More days or better accommodations?

[photobob]

This is a general topic I have struggled with all along, before and post DVC. When we first started going to WDW, more days won out. In pre-DVC days it was All Stars for more nights or a moderate or deluxe for fewer nights. Now that we own DVC it soon will be studio for more nights or 1 bdr for fewer.

What wins out with you? Better accommodations or longer stay?

 

[ransom]

It's sort of a non-issue for us. It's just the two of us, so anything beyond a studio would be a waste. And we go for 2 weeks, so there's not much longer we could stay and remain employed.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

AT this point in our lives better accomadations win out. I have 4 weeks vacation but DH only has 3 weeks and the kids are still in school so we usually go to Florida for 2 weeks a year during Feb break. We usually just spend the summers at home and go on long weekends or just enjoy our pool.

I would love to start going to Florida around Christmas too. My mother has a house in the Ft Lauderdale area (4 hours away) so we ususally spend 1 week at Disney, a few nights at VB and the rest at her house. Works out good. Some years we get to get in 2 trips. However, we recently took the kids on their 1st cruise and they loved it. So we now have too many options (since we just bought more points at the BLT) But its a great problem to have.

 

[lumpydj]

I would choose better accomodations. IMO, if I were to stay longer, that would mean more days at the resort. I don't like staying at a value resort any more than I need to. It's too loud and crazy for me. Going to the parks all those days would stress me out too. I need a day or two to decompress.

Can I pick both - better accomodations AND a longer trip? jk

 

[DVCGeek]

Depends on what more vs. fewer nights means for you. I generally like 6 night stays, and probably will stick to studios most of the time. So for me it would be more trips of the same length by being more conservative with my points per night. BUT, I've never tried a 1-bedroom, and if I have points burning a hole in my membership I certainly wouldn't object to checking one out. As a rule I try to take M-F off consecutively for any given vacation so I get 9 days away from the office but only use 5 vacation days. It's nice to fly out on sat., fly home on a friday, get our dog from being boarded and start catching up on wash, etc. on Saturday and then try and relax on Sunday to brace myself for going back to work. There are many exceptions but that is my 'classic' formula...

 

[jekjones1558]

It's sort of a non-issue for us. It's just the two of us, so anything beyond a studio would be a waste. And we go for 2 weeks, so there's not much longer we could stay and remain employed.

It is just the two of us and we are retired (so vacation time is not an issue), but we would never consider a studio unless we booked last minute and could get nothing else. Now that we know we will be going back to WDW frequently, our vacation style has changed. We like to spend more "down" time and a 1 bedroom is just great for that--bigger balconies to enjoy, a separate bedroom if only one of us wants a nap or a later wake-up in the morning. It is the non-studio rooms that really make DVC a different experience and worth the investment. Of course this is just OUR opinion and the wonderful part of DVC is that there are options for every vacation style.

 

[crisi]

We tend to do a week every other year. In the past when we've done DIS board surveys around here, I'm really on the low end of days per year for DISBoard DVCers. But our days that we spend at Disney are pretty quality days - in terms of both accomodations and food. We come down on the quality over quantity side.

Also, even with our limited schedule, the week we spend at Disney is enough. By the time we leave, we've usually done everything (or nearly everything) we even slightly wanted to - and had time left over.

 

[DVCGeek]

a separate bedroom if only one of us wants a nap or a later wake-up in the morning.

I hadn't really thought much about that... Helps make a 1-bed make more sense to me for just 2 people. The king bed and whirlpool tub wouldn't be a bad thing either of course, but neither was enough to justify the points to me. Not sure I could still convenience myself yet (my last several Disney trips were either in Values or one was even (gasp) off-property) about the higher 'cost', but it is a VERY good point! Glad there are lots of choices for different people to use as they see fit, "subject to availability".

 

[Granny]

This is a general topic I have struggled with all along, before and post DVC. When we first started going to WDW, more days won out. In pre-DVC days it was All Stars for more nights or a moderate or deluxe for fewer nights. Now that we own DVC it soon will be studio for more nights or 1 bdr for fewer.

What wins out with you? Better accommodations or longer stay?

Well, you might as well throw resort choice into the mix too since that impacts the length of stay. For some resorts, you could stay in a 1BR for not many more points than a studio at another resort. So then it's between resort choice, accommodation size and length of stay.

For us the order of importance is generally

1. Resort choice
2. Accommodation size
3. Length of stay

Though we have "sampled" many of the DVC resorts and intend to continue to do that.

We get a 2BR for the four of us, and a 1BR when it's just DW and me. So I guess for us accommodation size clearly trumps length of stay.

But I could see where a different priority list for others would make complete sense.

