Longer stays, what do you do about Fri/Sat nights to conserve points??

[goofy4tink]

I'm trying to amuse myself while I wait for my paperwork to go through. Seems to be a little glitch but, I'm keeping a stiff upper lip so to speak. Hopefully dh can work it out today. Of course the problem is on his side, not mine. Anyway....we were thinking of going for almost two weeks and staying in a studio. Maybe first Sunday-Friday at WL and then the second Sun-Fri at BWV (our home resort....hopefully). My question is...do any of you stay at a 'regular' resort in order to conserve points? We thought maybe an AllStars for the middle week-end. Any thoughts?? Thanks. And a little pixie-dust on dh's 'issue' wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Sam60]

My family hasn't stayed at a DVC resort on a Friday or Saturday yet- inefficient use of points IMHO. Instead, we check Mousesavers.com for any special discounts at Disney resorts. If nothing there strikes our fancy, we try Priceline. Personally, I would prefer to stay off property rather than stay at the All-Star.

 

[Richyams]

We bought enough points for our vacation. I couldn't be bothered to move for the weekend to save a few points.

If you look at the cost of your entire vacation, you are doing quite well. I think it is Penny wise..... to go through the hassle of moving to save a couple points.

I also think you are doing yourself and the rest of us a diservice by avoiding weekends like the plague. Each time you do that, it gets closer and closer to the re-distributing the points so that you no longer have the points for the vacation you planned.

 

[zurgswife]

My Family is going from Dec 21 to Jan 3....Dec 21 to Dec 26 is a 2 bdrm at BWV...Dec 26 to Dec 29 in a 2 bdrm Exec suite at the Dolphin...Dec 29 to Jan 3 2 bdrm at BWV....we decided to do this because Fri and Sat combined was an additiona 206 points for the weekend between Christmas and New years for the other 10 nights combined I was only using 367. I have Starwood Points so I didn't pay any cash for the nights at the Dolphin either...

 

[dianeschlicht]

Sounds to me like you need an add-on. When we first purchased, we got 230 points and quickly found we needed more because we did NOT want to stay in studios and did NOT want to change rooms or still be spending money on other resorts. WE added on another 150 points at our same home resort so we could have those nice longer vacations. If you think about DVC as more of a timeshare, you expect it to include weekends.

Often we will arrive on a Sunday and depart after 10-12 days. This gives us nearly two weeks but with only one weekend.

 

[timC]

If we're going for less than seven days, for sure the weekend days will be cut first.

However, I find that switching resorts in the middle of a trip causes too much disruption and in your case, you'll have 2 moving days. IE. We don't feel we get our money's worth at WDW, when the day is blown checking out, checking in, up-packing, repacking, worrying about room selection, hoping the luggage isn't lost, etc, etc, etc.

If you divide your total $$$ spent on vacation, by the amount of actual time enjoying your vacation, these "non-DVC" days become very expensive.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Well we have only been home once for a quickie and it was midweek (much to DH chagrin). Our trip in 2 weeks we are staying in a 1 bedroom for Sun-thurs and on Friday we are switching down to a studio for 3 nights.

In January we are staying at OKW in a studio over the weekend and then switching to a 1 bedroom at BWV.

Our next trip after that will be in Sept 04 and we only have enough points for 4 night in a 1 bedroom, so we will stay at either the Poly or AKL for 3 or 4 nights before (over the weekend).

Yes, I would love more points but DH says no right now. So to work with what I have this is what we do to maximize our trips

 

[goofy4tink]

All excellent points!! I think that we will just stay put, but use a studio. At this point, dh says, 'hey what's the problem with a studio?' I think that once he sees a one bedroom, he'll understand. If we stay in the studio, we can stay put over the week-end; where if we use a one bedroom, we can't. Looks like maybe an add-on is in the future. Now, we just have to get the original to go through.

