What kind of "points" spender are you??

[edk35]

I am still ON THE FENCE about my accomodations this summer. I have booked a 1 br. at BCV for 2 nights...will choose another resort for the rest of our days. We have ALWAYS stayed in a 2 br. whether all 5 of us are there or even 4 of us. Well July of 2012 my son and I did a trip and we were in a studio and that was fine. Last spring break...we got a studio at SSR and AKV Kidani. That was for 3 of us for most nights, but for a few nights we had 4. We were not fans!!!! So now I am thinking.... I might just splurge and get the 2 bedroom for this summer. We know for sure that our youngest son 15 will be going. Our dd23 is planning on it...but work might dicate otherwise. SO part of me wants to just DO IT and say the heck with the points and be SUPER comfortable for our 7-9 days. I am all about COMFORT when on vacation. During spring break we were not in the studio much...so it wasn't as bad as it could be say in the summer when you are doing more pool time/showering (1 bathroom ), down time to avoid the heat and all.

Just wondering how others use those points.... frugal making them stretchhhhhhhhh or throwing caution to the wind and being comfortable. A 1 bedroom is at least better for more space, but unless you are at Kidani or BLT you still have one bath and you still have people sleeping in the living room. My hubby gets up early and likes to chill while drinking coffee in the mornings so it is nice having the living room area, but if people are sleeping in there....that makes it harder to turn on the news or make much noise.

I am thinking the days of us going 2 and 3 times a year are over...so my as well....use them all u on one trip and BE COMFY.

 

[rusafee1183]

Well, it's just my husband and myself... so for us it's less about space and more about the time we spend there. I think I prefer to go once a year, and stay for one big vacation rather than taking 2-3 short trips.

Airfare has been ridiculous lately, and I am at the point where I just want to book one flight and stay for a nice looooong trip. At least that way I feel like I got my money's worth from the flight price.

This year I am in a wedding in April in Florida so we are "making a vacation" out of it and staying at WDW for 5 days afterward, and coming back down in December. But, I don't think that will be the norm for us. I think we will likely be the "every 11 months, so we can make the AP worthwhile" kind of people.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I have splurged for a 1 bedroom for DH and myself, and we really like it, still I have a hard time pulling the trigger for us all of the time. In fact I have 5 different stays with DH coming up over this year and only 1 of them is in a 1 bedroom, that's at BWV for the Flower show. I think I booked it when we were staying in a 1 bedroom in Kidani, and I just couldn't bear to think we would be in a studio. However, for our other stays, including some with friends, I mostly have studios booked. If I regret it, then next year I will splurge. Sometimes I do book 2 studios since most 1 bedrooms only have 1 bath and for 4 people I prefer two baths, even if I take the chance that we're not near each other.

Bobbi

 

[edk35]

I have splurged for a 1 bedroom for DH and myself, and we really like it, still I have a hard time pulling the trigger for us all of the time. In fact I have 5 different stays with DH coming up over this year and only 1 of them is in a 1 bedroom, that's at BWV for the Flower show. I think I booked it when we were staying in a 1 bedroom in Kidani, and I just couldn't bear to think we would be in a studio. However, for our other stays, including some with friends, I mostly have studios booked. If I regret it, then next year I will splurge. Sometimes I do book 2 studios since most 1 bedrooms only have 1 bath and for 4 people I prefer two baths, even if I take the chance that we're not near each other.

Bobbi

I even looked at the 2 studio theory too...vs. the 1 br.

 

[Dacky619]

Well, we have been 2 people up to now, so all of our past trips have been in studios. We prefer a longer trip over a better view, but not to the point that we are looking for the cheapest room available on property. For example we wouldn't use points for a theme park view, we'd rather try another resort for a standard/garden view type.

Now that we are 3 we are considering staying in a 1BR. My fear is that once we do a studio won't be enough for future trips and I don't think we'll add on more points in the future. For this, we will probably be looking at the cheapest view available.

 

[DizBub]

The only place a view matters to us is at SSR (DTD view) so we don't splurge on points that way. We always get a 2 bedroom at least once a year, last year we also booked a long weekend in a 2 br standard view at Kidani and still had a small savanna view. We stay in studios most other times since we like to go more often or stay longer or both.

 

[JWG]

We're moderate points users. We prefer standard view (where available) unless at AKV. Then, we do savannah view as there's no other reason to stay there (in our mind). We prefer OKW over SSR to save points. Own at BLT and prefer standard view.

Now, we do splurge when there's 5 of us which is 4 adults and 1 child. We do 2 bedrooms to get beds. For 3 of us we've done studios mostly, but are starting to creep up to 1 BRs as well.

 

[bwvBound]

We are 'comfort and space' and will generally book a 1BR for just two of us and a 2BR if a single or couple has been invited to join us. We did the GV unit when hosting two additional couples (6 total in the unit, all adults).

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

So there are 3 of us, with DD 13, being an early riser. So in order to make it a vacation for DH and me, we get a 1BR. we have splurged two time for a 2BR -- once when we had use/lose points and for our upcoming Christmas trip we're doing a 2BR post Disney cruise. I figure we will need our space to decompress from our time at sea.

