I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[mmmears]

Not making this political, just bummed that the state dept has raised the risk for China and hong kong. I realize a lot can change between now and Sept 2021 but it's starting to feel silly planning it. But we'd already decided to fly rt to Japan in case we had to change to 2 weeks in japan. It'd give us time to go to universal and I know there's a ton to do in japan so it'll still be fun it's just not what we've been planning. So we'll keep watching and if need be drop our night in beijing to see the wall to keep Shanghai and hk we will since it was an added bonus due to being so close.

Just at the moment about it all.

Not political, but I think you made a smart decision. I hear rumblings about visas to China being harder to get (not virus related) and with the instability in Hong Kong right now I think it's wise to have your flights RT to Japan. You can always add in some days later on when you see how things shake out.

 

[GlamMistress]

I gave up and canceled my DVC reservation for Food and Wine. Between my gut telling me not to buy tickets and DH being so uncomfortable then seeing the crowd photos from yesterday and today.... well, I just moved the trip to January.

I like to escape the cold here anyway!

 

[snugglebug]

Today was a little more crowded at MK, but I've seen worse. Heat was a factor for me definitely (I don't handle heat well). We avoided the morning rush, probably got there around 9:45-10am and left around 2:45. We have another MK day this trip so we're taking it easy.

We thought we were getting ahead of the lunch rush, but rain started up. Put my order in for Pecos Bill's (can mobile oder allergy!!), but people seemed afraid of the mist in the air and crowded the entire porch placing and waiting for their orders. We had a tough time getting up there to pick up our order. Patience is important. Again, order not quite right. Southwest Chicken Salad should probably contain chicken lol Not a big deal, she had another made and we kept the first as well. Patience. I think they're trying to get a handle on this mobile order thing that everyone is required to use now.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am not sure if its a special case or just requires a phone call to guest services but I have a split stay for June 2021 with a 9 day ticket on a 7 day first stay. Online I think it only allows me to book a 7 day ticket.

It might be an online glitch of some sort. I also tried to call and they refused to do it for me. So I ultimately had my TA book it for 7 nights and then she called and reduced to 4 nights and the 8 day tix remained. A bit of a pain but I have an amazing agent who will treats me like royalty

 

[Artygal90]

If you really really want to stay at Poly, another option would be to rent DVC points. Especially for a Nov trip, I see a lot of people dumping expiring points (11/30) for cheap, in the $10pp range. A standard view Poly studio prior to Thanksgiving costs 18-20pts (weekday/weekend) so if you find someone selling $10pp, you're looking at $200/night. Of course, renting points is a whole other topic, you'll need to do ample research on to beware of scams, etc. Just a thought!

@ten6mom I was going to suggest this. I'd imagine there are lots of DVC members who have points they can't or won't use this year and are trying to rent them to cash out. The big caveat is that rented DVC points usually aren't refundable so if for any reason you can't make the trip you would be out the money. Availability might be a problem but it's worth a look.

 

[ten6mom]

@NewbieMom and @Artygal90 , I would definitely look into renting DVC if it meant we could maybe stay at the Poly for about the same price as Pop! However, I thought I read on another board something about the possibility that park reservations wouldn't be available (or less readily available) if you didn't book through Disney? (I very well could have misunderstood that). I wouldn't want to rent DVC points only to find out I can't get into the parks!
I have spent a little bit of time on the WDW website and it appears that I can purchase multi day tickets right now, and I see some info/the calendar of park reservations and right now it's all green, but I just want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot by doing this.

 

[DaveL]

It might be an online glitch of some sort. I also tried to call and they refused to do it for me. So I ultimately had my TA book it for 7 nights and then she called and reduced to 4 nights and the 8 day tix remained. A bit of a pain but I have an amazing agent who will treats me like royalty

Yeah I didn't extend the tickets since they opened bookings again, it was a previous booking that started online with 7 day tickets and then when we moved it to July since May was still closed I upped it to 9 days. When I called to move it to 2021 she mentioned she had to do something with the ticket length. I verified online after it moved to 2021 and I had 9 day tickets still. It was later when I was checking prices I noticed the max I could add was 7 days.

