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

[jaysue]

OK ok uncle!!! Sandy, I would not make DW stay at the All Stars Shoebox - I think the room there is smaller than the OKW master bathroom in the 1BR+ units

Maybe the S&D or something like one of the suites hotels out on I-Drive but not the All Stars

I will try and convince about Pop Century - shhhh everyone (just kidding)....

thanks
jaysue

 

[mickey7861]

We stay at one of our favorite deluxe resorts, usually get an AP discount. Our typical summer vacation lasts from 3-4 weeks and we have always liked to resort hop. This way we still get to check out the other resorts too. Of course if we plan a shorter trip (this April 5 nights) we just go from Sun-thurs and leave on Fri. Saving those weekend points gives us another whole 5 weekday stay.

 

[SamR]

We stay at one of our favorite deluxe resorts, usually get an AP discount.

We have done this as well. For our trip last January, we were due to arrive (by air) Friday evening, and I didn't want to blow points for Friday night given that we wouldn't even be getting to the room (at BCV) until 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening. I at first booked a room offsite, but after AP rates came out, I changed my Friday stay to the Beach Club. That worked out really nice, since check-out (from the BC) and check-in (to the BCV) were handled with a single stop at the front desk the next morning. While the AP rate was good, it was still a cost premium over staying offsite, but the convenience (plus the earlier immersion into Disney magic!) made it worth it!

 

[mouseclick1]

We bought enough points to stay in a 2 BR for a full week. However, we recently discovered how much we enjoy Universal/Islands of Adventure! Though we haven't done it yet, I can easily see us spending Sun-Thur at BWV, then heading over to US for the weekend. We actually are spending 3 days at HRH, and 6 days at BWV over Xmas, but we are still using our points over the weekend. Expensive use of points, we know, but we wanted to be at WDW for DS's birthday and that is how the dates fall this year!

 

[DVC Mary]

Sometimes moving hotels is more of a hassle than it's worth. I'd pay the discounted cash rate & stay put. That's what we do, if we're out of points. For example, we are staying at VWL for points on Wed. & Th., but paying cash for Fri. next June. It's $236 for one night. The Disney VISA discounted price is $239. So DVC, beats VISA by $3.

I agree with the idea to end it at AKL. It's a bit of a distance to get to the other 3 parks. But if you just want to relax, it's a great place to chill out. The wine at Jiko is worth going for alone. My DH & I are hooked on South African wines.

One way to make it less stressful, is to have a separate bag packed for the last 2 nights. That way you don't have to repack much to move resorts. Just throw the tolietries, swimwear, etc. into the 2nd resort bag & you're good to go. The other stuff can just be jammed in other suitcase & not reopened until you get home.

Good luck!

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Well, in January, we'll probably be at the Grand Floridian for the weekend, in July we'll probably be at Animal Kingdom Lodge for the weekend, and for our New Year's trip, we'll be using the 166 points for the 2 weekend nights.

 

[crazywig]

we don't own a ton of points (we bought as many pts as we could with the cash we had) so our 170pts don't go too far.

for our first trip home we splurged with a boardwalk view, but we'll spend our first friday and saturday somewhere else, hopefully on an ap rate.

 

[jaysue]

Going on the weekend in Jan to HRH to see IOA/USF - $142 on hotelkingdom.com for a Garden View - BWV had pfd studios at 22 pts per night but I saved the points and used them towards 5 nights at VB for DW, MIL, and the 2 DS's

thanks
jaysue

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by 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.

This is the reason we prefer to use weekend points if it is convenient to to a switch:

We own at OKW. During our recent trip about 2 weeks ago we stayed at YC on Friday & Saturday & then moved to OKW. There were 2 reasons. #1 was because my kids love SAB & I thought it would be great to give them an opportunity to enjoy it. #2 was becaue the points value for a weekend night in a 2BR was 56 points. I figured if I were to rent these points from someone or if I was renting them out myself the average cost is about $10/point. That would be about $560 per night. The rate we got at YC was $233, which includes tax. We did the YC stay at the beginning of our trip & it wasn't a hassle. We did, however, stay on Friday night at the end of our trip in our 2BR villa at OKW & didn't move. I just didn't see the point in that, so we sucked it up & used the points.

During our trip in April, the point value for a 2BR is 100 per night. I look at this as almost being $1000 per night. We arriving on a Friday & staying for 2 weeks total. We will be at SoG with my brother & his family for the first 9 nights of our trip & then moving to OKW with my DH & 3 DD's. Again, we are moving on a Sunday & staying through Saturday, only using 1 weekend night. While I hated to use the 100 points, I couldn't see moving for just one night.

Anyway, that's the reason we try to avoid weekend nights. It really isn't inconvenient at all & due to the fact that I would like to experience all the Disney resorts, this gives us a chance to do that!!

 

[Dancind]

We've done a lot of weekends at US/IOA as well. We did a 16 day trip last May/June, and one weekend was spent there, and one in Tampa. We had passes good for Busch Gardens, so went there and had a beach day. Nice beaches in Clearwater!

Our last stay at HRH was a bit of a nightmare, so we probably won't do that again. We will either stay at the new hotel, or try for Portofino which is always nice. DD likes the HRH pool, but it is not worth the other problems at HRH.

For our next big trip (after we get done cruising) I'm hoping for a 12 day, starting on a Sunday. Now that would feel like a real vacation! Diana

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by InstImpres
Stayed at the "All Star Shoebox" once. Though I am trying to sneak in another trip and have borrowed a lot, I am considering off-site before the AllStars

LOL - I don't know - I'm such a Disneyholic I think I'd have to take an All Star before considering offsite!!

 

[littlestar]

When traveling in January or February to Orlando, we ALWAYS book at least our first night on a cash reservation. Indiana winters are harsh and I don't want to chance losing a reservation due to plane/travel delays. Last winter we booked a night in a regular Wilderness Lodge room (cheapest deluxe on property) and then moved over to our DVC point stay.

I would probably stay at Pop Century a night or two before I would stay offsite. We did stay one night offsite with my parents in September before we checked into the Boardwalk. But, my parents had a two bedroom at Wyndham Palms resort and I wanted to check this property out first hand. Normally I don't like staying off Disney property. Wyndham Palms was nice, but it wasn't Disney.

I plan on still staying occasionally at non DVC Disney properties. I like all the Disney resorts. As a matter a fact, in February we are slipping down to Orlando (had free flights that needed to be used before they expired) and I booked Pop Century at a discounted rate for six nights. Yep, I squeezed a very cheap trip in before our May DVC trip - ya hoo! Just because we bought DVC does not mean we don't occasionally try out other Disney regular resorts. It's fun at all of them!

 

[TDC Nala]

on the last trip I made, I moved to AKL Concierge for the weekend. That was a good way to unwind after overdoing the Food & Wine Festival while staying at BCV.