Yahoo!!!!! BCV at Christmas!!! ....and a borrowing points question

[KarenB]

I just made ressies for 3 out of our 4 nights over Christmas at BCV! It will be such a nice trip, especially since we were never at WDW during the holidays. I am calling Tuesday to make the final night.

I have a borrowing points question though....

Our use year is Feb, so we borrowed/are borrowing our points for this December trip. I asked MS what happens to the points if we would have to cancel. She said they would have to be used by Feb 1, 2003. Does that mean....

We must make a ressie and go somewhere with these points by Feb. 1, 2003

OR


We can make a ressie for after Feb 2003, but the ressie it self must be made before Feb 2003?

Am I making any sense?? We have no intiention in cancelling, but you never know what can happen in seven months.

Thanks!
Karen

 

[CarolMN]

Congratulations on getting the Christmas ressie! You and your guests will have such a good time!

Ms meant that you waould have to use the borrowed points for a stay on or before January 31, 2003.

Once points are borrowed, they cannot be returned to their original use year.

To explain a little more, with a February use year, your 2002 points are good for stays between 2/1/2002 and 1/31/2003.

Your 2003 points are good for a stay between 2/1/2003 and 1/31/2004.

If you borrow points from 2003, they are good for stays between 2/1/2002 and 1/31/2003. If you do not use them by 1/31/2003, they expire/are lost.

Reservations can always be made up to 11 months ahead of your departure date at your home resort (as long as there are points good for that timeframe available at check in). USe year doesn't have any relationship to when you can make a reservation. It is just the time your points go into your account and only matters for banking/borrowing deadlines.

HTH.

 

[PamOKW]

Just something else to keep in mind when you are booking a vacation so close to the end of your Use Year...

As you now know, the points have to be used for stays that are completed by January 31, 2003. If you are staying the night of Feb. 1, 2003 you'll need to use current points even if you have some these borrowed points left over.

If you find you are unable to make it to WDW for some reason, make this decision by the end of November if you'll want to use these points for a non-DVC resort. You can stay somewhere during the last 60 days of your Use Year but the reservation has to be made prior to 60 days out. For example, November 15 you discover you can't make the trip. You call that same day and book two nights at The Plaza hotel in NYC for mid-January to use up the borrowed points that will expire January 31. However, if you wait until December 3 to make the decision not to go to WDW, you will no longer be able to book non-DVC resorts since you have less than 60 days remaining in your Use Year. You can only use the points at the WDW DVC's, Vero Beach or HHI.

This is the worst case scenario and the only time Use Year comes into play.

If some catastrophic event hits your family -- death, severe injury, etc. it may be possible to work with DVC to salvage some of your points. They are not heartless. However, they can't make exceptions for work assignments, the flu, an unexpected wedding, etc., etc.

So, that's the background on "what if". But, don't worry about all that.....YOU ARE GOING TO BCV FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

 

[yesdisneyfool]

You will have an extra Magical time during Christmas and good luck with the last day of your ressie.
CarolIMN was able to answer your question.

 

[jmminarik]

The 'end of use year' ressies are probably a prime candidate for the 'trip insurance' they let you know about when you get your ressie confirmation in the mail. You only get $5/pt, and it costs 5% of the value of the $5/pt, but its better than losing the entire value.

Hope this helps,
Joe
(who has only once gotten trip insurance for any trip).

 

[KarenB]

Thanks for the information!!!

Pam.....you must be reading my mind! As I was writing the original post, I was thinking....worse case scenerio.....we could go to NYC so the points don't get wasted if something dreadful happens. (I am a "what if worrier" kinda gal unfortunately. I drive DH nuts!)


Anyway.....it will be a great trip!!!!!

Now, to think about our DVC (VWL and VB) trip in a few weeks. Don't you just love DVC!!!!

Karen

 

[Mouse Ears]

Pam, I started writing a question about this 'last 60 days' issue yesterday and got distracted at work (darn responsibilities getting in the way of my fun).

I'm not sure I understand the restrictions on exchanges in the last days. In Karen's situation, you said she could still make an exchange in the last days as long as she makes the reservation at least 60 days before.

