Question for the experts

[MiknMinMouse]

Hi All,

We're thinking ahead to our Jan 2003 trip and need some advice. Once again we'll be traveling with a large group so we'll need a 2bedroom definately plus maybe a studio. My question is ~ Drum Roll. Without borrowing so much into the next year, we'll already have to borrow some, not sure how much, what's our best option out of these two?

rent points so we can stay at our home resort (The Boardwalk) the entire time

or

divide our time between two resorts.

We did the second option last time we went with this group and stayed at the All Stars. While I liked the All Stars okay, I'm not particularly keen to stay there again so if we stayed at another resort we're looking at moderate.

Which option would probably be cheaper? I've never rented points so I don't know at all how that works and since we're going to have to start planning in February I want to have all my ducks in a row when the time comes.

Thanks in advance for the help I know will come


18 days til Disney

 

[lampy]

I can only tell you what we like to do. We split our time between resorts, spending time offsite at a deluxe resort. In Feb, you should be able to get a great rate at Deluxe Vacation Homes - your own private swimming pool, Vistana, or Marriott. Spending time in a deluxe off-site seems like two vacations and is cheaper then renting points from another member. If you are thinking of renting 30 points per day, that is $300 that could be used at a deluxe resort. Of couse, the biggest disadvantage is packing and moving. But we enjoy checking out other properties.

 

[JonHM]

Is staying at OKW rather than BWV an option for you? It may save you enough points that you wouldn't have to rent.

 

[MiknMinMouse]

We really want to stay onsite so for the first reply, we're looking more for onsite options. For the second reply, I just did a check and staying at OKW really won't save many points 4 points or so a night.

One more question while I'm asking questions. Can you book at your home resort at the 11 month window then change to another resort at the 7 month?

 

[lampy]

Yes. You can book at your home resort and switch at the seven month window. January should be no problem at the seven month window. Another option if you want to stay on-site is use your DVC cash discount to pay for a few nights stay, it may be cheaper than renting points.

 

[loribell]

If you want to use a moderate I would try Coronado Springs. My family stayed there this summer and we loved it. It is pretty secluded to. The pool is great and Pepper Market is pretty good too. If you decide on that let me know, there are some things you need to ask for on room requests so that you aren't to far from the food court. It is a beautiful resort.

 

[Dean]

You might consider OKW since the rooms are larger and the points are less. Otherwise, renting a few extra points to finish out your stay will likely be less than staying at a moderate as long was we're not talking extra weekend days.

 

[MiknMinMouse]

Originally posted by lampy
Another option if you want to stay on-site is use your DVC cash discount to pay for a few nights stay, it may be cheaper than renting points.

Do you mean for the home resort? Like use cash for a few nights then points? We did try that for this year, that's one reason I ended up having to waitlist for Nov 2. FIL said he would pay for one of the nights so when I went to book, I wanted to have a cash night then use points the rest of the night. They kept telling me there was no "cash" availability. Now I'm really confused at how the whole cash thing works because when we joined we were told we could either use our points or pay cash no big deal.


18 days to go inkbounc

 

[Dean]

You may still be able to book through CRO even if MS doesn't have anything for cash.

 

[MiknMinMouse]

Originally posted by Dean
You may still be able to book through CRO even if MS doesn't have anything for cash.

If you do this, do you have to change rooms? Also, is it cheaper doing that than renting points? Looking for all the ideas I can get..

 

[wdwnut]

hi: here's a question for some of the regular january travellers. aren't there usually some fairly good ap discounts available for january in general? ap discounts can save you more than our 25% dvc discount many times. i really can't help you on this; we've never done a january trip.

 

[Dean]

It's unlikely you'll need to change rooms but I'd check with MS and/or the resort to see. Sounds like you're looking at possibly changing rooms anyway so no real loss and if you don't, all the better. If MS can't arrange it, fax the room controller about a week before checkin and then follow up at checkin with the front desk.

 

[dianeschlicht]

WDWnut has a good point. The reservations available from CRO will be different rooms than from DVC. These would come from the 4% that does not go into the condominium, therefore, there could be better availability.

How many points to you expect to use? How many nights do you intend to stay? If everyone will be there the entire time and you need sleeping for at least 12, a GV or 2BR plus studio would do it. If you have some staying a different amount of time, you might be able to do one size for some nights and another size for others.

For example; In January we are having guests the first 6 nights of our trip, so we have a 2 BR reserved for that time period. The next 6 nights we only need a 1 BR, so we only pay weekend points on the 2BR for one night and weekend points on the 1 BR for one night. We linked the ressie so we don't have to move.