Stupid, long, complex online MS questions....

[TexasErin]

Stupid questions on online booking that I should know the answer to. I just want to make sure that I don't screw it up somehow.

I have two contracts with December UY. One contract is 160 points for AKV and the other contract is 113 points at BLT. We bank and borrow our points to stay at BLT every third year. We bought 113 points because it cost 337 points get a 1BR Theme Park view every third year&..Of course then the point allocation changed and the points needed were then 341 instead of the 337 points that it started off at (for our end of May/start of June vacations). GRRRR!!!! Now were 2 points short which ruins getting to book our week at 11 months......anyhoo.....

So our plans were to stay at BLT next summer. At eleven months out, I booked the six days that I had enough BLT points to book (which took 294) and planned on booking our last night at the seven month window, which takes 47 points. So we used all of our banked BLT 2012 UY points, all of our BLT 2013 UY points, and borrowed 68 BLT points from UY 2014. We have 6 AKV points left from UY 2013 so we will use those, plus borrow 41 points from BLT UY 2014. Plus we like 10 day trips, so we were also going to either book 3 nights at the Poly (if we could get a discount) or 3 nights at an A of A suite at the beginning of our trip. It all sounded great!!!!!

But now we want to go to Disneyland!!!!! And we only have money and vacation time for one trip per year. We have WDW annual passes that we got for the $399 special, so I know its crazy, but I was thinking that maybe financially it would even out. ASSUMING I could book 7 nights at VGC in a deluxe studio would only be 148 points and then if I could use 149 points to stay three nights at the Disneyland hotel in a premium view. That would give me ten nights using points so I would save the approximately $1200 that I was roughly estimating spending for the three nights at the Poly (with a discount that may or may not happen) OR a suite at A of A. Then we wouldnt rent a car at DLR like we do at WDW, so that would save us around $350 (if I get the same rate that I got a couple of months ago for our rental car). And then if Im able to rent out the 48 points that I have left (NO FLAMES, PLEASE), this plus no extra hotel costs and no rental car would give me the money that I would use for buying DLR tickets when I already have WDW annual passes. So financially it sounds like a reasonable decision- RIGHT????

SORRY SO LONG.....

I know its difficult to get VGC at 7 months so I need to do it online at 7 months out as soon as the online system opens and hope for the best. But will I have to cancel my BLT reservation ahead of time to try to book Disneyland and VGC so that I have available points???? I hate to cancel it and then find out that VGC is booked up or that I cant use my points at the Disneyland hotel on Memorial Day weekend. And then I would have no BLT booked, so be forced to stay at a different resort at WDW that I dont want. Also I want the system to use the 294 points that Ive already booked for BLT and 3 points that I have left from my 2013 UY AKV points. Is all of this going to be too difficult or complicated? It sounds like a lot has to fall into place for it to work.....

Between our longing to see Walt's park, Carsland, and avoid the Florida heat/humidity/daily raining, we are really wanting to go to DLR for the first time.

 

[chalee94]

But will I have to cancel my BLT reservation ahead of time to try to book Disneyland and VGC so that I have available points????

you can probably look and see if there is availability at VGC beforehand.

but yes, there might be a period where you would have to cancel BLT and risk someone else getting to the last available BCG room before you can switch over and book it. you would need to cancel BLT first if you wanted to use those pts.

(even so, if it's that close, you'll probably get your waitlist to come through if you only barely miss booking an open room at VGC...but if VGC has no availablility at all, i would not take the chance on a waitlist.)

 

[Sandisw]

Since you do need the points, and will have to cancel BLT before you book VGC, I would do this via MS.

You could always call the day before your window opens and ask them to give you an idea of the BLT availability for the room type you have reserved...if there is still some availability, at least you know that you would have a good chance the next day of getting it back if you have to cancel before booking VGC.

With VGC, it is certainly tricky because its a small resort, and IIRC, from reading,those first few weeks in June are difficult at the 7 months.

I don't think you would have an issue with getting a 1 bedroom back at BLT though...what might be tough is the Theme park view, but 1 bedrooms tend to go last, and if you are doing this exactly at the 7 month mark, even a wait list for that would probably work.

Tough choices...

 

[TexasErin]

Thank you both!

I know VGC will be difficult..... Do you think that I will have any problems booking the Disneyland Hotel for Memorial Day weekend using my points? Do they have limits on the percentage of hotel rooms that can be booked with DVC points?

 

[TexasErin]

Correction- it won't be Memorial Day weekend since Memorial Day will be 5/26/14 and our trip will start 5/30/14.

But I was still wondering if limits are placed on the percentage of non-DVC hotel rooms that can be booked with DVC points? If so, any idea if the last weekend in May would be difficult.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Correction- it won't be Memorial Day weekend since Memorial Day will be 5/26/14 and our trip will start 5/30/14.

But I was still wondering if limits are placed on the percentage of non-DVC hotel rooms that can be booked with DVC points? If so, any idea if the last weekend in May would be difficult.

There is a limit to the number of Disney Collection reservations. DVC doesn't want to get stuck holding all your points and no way to sell them.

 

[Pirate Granny]

If it was me, I would rent points for my California trip, and rent out my own points to offset. You said you had AP...you realize they have to be activated no later than this December...

 

[Halle]

The last time we went to Disneyland I was able to use my DisneyWorld tickets. I know that Disneyland tickets are less money but I had a 10 day non expiring ticket so it was basically a wash.

 

[TexasErin]

If it was me, I would rent points for my California trip, and rent out my own points to offset. You said you had AP...you realize they have to be activated no later than this December...

They were activated on our trip a couple of months ago. They will expire 6/9/14. If we go to DL, it would mean we only got one 10-day trip out of them. For $399, they were around the same price as 10-day park hoppers would have been. Plus we got an AP discount at GF. I know we should probably go back to WDW again, but with saving on a rental car and not paying extra for Poly or AofA, we should spend about the same.

I will look into renting ours and then renting from a VGC owner. I hadn't thought about that.

 

[TexasErin]

The last time we went to Disneyland I was able to use my DisneyWorld tickets. I know that Disneyland tickets are less money but I had a 10 day non expiring ticket so it was basically a wash.

I read on Mousesavers that you can't use WDW APs at DL. I wish we could!!!! I looked into the price of getting the WDW/DL AP, but they're almost $1000 a piece! I think they're $960 and I've heard we'd get credit for $399, but it would be cheaper to just get the Deluxe Disneyland Passport for $469.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I read on Mousesavers that you can't use WDW APs at DL. I wish we could!!!! I looked into the price of getting the WDW/DL AP, but they're almost $1000 a piece! I think they're $960 and I've heard we'd get credit for $399, but it would be cheaper to just get the Deluxe Disneyland Passport for $469.

That's correct. And in the past, some guests have been able to use regular WDW passes at DL (which is really a waste of money since DL day passes aer cheaper than WDW day passes). But if they have been converted to the new system, they cannot be used at DL.