paying cash for non-dvc weekends?

[amee]

I am wondering how often any of you skip using points on week ends and pay cash at one of the non-DVC resorts? We are thinking of doing that in October and wondering if people feel like it works monetarily and otherwise........i have heard that Annual Pass Holders get great deals on rooms as well......if you used an AP, what kinds of rates have you gotten? Do DVC members get any kind of discounts on AP's?

Thanks...

Amee

 

[raparker13]

We almost always use cash if we plan to stay over a Friday or Saturday night. We would rather not use so many points in that case. Of course, we try plan our trips to avoid weekends.

 

[kdonnel]

I just bought an annual pass for a trip we are taking in March. We wanted to stay at the Poly and had already used all our points anyway for a trip in October.

I was able to book the Poly for 4 nights including the cost of the AP for $166 less then a room only reservation.

The AP rate was $250. The rate quoted otherwise was $404.

The AP was $520.

Just the room: 1801.84
The room and AP: 1635

For this trip and our trip home in October we only have to buy admission for my wife and daughter.

 

[WDWguru]

Just to voice the other end of the spectrum - we would likely never consider moving on the weekend. We calculated for plenty of points so we just don't have to hassle with it. However, I realize not everyone is as fortunate to be able to afford the amount of points they need to do that, so I totally understand the circumstance. For us, it's worth it to pay the "premium" points to not have to bother with tracking down discounts and to have to move.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Kim - I'm with you, I fully understand leaving on the weekends and going elsewhere, say VB or Tampa, but to leave and come back just to save points is crazy - in my opinion, I would think it defeats the purpose as to why one would have bought into DVC. But to get the most bang for your buck I understand saving the points for weekdays, you get more time at WDW, but if you are spending cash, doesn't that defeat the purpose of why you bought into DVC?????

 

[Cruelladeville]

We have 700 pts by now, but we always stay on the weekends somewhere else because we can get another whole vacation by avoiding the weekends, at least when there are only two of us. When the family comes along, we go for the biggest units we can get

We have an AP--only the Disney card gives discounts, I believe--but it's well worth your while. Since you asked about rates with the AP: three years ago at spring break--$89 at POR Christmas2001--$221 for a one bedroom at BWV Christmas 2002--$197 at BC and last summer at ALK--$127 This spring we are staying at POR again but the rates aren't as good--$109. Every once in a while they have especially low rates at one resort, like ALK for last year. I can't wait to see what this summer brings!

 

[DebbieB]

I had reservations for early last December for Saturday to Friday at BWV. I couldn't get frequent flyer tickets for Saturday, so I booked air Friday to Friday. Adding Friday night on points would have been 41 points (1 bedroom standard) , plus it would have been difficult to get. Originally I booked a night at CBR with DC, but when they closed I booked Boardwalk Inn for an AP rate of $169. It was very convenient, all we had to do was have the bellman pick up the luggage, put it into storage and then bring it up to our BWV room when it was ready in the afternoon. I'm thinking of doing the same thing in May, I have Sunday to Friday booked at OKW, I don't have air yet, I might add the Friday and Saturday night before at either PO-FQ or BWI if I can get a discount.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We usually stay one weekend at the beginning or end of our trip and use points. The other weekend we go over to Universal and stay at the Hard Rock. The front of line access is well worth it for a couple of days. We are leaving This weekend and will DVC first followed by Universal next weekend.

HBC

 

[roadtripper]

We are new to this and have only 150 points, but I like the challenge of getting a good deal on a room for Sat night through Priceline, and then checking in on Sunday with points. Try www.biddignfortravel.com for tips on how to bid in the WDW area. This Sat, we wil be at the Marriott Orlando World Center for 70 dollars! Yippee! Almost here!

 

[Cruelladeville]

roadtripper,
I couldn't use the link you provided. Are you sure the address was typed correctly? $70 per night for the Marriott World Center is great! I just love that pool

 

[amee]

thanks for all of your replies....lots of good thoughts!

Amee

 

[spiceycat]

depends - sometime I have used DVC points for the weekend - but most of time I either stay only 5 days and come back in a different season (my favorite) or like this time - and go for a Universal hotel - if you get a Universal annual pass you can get some great rates on the Uninversal hotel.

 

[nancyj]

This summer we are going to WDW for a week, Saturday to Saturday. Rather than borrowing points, we decided to stay in a VWL studio the first night. On Sunday we will move to a 2 bedroom (there are 4 of us, so we're ok in the studio). If I don't get a dedicated 2 br (I'm currently waitlisted), we have requested that the studio be part of the 2 br lockoff for the rest of the week. We would prefer the dedicated 2 br since we have young kids that may try to wander into the hallway from their bedroom. In any case, the studio took alot fewer points than the 2br for that first Saturday night. We decided to bite the bullet and use the points for the Friday night stay, we didn't want to deal with moving rooms or resorts for our last night.

 

[DeeP]

I also always book my trips that either start or end with a weekend stay with an AP rate at a different WDW resort. We love it, it gives you a chance to experience all the other great WDW resorts and it is like having a mini weekend vacation and a weeks vacation all rolled into one. I have gotten great AP rates ranging from $49.00 at a value resort up to $189.00 Boardwalk Inn (where we were upgraded to Concierge!!!) We have stayed in every WDW resort but 2 and most of the resorts we have stayed multiple times at. I love staying at DVC but I also really enjoy experiencing the other resorts and 2 nights at the beginning or ending of the trip is perfect for this. Also it is amazing how you can really stretch your points out when you avoid the weekends so that translates into more trips per yr! Works for us!
As with all things DVC, different people enjoy different things and choose to spend their pts in many varied ways.

 

[Alice Sr.]

roadtripper it's www.Biddingfortravel.com