How do those with under 200 points manage their stays?

[ZerasPride]

We own 170 points and love them. Quite frankly I try to avoid threads where people talk about adding on because it helps fuel a desire in me for more points and I don't need much encouragement to feel that way, believe me! The reality is that we will probably only do an add on if we can pay cash and since that is an unlikely event, we will be dealing with 170 points far into the future.

My question is for other people in our situation, how do you manage your stays? Do you pay cash for weekends, stay at other resorts over the weekend, only stay in studios or maybe go every other year? We could use some ideas to help stretch our precious allotment of points as it looks like there will be no add ons for us, at least not for a long time.

Thanks for any suggestions you guys have to offer!

 

[tmt martins]

As we just bought in ( 170 also ) and this is our first trip home in 4 days .We got a 2bdrm and are taking DM & DsF .

But our plans were to just do a studio for our summer week then again for our winter week either a long weekend or 5 days during the week.

Our other 2 trips everyother year ( PAP's ) we will just hit POP or rent points if we need .

As we pay off this one we will do an add-on at another resort for our smaller trips.

I would like to get up to be able to do a 1bdrm for our big trip and studio for the rest.

 

[jjohnson]

Last trip we stayed at BWI for the weekend & used our points for a 2 brm at SSR for the week. Next trip we will either pay cash at BWV or SSR for the weekend or get 2 rooms at AKL. We only have 150 points so it's highly unlikely we will be using them for any weekends. I don't plan to addon until Disney builds another DVC resort.

 

[spiceycat]

I have more than 200 points - but I let my brother also use them (not to mention rent some) - so I only use 185 points and I can go 4 times - OKW
studios only - Sept 40 points, Dec 40 points, March 55 points, May 50 points. You would need to cut off one of these - but believe me you can definitely do it.

I drive so I only stay Sun-thur (leave on Fri). works great for me. I have some other timeshares that I also trade to Orlando and I generally also leave on Friday or Thursday - even when I can stay thru Saturday or Sunday... So 5 days (sometimes 6) is more than enough for me for one stay. Now if I didn't do multiply trips I might stay longer.

once using both offtime and DVC I stayed for 2 weeks - much too long for me - I missed my other cats (Spicey went with me).

 

[goofy4tink]

Originally bought 150 pts but ended up adding another 50. I can get a stand. view 1-bdrm in August for 118 (5 night, weeknights) and then a studio for a Dec trip for around 70 pts (5 nights).
Since my dh has decided he doesn't want to stay in a studio again, we'll do the 1 bdrm during the summer and I can get a studio for my solo trip in Dec. I also stay at a value resort at the beginning of my stay..usually for a Friday/Sat stay.

 

[HUFF590]

when we first bought we had 150 points that gave us Sat -Sat at SSR in May 1 week 112 points. Of course we bought more later, for some reason our kids and brothers sister moms dads etc wanted to go too.

 

[ZerasPride]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I really appreciate it. I think we are spoiled by the one and two bedroom villas but if I am faced with no trip at all, DH and I could get "cozy" enough in a studio. Our real problem is our family. They have gotten spoiled with "free" accommodations every other year and it's going to be hard to break them of that habit but I hate having to pay cash for a few nights so they can enjoy "free" accommodations that we pay a mortgage and dues for. I hope I don't sound stingy. DH and I are not. We have enjoyed having family along and I know most of them could not have afforded the trip any other way.

I'm going to work through some scenarios that involve studio accommodations but I know DH likes to spread out a bit on vacation. Thanks again for your suggestions. If anyone else wants to share, I'd love to hear from you!

 

[dianeschlicht]

A week in a 1 bedroom at OKW is 160 points in Adventure seasons. You might also try doing 6 nights instead of 7. While a week in ia 2 bedroom adventure season at OKW is 218 points, 6 nights is only 164, and you can plan to leave later in the day that day, so you would still have 7 days to play. When we started out, we only had 230 points, and that was how we conserved. We would stay 6 nights instead of 7 or more. We added on another 150, so now we do two 10 night trips plus...

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We only have 150 points and it has worked great for us so far.

We usually arrive on a Sunday morning and leave the last flight on Friday night, usually it's around 7:30.

Our November trip used 90 points for a standard view one bedroom at the Boardwalk.

This past December, I got a Grand Villa, at OKW, for 180 points, again staying Sunday leaving late Friday.

 

[crisi]

BWV, Every other year, seven nights in a two bedroom, 272 points. Own 150. Works well for us, but we don't feel a real NEED to be at Disney every year.

 

[NYMomof4]

I started with 150 and added 50 (200 total now) but from the start I have worked over the numbers left and right so that I could make the best use of the points. My plan is to get the 2 bdrm in August for the larger family trip & stay a few nights or so at a regular resort (we like POR). This year BCV for a 2 bdrm late August is 170 pts (OKW for the same 2 bdrm would have been 135). I used 70 in late Feb. for a 5 night stay at BCV in a studio and plan to make a yearly studio stay for between (40-70 pts depending on resort & season). Banking and borrowing can help as well as renting extra points as needed.

If your points are limited, adapt each vacation to fit what you can-maybe the year that you get a week stay you use all the points or borrow and then just do a studio trip the next... I guess that my point is that it can work. To supplement trips at DVC I look for Disney specials-this year we are doing the POR week with free dining and then 5 nights at BCV.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

If your treating family, take them to HH in Dec or Jan. a GV is only 24 pts.

Another "family strategy" is you pay 5 nights on points, they pay 2 nights cash and share a 2-BR DVC unit.

If your going to WDW, I would stay value or offsite for the weekends and DVC S-Th. We are staying 3 nights at an offsite 2-BR timeshare for $83.00/night followed by 5 nights at BCV.

Always finish your vacation at DVC.

