How many of you . . .

[cobbler]

Spend your weekends at a value or moderate before heading to your DVC resort??

I am curious as to how many spend the points for the Fri and Saturday night stays and who moves.

How inconvienent is it to spend one night in the value/moderate and then move? I am wondering if it would be more of a waste of time checking out and checking in again then it would be a waste of points.

 

[travelbug]

I've done that on some trips but not all. If I've got the points to stay on weekends too, that's obviously my preference. But since I usually have to travel at peak times, the weekends can suck up the points bigtime! So sometimes I conserve points and stay at a resort for one weekend, and use my points for the other weekend. (Many stays are 9-10 days involving 2 weekends)

For my 2006 stays, we are trying ASMo for one weekend in Feb. and staying the following weekend on points. Over Easter, we will be at the beach for one weekend, and staying at BCV on cash the following weekend.

 

[DukeStreetKing]

It all depends on the time of year for us. We just got back from a long weekend (Friday - Sunday) at the Beach Club Villas using points. We're also staying over the New Year's holiday on points at OKW. I wanted to stay at BWV but that would have killed us pointwise.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've stayed at moderates or deluxes to try them out, not as a means to actually save points. For NYE, we're staying at CBR for one night. We've never stayed there, so we thought we would try it for one night. We have 8 nights at OKW, 4 in a one bedroom and 4 in a two bedroom. Two years ago, we stayed at the Dolphin for NYE so we could walk from the parks. Then on Jan1, we moved over to VWL.

We stayed at CS for two nights once, we decided to leave early (thus the first night). Then decided to leave home even earlier (thus, we needed two nights - before checking into the Doubletree). We did the Doubletree for three nights on a bargain (toured Hilton Grand Vacation Club), then moved over to AKL Concierge to do the Sunrise Safari. Then over to BCV for six nights.

We do goofy things all the time.

 

[cobbler]

So those of you that have done that so far, how much hassle is it to check out and check in and the luggage thing and all that??

 

[Deb & Bill]

If we are only there for one night, we just bring in one small bag and leave the rest in the car. I hate moving, though.

 

[mikesmom]

We like to get to a room and "make a nest" as my husband says - unpack, hang up clothes, fill the fridge, etc. Definitely hate moving. I don't want to check out, check in and have to be out of a room all day because it isn't check in time yet. One of the reasons we bought DVC was so we wouldn't have to look for rooms, pay cash for rooms, or live out of a suitcase. We also wanted to take a break mid-day, and you can't do that if you are "between rooms".

I just look at the total amount of points needed for the time period we are staying and not try and out think it by analyzing the difference between weekday and weekend points.

 

[spiceycat]

I do it or I arrive on Sunday and go home on Fri. I also stay in offsite timeshare until that Sunday.

anyway moving at Disney is easy.

I generally just take an overnight bag for my first night stay.

if you don't have a car (or even if you do)- Disney will transfer your luggage just like they do a WDw resort. just be sure to have everything you will need that day (swim suits, medicine, sun screen, etc) in a backpack and be sure to take that with you.

sometimes the luggage won't arrive until after 4:00pm - sometimes it will beat you to the DVC resort.

anyway I also like to go check in as soon as possible around 7:00am. there isn't generally a line and then I can go to the parks, back to the other hotel, or just stay in the general area if my room is not ready.

I like Pop Century. It has a lake and a very nice food court.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our March UY '05 has found us in Orlando more nights than ever. This has involved family trips, the Members Cruise, girlfriends weekend and just get-aways, so we have found the AP discount on rooms very helpful, and not only for Friday night, we decided to get to WDW on some Thursday nights after DH's work to get another night on site.

I don't like to move either, but we don't have children with us, and I really can't imagine that we will have another year like this one, with 6 trips from Ohio.

With DMom (will be 86) and DSis for Mothers Day weekend ('06), we're staying at BCV for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and that's so they don't have to move. Right now, I'm on a fence regarding the Saturday night before our WVL stay in June '06. We have 4 nights in WVL, then we head for the ocean for a long weekend there, in a Marriott resort, we're sort of out of VB points for next year. However, it's not a value move for Saturday that I'm debating, I'm trying to decide if we could enjoy a night at BCV, with SAB, for Saturday, with 29 '06 points which are burning a hole in my pocket.

That's why my tag says "I have 2 opinions" When I decide we don't want to move, or move only if we get in late at night, stay off site, I then think about splurging for a DVC studio at BCV!

Bobbi

PS. I do think that for us, we have "come into" DVC late in life, and so we want to enjoy as much of it as we can, while we can!! On the Adult and solo board there is a question regarding why do 50 somethings still go to WDW??

 

[Holly]

We are spending our first night this December (Sat.) at AKL and moving to OKW on Sunday. I'm not thrilled about moving, especially with 4 kids and in-laws, but I am already in the red with my points and didn't want to use anymore of next years.
I read some posts on this board that moving is actually pretty easy. The resort will move your luggage to the next resort for you.

