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

[yesdisneyfool]

Originally posted by WDWorld2003
Just curious - does anyone ever start out in a studio if you arrive on a weekend and then move up to a 1 or 2 bedroom? It seems this would be easier as you wouldn't be changing resorts, you would save points, and the front desk could store your luggage. We are considering this for next spring as our first night we will be arriving late and could save over 40 points by doing this.

We did this one of our first trips. We packed an overnight bag so we wouldn't have to repack. If possible do this at the beginning of your trip, it's nicer to move up then down.

 

[DeDixie]

WDWorldd2003, we are doing just that. We are planning on staying in a studio at Saratoga for the first two nights (Sat and SUn) then moving to a 1BR at the BW for 6 nights. This will be less points and cheaper than staying 7N in a 1BR at BW and one night (Sat) at PO, which we were orginally going to do. This way we can try both staying in a Stuido and SS at the same time. We are currenty so in love with BW and BC that we don't think we will want to spend a whole trip at SS, but 2 nights will be perfect.

One reason we don't want to spend 8 N at BW, starting with a Sat night's points is because we get in late on Sat night (between 7-9 pm) and I can't see spending premium points for one night.

We also enjoy staying at the different resorts, and by staying at another hotel for cash for the night is fun.

That being said we Hate changing resorts and I doubt I would do it in the middle of a trip.

 

[arminnie]

I just bought SSR so I obviously haven't stayed yet. I'm not sure what I will do about weekends. Since I am retired now and living much closer than when I was in San Francisco I will probably take some shorter trips. If I go for less than a week, it would only make sense to lop off weekend days.

Lots of people have mentioned going to Universal. That's not a biggie for me, BUT what I do love to do is shop. Now that I am living in a smaller metropolitan area there are a lot of stores that I don't get to visit locally anymore.

I love the outlet malls also. One of the reasons that I liked WDW so much better than DL was the shopping (only one of the reasons - there are too many to list).

I also tend to avoid the parks on weekends because of the crowds so I might decide at some point to stay at a hotel close to the shopping for a night or two. There's one hotel connected to Florida Mall. I used to love to stay at the Westin Galleria in Houston and just walk out to the shops. That was the next best thing to WDW (althought not really a very close second.)

 

[Richyams]

Well I think you are all losers. People that are too cheap to spend weekend points should be lined up and shot!!!

Everyone should be required to have 400 points minimum, those that don't should be shot!!!

Deep!!!

 

[crisi]

We haven't (we are taking our first trip home in a week), but we intend - eventually - to fly in on Saturday and stay the first Saturday at another resort. In addition to spending a few days at the Universal resorts my kids (and I) want to stay at AKL, I really would enjoy a stay at the GF, my hubby wants to try the Contemporary. We really joined DVC before we had a chance to stay in all the resorts we wanted to try. We are also thinking about doing it on occation at Y&BC for SAB access - we could try to switch in at seven months, but it may be easier to use the pool on our fly in day, and then switch back to BWV.

I think, that if we are only doing one or two nights at the beginning of the trip, we wouldn't bother to unpack, so moving really won't be a nightmare. And if we start in a regular hotel room before moving to a one or two bedroom - it won't seem cramped. But I wouldn't bother to move mid trip and move again. And I know moving from a multiroom unit to a standard hotel room won't work for us. I think I'd be more likely to take a long trip and borrow points - and "make it up" with my next trip being a cash resort trip if I needed to.

But its really up to you and what will work for you. We wouldn't do an All Stars night - we'd be doing this in part to save points - but more importantly to take advantage of the other resorts. Some people find it inconvient to move. Some people find it inconvienent to stay in a normal hotel room. And some people find it easy to afford to add on. Adding on isn't a priority for us, moving doesn't seem like that much of a big deal, and we travel all the time in normal hotel rooms, but then again, spending the money for a room at the GF isn't a big deal either for us.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Well, for now, our trips will be weekend trips. I teach p/t on Tuesdays and Thursdays and DH usually will take a day off for a long weekend, we're making his day off a Monday to take advantage of the less expensive Sunday night stay. I was thrilled to book into a Sat/Sun night stay at VBC at the 7 month window. We like to go for the Flower Show, and this is the first time we'll be at an Epcot resort while it's on.

