What is biggest check-out day??

[GraceDVC]

After reading the posts about requesting GVs at OKW, I was wondering what the biggest check-out day is (so we can request a GV check-in on that day)!

 

[downontheBW]

Just a guess - Friday? Points are so high on Friday and Saturday, I assume that many spend Sun-Thurs to get the most out of their points.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'd guess Friday also. Everyone either leaving or heading off site to save points.

 

[Richyams]

It is Friday. You can actually book weekends any time of year you want with very little notice. Even early December weekends can be had. This is because many people avoid weekend points like the plague. I feel that I bought the points to use them. I couldn't be bothered with moving out for the weekend.

 

[CarolMN]

Hmmmm .

If Friday is the day most members check out, then it must follow that on Friday, the room assigner has the most rooms to work with for members checking in. I've read that room requests are granted (if possible) based on the time the reservation is made. In other words, a ressie made 11 months out, should take priority over the exact same request as one made 10 months out. (Assuming that there are no medical requests ahead of it).

So if I want the best chance of getting a Boardwalk view, I should make my ressie 11 months in advance and plan to begin my stay on a Friday. Since we usually stay for a week, the weekend points are not usually a concern.

I'll have to think about this - we usually request standard view, because we think only the very hard to get boardwalk view is better than the standard view. I'd rather not pay higher points for any of the other preferred views, but might be willing to take a chance if checking in on a Friday increases the liklihood of getting that Boardwalk View. We'd like to try it at least once before 1/31/2042!

 

[PamOKW]

That makes sense. Since some members discuss at length how they avoid Fri-Sat, then checking in on those days should give you the most options. Conversely, I have had CMs tell me that Sunday is the biggest check-in day. (Even had one CM complaining to me about "you members" who all check-in on Sunday. Sticks in my mind since I was coming from 3 nights at Vero so saving points wasn't my concern.)

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well, I'm confused (that's nothing new).
I thought that point allocation took care of this, and leveled the demand for weekends/weekdays.
If point allocation does not level demand for days of the week or different seasons, what the heck does it do???

 

[RobDoc]

When members use points for non-DVC options, the weekends can be utilized heavily since they are available and Disney usually has very high cash reservation demand for Friday and Saturday nights.

The allocation doesn't really have to put everything in perfect balance as there are other aspects of the program which do come into play here.

Part of the "balance" of the DVC program is for us as members to find the utilization of our points which is most comfortable. That utilization includes banking and borrowing (which could be suspended if things get too far out of balance), as well as weekend usage.

There is no right or wrong with this balance, but there are certainly many aspects besides just DVC reservations which contribute to the utilization of each resort.

 

[Galahad]

You can actually book weekends any time of year you want with very little notice

I've found this to be true on all of the WDW DVC resorts. But I haven't had that kind of luck at Vero. Different usage patterns?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
Well, I'm confused (that's nothing new).
I thought that point allocation took care of this, and leveled the demand for weekends/weekdays.
If point allocation does not level demand for days of the week or different seasons, what the heck does it do???

It also appears that DVC is reluctant to rebalance the points but need to. Well see what happens.

 

[joepoe]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
Well, I'm confused (that's nothing new).
I thought that point allocation took care of this, and leveled the demand for weekends/weekdays.
If point allocation does not level demand for days of the week or different seasons, what the heck does it do???

One thing I heard was that if points weren't so high on the weekends, members that liver closer to Orlando would use them up and not use weekday points, to the detriment of other members.

 

[DeeP]

joepoe,
A DVC CM told me the same thing several years ago.

 

[PamOKW]

I think it's a pretty tricky game. If they decrease the weekends, I think there would be a real increase in folks who can travel by car to book on weekends. This would make the weekends almost constantly full and the ability to book entire weeks almost impossible. As it is, many Floridians bite the bullet on the points increase and use weekends. (I know I'd be doing that if I lived closer.)

 

[Richyams]

This is the first year, after five years in Florida, that I am doing this. I am going for a four day weekend in October and a three day weekend in December. Oct, AKL concierge on points, Dec, OKW GV on points, weekends burn those points fast.

If points were lower, we would buy more and go one weekend every month.

Wow, don't that sound like heaven? One weekend every month!!!

 

[Dean]

Obviously there needs to be a differential between weekends and weekdays. The question is whether the current differential is the right one. Since weekends are essentially always open compared to weekdays, it would appear to me that the current differential is not correct and should be adjusted. We live four hours away and have only used one weekend day ever and that was because we had to be in VB in time to get the kids to space camp.

For me personally, it would take a pretty big change to affect my vacation habits. I'd think that an adjustment to where the weekends were no more than 150-175% of the weekdays would be needed before I'd think about ever routinely using weekends in conjuction with weekdays. The change would need to be that big or more for me to think about using just weekends at all. I suspect the change would have to be less to convince others, maybe a reduction of 25% from current weekend rates. Of course a reductiion of that magnitude would increase weekday rates by around 10-15%.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Richyams
This is the first year, after five years in Florida, that I am doing this. I am going for a four day weekend in October and a three day weekend in December. Oct, AKL concierge on points, Dec, OKW GV on points, weekends burn those points fast.

If points were lower, we would buy more and go one weekend every month.

Wow, don't that sound like heaven? One weekend every month!!!

Oh yes, it certainly does! But those of us who live several hundred $$$ away (and have to fly) appreciate the ability to book entire weeks. (And I'm quite sure that is the "point" you are actually making).

I like the point allocation as is and hope it doesn't change. I don't mind the extra points for weekend nights, because we look at weekly costs, not daily costs.

Since weekend nights seem to be easier for Disney to rent for cash, it may even be in DVC members' best interest that many members avoid weekends. IIRC, breakage income helps to reduce our dues. I suspect (but do not know for a fact, of course) that the majority of "breakage time" is weekend nights.

Anyway, I don't think the allocation system is all that much out of whack. If it were, I think there would be a lot more posters either complaining about losing their points or that they couldn't book anything unless they used their 11 month window. IMHO, the allocation is accomplishing exactly what it is intended to do.

 

[Richyams]

I agree completely and that was exactly my " " Point" ".

But now that I am in Florida and especially since it is begining to look like we will be here for a long time, if they did re-allocate, it would be heaven going for a weekend every month.

 

[trishy]

We have yet to stay a weekend on points. We try to make one long vacation for our family each year (3+ weeks) and have a hard time justifying the amount of weekend points we would need to use. We are the typical DVC'rs who check-in Sunday and check-out Friday, stay at AKL or whatever is having the latest fantastic cash prices for the weekend, and then check back into our DVC resort the following Sunday. This works pretty well and we get to experience the WDW area. Can't see how this would be in any way affecting other DVC'rs or the economy - just a minor inconvenience (totally a personal opinion here) to help us reserve those weekend points toward a cruise. I think the point allocation is working well, though. If the weekend points decreased, it would only result in an increase of weekday points - putting our plan in jeopardy