Gifted DVC

[frozenfever2017]

Hi all! New to the forum but have been lurking for a week or so and have already learned a lot!

We are planning our first trip for Nov 2017 and are lucky enough to have been gifted DVC points from my sister's father in law. I have a couple questions...

1. We are planning to go Nov 11-18. Their home resort is OKW but we were hoping to stay either in a Monorail resort or one of the Epcot resorts. Do you think there would be a possibility of there being openings at these resorts at the 7 month booking window? We are a family of four and would want a studio if we stayed in these resorts.

2. My parents are likely going to join us for part of the vacation and my sister for the other part. If we got two rooms could my parents stay in the room for part of the trip and then my sister and her husband for the other part? I'm thinking they could just use the same Magic Bands etc since their stays would not overlap. Is that even possible?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Seanual757]

Hi all! New to the forum but have been lurking for a week or so and have already learned a lot!

We are planning our first trip for Nov 2017 and are lucky enough to have been gifted DVC points from my sister's father in law. I have a couple questions...

1. We are planning to go Nov 11-18. Their home resort is OKW but we were hoping to stay either in a Monorail resort or one of the Epcot resorts. Do you think there would be a possibility of there being openings at these resorts at the 7 month booking window? We are a family of four and would want a studio if we stayed in these resorts.

2. My parents are likely going to join us for part of the vacation and my sister for the other part. If we got two rooms could my parents stay in the room for part of the trip and then my sister and her husband for the other part? I'm thinking they could just use the same Magic Bands etc since their stays would not overlap. Is that even possible?

Thanks in advance!

To answer your question it's highly unlikely any rooms will be available on the monorail line and slim pickings for the 7 month window as this is still the Food and Wine festival
as it ends on 11/13. I have already booked my room for October for 3 days for VGF and POLY. We will see what else is available at the 7 month window and change the rooms to FWL or BLT if anything is available, if not we will keep our original rooms.

As for question # 2- They could possibly that would be a question to ask a cast member. The other question is park tickets linked to the bands, dining plan reservations? The other issue is when DVC reservations are made guest names and ages are entered into the system so the names and ages are linked to the rooms. It’s not something I would do I would not want to risk any issues for your reservation or risk causing issues with the member who owns the DVC points.

 

[frozenfever2017]

To answer your question it's highly unlikely any rooms will be available on the monorail line and slim pickings for the 7 month window as this is still the Food and Wine testable as it ends on 11/13. I have already booked my room for October for 3 days for VGF and POLY. We will see what else is available at the 7 month window and change the rooms to FWL or BLT if anything is available, if not we will keep our original rooms.

As for question # 2- They could possibly that would be a question to ask a cast member. The other question is park tickets linked to the bands, dining plan reservations? The other issue is when DVC reservations are made guest names and ages are entered into the system so the names and ages are linked to the rooms. It’s not something I would do I would not want to risk any issues for your reservation or risk causing issues with the member who owns the DVC points.

Ok thank you! So would you recommend having him book us at OKW now? It sounds like that one often has availability but I also don't want to end up without a room! We can always switch at 7 months if anything is available, right?

 

[Seanual757]

Ok thank you! So would you recommend having him book us at OKW now? It sounds like that one often has availability but I also don't want to end up without a room! We can always switch at 7 months if anything is available, right?

IMHO Yes book OKW to guarantee you have rooms, @ the 7 month window change resorts but knowing how quickly rooms for the
Food and Wine festival book up I hate to see you miss your chance.

 

[JaxFLBear]

2. My parents are likely going to join us for part of the vacation and my sister for the other part. If we got two rooms could my parents stay in the room for part of the trip and then my sister and her husband for the other part? I'm thinking they could just use the same Magic Bands etc since their stays would not overlap. Is that even possible?

If you are not planning on doing a dining plan, list all of them on the room reservation for the entire stay. This way everyone gets their own MagicBand.

The resort doesn't really need to know that some guests are leaving and others taking their place. One thing you might want to do is schedule a full room cleaning ($30 if saying on points) between guests. Since DVC is a timeshare, rooms don't get cleaned everyday when staying on points.

 

[Phonedave]

If you are not planning on doing a dining plan, list all of them on the room reservation for the entire stay. This way everyone gets their own MagicBand.

The resort doesn't really need to know that some guests are leaving and others taking their place. One thing you might want to do is schedule a full room cleaning ($30 if saying on points) between guests. Since DVC is a timeshare, rooms don't get cleaned everyday when staying on points.

This ^

As long as it is only a total of 4 people, you can put them all on the reservation for the room. If you had something like people comming for the first half and a different 4 for the second, then you would have an issue because the 8 people would be over the maximum allowed in the room.

I have done the same thing myself. Once I had a 2BR lock off with me there the entire week (day 1-7), My brothers family there from day 1-5, and my friends there day 3-6. Everybody was on the reservation, and they just arrived and left as necessary. Disney has no issues with booking your magical express trips to the airport either - if you are going that route.

-dave

 

[frozenfever2017]

If you are not planning on doing a dining plan, list all of them on the room reservation for the entire stay. This way everyone gets their own MagicBand.

The resort doesn't really need to know that some guests are leaving and others taking their place. One thing you might want to do is schedule a full room cleaning ($30 if saying on points) between guests. Since DVC is a timeshare, rooms don't get cleaned everyday when staying on points.

