Home resort swap? Points transfer?

[cryslej88]

Hi All, I just purchased DVC and my home resort is SSR. I have two little ones and I want to do a split stay between SSR and BCV. I am outside of the booking window for BCV because I want to go in August. Has anyone ever swapped or transferred points to get into a different resort that was not their home resort? I'm not sure what the best way to go about doing this is or if I should just wait until January and see if it will still be open.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We've not actually done it, but I expect you have 3 options - wait until your 7-month window to see what's available, see if you can get a rental for the exact BC room and dates, and purchase points from someone will to transfer you BCV points ASAP. If you have not yet done so, please make sure you have SSR booked for the entire trip so that you have a resort in case BCV doesn't work out! And always remember, if you do wait until 7 months and BCV isn't immediately available, wait listing can work, too. Good luck!

 

[CarolynFH]

Re booking SSR for entire trip: be sure to book it as two reservations at SSR, one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at SSR and a separate one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at BCV.

If you secure the BCV reservation you want via rental or points transfer before the 7 month window opens, you can cancel those nights at SSR. If the BCV nights are available at 7 months, you can Modify that SSR reservation online at 8 AM Eastern without having to wait to call MS at 9 AM Eastern. If you have to waitlist the BCV nights, you can set up the WL to replace the SSR nights. If all you have is one single reservation at SSR and the WL comes through, it will cancel the entire SSR reservation, not just the BCV nights.

If you book as two separate reservations and don't get the nights at BCV, you can ask MS to merge the SSR reservations into one single reservation.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Re booking SSR for entire trip: be sure to book it as two reservations at SSR, one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at SSR and a separate one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at BCV.

Excellent point that I missed. That is absolutely the way to go. It would be way more complicated if SSR is a single reservation. Thanks.

 

[supersnoop]

It's unlikely that anyone would want to do a direct swap. You've have to find someone with BCV points who wanted to book somewhere else, and then you'd have to negotiate the number of points (are BCV more valuable than SSR?), and then you'd have to either transfer points or book a room for them. And then you'd have to hope that there are no changes on either side.

The most straight-forward way to accomplish what you want is to rent BCV points (either on this board or through a broker) to book what you want, and then rent out your points to cover the cost.

 

[crisi]

We've rented out BWV points to pay for a HHI trip in the Summer, but as supersnoop says, trading points isn't likely to happen as your SSR points aren't worth much to a BCV owner. Plus with one transfer in and out a year, transferring points between members isn't often done.

 

[sndral]

You are allowed one transfer a year - so if you had someone transfer points into your membership you’ve used up that one transfer & you couldn’t transfer points out to complete the exchange.
BCV is very small & in demand, SSR is huge and the most likely resort to have availability, thus I doubt anyone would be interested in a swap since any BCV owner who wanted to stay at SSR would likely have no problem using their own points to book SSR at 7 months.
August isn’t traditionally a high demand time & you might get lucky at 7 months, but I’d also consider trying to book BWV if BCV are gone since BWV is larger & tends to have availability longer especially in the preferred view category yet offers a similar great location as the BCV.

 

[cryslej88]

Re booking SSR for entire trip: be sure to book it as two reservations at SSR, one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at SSR and a separate one for the dates/number of nights you want to stay at BCV.

If you secure the BCV reservation you want via rental or points transfer before the 7 month window opens, you can cancel those nights at SSR. If the BCV nights are available at 7 months, you can Modify that SSR reservation online at 8 AM Eastern without having to wait to call MS at 9 AM Eastern. If you have to waitlist the BCV nights, you can set up the WL to replace the SSR nights. If all you have is one single reservation at SSR and the WL comes through, it will cancel the entire SSR reservation, not just the BCV nights.

If you book as two separate reservations and don't get the nights at BCV, you can ask MS to merge the SSR reservations into one single reservation.

Thank you for this advice! It makes sense. Right now I have the week at SSR booked as one single reservation, but I will change it to two different reservations. I didn't know that I could ask MS to merge them, so thank you!!

