Still debating - lots more questions

[BfloRaisin]

Do all of the DVC resorts have a place to buy groceries while there rather than have to bring them with? Are there regular stoves in the rooms or just microwaves? How about toasters? Oh yeah, and cleaning supplies, ie dishrags, soaps, etc.? How do you get around such a big resort as OKW or one as big as SSR is supposed to be, ie are there internal buses, golfcarts, or do they just look bigger than they really are and actually walkable to all locations? Is the Disney transportation scheduled or just every 10 min or so as at the resorts? Do you have to have the points in your account at the time of res. or can you reserve if you'll have them by the time of your stay? And last but not least - for the kids - are there gamerooms or arcades at the DVC resorts?
I know there's a lot of questions here - have a lot and couldn't search. Answer one or all - any thing's appreciated! These boards are just great!

 

[TiggerFreak]

Do all of the DVC resorts have a place to buy groceries while there rather than have to bring them with? Yes

Are there regular stoves in the rooms or just microwaves? In the 1 & 2 bd, real stoves & micros, In studios, just a micro
How about toasters? Yes
Oh yeah, and cleaning supplies, ie dishrags, soaps, etc.?
yes
How do you get around such a big resort as OKW or one as big as SSR is supposed to be, ie are there internal buses, golfcarts, or do they just look bigger than they really are and actually walkable to all locations?
Buses,
Is the Disney transportation scheduled or just every 10 min or so as at the resorts? Kinda
Do you have to have the points in your account at the time of res. or can you reserve if you'll have them by the time of your stay? Must have points available on the date of checkin,
And last but not least - for the kids - are there gamerooms or arcades at the DVC resorts?Yes
I know there's a lot of questions here - have a lot and couldn't search. Answer one or all - any thing's appreciated! These boards are just great! [/B][/QUOTE]

 

[PamOKW]

I'll tackle a few!

All the resorts have a small grocery/general stores. There are also more supermarket choices not far from DD. These include Goodings, Winn-Dixie and Publix. If you are staying more than a few days it's worth a quick trip to stock up. There is also the option to have DVC stock your room in advance.

The one-bedrooms and larger are fully equipped with "real" GE electric stoves as well as microwaves. The studios only have microwaves. Toasters are in all units. The bigger units also have a mop, dust bin, pail, vaccuum, etc. (How much cleaning do you plan to do?). All of these would be available in a studio by asking Housekeeping. Many studios do have the vaccuums.

I find OKW to be quite walkable. It's really no more than 10 minutes from the furthest point to the main pool area. There also isn't a lot of need to walk. There is a large pool in the back area as well as two smaller pools in addition to the main pool. Any bus makes a loop within the resort and you can hop on to cut down on the walking if necessary. I'm not sure how SSR will be set up. The buses run like at the other WDW resorts -- 10 minutes is pushing it, I think 20 minutes is the "advertised" length between buses.

Reservations are made on the 11/7 month basis. If you'll have the points at the time of your stay, you can book it. (The points are then committed to the reservation.)

Game rooms plus activities for kids are at all the resorts.

Have you looked around on www.disneyvacationclub.com? That may help answer questions, too. But, please, keep asking here as well.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Hi Bflo

I can answer a few.

The studios have microwaves and the larger units have a full kitchen.

The larger resorts have multiple bus stops for transportation to the parks. Not sure of transportation within the resort.

You have points at the time of reservation. You can use banked points, current points or borrow points from the next use year. to make the ressie.

I know there is an arcade at BCV. Im sure there are others, just not 100% sure so i will leave that for someone who is.

 

[BfloRaisin]

Thank you for your responses! Great info.

Seems that I got two different answer or opinions though as to whether you needed to have enough points at time of reservation or whether you could reserve as long as you'd have enough at the time of check-in?

Any further clarification on this would be appreciated.

 

[PamOKW]

You can make reservations before you actually have the points.

For example, you have an April Use Year. Your 2003 points are good from April 1, 2003-March 31, 2004. You used them all for a trip in May 2003. You want to book a trip for May 2004. You were able to call in June 2003 to book at your home resort. You will be using the points that you get in April 2004 to "pay" for the trip. These points are commited to this trip. You can't book more future trips than you'll have points to pay for. However, you can use banking and borrowing to have as much as 3 years worth of points available in any one year.

 

[BfloRaisin]

Thank you for the example - it really helped me figure this out. Better yet - it was the answer I was hoping for! Seems to make sense but you never know - so I figured better safe in asking then sorry later.

Thanks again!