Okay that makes sense! Here's another questions off of that. We are entertaining the thought of doing a dining plan for multiple reasons, not entirely sure yet. I know that my parents and sister would not want to as they won't be there the whole week. If the reservation is made for both rooms together all parties would have to do the dining plan, right?

 

[GoofGoof]

Hi all! New to the forum but have been lurking for a week or so and have already learned a lot!

We are planning our first trip for Nov 2017 and are lucky enough to have been gifted DVC points from my sister's father in law. I have a couple questions...

1. We are planning to go Nov 11-18. Their home resort is OKW but we were hoping to stay either in a Monorail resort or one of the Epcot resorts. Do you think there would be a possibility of there being openings at these resorts at the 7 month booking window? We are a family of four and would want a studio if we stayed in these resorts.

2. My parents are likely going to join us for part of the vacation and my sister for the other part. If we got two rooms could my parents stay in the room for part of the trip and then my sister and her husband for the other part? I'm thinking they could just use the same Magic Bands etc since their stays would not overlap. Is that even possible?

Thanks in advance!

I'm going to be at BLT that same week with my family. It's our home resort so I already have the room booked. If you get a trade in to BLT and we happen to be next to each other I apologize in advance for the noise.

As of right now the only studio rooms at the monorail resorts not available that week are standard view at BLT but they always go super fast. We are still pretty far from the 7 month window but you never know. As someone else pointed out the first weekend you are there is the very end of food and wine. The EPCOT resorts tend to book very fast for food and wine. Already Boardwalk rooms are limited for that week. Your best bet for a trade in is probably away from EPCOT. Another possible option is Wilderness Lodge. They are opening a new wing of DVC units very soon so they may be available to stay in by November. Even if you don't get one of the new rooms the original WL rooms should be easier to trade into due to increased capacity there. It's not on the monorail but a short boat ride to CR. WL also has a great Christmas tree and decorations which should be up for your trip. The week before Thanksgiving is a great week to visit. We did it one time before. Mild weather, low crowds and all the Christmas stuff is usually up.

Another option to consider is to see if you can swing a 2 bedroom villa instead of 2 Studios. It's going to be more points but if you can swing it you get a full kitchen, living room and a ton of extra space. Obviously your father in law would need to have the extra points and be willing to let you use them, but it's a nice option if you can swing it. You may also have a better shot at a trade in. The order of popularity for DVC is generally: 1) studio 2) 2BR 3) 1BR.

 

[frozenfever2017]

I'm going to be at BLT that same week with my family. It's our home resort so I already have the room booked. If you get a trade in to BLT and we happen to be next to each other I apologize in advance for the noise.

As of right now the only studio rooms at the monorail resorts not available that week are standard view at BLT but they always go super fast. We are still pretty far from the 7 month window but you never know. As someone else pointed out the first weekend you are there is the very end of food and wine. The EPCOT resorts tend to book very fast for food and wine. Already Boardwalk rooms are limited for that week. Your best bet for a trade in is probably away from EPCOT. Another possible option is Wilderness Lodge. They are opening a new wing of DVC units very soon so they may be available to stay in by November. Even if you don't get one of the new rooms the original WL rooms should be easier to trade into due to increased capacity there. It's not on the monorail but a short boat ride to CR. WL also has a great Christmas tree and decorations which should be up for your trip. The week before Thanksgiving is a great week to visit. We did it one time before. Mild weather, low crowds and all the Christmas stuff is usually up.

Another option to consider is to see if you can swing a 2 bedroom villa instead of 2 Studios. It's going to be more points but if you can swing it you get a full kitchen, living room and a ton of extra space. Obviously your father in law would need to have the extra points and be willing to let you use them, but it's a nice option if you can swing it. You may also have a better shot at a trade in. The order of popularity for DVC is generally: 1) studio 2) 2BR 3) 1BR.

Haha, I have a 2.5 and 5 year old, GoofGoof, so they can likely compete with yours in the noise department.

My sister's father in law is going to book us at OKW today. I don't know him well so I will feel bad asking him to search around for rooms at 7 months, especially because all of them will be more points than the two studios at OKW for the most part. It's free rooms so really can't complain and the more I read about OKW the more I think it will be alright. Now I can quit researching resorts and more on to obsessively planning dining and Fast Passes. Thanks for your help, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon!!!

 

[GoofGoof]

Haha, I have a 2.5 and 5 year old, GoofGoof, so they can likely compete with yours in the noise department.

My sister's father in law is going to book us at OKW today. I don't know him well so I will feel bad asking him to search around for rooms at 7 months, especially because all of them will be more points than the two studios at OKW for the most part. It's free rooms so really can't complain and the more I read about OKW the more I think it will be alright. Now I can quit researching resorts and more on to obsessively planning dining and Fast Passes. Thanks for your help, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon!!!

OKW looks pretty nice. I've never stayed there but I know they have some of the biggest rooms in all of DVC. Good luck with the planning

 

[JaxFLBear]

Okay that makes sense! Here's another questions off of that. We are entertaining the thought of doing a dining plan for multiple reasons, not entirely sure yet. I know that my parents and sister would not want to as they won't be there the whole week. If the reservation is made for both rooms together all parties would have to do the dining plan, right?

Each room would be a separate reservation and you purchase dining plans based on room reservation. So, you could get the dining plan for one room and not the other.

With multiple rooms for the same dates, you will want the owner to have a 'Travel With' placed on both reservations. This will alert the room assign to try and place the rooms as near to each other as possible.