As a DVC member, do you still do cash rooms at the resorts on occasion?

[jlnten17]

Weighing the pros/cons of purchasing more points. We currently have 200 at The Poly. We tend to get an AP take 3-4 trips (4-7 days) on that AP then take a year off. This allows us to bank/borrow but we still may need a few more points next year. I was going to purchase more but then thought. DVC allows us to get a discounted AP, AP often has good discounts (especially for our off season trips) on rooms. We might be better off to just pay cash for now if we need to for our 3rd or 4th trip because when our kids are older we won't be taking 4 trips a year and 200 points will be perfect. WDYT?

 

[bumbershoot]

We have. Even without a discount. Sometimes a trip is just too long for our 160 points.

 

[lovin'fl]

DVC member since 2006 and have only done one cash night since. It was last trip and I was driving in by myself and decided to drive the nine hours straight through instead of stopping on the road for a night. So I booked Pop Century with AP or DVC discount,don't remember which. Won't do it again because that resort was very disappointing after all these years in DVC deluxe Villa resorts. Oh, and we started with 200 points and now have 580 points (8 contracts). So I vote....add on.

 

[lovin'fl]

And also....my kids are 20, 18 and 18. And we still keep going through the points and the 'kids' still love to go. Plus DH and I enjoy F&W adults only trips.

 

[zemra406]

Yes we have. Only bought enough points for every other year but we upgraded to an annual pass during our first stay as members, so it made sense to come back. Got a great TA rate last August. Now I just renewed my pass and have a cash stay in January and points stay in August. Guess I underestimated how often I’d be going!

 

[CarolynFH]

We've now used AP discounts to book cash rooms four times when we had used up or committed all of our 300 BWV points but "needed" to visit WDW. First time was in May 2015, when we decided at the last minute to book the Ultimate Day VIP tour at what turned out to be one of the last Star Wars Weekends. Then there was a stay at Pop in March 2016 to attend the DVC 25th Anniversary Party at MK, another stay at Pop in May this year for AP & DVC Pandora previews, and finally 5 nights at CSR in August because we enjoyed Pandora so much (and also wanted to see whether we could tolerate summer at WDW - we confirmed we can but don't want to).

We're retired and are fortunate to be able to travel to other places in addition to WDW. But we love having our DVC points (scheduled to check in to a 1BR at VGF in February) and our APs for cash stays when we're out of points!

 

[disneynutz]

Revenue accounting will sometimes make cash rooms available at at 25% discount. Rooms are booked through MS.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

I try not to, but right now DH has a night in a value resort because we got a great price on a DCL Merrytime Cruise, so he’s coming down the night before. I will be at SSR with cousins, sister, and an aunt, not enough room for him. (There are only 5 of us in the 2 bedroom, and that seems to be enough!)

We are retired too, and when the excellent price came out for the cruise, we had the time free, and booked it!

 

[Murron]

I'd do cash with the AP perks. If I really felt the need to buy more resale, I'd go up 50 to 250 points (maybe another 100) and no more. 250-300 seems to be a good number. Don't get caught up in a contract you may not need 5 or 10 years from now -- annual dues etc. And 50 point contracts are so easy to sell down the line. We had the same situation re children. Once they got on with their lives, we didn't need all the points we had and sold off a few contracts.

 

[aoconnor]

Yes, mostly for “last minute” (i.e., less than 6 months in advance ) trips.

While I love the deluxe resorts, I can live with a $130 a night room at Pop Century from time to time. Especially with the newly refurbished rooms.

 

[lovin'fl]

Yes, mostly for “last minute” (i.e., less than 6 months in advance ) trips.

While I love the deluxe resorts, I can live with a $130 a night room at Pop Century from time to time. Especially with the newly refurbished rooms.

Just a few weeks back, when I had the night at Pop, I requested a refurbished room but didn't get one and it was in BAD shape. And then the bus line...went to DS and it was awful trying to come back...crazy long long line.

 

[CarolynK]

We have paid cash for a DVC room a few times over the years, usually because we don't have enough points to cover. Actually, we just decided on a March three-night stay, and even one-time-use points wouldn't have been enough. We were lucky that not only was one of the nights available for cash, but also at a DVC discount (at BWV in a 1-BR). DD will have to sleep on an inflatable mattress, but we were lucky to get anything at BW at this late stage for Easter weekend!
Last August, we booked a trip about a month out, and paid cash for one of the nights through DVC as well (that was at AKV in a 1-BR).

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I stayed at Pop last year with my son for one night. It was one night too long. Maybe it was two nights. Whatever length I missed my SSR. Definitely noticed a difference with the fellow hotel guests and felt like I was constantly walking through clouds of smoke as the parents smoked right outside their rooms. Yuck!

My husband and I did 3 nights at Port Orleans this summer because we found a great last minute deal on Priceline, we literally booked the room and flights a week in advance. We enjoyed the hotel and would go back there if we ran out of points again.

I guess after all these DVC stays I’m no longer a value resort person anymore. Prior to DVC we only stayed value or offsite.

 

[gatordoc]

Once in awhile for a last minute trip, and if a good AP or Florida resident discount is available at a moderate - we like staying at different resorts than we do with our DVC points.

 

[alldiz]

I have in the past books a cash might or 2. This was early on when we had AP and just had to squeeze the extra trip in.
Looks like DVC finally woke up and have a good AP discount once again.
So I have just for the 1st time purchased 24 one time use points.
Stay tuned lol
Kerri

 

[clayfolks]

One night at Pop, before a cruise and one night in a Cars suite at AoA before moving with the grandsons to Kidani. I would do it again if I HAD to, but would prefer to add on LOL!

 

[dclpluto]

In 17 years only one night before a last minute cruise at port Orleans.

 

[jlnten17]

I have in the past books a cash might or 2. This was early on when we had AP and just had to squeeze the extra trip in.
Looks like DVC finally woke up and have a good AP discount once again.
So I have just for the 1st time purchased 24 one time use points.
Stay tuned lol
Kerri

Just looked up one time use points (didn’t know what it was) and it seems like a good deal to me. For example an extra night at Poly is 16 points when we go so that would be $240. Doubt I could get a cash room at Poly for that! And to clarify we would still stay deluxe if we did cash. Possibly WL or YC, 2 that we like but are not DVC. Copper Creek seems like it’s going to be hard to get at 7 months. Made the mistake of staying at Poly on our first trip and have only stayed deluxe. I will cut back elsewhere (dining etc) to stay deluxe.

 

[kristenabelle]

I do - even though we have a good amount of points (270) we're not great at using them efficiently (my trigger finger isn't so great at 8 AM, so we're often stuck with better view categories wasting points, IMO). If I'm headed down for a quick weekend by myself or with friends, we'll go cash. That said, we try to stay at resorts we wouldn't have been able to book otherwise (Yacht Club, POR, Contemporary tower, etc.)

I'd like to buy more points some day, but I'd rather not do it on a loan. Hoping I'll be able to save up enough over the next few years for another 50 - 100.

 

[Micca]

Have never paid cash for a room since joining DVC. Of course we could always make use of a few more points.