We have 200 points at SSR, and I'm looking to do a mid-size add-on -- 75 to 100 points -- to stay in 2BRs more often for both space and BRs.

Like you, I like to be comfy.

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[Kidanifan08]

We are a family of 3. With just the 3 of us, we have easily done studio stays for up to 8 nights. We are currently in a stretch of hosting family and friends, so our summer trips have been 2BR accommodations. This year in December, we are planning 9 nights, so we are doing a 1BR for just the 3 of us, which was our original plan when we first bought into DVC. We would probably be fine in a studio, but we are really looking forward to the space and the W/D. Plus, I was able to get an AKV-value for that trip, which is really a bargain.

So in summary, I guess it depends on the purpose and vibe of the individual trip. I have become more addicted to BWV and BCV 2BR villas, as the points are a little lower than AKV and a lot lower than BLT, which helps to conserve points and allows for longer stays.

We have been fortunate to take more than 1 trip annually for the past few years, but in the next 1-2 years, I suspect we will be once a year travelers, and we will be more able to splurge. I am really looking forward to having enough points for a GV when we are hosting family.

 

[oldfastpassxpert]

We have 300 points at BLT. Family of five, kids are 11,9,7. We've only been owners since 2010, but I like going twice per year and getting one BR's. We did go on a Dream cruise last year, but that used up a lot of points. We weren't able to go in 2013, but we're going in May.

 

[snoopy5386]

We are savers not spenders. We almost always book a 1 bedroom, that's why we bought DVC to stay NOT in a hotel room, but have booked studios for 1-2 night stays. However, I can't seem to bring myself to stay at one of the "expensive" DVC resorts. We only have 100 points so each point counts! When it comes to staying at another resort vs staying one more night, one more night always wins! We own at AKV and I am all about the value rooms, we've never stayed in a non-value room. Pretty much the only other resorts I'll even try to get rooms in are OKW and BWV standard view, all the other resorts are so pricey! I'm sure we'll stay at them eventually and we did splurge once to stay at BCV which is my fave resort, but really we love AKV and when I can stay in a one bedroom there for 8-21 less points a night? The scrooge in me picks AKV every time.

 

[Golden Rose]

We're high point users. We always get a 2 bedroom, since we usually bring either my DM (and my DstepF when he wants to come) or some of our friends with us. We get a 1 bedroom on the rare occasions that we travel without extended family or friends. We also spend the points for views. We only get savannah view at AKV, we generally get boardwalk view at BWV, and we're going to have ocean view at Aulani in March and lake view at VGF in May. We haven't gotten a grand villa yet, but we haven't felt like we've needed it yet.

We have a just turned 3 year old who naps, and she is a light enough sleeper that we pretty much have to put her in a room by herself and have someone in the adjoining room waiting for her.

 

[DougEMG]

With only three of us we switch between being point spenders and point savers, so we're always switching between studios and 1 bedrooms.

 

[Iceman93]

Comfortable. Enjoy the space and the amenities.

 

[SugarLoaf]

For us, it's all about being comfortable. And comfortable to us means space! But it also means all being together for the common room and conversation.

The whole family does an annual trip (5 adults, 2 tiny, thus far), and we always do a GV. I'm excited to do two whole family trips this year, since we got our 2013 points all over again by selling and re-buying.

Then we go one other time of year, with less. Those times we do a one or two bedroom, depending on the combination of people.

Space, when it comes to separate sleeping quarters, is really important to us.

All that being said, we don't care much when it comes to view. I really love the standard view at GF, which is the only place we intend to ever stay. So unless we're in a GV where we don't get a choice, we'll always choose that. Although I think that is the only time we will ever really "save" points.

 

[Minniesgal]

I have to say we are all about the 2 bedrooms. We have gone from 5 to 4 and still prefer than. We won't go down to a 1 bedroom until 4 becomes 3.

 

[quirty30]

Well, it's just me and my 2 kids, but with DS15 and DD12, we really need at least a 1BR for some privacy, and we have even stayed in a Treehouse so we could all have our own bedroom. Even for a weekend trip, I can't imagine the 3 of us in a studio. So we are definitely guilty of splurging on points.

 

[Tink2312]

I try to make mine stretch. As I'm from the the UK, the shortest trip I do is 7 nights with most being 10-14 and some even longer so being frugal is a necessity. If I'm solo then of course I book a studio and I find it tricky to justify the extra for a 1 bed even if my parents are travelling too - we make it work and it's worth it to be able to go for longer/ multiple times per year.

 

[edk35]

So there are 3 of us, with DD 13, being an early riser. So in order to make it a vacation for DH and me, we get a 1BR. we have splurged two time for a 2BR -- once when we had use/lose points and for our upcoming Christmas trip we're doing a 2BR post Disney cruise. I figure we will need our space to decompress from our time at sea.

We have 200 points at SSR, and I'm looking to do a mid-size add-on -- 75 to 100 points -- to stay in 2BRs more often for both space and BRs.

Like you, I like to be comfy.

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