Weekend points are horrible! Why?

[jaybird]

It seems to me that it would take alot of points to afford a week or longer trip in a two bedroom villa because of the weekend. Other than moving for two days, banking points and not travelling the following year, renting points, etc... all which cost money... what other options are there.

I thought we could purchase 200 points which would be a big purchase to me. HOWEVER, that would only buy us 5 days (Sunday - Thursday) in off seasons. I don't think my DH would enjoy packing it up for two days and moving back somewhere else. PLUS, I don't like 5 day vacations, I'd rather have 9 or 10 days, it gives you time to realize you are even on vacation before you have to go home!!

I just can't see needing 500 points to enjoy a week vacation. Am I missing something? I don't want to pay maint. fees every year and only go every two years. I don't see how that pays out.

Which is the cheapest time of the year? Do the points needed ever rise, like room rates? This year it costs 200 points, next year for the same time, same room it would cost 220 points?

Karen

 

[DebbieB]

They have higher points on weekends so that people within driving distance don't take up all the rooms for Friday and Saturday weekend getaways.

You are looking at a 2 bedroom. The "rack rate" for a 2 bedroom at VWL is $520 plus tax per night during value season, $920 during holiday season. If you were looking at staying 9 or 10 nights and pay cash, in value season you would be over $5,000 (unless you could get a discount), holiday season would be over $9,000! DVC is expensive compared to even a deluxe resort, but you get so much more space & amenities. That's what you need to decide, if you are happy with a regular hotel room or want to splurge with a villa. I thought I was happy with a regular hotel room until I stayed in a 2 bedroom at OKW. Never want to go back to a regular room now!

They can reallocate the points required, but the bottom line total is constant. So for example, if they would raise one season's points, they would have to lower anothers.

 

[JADEMM]

We refuse to use that many points on the weekend (lets face it-you can rent those 150 points for $1500, that covers 2 nights at ASM and 4 7 day plus hoppers, which is 11 days of parks-enough for 2 trips) so we do stay friday and saturday at Allstars or Moderate or often dive to the Hilton Clearwater (1.5 hours) which is an awesome beach. If you hate to move, it is a problem and you just need that many points. Hope you can work it out-its a great program.

 

[Goofy Fan]

You need to compare apples with apples here. From the standpoint of needing a 2 BDR villa, it seems that your family is more than 4 people. Outside of DVC, most other resort hotes you would need 2 rooms to sleep more than 4 people. You also have to remember what the amenities are with DVC - full kitchen, washer/dryer, jacuzzi, etc. You don't get those amenities in the other resorts. Take the Polynesian, for example. If you reserved 2 rooms at the Polynesian for 5 nights, you're looking to pay at least $1,000 for the 2 rooms at a good discount such as annual pass rate. If you did that every year for the next 40 years, that's at least $40,000 at TODAY'S rate, and we know rates go up over time. 200 points with DVC will run around $14,000 - $15,000 depending on where and from whom you purchase. That sets you up for the next 40 years without fear of points going up! Even considering the annual dues, you're way, way ahead of the game here considering what that Polynesian room will cost per night in 10 years or 20 years.

Have you done a tour of the models in WDW? You have to appreciate the difference between a 1 BDR villa compared to a standard hotel room. Other people will talk about the $49 rate at All Stars, but you get 2 double beds, a sink and toilet for that much. Remember, compare apples to apples.

Most people do finance their point purchase over 5, 7, or 10 years by paying monthly mortgage amounts. Once you're paid up that's it except for annual dues each year. The differences between DVC and resort rooms at other hotels is huge.

 

[DVC California]

Hi Jaybird -

A 7 night stay in a 2-bedroom at Old Key West during Adventure season (Jan 1-31, Sept 1-30, and first two weeks in December) is currently 218 points for the entire week. Adventure season has been the the lowest point season because it is WDW's "slow" season. But on the otherhand, has become a very popular season and sometimes hard to book because of the affordability of that time of year.

Traditionally timeshares strictly sell and book week-long periods (Fri-Fri, Sat -Sat, or Sun-Sun). And because certain weeks and months (Easter, Christmas, summer time) are more desirable than other times of the year, those weeks often cost you more upfront from that developer.

