WHat has been your biggest splurge using your points?

[dvcdisney]

Yes I agree with the ground floor. That is one thing I can't do I always request high floor. Got a thing about the geckos getting under door. LOL
I really did enjoy the resort much more than I thought I would.
Kerri

For most of our DVC stays, my only request is High Floor. For Poly, it was particularly important to request a high floor so I made sure I did the minute I booked reservation. Unfortunately, it was the opposite of what I requested.

In our 15 yrs of membership, we've had our fair share of not so great locations and room, however, I have to say that the Poly room assignment was the worse. I don't like to complain about room assignments, but I had to provide feedback after the Poly stay. My main issue was that it should not be considered Lakeview and that the ground floor rooms should be a different category. I would say it should be even less than the standard view. Certainly, it should be no where near the amount of points for Lakeview. I haven't checked the Poly points lately since I don't plan on staying there anytime soon.

However, Poly is wonderful. I loved visiting there even before DVC built the villas and I was one of those who was waiting for Poly to purchase more points. When it was finally announced, we were planning to purchase and decided that we would do a stay before choosing to purchase there. We own at 3 resorts and the Home Resort Priority was one of the main reason for those purchases. Well, after the stay, we didn't purchase. I suppose we saved money.

 

[holden]

We stayed in the GV at BLT a couple of years ago with family. It was wonderful!

This summer we are staying 11 days in a 2BR at VGF...just the 4 of us!

 

[alldiz]

Our biggest splurge was the one we just booked yesterday. DH and I are staying in a 2 BR for a night, just the two of us. Actually, we have extended family that's leaving to go home one day, and DH and I decided to stay an extra day. Before that, I THOUGHT our biggest splurge was when we decided to stay in a 1 BR, instead of our usual studio, for a week in HHI. But that ended up costing us money, because after that, we bought more points because we decided to always stay in a 1 BR there.

Nice. That is how DVC Gets YA!! I had no intention of staying in 1BR's. Now I'm psyched about my OCEAN view at Aulani. Like now I can't even "not" have a great view. LOL

For most of our DVC stays, my only request is High Floor. For Poly, it was particularly important to request a high floor so I made sure I did the minute I booked reservation. Unfortunately, it was the opposite of what I requested.
In our 15 yrs of membership, we've had our fair share of not so great locations and room, however, I have to say that the Poly room assignment was the worse. I don't like to complain about room assignments, but I had to provide feedback after the Poly stay. My main issue was that it should not be considered Lakeview and that the ground floor rooms should be a different category. I would say it should be even less than the standard view. Certainly, it should be no where near the amount of points for Lakeview. I haven't checked the Poly points lately since I don't plan on staying there anytime soon.

However, Poly is wonderful. I loved visiting there even before DVC built the villas and I was one of those who was waiting for Poly to purchase more points. When it was finally announced, we were planning to purchase and decided that we would do a stay before choosing to purchase there. We own at 3 resorts and the Home Resort Priority was one of the main reason for those purchases. Well, after the stay, we didn't purchase. I suppose we saved money.

Yikes I usually only put high floor also and have been lucky so far. We arrive pretty early in the day though. Curious, did you arrive late at poly and did you ask at front desk if you could have a different room?
Thanks

We stayed in the GV at BLT a couple of years ago with family. It was wonderful!

This summer we are staying 11 days in a 2BR at VGF...just the 4 of us!

That sounds amazing.
Kerri

 

[bobbiwoz]

I forgot about our family get together at Vero! 40th wedding anniversary, BC and 4 OVIRs for 4 nights!

Many went on night excursion to see turtle laying eggs! It was an amazing stay!

 

[alldiz]

I forgot about our family get together at Vero! 40th wedding anniversary, BC and 4 OVIRs for 4 nights!

Many went on night excursion to see turtle laying eggs! It was an amazing stay!

