Just returned 1st DVC trip...

[fatherAZ]

I've used this forum to help with ideas about buying into DVC and for trip planning and wanted to post my thoughts on our 1st trip to WDW on DVC points. We travel to Disney every other year and originally took the tour in 2003. Ended up waiting until 2005 to buy and bought resale at HH.

Booked for a Jan 21-28 trip in September with no problems getting a 2 BR BWV preferred garden view. Our first choice was a boardwalk view or std view which were not available. We took 8 people + an infant and it was a little crowded in a 2 BR. I tried to get a rollaway bed but they wouldn't give us one. The view was very nice. We were in rm 4004 and had a view of Swan and MGM...could see fantasmic at night.

We ended up renting a car for groceries and also used DME. I have to stay that we didn't need a car as we only used it for 2 trips to Goodings for groceries which was a 15 minute drive. We were surprised by the high prices at Goodings. We would've been better off just using the general store at the Boardwalk for all of our groceries.

We ended up buying an AP to be able to visit again in early Dec to see the lights. Pretty much spent all the time at the theme parks. A great DVC perk was being able to ride Everest and better yet, being able to bring 3 guests on the ride! Annual Pass holders could ride it but not bring guests on.

As always, we had a great time with our whole party and our 5 year old and 20 month old boys. The weather was very nice, got a little cool the last few nights but January is a great time to travel. Lines in general were very short and we tried to take advantage of the extra magic hours. Never waited more than 30 minutes for any ride. When it was longer we used fast pass.

Anyway, hope this helps out any Disney novices like ourselves plan their trips!

 

[T.E. Yeary]

Glad to hear your trip was a good one!

HAPPY "MAGICAL" VACATIONING,
Tom & Staff

 

[bobbiwoz]

Glad to hear that you had a great trip!

There is a Publix, not that far away, in the area across I - 4 , that has good prices. As you go back to WDW, you'll be compiling your own collection of tips.

People always talk about the great size of OKW units, and perhaps you'll try one of those on a future trip. We're trying out a 1 bedroom OKW in June with an eye toward a future, family vacation in more spacious surroundings.

Bobbi

 

[Daitcher]

8 people plus and infant????????? Is that over the limit for a 2 bedroom? For that number of people I feel you would have been much more comfortable in a GV. They will not give roll aways for DVC rooms. Rooms are designed to sleep what they sleep, not to cram extra people in to the room. This type of extra people bombing into a room puts extra wear and tear on the rooms. It also makes the resorts seem crowded. What if every DVC member crammed 9 people into a 2 bedroom????? There wouldn't be space at the pol or at other facilities. Glad you had a good trip but next time you might want to look at a GV or at the least OKW with the larger rooms. Am I off base here? I'd like to hear others takes on this type of room occupancy. We rent 2 bedrooms for 3 of us so I couldn't imagine 9 people. How many keys did you request??? Any comments at check in when all 9 names were entered into the system? What is next 6 in a studio?


DAVE

 

[jarestel]

8 people plus and infant????????? Is that over the limit for a 2 bedroom?

No... The key word is infant.

 

[jade1]

Glad to hear it went well.

 

[fatherAZ]

A 2 bedroom can house 8 adults (we had 7 adults and one 5 year old) + an infant. We checked everyone in and they all had key cards. I know there are other boards that discuss room occupancy and that was NOT the purpose of my current post. It was to give people advice that it was tight for us because DVC won't give a rollaway beds. I considered a GV at BWV but they weren't available for the time we were staying and we would've had to borrow all of our next year's points to rent one.

 

[fatherAZ]

How many keys did you request??? Any comments at check in when all 9 names were entered into the system? What is next 6 in a studio?


DAVE

Sorry, forgot to respond to the end of Dave's statement. We requested and received 8 keys. They did not give one to our infant. They did not make any comments when I made the reservation for 8 + infant or when we checked in. My understanding is that max in a studio is 4+ infant. People have different travelling habits. We spent all 7 days at a theme park and very little time in the room. Plus, getting fewer rooms was more cost effective considering we paid for airfare, park tickets, and all food for everyone in our party.

 

[brittsmum1998]

For fture trips you may want to keep in mind...as far as car rental, we rent atAlamo at the airport for one day and drop off at the Dolphin the following day. We then p-up car at the Dolphin the day b4 we leave and drop off at airport. Its so economical and we don't feel like we are wasting the rent a car. we go to Winn dixie

 

[DisneyDotty]

For fture trips you may want to keep in mind...as far as car rental, we rent atAlamo at the airport for one day and drop off at the Dolphin the following day. We then p-up car at the Dolphin the day b4 we leave and drop off at airport. Its so economical and we don't feel like we are wasting the rent a car. we go to Winn dixie

Oh, I like this idea! Thanks for the great tip!
(Dolphin has an Alamo desk?)

 

[shellbelle1971]

I wouldn't want to wade in to the great occupancy wars!

Having said that, we just got back from having 4 in a 1-bedroom (DH, DS(12) & DD(9 months) + me) at SSR. It felt very crowded to me, and we usually travel with all 6 of our kids. (No, not all in a 1BR! ) So I'm concerned about how we will be in a 2 bedroom there. I know a 2 BR at OKW fits our whole troop just fine.

I also worry that if DH & I went down with just some family or friends (no kids) and we all tried to fit into a 1 bedroom that would feel very crowded. Maybe we'll tell them "Yo ho, yo ho, buy your own points..."