 

[cryslej88]

You are allowed one transfer a year - so if you had someone transfer points into your membership you’ve used up that one transfer & you couldn’t transfer points out to complete the exchange.
BCV is very small & in demand, SSR is huge and the most likely resort to have availability, thus I doubt anyone would be interested in a swap since any BCV owner who wanted to stay at SSR would likely have no problem using their own points to book SSR at 7 months.
August isn’t traditionally a high demand time & you might get lucky at 7 months, but I’d also consider trying to book BWV if BCV are gone since BWV is larger & tends to have availability longer especially in the preferred view category yet offers a similar great location as the BCV.

Thank you! I was unaware of the one transfer per year. I am still trying to learn the ins and the outs. I love BWV because of the location, however I am not really a fan of the pool for my little ones. The slide is too big for them since they are 4 and 2 years old. I wish they had a better kiddie area!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you! I was unaware of the one transfer per year. I am still trying to learn the ins and the outs. I love BWV because of the location, however I am not really a fan of the pool for my little ones. The slide is too big for them since they are 4 and 2 years old. I wish they had a better kiddie area!

My understanding is that Stormalong Bay isn’t necessarily the best for littles like yours. Search these boards for actual experiences before committing to BCV. I’ve also read that Kidani has one of the best kiddie water play areas at WDW!

 

[Pens Fan]

My understanding is that Stormalong Bay isn’t necessarily the best for littles like yours. Search these boards for actual experiences before committing to BCV. I’ve also read that Kidani has one of the best kiddie water play areas at WDW!

I agree. They do have the little sandy area where you see babies and toddlers hanging out, but the actual pool is really designed for children that are good swimmers. It's very deep in spots and it's huge. I always found the deep spots to be in odd places. If I'm recalling correctly, even the lazy river was around 5 or 6 feet deep. Also the slide requires you to actually leave the pool area and cross the walkway in front of hotel to get to the entrance.

We stayed at the Yacht Club a lot when our son was younger - primarily for the pool and location. He was a very strong swimmer, but even so we were really on our toes watching him. I've seen a lot of people on here complain that they were caught unaware of just how deep that pool is in places.

 

[SLThomas318]

If you have enough points for a 1 bedroom then you should be fine at the 7 month window... a studio will be tough. I agree with the pool being an issue for kids that age. We stayed when my boys were 5 and 6 and it was not relaxing pool time. If your littles ones love sand then the sandy pool area will be awesome assuming it will keep them entertained. My kids thought the sand bottom was cool for about 10 minutes and then just wanted to do the slide on repeat. The lay-out for the slide is not ideal unless they are old enough to do it independently. I know boardwalk is about to start a lot of renovations, but we liked that pool set-up for our kids ages. We also liked that it gave us walking access to Hollywood and Epcot. We've walked to Hollywood from Beach Club, but it is a hike (especially in August).

 

[cryslej88]

I agree. They do have the little sandy area where you see babies and toddlers hanging out, but the actual pool is really designed for children that are good swimmers. It's very deep in spots and it's huge. I always found the deep spots to be in odd places. If I'm recalling correctly, even the lazy river was around 5 or 6 feet deep. Also the slide requires you to actually leave the pool area and cross the walkway in front of hotel to get to the entrance.

We stayed at the Yacht Club a lot when our son was younger - primarily for the pool and location. He was a very strong swimmer, but even so we were really on our toes watching him. I've seen a lot of people on here complain that they were caught unaware of just how deep that pool is in places.

Thank you for the tips! I saw that they had a smaller slide that would be appropriate for my kids and it seemed like it would be a better fit for them. I've stayed at AKL, but they were renovating the kiddie area so we didn't get to experience it. One of the reasons that we bought at SSR was due to the nice kiddie area at the one pool and the slide in their main pool. I just like to be able to walk to HS and Epcot.

