Rent DVC Points or Book Room/Tix Package???

[rbenn81]

Looking at going to WDW Dec 15-21 2013. All of our previous trips we have rented DVC points from a good buddy of mine and stayed in a studio at AKL-Jambo. Typically we rent points, get the regular dining plan, and purchase tix thru our local AAA office. Now that my oldest is an "adult" by Disney standards, I'm not sure what we should do b/c the third adult blows our typical budget by a considerable amount. So here's what I've come up with:

Option 1: Rent DVC points for a studio at either BLT-lake view or AKL-Jambo savannah view. skip the dining plan and pay out of pocket for meals (2-4 TS meals, rest of meals in room or QS). Buy tix thru undercover tourist or AAA.

OR

Option 2: Buy package (room & tix) and stay at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter and hope for free dining.

Option 2 is around 500 more than option 1 but all of our meals will be paid for this way. I'm not sure we would like staying at a moderate but am willing to try it due to the possiblity of getting free dining. Any thoughts???

 

[Marionnette]

Looking at going to WDW Dec 15-21 2013. All of our previous trips we have rented DVC points from a good buddy of mine and stayed in a studio at AKL-Jambo. Typically we rent points, get the regular dining plan, and purchase tix thru our local AAA office. Now that my oldest is an "adult" by Disney standards, I'm not sure what we should do b/c the third adult blows our typical budget by a considerable amount. So here's what I've come up with:

Option 1: Rent DVC points for a studio at either BLT-lake view or AKL-Jambo savannah view. skip the dining plan and pay out of pocket for meals (2-4 TS meals, rest of meals in room or QS). Buy tix thru undercover tourist or AAA.

OR

Option 2: Buy package (room & tix) and stay at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter and hope for free dining.

Option 2 is around 500 more than option 1 but all of our meals will be paid for this way. I'm not sure we would like staying at a moderate but am willing to try it due to the possiblity of getting free dining. Any thoughts???

What would you do if free dining did not come out for those dates? Suppose it's a different offer? Or none at all? (I know, that's a very remote possibility.)

DVC is very busy at that time of year. So your buddy will have to book your studio early (at least 7 months before arrival, perhaps as early as 11 months ahead if you want hard-to-get accommodations at his home resort). I doubt that any Disney deals will be announce that early for Dec. 2013. If you decide to wait for a free dining deal and it doesn't materialize, your friend would have a tough time finding any DVC accommodations, let alone the resorts that you have listed.

So, I guess you need to ask yourself whether waiting for "free" dining is worth the risk.

• Compare apples to apples. Ignore how much the dining plan would cost if you were to rent the points. The dining plan is not a money-saver. It's a convenience. You're talking about spending an extra $500 to get 6 nights of dining credits. How much would you spend on food if you were to pay for it out of pocket? Would it be more than $83/night for your family? Be honest about how you would dine. Would you buy desserts with every meal? Would you buy appetizers if you were not on the dining plan? Or maybe get your daughter a specialty drink instead of the Coke that is covered under the dining plan?
• Then consider the difference between staying DVC and staying moderate. At the moderate, you will get 2 real beds. At a DVC studio, you have a bed and a pull-out sofa. At the moderate, your door will open to the great outdoors. At DVC, you will have interior hallways. At the DVC resort, you'll have a microwave in your room. At the moderate, the only microwave will be in the food court.
• And finally, how much are you willing to roll the dice? Would you be able to change your dates by a day or two if free dining comes out and you would end up missing it by a couple of days? Are you willing to wait until Dec. '13 deals are announced to decide whether to go DVC (and possibly end up booking SSR or waitlisting your preferred resort)?

My inclination would be to go with the sure thing (DVC rental) instead of hoping for Disney to continue to offer free dining in December. But that's me. I'm not a gambler.

 

[miprender]

Looking at going to WDW Dec 15-21 2013. All of our previous trips we have rented DVC points from a good buddy of mine and stayed in a studio at AKL-Jambo. Typically we rent points, get the regular dining plan, and purchase tix thru our local AAA office. Now that my oldest is an "adult" by Disney standards, I'm not sure what we should do b/c the third adult blows our typical budget by a considerable amount. So here's what I've come up with:

Option 1: Rent DVC points for a studio at either BLT-lake view or AKL-Jambo savannah view. skip the dining plan and pay out of pocket for meals (2-4 TS meals, rest of meals in room or QS). Buy tix thru undercover tourist or AAA.

OR

Option 2: Buy package (room & tix) and stay at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter and hope for free dining.

Option 2 is around 500 more than option 1 but all of our meals will be paid for this way. I'm not sure we would like staying at a moderate but am willing to try it due to the possiblity of getting free dining. Any thoughts???

I think I would pick Option 1. Is the friend that you rent points from have his home resort at AKL? If so you could always book the Value Studio which is only 57 pts vs 98. Those book up fast so you would have to do that at the 11mth window. You can not request a view, but we have had both pool and savanah view and loved them both.

Also I loved having the kitchenette in my room and being able to heat things up in the microwave. So I am not sure if I could go back to a regular hotel room now.

 

[Sue M]

I would go with dvc and no dining plan. Not sure how you eat, but for us, we can eat cheaper then DDP which keeps rising. We still have a TS & CS meal daily. But we aren't pop drinkers, so order water anyway. Bottled if on DDP, glass of ice water if oop. When OOP, we don't order dessert with lunch, and will share a dessert after dinner if we want. We also don't have a snack every day either. When on DDP we have a hard time trying to spend those snack credits so we will sometimes use them for breakfast, milk & cereal, bagel, side of eggs, or sausage.

The only reason we have the DDP for January trip is the stay, play promo was a good deal.

Our Aug trip we booked room only.