 

[travelbug]

So those of you that have done that so far, how much hassle is it to check out and check in and the luggage thing and all that??

Well, I do think it is a hassle and I'd rather avoid it. But I tell myself that I'll be so glad to have more points left because I chose a little hassle instead of a big number of weekend points. I also tell myself that it's great fun to try out different resorts.

 

[Aneille]

We've only gone on one trip with pts but we moved. We stayed at the AKL for 2 nights then to the BWV.

We are planning a trip for Dec. 06 and we will be skipping the weekends again. This time for 2 nights at the WL. I really want to stay there with the xmas decorations up.

Both trips other family members were with us so we used up a lot of pts.

Probably when we take a trip with just my own family we will stick around for the weekends unless there is somewhere I just have to try out.

The move from AKL to BWV in May was simple. We got up in the morning brought our luggage down had them tagged to go to BWV. Headed over to MK to the Crystal Palace for very early bkfst. Did the MK until around 12 and then back to BWV. Luggage was there, room was ready. Took a break and then headed back to the parks in the evening!

 

[jonestavern]

We'll be taking our first trip home on our own points after thanksgiving. The first Friday and Saturday nights will be spent at POP followed by a Sunday through Thursday night stay at OKW, and the last two nights at CBR. By doing this, we kept enough points available this use year to book another Sunday through Thursday night stay at HHI for the last week of March 2006.

As for the moving problem, we tend to pack light, and figure that one small bag for the first two nights will carry everything the three of us need until we can relax and spread out in OKW for the next five.

Chris, Jean & Patrick
Washington, NH

 

[Pootle]

If we are travelling with a group, we are more likely to splurge and pay the weekend points.

If it's adults only trip - DH or friend - then I stay at a value or moderate on arrival night, Saturday.

In fact, there's nothing I love quite so much as getting up while it is still dark on a Sunday morning (very easy, since at the start of a vacation I am still on UK time, which is 5 hours ahead of ET ) and checking into OKW just as it becomes light. If there is low-lying mist around, so much the better.

That 'going home' feeling when the resort is just waking up is priceless to me.

 

[CarolMN]

This next trip will be the first one that we are moving even though we are staying on site for the entire trip. Usually we only move if we are spending part of the trip visiting non-Disney attractions and then we stay off site for that portion of the trip.

We're staying one night at CS (got AP rate), only because we got a better airfare to come down a day earlier than planned (on a Friday) and I wasn't able to get the Friday night at the BWV. Next year I will be smarter - I'll reserve the previous weekend days up front and just cancel if we end up not needing those days. I don't mind spending the points - it's worth it to me not to have to worry about being without a room for part of our precious WDW vacation time. We generally only have 7 or 8 days each year to spend there.

Best wishes-

 

[Julylady]

We stayed offsite (Residence Inn - LBV) for the first and last night of our Spring Break 2003 trip to save weekend points. It worked out great. We packed carry-on overnight bags for the first night and left all the other luggage in the car. This made things a lot easier! We checked into our room about noon on the first day and then went to Typhoon Lagoon. Arrived back at the Residence Inn about 5pm after picking up Subway for dinner. The kids enjoyed the pool and hottub and then we went to bed. The next morning we loaded our overnight bags in the car and had a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel. We then pre-checked into OKW before 8:30am. At the end of the trip, we spent the last day off-site at Sea World. We again packed overnight bags with only the things we would need for the last day and left the bulk of our luggage in the car.

Prior to the trip, I was thinking that moving was going to be a big pain, but it worked out fine. By saving the weekend points, we were able to squeeze in a Halloween visit later that year.

 

[cobbler]

Thanks for everyone's opinions. We did a split stay last year. 4 nights at POP followed by 5 nights at ASSports and it was kind of a pain. But based on the current 180 points I have if we want to do a week moving for one night is going to be something we have to do.

I really am not looking forward to doing that because it will seem more like a waste. So I am currently working with my guide to bump up my contract to 220 so we don't have to worry about it.

Thanks for the opinions all

 

[JimC]

We normally stay for a week and do not move for weekends. We may stay 8 nights and split two DVC resorts or DVC and a deluxe.

 

[disney gadabout]

We don't move. When I purchased I made sure I could cover a week in a 2 bedroom, peak season, and then some. Like a previous poster mentioned, I like to unpack and make myself at home.

 

[Pa@okw95]

We stay in the tower rooms at the Hilton which is a delux resort. It is common for some resorts to charge more money on the weekend but the difference at DVC between weekend prices(points)and weekday is just to much for me to deal with. We are gold members of the Hilton chain and often get our rooms for free with our points that we accumulated over the year. It is beautiful place to stay and would recommend it.