 

[hlhlaw07]

@NewbieMom and @Artygal90 , I would definitely look into renting DVC if it meant we could maybe stay at the Poly for about the same price as Pop! However, I thought I read on another board something about the possibility that park reservations wouldn't be available (or less readily available) if you didn't book through Disney? (I very well could have misunderstood that). I wouldn't want to rent DVC points only to find out I can't get into the parks!
I have spent a little bit of time on the WDW website and it appears that I can purchase multi day tickets right now, and I see some info/the calendar of park reservations and right now it's all green, but I just want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot by doing this.

Just replying to say that when you rent points you have a reservation directly with Disney, so your ability to make park reservations would not be any different than any other DVC member who makes a reservation.

 

[mmmears]

@NewbieMom and @Artygal90 , I would definitely look into renting DVC if it meant we could maybe stay at the Poly for about the same price as Pop! However, I thought I read on another board something about the possibility that park reservations wouldn't be available (or less readily available) if you didn't book through Disney? (I very well could have misunderstood that). I wouldn't want to rent DVC points only to find out I can't get into the parks!
I have spent a little bit of time on the WDW website and it appears that I can purchase multi day tickets right now, and I see some info/the calendar of park reservations and right now it's all green, but I just want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot by doing this.

One caveat with renting points is whether or not you can cancel your trip. It's just something to think about in normal times, but perhaps more important right now. Personally I would not book something that couldn't be canceled in full very close to the trip date. We had insurance for our trip abroad, but thankfully we canceled early enough that we didn't need it (and got a refund from the insurance co.).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

One caveat with renting points is whether or not you can cancel your trip. It's just something to think about in normal times, but perhaps more important right now. Personally I would not book something that couldn't be canceled in full very close to the trip date. We had insurance for our trip abroad, but thankfully we canceled early enough that we didn't need it (and got a refund from the insurance co.).

I'm all about flexibility right now and those points rental horror stories from earlier this year I think have forever scared me away from renting. I didn't even buy discounted Disney GCs to book our trip for Jan. I'm going straight to the CC so it's fully cancel-able with cash back in my pocket. I know that might be over-cautious but there's just so much uncertainty right now. If we don't go to WDW in January I have no idea when we might go back. It could be 2022 at that point since we already have some traditional summer trips we plan to take (non Orlando).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

7/9/2020 - DISchurners Announcement #1 - Chase, Amex & Misc Support Link THREAD REFRESH

It's time for everybody's favorite event...the semi-annual refresh of the SUPPORT Link Threads.
As a reminder - ANYBODY is welcome to share their support links in these threads. The instructions are at the top of each one.

For those that have previously posted, the easiest way to move them over is:
1) Go to your OLD comment in the OLD thread (you'll see the old threads listed near the bottom of the DISchurners feed)
2) Click EDIT
3) COPY the entire comment text in the edit box
4) PASTE the comment text as a NEW comment in the NEW thread (you'll find the new threads near the top of the feed)
5) CHECK all links to make sure they are active and working and make sure that your description of the offer matches the actual offer!
You do NOT need to delete your old comment when done, you can just leave it in that thread.

This process will help you not have to re-do all your formatting.
Side Note: It is best to access DISchurners in old reddit. (https://old.reddit.com/r/DISchurners/)

Side Note 2: I would also advise that you check to make sure that all of your links are accurate and working!!

I will post reminders for this over the next week or so and will then remove the old threads with only the new threads remaining.

One more general reminder, reddit flags many support links as spam. I then go in and manually approve them. I will keep an eye on that as we conduct the refresh and approve them all as quickly as possible!

I will be putting out a few announcements this evening as I work through a thread refresh. A reddit thread locks after 6 months and if we want to continue the discussion, a new one is created. To draw attention to some of the various topics we have available on DISchurners, I will do these as a series of announcements tonight.​

​

If you'd like to join DISchurners, simply send me a PM here on the DISboards and we'll get you all setup!

Friendly reminder that the support link thread refresh is in process right now. I'll leave the old threads up until the end of next week and then remove them and only the new threads will remain.