DD-in-law works weekends as a nurse, and so the lower points for weekdays really will work in our favor when our extended family is ready to begin trips to WDW-our first is planned for Dec. '04.

 

[Richyams]

Over the last year, we have stayed concierge at the Poly and then two months later, at AKL.

Both were really fantastic. The ability, that I have only used a few time, to stay at other hotels is really fantastic....but my stays were kind of antithetical to this thread. We spent a long weekend for both those concierge stays(sorry Dean), really about the least economical point move that there is.

That is the beauty of it, its not money, its only points!!!!!

 

[DeDixie]

Rich, LOL!

I will get in line....

 

[MdmMim]

I check into my room and stay put, weekends included. I paid for the points, and I really don't want to pay for a hotel room, so I use my points.

I'll admit to being a studio-dweller--and proud of it! (Some of my vacation time is solo.) This enables me to conserve points for an extended stay (34 nights coming up in Jan/Feb). I choose a longer stay in a smaller room over a shorter stay in a large room.

For me, moving to save on points is not something I would consider. For others, it seems to work.

 

[Disney Doll]

I have never moved in the middle of as stay,thus essentially necessitating two moves, but if you plan it properly, it shouldn't be a huge issue.

If you know you are staying at a DVC property for 1 week, then a regular hotel room for 2 days, and then back to the DVC property, then packing shouldn't be a huge issue, as you probably don't pack as many clothes anyhow, having access to the washer/dryer in the 1BR unit.

What we have done is stayed at a regular hotel Friday,Saturday,Sunday night, and then moved to the DVC property, thus necessitating only one move. There's part of me that likes staying in a couple of different places on vacation, and I have never encountered a terribly long or demanding check-in process, certainly not one that would "waste" a whole day!!!!

When DH and I had only 200 points, we skipped the weekend point usage a lot, and then did the Sunday-Friday at the DVC. Now that we have a 2nd contract for 230 points(total 430), we do stay the weekends too, so as to not have to move. But I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, if the need arose.

Pay no attention to Richy. He gets a little cranky sometimes!!!!

 

[HookdonWDW]

Richyams...

You know that if the rest of us had been "wise enough" to buy at OKW, we probably wouldn't contemplate moving for weekends.

But since we own at the smaller resorts , we have to check out for the weekend so we can stretch our legs...

 

[DeeP]

As with all things DVC, different things appeal to different people. What one person likes or considers worth doing is very often the exact opposite for someone else. There is no right or wrong way or disservice etc., it is merely personal likes and preferences and how each member decides to use their membership to it's maximum value for them.
I do all types of trips and also very frequent trips to WDW and DVC resorts from stays that are exclusively at DVC resorts to trips that are broken up between DVC resorts and non DVC resorts. It all depends on the scope of the trip and the length of the trip. I also switch the size of the villa based on my traveling party group. There is no constant in my trips it all depends on many factors. I have spent 27 days at WDW and stayed in 5 different resorts (2 DVC, 2 deluxe, 1 moderate) just in the past 4 months, so I think I have had a fair amount of experience with a variety of WDW resorts and with combining them during trips.
Avoiding weekend pts saves a considerable amount of points NOT just a few pts and for many people planning a trip with this consideration in mind is worth it to them. For others it is not, that is one of the advantages to DVC.
During trips that I do choose to switch between a DVC and non DVC resort I always do it either at the beginning or end of the trip, never in the middle of the trip. We love it and really enjoy staying at the other WDW resorts for a couple days. To us it is not a hassle at all and we enjoy it. There are some wonderful WDW resorts that are unique experiences all themselves and it is fun to stay there, eat at the restaurants, enjoy their pools, resort recreation offerings etc. But that is just us, YMMV.

