Wisconsin/Minnesota DVC Owners

[MonaMN]

Anyone have any insights on flight costs as of late? Looking at March flights and they are all running much higher than we are used to seeing - wondering if we will see the prices drop at all. Delta is running in the upper $500s/lower $600s for non-stop on our dates… a little steeper than we are used to!

 

[elgerber]

Anyone have any insights on flight costs as of late? Looking at March flights and they are all running much higher than we are used to seeing - wondering if we will see the prices drop at all. Delta is running in the upper $500s/lower $600s for non-stop on our dates… a little steeper than we are used to!

They have been high for a long time now. I had to fly back southwest because our return flight on Tomorrow would have been 78000 miles for one way.

 

[IrishEye]

Twin Cities SW Suburbs
200 pts at BLT when they opened $97/pt. We checked in on opening day!
300 pts at CCV for $163/pt

Last stay was in May - 8 nights at BCV and 7 nights in a CCV cabin (my favorite)

We always fly Delta non-stop. Our May trip was only $188 round trip! On the way down, we got upgraded to 1st class. We purchased the tickets in the middle of the pandemic, so there's that...
I always choose that my days are flexible and sometimes you can save a lot (especially around MEA).

We are probably neighbors. So tell me about the draw to BCV, we are Boardwalk owners and love it more after every stay at a different resort. We have not stayed at BCV mostly because we don't want to stay so close to BWV and not be there. We had to stay at Dolphin for the closing of the Great Movie Ride after hour party and really felt distraught looking at and walking by Boardwalk. Is there a reason we should make a trip at BCV ?

 

[Jodie0705]

Hi my fellow midwesterners! My name is Jodie and I live in New Berlin, WI. My hubby and I had never been to Disney as kids; first trip was w/our 6yr old nephew in 2015 and we were hooked! Something about decompressing in a beautiful, happy place not to mention getting away from winter! Waiting on ROFR for our first contract (AKV). Wish us luck and glad to meet you all!

 

[ElizabethG]

We are probably neighbors. So tell me about the draw to BCV, we are Boardwalk owners and love it more after every stay at a different resort. We have not stayed at BCV mostly because we don't want to stay so close to BWV and not be there. We had to stay at Dolphin for the closing of the Great Movie Ride after hour party and really felt distraught looking at and walking by Boardwalk. Is there a reason we should make a trip at BCV ?

No. Stick with BWV if that is where you love. This was our second stay at BCV and we decided we don’t really like it. I know it is beloved, but the layout of the 2 bdrm drove us crazy - so many doors! The view we had was awful too.
We love CCV, but next time we’ll skip BCV. We’ve never tried BWV.

 

[Shellyred8]

Anyone have any insights on flight costs as of late? Looking at March flights and they are all running much higher than we are used to seeing - wondering if we will see the prices drop at all. Delta is running in the upper $500s/lower $600s for non-stop on our dates… a little steeper than we are used to!

Have you checked out Sun Country? They are usually less expensive than Delta, at least for the dates that we usually fly. We like to fly Sun Country because they are in the smaller terminal in MN. Also, coming back, the line for Delta is usually REALLY long when we walk past it on our way to the Sun Country check-in desk. We rarely wait more than 5 minutes to get check in at the Sun Country desk.

I hope you are able to find some better priced flights for your trip!

 

[Quiltsndisney]

We just booked our January trip. Looked at both sun country and delta. Delta was less expensive if you needed luggage other than under seat and select seats. We need to have seat together due to one traveling with disability.

delta came out to 250 per person where sun country was 338. we we’re leaning sun country due to smaller airport but cost wins out.

 

[MonaMN]

Have you checked out Sun Country? They are usually less expensive than Delta, at least for the dates that we usually fly. We like to fly Sun Country because they are in the smaller terminal in MN. Also, coming back, the line for Delta is usually REALLY long when we walk past it on our way to the Sun Country check-in desk. We rarely wait more than 5 minutes to get check in at the Sun Country desk.

I hope you are able to find some better priced flights for your trip!

Yes, I have been watching Sun Country too… but the difference in price hasn’t been all that much consider we will have to pay so much for bags with SC. I have the Delta CC so that covers at least some luggage. I have some points to use as well but the family we are traveling with does not.

Today the prices are up even more…

 

[Jodie0705]

What do you all do for park tickets? It seems like annual passes save money if going more than once a year but is anyone to the point where you go and skip the parks occasionally? Is it better to pay as you go? When we last stayed at BCV, we went over to Epcot almost every night so park hopper was great. Trying to work through what is most economical and if you would share your thoughts, hit and misses, etc I’d love to hear!

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Minnesota here! We're in Oakdale, just east of St. Paul.

My wife used to work at Disneyland as a teenager and we just have a love for the parks overall, so we did WDW as our honeymoon in 2018. My dad was jealous so we planned another trip for February 2020 with my parents and brother, and it was around that time that I had done a bunch of research into DVC because we foresaw more family trips to WDW now that we've hit a point where we can just do that. Toured at Riviera with dad, and it was actually him that just said, "at this point it would be dumb not to buy in."

Despite hemming and hawing about resale/direct, which home resort, what UY, we decided on buying 100 at Riviera to start. Since then we did a March 2021 trip - we had gotten vaccinated in February - and did a split stay between BLT and RIV. They were also offering tours at all the DVC resorts with the grand villas so we took a look at Poly's bungalows, CC's cabins, and VGF's 2800 sq ft gigantovilla.

