When staying in dvc resort do people only book sun-thurs

[pearlieq]

We switched to 6 night vacations--we come in on Sunday and leave late on Saturday. Works for us and we really don't notice it being any shorter.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Sunday through Friday is all we usually stay anywhere we go, so it's no problem for us. We book an early flight on Sunday morning and take the last flight home on Friday night.

 

[DVCLady]

Delete

 

[CharlesTD]

We only ever stay Sun-Thursday thus we get to stay longer on our points. We usually just go to the All Stars for the weekends it is after all our favourite resorts on property. We find it very easy to move even with 3 kids in tow. I mean all we do is pack up our stuff take it to the van or to the front and get them to transfer it to the next resort.

 

[Saratoga Souris]

I ONLY book Sunday to Thursday as it allows me more vacations per year. We have gone to "the beach" for the weekend and it has always worked out well.

 

[newholidayx2]

This Aug DS13 & I are doing both
staying Sat-Fri at VWL (pts), Fri-Sun at WL (cash) and switching Sun-Sat BCV (pts)
so 2 wknd nights on pts, 2 wknd nights on cash

 

[cruise-o-matic]

We are going to WDW the 1st time as a DVC member in Dec. We land Friday night after 10pm, so I can't see us waisting double points then. We'll probably stay offsite or in a Value. But Sat-Mon nights will be in a DVC villa.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Unfortunately, our schedule hasn't include a week's vacation at DVC yet, so we do shorter trips, most, but not all, do include a weekend night, rarely 2 of them, but we're still satisfied with the value that we're getting. We love our DVC!

Bobbi

 

[Dean]

We avoid weekends on points like the plague. In 10 years of owning DVC, I've only used points for one weekend night and that was because we had to arrive on Sat so the choice was using points for weekends, paying cash (which I didn't know about then) and at another hotel close by. If we do weekends, we try to use codes. Since we live less than 4 hours away, it's easy to do either. IMO, doing heavy on the weekends makes DVC not financially feasible for most people. They can do it for the comfort if they want but they would frequently spend more than they would otherwise for the same type of accommodations. Bedsides, it gives us a chance to experience other resorts as well. When I spend my points, I AM spending my cash.

 

[DeeCee735]

We bought knowing Pres week is the week we would most likely go to WDW, arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Sat, so that's what we started with. Then added on - so now we get 6 nights in Feb and 3 nights during F&WF with a few points left over, all in a one bedroom by the way!

 

[RAD]

We normally just stay at DVC, even for a Friday and/or Saturday. We're on vacation and moving is just plain work. However, if we know we're going to be needing a bunch of points for an upcoming stay that's out of the ordinary, such as an upcoming family get together, where we're supplying the room, then we'll do the off site thing so we have the extra points. So I guess the final answer is, it depends.

 

[coasterphil]

My family has switched hotels many times in order to avoid high rates, but only at the beginning or end of a trip. I couldn't imagine doing it in the middle of one.

 

[snyderla]

For next years trip we are going to change mid-trip! DH & I are celebrating our 5th anniversary and are spending the first sun-thurs at SSR, then friday (our anniversary) & sat. at Poly and then sun-thurs at BWV. And we can hardly wait!!! It's going to be GREAT!!!!

Lori

 

[Bcat]

We only do Sun-Thur. We were just in Orlando April 1 (Friday) to April 8 (Friday). Stayed Fri and Sat free at a Courtyard by Marriott on Marriott Rewards points. Two rooms each night. It was a good thing we did because our original flight was cancelled due to storms in Atlanta. We didn't arrive at the Courtyard until 2:00 AM on Sat. If I had been using 75 points for that Fri night, I would have been more than a little Grumpy!

We spent Sat at Cocoa Beach and checked into a standard view 2 BR at BWV just after noon on Sun. Even though we love WL, one of the main reasons we bought BWV was the standard view option. Each 5 night Sun-Thur stay saves us at least 40 points.

In 2003 we spent Sun-Thur at a standard 2 BR at BWV, Fri and Sat at Caribe Royale (just east of the Marriott World Center) and then Sun and Mon in a 2BR at VB. The Caribe Royale is a nice hotel with a good pool. We paid about $125/night for a 2 room suite, 2 queen beds with a sofa bed in the "living room".

Bottom line is we try to use our points as economically as possible. Our DS's are now 20 and 11 so moving around isn't too hard. If our sons were very young, I imagine we would prefer not to move.

 

[DebbieB]

On our May OKW trip, I do points Sunday to Thursday, then add Friday and/or Saturday either before or after with cash, either member cash or AP discount in the same room. For our late November/early December BWV trip, I book points Saturday to Friday. All in a 1 bedroom. I use almost exactly all of my 250 points this way.

 

[Jamesbyr]

We once had a two-bedroom at DVC, and cut back to a studio for the final night. That was really depressing.

 

[lsutigger2]

Dh and I are of the once-settled-not-moving camp!
As I always say: DVC gives you the flexibility to do what is best for you and your family!

 

[Muushka]

We have had USF APs since buying in at DVC. We did not renew that pass this past Dec becuase the hotels at USF are very expensive now. We always stayed there for at least 2 nights-over the weekend.

Now that Disney is so kind to us DVC members with their great discount on APs ( ), we will still switch out (or I should say satrt out) to a WDW hotel instead. We did Dixie Landings last Dec and will probably do it again this year. I cannot imagine what it would be like to just stay at 1 hotel the whole time. We average 3 and have stayed at 4 different places in one vacation. Much more interesting

PS we have no kiddos so it is much easier for us.

 

[PantherFanStan]

As a veteran of exactly one DVC trip (but many non-DVC), here's what we did the week before Easter....and will repeat again Thanksgiving week...and likely many times again. We left on Friday afternoon (school-age kids), spent Friday night in GA enroute to WDW. Spent Saturday night at PC (AP rate), Sun-Thur at SSR, and Fri-Sat back in PC (AP rate). Departed Easter Sunday.

Here's our rationale....
1) If you're driving and pack properly, it's really not that big of a hassle to move vs the cost.
2) Our kids are still young (and we are young at heart!) and enjoy the larger-than-life theming and food court fare at both PC & the AS resorts.
3) Weekend nights in an SSR studio are 9 - 22 points more than weekdays depending upon the season. Considering we plan two of these trips per year, using points for weekends would represent $360 - $880 of foregone rent opportunity (2 trips, 2 weekends/trip, $10/pt) -- which even minus four value resort (AP rate) nights still will buy some cool stuff. Cool stuff = one (DVC rate) AP and 2-3 character dinners.
4) WORSE than #3 above, extra points spent on DVC weekends represent less days overall we can stay at Disney!

A no-brainer in our opinion, but YBMV (Your Brain May Vary).

PantherFanStan

 

[cottontail]

Thanks for all the info. I did not know that dvc members get a discount on ap passes. How much are they for dvc's. Also you can book non dvc wdw resorts with a dvc discount. Is the dvc discount better than a code or ap discount?

We really have to plan this trip out right.

Deb.