What would you do? Change resorts to gain an extra night?

[vdub322]

So I just wanted to put this out there and see what the DVC expert crowd thinks of our little "dilemma"...

We are booked 1/21/2013-1/27/2013...six nights in a 2 BR Value at Jambo house, arriving MLK day. We have three points left over in this current scenario. We usually drive but want to fly this time. Currently we arrive on a Monday and leave on a Sunday. If we were to arrive on a Monday and leave on a Monday, we would save about about $200 in flight costs, so staying an extra night would be appealing for many reasons. (Plus, Monday 1/28 is our wedding anniversary. Not like it's awesome to travel on our anniversary, but waking up in Disney is better than waking up at home and DH going back to work!)

So here are our options if we stay an extra night...


1. Change the whole reservation to BWV 1 BR Standard View for 7 nights

2. Change the whole reservation to OKW 1 BR for 7 nights

3. Reserve something at Jambo house and pay cash. Either a studio or 1 BR value and pay Disney for "one time use points". This way, even though we have to change rooms, it's in the same building.

4. Wait until AP discounts come out and pay for a room for the last night.

Our home resort is AKV. In 2012 (our first trip as members) we stayed a split stay 5 nights BLT 1 BR Lake View and 3 nights Kidani 1 BR Savannah View. We loved AKV (including Boma and Sanaa) and we know we will go back, but our plan is to go on a big trip every two years and this is kind of a "bonus" trip so I feel like we should try something we wouldn't normally do on a "big" trip.

DH thinks he would hate BWV. He doesn't think it looks nice, and having grown up in the northeast we have seen a lot of boardwalks.

This will be a lower key trip with more resort time. Should we keep the Jambo house villa or try something different?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[jekjones1558]

I hate moving, even in the same resort. But you may feel differently. I would only consider booking another room it if I could wait list the 2 bedroom value at Jambo and then keep my fingers crossed. I would also check everyday online myself to see if that 1 day in a 2 bedroom value became available. Or is the issue that you don't want to borrow any points to stay in the same room? You could use the 3 points you have, borrow a few and buy the one time points from Disney.
Hope it works out for you one way or the other!

 

[vdub322]

I hate moving, even in the same resort. But you may feel differently. I would only consider booking another room it if I could wait list the 2 bedroom value at Jambo and then keep my fingers crossed. I would also check everyday online myself to see if that 1 day in a 2 bedroom value became available. Or is the issue that you don't want to borrow any points to stay in the same room? You could use the 3 points you have, borrow a few and buy the one time points from Disney.
Hope it works out for you one way or the other!

We really didn't want to have to move. We lucked out on our split stay last time, but we had our car then too. How does it work if I wait list that last night? Do I submit the wait list for the entire trip or just for the extra night I don't yet have? We are actually using next years points for this trip since we aren't going again until 2015, so borrowing more isn't an option.

 

[jekjones1558]

We really didn't want to have to move. We lucked out on our split stay last time, but we had our car then too. How does it work if I wait list that last night? Do I submit the wait list for the entire trip or just for the extra night I don't yet have? We are actually using next years points for this trip since we aren't going again until 2015, so borrowing more isn't an option.

You would just wait list for that one night. But if you don't have any points to borrow then I don't think you can wait list (not sure about this). If you checked online or by calling and found that the night you need was available you would have to call MS and buy the points. It looks like the 3 you have plus the 24 you can buy would be just enough to book the room for that one extra night.
The more I think about your plan to change rooms, I guess it wouldn't be so bad. You could actually do all of your packing when leaving the 2 bedroom and just keep a carryon with stuff for the last night. That way you would not really be doing very little unpacking for the last night. Getting a room at the same resort would make it easier, of course. It would be really great to get just the one bedroom part of your 2 bedroom for the last night. That would make it super easy, but I don't think it is possible to guarantee that.
The OKW 1 bedrooms are really big and have the sleeper chair. How many of you will be in the room?

 

[vdub322]

You would just wait list for that one night. But if you don't have any points to borrow then I don't think you can wait list (not sure about this). If you checked online or by calling and found that the night you need was available you would have to call MS and buy the points. It looks like the 3 you have plus the 24 you can buy would be just enough to book the room for that one extra night.
The more I think about your plan to change rooms, I guess it wouldn't be so bad. You could actually do all of your packing when leaving the 2 bedroom and just keep a carryon with stuff for the last night. That way you would not really be doing very little unpacking for the last night. Getting a room at the same resort would make it easier, of course. It would be really great to get just the one bedroom part of your 2 bedroom for the last night. That would make it super easy, but I don't think it is possible to guarantee that.
The OKW 1 bedrooms are really big and have the sleeper chair. How many of you will be in the room?

That's what I was thinking...just having to move the last night wouldn't be that bad. We would get all packed on the second to last night and pack stuff for the last day in our carry ons, then stash our luggage with AKL and go to a park. Then come back and move into a studio for the last night and fly out in the morning.

There will be four of us...me, DH, DD13, and DD3. We actually had looked at OKW as a cash reservation back before we bought DVC and I think we would like it. And I think that walking from BWV to Epcot and DHS would be nice.

I checked and the only thing at Jambo that's available is a standard view studio, so paying out for the points would be around $165 for the night.

 

[jekjones1558]

With your crew any of your options seems fine. We love BWV but if your DH is opposed then the other choices are probably better. If your plan is to often stay at AKV for "big" trips then it might be fun to try OKW for this bonus trip. Have a great time!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'd probably keep what you have and try to add the extra night at OKW. We did a trip like that once where we stayed the week at OKW, and then added on night in a C level studio at Jambo for one night. We too just packed one day's worth of things in our carry on bags and had everything else packed up to leave when we left the first resort. It worked out great.