I haven't been to vero yet. I must do that combined with a WDW trip next time. I keep getting sucked into a cruise. I'm hoping to see turtles in Hawaii this summer.
Kerri

 

[chainkid]

I have splurged many times since buying in . We stayed in a OCEAN VIEW GRAND VILLA at AULANI in june 2014 booked at 7 month window. breathtaking view, room and resort. Plan to go again in a couple years . Stayed at BWV in a grand villa every other year in Dec and F& W in Oct. Best part is being able to bring family/friends and share our good fortune to have bought in years ago when price was reasonable. We rarely go by ourselves but save points to go as a group . We have stayed at every resort once and some more than that. Can't say we have ever had a truly horrible trip and most have been fantastic. It was by far the best decision we have ever made ..

 

[alldiz]

I have splurged many times since buying in . We stayed in a OCEAN VIEW GRAND VILLA at AULANI in june 2014 booked at 7 month window. breathtaking view, room and resort. Plan to go again in a couple years . Stayed at BWV in a grand villa every other year in Dec and F& W in Oct. Best part is being able to bring family/friends and share our good fortune to have bought in years ago when price was reasonable. We rarely go by ourselves but save points to go as a group . We have stayed at every resort once and some more than that. Can't say we have ever had a truly horrible trip and most have been fantastic. It was by far the best decision we have ever made ..

Grand Villas look amazing I hope to stay in one. For us now that my DD is getting older we can bring her friends and that will make it more fun. See the parks through some "newbies" eyes. I agree, purchasing DVC was the best decision for out family as well. In fact our 1st family vacation was to WDW and we purchased 6 months later. Also the "sticker shock" of WDW vacations has made exploring to other areas (Europe) not seem crazy expensive. LOL
Kerri

 

[bobbiwoz]

I just looked at point requirements for OVGV at Aulani , OMG!

 

[dvcdisney]

Yikes I usually only put high floor also and have been lucky so far. We arrive pretty early in the day though. Curious, did you arrive late at poly and did you ask at front desk if you could have a different room?
Thanks

Kerri

I believe we arrived around check in time, around 4pm. And no, I didn't ask for a different room but I do recall asking if we were able to get our request, which was high floor, and she replied with that fact that there are no other rooms. I thought it was strange that she said that, but I suppose in hindsight, she was expecting me to get upset. As I mentioned before, we've had our share of not so great rooms, so we just decided to make the best of it. But it was worse than we thought and now I can't bring myself to book there...not a loss for them, I'm sure.

 

[mickeymom629]

Biggest splurge for us was a BWV Grand villa for 6 nights with the family! It was awesome and everyone wants to go back. We had the 1-story and could see the SpaceShip Earth.

I'm in the process of planning our second gv stay at either AKV (5 nights) or SSR (6 nights). Tough decision!!!!!!

 

[CaliAdventurer]

We were able to give a week at Aulani to a teacher and her family who went above and beyond for our son last year and brought another beloved teacher for a week at Christmas in the 2nd bedroom. We booked a two bedroom for this christmas so that we can do it again because it was such a lovely time and she spoke French to our children as a bonus! (the kids are in a french school and we don't speak a word)

 

[DeDobber]

In three weeks we will be in the 3BR at Grand Californian for three nights. So excited. Did a 1BR Ocean View for 7 nights at Aulani last August.

 

[dvc at last !]

I forgot about our family get together at Vero! 40th wedding anniversary, BC and 4 OVIRs for 4 nights!

Many went on night excursion to see turtle laying eggs! It was an amazing stay!

What is OVIR ?

 

[alldiz]

I believe we arrived around check in time, around 4pm. And no, I didn't ask for a different room but I do recall asking if we were able to get our request, which was high floor, and she replied with that fact that there are no other rooms. I thought it was strange that she said that, but I suppose in hindsight, she was expecting me to get upset. As I mentioned before, we've had our share of not so great rooms, so we just decided to make the best of it. But it was worse than we thought and now I can't bring myself to book there...not a loss for them, I'm sure.

Yea it stinks when you get that terrible room. I had the dreaded dumpster view at WLV once but it was only for 2 nights. We usually arrive early to WDW resorts. Early flight from NY gets us to hotel 10:30ish. Probably helps with room requests. We won't arrive till 3ish at Aulani so hoping I get a good view.

