Using Points at other Disney Resort

[Goofy's Mum]

Has anyone every used DVC points to stay at WDW's other resorts, ie, Grand Floridian, Caribbean Beach, etc.

Is this a worthwhile expediture?

Just curious in case we can't get a booking in October...

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hi, Goofy's Mum. Many here will agree that using your points for other than DVC resorts is not the best use of points, but I will argue to the death that it may not be a bad use of points.

If you figure that a point costs you $6, multiply that by the number of points required, then compare that to the cash price. You must remember that tax is included when using points, and not included when looking at the cash price.

Please feel free to ask questions....

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
Hi, Goofy's Mum. Many here will agree that using your points for other than DVC resorts is not the best use of points, but I will argue to the death that it may not be a bad use of points.

If you figure that a point costs you $6, multiply that by the number of points required, then compare that to the cash price. You must remember that tax is included when using points, and not included when looking at the cash price.

Please feel free to ask questions....

Perhaps using the fugure $6 per point is a little low, if your able to rent your points out at say $9 per point. That would tell you whether it would be better to rent the points out and use the cash for the stay versus just using points. Certainly, you'd want to factor in the hassle factor into whether or not you ended up renting points. But their your points, use them how you'd like, enjoy your stays.

 

[JimC]

We used points for AKL SV last December. We bought an add-on late in the use year and needed to use or lose the points. Could not get reservations at any of the DVC resorts (on property) so we went with our favorite non-DVC resort.

We had a great time watching the animals, used points that would otherwise have gone astray. We may do this again, such as GC in California or even more at WDW. But then it will be because we would rather use points than cash and do not want to bank for future use.

That said, we are just days away from a last minute surprise (for my wife) trip to the Poly for our 25th wedding anniversary using AP discount instead of points. Here it was a decision that the AP rate made it very attractive to use cash and not to borrow points from next year.

So I guess the best answer I can provide is it depends. Each time we will look at our "cost" using points or cash and make the call. We love DVC resorts and the one bedroom or two bedroom units. But we also enjoy other Disney resorts (the only Disney resorts we have not stayed at will be YC [we prefer BC!], Pop Century and GF - maybe some day on another surprise anniversary trip )

 

[Snowgod]

Every time we stay at another WDW resort, We miss our 1 Bedroom Villa.

 

[DebbieB]

Lets use a weeknight in May as an example:

GF - garden view 41 pts
CBR - standard 20 pts

BWV preferred, BCV, WLV:

studio 13 pts
1 bedroom 28 pts
2 bedroom 34 pts

For GF, you would be using more points than a DVC 2 bedroom. CBR would be more than a studio but less than a 1 bedroom. So you have to decide if using them at a non-DVC is worth the extra points compared to a larger room at DVC.

Remember that if you make the reservation at a non-DVC, you can't change it back to a DVC if a DVC room becomes available or if you would have to cancel. The points would only be able to be used outside of DVC once you reserve them outside of DVC.

 

[beattyfamily]

We've been DVC members since Feb 2001 and so far (2001 and 2002) we used our points to stay at the GF and then the Contemporary Tower.

This will be our first year staying 'home' at the BWV in a 2 bedroom (we invited family).

We are a family of 4 with 2 DD's who are young....3 and 6. I really wanted to be able to stay in the monorail resorts while they were young and we never could afford the GF before or the Contemporary Tower before. Now we were able to stay at the monorail resorts through our DVC points.

I don't regret it for a minute. Although with the chart changes since our trips and after staying at a 2 bedroom this coming Fall, I can't imagine going back to the monorail resorts!

Good luck!