Please tell me that I won't regret this...

[cheshirekitty]

So we have always stayed at the All Stars simply because we don't have a lot of money and we are hardly ever in the room. My husband and I decided this year to rent points and stay at BWV. We rented the points from someone back in March. We are going 8/19-8/27. We are renting the points from 8/21-8/27...I figured since it is more expensive to rent on the weekends, for the first 2 nights we would just get a discount code and stay at a moderate.

Now look at what has happened...no discount codes for the public and now free dining during the time we are there!!! We don't have an AP or AAA so if we want to stay onsite for the first 2 nights, we have to pay full rack rate.

I feel like our decision to rent points is not the best thing for us and we are completely losing out by not going with the free dining. I figured we could do the free dining and stay at a moderate and save sooooo much money!!!

What would you do in my case? Please say we didn't make the wrong decision by wanting to stay at the BWV!!!

 

[Pollito916]

I know what you are talking about. We rented points as well for 9/26 - 10/3 at BCV, and wouldn't get the free dining. It turned out that my mother also wants to come with us (as well as some other friends), so she got a room at CBR, and purchased all of our park tickets together (we hadn't purchased ours yet), so now we all get the free dining plan! Maybe you have some friends or family that would be willing to sacrifice for you and spend a week in WDW

If not, just remember that you will still have tons of fun without the free dining (it wasn't part of your original plan anyway). I hope everything works out for you.

 

[Pollito916]

I just wanted to add that I don't think you made a bad decision by staying at BWV. It looks like a beautiful hotel, and I was having trouble deciding between it and BCV. BCV won because of the shorter walk to Epcot, but BWV has a better night life that we plan on going over for.

Also, renting points is so much cheaper than paying rack rate for a BWV. You are still getting a great deal. Have fun!

 

[Disney Fanatic]

You need to give us the numbers.

What did you pay for your DVC rental?

What would the free dining pkg cost?? (For all persons travelling)

Then I think we can give you an idea if you made a mistake.

 

[cheshirekitty]

DVC rental for 6 nights is $940...with the tickets, total would be $1488

Moderate for 6 nights with tickets and free dining is $1470

So it would be the same price only we would have free food!!!

 

[Disney Fanatic]

What type of room do you have?

 

[cheshirekitty]

Studio for 2 adults. Standard room at the moderate.

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry about your quandary . We are DVC members going at the same time. I'll be over at BCV until the 8/21 and I cancelled our reservations at SSR (on points) so we could stay at CSR and enjoy the free dining.

Does your DVC member have a cancellation policy? When I rent points I allow my renters to cancel for a small fee as long as I am able to re-rent their points. Unfortunately, the 31-day deadline for points to go into "holding" is coming up in a couple of weeks. Points in "holding" are harder to rent and use, so my deadline for changes/cancellation is before that so I don't get stuck with tough points to rent.

You may be able to get out of your obligation if you email your DVC member. You can put your reservation up on the DVC rental board and see if someone wants it. You'll have until 7/20 to find a renter. That's ONLY if your DVC member will agree to change the name on the reservation ... although I wouldn't see why not as long as you are doing all the leg work. But ... you never know .

The bigger problem you have is (1) you are coming up to the deadline for booking the free dining (7/3) and (2) you are coming up to the 45 day cancellation for a Disney package (7/7).

Here's what I would do. I would book one of the moderate resorts with free dining now (so you have it). You'll have to pay a $200 deposit, but you can cancel until 7/7 (double-check the date with the CM!) and get a 100% refund. Make sure they don't add trip insurance, or you'll have to pay for that even if you cancel. Then, I would contact your DVC member and see if they will agree to change the name on the reservation should you find a new renter. If they say "no", bye-bye moderate and you're stuck at BVW. Life could be worse . If they say "yes", then put your 5 days up over on the DVC rent/trade board and wait. I am usually able to rent my points in a matter of days. If your points don't rent by 7/7, bye-bye moderate and you're stuck at BVW. If your reservation does rent, you will have to have a large measure of trust in the new renter. Your renter may not be willing to pay until they see the confirmation in their name (did you?) and that takes a week to 10 days for DVC to send it. You may slip past the 7/7 package deadline with a committed buyer, but no $$. My records indicate there is a $100 cancellation fee between 44-6 days that you might have to eat if the buyer backs out.

So ... it's kinda a pain, but it can be done. I hope your DVC member will be able to help you if you really want to cancel.

 

[cheshirekitty]

Thanks so much for your reply, Robin. That gives us a lot to think about!!

I think to be safe, we should just keep our reservation but I still am not sure what we are going to do.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Go over to the Rent/Trade board--someone was looking for nights in July recently. You can also advertise your nights--someone might want to go at the last minute. You can also ask the person who gave you the points if he would hold your points until your next trip(maybe around Christmas??) These are all possibilities if your renter won't take your points back--I would not refund your points if I rented them to you, unless I had another renter interested in points.

 

[Dean]

You get a much nicer room at a deluxe resort and the only difference is food for 2 people. Even if your prices quoted for the moderate include tax, I'd say at worst you're break even. If the moderate would be plus tax, you'll be ahead with the studio. You may want to get one AP and then the DDE. For that many people and that length, it'll pay for itself in most situations. Other factors would include whether you can get in another trip or two on an AP. Can you go an extra day, stay onsite for 3 nights and take advantage of the meal plan then eat lighter the rest of the trip. Just look at the big picture but I suspect you'll be better off with the deal you have even if you could cancel, partly because there is no tax on DVC and a hefty tax on regular hotel stays.

Most rentals are done non cancelable, especially at this late date.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

If it were me, I would combine the two...
Looks like you are staying 8 nights.
So stay the first two with meal and pass and food. You will be able to use the food vouchers on the 3rd checkout day.....and I think you can get a 10 day pass instead of just the three day pass in the package, right?

