The happiest problem ever!

[Jennasis]

DH and I are planning a Sept 2012 trip (nothing booked yet), and were assuming we'd likely book a MYW with Free Dining package at Pop like the happy budget conscious folks we always are. This deal/plan has always worked well for us in the past....so what's my problem?

DH's uncle and I were chatting and Disney came up and he said "Hey, you know I'm a DVC member right?" (had no idea). Well, he then offers us his points to book our trip! We're talking 2 years worth of banked points totalling close to 300...

After I composed myself and thanked him profusely, I am now at a loss. Despite my 20 some-odd trips to WDW and self-proclaimed "expert" Disney status, I really don't know much about DVC and how it works. His home resort is SSR, but he's stayed at many of the others (his favorite was AKV). DH and I LOVE the deluxes but have value budgets, so we've been doing Pop for the past 5 years...the prospect of being able to go deluxe again has us giddy!

So where should I begin the planning? I have no idea how many points the various resorts "cost". So I don't know how long we could "afford" to stay on these points (our original plan, and all we could afford, was 5 days at Pop). I am also assuming using free points and paying OOP for meals is a much better savings over the MYW pkg with FD, even when comparing it to a value resort.

Help! I've never had this wonderful problem before, nor the freedom to choose a deluxe resort at will. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!!

 

[snykymom]

I can't really help on the DVC points part, but you should also know that your DH's uncle (who has to book the resort for you) can also get you the dining plan. DVC members can purchase the dining plan without buying extra tickets, so that may work out for you since you like the dining plan anyway.

 

[Jennasis]

I can't really help on the DVC points part, but you should also know that your DH's uncle (who has to book the resort for you) can also get you the dining plan. DVC members can purchase the dining plan without buying extra tickets, so that may work out for you since you like the dining plan anyway.

and I die...

 

[JennSaint]

Here is a link to the points calculator here on the DIS:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resort/dvcpoint.cfm
I think it really depends on your kids ages. We've only stayed at 2 DVC resorts. BCV and AKV Jambo. When my kids were younger they loved AKL but now they are teens and prefer BCV for walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. If you have really young children I would consider BLT it's new and right next to Magic Kingdom. Good luck deciding!

 

[Tinkh]

Looks like you will be staying a few more days than 5! How wonderful

 

[hannahdrewmom]

Is it just you and DH? With 300 points in Sept you could stay, for example, 2.5 weeks in a studio at AKL! (It goes for 125 per week!)

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

 

[ocalla]

What a wonderful problem to have!!! That's so nice of him to do this for you.

My choice would be easy, BCV, because I am partial to staying real close to EPCOT. We love to walk there at night for dinner, the resort is so wonderful and the staff is great.

But AKL is absolutely beautiful. We had lunch at Sanaa last year, and went over to see the rest of the resort...........WOW is all I can say.

BLT seems like a great place also, and if your kids are young it would be easy with the monorail access.

Boy you have a tough decision.

Have a great time planning.

 

[kmermaid]

Just a reminder that you can't get "free" dining when staying at a DVC resort, you can get the dining plan, you just have to pay for it before arriving. But that is still a sweet deal.

 

[Jennasis]

Couple of things...

No kids. Just me and DH (two big kids haha!).

We wouldn't mind paying OOP for the dining plan. We've done that before. For some reason I thought it was unavailable at ALL to DVC members. Color me super shocked, and thrilled!

We adore EPCOT. It's probably our favorite park, and we stayed at BC on our honeymoon in 2005 (got a free upgrade from standard view to concierge on that trip. We were floored!). My first gut reaction when I heard about Uncle Awesome's points was "BEACH CLUB!". DH's was "Boardwalk?", until I reminded him of the scary clown pool (clowns scare him). Part of me would murder a puppy to stay at BC again, and part of me would love to try a new resort.

CR is still one of our favorite resorts (spent our first honeymoon night on the 9th floor facing MK. Could only afford one night there). We do dig the look and stuff at BLT.

 

[ocalla]

There is just something about EPCOT that draws us there every night. We usually take a mid-day swim each day, head upstairs to change, then walk over to EPCOT for dinner, drinks and shopping.

Now that we have stayed at BC/YC, I can't get my DD or DH to even hear about any other resort!!

We even enjoy the boat ride over to DHS, although I hear that the walk isn't too bad?!?

Now the bus to DTD is a WHOLE other story!!! Next trip we plan on using a Taxi for that day.

