How do you handle weekends?

[joepoe]

To each his/her own. We live in Chicago area so usually we go down for long weekends or a full week, and end up payinjg higher Fri-Sat points . We have 502 points, and we stay at OKW or BWV standard to conserve points.
Whatever people do to accomodate longer stays at WDW makes sense to me!

 

[newholiday]

Oct 2-8 (sat-fri) we stayed at the VWL in a 1B - took almost 1yrs points - Followed by 2nights (Fri & Sat) at Caribbean Beach

next aug 18-21 (Th-Su, 3nights) we (DS & I) have PO/Riverside reserved before our 6night (Sun-Sat) at the VWL in a studio - using remainder of 04 pts

 

[Cruelladeville]

It depends upon whether I am taking a short trip or a longer one, and if I have points left or not. I have 700 pts, but we take 3 or 4 trips per year, so I am really greedy and hoard my points. Normally, I arrive on Sunday, stay Sunday thru Fri on pts, pay cash for Fri-Sat, then stay part of the following week on pts before going home. I can usually get a one bedroom for about $250 on the AP, which is 33 pts. I rent out the 66 pts for $660, and pay $500 in cash if I have the pts available, but this year I am staying at Christmas for 10 nights, 10 nights at Easter, and 12 nights over the 4th of July(5 in a grand villa!!), so I have to pay cash on the weekends this year, and borrowed from 2006, too!

 

[Disney Doll]

Usually we arrive on a Friday, stay Friday,Saturday, & Sunday night in another hotel where we have gotten a good rate(we like Coronado Springs). On Monday AM, we move to the DVC property, and check out on Friday.

I don't find moving to be a hassle...bell services takes care of it for you. I also like the idea of staying in 2 different resorts...kind of makes it seem like 2 different vacations.

We always finsh with the DVC property though, because to go to a regular hotel room from DVC is a letdown.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We live in New York so we always stay two weekends worth of nights. This Thanksgiving we are staying all of the time at DVC but many times we combine a trip to Universal for one of the weekends usually the first one (to take advantage of the front of line access), and then head to DVC for 7 more nights.

HBC

 

[Peggy Sue]

living up north, with limited vacation time, we like to maximize our trips and usually fly down on a friday and stay about 10 nights..usually includes 4 weekend nights.

We've added on so we do not have to avoid weekend nights. Initially, we paid cash for the weekend nights and linked the reservations.

We've tried staying off site the first night, checking in the next day, but it all just seems to drag out the process so much.

This December we got an excellent rate at the AKL to stay conceriege..we always wanted to try the sunrise safari...so we booked a friday and saturday night..then moving to vwl for the remainder of our trip..looking forward to AKL...but not he move!!

Peggy Sue

 

[jmatias]

Our January trip will be in a 2 bedroom at VWL from 1/22-29 via an II exchange. We needed a place for the night of 1/29 since we fly back on the 30th.

My first plan was to switch resorts since it will be 60 points for the 1 night since its a Saturday. The thought of using 60 points for 1 night bothered me

But...we decided to book the last night on points to avoid moving our family of 5....it was just the easier thing to do and we had exactly 60 points left from 2004.

 

[WDWLVR]

We looked at buying enough points so that we could included weekends. That's what I love about DVC - the flexability to book what you want when. Do we get as much mileage out of our points as some? No, probably not. We do get a lot of enjoyment out of our points and that is why we bought in!

 

[AnnaS]

We figure out how many nights we plan on staying (always 7 nights plus) and the xxx number of points and we are all set. We don't like switching either.

 

[pat-rick]

I had read and could understand why people wanted to move to save points. That was until our trip last October where we had to move 2 times because our waitlist did not come through for the size room we wanted for the entire stay.
Never again, I would not do that willingly again. Pack, store, check for room, check for room, check for room, get room, unpack. What a waste of vacation time.

We purchased what we thought we needed, did an add-on within 2-3 week. New contracts a year later when we decided to do a Big Family Thanksgiving trip yearly. Estimated how long we wanted to stay and purchased to meet that need, including weekends.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

Last summer we arrived on July 1st, stayed at the CBR (AP rates) for 3 nights(Thurs-Sat) and moved to the BWV on Sunday the 4th for 5 nights.

Next summer we'll be driving down on Saturday. The current plan is to stay at the POR for one night and move over to the BWV for 6 nights. Provided my waitlist comes thru for Sunday. If I don't get Sunday at the BWV, then we'll spend 2 nights at the POR. I usually pack a suitcase that has everyones clothes for a couple days, that way we don't have to totally unpack. The more organized I am, the easier the move.

We only have 200 pts so we like to make the most of them. Although, we are staying over a Friday next year because we wanted that extra day!

 

[eva]

We try to look at the total points for the stay, not points per night. We are going to be staying in a 1-bedroom at OKW this May and it is 196 points for the week. We will be staying Saturday to Saturday. I know that the 2 weekend days are nearly as much as the 5 weekdays, but we like to stay put for a trip that is only a week long. Years ago, when we only had 200 points, we did avoid weekends. That was one of the reasons that we added more points.

