Over the Moon Excited! But a detailed DVC ?

[twinkles]

I just received great news from a good friend of mine (who knows I've been trying to plan a 2012 trip to Disney). She just told me today that she has 242 points to give to me that will expire end of July 2012.

Our disney cast consist of 4 separate families.
Family one: 2 adults
Family Two: 2 adults
Family three: 2 adults, 3 yr.
Family four: 2 adults, 4 yr.

We chose May to celebrate, our 27th anniversary, our in-law's 50th anniversary and our grandsons 4th Birthday.

This is my problem....if I do AKL 1 (2) bedroom villa and 1 studio thats 296 points (this is for stay of May 19-26, 2012) that brings me to 296 points.
Is there anyway to do this? We can not change dates, that's not an option because of work. She is away until next week and I don't want to bother her about the specifics.

Can I buy points to add to the 242?

Is there any other options I could do.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[cvjw]

Does your friend own at AKV? If not, you may not be able to reserve a value 2 bedroom and a value studio. Those villas book up very fast (often at the 11 month mark) - they could already be reserved for the dates you are interested in. There are also very few of them. If she owns at AKV, she should reserve the villas now. I think you can buy a few points from Disney for $15 per point at the 7 month mark. The other option would be for your friend to have points transferred into her DVC account, and then make your reservation. She would need to find AKV points to secure those value villas before the 7 month mark.

 

[twinkles]

I don't know if she does own at AKL. I'm gonna have to wait until Tuesday to see what I can do. She's away on business and I will not bother her with this (very important to me) but low priority to her (i'm sure!)

I think maybe she owns at WL, that's where she usually stays? Not sure.

I'm hoping it can all work out!!! We love AKL but with such a large group it's so expensive. Please let this work out for us!!!:: jumping1:

 

[kgc07]

I don't think you are able to buy that many points from DVC. You could always have your friend reserve what she can of the reservations with the points she has and you could find another DVC owner to rent (buy) points from for another reservation.

 

[Kidanifan08]

242 points is probably only enough for 5 nights for the number of people traveling and the time of year you are going. Even at 5 nights, you would be short about 5 points for a standard view 2BR and studio at AKV. As others have said, the value rooms are few in number and may be gone by now. If she does not own at AKV, she cannot book there until 7 months out and the value rooms will be gone for sure and the standards may be difficult to get, especially the studio.

The extra 24 points that can be purchased at $15/point can only be booked at 7 months and would not be enough.

You could book 4-5 nights and do the rest on cash. Consider staying at a another resort for the first 2-3 nights then finishing off the week at AKV. You could also try to rent points, but you would have two separate reservations and would have to change rooms mid-trip. A transfer of points to your friends account would work, if you can find someone to do that.

Have fun planning!!

 

[twinkles]

I don't think you are able to buy that many points from DVC. You could always have your friend reserve what she can of the reservations with the points she has and you could find another DVC owner to rent (buy) points from for another reservation.

You could book 4-5 nights and do the rest on cash. Consider staying at a another resort for the first 2-3 nights then finishing off the week at AKV. You could also try to rent points, but you would have two separate reservations and would have to change rooms mid-trip. A transfer of points to your friends account would work, if you can find someone to do that.

Have fun planning!!

Thank you everyone! for all this information.

I really want this to work out. This could be a huge money saver (both in our lodging and food budget).

I'm hoping she calls today and I can speak to her about my options and have her call Disney for me to see what (if anything) is available for our time frame.

As far as point transfers, she can have another DVC owner transfer their points to her account (given of course I pay for them?)

This is the week we are considering, please let me know if i'm calculating this correctly.

May 18-25, 2012
AK Value Two Bedroom Villa = 220 points
AK Value Studio = 76 points
Total = 296
We have = 242
Short 58 pts.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you everyone! for all this information.

I really want this to work out. This could be a huge money saver (both in our lodging and food budget).

I'm hoping she calls today and I can speak to her about my options and have her call Disney for me to see what (if anything) is available for our time frame.

As far as point transfers, she can have another DVC owner transfer their points to her account (given of course I pay for them?)

This is the week we are considering, please let me know if i'm calculating this correctly.

May 18-25, 2012
AK Value Two Bedroom Villa = 220 points
AK Value Studio = 76 points
Total = 296
We have = 242
Short 58 pts.

Your points are correct, but unfortunately, if she doesn't own at AKV, she can't call and check to see what is available until the 7 month mark. As an owner, you only have availability at resorts in which you own your points prior to the 7 month mark.

I think getting a week in the value rooms at AKV is going to be very difficult as a non-owner and I would play around with other options.

Being short 58 points will be difficult to deal with, unless your friend is okay with accepting a transfer. We are only allowed one transfer in or out per UY and your friend may not be able to do this.

If not, then as already mentioned, you book what you can with her points, and then book the other nights on cash and hope that you can have them linked together. I know that members can reserve through MS cash rooms, but I believe they have to be traveling to reserve for others--not sure about that though.

