Where do you Stay on a Saturday Night?

[ErinC]

I don't consider it a "waste", I not points rich so sometimes its going to be a neccesity to move. The trip I'm contemplating for a 2 bed. to take some family would cost 72 points for the weekend points! That same 72 points would almost get us a week in a studio for just our family. I'm looking at paying cash or just moving. This last trip we moved out on Friday and moved to POFQ for 3 nights(Memorial Day weekend) with a code. We still enjoyed the trip after moving, but with three kids it was an effort. It would be nice not to move, but it is hard for me to choke down those points for those large units.

 

[vernon]

I think it does depend on what time of day you're arriving, if you're just getting into Orlando late on Saturday night I would suggest ( like granny) that you just find a convenient (maybe offsite) hotel to crash for the night. Precheck into your DVC early the next morning and you're off and running. If you're just going to be going straight to bed you're saving 2.5 days worth of DVC accomodation for less than $50 !!

Like others I have previously checked out and gone to Universal for the weekend , even if they work out a little pricey I think the FOTL access is worth it at USF and for the points saved I can get 5 nights Sunday to Thursday on DVC.

 

[Mike]

I haven't gone on a trip as a DVC member yet - heck I haven't even closed on my resale yet. But I am planning to move for the weekend. My plan is to book Sun-Thurs at one DVC resort, move to a moderate for Fri and Sat night (hopefully with AP rate) and then move to a different DVC resort for the following Sun- Thurs. I know it is kind of a hassle - especially with three kids. But we just split our stay last month (7 nights at HIFS and then 6 at WL) and it wasn't that bad. Plus, now that we have a washer and dryer in the room, we can pack a lot lighter. To me, it is worth it to save the points. I like the idea of staying in two different DVC resorts during our stay, so we have to move once anyway. Plus, if we stay onsite the entire trip, Disney will move our luggage for us. If it becomes too much of a hassle, we will just stay less nights and bite the bullet on the weekend points.

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by Coach Rick
Honestly, we bought out points to use. I certainly understand your concern, but when I am on vacation, I refuse to count pennies or points.

In other words: Like money or sex, points don't matter -- unless you don't have enough! But for those who don't have enough points to spend them however they wish, it makes all the sense in the world to use them wisely.

Because we take our children out of school for our WDW vacation and want to minimize the number of days they miss, we tend to have weekends on both ends of our vacation. We don't mind spending points on a couple weekend nights at DVC, but not all 4 weekend nights! And last year when we arrived the Friday after Thanksgiving, we spent that night at the Swan for $159+tax rather than paying 60 points to spend it at BCV.

 

[Deemarch]

It's just the two of us and we bought enough points (200) to stay for 1 week at the most expensive time of the year in a studio. Otherwise we will be staying for 1 week, Sat. to Sat. two times per year. We have 12/25 - 1/1/05 at SSR & 4/30/05 - 5/7/05 at SSR ressies so far. Planning to try to switch May ressie to try another DVC resort at 7 months. Also planning 10/1/05 - 10/8/05. Studios are fine for the 2 of us. I don't look at it as "wasting" points on the weekends...It's what I bought DVC for!

 

[RAD]

If arrival is late at night any old port will do and move home in the AM. If we're arriving during the day we just go home. I'd rather spend the points then have to move.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Last trip we used points for 3 weekend nights, but did spend the first night at the Hampton Inn (I think it's the "eastgate"). It was $60 per night -- $120 for the 2 rooms we require. A 5 minute drive to the Boardwalk valet.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I hope we are all delighted that we have the OPTION to do whatever we like with our points. DVC is quite versatile for everyone and will accommodate those who like to move and link reservations.
I think that's pretty cool, although I don't think we will use it much as I don't like to pack and unpack. Part of being on a vacation for me is relaxing.

 

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by Autumngirl
We use our points...I don't consider it a "waste"....It's why we bought them. IMHO I couldn't imagine wasting time in the middle of my vacation switching resorts.

Couldn't have said it better myself. We bought enough points for us to enjoy our vacation and time is much more valuable to us.

 

[lovetotravel1974]

Been members for 6 years and haven't moved yet. Don't want the hassle..........vacation time is to valuable.

 

[lenshanem]

I don't really mind the moving too much and we haven't used our points yet for those higher point nights, but come next spring break I went ahead and booked seven nights. My hubby isn't too thrilled about having to move so I might be able to use this angle in the future to convince him of an add on.
I must admit it was painful booking those nights! I'm all about maxing our points and getting more trips out of what we have.

 

[mickeymouse710]

We are definitely in the miniority here, but we love staying at different WDW resrts for a few days, every so often. We certainly have enough pts for weekend nights and many times do use pts for the weekend. But we also really enjoy staying at many of the wonderful WDW non DVC resrts. We will many times plan trips to start at a non DVC resort for the beginning weekend nights. We love how each resort is so unique in theming, restaurants etc., and find that actually staying at a resort vs just visiting a resort are totally different experiences.
We have stayed at all different WDW resorts for years and will always do so. DVC resorts are always where we spend the most days, but we will never give up some of the non DVC resorts for little mini trips here and there. We knew this when we first purchased DVC. AKL concierge w/Sunrise Safari is our next non DVC mini trip before our move to a DVC resort!

 

[magsmom]

For our second Saturday for our upcoming October trip we plan to stay at a non-DVC resort - either AKL or the Contemporary - hopefully with a AP discount. I agree with mickeymouse10 that the resorts are all different in theming. I would like to stay at them all.

 

[msdis]

DVC-we hate to move too. Everytime we say we will pay cash elsewhere, we end up adding on instead. We hate staying off property.

 

[boston1029]

DH and I prefer not to move around. We bought these points to use and enjoy. So, we use them for the weekends too.

 

[TDC Nala]

I do lots of short trips rather than one or two long ones, so I prefer saving the points.

I like Pop Century for Saturdays.

 

[Pumbaa_]

We usually fly in Friday night after work and often don't arrive until very late, often11:00 pm-ish. Hate to spend the points on a 1 bedroom (I am a one-bedroom snob, I admit it ) so we take the opportunity to try a new resort for Friday and Saturday night. We are doing VWL in October for Friday and Saturday night in a studio then moving to a 1br at OKW.

When AP rates come out if there are any great rates we may try WL (courtyard view) or AKL. For special trips (our 20th anniversary last year for example) we stayed in the 1 br for both weekend nights. That was nice!

But I travel too many times a year to use weekend 1 br points too often. So in October we will move on Sunday. I figure a nice breakfast at WC, then move to OKW and check out the outlets too. I always pack one bag for the first 2 nights then everything else in the other bag. Easy to repack this way.