SAP+ ?

[AstroBlasters]

I don't see us ever cooking meals or anything so I don't need a kitchen. The extra space in a 1 bedroom would be nice though, especially when our son is older. And the washer/dryer would be helpful. I just wish BRV had a 2nd bathroom like VGC. Right now the studio is good though. And he loves that little single murphy bed.

“I don’t need a kitchen”….

May I present Instacart for breakfast products/waters/gatorades/etc as Exhibit A and a place to put leftovers for giant dinner portions for Exhibit B.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

“I don’t need a kitchen”….

May I present Instacart for breakfast products/waters/gatorades/etc as Exhibit A and a place to put leftovers for giant dinner portions for Exhibit B.

I don't know if it's a BCV specific problem or if it's the same price across all Deluxe Resorts, but I was shocked to learn that our only options for buying water after 11pm was $5.75 Dasani from vending machines (I think it was 16oz at most, I would believe 12oz). Later that evening I used Amazon Fresh to load up on higher quality water at lower prices... though I think BCV and Amazon both tacked on delivery fees, it was totally worth it (we also got breakfast items and some random snacks). I'm not sure if we came out ahead financially but I refuse to pay $6 for a glass of Dasani on principle.

 

[intamin]

Yeah, we like to switch things up, and it's too much work to sell and buy contracts, so we are good where we are. Still get something we like more often than not.

And... we are the weird ones that chose our May stay at an SSR studio because we like it just as much as many of the other properties, but the point chart is much better. Could have stayed at CCV, RIV, BLT, VGF, OKW, AKL, or BWV (Garden) at 7 months, but we chose SSR. We love the new renovations. Thought about BWV for a hot minute, but the parking situation there is not ideal.

You probably have a healthier mindset about your bookings than I do. When I’m booking I feel inclined to go for the rooms that are hardest to book and I struggle to forfeit rooms that are hard to obtain based on principle . I would never feel bad about staying at SSR since we like the resort but I probably won’t book it by choice just because I know we’ll eventually get “stuck” there. We almost did stay there this past Christmas because we booked the room 1 month out but stumbled on a value studio at AKV and 2 nights in a lake view studio at BLT.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I don't know if it's a BCV specific problem or if it's the same price across all Deluxe Resorts, but I was shocked to learn that our only options for buying water after 11pm was $5.75 Dasani from vending machines (I think it was 16oz at most, I would believe 12oz). Later that evening I used Amazon Fresh to load up on higher quality water at lower prices... though I think BCV and Amazon both tacked on delivery fees, it was totally worth it (we also got breakfast items and some random snacks). I'm not sure if we came out ahead financially but I refuse to pay $6 for a glass of Dasani on principle.

We had that happen once while staying at Grand Cal on the hotel side and the machines would not accept my credit card or room card…. I asked the front desk what to do and they said to try Paradise Pier… not OK given the price they charge per night…..

Ever since then we are militant about ordering water and Body Armor/ Gatorade as soon as we know our room number….

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We had that happen once while staying at Grand Cal on the hotel side and the machines would not accept my credit card or room card…. I asked the front desk what to do and they said to try Paradise Pier… not OK given the price they charge per night…..

Ever since then we are militant about ordering water and Body Armor/ Gatorade as soon as we know our room number….

Not laughing at your misery, but laughing at the insanity of staying at $600-800/night hotel and being told “sorry our vending machine is out…have you considered walking across the street to find water?”

 

[tom1944]

We had that happen once while staying at Grand Cal on the hotel side and the machines would not accept my credit card or room card…. I asked the front desk what to do and they said to try Paradise Pier… not OK given the price they charge per night…..

Ever since then we are militant about ordering water and Body Armor/ Gatorade as soon as we know our room number….

The grocery order is a big part of the pre-trip plan.

And we do not cook in the room.

 

[Chili327]

“I don’t need a kitchen”….

May I present Instacart for breakfast products/waters/gatorades/etc as Exhibit A and a place to put leftovers for giant dinner portions for Exhibit B.

