Help with planning

[Bowen9475]

We are planning a trip to WDW next summer. With banking and borrowing, we will have three years worth of points to use. Our home resort is BCV. I plan to book the maximum number of nights we have points for at BCV at the 11 month mark. At 7 months out, I would like to make the trip a split stay with some nights at one resort and the rest still at BCV. Assuming that the resort and dates we want are available at 7 months out, how hard is it to do something like this? We would most likely want to stay at the other resort first, then swith to BCV halfway through. We may need to move dates around a little - we are hoping to be able to add a few nights with the split stay. Will this be very hard to do with member services? Thanks for any information!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If the dates are available then in general it's very easy to do. Adding dates and changing dates are also easy - if there is availability. If only some are available then you have decisions to make on if you want to book, waitlist etc.

 

[Granny]

Your issue might not be availability...it might be points.

If you use almost exactly 3 years worth of points (with banking & borrowing) to book BCV at 11 months, and then switch to another resort you could have one of two problems.

The first problem is that the other resort might have a lower point schedule. You would then have a small amount of points in next year's UY that you cannot use. One tip...if you do have this occur, then make sure MS uses the banked and borrowed points first. That way, you may still be able to bank the unused points towards a trip the following year (assuming you are still within the banking deadline).

The second problem is that the other resort might have a higher point schedule. You simply might not have enough points to book another resort if you've used up all the current and borrowed points in your account. You have the option to purchase some points on a one-time basis from Disney, but there are quantity limits to how much you can buy.

In general, the strategy you suggest is exactly the best way to book at 11 months and change at 7 months. The only complicating factor is the use of banked and borrowed points as described above.

Good luck!

 

[Bowen9475]

Thanks for the info We would like to stay in a 1BR at OKW and a 2BR at BCV. If I book the entire trip at BCV at 11 months out I will only have 4 points total left from the 3 years of points. I was figuring that I would just borrow all but 4 points from 2013. I figured that with OKW being less points, that would enable us to add on a few days. My thought is that I would have to check for availability first, then cancel a few of the BCV days, freeing up points to book OKW. Would that work? I will be using points from 2011, 2012 and 2013 for a July 2012 stay. If I am able to change things at the 7 month mark I may actually be a few points short. Would I be able to buy those points from MS when booking a trip that uses points from so many UYs? Thanks again!

 

[bobbiwoz]

You'll be able to buy the points from MS. It sounds like a great trip!