We were able to give a week at Aulani to a teacher and her family who went above and beyond for our son last year and brought another beloved teacher for a week at Christmas in the 2nd bedroom. We booked a two bedroom for this christmas so that we can do it again because it was such a lovely time and she spoke French to our children as a bonus! (the kids are in a french school and we don't speak a word)

WOW....way to make the rest of us look bad. LOL. Seriously thats awesome!!

In three weeks we will be in the 3BR at Grand Californian for three nights. So excited. Did a 1BR Ocean View for 7 nights at Aulani last August.

GV's are amazing I hope to utilize that one day! Have a great trip. So looking forward to my 1st GCV and Aulani.

What is OVIR ?

I believe this is at Vero beach. Ocean View Inn Room. It is a hotel room not a villa.
Kerri

 

[dvc at last !]

I believe this is at Vero beach. Ocean View Inn Room. It is a hotel room not a villa.

Thank you! This has been puzzling us!

 

[dvcdisney]

Yea it stinks when you get that terrible room. I had the dreaded dumpster view at WLV once but it was only for 2 nights. We usually arrive early to WDW resorts. Early flight from NY gets us to hotel 10:30ish. Probably helps with room requests. We won't arrive till 3ish at Aulani so hoping I get a good view.


Kerri

I think you'll be fine. We arrived late in the afternoon in Aulani and we were assigned a high floor. And the view as actually quite nice. And this was over 3 yrs ago and they weren't finished all the phases. I was very nervous about booking 7mths prior, but even at 1 mth prior, there were still availability. It's a very large resort and you will absolutely love it. We left the resort a few times for surf lessons and going to North shore and things, but we could have stayed onsite for the whole two weeks. We even booked a catamaran experience at the resort. We loaded on at the beach and we saw so many sea turtles on the way. It was a wonderful experience and our guide was great. Although, I will admit that when you're off into the water and looking at Aulani and the other resorts, you can truly appreciate how grand Aulani looks vs everything else. I would do that again in a heartbeat.

You'll have a great time. We're planning to go back soon...possibly Christmas 2018. I guess that's not really soon, but definitely soon for DVC standards since we're all crazy with booking everything a year ahead. lol.

 

[alldiz]

I think you'll be fine. We arrived late in the afternoon in Aulani and we were assigned a high floor. And the view as actually quite nice. And this was over 3 yrs ago and they weren't finished all the phases. I was very nervous about booking 7mths prior, but even at 1 mth prior, there were still availability. It's a very large resort and you will absolutely love it. We left the resort a few times for surf lessons and going to North shore and things, but we could have stayed onsite for the whole two weeks. We even booked a catamaran experience at the resort. We loaded on at the beach and we saw so many sea turtles on the way. It was a wonderful experience and our guide was great. Although, I will admit that when you're off into the water and looking at Aulani and the other resorts, you can truly appreciate how grand Aulani looks vs everything else. I would do that again in a heartbeat.

You'll have a great time. We're planning to go back soon...possibly Christmas 2018. I guess that's not really soon, but definitely soon for DVC standards since we're all crazy with booking everything a year ahead. lol.

I hear you I know my vacation plans through 2018 at least LOL. Even my cat sitters laugh I don't tell them my vacation dates till like a month before.
I am so psyched about Aulani, and I am happy with my decision to not rent a car. I am looking for truly relaxing. We are staying 5 nights. One day we will do excursion to North Shore only 5 hours. I rented the executive Lanai one day and the rest we will enjoy the resort. I even managed to squeeze Pearl Harbor as a tour leaving cruise ship on way to airport! Which is amazing because we are staying 1 night at Marriot Waikiki before cruise and now we can just enjoy Waikiki beach and area truly without leaving to see Pearl Harbor.
Kerri

 

[bobbiwoz]

What is OVIR ?

I see it was answered! The other view is garden view!

 

[maburke]

We did 4 nights in a VGC GV as a once-in-a-lifetime splurge. We invited all the family we had in the area plus a few friends to fill it. Only problem is that we loved it so much, we want to do that every time!

 

[tgropp]

This year for our family Christmas vacation will be 12 days in a 2 BR and will be using 582 points. Banked, current and some borrowed from 2018. We used about the same amount during our 2013 Christmas vacation also. Once your children start having children of their own, look out. Bye Bye points!