 

[vernon]

I've done pretty much all of the above

I've used points for a weekend ( but it hurts LOL)

I've paid cash for a weekend (didn't find this ANY problem at all)

I've checked out to go to another Disney hotel, which was easy enough

I've flown in late on a Saturday night and stayed at a hotel near the airport. If all you're going to do is crash for the night I can't justify paying that number of points, plus I have fallen foul of the checking in late, it's all we have left sir, once before and whenever possible I will always check in early afternoon to make sure I don't get left with a dodgy room (smelled like an ashtray )again

I've checked out and gone to Universal for a couple of days. FOTL access is well worth the time used in checking in and out JMHO.

I look at it that a weekend where I can avoid using points is a 5 day stay midweek at another time. I can understand that many people can't be bothered to check out of their room, it's a personal thing, but I've never found it that much of an inconvenience that I wouldn't want to save $500+ by doing it.

 

[MrsM]

We usually just suck it up! We have 4 children, so to stay in another resort we'd have to get 2 rooms anyway. I've considered paying the discounted DVC rate, but DH's argument is that since we've already paid so much for our points, we might as well use them instead of paying out more cash. (I asked about paying cash one Saturday night for our upcoming trip, and I think the discounted price for a 2 BR at VWL was $540.)

 

[SStJean]

We also don't like packing up and moving. We just pay the points and enjoy the vacation. We are staying 1 Friday and 2 Saturdays this December. We had to borrow from next year, but we were splurging on a 2 br anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal.

Steve

 

[db78]

We always stay Sunday through Saturday, less than a week is too little for us. But we pay one night cash on the weekend. So far, have always gotten the 25% cash discount for that night. It ends up being cheaper than points most times.

 

[dvcmomdeh]

Our vacation plans always include 2 weeks at a time. We do one week at WDW and then switch for one week at Vero. We use the Friday and Saturday night for total relaxation from doing the parks and tour the local area. For example this next summer we will stay in a Grand Villa at OKW and on Friday check out and head to Vero to stay at a hotel and do our annual shopping at the outlets. It will be more difficult this summer as there will be the 2 adults and who knows how many teenagers. Plans change and maybe the other kids won't be able to go. Then the following Sunday we check into Vero into a Beach Cottage.

It depends on how you look at it from the beginning. If you see it as an inconvenience it will be. If you see it as an opportunity to do something new it can be fun.

But hey, the most important aspect of the whole trip is that I am not at work, nor am I in Indiana.

In need of sunshine,
Have a good day.

 

[ErinC]

We usually arrive late on Friday or early Sat. We always stay offsite or at another WDW property and check into DVC on Sun. and then stay through the following Sun. So we end up paying for one of the weekends but not the other. I like to end our stay at the DVC resort. The 1st weekend that we arrive, we do offsite stuff that we like to do (shopping, Bass Pro, eat at Joe's crab shack) or shop at DD Disney. On Sunday, we go to church, grocery shop and check in our DVC unit. On Monday we start hitting the parks. Maybe someday we will be able to add on and we won't have to work it out this way, but with only 170 points, you have to make the best of it. I also enjoy checking out other WDW resorts, that I have never stayed at. In Feb. , we'll stay at AKL before checking in to SSR. I'm really excited about staying there and I got a great code rate for a standard room( $119) , so it's not cutting into my budget that much. I always pack a seperate suitcase for the one night so that moving isn't that much of an issue.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Originally posted by DebbieB
The past 2 years I have paid cash for a Friday and/or Saturday night at OKW in May. I got a member discount or AP rate of around $300 for a 1 bedroom. It would have cost 48 points (per night). So that comes down to about $6.25 per point, which I think breaks about even considering initial cost of additional points plus maintenance.

It's too much work for us to switch. I pay cash if the "point-conversion" rate is advantageous and the cost is not too high.

 

[d-r]

We have enough points to stay through weekends if we want to, but we don't always. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. I love the flexibility of dvc and the fact that you aren't locked in to a "week" but can book what you want. Sometimes it really doesn't make sense to use points - my example is always going to be the week after Easter, when a 2-bedroom at okw was 100 points, but we booked it for cash for >$360 including tax. I think it would have been a huge waste of points. I guess it is all relative. Also, sometimes it has been fun for us to get a stay in some where else for a few days. We've never had a trip where we only stayed somewhere for two days, but we've had trips where we stayed one place for three and another four four. But we used to do that before we ever had dvc points anyway. Of course other times we've stayed long weekends at dvc and used a lot of points - more points for a three night weekend stay than for a 5 night week day stay. The flexibility is great, espcially because we'll have the points a long time and our needs may change - they already have since we bought, and I know they will again. So it is wonderful that you don't always have to do the same thing every year. If you want to save some points, do the weekend at universal or animal kingdom lodge and enjoy it. Next year, do something different with the points you saved. It is all good. Enjoy your points and your vacation and do what you want.