Disney's point system actually gives it's member more flexibility by giving us the option of reserving only the days we need during the seasons we want to travel. Disney also developed their points system accordingly, more points needed in high seasons than slow seasons.

Disney also broke points needed down to the weekday/weekend level. After calculating the cost of the 218 points for a week in a 2-bedroom, they could have easily just divided that by seven to get a 31 point per night rate. But, as DebbieB wrote, that would lead to the weekends being booked more than weekdays because of people making quick getaways.

so, let's take that 31 points and restructure it so that the weekends cost a lttle more while also discounting the points for the weekdays! We still have 218 points needed for a weeks stay but by adjusting the points costs, introduced a way to control weekend only usage.

Here's the good part - Since you say you like to stay 9 days on vacation, you actually benefit from the discounted weekday points. You now only need to use 262 points than a "theoretical" 280 points that would be needed if there was no weekend differential.

I hope this helps you in your decision. My family also started with 210 points but ended loving the feeling of "Going Home" so much, we added 50 more. We've used our points at all the DVC resorts (except HH) and have also used points for a Disney Wonder cruise. The flexibility of the point system and the quality of Disney has made each trip very special.

Regards, Steve

 

[ncligs]

DVC California,

Very well said in your post Steve, I am sure 95% of DVC members would agree with you, and are glad they bought into DVC for the long term and 1st class accomodations.

 

[Richyams]

I think its a mistake to look at the cost of the individual nights. Look at the cost of a week or a ten day stay and see if that point cost is affordable....there is no doubt that it will save you money in the long term.

We would never even dream of taking the trouble to move out for the weekend. We take usually take 12 night trips arriving on Sunday and leaving a week from the following Friday. You can minimize the number of weekend nights pretty easily, but I certainly didn't buy into DVC to avoid weekends like the plague.

 

[PamOKW]

Just echoing looking at week-long stays. Before reading these boards, I never even thought about staying elsewhere on the weekends, etc. to stretch points. I know looking at the breakout it does seem "wasteful" but the purpose is to make it possible to book week-long stays. If the weekends didn't have a premium, folks would book long weekends all the time, making it difficult to get a full week.

200 points is not really a lot. The original required minimum purchase was higher -- 230 I believe. You can make your own decisions about size of rooms needed, whether you want to move, time of year, etc., etc. and then see whether or not 200 points will serve your needs.

 

[FreeTime]

I was glad to see this post here. I am currently having a weekend point dilemma myself! I have a 2 bedroom booked for May and the points on the weekends are 64 points per night! I keep telling myself that staying 2 weekend nights will keep me from a possible Sun-Thur stay later in the year. Notice I said possible stay. My DH and I finally decided that we bought the points for US to use and if we want to stay over the weekend we will. We didn't buy points so that we can keep renting them out (I am renting out a mere 30 now and it is killing me-I want them myself). We bought points so that we could have the vacation that we want. We will get more points next year, why not use the ones we have instead of banking some at the end of each year? To me I would much rather sepend 64 points per night then have to interupt my vacation to move to a room somewhere else. That takes precious hours out of our well deserved time off. So I agree with the person who posted, don't look at the daily points, look at the weekly points.

 

[Dean]

A few points. Weekends are expensive compared to weekdays but this is true for basically all points systems. While I agree that if one is looking at 7 days or longer, it's reasonable to look at the overall picture. For some that means not sweating the cost of weekends. For others it means only staying 5 or 6 days avoiding some of the higher weekend points. For others it's moving off property to try out other things and for some it's moving to other Disney resorts to try them out.

Personally, I never use weekend points but then I live only 4 hours away. Each member must decide what they are comfortable with within the current rules. Of course you could bank and borrow points using different tactics some years compared to others.

 

[Tagrel]

We don't mind moving, so I actually like planning around the weekends (and the lower weekday point costs make our points go much farther).

I tend to look for great deals, to try different resorts (this year we are spending a Fri-Sat at the Swan for $129 per night (teacher rate))

Next year I want to spend the weekend at a Universal resort. Staying in the smaller rooms makes us appreciate DVC all the more! And we get to 'mix it up' a bit.

Guess we just like making lemonade out of the weekend lemon prices!

Tagrel