Starting our trip planning for our first ever DVC Vacation

[starnightstarsky2000]

Okay DVC members, we need some help we are looking at coming home to the mouse Fri Nov 2-Sat Nov 10th and we are renting points. Currently we are not DVC members as we want to try out the 3 "homes" that appeal to us the most Boardwalk, Beach Club and Bay Towers before purchasing our "Mouse Home".

We will be coming from Kansas so are flying not driving (shivers too much unknown weather conditions between home and mouse) we know we want to say at Bay Tower mid-week due to the price (we are trying to get preferred or MK view for each of our "stops") but where do you suggest we start and end our trip BW or BC?

We have been reading and would prefer to let the Bell-hops handle our luggage as we are all night owls so early morning isn't for us so how do you suggest we do this? We are find with getting up early if that is the best choice (we are all good at taking mid-day naps) or is there that much of a difference between checking out at & verse checking out at 10 giving our luggage to the bell-hops with our next resort listed and head over to our new resort and get our new hotel keys.

Also no one has mention how the tickets and Disney dinning work. We were planning on just buying the tickets?dinning we needed and have them put on our KTHW but will the "tickets & dinning" follow us over when we get new tickets or what?

I am a Diabetic will there be a place to "check in" my insulin if our room isn't ready or will I have to carry it with us?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Your dining plan will be for each night of your stay at that specific resort. So your BLT dining plan will end on the day you check out of BLT. The plan will end for BCV the day you check out of BCV. And the plan will end at BWV the day you check out of BWV. You will pay for the plan when you add it to your reservation. Actually, the member will be required to pay for it to add it to the reservation. You'll have to come up with a way to pay the member.

You will do better not putting your tickets on your KTTW with all the changing you are doing.

If you don't already have the theme park view at BLT, you probably won't get it since it goes pretty quickly at 11 months out. Same with the BW view at BWV. BCV has no views or booking categories.

 

[ElizabethG]

We did a split stay between AKV and BLT (in that order) last October.

Be careful about the park tickets. They transferred them to BLT after we checked out of AKV - without telling me. However, we weren't headed straight to BLT. We were going to DisneyQuest. When we got there, our tickets didn't work. It took 45 minutes until they were able to remove them from our BLT account and print them there. At BLT, we were told we couldn't put them back on our KTTW. On the second to last day, I decided to add a day to our ticket. The CM had a tough time doing it. He said, "What happened with these?". It took awhile, but the day was added and this CM added them to our KTTW.

We had the dining plan for both segments. The credits on each segment are on their corosponding KTTW and expire at midnight on checkout day. So, after checking in to BLT, we used our AKV keys to buy our dinner.

As for which resort to stay at first, I really don't think it matters. Pick one as a first choice and the other as a second. That way, the person you are renting from will have some flexibility when trying to book.

 

[starnightstarsky2000]

Deb,
Thanks for the heads up we cant get the reservation made until 7 months so guess we will just have to keep our fingers crossed that pixie dust falls on us.

Also we didn't know our friend had to add and pay for the dinning plan for us. That is good to know and helps us to budget correctly.
Now it is like a normal dinning plan where you have to have the same one for the entire time or can we choose it for one of our reservations and a different one for one of our other reservations and then don't do it at all for our 3rd one?

Elizbeth,
Thanks for the heads up about the ticket confusion we will just keep them as "paper" tickets so we don't have to worry about that kind of confusion.

 

[rpcvpanama]

My understanding when booking the dining plan on seperate reservations that you can choose different dining plans. For example, when you are at BLT you could do the Deluxe, at BWV do the counterservice, etc. However, keep in mind that your dining credits will expire the last day of your reservation. So the day you check out of BLT you will have to have used all your Deluxe credits that day. But, upon checking in at your next DVC your dining credits would be ready to use for that reservation.

It could take a lot of planning to make sure you maximize your points. Of course, this may have changed since Disney reworked their split stay dining plan issues. If all the DVC reservations are made by one person, under one persons account, you may not be able to pick and chose which dining plan to use, may have to have the same plan for the entire stay. If you are renting points from 3 different people I think you will be good to go in picking different dining plans.

Someone correct me if I am wrong....

 

[kmermaid]

Is BCV or BWV the home resort of the person your are renting from? That is a tough time to get a room at either resort (especially on a weekend) cuz its still food and wine at Epcot. Plus I think it will be Jersey week. If you could nail down something now would be benefical.

 

[starnightstarsky2000]

We are just going through one person and their "home" is AKV so guess we will just have to see what we can get it

 

[mousefan1972]

We are just going through one person and their "home" is AKV so guess we will just have to see what we can get it

Not to be Debbie Downer, but you should definitely have a plan "B" as all of your desired resorts will be really tough to book at 7 months out. Good luck!

 

[Best Aunt]

Are you sure you want the dining plan?

I know a lot of people get the dining plan when it's free. But since you're going through DVC, you'll have to pay for it. So don't automatically assume it's going to be a good deal -- think it through for your own family's eating habits.

If you have checked into a resort, you can store things at Bell Services if your room isn't ready. They have a refrigerator. But I don't know if they have a special policy for medication.

Do you have swimmers in your group? The pool situation at BCV is better than BWV. The theme pool is better and the DVC quiet pool is better. So if you think your family might want to swim in the middle of your stay or at the end of your stay, that could be a reason to put BCV in during those days (assuming availability).

If BCV is sold out but BWV is available, you can stay at BWV and walk over to BCV to check it out. (Or vice versa). I've stayed at both. The rooms are pretty much the same. It's the atmosphere and amenities other than the rooms which make the two resorts different.

Look for threads about split stays. Some people have reported problems with having Disney transfer their luggage. Others have not had problems.