 

[ktbugsmom]

I own a measily 100 points (resale 3 years ago). We have used our points in January for studios at BWV. 5 weeknights is 60 points (45 points for standard view, but we prefer boardwalk view) and we stay 5-7 nights - which sometimes puts us into borrowing mode or renting mode.

I would LOVE to have more points, but hubby is not so sure. This year, some friends are going with us. I rented two studios - ours is for 6 nights and theirs is for 5 nights. I borrowed from the next year's allocation to make it work, but that is fine. Maybe next year I can talk hubby into more points!

So - you can make it work. However, I won't allow myself to try a 1 BR or larger because I know I would love it and that would definitely make me buy more points and hubby would not be happy! He enjoys our trips - but not nearly as much as my daughter and I do.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Before I added on, I only had 170 pts, too, and I would rent on pts Sun-Thurs. and get an AP rate for the same room for Friday and Saturday nights, and then link the reservations so that I didn't move anywhere. I started out using my points with family members, until they started to nitpick about the "small" accommodations--they wanted a one bedroom unit like we had. So I stopped bringing them, added on, and got a one bedroom every time I went down!

 

[Lesley]

Our 200 points was working quite well for us when we were a family of 4. Our first couple of stays we'd spend 5 weeknights in a studio and 5 in a 1br, and stay somewhere else on the weekend. We like trying different resorts so this worked really well for us. Also, I don't really see needing more than a studio if it ever becomes just dh and I again.

But then we had a third child (bad math, oops....though she is one of the few things I've ever encountered in life that was a bad idea in theory and and absolutely wonderful idea in reality). Staying in a regular hotel room, even though our littlest dd is only 2, is pretty rough. I'd have to say it ranks right up there with camping. Heck, camping might be easier at this point. So we're finding that we need a 1br at DVC and will very soon require a 2br*....if only for the extra bathroom. We need the space, the laundry, and the kitchen is really helpful when the younger ones have had enough of restaurants.

Before #3 we would occasionally spend weekend nights in a studio. Now that's pretty much out of the question. Our points are too precious for that. We'll be in a 1br in September. My parents are joining us in a OKW 2br in January. After that we will most likely stick with 2br's as long as we're bringing the kids. We can still get 5 nights a year in a 2br and have some points leftover (more or less, depending on where we decide to stay). Any extra nights we'll have to work in on cash.

For us, an add on would be a truly great thing. But we also do not want to add on until we can pay cash. That is not likely to happen soon (if it does, I'm sure you'll all be the first to know!). So we'll make do with what is available to us now. Its likely we won't be buying AP's for a while, since we don't have the points (or the cash budget for rooms) to make the most of them.

To make a long story short, for now we'll be doing 5 nights S-Th with weekends on cash in another resort. Perhaps at some point we'll bank enough to do two 5 day stays....but as we're in a pretty constant state of borrowing I'm not entirely sure about that.

*as an aside, I am completely aware of DVC's policies, both written and unwritten. Since this is not an occupancy thread I will go no further.

 

[OneMoreTry]

We have 300 points but due to the large family and restricted travel times it's what we need for about a week a year. If we're saving on points we stay off campus on Sat night. Check in early Sun. Sometimes pay cash with 25% discount on Friday night, but we've had enough points lately due to banking.

 

[Desnik]

We have 150 points. We mostly travel in the off season and stay in a studio. We also combine a 5 night DVC stay with a weekend in a Mod(paying cash), most of the time. We get to do more trips this way. This past trip we did stay for 8 nights and stood at a DVC resort for the weekend so we used up more points. This coming trip we will be in a 1 bedroom and I'm scared that once we stay in one, we won't want to go back to a studio!!LOL We got lucky and my best friend joined DVC and she got 2005 points which she can't use so she gave me the points for this trip in exchange for some work DH did for her in her house!("Will work for points!!!"LOL )
I do see an add on in the future as the kids get older. I have a boy and a girl and there will come a time they won't sleep in the same bed!!LOL

 

[vascubaguy]

I only have 150 points and with all of our trips planned for the rest of this year and next, I still have 49 points unused. Right now we have only been planning 5 night trips (Sun-Fri) and we only stay in Studios.

If we do decide to stay over a weekend sometime I'd probably book a night or two at AKL... but right now... although I would love to have some points at BWV, I just can't justify spending that much on something I don't really need... (Now when I join the faculty and only work on 9 month contracts.... that could change , but I still have a few years to go. )

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We own 180 points- just added on 30 recently. We have enough points to stay in a 1 bedroom for 6 nights Sun -Sat(give or take). If I don't have enough, I will book a studio for one of the weekend nights and/or book the Standard view at the BWVs.

We purchased AP's this year and are getting 3 trips of 6-7 nights(which I had to borrow from 07/08 use year, but since I just added 30 pts I have some left to bank this year!!)

Depending on my next trip, I may do a cash resessie (using the AP discount if there is a good one at the time)at one of the MK resorts and move over to the BWV Sun-thurs.

Also, if I had to, I would definitely split my stay between a studio and a 1 bedroom. As the kids get older, I will probably buy more points(hopefully at the next DVC resort) so we can stay in a 2 bedroom.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Our real problem is our family. They have gotten spoiled with "free" accommodations every other year and it's going to be hard to break them of that habit but I hate having to pay cash for a few nights so they can enjoy "free" accommodations that we pay a mortgage and dues for.

Just a suggestion. Before I bought DVC, I travelled to WDW with my parents who had traded their timeshare for an offsite timeshare in Orlando. We stayed 7 nights in their timeshare and 4 nights on-property. I paid for the on-property nights since they had "paid" for the other nights.

If you need to pay for some nights to make a family vacation work, you might suggest to your family that the cash nights are their responsibility.

Best of luck -- Suzanne