Sleep around points

[tom1944]

I was hoping I could get some feedback from those that purchased SAP. I would especially like to hear from people who in the past 2 years were able to book at the monorail resorts but would like to hear how any of the SAP you had were used.

What resort did you consider the points as SAP
What resort and room size did you use them
What time period was your stay
How far in advance did you book- exactly at 7 months for example

I have reviewed all of the availability charts but hearing real life experience would be helpful


Thank you

 

[NCVA]

I was hoping I could get some feedback from those that purchased SAP. I would especially like to hear from people who in the past 2 years were able to book at the monorail resorts but would like to hear how any of the SAP you had were used.

What resort did you consider the points as SAP
What resort and room size did you use them
What time period was your stay
How far in advance did you book- exactly at 7 months for example

I have reviewed all of the availability charts but hearing real life experience would be helpful


Thank you

I purchased SAP at Vero Beach in 2020. In 2021, I used them for a two-bedroom at VGF for a three day weekend in September and used them for 2 studios at Poly in early October during the week. I did try to book both at 7 months out and I think I had to stalk the Poly reservation.

Generally, we will be doing 2 bedrooms and rented points for those for a few years before buying. My expectation is that I will need to be flexible with resorts ( we enjoy a bunch of different ones) and studios will be challenging.

 

[Sandisw]

We bought SSR in 2017 for sleep around points. We use them primarily with our RIV and VGF points to upgrade to larger rooms.

But we own enough at those two resorts to book at 11 months to book most of the nights for our trips to start, and then go from there, especially for our trips during December.

We do split stays and many of our trips are now shorter ones so that helps. But, I will say that we did sell some of the SSR in March to buy more VGF direct so we didn’t have to worry as much.

However, we have had great success getting rooms at 7 months with the 1 bedrooms. If we had wanted studios, it would have been harder for some of the trips.

 

[zavandor]

Those are hard times for SAP. The excess of points in the system due to the closures is not resolved yet. If you want to buy SAP be mindful studios are currently even more difficult to get, even in seasons that were usually open previously.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

What resort did you consider the points as SAP: We bought SSR (resale) and VGF (direct) as SAP

What resort and room size did you use them: My intention was to use them for 1 bedrooms but my family ended up wanting more trips and was willing to cram into a studio to make that happen. So the post shutdown trips have been almost exclusively studio stays. Most recently at Copper Creek and Poly.

What time period was your stay: We have been quite a few times to WDW between December 2021 and right now. I’m currently poolside at the Poly. Mainly studios, we have stayed at:

December 14 - 15, 2021, BCV, studio
December 15 - 18, 2021, OKW, 1 bedroom
December 18 - 19, 2021, AKV Jambo, value studio
December 19 - 21, 2021, BWV, standard view studio
December 21 - 23, 2021, AKV Jambo, value studio
December 23 - 24, 2021, BLT, lake view studio

March 14 - 17, 2022, Poly studio, standard view
March 17 - 20, 2022, GFV studio, lake view
March 20 - 23, 2022, BCV studio

May 13 - 15, 2022, BCV studio

July 1 - 4, 2022, VGF resort studio

October 7 - 10, 2022, Copper Creek, studio

December 24 - 27, 2022, Copper Creek, studio
December 27 - January 1, 2023, Beach Club, studio
January 1 - January 3, 2023, Poly, std studio

Upcoming 2023 stays at VGF (1 bedroom standard view), Riviera (preferred view studio), Boulder Ridge (studio), Boardwalk (2 bedroom BW view and a studio).

How far in advance did you book- exactly at 7 months for example: Varies depending on how far in advance we planned. Some trips were spur of the moment (eg hubby decided about two weeks beforehand that he wanted to visit for July). Some were stalked long before 7 months (mainly beach club studio stays). Many were booked at 11 months (Boardwalk to start with) and then modified.

 

[DVCsloth]

All of our points are SAP, VGF, CCV and Riviera. Book at 11 months usually a studio for a week or so, then we may use other resorts points at 7 months to upgrade room size and/or move to a non-home resort.
Edit. So far, we have tried AKV Jambo, OKW and BCV. It's really nice to try out the other resorts, maybe Aulani and VGC one day as well.
Edit: VGF points are resale 2015 CCV and Riviera are direct, but I consider them all SAP especially VGF resale $140 pp

 

[RoseGold]

I have a lot of SAP, APs, and I don't travel anywhere close to peak.