Or, rent points from another member for whole nights and have those reservations linked to your friends.

Good luck!

 

[Kidanifan08]

I think getting a week in the value rooms at AKV is going to be very difficult as a non-owner and I would play around with other options . . . Or, rent points from another member for whole nights and have those reservations linked to your friends.

Even if your friend owns at AKV, at this point the values may all be gone, especially the studios. Realistically, I would first find out where your friend owns and then try to come up with a plan using that resort. Then, at the 7 month mark, you can see if other resorts are available for the room types you are looking for. Given the time of year you are traveling, I would think that there will be 2BR and studios available at other resorts, but possibly not the low point (standard view) options. If you do consider renting points and you really want to change resorts at 7 months, you may want to wait until you make the switch to arrange a points rental.

If it were me, I would probably just make a cash reservation at one of the value or moderate resorts for the first 2-3 days and book at the friend's DVC resort for the remainder of the trip now. Then, you can always cancel the cash reservation at the 7 month mark. At least you would have your trip planned and can tweak things later.

 

[twinkles]

Thank you everyone!

Can you tell me what you mean by MS cash?

So, let me recap so I understand this. Unless you own at AK (or any home lodging) you CAN book 11 months out and ownership at Non-AK is 7 months out?

What if I book what I can using her points then rent points from someone as a separate reservation? Am I taking a big chance?

I'm impatiently waiting to hear from her...I need to plan and make arrangements I will be thinking about all the different scenarios and drivinging myself crazy

Thanks again everyone

 

[cvjw]

Your friend can book the villas for your family at her home resort at 11 months. She can book non-home resorts at the 7 month mark. MS = member services. Only your friend can talk with member services - they only deal with DVC owners. You can book DVC villas thru MS for cash for a cheaper price - but only DVC owners can do this.

I second PP, you need to find out where your friend's home resort is, and figure out how many nights you can book there using the 242 points. You may want to figure out a split stay - 5 nights on her points, and 2 nights cash thru Disney at a value or moderate resort. 242 points won't get you 7 nights in a 2 bedroom and a studio. At that time of year, a week in a regular (not standard or value) 2 bedroom can easily be more than 300 points.

The standard and value rooms are often booked at the 11 month window (June) by owners of that DVC resort.

 

[twinkles]

Thank you. I know she has been an owner for many, many years so I'm sure she can help me figure this all out...just like all of you have!

So she could buy the extra points thru MS to meet our lodging needs?

I'm just so excited that we have this opportunity!

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you. I know she has been an owner for many, many years so I'm sure she can help me figure this all out...just like all of you have!

So she could buy the extra points thru MS to meet our lodging needs?

I'm just so excited that we have this opportunity!

No, she can't buy that many extra points. At the 7 month mark, DVC does allow you to complete a reservation by buying up to 24 extra points, not enough to complete what you want.

Owners can book a room on cash at a discount but it sounds from what others have posted is that the owner has to be traveling (which I did not know) so that option wouldn't work in your situation.

Your only option from her, if she only has 242 points to give you, is to book what you can at her home resort using those points and then either find another DVC owner to rent you a reservation for the other nights and then have both owners call and ask the the reservations be linked so you don't have to move--but you need to make sure you have the exact same room type booked.

The biggest hiccup that I see with this is that you want to be at AKV and if your friend does not own there, you won't know what she can get you there until the 7 month mark so you would have to wait until then to rent the remaining nights from someone else.

 

[VrBchJ]

Everyone has given you excellent advice. I can only add that your friend is exceedingly generous to give you 242 points. She is really a true friend.

 

[Sammie]

I would check other options, like Old Key West, much larger rooms.

 

[wbl2745]

I would check other options, like Old Key West, much larger rooms.

I want to second this. My two brothers and our wives when to AKV last December and I was so focused on getting value rooms at AKV we ended up jumping around a lot. Ultimately, it would have been better to find another resort with where we could afford the points, get reservations that didn't jump around, and just enjoy DVC.

If you're dead set on AKV, consider one jump, say starting at SSR or OKW, and then moving to AKV for one or two nights. BTW, in my opinion, although AKV is quite something to see, if you are getting a standard view room, you might as well stay at SSR or OKW and go to Boma's at AKL for dinner to enjoy the atmosphere. The non-savanna view rooms aren't really any different than any other DVC room, other than the furnishings (and the lack of light...).

Just my two cents...

 

[twinkles]

Thanks!

As far as staying at any one resort (we don't care)! We are flexible with whatever is available. Even our timing is flexible.

These points are good up until the end of July 2012. I'm sure we can find something that will work for us

My friend is extremely generous and genuine and we love her for helping make our Family Disney trip a rememerable one

Where can I see floor plans of OKW or SSR. I don't remember where these resorts are located (been to long since I have been at Disney)