Have You Ever Checked Out For the Weekend???

[Luvmyfam3]

We are booked at VWL from Sunday - Friday, but I found a deal for a 5-day WDW ticket with an extra free day. We considered staying one more night, but Friday night in July is 70 points as opposed to 30 during the weekday! We were thinking of staying somewhere else Friday night. Has anyone else done that? Is it a hassle? Do you just load up that morning and then go to the Super 8 (or wherever) that night after a day at the parks?

That being said, does anyone know of any great deals outside of WDW property? (I can't believe I said that!!) I feel like such a traitor!

Thanks!

Kim

 

[bigdave10000]

That is a very common practice for DVCers who don't have points to burn. The DIS recommends some places offsite. I have stayed in at the Sheraton Vistana 2-BR before. It is a nice property, great location. Not on the same level as DVC but for $150 it is much better then using up 70 points that you can use for weekday stays.

Check with Dreams Unlimited to see what is available.

 

[WendyinNC]

We found great flights on a Saturday so we are staying at POR for one night. I considered staying offsite but decided to go with an onsite resort. It is my understanding that they will transfer your luggage for you. My plan is to call bell service to get my luggage Saturday morning and then take the kids to a park for the day. Around 4pm I will go to my DVC resort and check in. It sounds painless. I sure hope it is since I will be on my own with 4 kids. AGH! If this works well I plan on using the weekends to try different resorts at WDW.

 

[spiceycat]

isn't that what Pop Century is for?

 

[antree]

We have done it and probably will do it again. Stay where it is cheaper, if you can't get a cheaper point DVC we stay at the cheapest hotel at that time.

 

[Caskbill]

We do it a lot, it can really stretch your vacation days.

We'll go 5-nights at one of the DVC resorts, spend the weekend somewhere else, then go 5-nights at a different DVC resort, and so on. I remember one of our trips we did OKW, BCV, BWV and VWL, 5 nights at each, all in the same trip. We had our RV with us that time and spent the weekends at Ft. Wilderness.

We actually like Pop Century (don't care for All-Stars). The rooms are tiny but the atmosphere is unique. We've also stayed at some mid-range resorts. Don't go off site too often. We do have family 1.5 hours from WDW so sometimes we'll go there for the weekend. If you can't mooch off of family, what's the use of having relatives who live in Florida.....

 

[owtrbnks]

I agree with Spicey. We often fly down on Sat, stay at POP for 1 night, then DVC Sun-Wed.
Sure makes the points last long - so we can make a trip about every other month!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm not one for packing up and moving out just to save a few points. I stay put until it's time to go.

But if you want to try out Universal, that would be a good time to check into one of their resorts so you can get front of the line.

 

[DVC Mike]

I'm not one for packing up and moving out just to save a few points. I stay put until it's time to go.

That's one reason I added on points. My DW got tired of picking up and moving (it didn't bother me one bit). We used to stay in a moderate resort on Fri/Sat nights.

 

[castleri]

Did it Christmas week 2006 - the points saved were enough for another trip. Stayed 5 nights at OKW - 2 nights off site on 192 ($122 total for 2 nights) and checked back in Sunday at 7:30am to SSR for 4 nights. Just packed a bag with what we needed for the 2 nights and left rest of luggage in the car trunk. Checked in on Friday evening and did the offsite things we wanted to do on Saturday - TL and shopping- so it all worked out really well. Tried to stay at a value onsite but could only get 1 night each at 2 different hotels ASMU and CSR and after really thinking about it and the holiday cost for those two nights decided to do the 192 hotel which cost less than 1 night at either of the others.
We also did it one time in September and left the car at the resort until we were done with the parks on the day we checked out and then took the bus back to pick it up before driving to the offsite hotel. Hopefully that was not against the rules but since I could use my park tickets and DDP until midnight of that day and we ate at the resort that evening before leaving I think it was okay. If we had not been eating there I would probably have just parked at the park we went to that day.

 

[Deb & Bill]

... We also did it one time in September and left the car at the resort until we were done with the parks on the day we checked out and then took the bus back to pick it up before driving to the offsite hotel. Hopefully that was not against the rules but since I could use my park tickets and DDP until midnight of that day and we ate at the resort that evening before leaving I think it was okay. If we had not been eating there I would probably have just parked at the park we went to that day.

We usually put everything into the car and head to the MK on the bus. It's not a problem.

 

[fletch1027]

We are booked at VWL from Sunday - Friday, but I found a deal for a 5-day WDW ticket with an extra free day. We considered staying one more night, but Friday night in July is 70 points as opposed to 30 during the weekday! We were thinking of staying somewhere else Friday night. Has anyone else done that? Is it a hassle? Do you just load up that morning and then go to the Super 8 (or wherever) that night after a day at the parks?

That being said, does anyone know of any great deals outside of WDW property? (I can't believe I said that!!) I feel like such a traitor!

Thanks!

Kim

If you are thinking of adding a day, I would suggest adding it at the beginning as opposed to the end. To quote Seinfeld, once you fly 1st Class, it's hard to go to the other side of the curtain. It would be very hard to spend 5 days @ VWL, then go to a regular hotel.

Last summer, we rented points at SSR for 5 nights, then went to the Daytona Beach Hilton for the next 2 nights. Even with an ocean view, it was horrible to go from a 1BR to a hotel room. As soon as we got home, we pulled the trigger and bought 185 points...

 

[monami7]

We usually stay ata moderate in the middle. We stayed at CSR last time it was nice, but it sure was great to get back home on SUNDAY! We don't like spending all the extra weekend points. You really can get a second trip out of them!
Heidi

 

[VLee]

We sometimes start our vacation off by one to two nights at the values before moving over to DVC...don't bother with unpacking a lot until we get to a DVC resort.
In summer 2009, we hope to do this a lot to save points and stretch out our trip to four weeks...moving to values or offsite on weekends. Will probably go to Universal onsite resort at least one weekend to get the front of line privileges.

 

[sajetto]

I'm not one for packing up and moving out just to save a few points. I stay put until it's time to go.
.

We're the same way. Once we get to the resort we want to drop our stuff and "move in." I don't like to even think about packing until the very day that we leave WDW