I view this as a game. I stalk a lot and watch my waitlists. This takes time and careful attention to rules.

I've been able to book pretty much everything I want. I have 2 UYs, so four waitlists helps. I even got a Poly waitlist to fill on marathon weekend. Some of my trips are planned way less than 7 months out.

I primarily book 1BR, which is usually not that hard to get, even BC/BW. Historically, the VGF 1BR was easy to book because it's so point heavy, and it's maybe one of my favorite hotel rooms anywhere. We will see if all the new GF points changes that. (The flip side to this is the BLT standard 1BR is impossible to book because it's good point value and has an extra bath.) I've gotten 2BR BC (exactly 7 months), studios at AK or BW. I've even gotten 1BR standard BW, BW view, club level Jambo. I even got a 1BR BR in December a couple months out.

When I've had to move stuff around and make a SSR/OKW filler reservation, I've always gotten the waitlist to fill with something better. I've never been to either of these resorts, and I own a lot of SSR.

The bucket list rooms I have left are BW view (hurricane canceled trip) and BLT theme park view. Maybe a VGF GV and maybe a couple nights in a Cascade Cabin with my parents.

Monorail isn't that hard to book for when I go. Poly has hundreds of standard rooms. You should be able to patch some dates together most of the time. A waitlist has pretty good odds of filling.

 

[pinkxray]

I bought SSR as SAP in 2020. I have very good luck getting what I wanted. However, I am a super stalker. I will stalk obsessively until I get what I want.

I prefer to travel in Nov or Dec. We mostly travel in one bedrooms so that really helps. Studios are roughing to come by but I have come across them while stalking.

April (Easter and school break for my kids) 2021 - 1 bedroom ocean view Aulani for 5 nights booked at 7 months added another night at 6 months and another night at 4 months or so

2021 Nov Monday - Thursday after Thanksgiving 1 bedroom Copper Creek (booked 7 months)

2022 Thanksgiving day-tues 1 bedroom lake view BLT ( booked between 6-7 months)

2022 Sunday -Sat after thanksgiving studio at BLT (booked at 7 months)

2022 Monday- Thursday after thanksgiving 1 bedroom copper creek (booked at 4 months, stalked for a few days before finding this. Our plans changed and I needed more space)

2022 Feb. Thur-Sun Princess Half Marathon weekend Studio at VGF 1 ( booked a little after 7 months)

2022 Thur-Sunday 2nd weekend of June Poly standard studio booked around 6 months

2022 Friday after thanksgiving- Monday VGF resort studio standard booked around 5 months

2023 May 22-25 Poly standard studio Booked around a little after 7 months

We traveled the week after Thanksgiving which is very popular. I changed my plans about a million time due to who was coming on the trip. The weekend of Thanksgiving is extremely busy and at different times I booked AKV club 1 bedroom, AKV value studio, BLT studio, Copper Creek studio and VGF studio. It helps to stalk and waitlist and be flexible. Short stays are always much easier to find. I also don’t care much about views so that also helps.

 

[smrice95]

We bought SAP at SS in summer of 2020 (to add to our Poly direct.) Since then we have booked at 7 months exactly and have gotten everything we asked for. We have traveled the middle to end of August.
Aug 2021 - BLT (4 nights) - 2 bedroom
Aug 2021 - Beach Club (6 nights) - 2 bedroom

Aug 2022 - SS - 5 nights - 2 bedroom
Aug 2022 - CC - 5 nights - 2 bedroom

Prior to this, we have used our Poly points to stay at other resorts too. Never had a problem getting in. However, we travel with extended family so we do use 2 bedrooms.

 

[SrBlonde]

I am researching into a first purchase. What does SAP stand for?

 

[Sandisw]

Sleep around points. Basically points you buy with no intention to use at that home resort.

 

[Her Dotness]

Sleep around points. Basically points you buy with no intention to use at that home resort.

I suppose ours would be semi-SAP.

We bought 50 BWV points last year to cover arrival night in a 1br anywhere at WDW (except RIV) but figured we'd mostly use them at 11 months to hold that night at BWV in case we don't find anywhere else more appealing at 7 months.

Booked BWV for our next trip, thinking we'd try our new home resort once.