 

[Muhlenberg]

So far, we've gone with better accomodations. We've never stayed more than a week, even though we're both home. I'm a morning person, DH is a night person....I get up VERY early and so the separate living area is perfect for us, plus the kitchen and W/D. HOWEVER, I'm hopefully going to take my parents and stay in a studio at BLT...couldn't bear the thought of using THAT many points on a 1 BR there.

 

[MrsNick]

In the past we usually stayed in a studio (or OVIR at VB) since it was just DH and I, and we were trying to maximize our time, since we have a smaller contract. We splurged twice on larger accomodations (at HHI and VB). We've usually been able squeeze two weeks of vacations per year out of our contract.

In the future, we will be booking mostly 1BR's since we will have an infant with us, and will need the dishwasher for bottles/paci's and the washer/dryer. It will also be helpful for us to be able to put the baby down for a nap in a separate space.

Once we get past the toddler years, we can re-visit the idea of a studio, but I have a feeling that we will still want the washer/dryer and kitchen. Hopefully, by then we will be able to afford to add-on so we can still eke out two weeks vacation from our membership.

I thought I was going to add-on late last year until the Dow tanked and it no longer made sense to liquify my stock (small holding) to purchase. Then, I was hoping to take advantage of the great incentives that are currently out there using cash we saved, but we need to replace a car and there's a baby on the way so, $$$ are not in great supply at the moment. The add-on has to wait One of these days I'll get my priorities straight and do the add-on!

 

[AlaskaMOM]

we do both.
Once we got DVC we upgraded our accomodations 2BR for 5 of us, now that it's down to 3 of us we still like the laundry, big tub, and bedroom door so will continue to get 1 BR until it's just 2 of us.
as for staying longer we typically stay longer (10+ days), but go less often. We have to spend such a long time to get there we need a nice long vacation after 20+ hours in cars/airports/airplanes before we're ready to do it in reverse.

 

[Anal Annie]

More trips (nights) wins with us. I don't even want to try the forbidden fruit of a larger unit!! We seriously don't spend that much time in the room and I am not going to cook OR do laundry on my vacation. So there is just no point to "waste" the points for anything other than a studio. If we plan carefully we can get about 14 nights a year down there over 2-3 trips... We'd MUCH rather know we have a get-a-way coming up!

 

[Sandisw]

For us, it will definitely be better accommodations. We typically have gone to WDW for 5 - 7 nights a year and find that works for us.

We bought enough points so we can do the time in a 1 bedroom. However, if DH and I ever want to go for a long weekend, then we will cut down on the 1 -bedroom a couple of nights so we can do that.

 

[photobob]

More trips (nights) wins with us. I don't even want to try the forbidden fruit of a larger unit!! We seriously don't spend that much time in the room and I am not going to cook OR do laundry on my vacation. So there is just no point to "waste" the points for anything other than a studio. If we plan carefully we can get about 14 nights a year down there over 2-3 trips... We'd MUCH rather know we have a get-a-way coming up!

Annie when we become empty nesters in a couple of years that is my plan too. I have tasted the forbidden fruit and boy is it sweet, but my dream when I purchased was squeezing every bit of time that I can out of my points. I foresee years where DW and I go three times in a studio. Other years we may go once and take DD, DS and DDIL and all stay in a two BDR.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It's easy for us. No king bed in the studio. So we don't do studios.

 

[photobob]

It's easy for us. No king bed in the studio. So we don't do studios.

The king is nice isn't it. We have gone to a queen in our bedroom at home from a king. Our bedroom isn't huge so the queen fits much better. Having the king on our last two vacations sure made is consider going back to it at home!

 

[jamstew]

More nights always wins out for me. I travel solo for the most part and I don't cook, so anything beyond a studio is a waste. I maximize my points in every way I can--I don't have all that many and share what I have with my children & grandchildren. If I have to stay at a value for the weekend, so be it. I don't spend enough time in the room that it makes a difference.

 

[LoveToDisney]

This is a general topic I have struggled with all along, before and post DVC. When we first started going to WDW, more days won out. In pre-DVC days it was All Stars for more nights or a moderate or deluxe for fewer nights. Now that we own DVC it soon will be studio for more nights or 1 bdr for fewer.

What wins out with you? Better accommodations or longer stay?

More points, longer stays and 1 bedroom.

 

[rentayenta]

DH and I were just talking about this. We have been twice and both trips were 11 days. He suggested maybe we take a 6-7 days trip to WDW now that we own DVC and then we could do a 3-4 day trip to Disneyland in the same year because we can drive to So Cal and stay on points. On paper the idea sounds doable but I cannot even imagine thinking 6-7 days in WDW would be enough. I am currently planning our October 2010 trip and am trying to wrap my brain around a 7 night stay. Because flights are so expensive and so are the park hoppers for the first 6 days or so, it seems just silly to not stay longer. In any event, I think I would compromise and stay in a little nicer of a place but only give up a day or 2 tops.