But then again, unless we can get them to go try the magic themselves, how can we get them hooked??

Maybe we need to add on some more points so we can always have a GV all the time! That would be

Michelle

 

[mittelst]

Next time, if you have a car, you can travel another 5 minutes up Apopka-Vineland Rd. and get less expensive groceries at Winn-Dixie (apply for their discount card on their web site http://www.winndixie.com). There are also Publix, Super WalMarts, and Super Targets within decent driving distances from Disney property. Take a look at http://allearsnet.com/btp/grocery.htm for more info (although they don't list the Winn-Dixie on Apopka-Vineland).

 

[TCPluto]

Am I off base here? DAVE

Totally.

Eight plus an infant is exactly what DVC advertises for a 2 bedroom occupany limit. There is no room for criticism in this example.

 

[Jen D]

Sorry, forgot to respond to the end of Dave's statement. We requested and received 8 keys. They did not give one to our infant. They did not make any comments when I made the reservation for 8 + infant or when we checked in. My understanding is that max in a studio is 4+ infant. People have different travelling habits. We spent all 7 days at a theme park and very little time in the room. Plus, getting fewer rooms was more cost effective considering we paid for airfare, park tickets, and all food for everyone in our party.

No need to justify, you followed the occupancy limits to the letter and don't owe an explanation. Glad you had a magical trip.

 

[byoung]

Glad to hear you had a good trip.

 

[Daitcher]

Totally.

Eight plus an infant is exactly what DVC advertises for a 2 bedroom occupany limit. There is no room for criticism in this example.

Sorry, I guess I was off base here. I thought 8 plus and infant was over the limit. Glad the OP had a great trip.


DAVE

 

[bookswin]

When we go to WDW, we always stop at a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the way from the airport and load up with apples, cheese, cereal, bagels, OJ, soda, bottled water, suntan lotion, coffee, beer, wine, and everything else we want for the week. In the days before refrigerators were commonly in the non-DVC rooms, we once toyed with the idea of buying a $50 dorm refrigerator, to be donated to some charity upon leaving, but we never did.

Usually we buy a $10 Mr. Coffee (which we leave in the unit upon departure) so we don't have to stumble around brewing multiple tiny pots in the morning or make a several long treks to the food court for our morning elixir. DW and I are big coffee drinkers.

I am sure we save almost enough to pay for the rental car over buying at a resort or Goodings.

 

[Disney Doll]

I mean no offense to anyone or anyone's choice of resorts. I will preface my remarks by stating that I think all the DVC units are amply sized for vacation homes.

A studio and a 1BR each sleep 4+ an infant. A 2BR sleeps 8+ an infant. A GV sleeps 12+ 2 infants I assume, since every GV we have ever stayed in has had 2 pack & plays in it.

What impacts the sleeping situation is how the folks are related. It's one thing if it's a bunch of friends and everybody is just sleeping wherever and nobody cares. Hey, we all did that in college at least once, right? However, when you have multiple friends and family, even though a GV technically sleeps 12, 12 may not be the right number for your group's configuration. Personal example...we go every January with a group of 7...3 couples + a single. We get a GV because obviously, two of the couples who are not related are not going to want to share a room...there is the issue of privacy etc. SO DH & I get the master BR (we own the points ), one couple takes the queen bed bedroom, one couple takes the double bed bedroom. The single always gets the couch.

8 folks in a 2BR would be fine if the 8 are Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad and 5 GCs, one of whom is an infant. You assume Gram & Gramps in the master, Mom & Dad & 2 kids & infant in the 2nd BR, and 2 more kids on the pullout couch. So really, occupancy depends somewhat on group configuration, and evben though a certain unit technically sleeps 8, it may not sleep your particular group of 8 very well.

Also, unit size is a factor. While the BCV, BWV, VWL & SSR are very nice and certainly amply sized for vacation rentals, OKW has the biggest rooms square-foot-wise, and when you are putting in the max # of people, every extra inch of square footage helps. I would suggest that next trip, try an OKW stay, and see if the larger unit size doesn't quell that feeling of "tightness" in the room.

As far as grocery stores...Goodings is the worst choice as far as price is concerned. They are exorbitantly expensive and take full advantage of their locaiton just outside the WDW gates. I would not shop there. On SR192, there is a Publix which is nice. There is also a Winn Dixie which is just down the road form Goodings...literally probably 5 minutes. Go the gate that you would go to if you were going to Goodings, take a left out of the gate. Winn Dixie will be about 5 minute or so down the road, on the right. There are also a number of shoppig services whichwill take your list, shop for oyu and drop it off at the resort. They do charge a bit more for this service, but many folks have said that it's still cheaper than Goodings!!!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Usually we buy a $10 Mr. Coffee (which we leave in the unit upon departure) so we don't have to stumble around brewing multiple tiny pots in the morning or make a several long treks to the food court for our morning elixir. DW and I are big coffee drinkers.

Not sure why you would do this. In DVC resorts (at least at OKW) all the coffee makers are full sized 10-12 cup models.

 

[fletcher1964]

Always love to hear about happy trips. My thought is always commune living is fine if you're not in the room alot (I like to save the points). And those are the trips you remember later. My only other point is.....it's funny how OKW is not usually mentioned as a favorite resort. It is by far our favorite. But than when size is mentioned, OKW is always mentioned as the premium. In the end we're just saying, if you're looking for the memorable vacation with the large party, it's gotta be OKW.