Help for a newbie wanting to stay at the Poly!

**TigerLily8** · 21 May 17, 01:48 PM

Hello everyone.

I am looking for some advice in terms of renting points for a stay at the Poly (or Beach Club) Oct-Nov 2018. Me, my partner and some friends stayed at CBR last year for 14 nights on the Dining Plan and absolutely loved it, so when the free dining plans were announced this year we decided to book again for next year. We decided this time, however, we may opt for a Deluxe Resort as we have a bigger budget.

We had been looking at booking the AKL/Yacht club for two weeks including passes and dining etc. It is my dream to stay at the Poly (each to their own!) but I just cannot justify the extra Ł2000 or so it would cost to book this through Disney (why is it so expensive? !). Then I stumbled across DVC points. I understand that you can only book with rental points 11 months in advance and would have to add the dining plan on separately.

SO my question is:
- What is the likelihood of being able to get a DVC room at the Poly (or even the Beach Club) for 10 - 14 days the end of October/beginning of Nov 2018

- Can I only put in a request for points within the 11 month time frame or should I do that earlier?

- How easy/hard is it to add the Dining Plan to your booking if you rent points?

- Is it worth taking the risk and waiting to get a good deal on points, or is it better to just book now and be satisfied in the knowledge my holiday is booked?

Thanks in advance! xx

Shooby doo · 21 May 17, 02:42 PM

TigerL I would think pretty good but you will probably have to go somewhere like Dave's DVC rental to get that many Poly points in 1 go, for 14 nights you are looking at Standard 260 Lake View 306 ( Studio) & on current exchange rate Ł3480/Ł4096. Dining can be added up to 48 hours before check-in but must be paid in full & it's the $ rate so basically Ł60/person versus the UK Ł50 rate- the trade off is that you don't need to book it as part of a package. If you add dining it must be done thru' the owner or rental company.
Beach club works out about Ł2864 for the same, have you looked at Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek? Same price as BC
SD

Helenr · 21 May 17, 02:46 PM

If you can make sure someone books bang on 11 months you should be ok.

Would you consider a week at each? It'd mean 2 owners but increase your chances and our get to experience both resorts.

An owner can add dining plan (think it's about $63 per adult per night), but it's paid for at the time of adding it to the booking.

You'd just source your own tickets.

Have a look at the dvc rental companies.

I would start looking for an owner who has points well before the 11m window, so you can exchange emails etc and be ready when the booking window opens.

Ypu could book directly, and then cancel and lose the Ł50 (why not book as a solo traveller until you know which way you're going, dvc or direct) if you manage to sort DVC?

Good luck

**TigerLily8** · 21 May 17, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Shooby doo

TigerL I would think pretty good but you will probably have to go somewhere like Dave's DVC rental to get that many Poly points in 1 go, for 14 nights you are looking at Standard 260 Lake View 306 ( Studio) & on current exchange rate Ł3480/Ł4096. Dining can be added up to 48 hours before check-in but must be paid in full & it's the $ rate so basically Ł60/person versus the UK Ł50 rate- the trade off is that you don't need to book it as part of a package. If you add dining it must be done thru' the owner or rental company.
Beach club works out about Ł2864 for the same, have you looked at Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek? Same price as BC
SD

Thanks for your quick reply! That's really useful, I will check out Dave's DVC rental and a few others. I haven't looked at Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek, but I certainly well. Any particular reason? Are they considered better?

Originally Posted by Helenr

If you can make sure someone books bang on 11 months you should be ok.

Would you consider a week at each? It'd mean 2 owners but increase your chances and our get to experience both resorts.

An owner can add dining plan (think it's about $63 per adult per night), but it's paid for at the time of adding it to the booking.

You'd just source your own tickets.

Have a look at the dvc rental companies.

I would start looking for an owner who has points well before the 11m window, so you can exchange emails etc and be ready when the booking window opens.

