Need some OKW advice...

[mousy_in_canada]

I am debating on splitting a 3 bedroom grand Villa with my sister and her kids for a week. the Disney site says it sleeps 12, can you tell me how many are to a room?
There will be my 3 kids and my husband and myself and her 3 kids and her DH as well.. will there be privacy at all for sleeping or will there be some sleeping in the living room as well?

our kids ages are: 12, 9, 8, 7, 7, 5 all girls except for 1 of the 7 year olds is a boy

Thanks

 

[Kim&Chris]

Not sure about the layout of the grand villas, but I wanted to give you some advice.....

If you rent DVC points from a DVC member, the cost of staying at OKW is incredibly lower than booking it through Disney directly.

These boards have a "DVC rent/trade points" board, where you'll find lots of members with points to rent out, sometimes as low as $8 or $9 per point. Some members ask more, but you can always negotiate the final amount.

We're renting points for our upcoming stay, and the entire week (staying in a studio) is costing us less than $500 total! That's excellent, especially when you consider that a studio can be around $289 per night.

Good luck! Hope you find the answers you're looking for.

 

[mousy_in_canada]

That is EXACTLY what we are thinking of doing! it would be around $1000.00 for the week.. and therefore $500.00 each! We were thinking of staying in the Wilderness cabins but this is bigger and $200.00 cheaper too!
Provided we can all fit well in there.. 6 kids is allot for 1 place.. lol

Thanks for the great advice! it seems confusing tho, does it always go ok to do that?

 

[Scoootch]

As Kim&Chris just mentioned, you may want to rent points for your stay -- not only for the expense but because as a DVC member who owns at OKW I can tell you that GV's are very hard to come by even for us members. There are only a so many of them and they are very popular. You also may need to rent points to get one just because you'd need a member who has the 11month booking window to book it for you. Disney only retains 4% of the rooms at the resort for cash ressies and then the rest of the rooms that will be availible for cash rentals will not be able to be booked until only 60 days out (these would be availible due to members who have traded out of OKW for say DCL for example).

As to the configuration of the GV's :

there are 3 bedrooms -- 2 upstairs with 2 queen beds each and the master bedroom downstairs with a king size bed and then the pull-out sofa bed which will sleep 2 more people in the living room. There are 4 bathrooms -- one in each bedroom and then one off the living room. 4 TV's, one in each bdrm and then one in the living room. The master bdrm has a whirlpool tub and a stand up shower. You will have a full kitchen and separate laundry room and a balcony will a table and chairs.

We did a GV 2yrs ago with my entire family -- me, dh, ds, my mom & dad, my grandmother, my brother and my aunt & uncle and their 2 kids. It worked out great for us -- my parents and grandmother shared a room, my aunt & uncle and their 2 in another room, my brother on the pullout in the living room and me and dh in the master bdrm with ds in a crib (he was 2 at the time) in with us.

Of course we only did 4 nights -- any longer we may have gotten on each others nerves by then but if you all get along well, it may work out great for you.

Best of luck!

 

[mousy_in_canada]

wow.. that sounds like an impressive place to stay!!!
I am a little bit confused over the whole renting points and booking.. I would be willing to go in January or Early February next year.. when would I book and how do I book for this? do I post a post on the boards that rent the points then pay them or book with the points with Disney? is it really hard to get a room? Do I have a low chance or actually getting it?

thanks so much for the help!

 

[Connears]

If the owner has the resort you want as their home resort, they can reserve for you 11 months prior to you check-out date, otherwise it is 7 months prior. January(after the 1st) is a cheap time for DVC points. The owner will make the reservations and when he receives the confirmation will usually mail it to you. The financial stuff differs, but usually you pay half when you recieve the confirmation and then full 30 days prior(we rented our points for the first time last fall and the renter sent us the entire amount because it was very close to the time of their reservation). There is a certain amount of trust you need between parties, but I have not heard of bad transaction. Ours was a breeze. Check out the rent/trade board here and post or look at what's being offered.
Connears

 

[madelyn]

Was wondering how you came up with the figure of $1000 for the week or $500 per family? Using the usual rental amount of $10 per point, which is what you will likely have to pay since you will have to reserve 11 months in advance to try to get a Grand Villa, I was looking at my cost (at $10 per point) to rent a 2-bedroom that accomodates 8 people, during the dates of Jun 5-10 and I am coming up with the cost of $300 per night or $1200 for the 4 nights in a 2-bedroom. And when I input a Grand Villa using the Points Calculator, I come up with the cost of 45 points per weekday night, or about $450 per night. A Friday or Saturday night is 100 points!

 

[mousy_in_canada]

I was using my memory on the amount.. lol.. not always dependable.. the correct amount for January 5-10 of this year, since 2005 is not out yet.. is 36 point for weekdays and 88 for weekends.. so a grand total of 320 points needed and at $10per point that is $3200 or $1600 each.. OK WAY off base.. lol.. I was just relooking at that amount going ummm that is more than I thought..
thanks for bring this to my attention!

 

[madelyn]

You're welcome! I was wondering where you found the great deal of $1000 a week for a Grand Villa and if it was that cheap I was going to book one!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you don't already have a GV booked for Jan or Feb 2005, you are probably out of luck. It's past the 11 months booking date already.