Question about DVC, cash stays, and discounts

[mrudman]

Ok, we've officially decided we are going down to Disney next April.. leaving the Friday before Easter... staying till the Friday after... (i know it'll be crazy-busy, but its the only time we can coordinate 4 families to go down there).

This is my parent's 40th anniversary.. they're able to pay for up to 20k for the trip... and I'm in charge of planning it all,

At this time, for the 14 of us in 4 families (mine, 2 brothers/sil's, and parents, it's gonna cost $9943 for airfare, tickets, and dining plan. Therefore I have approx 10k to work with for hotel..

We've all decided that two 2-br villas is the way to go... so now I'm trying to figure out the cheapest route of getting that... otherwise we'll be chipping in on anything over the 20k.

The options I've come up with so far are:

1) To book a package with AAA, and hopefully get the 10% off that they'll offer. Not sure when it's possible to book with them though...

2) Book directly with Disney, and hope that a code/discount comes out.. otherwise the 3 "kids" in the family will each be paying about $1600.

3) Buy a 50-pt DVC contract (dh and I plan on doing this by next year at the latest anyway), make cash reservations, and see about getting the 25% off cash rate.

Which one would be the one that would be a more guaranteed discount in your opinion?

Also, if we do happen to go with #3, and a better deal comes out through Disney, is it possible to have it switched over to that deal instead?


Thanks for any help!
Michelle

 

[mrudman]

Also, if we do become dvc members, and book a cash stay, what are the differences between paying cash and paying points? For example, do you get daily housekeeping? what are the cancellation policies?

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you book a cash night through MS, it's the same as a points stay. Limited housekeeping just like on points.

The 25% discount is not always available and especially around holiday times.

If you want to book Easter/Spring Break time at DVC, you will need to book that at 11 months out - so in May 09. Buying a 50 pt contract won't even get you close to enough points for a big Easter trip in 2010. And if you don't buy until next year, you probably won't even close before Easter.

 

[starbox]

If you book a cash night through MS, it's the same as a points stay. Limited housekeeping just like on points.

The 25% discount is not always available and especially around holiday times.

If you want to book Easter/Spring Break time at DVC, you will need to book that at 11 months out - so in May 09. Buying a 50 pt contract won't even get you close to enough points for a big Easter trip in 2010. And if you don't buy until next year, you probably won't even close before Easter.

ITA - Easter week and Christmas week are the two highest $$$$$ premium weeks for Disney travel. You can travel, but it will cost you. You may want to investigate the extra charges you'll likely pay for any travel (like airfare). DVC charges much higher points and cash rooms are also at a premium - no discounts of ANY kind for Easter week at Disney. The promotions (like 4/3) are blacked out Easter week.

If it's possible to travel any other time (week before Christmas, summer) you could probably do it for half the cost.

 

[maburke]

PP's are right, Easter is one of the most expensive times of year to go, and I don't believe you'll see discounts of any kind. The points are high then, too; it looks to me like it will take 750-1000 points. But if you can rent those points at $10-11 per point, you would come in under your $10,000 budget. If you have to go that time of year, I would consider renting the points. It would take a lot of advanced planning, because you will want to work with owner(s) who could make the reservations at the 11 month window, to get exactly what you want. But I think it's definitely possible, and you'd know you had what you wanted, and under budget, well in advance, with no stressing about discount codes or availability later. (Which truly, will certainly be blacked out for Easter. Believe me, even for this year, in this economy, discounts are blacked out next week.)

The disadvantage to this is that it is much less flexible; the cancellation options are FAR fewer when renting. You have to be sure that you're going.

P.S. You could buy a contract and have the points transferred in, but you'd be pressed to get that done in time if you buy resale, and, since everybody's limited to one transfer per use year, you'd have to get all the points from one person. (Or maybe 2 if you got some this UY and banked them, and some next UY.)

Good luck! Let us know what you end up doing.

 

[Sandisw]

Have you considered renting points from a DVC member? That option may be an option as well.

Many members rent points and for 2 two bedrooms that week, you are looking at approximately 810 points. If you find a member willing to rent for $10.00 per point, it would be about $8100, under your $10,000 budget.

Check out the rent/trade boards. There are pros and cons to doing it, but since you are not yet at the 11 month booking window for that time, you would have a good shot of getting rooms booked.

Good luck!

 

[mrudman]

Thanks everyone for responding!

Unfortunately, Easter week really is the only time we can go and have all 4 families able to go,

I know it's going to cost an arm and a leg.. was hoping maybe they didn't have the black-out dates for that week.. but looks like they do.

If it were just me and my immediate family, I'd be willing to rent the points... but this is my mom fronting the money, and I don't think she'd think very highly of that...

For one, it would make her very nervous that the reservation really will never be under our control.. and that to cancel might be a big pain... with that many people going, its very possible it might need to be cancelled/postponed if something happens.

Just wish there was a way to get some sort of break on the price, but still have the ressie totally controlled by us... that's why I had originally thought of buying in, just to get the cash rate.. but looks like that wouldn't happen around that time of year.

 

[5forDiz]

With approx $10,000 you can likely find a 150pt SSR resale contract with banked points ( so then with banking&borrowing you can have up to 3 yrs worth of points to use during the vacation year ) and then you could try for
2BR at AKV which sleeps 9 & studio ( one of the kids would need to be 3 or under to work ). It'd be around 450 - 490 pts give or take so you might need to transfer in couple extra points from a member amount depending upon if you had value or standard category for 2BR (those transferred points would be under you control as if they are points that you own). Even though you'd have to pay closing costs on the contract purchased probably around $500 and there'd be maintenance fees each year, if your family is planning to spend this amount of $ for accommodations for just 1 trip then , jmho, I'd give serious look at resales and have a family discussion on how purchasing pts can be a gift that keeps on giving for you, your siblings & your parents ( points can be banked&borrowed for trips you can all make together every 3 years or each family can have 150 pts to use every 4th year ). You'll likely be able to get a better deal on airfare by time 2010 rolls around & can save some $ on meals even just by breakfasting in the villas.

If you rent points it'd probably be approx $10 - 12 per point so you'd save couple of thousand dollars but you'd have nothing to show for what you've paid for those accommodations once the trip is done.