Have you ever stayed 10 days and went to a hotel on the weekend to save points?

[rgoulette2]

We are thinking of doing a 10 day trip and it would force us to borrow points from next year. I want to go agsin next year too.

 

[DVCLiz]

We are thinking of doing a 10 day trip and it would force us to borrow points from next year. I want to go agsin next year too.

Yes, we have done that several times. Usually we don't want to use the points for the weekend, and we also want a chance to stay at a resort we like that doesn't have DVC - the Poly, the GF, and, until recently, AKL. We would never use points to stay at those resorts!!!

We've arrived on a Sunday, stayed 5 nights on points, moved to a resort for the weekend, and then had another DVC points stay. We've done it twice now and it was fun both times!!!!

I do have older children and I am single, so it's just the three of us and the girls are willing to help pack up and move efficiently. If I had younger children or a grumpy husband I'd do it differently...

 

[Starr W.]

I do have older children and I am single, so it's just the three of us and the girls are willing to help pack up and move efficiently. If I had younger children or a grumpy husband I'd do it differently...

I'm with you on that.

 

[Kurby]

my daughter will be almost 4 when we go and i have a grumpy hubby and we're still staying at cash hotels at the beginning and end of our trip.

plus we're moving dvc resorts half way through

first night coronado
second night riverside
1 week ak
1 week okw
1 night riverside

we are treating the first 2 nights like we're still driving (we're not flying down we're driving) so we'll have enough clothes in a travel bag and do laundry when we get to our dvc home.

then on the way out we're starting our end of trip by staying on site one more night just to relax after all the park and water park activities then we'll head home.

it can be done if you plan it right. oh and check out early so you can check in at the new hotel early and get on with your day.

 

[starbox]

We've stayed offsite the weekend prior to a stay, and have paid member cash to stay weekends.

I just hate spending the weekend points!!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

In 2002 during our first membership, we stayed 5 nights in BWV with my parents. Then they went home, and we stayed 2 nights at the Poly. Then we finished up with 2 nights at VWL.
This next time if we do that, we can get a 2BR instead of a 1BR. Very tempting and I have about 2 weeks to decide! But we're looking at holiday rates at any other hotel (which would probably be Poly or YC) and I know DH doesn't like moving.
Robin M.

 

[bnlbebes]

I've always thought it would be a good idea to explore outside WDW on the weekends to save points. Go to either SeaWorld or Universal Studios and stay at a nearby hotel. DW, DS, and I stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn within walking distance of Sea World one year and got "Buy one day get the second day free" theme park tix. A frugal and enjoyable weekend. We've never stayed at WDW for more than 5 days, but never say never.

 

[La2kw]

We usually spend the weekends at the beach or at Universal (onsite at the Royal Pacific). We used to pay cash on the weekends, but the rates have gotten outrageously high, so we prefer to give our cash to someone other than Disney. They get enough of our money already.

 

[StayFLA]

I've always thought it would be a good idea to explore outside WDW on the weekends to save points. Go to either SeaWorld or Universal Studios and stay at a nearby hotel. DW, DS, and I stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn within walking distance of Sea World one year and got "Buy one day get the second day free" theme park tix. A frugal and enjoyable weekend. We've never stayed at WDW for more than 5 days, but never say never.

No flames here. It's called maximizing your vacation time. Weekend points are killer. Go to FW, AS, or offsite. I wouldn't go offsite for a Disney vacation, but going offsite for other ventures while in Orlando is a great option. Planning and booking may be harder, but there is a lot of things to do around Orlando.

Ralph

 

[abner1776]

OK...enough with the dumpin on the "grumpy husbands" ...I'm the DVC banner carrier in my family as my DW enjoys WDW but would never have bought into DVC on her own and still thinks I slightly "crazy."

...and in defense of "grumpy husbands"...ya know we have to work hard to be grumpy...it just doesn't come naturally to most of us..this is an acquired skill and requires practice and timing. At least give us credit for working hard at something.....and no you can't have the remote.....

 

[jjbescher]

There are also things as Grumpy Wives that hate to pack. I am normally packed weeks in advance and my DW is ALWAYS packing at the last minute.

jon

 

[DVCLiz]

My grumpy husband remark was due to the fact that, on most of these "How do you change resorts?" threads, the wives are the ones responding, and they almost always say their husbands hate to move and aren't helpful. So don't shoot the messenger here, folks!!!!