Don’t need a kitchen… Yet.
I can’t wait for the time I get this all figured out and get to a point when I have laundry in the room and not only have one but make use of a kitchen.

The grocery order is a big part of the pre-trip plan.

And we do not cook in the room.

I’ll get to that point some day…

 

[ClaraOswald]

“I don’t need a kitchen”….

May I present Instacart for breakfast products/waters/gatorades/etc as Exhibit A and a place to put leftovers for giant dinner portions for Exhibit B.

I would love to save money/time by eating breakfast in the room. This is what we did when we stayed on Harbor. Just cereal for us and microwave bacon/sausage, fruit, and waffles for our son. (All of which we could do in a studio actually.)

But my husband has other ideas now after enjoying sitting outside at Craftsman for breakfast. Ha!

And we never have leftovers because we almost exclusively eat quick service in the parks.

Bigger fridge would be good so we could just put all the water in there instead of having to restock but not a huge deal. We always get a case or two (depending on how long our stay is) of water at Target when we arrive.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I would love to save money/time by eating breakfast in the room. This is what we did when we stayed on Harbor. Just cereal for us and microwave bacon/sausage, fruit, and waffles for our son. (All of which we could do in a studio actually.)

But my husband has other ideas now after enjoying sitting outside at Craftsman for breakfast. Ha!

And we never have leftovers because we almost exclusively eat quick service in the parks.

Bigger fridge would be good so we could just put all the water in there instead of having to restock but not a huge deal. We always get a case or two (depending on how long our stay is) of water at Target when we arrive.

For us it’s not about saving money… it’s about saving time. 7:30 early entry…..

 

[tidefan]

You probably have a healthier mindset about your bookings than I do. When I’m booking I feel inclined to go for the rooms that are hardest to book and I struggle to forfeit rooms that are hard to obtain based on principle . I would never feel bad about staying at SSR since we like the resort but I probably won’t book it by choice just because I know we’ll eventually get “stuck” there. We almost did stay there this past Christmas because we booked the room 1 month out but stumbled on a value studio at AKV and 2 nights in a lake view studio at BLT.

Yeah, however, having been an owner for some 17 years now (can't believe that... time flies), we've stayed in every property save DLH, so we don't feel the need to "try something out". Do we have our favorites? Sure! However, I find that every property has some pros and cons to it, even SSR (***cough*** Gideon's ***cough***)

There are some general things that I do. I probably do prefer BLT, strangely for the studios, but it is usually just 2 of us and the kitchenette space works great there. Other than that, I am a bit agnostic. I probably try to stretch points more than anything. The only thing I would say is that I tend to prefer SSR over OKW, but a lot of that is so that I don't get stuck in a building without elevators at OKW. Since we drive every time, that probably makes SSR/OKW/AKV much easier.

Also, I am not a huge fan of split stays, though on our upcoming stay, I did snag a 1-Bdrm value at Jambo on the first night of our May stay before we switch over to SSR. That works nicely because we can get the DDP for just the one night (since we will eat at Steakhouse 71 anyway), then have the mugs for the whole stay.

 

[Unclelude]

That works nicely because we can get the DDP for just the one night (since we will eat at Steakhouse 71 anyway), then have the mugs for the whole stay.

Whoa! Dirty hack! I love this!!!

 

[intamin]

Yeah, however, having been an owner for some 17 years now (can't believe that... time flies), we've stayed in every property save DLH, so we don't feel the need to "try something out". Do we have our favorites? Sure! However, I find that every property has some pros and cons to it, even SSR (***cough*** Gideon's ***cough***)

There are some general things that I do. I probably do prefer BLT, strangely for the studios, but it is usually just 2 of us and the kitchenette space works great there. Other than that, I am a bit agnostic. I probably try to stretch points more than anything. The only thing I would say is that I tend to prefer SSR over OKW, but a lot of that is so that I don't get stuck in a building without elevators at OKW. Since we drive every time, that probably makes SSR/OKW/AKV much easier.

