Weekend Stay Not at DVC

[abw]

Given the higher price of weekend stays, do people often stay at a non-DVC resort for Friday and/or Saturday?

If so, are there favorite on-site resorts to fill the gap? Or off-site?

Just wondering how people get the most they can out of their points! Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

On all our stays so far, we've stayed the weekend on our points wherever we were. Just easier to me. I bought the points to use at DVC resorts and I don't really have a need to stretch them to the point that I need to move or mess around with separate reservations.

I know others move to mods or values sometimes for the weekend, or stay in the same place on cash, using the DVC discount. I think a cash reservation at the same resort, in the same room type, is the best approach for saving points -- then if you can get your reservations all linked -- you shouldn't have to move.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We generally stay 10 days but only one weekend, so we don't see the weekend points as such a burden. Now if we stayed 2 weekends, it might be. I didn't buy DVC to spend money staying other places each trip. I looked at DVC as a way to save money, not spend beyond DVC.

 

[PEANUT1]

we are doing a Sat-Fri stay at Treehouses but I wanted to come in on Friday so we are planning to stay off site for Friday..probably the Marriott or Radisson. It will save me a lot of points.

 

[bwvBound]

We purchased our points to stay at DVC and included weekends into our purchase decision. We'll often stay 10-12 nights with one weekend in the middle (as mentioned earlier) and have even done the inverse (10 nights with two weekends). It is all good!

 

[Sammie]

We have spent weekends at Gaylord Palms, loved it, they offer great discounts and I will also try the new Bonnet Creek hotels on weekends. I have enough points to stay weekends at Disney but love trying to new places, especially ones that give good discounts and great service.

 

[Chuck S]

We used to move offsite. Too much work and time in the middle of a trip, we bought more points to cover weekends.

 

[DebbieB]

I spent a Saturday night at the Swan in June. I didn't have enough Starwood points for a free night but enough to get a room for $60 plus the points I had. It allowed me to do one of my favorite things, which is got to Epcot, see Illuminations, stroll along the BW afterwards. I was staying at AKV for the rest of the trip, so I was able to still do that easily. Then checked out in the morning. The valet asked if I was heading home - it was nice to say no, I really just got here!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I agree with Chuck. Too much work to pack up and move, then move back. We check in, maybe on a Fri or Sat and then stay through the next Fri or Sat. Usually 8-10 nights. We don't save up points, we just use them since we only go once a year.

 

[rentayenta]

We enjoy split stays so we may stay Sun-Thurs at SSR and then move the last 5 nights at AKV or OKW where the w/e points are less.

 

[mgilmer]

We don't usually consider weekend day points vs weekday points in our vacation plans, however I might at least once when the new Four Seasons opens.

 

[Dean]

When staying on points we often go down on Sat and stay somewhere nice but cheap then arrive early Sunday. For exchanges we usually arrive the night before the start day of the week also staying off site. But we are 4 hours away to we may have more flexibility than most in this area.

 

[crisi]

We have. We have extended the vacation a day a few times, paying cash to revisit some favorite resorts - AKL before VAKL opened was one. It isn't necessarily about getting the "most" out of our points for us - but we have a small contract, have no need for a larger contract over the long term, but sometimes want an extra day.

We really don't find it a bother to move if we are only moving once and its a short term move - staying somewhere Saturday night before moving into our resort for a Sunday - Saturday week for instance. We do pack for it, however, so we aren't even opening our real suitcases.

 

[abw]

Thanks for all the feedback. It's useful to hear how different people try different strategies. We're waiting on ROFR right now, so are already considering different ways to turn our pool of points into multiple trips per year. Thanks a lot!

 

[disneybirds]

We usually drive down on Sat and stay off site. We usually only have one suitcase and the cooler to bring in on Sat. Then, we can check in early at the next day and hopefully get the room we want!

 

[tjcj]

for the last few trips we have stayed at one of the value resorts the day we travel in (norm Sat). The Sunday I get up early go check in at our DVC and meet the rest of the group at the parks. By the time we are done at the parks our room is ready and we head right in.
We have had a bag lost once (which showed up late that night) but other than that its been great.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We prefer not to hassle with changing hotels, and prefer to stay in the same room for the entire time at Disney. We bought the DVC membership because we decided we would like to go for 10 nights at a time every other year. DH and I are both teachers so we have the summers off, and this affords us to spend only one weekend at WDW during our 10-night trip. It also allows us to drive down from NYC and see things and visit people along the way (we have friends and relatives along the way and it is nice to visit them and the boys love doing this!). We also bought DVC with the full intention of not having to worry about figuring in cost of hotel when we go on our Disney vacation, except for the hotels along the drive. I feel like it is almost a waste of money (for us, just my opinion) to spend extra money on a hotel in the area (especially a Disney-run hotel) instead of using our points. But, I am aware that not everyone has enough points or could afford to buy enough points up front to cover weekends in their DVC stays. We were fortunate to be able to put this purchase on a 0% interest CC (had 9 months of 0% left at the time) and paid it off in full before the 0% was up, so we did not pay a penny in interest.

 

[Crystal_27]

Nope - we will stay onsite. We drive, though, so we have a little bit of flexibility. If, however, we were at a point we we wanted to conserve points, we *might* (though probably not) drive down to Orlando on a Saturday and stay at a cheapie motel on Saturday night.

 

[MagikMom]

When we go we usually go for at least 10 days or more. Here's an example of what we do. Arrive on a Friday and stay Fri and Sat night at Pop Century or one of the other value resorts/or a Moderate resort like Port Orleans. We check out on Sunday, then check in to our DVC resort for a week, Sun-Sun. If we want to stay longer than that we stay at our DVC resort up until thursday so no extra weekend points.

 

[jamstew]

I bought a very cheap Wyndham contract on eBay For the equivalent of 168 Disney points, I can stay in a 1BR for a two weeks at Bonnet Creek (just across from CBR), which has a shuttle to the parks but is not actually on-site (i.e., no Disney benefits). The buy-in was a fraction of the cost of DVC, MF's are similar, and I can dine at the Waldorf or Hilton and combine a stay there with Sunday-Friday at DVC for a total of 12 nights, twice a year I bought my DVC points with the intention of sharing them with my adult children and their families, and, by combining DVC points with Wyndham points, the kids can stay at DVC for a week every 2-3 years while I get two 12-night trips a year (10 DVC & 14 Bonnet Creek) if I choose.

As a solo traveler and a very organized & light packer, it's no big deal at all to me to change resorts. I'd rather have longer trips, and I just couldn't justify the expense of a DVC add-on.