How long is your typical DVC stay!!

[BEASLYBOO]

The Free Dining thread brought up the issue of the Disney UK discount offers which I believe are largely based on the fact that their length of stay are between 2 to 3 weeks. So, I thought it would be interesting to see what is the typical length of stay for the American DVC family. It's a well know fact that Europeans have much more vacation time than Americans, who average at about 2 - 3 weeks!

Maybe we'll do a poll to see a typical stay fro people who come from abroad!

 

[CMOORE185]

Before the point chart reallocation we would stay M-TH, so 5 nights. Since it is now less points on weekends we stay 6 or 7 nights. With cost of airfare continuing to increase we are really considering less trips for more days in the future.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I average several 3-5 days stays, I seldom do week-ends. As a Floridian my travel expenses are minimal compared to some! This is also my 1st poll and I didn't do a great job editing what I typed! Sorry!

 

[mybabesuz]

I think location will have everything to do with it.
The farther away...the longer the trip...

We would love to be able to take 3-4 night trips four or five times a year.
If we lived closer we would probably always take shorter trips.
But with airfare to consider it makes the longer trips more economical.

 

[wildernessDad]

It has been 7 or 8 nights per stay recently, but we're going to stays where we stay 11 or 12 nights with a split stay.

 

[Dizny Dad]

We like 10 to 12 days a couple of times a year. DW would have it longer if she could, but there is only so much time one can be excused from work and still get it all done!

If only, if only . . . . .

 

[vicki_c]

Well, we don't have an typical stay (have ranged from 3 days to 13 days over 5 trips since we bought DVC), but mathematically our average is about 6 days.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Our 2010 schedule..

May:
7 nights at VWL followed by 6 nights at VGC

October:
4 nights at VB followed by 10 nights at AKV

December:
4 nights at VWL

A "typical" vacation would be 14-15 nights.

MG

 

[srberubenh]

For 12 nights!!

 

[Hunclemarco]

I think location will have everything to do with it.
The farther away...the longer the trip...

We would love to be able to take 3-4 night trips four or five times a year.
If we lived closer we would probably always take shorter trips.
But with airfare to consider it makes the longer trips more economical.

We live in upstate NY. We try to maximize the length of our vacation due to the airfare. Our stays are between 10-16 days long, 2 to 3 times per year.

 

[Dee77]

8 nights is our average because of the cost of airfare, less vacation time off etc not because we want the full mousekeeping to justify the cost of dues

 

[BoVance]

We go very other year and make 3 trips. 13-15 nights in the summer, 7 nights over Thanksgiving, and 7 nights over Easter. We bank our point and use them all during one year. We buy an annual pass and usually get the food plan only for 1 week in summer

 

[Checkers]

We usually go for 7-8 days a couple times a year (preferably spring and fall) but with airfare continuing to rise, we may just go for longer stays once a year.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

We usually go two times a year anywhere from 7 to 10 days.

Christmas 2010 - 6 nights

May 2011 - 9 nights

Sept 2011 - 9 nights

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our usual for several years was 10 days or more, but this year and next year we are limiting ourselves to two week long trips. No real reason other than that we can't get as much time off as we'd like. That, and the fact that travel has become quite expensive, as well as kennel sitters for our kennel. Gone are the days of $100 a day kennel sitters. It's getting so I can't afford to be gone more than a week at a time.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We are taking our first ever DVC vacation in May and as it stands right now we will be there for 8 days. We are traveling with another family, and if they don't back out (which it sounds like they will) then if there is availability, we will move our dates around and go for a longer stay, around 10-12 days.

 

[El&Asmom]

With the kids we like to go for at least 6-8 nights. Paying for airfare, and the hassle of travel with small kids makes a trip any shorter not worthwhile.
If dh and I are going alone, we would go for 3-5 nights.
We are point challenged with only 210 points, so even though we would like to go for more than 8 nights would eat up to many years points.

 

[dbs1228]

Been going for 10 - 12 nights Presidents week this year DD does not have the week off so we are pulling her from school for a few days and doing 6 nights DH and I are making up for it since we have the points (and airfare was 159.00pp from Ct non stop) and are going in December for his b.day for 5 nites! 2012 school vacation is back in place and I am already planning on BLT for 5 nights and THV for 5 at 11 month window.

 

[Candy Orlando]

We come home to DVC for a week, three times a year.

 

[kristenrice]

5 nights when we travel over spring break.

We leave Michigan on Friday afternoon (driving) and pull into Orlando on Sunday afternoon. Then, we leave bright and early Friday morning and drive back, arriving late on Saturday night. That gives the kids a day to recover before returning to school. The old points chart was great for us. We didn't plan our length of stay based on using only weeknights, it just worked out that way. Needless to say, our little 100-point contract now looks even smaller after the two point reallocations.

But, when we travel in the summer (when airfare is cheaper) we fly down. We still only do 5 nights (due to our miniature contract) but the points reallocation actually helps us for these trips. Now that there is only a few points separating weeknights from weekends, we can usually adjust our dates to get us the best airfare prices and still have enough points if it includes a weekend.

Now, if I could just convince DH to let me get my add-on, I could have a "grown up" membership.