 

[Jennasis]

OOoooh, looking at that point chart was such a mistake! We could stay at the AKV CONCIERGE for a week with these points...or a MK facing room at BLT! My head is swimming!!

It looks like the COST of the trip would be about the same as the 5 day Pop trip we had planned..IF we bought the DP for the DVC stay, but we could stay for 2 days longer and have the amazing resort upgrade. And with a longer trip I wouldn't feel nearly so guilty about the one day we have planned for IoA!

 

[rusty4]

OOoooh, looking at that point chart was such a mistake! We could stay at the AKV CONCIERGE for a week with these points...or a MK facing room at BLT! My head is swimming!!

It looks like the COST of the trip would be about the same as the 5 day Pop trip we had planned..IF we bought the DP for the DVC stay, but we could stay for 2 days longer and have the amazing resort upgrade. And with a longer trip I wouldn't feel nearly so guilty about the one day we have planned for IoA!

Last year we were watching Wishes from the CR. We looked over at BLT and thought how lucky the people staying there were. What a view to have every night! Staying at the BC villa's would be nice too. We love Epcot!

 

[stmize]

You could also get a 1 bdr which would give you a full kitchen and a washer/dryer. DVC members can book at 11 mos out at their home resort and 7 mos out at any other resort. When dvc members purchase the dining plan it has to be paid for all at once. So dh's uncle would need a credit card to give member svcs when setting that up. or if you feel uncomfortable doing that. Some have gotten a disney gift card and had the member to use that to purchase dining plan (just be sure to keep it until you return)

 

[twinboysmom]

Your uncle needs to make the reservation for whatever size unit you would like now at his home resort of SSR. This ensures you a room. September is not a super busy month for dvc so your chances of switching resorts at the 7 month window is good. Your chances for AK concierge is poor at best but you coukd always try. Those rooms usually go very quickly at the 11 month mark. Have multiple choices for places to stay. You might get lucky and have multiple choices but be aware this doesn't always happen. Good luck. We love our dvc.

 

[Jennasis]

You could also get a 1 bdr which would give you a full kitchen and a washer/dryer. DVC members can book at 11 mos out at their home resort and 7 mos out at any other resort. When dvc members purchase the dining plan it has to be paid for all at once. So dh's uncle would need a credit card to give member svcs when setting that up. or if you feel uncomfortable doing that. Some have gotten a disney gift card and had the member to use that to purchase dining plan (just be sure to keep it until you return)

The dining plan has to be paid all at once? That should be okay. Does the number of days we purchase have to match the number of days we are staying? For example we might only want 5 days of dining since two days out of seven may be spent at USO.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would go with Boardwalk Villas because in my opinion they have a great theme and atmosphere. Plus you can't beat having walkways to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

 

[Jennasis]

I would go with Boardwalk Villas because in my opinion they have a great theme and atmosphere. Plus you can't beat having walkways to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Whaaa? CR rEsort fan 4 Life suggest the Boardwalk??

We did consider it...but the scary clown pool makes it a no-go for us.

 

[Missyrose]

What an awesome dilemma to have! Soooo envious over here. Have you thought about a split stay? A few days at Beach Club (which you know you already love) and another few days at BLT or AKV for the new experience you're craving?

Have fun planning and keep us updated about what you decide!

 

[twinboysmom]

The dining plan has to be paid all at once? That should be okay. Does the number of days we purchase have to match the number of days we are staying? For example we might only want 5 days of dining since two days out of seven may be spent at USO.

Yes, you must purchase the dining plan for the full stay, unless you do a split stay. They just tried allowing the dvc members to segment their stay with the ddp. It was a catastrophe for most folks, on disney's end at least.

 

[BankBunny]

OOoooh, looking at that point chart was such a mistake! We could stay at the AKV CONCIERGE for a week with these points...or a MK facing room at BLT! My head is swimming!!

It looks like the COST of the trip would be about the same as the 5 day Pop trip we had planned..IF we bought the DP for the DVC stay, but we could stay for 2 days longer and have the amazing resort upgrade. And with a longer trip I wouldn't feel nearly so guilty about the one day we have planned for IoA!

Just an FYI-I forget the exact numbers, but there are very,very few of the AKV concierge and BLT MK view rooms availabe. You pretty much have to have these as your home resort with the 11 month booking window to get either of these. Personally DH and I love WLV.