Where do you stay when not using weekend points at your resort?

[debbiebones]

I'm planning next year's trip and trying to decide whether or not to just book a solid week, or save points and book our Friday and Saturday nights at another location.

Does anyone have any suggestions or favorite places to stay nearby which seem to be fairly efficient-transitionally?

I've thought about the Swan since you can get it through Priceline.com. And will the resorts move your luggage to or from the Swan since it's not really considered a Disney property?

Thanks for any feedback!

Deb

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did this once, and just don't think it is worth it. We were trying to conserve points when we had our first GV stay, and spent a Saturday night at the beginning of the trip and a Friday night at the end of the trip in non-DVC digs. It was not so much of a hassle the last night, because we had an early flight out the next morning, but we hated it the first night. Suffice it to say, we wont be doing this again! I just started reserving the GV for the same group of us for next October, and we will NOT be staying anywhere but DVC this trip unless we decide to tack on a beach visit at the end.

 

[belle3]

We have stayed at many places off site before joining DVC. There are a number of excellent bargains to be had at any given time of the year, but it requires quite a bit of "finger" work on the net. I have used mousesavers.com as well as the discount page on this site, and don't forget AAA if you are a member,as well. My favorite though is www.resortaccess.com, which really has just about the best rates I've ever found.
Good luck!

 

[MAC3]

We head on over to Universal and stay at the Hard Rock for FOL access. Or we stay at a Moderate.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We do the same as MAC3. We go to US and stay at one of their hotels (Front of Line Access can't be beat).

On our trip next month instead of spending over 100 points per night for a 2BR at either the BCV or VWL, we are moving over to the HRH for Friday and Saturday night. We have done this on our last two trips as well. It is amazing how many DVC owners we are finding actually do the same thing. You would think that it must be killing Disney to lose that business to Universal.
HBC

 

[joepoe]

Because there are six of us, we have arrived on a Thurs or Fri, spent the first two or three nights at the Marriott Grand Vista in their 2 bedroom unit, then moved to our DVC resort for the remainder of the stay. It works great because you can enjoy Sea World or other attractions before you head over to your DVC stay.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Dolphin using special deals from the DIS.

 

[JVL1018]

We would like to stay in every WDW resort, so we use our first night(Sat) as a chance to check out someplace new.
Pre DVC we stayed in every moderate and the AS Sports and Music, so 3 years ago we stayed in AS Movies(we added an extra day and made a ressie there for our last night mid vacation), 2 years ago, we stayed at the Contemporary our first night, last year we wanted AKL, but there were o discounts , and we ended up buying a resale with 25 banked points that we would have lost if not used, so we booked a preferred studio for our first night.
I'm hoping for AKL our first night next year.
Personally I would never move in the middle or at the end of our vacation, once I'm in the villa I like to stay put. ONe night at the start of the vacation works best for us.

 

[Lexxiefern]

We stayed at Portofino Bay (universal) for friday & saturday nights before switching to BWV last month. Next september we are going to try AKL for friday & saturday (maybe thursday too) before switching over to BWV. As long as we can get decent rates on disney's hotels, we will probably stay in them for the weekend nights before most of our trips.

I am going to be booking our trip for next december in january for BCV and I am trying to decide if I really want to spend 90 points for friday and saturday nights so we won't have to switch I think I will book the nights and if a great offer comes out for the Polynesian I will cancel the weekend nights on points.

 

[twinmomplus2]

We always move at the end of our week. Sunday through thursday we are at DVC. And then we head to AKL for the weekend. For us we park hop all week and then go to AKL to relax. Order room service, enjoy the resort. It is our fave place for down time. Now if they ever built an AKL villas I would not move and enjoy the weekends no matter how high the point values.

 

[magictrickboy71]

I am a new owner of SSR and I cannot really understand why anyone would want to stay somewhere else on the weekend. I know the points are more on Friday & Saturday but that doesn't bother me. I bought enough points to stay where I want at the time of year I want to go.

I am paying for DVC, why would I want to pay to stay at another hotel and have the hassle of unpacking and transfering to another hotel. If it bothered me so much I would only stay Sunday to Friday and save my points and my money. Maybe I just don't have the big picture yet. I hope I didn't offend anyone, if I did I'm sorry, I'm just new to DVC.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[Nink]

Why stay somewhere else? Use your DVC discount (or AP) to get a good cash rate on the room you are staying in.

 

[Disney Doll]

We either stay at the Swan(or maybe it's the Dolphin) with the $129/night nurse/teacher/government employee rate OR we pay cash for the room with the DVC discount.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been pondering the same thing for our next 'big' trip. My dd, 10, and I will be spending Sun-Fri at BWV in a studio. Then, I'm thinking we'll see where we can get the best rate and stay there for Fri-Sat. Then on Sunday, dh will be joining us and we'll move over to WLV. Well, we will if I can book it at 7 months out. And get a 1 bedroom there. That way, I can stay in 3 places over a two week period.

 

[DeeP]

Sometimes I change resorts for Fri or Sat nights or both nights and sometimes I stay at a DVC resort for the whole trip. It all depends on my mood and how many pts I want to spend. When I do switch resorts for Fri/Sat nights it is always to another Disney resort. I love staying at the other WDW resorts. There are many great WDW resorts that are non DVC that are very, very nice and very luxurious to stay at. All deluxe WDW non DVC resorts I actually prefer over staying at OKW.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I cannot really understand why anyone would want to stay somewhere else on the weekend.

No offense taken.

We are going to WDW in a few weeks. We will be in the area for two whole weeks covering two separate weekends. For our first weekend, after spending five nights at the VWL, we are going over to US and staying at the HRH for two nights.

Universal is a great place to go for a couple of days. All of us love it but only for a brief time. What better time to go on the days when it would cost us 212 points for a Friday and a Saturday at the VWL or the BCV? We would go to US anyway. Why not go at the highest point nights and save them for another trip?

So we head back to the BCV for another week on Sunday, after two fun days at Universal. With Universal's front of line access for their hotel guests, it really works out great to stay on-site plus we save 212 points. That's a lot of points for another trip.

HBC

 

[jaysue]

HBC that is a good strategy

I threaten DW with All Stars or something like that for the weekends!!!

 

[Buzzsgramma]

IF we wanted to pay cash for a 1-b.d. rm in Oct at the BWV ...(SV) what could i expect to pay for one night with a AP or DVC discount?

 

[InstImpres]

Originally posted by jaysue
I threaten DW with All Stars or something like that for the weekends!!!

That's just downright mean Stayed at the "All Star Shoebox" once (my parents treat, I felt for them picking up 4 rooms), never again. Though I am trying to sneak in another trip and have borrowed a lot, I am considering off-site before the AllStars

JMHO
Sandy

 

[NCRedding]

This is something we are debating right now. Our next trip is in June, flying in on Friday. We're spending the 1st weekend in a studio at VWL and then moving to a 1 bedroom at VWL checking out on Friday. With the release of the Entertainment rates at Universal, I booked a room at RPH, but it is much more than I had hoped, because they are now charging more for weekend nights at Universal. I'm thinking about adding 1 day to our VWL res., and skipping Universal this trip. We're planning on doing Discovery Cove/Sea World. Choices!! argh I can't handle the decision making.