 

[hlhlaw07]

I'm all about flexibility right now and those points rental horror stories from earlier this year I think have forever scared me away from renting. I didn't even buy discounted Disney GCs to book our trip for Jan. I'm going straight to the CC so it's fully cancel-able with cash back in my pocket. I know that might be over-cautious but there's just so much uncertainty right now. If we don't go to WDW in January I have no idea when we might go back. It could be 2022 at that point since we already have some traditional summer trips we plan to take (non Orlando).

Yep. I have more than enough DVC points for my own use, but I would not rent points right now. There is just too much uncertainty with everything going on. Even if you are positive you will go no matter what, it’s no longer a given that Disney will be open to stay at. In fact I wouldn’t even rent my points to someone else right now because I just wouldn’t feel right saying no refunds and causing someone else to lose money on a vacation that they may end up not being able to take.

It is a great way to save money, but it comes with so much risk right now that was not as high in the past.

 

[afan]

Daughter got to go in January when she traveled to Cambodia for the cousin's wedding. I thought she was flat out nuts to add on China at the time, just because I figured it was enough for her to be gone for the wedding itself (and I was babysitting for a day or two.)

Eight other family members also went to Hong Kong and China separately from her, but had a custom organized tour $$$. She was using points of course and the tour did not sync with that. Then, while she was there, I left for Florida and went to Disney and back before she returned here.

A day or two before her return, Dulles, Lax and a NYC airport started doing some screening for the thing. She came to my house straight from the airport as she left her car here. Came in and I said, 'No hugs'. She didn't know what I was talking about. No news at all reached her while she was gone.

In any case, she (and rest of the family) did not have any problems and now that it's all over I am happy she got to experience Hong Kong and China if only for 5 nights. Looks like it will be some time before that's as easy again. She did a lot of video for us during her trip and posted it privately for family.

She had no problem returning as she came back via Munich - left crossing the Pacific and returned over the Atlantic, in effect going around the world.

She did not travel alone, but met up with another family member that she got a ticket(s) for on points. They flew out of and back into different countries because of location and jobs at the time, but they had an excellent trip all told, and missed any 'ill' effects. Now, it's inconceivable to think of a trip such as that in the near future.

So, that leads me to wonder how these travel bloggers are faring out? Especially the one guy who basically lived in airport lounges and flew all the time?

That's great but this new heightened restriction has absolutely nothing to do with the virus, which is why I had the not trying to make it political thing, why I didn't mention more detail and why the virus wasn't mentioned. I'm way less concerned about catching the virus in Shanghai than I am here. As for the visa, if we end up dropping Beijing we wouldn't need one depending on how hong kong gets put into the mix of everything, which I'm sure is going to also be problematic and political going forward.

Not political, but I think you made a smart decision. I hear rumblings about visas to China being harder to get (not virus related) and with the instability in Hong Kong right now I think it's wise to have your flights RT to Japan. You can always add in some days later on when you see how things shake out.

We wouldn't add more days, that's not on the table. Our rt ticket was always going to be booked for the same two week period of time regardless of whether we had to cancel the hk/china part. The Japan stuff will get booked first as well, as those hotels are more likely to sell out. Plus we are planning to stay on site at both HKDL and SDL and they don't open bookings anywhere near as far out as they do here, so it won't be a problem of having to cancel hopefully. And if we do Beijing I was always going to use my hyatt free night cert for it which I won't get until next spring and that's super easy to cancel or move around.

My concern is more that I don't want to plan and book stuff in Japan that we may not need and then have to cancel. The plan was always for me to cover the Japan/Beijing hotel nights and my friend the HKDL and SDL nights so I don't want her to have stuff tied up in money or points that we then have to wait to get back to book something else. It just complicates everything. Hopefully by this time next year we'll know enough to be able to book our second week.

 

[ten6mom]

One caveat with renting points is whether or not you can cancel your trip. It's just something to think about in normal times, but perhaps more important right now. Personally I would not book something that couldn't be canceled in full very close to the trip date. We had insurance for our trip abroad, but thankfully we canceled early enough that we didn't need it (and got a refund from the insurance co.).

