Using points on weekends?

[Granny]

A few posts recently have suggested that most of the DVCers don't use their points for weekends. So I thought I'd throw out a poll to see if we can capture some of the point planning preferences of the group here.

Like all polls, this one will be flawed. I'm sure I left off some options, and for many people there is no "one way" that they vacation. Feel free to check as many boxes as you feel apply to you, and add comments.

To keep this poll simpler, let's disregard the strategy of staying elsewhere when our arrivals are late at night and we want to save that first night of points. To me, that's a different strategy and not specifically tied to weekend nights (though it could well be one).

FWIW, we tend to go to WDW for stays of 8-12 days checking in on a Sunday and staying through the weekend into the following week. We hate to move once we've settled in, so we stay in the DVC villa the whole time.

The last couple of times we've checked out on a Saturday and used points for another Friday night. That works well for us because we drive and Saturday drives of 1,000 miles without worrying about various cities' rush hours is a good thing.


So I guess you would sum up our strategy by saying we are mindful of the weekend point schedule without letting it completely dictate our vacation accommodation plans.

 

[Chuck S]

Our trips are 10 to 12 days with a weekend (on points) in the middle.

 

[gharrer]

We try to book Sun -Thurs but will use weekend points if it suits our schedule. Mostly for a long weekend. Nancy

 

[OKW Lover]

I'm not sure I agree with the premise that most DVC'ers don't use points for weekends. I suspect that most actually Do use points for weekends.

But, to the point of your question. We sometimes adjust the dates of our vacation to minimize the number of weekend days. Things like arriving or leaving on a Saturday so we won't have to use points for one of the weekend days. Or, if flying in on a Saturday we will time our arrival to be late in the day and stay off property that night. The next day we check-in bright and early so we don't actually loose a day of the parks.

 

[bub]

We've always avoided weekends in the past to save points (sometimes staying on cash rather than points at a non-DVC resort). But the moving part has always been a pain - I like the variety of places to stay, but I hate moving our stuff (and I hate losing our kitchen when we move from a one-bedroom to a regular hotel room). We've tried moving to a DVC studio (feels like a letdown after being in the 1-bedroom) and to Ft. Wilderness cabins (still have kitchens and fun theming, but not DVC).

Finally this year, after 10 years of ownership, we are planning a full weekend stay on points (7 nights total). To save points, we're planning trips every other year now that our kids are older (and able to take other sorts of trips). Looking forward to NOT moving!

 

[HUFF590]

We bought the points to use and we use them , weekends dont matter

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Because of the distance we travel, we usually stay 10 days (9 nights) with 2 weekends included to get the most out of a trip. But we usually switch to Universal for either the first or last weekend and stay at the Hard Rock Hotel.

HBC

 

[OKWMom]

We bought our points to allow us to stay how we wanted. For us, it is 8 nights, Sat-Sun. Maybe after our retirement and/or the kids get out of school, we will be able to adjust our schedule and get more trips from our points.

 

[Granny]

I'm not sure I agree with the premise that most DVC'ers don't use points for weekends. I suspect that most actually Do use points for weekends.

I think it's important to note that this board is not reflective of all DVC owners. I would imagine that those who frequent the DIS DVC boards are some of the most savvy DVC owners and who would be most likely to come up with point-stretching strategies. My guess is that most of the tens of thousands of other DVC owners either just make their vacations or have some rudimentary point-stretching strategies but don't think of things like paying cash for weekends and linking reservations.

 

[eliza61]

We always come down for a minimum of 10 days so definitely use them on weekends. Getting 3 kids settled once is hard enough, no way am I moving just to save points

 

[DisneyHumbug]

In my case, it really depends on who I'm travelling with. If it's my college aged kids, we avoid the weekends, but if it's my 24 yo we go for long weekends because she doesn't get a lot of vacation time. Next trip we will arrive late on a Friday night but I'm not stressing about the points, after all we'll be in DisneyWorld!!!

 

[Muushka]

Last December we stayed at BCV (wonderful resort by the way )for 4 nights in a studio before checking into our 1 BR at VWL. We did include a Fri and Sat night. I can see using points for a weekend stay in a studio, but we just cannot justify the points for a 1 BR over a weekend. Too frugal for that. Besides, we really love Dixie Landings and that is a great excuse for us to stay there, and we do not mind moving.

