How much do point costs affect your vacation timeframe

[MickeyMouse3!]

I work for a school system in Michigan. Spring break, Christmas and summer are our vacation times. We have a 2021 spring vacation planned. Based on what 2020 points were, our 2021 vacation will now be costing us an additional 110 points because of the realignment. Guess we won't be visiting in 2020. Bank and borrow time for a couple more years. Not liking the new (2021) points charts.

 

[CarolynFH]

We've been through the big weekend/weekday reallocation as well as other minor ones, and we just go with the flow. It became easier when we became empty nesters, of course, and now that we're retired we have ultimate flexibility. So this won't bother us, even though booking our planned family trip in 2021 will take a few more points than we thought. It's like any other vacation - it costs what it costs.

 

[cep101]

At this point, I don't know what I would do. I don't like the changes because it didn't seem to help balance studio cost vs. 1-bedrooms.

It is frustrating that DVC is messing with seasons because when you buy in, you buy how many points you need with some wiggle room. Having your week cost 8 more points for this change in one calendar year is quite a bit. Especially considering that they could make it cost another 8 more points in 2022... It is very concerning. You buy in, seeing what the current point charts are, and try to give yourself some room for it to change. It seemed like there were some large changes for just one year.

 

[crvetter]

At this point, I don't know what I would do. I don't like the changes because it didn't seem to help balance studio cost vs. 1-bedrooms.

It is frustrating that DVC is messing with seasons because when you buy in, you buy how many points you need with some wiggle room. Having your week cost 8 more points for this change in one calendar year is quite a bit. Especially considering that they could make it cost another 8 more points in 2022... It is very concerning. You buy in, seeing what the current point charts are, and try to give yourself some room for it to change. It seemed like there were some large changes for just one year.

Unfortunately, if DVC was allowed to reallocate points from the 1 bed to the studio, as you implied, to balance the demand the result would be similar in that those wanting studios would all the sudden have what you say is concerning—they bought in for specific times of the year but now are short. At least with the changes to the 2021 point charts, they didn’t create a system that increases breakage income for them, and it is doing something that is very clearly laid out to each direct buyer (in the Product Understanding Checklist) and clearly defined in each Resort’s POS; therefore, there was some expectation it could happen. The very nature that some people are upset shows that this will change seasonal demand some (I’m also one of the ones affect: 1 trip is up 10 points and another up 7; however, I’m okay with the changes because they were told to me when I bought in).

 

[cep101]

Unfortunately, if DVC was allowed to reallocate points from the 1 bed to the studio, as you implied, to balance the demand the result would be similar in that those wanting studios would all the sudden have what you say is concerning—they bought in for specific times of the year but now are short. At least with the changes to the 2021 point charts, they didn’t create a system that increases breakage income for them, and it is doing something that is very clearly laid out to each direct buyer (in the Product Understanding Checklist) and clearly defined in each Resort’s POS; therefore, there was some expectation it could happen. The very nature that some people are upset shows that this will change seasonal demand some (I’m also one of the ones affect: 1 trip is up 10 points and another up 7; however, I’m okay with the changes because they were told to me when I bought in).

DVC is allowed to reallocate points from studios to 1-bedrooms. I’m not saying they need to make them completely even, but I don’t think 1-bedrooms should essentially be double the cost of studios.
Then there is the case of 2-bedrooms only being a bit more than 1-bedrooms as well.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

DVC is allowed to reallocate points from studios to 1-bedrooms. I’m not saying they need to make them completely even, but I don’t think 1-bedrooms should essentially be double the cost of studios.
Then there is the case of 2-bedrooms only being a bit more than 1-bedrooms as well.

The thing is while one bedrooms sleep similar amounts of people as studios, they do provide almost double the room— and double the amenities. The washer/dryer alone is worth double the points, never mind the full kitchen.

 

[cep101]

The thing is while one bedrooms sleep similar amounts of people as studios, they do provide almost double the room— and double the amenities. The washer/dryer alone is worth double the points, never mind the full kitchen.

I totally do not agree with that. Take Boardwalk for a travel time of Sep 1-19th on the 2021 point year. A week in a standard studio is 71 points and a week in a standard 1-bedroom is 149 points. That is a ridiculous amount of difference.

There are 24hr. laundry facilities at each DVC resort. It costs a $1 for detergent to do a load. Heck you might even be able to get free detergent from the front desk if you asked.

Furthermore, if the dryer/washer and kitchen in the 1-bedrooms were really worth double the points they would book up faster. As it is, studios are the fastest room to book because they are the best deal especially when it comes to the standard view at Boardwalk. Plus, the studio's at Boardwalk sleep 5 people, but the 1-bedrooms sleep 4 and allow for 1 to be accommodated with no extra linen or bedding lol.