Is this the same if the points are not borrowed?
Are all exchanges treated the same in this regard (ie. Disney collection, concierge collection, DCL, etc)?

If the above questions are 'yes' then that is a lot less restrictive than what I understood before. I was under the impression that you couldn't make exchanges in the last 60 days of your use year which would make use year a lot more important.

Are there any other exchange restrictions I should be aware of before I make my decision to join DVC?

Thanks all,
M.E.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Congradulations, have a wonderful Beach Club Christmas. We'll be there for 6 nights ourselves with the family and a set of Grandparents. Then it's off to Vero for a few days.

Of course, we are all staying in a studio....
;-)


I'm looking forward to all the wonderful decorations. I know that is the busiest season, but I wonder what the parks will actually be like on Christmas day. Do they end up closing them to additional guests like they do on New Year's day?

 

[Terry S]

Congratulations on going at Christmas. We hope to do that some day as well!

 

[Regina]

We'll be at OKW for Christmas/New Year's. It's our third holiday vacation, all on points.

FYI, we've always found that the MK is empty on Christmas morning, but starts to get filled up around noon. By parade time, it's cheek to cheek.

The last time, we headed over to MGM from the MK and there were absolutely no crowds.

 

[Paul in CT]

KarenB,

We will be at BCV in early December, but not over Christmas. My DW and I are looking forward to it, too. We have been at WDW three times now without the "children" (23 and 20 now) in early December and once over NYE's with them and have enjoyed it tremendously every time. We especially like going to the resorts to see the Christmas decorations.

Thanks for asking the question and thanks to PamOKW for her answer. I had never thought of the possibility of using the points a non-DVC venue if borrowed points were on the line.

 

[PamOKW]

I'm not sure I understand the restrictions on exchanges in the last days. In Karen's situation, you said she could still make an exchange in the last days as long as she makes the reservation at least 60 days before.

Hi MouseEars! I learned the end of Use Year policies when I had to cancel a reservation at the end of my own Use Year.

One way to keep it straight is to remember that when you trade out to any non-DVC venue -- cruise, WDW resort, adventure, Concierge Collection, etc. DVC has to "pay" for your stay. The way they do that is to rent out the DVC accomodations you would have used. They need to have at least 60 days to arrange for a rental of your unit. So, you can stay somewhere any time during your Use Year, from beginning to end, but you must make the reservations between 11-3 months out (can't make a reservation during the last 60 days (2 months) to be used during that ending 2 month period. This applies whether using borrowed, current or banked points.

One option that I'm not clear on is arranging II trades. There is something about being able to keep points in an account for up to 2 years. I don't know if points could be put into this status during those last two months. Anyone want to tackle that question?

 

[madcoco]

Congratulations. Enjoy your stay.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

FYI, we've always found that the MK is empty on Christmas morning, but starts to get filled up around noon. By parade time, it's cheek to cheek.

The last time, we headed over to MGM from the MK and there were absolutely no crowds.

Great info thank you for sharing. Maybe the trick if you get a late start on the day is to head over to MGM or the Animal Kindom.

 

[Mouse Ears]

Thanks again, Pam. I think I've got it down now. That last point about II point account you posed sounds like something way beyond DVC 101. I'm not sure I even have the prerequisites to understand that if someone did try to explain...

M.E.

 

[KarenB]

Just called MS this morning and didn't even have to wait!!!! We got the last night.....Christmas Eve!!!! I can't believe that we will wake up Christmas morning in WDW!!!!!

We do check out Christmas Day, but will be heading down to Fort Meyers area after breakfast for Christmas with DH's family!!!!


Karen

 

[chris1gill]

EXCELLENT!! Congratulations... you know you guys are killing me... we're going for Thanksgiving, but I'd REALLY REALLY like to go for Christmas... UGH... DH won't go for Christmas!!!

You have a magical trip, sending plenty of Pixie Dust!!

 

[DoeWDW]

Karen, CONGRATULATIONS on getting your last night's ressie!! You'll have such a magical time!