I'm all about flexibility right now and those points rental horror stories from earlier this year I think have forever scared me away from renting. I didn't even buy discounted Disney GCs to book our trip for Jan. I'm going straight to the CC so it's fully cancel-able with cash back in my pocket. I know that might be over-cautious but there's just so much uncertainty right now. If we don't go to WDW in January I have no idea when we might go back. It could be 2022 at that point since we already have some traditional summer trips we plan to take (non Orlando).

So then- is renting DVC points always non-refundable? I have no idea how all that works.

Also at the moment i'm on a DVC rental website and it shows prices in both points and money. Is that the same as renting points (were I to just pay in money)? Or are we talking more of going to the DVC rental boards here on the DIS and renting the points through a DIS-er here?

Obviously I have no idea how this works! I have a couple of friends who are DVC members but I've never really asked them anything about the program or if they ever rent their points out.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yep. I have more than enough DVC points for my own use, but I would not rent points right now. There is just too much uncertainty with everything going on. Even if you are positive you will go no matter what, it’s no longer a given that Disney will be open to stay at. In fact I wouldn’t even rent my points to someone else right now because I just wouldn’t feel right saying no refunds and causing someone else to lose money on a vacation that they may end up not being able to take.

It is a great way to save money, but it comes with so much risk right now that was not as high in the past.

It put people in such a hard spot (on all sides!).

 

[Hoosier John]

@NewbieMom and @Artygal90 , I would definitely look into renting DVC if it meant we could maybe stay at the Poly for about the same price as Pop! However, I thought I read on another board something about the possibility that park reservations wouldn't be available (or less readily available) if you didn't book through Disney? (I very well could have misunderstood that). I wouldn't want to rent DVC points only to find out I can't get into the parks!
I have spent a little bit of time on the WDW website and it appears that I can purchase multi day tickets right now, and I see some info/the calendar of park reservations and right now it's all green, but I just want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot by doing this.

@ten6mom I was going to suggest this. I'd imagine there are lots of DVC members who have points they can't or won't use this year and are trying to rent them to cash out. The big caveat is that rented DVC points usually aren't refundable so if for any reason you can't make the trip you would be out the money. Availability might be a problem but it's worth a look.

Yes, as soon as the DVC rented is put in your family's name, you should be treated like any other Disney guest (except nicer accommodations ). I have moved reservations for a family that rented points from us (twice now) at no extra cost, because we didn't lose points. However, if we were losing points (because they have to be used within a time period), then it would have started to cost the family.

If points are renting for that little, this sounds like a great time to rent Poly DVC (PVB), since I think you mentioned that as a dream. Note that PVB only come in Deluxe Studios (that sleep up to 5), and the 5-6x more expensive Bungalows (that sleep up to 8).

 

[mmmears]

That's great but this new heightened restriction has absolutely nothing to do with the virus, which is why I had the not trying to make it political thing, why I didn't mention more detail and why the virus wasn't mentioned. I'm way less concerned about catching the virus in Shanghai than I am here. As for the visa, if we end up dropping Beijing we wouldn't need one depending on how hong kong gets put into the mix of everything, which I'm sure is going to also be problematic and political going forward.



We wouldn't add more days, that's not on the table. Our rt ticket was always going to be booked for the same two week period of time regardless of whether we had to cancel the hk/china part. The Japan stuff will get booked first as well, as those hotels are more likely to sell out. Plus we are planning to stay on site at both HKDL and SDL and they don't open bookings anywhere near as far out as they do here, so it won't be a problem of having to cancel hopefully. And if we do Beijing I was always going to use my hyatt free night cert for it which I won't get until next spring and that's super easy to cancel or move around.

My concern is more that I don't want to plan and book stuff in Japan that we may not need and then have to cancel. The plan was always for me to cover the Japan/Beijing hotel nights and my friend the HKDL and SDL nights so I don't want her to have stuff tied up in money or points that we then have to wait to get back to book something else. It just complicates everything. Hopefully by this time next year we'll know enough to be able to book our second week.