I would also argue that a lot of people don't want to cook on vacation, or feel like they should cook since they paid double or over double the points for their 1-bedroom with a kitchen.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I totally do not agree with that. Take Boardwalk for a travel time of Sep 1-19th on the 2021 point year. A week in a standard studio is 71 points and a week in a standard 1-bedroom is 149 points. That is a ridiculous amount of difference.

There are 24hr. laundry facilities at each DVC resort. It costs a $1 for detergent to do a load. Heck you might even be able to get free detergent from the front desk if you asked.

Furthermore, if the dryer/washer and kitchen in the 1-bedrooms were really worth double the points they would book up faster. As it is, studios are the fastest room to book because they are the best deal especially when it comes to the standard view at Boardwalk. Plus, the studio's at Boardwalk sleep 5 people, but the 1-bedrooms sleep 4 and allow for 1 to be accommodated with no extra linen or bedding lol.

I would also argue that a lot of people don't want to cook on vacation, or feel like they should cook since they paid double or over double the points for their 1-bedroom with a kitchen.

Then if a lot of people do not want to cook on vacation or do not mind doing laundry in a public facility, they should be happy to have studios that you seem to think are discounted, right? As it stands, if you are getting double the space and way more amenities, the price should be about significantly more. It also makes sense for dvc to have a significantly less expensive option, the studios, for people who want to spend the least amount of points possible.

 

[CarolynFH]

I totally do not agree with that. Take Boardwalk for a travel time of Sep 1-19th on the 2021 point year. A week in a standard studio is 71 points and a week in a standard 1-bedroom is 149 points. That is a ridiculous amount of difference.

There are 24hr. laundry facilities at each DVC resort. It costs a $1 for detergent to do a load. Heck you might even be able to get free detergent from the front desk if you asked.

Furthermore, if the dryer/washer and kitchen in the 1-bedrooms were really worth double the points they would book up faster. As it is, studios are the fastest room to book because they are the best deal especially when it comes to the standard view at Boardwalk. Plus, the studio's at Boardwalk sleep 5 people, but the 1-bedrooms sleep 4 and allow for 1 to be accommodated with no extra linen or bedding lol.

I would also argue that a lot of people don't want to cook on vacation, or feel like they should cook since they paid double or over double the points for their 1-bedroom with a kitchen.

The kitchen and laundry in the 1-bedroom may not be worth that many points to you, but they are to DH and me! We bring half as many clothes because we can wash during the week. We like having a full kitchen because one of us can get ready while the other cooks, and we can go to the parks without having to figure out where and when we'll get to eat (and without spending time eating when we could have been riding).

Yes, I'd love it if DVC reduced the number of points needed for a 1-bedroom and made it just a little more than a studio, but again, the current cost might not be worth it for you but it is for us.

ETA we bought DVC because our family had outgrown a single hotel room. We enjoyed spreading out and using the laundry & kitchen in a 2-bedroom until we became empty nesters, then we dropped down to a 1-bedroom for the two of us. So maybe that's why the difference in studio vs. 1-bedroom cost doesn't bother us - we don't like staying in studios!

 

[cep101]

Then if a lot of people do not want to cook on vacation or do not mind doing laundry in a public facility, they should be happy to have studios that you seem to think are discounted, right? As it stands, if you are getting double the space and way more amenities, the price should be about significantly more. It also makes sense for dvc to have a significantly less expensive option, the studios, for people who want to spend the least amount of points possible.

I never said 1-bedrooms shouldn't be more than studios. I just don't think they should be double or more than a studio. And yes, people are happy booking studios for the point amount, hence why they are the room type that books the fastest. Because they book so quickly compared to 1-bedrooms it shows that there is some lopsidedness there.

The kitchen and laundry in the 1-bedroom may not be worth that many points to you, but they are to DH and me! We bring half as many clothes because we can wash during the week. We like having a full kitchen because one of us can get ready while the other cooks, and we can go to the parks without having to figure out where and when we'll get to eat (and without spending time eating when we could have been riding).

Yes, I'd love it if DVC reduced the number of points needed for a 1-bedroom and made it just a little more than a studio, but again, the current cost might not be worth it for you but it is for us.

ETA we bought DVC because our family had outgrown a single hotel room. We enjoyed spreading out and using the laundry & kitchen in a 2-bedroom until we became empty nesters, then we dropped down to a 1-bedroom for the two of us. So maybe that's why the difference in studio vs. 1-bedroom cost doesn't bother us - we don't like staying in studios!

I have stayed in studios, 1-bedrooms, and 2-bedrooms. I am not saying that 1-bedrooms aren't nice. I was just saying that having them cost double or more than a studio is a lot. Since studios book so quickly and 1-bedrooms do not book nearly ask quickly, I think that something is off balance there.