You will eat way more than normal (and spend more time doing it) on the food plan. Stretch it over the 3 days and now you only have 5 days without it and a studio where you can cook.

As someone above mentioned, the DVC includes tax. Double check on the total price of the package and make sure it does.

You may be able to rerent your DVC stay so you can try the package if your heart is set on it. For me, it is just too much eating. But there are lots of peope who want to go to Disney this summer....so you actually should be able to find a rerenter. Or like someone else suggested, if you found another couple to go to WDW at the same time, they could get a package for 4 attached to their room.

Comparing BWV to a moderate isn't apples to apples BTW...it would be more compared to BC or YC.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyAngel12]

You get a much nicer room at a deluxe resort and the only difference is food for 2 people. Even if your prices quoted for the moderate include tax, I'd say at worst you're break even. If the moderate would be plus tax, you'll be ahead with the studio. You may want to get one AP and then the DDE. For that many people and that length, it'll pay for itself in most situations. Other factors would include whether you can get in another trip or two on an AP. Can you go an extra day, stay onside for 3 nights and take advantage of the meal plan then eat lighter the rest of the trip. Just look at the big picture but I suspect you'll be better off with the deal you have even if you could cancel, partly because there is no tax on DC and a hefty tax on regular hotel stays.

Most rentals are done non cancelable, especially at this late date.

Dean gives some very good advice. We were just at the BW (studio) and stayed 2 nights at the values so as to save points on the weekend. You cannot compare what you will have at the BW - "Wow" was our impression. The food plan is nice but you will soon forget that when you check in at the BW. You could still stay weekend night at off property setting at DTD. Check our mousesaver.com for rates. Wish you luck... I personally think you have the best of all worlds for basically the same price.

 

[robinb]

You get a much nicer room at a deluxe resort and the only difference is food for 2 people. Even if your prices quoted for the moderate include tax, I'd say at worst you're break even.

The free dining is worth about $70 per day for 2 adults.

Most rentals are done non cancelable, especially at this late date.

I think there is a difference between a cancellation and a name change. If the buyer does all the leg work and sells their reservation, what difference is it to me (as a DVC member-seller) whose name is on the reservation? I write into the contract that there is a small fee for this kind of change ($50, I think) since I do have to call, make the name change, send out the confirmation, etc.

If it were me, I would combine the two...
Looks like you are staying 8 nights.
So stay the first two with meal and pass and food. You will be able to use the food vouchers on the 3rd checkout day.....and I think you can get a 10 day pass instead of just the three day pass in the package, right?

The food plan starts on Sunday 8/21, so they would not be able to take advantage of it the weekend before .

 

[robinb]

*GACK*
Double post ...

 

[PamOKW]

Here are a few other thoughts to add...

You are going to be staying at a deluxe WDW resort in one of the best locations in WDW. You mention that discounts don't seem to be available at this time so, if you were to pay rack rate for your 6 night BWV studio stay, you would be paying roughly $1,976 for your accomodations. I'm guessing your rental is more in the $700-$800 range -- You've already got a 65% savings on your accomodations.

Free dining is great -- except you're staying in a room that offers you lots of options for easily eating in breakfast and/or snacks. Keep in mind that nothing is ever really "free".

If you can afford the vacation you've already got set up, I say go for it and I'm sure you will be wowed and not regret taking the vacation. If you've over extended yourself, you may want to see what options are available.

I'm curious about the friend whose mother bought tickets and dining for people not staying in her room. Disney usually has "fine print" that prevents that kind of thing. It'll be interesting to see whether they actually are able to use the dining package.

 

[CarolMN]

This may be a moot point. You may not even be able to get free dining for the weekend nights you have in mind. It's been a popular promotion and the number of free dining packages was limited. Before you make yourself and the DVC member crazy, call CRO and see if it is even available for the dates and resort you want.

Best wishes-

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

.

I'm curious about the friend whose mother bought tickets and dining for people not staying in her room. Disney usually has "fine print" that prevents that kind of thing. It'll be interesting to see whether they actually are able to use the dining package.

I am thinking that the friends room has a sleeping capacity of 4 and the person is putting the friends down as occupants of the room and as occupants of the room they would qualify for this. I doubt if Disney double checks if the same persons are booked in 2 different rooms.

 

[cheshirekitty]

Thanks for everyone's responses. By staying at the moderate, we would definitely come out ahead...the price includes tax and includes the dining plan...at BWV we would have to pay for all of our food and we are definitely planning on eating at a few table service locations. The plan is still available with free dining because I called and got the quote.

I certainly know that I can't compare BWV to a moderate in terms of location and amentities. However, I have always stayed at ASMu so either would be a step up for me. We are so excited to be staying at BWV but I figure we would be saving at least $500 by going on the free dining plan...to me that is definitely worth it. We aren't going back within the year so AP's are out of the question...we get tix with the pluses because we like the water parks and pleasure island too.

I think we are just going to stay where we are for this trip. I know we won't be disappointed at BWV. I'm just so aggravated that the free dining came out after we booked. We would have gone with that plan without question. We are trying to save up to buy a house so all the money we can save the better!!

Thanks again for everyone's help!

BTW - This is our 1st year anniversary trip!!! We wanted to honeymoon in WDW but due to circumstances we went elsewhere. We are thinking of this as our second honeymoon!!

 

[Dean]

The free dining is worth about $70 per day for 2 adults.

It might cost that much if you were able to add it, but that's not necessarily the value of it. IMO, the value for many is about 1/2 to 2/3 that but it depends on how you'd use it, how you normally order, how long your stay is and the like.