How many DVC members use points at Dis hotels?

[ZIPBAGS]

My family and I just got back from a trip to WDW. We are looking into buying into DVC. But, we had a great time at the Poly. I know you can use points to stay at Disney hotels. Just wondering how much DVC members do this?

Thanks!

 

[dianeschlicht]

After staying in 1,2 and 3 bedroom villas, a hotel room seems like such a step down to most of us. Besides that, staying at WDW resorts that are NOT DVC cost a lot of points in comparriison to DVC resorts. The reason is that they are an out of system exchange, so must be negotiated with CRO.

 

[JimFitz]

It's not really worth it to stay on Points at the regular hotels.

 

[TDC Nala]

Unless I had a lot of points I had to burn, I would not use them to stay in non-DVC resorts. The point levels for these are really disproportionately high.

I did use some to stay at the Grand Californian at Disneyland, though.

 

[Laurajean1014]

We don't normally - Have only done it twice in over 30 trips. However, we are using our points for a December trip to AKL Concierge's.

 

[JimC]

We look at what our points cost and multiply that by the number of points required for the resort. If that is less than the best cash rate we can get then we use points. Remember to add resort tax to the cash price when making the comparison.

Some say the points are worth what you can rent them for. That is approximately twice what your cost is likely to be. This is fine if you want to take the time to rent them and pay the tax on the profit.

There are good reasons either way. We see it as more of a personal preference. The net after tax savings for us to rent is just not attractive enough to go to the effort.

We have used points at AKL concierge and in two weeks at GC concierge at DL. For AKL our cost yielded about a 40% discount using our points and I believe the best AP code then 35%. The discount using points for our upcoming GC stay is 20% and the best internet discount when I booked was also 20% but not on concierge level rooms. So I got the 20% on the room category I wanted.

 

[rsschneck]

I think you need to compare your situation at the time. We are using our DVC points to stay at the DL hotel in California November and probably again in May. The points are a good deal right now because of the 50th.

Example: The weekend we are going would use 23 points for a DVC Studio in WDW which is the same for the DL Hotel in California. When I went to price out the room it came to $297 per night. That comes to almost $13 per point used. I feel that is a good use of points.

We have used points for a 3 night cruise and will try to use some for the 4 night member cruise in 2006. I think you need to decide what is a good use of points for your family and use them how you like.

 

[mark&sue]

We are using our points to stay in Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris. We also have an exchange planned in UK next year.



Susan

 

[Alice Sr.]

I'm on the wait list for 1 of the 4 nights of our Nov trip. I reserved the one night rack rate at POFQ for $166 it would cost me 15 points. I think the going rental rate is $10 per point, so in this case points wouldn't be a bad deal.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

We've used points all over the place! We've stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, The Dorchester (London, UK), and AKL a few times.

There are some strange overlap seasons where you may find it more economical to use points at a WDW hotel rather than vacation club. For example, the last week of August and (sometimes) into Labor Day weekend, you run into a situation where it's "high season" for DVC resorts on points but "low season" for a deluxe on points.

If you like Poly, though, using points there will break your bank. Try renting a DVC, see if you like it, then buy if you're so moved!

 

[Califgirl]

We use our points to stay at Hotels, including the Grand Californian at the Disneyland Resort. We've stayed at the Biltmore in Arizona and a couple of other hotel properties. I don't mind using our points this way. In general though, when we go to WDW we stay at Old Key West. We love it there and no hotel compares to that one bedroom with the jacuzzi tub!

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Just wondering how much DVC members do this?

The Fedora family does, we just don't go through DVC to do it. It is much cheaper rent out points and use the cash proceeds to pay for other Disney options. Also, for direct exchanges the risk of losing points all together is much greater because of all the limitations on points that have been converted to reservation status.

We bought our points to vacation, so maximizing their value means higher quality and more frequent trips.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

When we first joined DVC we booked our first trip on short notice and there was no availability at any of the resorts for our entire week stay so we used our points for 4 of the nights at the GF. We figured we could never have afforded to stay there before and we had enough points to do it so we did. We were actually dissappointed to be there after spending our first few nights being blown away by a 1 bedbroom at the VWL our home resort. I don't think we'd use our points like that again. If we stay at any of the resorts we'll probably pay cash.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Luigi's girl, we paid cash for an AKL room one night a few years ago, and felt pretty much like you did at GF. We thought the room was nice, and the Savanna view was awsome, but we were so glad to be going to our 2 bedroom OKW room after that one night. There is just nothing that compares for us.

 

[DVCLiz]

Zipbags, I had some of the same concerns you do. I also didn't really have enough points to use them for a whole vacation at my favorite non-DVC resort. I solved the problem by making a cash reservation at AKL for the first weekend of our trip, and then using our DVC points for the rest of our stay. That way we get the best of both worlds - a stay at a favorite resort and a stay at a DVC resort.

 

[JandD Mom]

My family and I just got back from a trip to WDW. We are looking into buying into DVC. But, we had a great time at the Poly. I know you can use points to stay at Disney hotels. Just wondering how much DVC members do this?

Thanks!

Zipbags,

We are in the same boat as you. We love the Poly, but just purchased DVC Boardwalk. We got around our fix by spending a lot of time at the Poly during our trip at the end of August. We drove over and hung out around the pool a little, shopped there and ate there on several occasions during our recent trip. The kids enjoyed it and so did we.

Don't forget, as a DVC member one of your benefits is the ability to pool hop to other resorts except on certain holidays, and except for AKL and Stormalong Bay.

I do agree with the advice here though. Rent DVC first, at a place you think you would like to stay, and see if you like it. After renting 2 times DH and I figured we would be better off buying. I have given several friends and family members the same advice.

 

[CharlesTD]

After our Dec 06 trip we will have the next 3 susiquent trips staying at the Cabins at FW then the Poly and then AKL.

 

[paults]

we haven't yet but you never know

 

[DVC-Don]

We only used points once for a Disney resort. The Grand Californian at DL.

 

[j6010]

The only way this works if you are using this for hotels is if you itemize deductions, and want to take the mortgage interest and real estate taxes off of state and federal taxes. AND you plan to visit WDW the next 7 to 10 years. AND you plan to stay on property and stay 7 or more days.

If you do not meet this criteria, IMHO, DVC is just not worth it to use for hotels -- as you can get a discounted rate, and the points are keyed to the rack rate.

Vr
j6010