 

[Macnjac87]

Hi-
We have an Easter trip planned to HH for next April 2004. We need to stay in a 2 BR because there are 5 of us, but that requires a lot of points, and I want to go for a week. so I booked every night on points except Saturday, which required an add'l 84 points (OUCH!!) and I used the member discount for a cash reservation for the saturday night- it was only $308 for the 2BR for Saturday night which I felt was more than fair for the size and luxury of the accomodations. They linked my reservations together and guaranteed that we won't have to move during our stay. So I used a total of 196 points and will spend $308 for the room. A good deal, imho.
Call MS and check the cash rate with member discount for your weekend nights, you might be surprised! You may be able to get that one bedroom and oh what a difference!!!!
Good luck!

 

[Granny]

We also prefer not to move once we've settled in, but if it means the difference between a studio and a 1BR, I'd have to think twice about it.

Some people have indicated that they move over to a Universal hotel during the weekend and "do Universal" and other non-WDW parks (Sea World, etc) during the weekends. If you got a good rate, this would be a good plan, I'd think.

Good luck with your "DH Glitch". We hope to be welcoming you home soon!

 

[CaptainMidnight]

We've found that a way to conserve weekend points at the beginning or end of a trip is to take advantage of the DIS specials and stay at the Dolphin for $129 per night, then move to BWV or BCV. First class hotel, still in Crescent Lake area, and it's nice to know what resources are close to the two DVC resorts. There's a 24 hour a day eatery/convenience store in the Dolphin, which isn't a far walk when yoiu need something.

 

[Uno]

I don't mean to offend the Disneyholics but for us a trip to the "World" also includes a trip to the "Universe", so if I were in you shoes I'd book Fri & Sat nights at one of the Uni hotels and take advantage of the front of line priviledge afforded guests at their two parks. Boy do I wish WDW would offer FOL to their guests and DVC members.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Stay in the same room and pay for the weekend nights. As you get closer to your vacation date, DVC discounts may become available. The points double on weekends but the cash price is the same.

If you add on for weekend nights it will take 15 years or more to recoup that investment (comparing weekend cost of points vs cost of cash for room).

 

[geffric]

We go for 2 weeks every summer and move out for the weekend..If I have to move to a studio for the 2 days , might as well move somewhere else.. We have done off property by SeaWorld or Tampa for Busch Gardens, or stayed at Port Orleans. Many times I just wait until we can get a deal at one of the hotels in the area. Last summer we stayed at the Embassy Suites.. it is fun to expore different resorts.

 

[wdwstar]

just remember when you call ms for those cash discount ressies, there is not always a discount, depends if it is available,
i called for vero beach for a weekend after easter and there was no discount available. but it doesnt hurt to call and ask

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We haven't moved yet and don't plan on it.

 

[lsutiggeratwk]

I'm the boat with the other "dont want to move folks". We did it last trip and I just didn't enjoy it. Was missing my VWL before we were out the gate. We have enough pts for a week but because we've stayed in a combo of studios/1 bdrms we've had extra pts that "we had to use" so more trips !!!



Enoy your stay

 

[OneMoreTry]

Originally posted by wdwstar
just remember when you call ms for those cash discount ressies, there is not always a discount, depends if it is available,
i called for vero beach for a weekend after easter and there was no discount available. but it doesnt hurt to call and ask

In my experience the discounts don't appear until about a month or two before the reservation date. If you decide to go this route, keep checking for the discount. MS is always glad to change the reservation to accomodate the discount. They will also "link" the reservations so you don't have to change rooms.

 

[DeeP]

It never ceases to amaze me how there are those on this board who feel as though it is their business to tell others how they should be using their DVC pts or feel as though it is their right to tell others that they need to buy more pts!
Everyone's DVC membership is their own personal business and as long as members are not using their pts in a way that is against DVC regulations and rules it is really no one else's business what anyone does with their pts.
It is a shame that some people can not seem to mind their own business and keep their unasked for and unwanted opinions and half baked ideas to themselves.

 

[Maria395712]

We move on Fri and sat and stay at the hard rock on ent discount $125 per night, fol access , that's the only way we'll do it because we love universal, hard rock and fol
maria

ps. and of course DISNEY & DVC