Yes, people should pay more points for a 1-bedroom than a studio. Double the points of a studio though? No, not in my opinion. Furthermore, since studios are the hardest room types to get (with people walking studios for different resorts at even the 11-month mark) it tells me that they are too much of a good value compared to the 1-bedrooms. There is an actual imbalance there that should be looked at.

 

[DVC-Don]

Not at all. My stays are governed by my Florida Resident Silver pass. No Christmas, No Easter, No summers. We do not want to be there at those times anyway.

 

[crvetter]

DVC is allowed to reallocate points from studios to 1-bedrooms. I’m not saying they need to make them completely even, but I don’t think 1-bedrooms should essentially be double the cost of studios.
Then there is the case of 2-bedrooms only being a bit more than 1-bedrooms as well.

Are they allowed to allocate from across room types? They backed down from the 2020 point charts, didn’t attempt in 2021, and there is many DVC promotional documents that said they couldn’t. This along with many other legal arguments. The original thread is very good on this.

But my main point is if they allocate season or allocate across room types 1 party is always guaranteed to have a situation you said wasn’t right for DVC to do (suddenly wont have enough points).

Do you stay studios or 1 beds? If you stay studios this goes directly against what you said was right. If you stay 1 beds and are for it you’d need to reconcile the issue that now the studios stayers are still no longer to book with what they bought that was highlighted as your concern.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Not at all. My stays are governed by my Florida Resident Silver pass. No Christmas, No Easter, No summers. We do not want to be there at those times anyway.

We've got the Weekday Flex pass, so we don't go on weekends (too busy), summers (too hot), holidays (too busy).

 

[cep101]

Are they allowed to allocate from across room types? They backed down from the 2020 point charts, didn’t attempt in 2021, and there is many DVC promotional documents that said they couldn’t. This along with many other legal arguments. The original thread is very good on this.

But my main point is if they allocate season or allocate across room types 1 party is always guaranteed to have a situation you said wasn’t right for DVC to do (suddenly wont have enough points).

Do you stay studios or 1 beds? If you stay studios this goes directly against what you said was right. If you stay 1 beds and are for it you’d need to reconcile the issue that now the studios stayers are still no longer to book with what they bought that was highlighted as your concern.

As far as the 2020 thing, I don't think DVC ever addressed the legality of the situation. They just backed down and copied 2019's point chart. It seemed to be that the big issue was DVC trying to double dip based off of their proposed 2020 point charts.

I am not saying they need to flip the system on it's head in one year. Just that there is an actual unfairness between the point cost of those two rooms. Which is an issue that is seen time and time again in booking patterns.

Also, my first comment mentioned that DVC messing with seasons is frustrating. Not that it isn't in their right to do that. I am just saying that if DVC feels the need to switch around points then I wonder why they aren't looking at the vast difference between studios and 1-bedrooms. They can totally look at seasons too, but I feel like the studio vs. 1-bedroom point difference is a pretty obvious thing to look at. We stay in both studios and 1-bedrooms.

 

[AdamsMum]

They don't. What affects my vacation time frame is 2 grown up kids, in different cities with full time jobs (I'm not ungrateful for that). Life just isn't as easy any more. Sometimes the points affect the length of stay, but usually I'm borrowing.

 

[crvetter]

As far as the 2020 thing, I don't think DVC ever addressed the legality of the situation. They just backed down and copied 2019's point chart. It seemed to be that the big issue was DVC trying to double dip based off of their proposed 2020 point charts.

I am not saying they need to flip the system on it's head in one year. Just that there is an actual unfairness between the point cost of those two rooms. Which is an issue that is seen time and time again in booking patterns.

Also, my first comment mentioned that DVC messing with seasons is frustrating. Not that it isn't in their right to do that. I am just saying that if DVC feels the need to switch around points then I wonder why they aren't looking at the vast difference between studios and 1-bedrooms. They can totally look at seasons too, but I feel like the studio vs. 1-bedroom point difference is a pretty obvious thing to look at. We stay in both studios and 1-bedrooms.

I must have misinterpreted this paragraph, based on your explanation above (when I said “right” I didn’t mean legally but more a “morality” concept)

It is frustrating that DVC is messing with seasons because when you buy in, you buy how many points you need with some wiggle room. Having your week cost 8 more points for this change in one calendar year is quite a bit. Especially considering that they could make it cost another 8 more points in 2022... It is very concerning. You buy in, seeing what the current point charts are, and try to give yourself some room for it to change. It seemed like there were some large changes for just one year.

So I focused in on you being concerned vacations changed in point costs. From this perspective at least everyone knew their stay couldn’t increase or decrease by more than 20% max in a year. I would guess that no one (or super super minimal amounts) saw anywhere near that increase. I believe a lot of changes were limited from increasing because the limits were hit on the dropping of points on nights.