 

[cryslej88]

If you have enough points for a 1 bedroom then you should be fine at the 7 month window... a studio will be tough. I agree with the pool being an issue for kids that age. We stayed when my boys were 5 and 6 and it was not relaxing pool time. If your littles ones love sand then the sandy pool area will be awesome assuming it will keep them entertained. My kids thought the sand bottom was cool for about 10 minutes and then just wanted to do the slide on repeat. The lay-out for the slide is not ideal unless they are old enough to do it independently. I know boardwalk is about to start a lot of renovations, but we liked that pool set-up for our kids ages. We also liked that it gave us walking access to Hollywood and Epcot. We've walked to Hollywood from Beach Club, but it is a hike (especially in August).

I do have enough points for a 1BR. We walked to Hollywood in August last year from BWV. It was hot during the day, but not too bad at night. I like the pool at BWV, but I just wish they had a smaller slide for younger children. I'm interested to see what will happen with their renovations.

 

[SLThomas318]

Thank you for the tips! I saw that they had a smaller slide that would be appropriate for my kids and it seemed like it would be a better fit for them. I've stayed at AKL, but they were renovating the kiddie area so we didn't get to experience it. One of the reasons that we bought at SSR was due to the nice kiddie area at the one pool and the slide in their main pool. I just like to be able to walk to HS and Epcot.

Just a heads up, the smaller slide is at the bottom of the steps for the large slide so you have to exit the whole pool complex to get to it as well. I wish they had put it in the regular pool vs needing to exit and be away from everything else.

 

[cryslej88]

Just a heads up, the smaller slide is at the bottom of the steps for the large slide so you have to exit the whole pool complex to get to it as well. I wish they had put it in the regular pool vs needing to exit and be away from everything else.

I didn't know this. I've seen pictures and I've walked past the pool when we went to Cape May Cafe, but it seemed like it would be age appropriate. Thank you!! I may try to do a split stay at AKL instead. Or just go to BWV due to the location and it's less points. Decisions, decisions.

 

[SLThomas318]

I didn't know this. I've seen pictures and I've walked past the pool when we went to Cape May Cafe, but it seemed like it would be age appropriate. Thank you!! I may try to do a split stay at AKL instead. Or just go to BWV due to the location and it's less points. Decisions, decisions.

You can check out some you tube videos to get a better feel of the pool area. It is the nice small size, but it's just frustrating that you need to leave the pool complex to access it. I will also add that you don't know 'till you try it... the beauty of DVC is that you'll be coming back AKL is nice because you can use Kidani or Jambo's pool... the splash area is fun at Kidani and it has a large and small pool slide in the main pool area. Jambo has just the larger pool slide. There is a shuttle that runs between the 2 properties. We enjoy split stays and it has allowed us to try out almost all of the properties (still haven't done OKW or Saratoga).

 

[cryslej88]

You can check out some you tube videos to get a better feel of the pool area. It is the nice small size, but it's just frustrating that you need to leave the pool complex to access it. I will also add that you don't know 'till you try it... the beauty of DVC is that you'll be coming back AKL is nice because you can use Kidani or Jambo's pool... the splash area is fun at Kidani and it has a large and small pool slide in the main pool area. Jambo has just the larger pool slide. There is a shuttle that runs between the 2 properties. We enjoy split stays and it has allowed us to try out almost all of the properties (still haven't done OKW or SaratogI li

I like split stays also, but I also like to order groceries and cook breakfast when we are in a 1 or 2BR villa. I usually will stay 2-3 nights at the first resort and then the rest at the second. SSR is my favorite resort, but I wish it were closer to the parks. I enjoy walking to Disney Springs, the rooms are beautiful and I also like their pools. OKW the rooms are huge and so are the balconies/patios. The resort is also very large. Their main pool is very nice and they have a variety of food choices. OKW is another resort that I wish were closer to the parks. I choose SSR as my home resort over OKW due to the rooms being newer and being able to walk to Disney Springs on non park days for dining and shopping.

 

[FrannyFrogs]

Lol I'm a grown up lady and I walked down the steps into the lazy river at stormalong bay and disappeared under the water! Who would guess the last step is like 4 feet high?! Be careful there!