Ypu could book directly, and then cancel and lose the Ł50 (why not book as a solo traveller until you know which way you're going, dvc or direct) if you manage to sort DVC?

Good luck

Thanks for your reply Helen. Surprisingly I hadn't actually considered doing a week at each - I don't know why as it seems likely a lovely idea. We also thought about doing 10 days on Disney then 4/5 days at Hard Rock but still at the brainstorming stage at the moment!

Question (may be a stupid one): If I were to book 7 days at each resort through DVC rental would I just book a 14 day dining plan or would I have to request it twice through each booking?

Oliver123 · 21 May 17, 04:46 PM

You would need 2 DP bookings if you do a split stay as each DP is only valid for the duration of the hotel

Helenr · 21 May 17, 05:18 PM

You book DP for each reservation. If you boxed clever, you could do all the expensive restaurants while you have DP, then pay OOP for other meals.

There's a website that lets you choose what you'd eat and see if DP is cost effective. It isn't for me as we generally don't eat enough and like to also eat offsite sometime.

YorkshireT · 22 May 17, 09:36 AM

Get your name down with Dave's now so you are high in the queue at 11 month window. This is busiest time of year for DVC booking.

Shooby doo · 23 May 17, 08:02 PM

I suggested those as they are what the Wilderness Lodge villas are now called, still MK resorts & actually closer than the Poly so good viewing for the Fireworks etc have to say that the foyer of the main building is breathtaking!
If you were to split I would do half with & half without- due to the exchange rate you will be lucky to break even cost wise, unless you do a lot of buffets. We've crunched the numbers a few times & can never get it to work out better.
SD

annedawso · 23 May 17, 10:35 PM

We managed to get a week at Beach Club Villas and a week at Grand Floridian by booking through Daves DVC at Easter. Love them both, especially GF.
Have you priced up doing one week booked via Disney with DDP and park tickets plus $200 gift card, then booking remainder of stay through Daves DVC for Poly. Your park tickets will still be active for DVC stay.
It may wok out cheaper that way as accom with free DDP can work out cheaper than DVC.

**TigerLily8** · 24 May 17, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Oliver123

You would need 2 DP bookings if you do a split stay as each DP is only valid for the duration of the hotel

Great, thanks!

Originally Posted by Helenr

You book DP for each reservation. If you boxed clever, you could do all the expensive restaurants while you have DP, then pay OOP for other meals.

There's a website that lets you choose what you'd eat and see if DP is cost effective. It isn't for me as we generally don't eat enough and like to also eat offsite sometime.

Great, I will have a look for that. I have to admit we all love our food and my parter especially loves his steak so we tend to end up ordering the more expensive things on the menu. However I will definitely do some sums this time to make sure it is worth it.

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Get your name down with Dave's now so you are high in the queue at 11 month window. This is busiest time of year for DVC booking.

Thanks for the advice! That I shall do.

Originally Posted by Shooby doo

I suggested those as they are what the Wilderness Lodge villas are now called, still MK resorts & actually closer than the Poly so good viewing for the Fireworks etc have to say that the foyer of the main building is breathtaking!
If you were to split I would do half with & half without- due to the exchange rate you will be lucky to break even cost wise, unless you do a lot of buffets. We've crunched the numbers a few times & can never get it to work out better.
SD

Good advice, thanks. I will look into those.

Originally Posted by annedawso

We managed to get a week at Beach Club Villas and a week at Grand Floridian by booking through Daves DVC at Easter. Love them both, especially GF.
Have you priced up doing one week booked via Disney with DDP and park tickets plus $200 gift card, then booking remainder of stay through Daves DVC for Poly. Your park tickets will still be active for DVC stay.
It may wok out cheaper that way as accom with free DDP can work out cheaper than DVC.

No I haven't, but again a really good idea, thanks! I'm going to sit down with my pen, paper and calculator tonight to work it out. I can see it being a long night