WDW twice but this will be DS first trip. He will be 12. We are really excited to stay at AKV but now I'm wondering if we should try a split stay? Maybe start 4 nights at a resort closer to one of the parks we will spend more time in, probably Epcot (this is the one my son is most excited about..) and then end the trip at AKV when we will need to relax a bit more??? Just wondering what others opinions are. I realize it is a matter of perference. We have 200 points to spend for the week. Not enough for a 1 bedroom savannah view but plenty for a studio savanna...in fact I'll need to find a way to use 79 more points.

thanks for your opinions!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

As you stated it's all a matter of preference, and personally I do not care for split stays, while others find it fun to switch from resort to resort. I prefer Kidani to Jambo but would be happy at either, I also really love OKW, SSR & BWV. We enjoy the resorts and the parks and bus transport to and from really is not much of a deciding factor as to where we stay! I'm happy just to park the car and let someone else do the dirving.

For us, being able to come back to the resort early, or mid-day to refresh ourselves and then head back is key. We no longer do "commando" trips and don't have the need to spend every breathing minute at the parks, so being close to the parks ceases to be important.

The only times I've found it best to be near the parks is in October, BWV for Food and Wine and in June BWV, when we use to attend the Star Wars week-ends! Other than that I stay at the resorts I enjoy the most irregardless of where I intend to spend my time!

But for you, new to DVC, a split stay to try 2 resorts may make a lot of sense Good luck with your decision!

 

[Shellandscott]

Hi,

We bought DVC last year and just had our first stay at Aulani..loved it. Now we are booked to stay at AKV January 4th for 8 nights.

thanks for your opinions!

This puts you into the marathon events so that will effect availability. So early week would have the best chance of availability. I would move to BCV or BLT if you can get them. BCV for the pool and close to Epcot and HS. I think it would be a hit with a 12 yr old.

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

I don't know why you would want the hassle of picking up and moving to a new resort in the middle of your stay. I know some people like doing this but it doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[kvichi]

I don't know why you would want the hassle of picking up and moving to a new resort in the middle of your stay. I know some people like doing this but it doesn't make any sense to me.

I'm not really sure why I would want the hassle either, but I noticed a lot of people do it and I'm so torn about where I want to stay. I want to try them all!

 

[Cinderpamela]

We stayed at the VWL for our first time at WDW and loved it! The boatride from the resort to the MK was a great way to get to that park.

While staying there I was sure to plan in time to check out the other resorts. I wanted to scope them out and see where we would/might want to stay on our next visit. The only ones I did not get to were SSR (other than seeing it from DTD) and OKW, but we got a really good feel for which resorts we liked the vibe of.

I would recommend this over a split stay as I have read plenty of trip reports where there were headaches and waisted time associated with moving from resort to resort.

 

[clapton]

Agree about split stays. Don't like the thought of moving, I like to stay put in one place the whole time! I guess it's personal preference though, because it seems like a lot of people like them.

 

[luvformickey]

We did a split stay on our first DVC stay and we won't ever do it again. We could never really settle in. We didn't want to unpack at the first resort too much because we knew we were going to have to re-pack to move to the second resort and by the time we got there, we didn't want to unpack too much because we'd be packing up to go home in a few days.

We figure if we've got this DVC thing for 40+ years, we'll have plenty of time to stay at all the resorts. No sense in trying to fit them all in right away. And a savannah view room at AKL is amazing!!

 

[kvichi]

We did a split stay on our first DVC stay and we won't ever do it again. We could never really settle in. We didn't want to unpack at the first resort too much because we knew we were going to have to re-pack to move to the second resort and by the time we got there, we didn't want to unpack too much because we'd be packing up to go home in a few days.

We figure if we've got this DVC thing for 40+ years, we'll have plenty of time to stay at all the resorts. No sense in trying to fit them all in right away. And a savannah view room at AKL is amazing!!

Thank you! I have pretty much decided to stay the whole time at AKL for all the reasons you mentioned. You're right, over the next 40+ years I should be able to fit them all in!

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I used to think I would like split stays b/c you could experience multiple resorts per trip. But I tried it and hated the hassle of moving. As a DVC member, you will return regularly...so...in my opinion....its not worth the hassle to move. I will admit that I pack a lot of stuff...especially since we usually get a 1 BR ...so we bring too much stuff b/c we have room for it. LOL!

 

[Anal Annie]

Agree with other posters - I see no reason to do a split stay for only an 8 night trip unless you're short on points OR going for 2 weeks at one time! No need to pack up & move. With 8 nights you can unpack & settle in & feel more at home. We were also anxious to try out all the resorts when we first bought in (Dec. 2006) and now have tried them all (including HHI and VB and trying VGC & Aulani this summer). You'll just have to plan 2 or 3 trips / year and someplace different each time!! Don't fret over the 79 points. Just bank them to use on your 2 trips next year!! 79 points is enough for a long weekend sometime. We have 250 points and tend to book the lesser views if available so we can plan 14 nights / year in various combinations. You might consider the idea of booking a standard view rather than a savanna view so you'll have more than 79 points to use for another trip! Buy AP's and get your money's worth with 2 trips!!

 

[kvichi]

Agree with other posters - I see no reason to do a split stay for only an 8 night trip unless you're short on points OR going for 2 weeks at one time! No need to pack up & move. With 8 nights you can unpack & settle in & feel more at home. We were also anxious to try out all the resorts when we first bought in (Dec. 2006) and now have tried them all (including HHI and VB and trying VGC & Aulani this summer). You'll just have to plan 2 or 3 trips / year and someplace different each time!! Don't fret over the 79 points. Just bank them to use on your 2 trips next year!! 79 points is enough for a long weekend sometime. We have 250 points and tend to book the lesser views if available so we can plan 14 nights / year in various combinations. You might consider the idea of booking a standard view rather than a savanna view so you'll have more than 79 points to use for another trip! Buy AP's and get your money's worth with 2 trips!!

I would love to do a long weekend but we are in California so airfare is an issue.. I am going to try to use my 79 points at VGC.... But I've heard that is hard to do. Can't bank them, they were already banked. Too many points us not a terrible problem to have!

 

[Kidanifan08]

I would love to do a long weekend but we are in California so airfare is an issue.. I am going to try to use my 79 points at VGC.... But I've heard that is hard to do. Can't bank them, they were already banked. Too many points us not a terrible problem to have!