 

[geffric]

We have owned at OKW for 10 years and we move on the weekends. As Disney Doll mentioned, the moving and packing is no big deal. Because we have a washer and dryer, i don't pack 2 weeks of clothes but more like 5 days. We have an overnight bag and pack the clothes for the 2 days in that for all of us and then just move on... IMHO it is very easy and fun to go to differnent resorts etc...Although we drive to WDW and have a car which makes the transitions easy..
This summer we are doing Sunday - Friday at BCV, then Friday and Saturday at AKL, then Sunday - Friday at OKW..

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by DeeP
During trips that I do choose to switch between a DVC and non DVC resort I always do it either at the beginning or end of the trip, never in the middle of the trip.

Good point DeeP,

We always tack the switch to the beginning or end of our trip too (not both). On our upcoming trip, we're spending one weekend at PBH, and then we'll use our points for a full week. We'll end up saving 94 points, and we'll get to have two unique experiences.

 

[DeeP]

This summer we are doing Sunday - Friday at BCV, then Friday and Saturday at AKL, then Sunday - Friday at OKW..

AKL is definitely a resort that is worth it to switch for a few days. IMHO this is WDW's most unique resort and it is a very different vacation experience to stay there. Make sure you take the time to really explore and experience all the things this resort has to offer their guests. Have fun!

 

[Cruelladeville]

Well, I guess you can shoot me, too, but I never use points on the weekends, and I have 700 pts!!! Why should I use 120 pts for two nights on the weekend when I can use the same amount of pts and get 4 during the week?? My parents didn't raise a totally stupid child, after all! For the weekends, I pay cash, and usually get the AP discount. Last summer I used pts for my two week vacation with cash for the weekends, when I really wanted another cleaning, anyway, so I was happy. It cost me $230 per night for each night(before taxes) So I rented the 120 pts to pay for the nights, got $1200, and had enough left over to buy another year of annuals

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by Richyams
Everyone should be required to have 400 points minimum, those that don't should be shot!!!

Deep!!!

 

[jade1]

IF YOU CHECK IN ON A SUNDAY-OR CHECK OUT ON A FRIDAY-YOU ARE AVOIDING A WEEKEND, or even 2! We all new what we were signing when we bought, blah blah blah, and yes that included just staying during the week if you desire. Seems like this person asked "Longer stays, what do you do about Fri/Sat nights to conserve points??" Universal, WDW hotels, Clearwater=good examples, I'm better than you, you are cheap, thats not a vacation to me=bad examples.

 

[geffric]

but consider it conservative or fiscally responsible...

 

[ScottOKW2K]

My wife and I are also in the camp of "save the weekend points" , aka: the DVC version of "save the whales" . Without as many points as Rich "Kill them All !" yams, and no purchases in the near future we have to be as economical with our points as possible. I would love to be able to make reservations without having to consider the points involved, but like many others we want to enjoy one or two dvc trips a year and to fulfill that wish means the those high-point weekends are the first casualty.

However , I look at the weekend stay at another resort as a blessing in disguise. Before dvc, I would describe us as "moderate" people, as far as our resort stays went. Now , because the majority of the days of our stays are "points" days, we have somewhat more available cash and higher expectations for our non-points days. We now look forward to staying in deluxe resorts for the weekend stay. In addition, we define a weekend stay as three days, not two. This gives us two full days to enjoy the resort we are at. It changes our mindset from "weekend stay" to "vacation within a vacation." For this time I could see us at AKL - this is the one resort besides OKW that we feel drawn to. We will actually be cancelling an upcoming OKW reservation to stay at AKL soon. We just couldn't pass up that fantastic AP rate.

BTW, as far as shooting the less than 400 point people, be careful. The Marines trained me on how to shoot. Better make your first shot count - you won't get a second

!