We ended those 8 days at WDW with a 4 day cruise on the Wonder over Christmas. The cruise cost less than staying at VWL in a 1 BR (figuring $10 a point) over a weekend. No brainer for us. Too bad the Wonder does not have those 4 day cruises over the weekend more often. I cannot see doing a 3 day (just not enough time) cruise, 4 day is perfect for us, but they are usually Sunday thru Thursday.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our usualy stay is 9-12 nights with one weekend in the middle. When we purchased, we calculated the points on a weekly basis rather than a daily one. At that time, we expected to stay a week each trip, but that has changed over our years of membership. Now we like the longer trips, but then that's also why we added on!

 

[starbox]

We avoid weekends, but we live within a comfortable driving distance and take between 3-4 short trips. If I had to drive 10+ hours or fly to Orlando, I'd use weekend points without thinking twice!

 

[Figment2]

I'm one of those people who doesn't worry about weekend points. A couple of friends & I usually do 1-3 trips a year for long weekends (arriving Fri., leave Mon or Tues). Then we do a 10 or 11 day trip the end of October and that's over two weekends.

I have two friends who own DVC, who don't frequent these boards, who are maniacal about conserving points. One who sometimes tags along on the long weekends is constantly telling me that "you know, if you leave Saturday instead of Friday and return home on Tues or Wed instead of Mon or Tues., you'd only have one weekend night..." I'm like "whatever" (which drives her over the edge).

Of couse, maybe if I was a bit more frugal with points, I'd stop adding on!

Cyn

 

[3DisneyKids]

We go down for a week, but move for the week-end. My ideal is to START at the non-DVC resort (that way it is not a let-down at the end of the vacation to be "downgraded" after being in DVC).

We have 3 kids, so yes, we get settled and then have to re-pack, etc. However, we also always get a car, so it is not that big of a deal. The real reason we move however, other than points, is b/c it almost makes it feel like 2 vacations. New resort, new pool, etc. Everyone gets all excited to see "the next place."

In the past, we stayed at AKL for two nights (youngest was just a baby, so we could still get just one room), and that was awesome for all of us. Of course, then we got to OKW and our huge 1 BR and that was even better. This year, we got a great deal on a 2 BR at the Sheraton Vistana and just couldn't pass it up. We paid $45/night total (tax included) for a huge 2 BR. Thinking what a 2 BR at SSR (where we spent the rest of our vacation) would have "cost" us for those two week-end nights (figuring at either $5-6/pt or the rental of $10/pt) it was totally worth the hassle of moving. Plus, as I said...then we got to start our vacation all over again!

I do think, though, that we will try doing a one-week all at the same place next time and see how that feels.

 

[Caskbill]

Being retired, we try to maximize our stays at Disney. That means to avoid weekends. Our 'vacations' usually last in the 5 to 7 week range, and on average we'll probably spend 15 to 20 days of that at Disney, in 5-day increments. We might do that twice a year.

We might go to OKW for 5 nights (6-days), then somewhere else in Florida for several days, then back to BWV for 5 days, then to my sister's house for the weekend (they're an hour away), then back to SSR for 5-days, and so on.

Sometimes we'll stay on-site for the weekend at a value resort. Other times we'll stay in a hotel up on I-drive and go to Universal and Sea World. And on a rare occassion, we'll stay one day of so on the weekend.

Generally we want to avoid the weekends at WDW anyway since the crowds get so much larger, mostly because of the locals.

I'd rather have 2 weekdays than 1 weekend day for the same number of points.

 

[Credit Man]

Our trips are usually 12 days with one weekend stay.

 

[vbalacek]

We generally stay 6 nights (Sunday - Saturday) to avoid 1 weekend night. (Without the Saturday night stay, we have enough points to bring our parents in a separate studio from Sunday -Friday).

I've often thought of moving to a smaller unit for the weekend, to decrease points for those night, so far have not been able to convince DH.

 

[goofy4tink]

We like to stay at a different, untried resort for Fri and Sat nights, then move over to BWV until the following Sat. But, we also like to try and squeeze in more than one trip each year. So, stretching points is becoming an art for me!!!