 

[spiceycat]

you have the cheapest point room number

akv value 2-bedroom is 185 points for a week in Jan
bwv standard 2-bedroom is 220 points
okw 2-bedroom is 217 points.

now all of these are 7 nights not 6.

here is 6 nights with fri/sat included

160 AKv 2-bedroom value
190 bwv 2-bedroom standard
188 okw 2-bedroom

so unless you are going to a 1-bedroom for all 7 nights none of these will work.

even with the discount members get a 2-bedroom even a studio would cost you more than $200 you are trying to save.

so don't understand the question.

 

[vdub322]

With your crew any of your options seems fine. We love BWV but if your DH is opposed then the other choices are probably better. If your plan is to often stay at AKV for "big" trips then it might be fun to try OKW for this bonus trip. Have a great time!

I would like to try BWV! The proximity to World Showcase and the thought of staying somewhere I've never been is appealing to me. Wish they had sleeper chairs in the 1 BRs though. My kids don't sleep well together. They could, but the teenager likes her space from the three year old! Thanks for all your help and advice!

I'd probably keep what you have and try to add the extra night at OKW. We did a trip like that once where we stayed the week at OKW, and then added on night in a C level studio at Jambo for one night. We too just packed one day's worth of things in our carry on bags and had everything else packed up to leave when we left the first resort. It worked out great.

Thanks for the advice! I think we would like OKW. We are thinking of trying a grand villa there sometime and taking family too.

you have the cheapest point room number

akv value 2-bedroom is 185 points for a week in Jan
bwv standard 2-bedroom is 220 points
okw 2-bedroom is 217 points.

now all of these are 7 nights not 6.

here is 6 nights with fri/sat included

160 AKv 2-bedroom value
190 bwv 2-bedroom standard
188 okw 2-bedroom

so unless you are going to a 1-bedroom for all 7 nights none of these will work.

even with the discount members get a 2-bedroom even a studio would cost you more than $200 you are trying to save.

so don't understand the question.

Yes, changing resorts to get the extra day would require us to go down to a one bedroom (see original post) but the 1 BR at OKW has the same square footage as the 2 BR Value at AKV. We only booked the 2 BR at AKV because the points are so low and it is a much smaller two bedroom. According to my calculations...

157 OKW 1-bedroom 7 nights
154 BWV 1-befroom standard 7 nights
160 AKV 2-bedroom 6 nights

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.

 

[BillPA]

You might look at a 1 BR Std view at Kidani. You will get a 2nd bath room and 7 nights are 162 points. If that's not available I would go for OKW 1 BR.

Any one would be fine, you will should a great trip in any DVC resort.

 

[vdub322]

You might look at a 1 BR Std view at Kidani. You will get a 2nd bath room and 7 nights are 162 points. If that's not available I would go for OKW 1 BR.

Any one would be fine, you will should a great trip in any DVC resort.

I feel like such a bonehead...I never realized that 7 nights in a standard view was within our available 163 point range for this trip! And both Jambo and Kidani are available. Thank you so much for pointing this out. With all the "scheming" I do about a trip, I assumed I had all the options covered. This is definitely an option...we were going to try to take a chance on getting a savannah or pool view with the value but I really want the extra night. And this way I won't have to give up eating at Boma, Sanaa and hopefully Jiko!

Thanks!

 

[DeerIsleDisney]

The one bedrooms at OKW are really nice. Much more space than other DVC 1-bedrooms. The kitchen and living room area are very large, and there is also a large balcony or patio (big enough for a table with 4 chairs). The pull-out chair is very comfy. The sofabed is not as comfy, but would be fine for a 3 yr. old. (We put DD12 on the pull-out chair and DD5 on the sofa bed).

It's a very different feel from being in one of the more integrated resorts (i.e. AKV-Jambo, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge). The main lobby area is not huge and inspiring and there is less choice for meals. But, you can take a boat to Downtown Disney, you get a lot of space, and the laid-back tropical vibe is lovely.

 

[bnk1120]

If you can't get what you want at AKV, then I would go for OKW. It is nice to be able to try different resorts- I always find something I really like that is different from my home resort(VWL). Just stayed at OKW for the first time this week and really liked it. Very relaxing vibe and the room was huge! A 1 bed would be awesome- would love to try it.

 

[vdub322]

The one bedrooms at OKW are really nice. Much more space than other DVC 1-bedrooms. The kitchen and living room area are very large, and there is also a large balcony or patio (big enough for a table with 4 chairs). The pull-out chair is very comfy. The sofabed is not as comfy, but would be fine for a 3 yr. old. (We put DD12 on the pull-out chair and DD5 on the sofa bed).

It's a very different feel from being in one of the more integrated resorts (i.e. AKV-Jambo, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge). The main lobby area is not huge and inspiring and there is less choice for meals. But, you can take a boat to Downtown Disney, you get a lot of space, and the laid-back tropical vibe is lovely.

If you can't get what you want at AKV, then I would go for OKW. It is nice to be able to try different resorts- I always find something I really like that is different from my home resort(VWL). Just stayed at OKW for the first time this week and really liked it. Very relaxing vibe and the room was huge! A 1 bed would be awesome- would love to try it.

Thanks for the tips! I really think we would like OKW. The space would be awesome and my DD3 loves those pull out chair beds!

This is such a hard choice...we are weighing out the pros and cons of Jambo, Kidani, BWV and OKW and trying to decide what is most important to us on this trip. Space, modern rooms, extra bathroom, resort amenities, location...it's so much to consider! And now we are considering stopping at Hilton Head for a night if we end up driving instead of flying!

 

[alystad]

I didn't realize old key west now had sleeper chairs in the one bedrooms - when did this happen? Great addition! I like all the resorts for different reasons - OKW has tons of space!