But either if you allocate across seasons or across rooms the same concerns occur. But they addressed a demand issue at least seriously unlike in 2020’s original point charts were only meant to benefit them.

I personally maintain that DVC can’t allocate across room types for many different reason. DVC themselves historically have said this was the case also. But since everything is an interpretation of legal reading it’s who a judge believes, but there was a lot of evidence that older leadership at DVC backed the position of many on the DIS. But to avoid too much off topic I recommend the read of the thread on this issue of interested to see the many arguments for and against DVC being allowed to allocate across room types.

 

[amuse-bouche]

It doesn't affect us. We go when we want to go and for as long as we can be away from work. If we don't have enough points, we add days on to the beginning or end of our trip with a cash reservation directly through Disney.
We knew when we purchased DVC that things could change. We also knew that those changes probably wouldn't be in our favor, because that's how life works.

 

[cep101]

I must have misinterpreted this paragraph, based on your explanation above (when I said “right” I didn’t mean legally but more a “morality” concept)

So I focused in on you being concerned vacations changed in point costs. From this perspective at least everyone knew their stay couldn’t increase or decrease by more than 20% max in a year. I would guess that no one (or super super minimal amounts) saw anywhere near that increase. I believe a lot of changes were limited from increasing because the limits were hit on the dropping of points on nights.

But either if you allocate across seasons or across rooms the same concerns occur. But they addressed a demand issue at least seriously unlike in 2020’s original point charts were only meant to benefit them.

I personally maintain that DVC can’t allocate across room types for many different reason. DVC themselves historically have said this was the case also. But since everything is an interpretation of legal reading it’s who a judge believes, but there was a lot of evidence that older leadership at DVC backed the position of many on the DIS. But to avoid too much off topic I recommend the read of the thread on this issue of interested to see the many arguments for and against DVC being allowed to allocate across room types.

It's not even a moral issue for me because they are allowed to do it. It is literally just frustrating. Possibly even more frustrating since they have been making a lot of changes relatively recently.

In all my comments I am just saying I see an issue with studio vs. 1-bedroom point cost difference. As for whether or not they can do it, I don't think the current DVC management thinks they can't (obviously from the 2020 point charts). Yes, I was on Disboards when the whole thing went down. I am familiar with arguments on both sides. I am also familiar with how documents can be interpreted legally. I am not for DVC being sneaky like they were trying to be. I was just expressing the vast difference between the two room costs as an area of possible improvement, due to lopsidedness.

Since my arguments are going down a bunny trail for this thread, I am going to stop responding to people that quote my comments. I think I have explained my idea/thoughts enough and don't want to take this thread down a different direction from OP's purpose.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I never said 1-bedrooms shouldn't be more than studios. I just don't think they should be double or more than a studio. And yes, people are happy booking studios for the point amount, hence why they are the room type that books the fastest. Because they book so quickly compared to 1-bedrooms it shows that there is some lopsidedness there.


I have stayed in studios, 1-bedrooms, and 2-bedrooms. I am not saying that 1-bedrooms aren't nice. I was just saying that having them cost double or more than a studio is a lot. Since studios book so quickly and 1-bedrooms do not book nearly ask quickly, I think that something is off balance there.

Yes, people should pay more points for a 1-bedroom than a studio. Double the points of a studio though? No, not in my opinion. Furthermore, since studios are the hardest room types to get (with people walking studios for different resorts at even the 11-month mark) it tells me that they are too much of a good value compared to the 1-bedrooms. There is an actual imbalance there that should be looked at.

I would not assume that studios are harder to get than 1 beds because of point cost. I believe it is because there are a lot of people, probably the majority of dvc ownership, with small contracts trying to maximize points. Those people will always go for the smaller less expensive rooms no matter the point difference. I am not in that group, but I like owners having that entry point. Lower point costs on the studio allow a lot of people to access dvc who might otherwise stay away from dvc.

Should people get one bedrooms, double the room size plus extra amenities, and not pay dramatically more? Why would dvc do this? Still makes no sense to me. The jump from a studio to a 1 bedroom is huge in terms of comfort. Night and day. So it should be huge in terms of cost.

 

[sethschroeder]

Then if a lot of people do not want to cook on vacation or do not mind doing laundry in a public facility, they should be happy to have studios that you seem to think are discounted, right?

That's the issue....

A vast majority want a studio over a 1Br. Thus you have a group of people forced to take a 1Br or travel during a whole different time.

So I think that's the story behind why some people would prefer Studios and 1Brs to be slightly closer in points than they are today.

I completely lost as you see to be agreeing that the system is a little off with who you responded to.