Also, I am not a huge fan of split stays, though on our upcoming stay, I did snag a 1-Bdrm value on the first night of our May stay before we switch over to SSR. That works nicely because we can get the DDP for just the one night (since we will eat at Steakhouse 71 anyway), then have the mugs for the whole stay.

That makes sense. I don’t see us ever driving to WDW so that probably makes a big difference. I stretch our points out as well and have only booked a 1/2BR when we actually need the space. I imagine when our trips start becoming less frequent, we’ll turn our trips into cabungalow stays if we’re trying to burn points. My partner absolutely hates OKW even though that was the first place we stayed on points and I think was the first DVC property I ever stayed at way back in the day. Idk, I think we prefer AKV to SSR given the point charts are similar so when they’re both available at 7 months which is almost always that’s what we always opt for. With the refurb coming to AKV that will also push us further to AKV. SSR is great but I just can’t give up the savanna

We will be living in Orlando for a few years though so we may be using a good chunk of these points at VB and AUL soon.

 

[Disdreaming479]

We just plain do not enjoy the food at wdw for 3 meals a day for a whole week! Also, during the summer trips we take a rest during the lunchtime hours and re-emerge close to dinner because the nighttime is the best time. So the fridge is necessary for us. I just finished a week in a studio and prefer to have a stocked fridge over eating wdw food every day.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Yeah, however, having been an owner for some 17 years now (can't believe that... time flies), we've stayed in every property save DLH, so we don't feel the need to "try something out". Do we have our favorites? Sure! However, I find that every property has some pros and cons to it, even SSR (***cough*** Gideon's ***cough***)

There are some general things that I do. I probably do prefer BLT, strangely for the studios, but it is usually just 2 of us and the kitchenette space works great there. Other than that, I am a bit agnostic. I probably try to stretch points more than anything. The only thing I would say is that I tend to prefer SSR over OKW, but a lot of that is so that I don't get stuck in a building without elevators at OKW. Since we drive every time, that probably makes SSR/OKW/AKV much easier.

Also, I am not a huge fan of split stays, though on our upcoming stay, I did snag a 1-Bdrm value at Jambo on the first night of our May stay before we switch over to SSR. That works nicely because we can get the DDP for just the one night (since we will eat at Steakhouse 71 anyway), then have the mugs for the whole stay.

I was actually wondering how the refillable mugs work at WDW. At aulani, I believe you buy it as a standalone and use it the whole trip…at WDW can you only get it on the dining plan? Can you only refill at resorts or at any dining location?

 

[intamin]

I was actually wondering how the refillable mugs work at WDW. At aulani, I believe you buy it as a standalone and use it the whole trip…at WDW can you only get it on the dining plan? Can you only refill at resorts or at any dining location?

Aulani's mugs don't have the chip in them so they can be used indefinitely. WDW resort mugs can be bought standalone or you will receive them for free with the Disney Dining plan. The resort mugs though like I was saying do have a chip in the bottom of them that the machines check for and prevent people from filling them indefinitely. You're technically only allowed to get them filled at the resorts.

 

[kboo]

On many vacations I would sit silently in a hotel room waiting for my wife to wake up and get ready to go somewhere. That does not work when you have a car and if one person goes the other is stranded. It was a big reason our vacations became limited. At WDW I can just go, and we can meet up later.

Our plans switched when my granddaughter and daughter decided they want to go to Disney. We switched for now to August trips. My daughter, granddaughter and I get up early and hit the parks my wife meets us when she is ready and goes back when she wants to.

^I'm you in this scenario. DH is your wife. When we started bringing my dad, who is a spry 82, and who likes to stay on Pacific time (oy), it was much easier for me to head out with the girls and have the guys meet up with us later.

Studios are great now, but I could definitely see booking 1bdrm (or bigger) down the road. So the question is do I acquire points sooner or later to accommodate that?

DO YOU HAVE TO ASK

For us, I wish we didn’t have four home resorts. Really, the only one we ever use the 7 to 11 month priority is Bay Lake Tower for Labor Day stays, and I’m not sure we really need that. Other than that, we just like to stay everywhere. Also, we enjoy going to Aulani.