Also, the people who seem to hate moving more than any others are the ones with small children. As I said, mine are teenagers and can be packed and out of a villa in 15 minutes flat. That makes it easier for me than if I had toddlers still eating cereal and watching SpongeBob when I wanted to be on the move.

On the other end of the spectrum, I know a lot of couples who are -if not older, at least "established" - like to check in once and settle in, so age is no predictor of who will and who won't move resorts.

As I said, it works well for me.

 

[dzorn]

We will on our first trip home. Staying Sun-Fri then ? Fri & Sat checking back in Sunday. We had plenty of points when we were staying in 1-bedroom, but thought it would be fun to have family go, so we switched to a 2-bedroom hence no Fri & Sat stay. Right now both 5 night stays are at AKV and hoping to switch one at 7 months. Cannot make up my mind were to stay Fri & Sat we may go visit Great Grandma for those days. Since we will be in a 1 bedroom I plan on doing laundry when DD go to bed early so I should not have to much to pack. We do love POR so we may just end up there.

Denise in MI

 

[dianeschlicht]

We usually stay 10-12 days, but we time that to only include one weekend. That means it is usually somewhere in the middle of the trip, so we do NOT want to move at that point. We stay put in our DVC room unless we are changing room sizes because of the coming and going of guests, and then we often still stay in the same unit but downsized from 2 bedrooms to 1.

 

[DVC Mary]

We've been lucky enough to pay cash for the same DVC room on the weekends, there's no guarantee of that though. We've used AP discounts, AAA, or whatever else was out there to help us stretch our points a little farther.

If you have trouble convincing loved ones to move during the trip here are a couple tips:

Make the 2nd resort the one that grumpy people want to stay at the most ex.) DH loves AK & likes ending his vacation there.

Pack a bag of separate clothes that you don't need to open until the other resort

Pack a bag that has essentials for both resorts

Ask at the gift shop for a box before you leave the 1st resort & mail your dirty clothes & souveneirs home. They'll help you seal & mail it at the front desk. Can you tell I don't like to do laundry on vacation.

Moving food, drinks, etc. is no problem. Tell them that you have perishables to move. My beer was colder when it arrived at my 2nd resort

Good luck whatever you do!

 

[Flyerfan]

We are staying 4 nts OKW, then a 3-night Disney cruise, then back to SSR for 5 nts this November. It's just DH and I and we're driving down so we have no problem packing up and "shipping out" and then coming back. Originally we were going to stay at CSR for the weekend to save points because we also want to go next year, possibly with family. So, it's a good thing if your OK with moving.

 

[aggiemullins]

We usually spend the weekends at the beach or at Universal (onsite at the Royal Pacific). We used to pay cash on the weekends, but the rates have gotten outrageously high, so we prefer to give our cash to someone other than Disney. They get enough of our money already.

I've always wanted to go and stay a night at Universal just for their fast pass promotion they have.

If you go to Universal Studios and stay at one of the three Universal hotels, your room key serves as an unlimited Express Access pass (Universal's version of a Disney Fastpass.)

 

[iluveeyore]

We usually switch for the weekends too. However, we've been lucky this trip to have enough points to stay at the AKV in a studio for 7 nights including a weekend then five nights to finish our trip in a one bedroom at OKW.
34 more days!!!!!

 

[Wedgeh]

I think it's a really good idea to stay at a universal hotel on the weekend (if you're into their parks of course). The front of line pass that people have mentioned will negate any increase in park attendance the weekend might bring, and you save on DVC points too! I think I'll try and persuade DW to try this next trip.

 

[castleri]

We stayed in a 2BR one Christmas week with 4 people, 2 went home and the 2 that we left (my DGD(20) and I checked into a hotel out on 192 for 2 nights ($122 total for the 2 nights) and then back into SSR for 4 nights in a studio. The weekend point cost and the fact that I would have had to split the 2 nights between ASMU and CSR for much more $$$ made the decision easy. We checked in to the offsite hotel at 4 PM on Friday and back into SSR at 7:30am Sunday(NYE) so really weren't offsite that long. On Saturday we did TL and DTD as well as an offiste restaurant that DGD wanted to go to. We just packed what we needed for that time into small bags so could leave the rest in the trunk of the car. It saved enough points for a 5 day trip in the Spring.