Trading to Izatys

[mnlovesdisney]

Wondering if anyone has tried to trade in to Izatys in Minnesota. If anyone has questions I have are:

1. How many points does a week (2-bedroom) cost?
2. How long in advance did you have to make request?
3. Were you able to get summer months?

We are from Minnesota and just drove by there today. Did not do a tour just talked briefly to someone and drove through. It looks really nice and is rated well on TUG, so we thought might be interesting to stay close to home some year and trade into here if it is possible to get summer week.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I suspect it might depend on the time of year. I guess I am not sure, but I would expect to get the 2 bedroom exchange price for high season, which is 270 points.

 

[Dean]

No direct information, sorry. But it is well rated on TUG and the reviews are very positive. From the info I have, I think you can expect mid June through August to be high season, it appears likely that Jan, Feb and the summer fringe time would be mid season but it might be high and the rest low. 270/252/207 points respectively.

With any exchange, you should be looking a full year out minimum, preferably two. But your chances would vary greatly depending on the demand of the time you want. The other question is how far out does the resort deposit time, you should be able to find that out fairly easily if need be. And it can be a very important piece of information. If you wanted off time, you could likely get it up to 14 days out.

There are many units for that resort over the next two years so it appears there is good availability and they deposit 2 years out. That means you really need to look at 2006 at the earliest for the red times that I surmised above of Mid or High. Most of the units I saw were 2 BR so it appears most people lock off and deposit separately.

 

[dianeschlicht]

BTW, Izaty's is a beautiful resort, and close by for us!

 

[CarolMN]

We've stayed at Izatys - it is a wonderful resort. We had a small family reunion there several years ago. We paid cash - didn't own DVC at that time. Sinceyou are from Minnesota, you already know summertime is peak time here, so you can plan on paying peak season points for your trade. If you can get away in the early fall, that's a beautiful time to be at Izatys as well.

There is lots to do if you like fishing, golf, swimming, water sports and Minnesota in the summertime.

That said, I don't think I would give up DVC points for a week at Izatys - even for a peak summer time week, but that's me. There are so many great lake resorts in Minnesota that can be had for less $$ than the value I assign to my points. JMHO. YMMV.

I do understand that some may not want to go to WDW every year and don't mind using points to stay elsewhere. If that's you, hope you get your summer week at Izatys. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful vacation there.

Best wishes -

 

[Dean]

It looks like the resort has mostly lockoff's deposited. Here's the website for the resort . It has the floor plans. If you review the floor plans, you'll see a lot of variability. The smaller 1 BR has only a limited kitchen. The II book lists only 2 and 3 BR units. The 2 BR all trade for 6 but some sleep 8. The 3 BR all trade for 8, but some sleep 10 and others 12. One of the 2 BR styles (of several) are lockoff's and trade for 4 each side with one side having a limited kitchen. II does not list the 1 BR units but there is an extensive availability off season almost all with the 1 BR units.

Trying to think of ways to control one's destiny, here's the thoughts I have. First, if one can specify a full kitchen and then find out whether a unit offered has same, you can make sure you are getting the larger side of the lockoff. Since both trade for 4 for the 1 BR, you can't do it by occupancy. Same with the 2 BR. Since the larger ones trade for 6 just like the smaller ones and with DVC you SHOULD only be able to ask for an exchange for 6 using a 2 BR, you'll just have to take your chances. You could ask MS whether it sleeps 8 when they offer an exchange. The only other way to game this system appears to be to ask for a 3 BR. Since they are not lockoff's it appears, that would guarantee you at least sleep 10. Here's what I would do, though I suspect the answer to most of these areas would be in the negative.

• I would call the resort during the week and see what info I can find out.
• I would call MS and see what they can tell me about seasons, etc.
• See if you can specify full kitchen, if so, this will keep you out of the small side of the lockoff.
• See if DVC will let you put in a request for 8 people. If so, that will guarantee your sleeping capacity. It does appear though that the lockoff's in general are less desireable than the units with a loft and this would increase your chances of getting the lockoff unit.
• Trade for a 3 BR.
• If the answers above are mostly negative and some of these issues (like unit size, full kitchen) are important to you, find out if you can get a refund of your $75 exchange fee if they offer you technically what you are searching for but doesn't really meets your needs.

 

[mnlovesdisney]

Thanks for the all the information. Not sure what we will do, but is something to think about.