And like the two other folks in this thread already, we will also be taking a trip in January of next year! We'll be doing another split between OKW and Boardwalk, as I start on my quest to try every DVC resort and decide where I'd want to add on points (so far, BLT is in the lead because of proximity to MK and availability/point-cost of rooms). But we may just miss people because our trip is around MLK. Typically our trip time will be around MEA, like a bajillion other Minnesotans, but October is a super fun time to be at Disney and we have yet to try a MNSSHP if it comes back!

What is MEA that a bajillion Minnesotans take trips?

 

[JGINPL]

Minnesota Educator Academy it is when teacher go to a workshop in Minnesota. Kids have off 3-4 school days during this time in October.

 

[MonaMN]

Minnesota Educator Academy it is when teacher go to a workshop in Minnesota. Kids have off 3-4 school days during this time in October.

We almost did an MEA trip one year but the flights were so very high - so we ended up just pulling kid out of school and going earlier in the month. I think she was in first grade so she didn’t miss much.

 

[jdkdorn]

I had to post...our secret trip and surprise engagement turned out great. Here are some of the pictures

 

[MonaMN]

Booked flights for March today... still not pleased about the cost but was able to apply some miles to the cost so it's not as painful as it could have been. But it allows me to start thinking about real planning for the trip - we're a little over 100 days away so it's time to get serious about understanding all the changes - and learning about Universal since we are headed there after our time at Copper Creek. Woo!

 

[Quiltsndisney]

Booked flights for March today... still not pleased about the cost but was able to apply some miles to the cost so it's not as painful as it could have been. But it allows me to start thinking about real planning for the trip - we're a little over 100 days away so it's time to get serious about understanding all the changes - and learning about Universal since we are headed there after our time at Copper Creek. Woo!

Enjoy. We are end of January and still stressing about genie plus. But we have decided to not make it a make or break for the trip. Have fun at universal. They are easier. Either stand in line or pay a lot to get one fast pass per ride or give the you r first born for unlimited fast per ride.

 

[nicstress]

Enjoy. We are end of January and still stressing about genie plus. But we have decided to not make it a make or break for the trip. Have fun at universal. They are easier. Either stand in line or pay a lot to get one fast pass per ride or give the you r first born for unlimited fast per ride.

Or pay for one night in a Deluxe hotel at US and get unlimited express pass for 2 days. I would do that before or after a DVC trip before ever standing in Iines there or paying the upcharge. We did a Universal only trip and stayed at the Royal Pacific. The unlimited express passes were priceless. One night in those hotels is usually cheaper than buying an Express pass for a family of 4. Especially since it is valid 2 days.

 

[MonaMN]

Or pay for one night in a Deluxe hotel at US and get unlimited express pass for 2 days. I would do that before or after a DVC trip before ever standing in Iines there or paying the upcharge. We did a Universal only trip and stayed at the Royal Pacific. The unlimited express passes were priceless. One night in those hotels is usually cheaper than buying an Express pass for a family of 4. Especially since it is valid 2 days.

We are staying a couple nights at Royal Pacific. It may be a rough shift from the 2 bedroom down to a regular hotel room.

 

[IrishEye]

Booked flights for March today... still not pleased about the cost but was able to apply some miles to the cost so it's not as painful as it could have been. But it allows me to start thinking about real planning for the trip - we're a little over 100 days away so it's time to get serious about understanding all the changes - and learning about Universal since we are headed there after our time at Copper Creek. Woo!

Sounds like a spring break trip, us too. We were lucky enough to book flights before they raised them for spring break time and are combining a cruise with the resort trip. After the bitter cold last week, looking forward to the sun and water that people are not driving on.

 

[jdkdorn]

Airfare is not the issue for us, found it for 119 each way, not being able to use more than 50% of next years points is killing us. We want to stay Disney but the actual resorts are too high cost, we found an ok deal at the Swan...I just hate paying when I need 124 points and I have 275 points I cannot borrow. We bought the points so we could do last minute trips and now we have to pay because we cannot borrow any more from next year's points. They should allow the borrow inside of 45 or 60 days, they are not protecting anyone's ability to book when it is last minute. If they were truly worried about banked points they would not let people buy one time use points.

 

[Mom B]

Hi, MN and WI neighbors! We are in Duluth, MN; started going to Disney in 1992 when our kids were 18, 16, 8 and 6 for a "one and done" but after the first trip we were hooked. Bought into DVC first at Vero Beach resale (did a 25th anniversary trip there on cash in 1999 and fell in love with the resort). Then 2 resales at OKW. bought a small direct contract at AKV when it was new, then a bigger resale at AKV. We ALSO like to travel in January (crazy as it seems, we were married in January and found out that it's much nicer to celebrate in Florida than MN) and October (MEA) is our other favorite time. Missed a couple of trips the past couple years due to COVID and other health issues. Most recently did an extended family trip with a group of 23 kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids to Vero and then a Grand Villa (and some studios) at AKV in October 2021. We're both in our mid to late 60s now; just sold one of our OKW contracts and invested in another contract at Vero because in reality I think we'll be spending less time in the parks and more time chilling at the beach in the future. Travel is getting harder due to mobility and health issues but not ready to give up on our DVC yet! (Besides, our kids keep wanting to use those points!)