Other than our Bay Lake points, in the past five years, we haven’t used home resort priority for any of our grand Floridian, Polynesian, or Saratoga contracts…

I think now, 7 years in, we are finally comfortable with switching at 7 months. We thought we'd always travel in late August, but have since found we love the winter holidays, and that 11 month priority has been essential. Kids and parents debate whether we like VGF (kids) or Riviera (parents) more; I think priorities might shift once BLT is renovated. Soon after it's done, my ODD will be old enough to take her and her younger sister to the parks on their own - which will be a game changer.

You and me both. I keep seeing contracts under $250/pp and I’m like “oooooh” but then multiply it by the number of points and I’m like “eeewww.”

Right before VGF sale last summer, I really wanted to get some VGC points. Maybe 100 points? VGC was not that expensive when we were first looking at resale (I go back to the ROFR threads just to torture myself sometimes). If I had a time machine, I would have bought 200 VGC back then instead of BLT. I think.

“I don’t need a kitchen”….

May I present Instacart for breakfast products/waters/gatorades/etc as Exhibit A and a place to put leftovers for giant dinner portions for Exhibit B.

One of my fondest memories of a trip many years ago was a mid-stay leftovers dinner where we ate in our pajamas and just had a blast.

And we've generally had breakfast in the room to save time - we almost never do a QS breakfast. In the summers, too, we will get a whole watermelon in our instacart delivery - it's a great breakfast or late night snack!

I'm not sure if we came out ahead financially but I refuse to pay $6 for a glass of Dasani on principle.

Remember when only Grand Floridian and certain signature restaurants had non-stinky water? We got a brita water bottle for the parks, which is almost not necessary now that all the outlets have non-stinky water. Again: August trips. Fill Brita with ice = takealong cooling bottle.

You probably have a healthier mindset about your bookings than I do. When I’m booking I feel inclined to go for the rooms that are hardest to book and I struggle to forfeit rooms that are hard to obtain based on principle .

Me too. I managed to book a whole week at VGC at 7 months last spring and then my family wanted to go to Aulani. Sigh. *NOW* they want to go to VGC for Christmas. (sigh) They must think I am Santa Claus.

Just cereal for us and microwave bacon/sausage, fruit, and waffles for our son. (All of which we could do in a studio actually.)

We did do cereal in a Contemporary hotel room when our ODD was a toddler. The quantities of fresh fruit and lack of utensils, however, justified our move to DVC. (see watermelon comment above)

we’ll turn our trips into cabungalow stays

Have yet to do this with our points, but when I do, I will call them kawabungalow or kawacabungalow stays.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Every time I see a CCV contract with a not-too-terrible price, I seriously have to fight the urge! Help!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Every time I see a CCV contract with a not-too-terrible price, I seriously have to fight the urge! Help!

To paraphrase Obi-Wan “this is not the help you are looking for.”

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Remember when only Grand Floridian and certain signature restaurants had non-stinky water? We got a brita water bottle for the parks, which is almost not necessary now that all the outlets have non-stinky water. Again: August trips. Fill Brita with ice = takealong cooling bottle.

what’s this you say about non-stinky water?

Maybe the kitchen sink faucet is a bit better but the water at BCV, PBV, and VGF (PBK) STINKS. We are afraid to drink it, my husband doesn’t even want the kids to brush their teeth with it, lol.

 

[kboo]

what’s this you say about non-stinky water?

Maybe the kitchen sink faucet is a bit better but the water at BCV, PBV, and VGF (PBK) STINKS. We are afraid to drink it, my husband doesn’t even want the kids to brush their teeth with it, lol.

Wow. I haven't stayed at PBV or VGF/BPK. We did stay at BCV in 2022 but I don't recall noticing a smell when we brushed our teeth. And when we were drinking water, we used our brita anyway ...

or maybe it was so much worse before that it seems "better" now.