So, which resort did we switch them to at 7 months? One more night at VGF1, our original home. It just figgers.

At least, they were SAP points this time, though I couldn't resist reminding DH that I'd said we might as well just add more VGF points. I was betting we'd use any we bought to add on there anyway. Probably won't be the last time either. <told him so smile>

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I would consider NONE of our points as SAP since that not what we bought them, but we have used them as SAP on occasion. We have 380 AKV points (resale) and 200 Riviera points (recently added direct).

We've used our AKV points to stay mostly at AKV (bought there because we love the resort), but have also gotten reservations for:

Monorail resort: Poly Studio (March '21 and December '22)

We haven't attempted to get GFV or BLT but I've seen availability and we could have switched to one of those if we wanted to on several occasions. We'll probably stay at those at some point in the future.

Other resorts we've used our points at:
OKW 1BR (October '21)
Beach Club 1BR (September '22)
Boardwalk 1BR (upcoming in January '23)
SSR 2 BR (upcoming in March '23)
Vero Beach Studio (March '21)
Hilton Head Island Studio (March '21, August '22, and upcoming in Jan '23)

I had an Aulani 1BR Ocean-view booked for last year that I ended up having to cancel because our trip got cancelled.

I typically book early at our home resort and then switch right at the 7-month mark.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

We have SSR resale that we booked studios at VGF (lagoon view resort studio, 2 nights, the week before Xmas), Vero Beach (3 nights, last week of May), and Poly (2 nights, 1st week of June). All booked right at 7 months. We actually really like SSR, but just want to try out different resorts. We have since added VGF direct, so while I want to try out all the resorts, we have points to stay at a monorail resort on Halloween/Christmas party trips, and are ok with staying at SSR other times when we aren't as MK focused.

 

[DonMacGregor]

My 200 direct points at SSR are the bedrock of my membership, and my SAP. I have 275 at BRV, and may look at possibly a third resort this year, but the SSR points, in my mind, are the absolute best for SAP. You are pretty much guaranteed a reservation on-site at 11 months and for me, that's the basis for SAP.

Even though I now have more points at BRV, it's a 2042 resort so the 2054 expiration on SSR, and the fact that the SSR points are direct, keeps them as my bedrock.

 

[kevtlas]

I guess I consider all my points SAP. I bought in 2009 (SSR resale), 2011 (Aulani direct), 2013 (SSR resale) and 2021 (SSR resale). I’ve used those points to stay at OKW, SSR, BRV, VGC, AKV, BCV, BWV, VB and Poly this summer. Most of our travel is during summer vacation and a few Christmas trips. VGC was October for the MNSSHP. I usually book somewhere between right at 7 months for the more popular down to as little advance as 2-3 months out.

I‘ve also rented my points a bunch of times at pretty much every resort, every time of the year.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

We bought AKV to try for value rooms and SAP. We've been able to get a value room at Jambo and have also booked Kidani, BRV and Poly using our AKV points.

This summer we're going to use some of our VGF points for either BWV or BCV depending on availability.

So far we really enjoy split stays and trying different resorts.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

So is SSR still the SAP king in 2023? Or is there a more economical option now?

 

[DonMacGregor]

So is SSR still the SAP king in 2023? Or is there a more economical option now?

For us, it wasn't about economy, and more about a "guaranteed" reservation at 11 months. The resort is just that big. We even bought during the "resort of last resort" days. Now that we are almost exclusively a 2BR family, we really don't need the 11-month advantage anywhere (2BR's are a pretty safe 7-month bet anywhere and all the time except December). Keeping SSR now because it's a big fat Blue Card 200-pointer with a 2054 expiration.

 

[Mikey15]

So is SSR still the SAP king in 2023? Or is there a more economical option now?

My math says yes. Low points cost, low dues per point, 2054 expiry.

VB/HHI - lower upfront cost but quickly become worse deals than SSR due to dues & expiry

OKW - 2042 expiry for not much less than SSR makes SSR the better deal. If you can find an OKW - 2057 it might math alright.

AKV & AUL - While I feel SSR is the better deal for sleep around due to the lower dues, you can easily make a case for Animal Kingdom or Aulani. You pay higher dues each year than SSR, but the purchase price can be similar and your sleep around ability will be good 3 or 8 years longer than SSR.