Yes, I understand. I don't think I was very clear though. I was trying to say that it just make sense to bookend the trip in Japan and then carve out some time in between those days later on if it's even possible to go. I have a friend who travels that way most of the time (they ended up adding on S. Korea and Taiwan in the middle of their trip to Japan once they realized they had more time there than they wanted). I think there is a decent chance it will be more difficult to get to HK in the future. Is there something you can book that is easy to cancel, like a hotel somewhere and just a few days of "on your own" touring in case you can't get to China and HK?

So then- is renting DVC points always non-refundable? I have no idea how all that works.

Also at the moment i'm on a DVC rental website and it shows prices in both points and money. Is that the same as renting points (were I to just pay in money)? Or are we talking more of going to the DVC rental boards here on the DIS and renting the points through a DIS-er here?

Obviously I have no idea how this works! I have a couple of friends who are DVC members but I've never really asked them anything about the program or if they ever rent their points out.

I haven't rented points, and this is one of the reasons why. I've seen people say that they could change dates, but not really cancel, and I just need more flexibility in my travel plans in general. I can't offer advice about how to rent points since every time I considered it I ended up booking through Disney in case I needed to cancel.

ETA - really you need to assess your own comfort level with taking a risk. It's something we do on every trip. Most hotels abroad offer a lower rate if we book a non-refundable room and we never end up choosing that option unless we are ok with losing that money. Summer 2020 was mostly booked with easy, no penalty cancellation places and I'm very happy that we don't need to file a claim with the insurance company to deal with any penalties.

 

[ten6mom]

Wow so ... lots to think about.

On the WDW Website for the Poly , a "Deluxe Studio Standard View" for a week (i'm getting really ambitious here) is coming up at $5300 including taxes and such.

On this DVC resale site I am looking at, for the same week, shows a "standard view" at the Poly for $2470.

There has to be a bigger "catch" than just not being able to cancel, right????

This is so weird... and overwhelming!

 

[Hoosier John]

So then- is renting DVC points always non-refundable? I have no idea how all that works.

Also at the moment i'm on a DVC rental website and it shows prices in both points and money. Is that the same as renting points (were I to just pay in money)? Or are we talking more of going to the DVC rental boards here on the DIS and renting the points through a DIS-er here?

Obviously I have no idea how this works! I have a couple of friends who are DVC members but I've never really asked them anything about the program or if they ever rent their points out.

There are retail renting sites (and one of them, The Timeshare Store owns DISboards), and there are fellow DISers renting here on DISboards (https://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/).

ETA: For a week at PVB in Nov 2020 (except a few days around Thanksgiving), a week of Standard View Deluxe Studio is 137 points. In normal times that might cost around $2500 (at $18 per point rental), but if they are going for closer to $10 per point, as someone suggested above, that same room would be $1370 for a week.

ETA: Availability is going to be the problem. I just sampled a couple full weeks in November at PVB and they are not available for the Studios. Also DVC was saying the cost would be 145 points not 137 that I said above.

 

[afan]

Yes, I understand. I don't think I was very clear though. I was trying to say that it just make sense to bookend the trip in Japan and then carve out some time in between those days later on if it's even possible to go. I have a friend who travels that way most of the time (they ended up adding on S. Korea and Taiwan in the middle of their trip to Japan once they realized they had more time there than they wanted). I think there is a decent chance it will be more difficult to get to HK in the future. Is there something you can book that is easy to cancel, like a hotel somewhere and just a few days of "on your own" touring in case you can't get to China and HK?

Nope, because we'd first have to figure out where we want that place to be. I've researched the places we plan to do, not other places. I know enough to know where I don't want to go, Kyoto, sorry to those that like it, and I think we'd probably do Osaka and Hiroshima. Universal I'm sure, especially if they have nintendo open by then, but that probably wouldn't be but a day or two, but I'm not even sure where it's located to know how well it fits we everything. Then do 2-3 nights in Okiniwa instead of the one we have planned now. But I don't even want to have to figure that all out and book stuff we don't need if it's not necessarily. We'll evaluate it as we go, but there's been enough work put into what we already want to do that I'm not inclined to put a ton more work in to figure out a 2nd week just in case at this point. My brain and my spreadsheet are not in a place to do that at the moment. Maybe this winter.