Adding on a Deluxe stay

orlandoamber · 11 Jan 22, 08:17 PM

We have 13 nights at Coronado Springs in the Gran Destino Tower booked in November.

We are able to fly out 3 days earlier (flights not booked yet) if we want to and we were going to stay somewhere on the coast first, however, soon to be DH has also said he’d like to do a Deluxe for the first few nights before we move to Coronado so just weighing up this idea vs a beach stay at the moment. To do this we would rent DVC points (we are going to buy DVC eventually but haven’t got round to it yet).

Now I’m sure I’ve read on here in years past that those with the old DDP deal had managed to activate their Disney tickets a few days before their hotel stay even though the tickets were linked to their hotel stay. Can anyone confirm this? My thinking is that we’d fly out on the Thursday, stay at a Deluxe for 3 nights then check into Coronado on the Sunday. I’m happy not to have tickets on the Thursday and Friday but would like to activate them if possible 1 day early on the Saturday before checking into Coronado the next day. It’s not a big deal if we can’t but if it’s possible we would do it. Hopefully someone has experience with this

Imagining we don’t have park tickets (unless the above is really easy), which Deluxe DVC villas out of the below shortlist would you go for?

- Boardwalk Villas
- Grand Floridian
- Polynesian

Boardwalk is cheapest, followed by GF then the Poly. The price difference will be (I think) approx. £350 for the full 3 nights between Boardwalk and the Poly, so not a huge difference. My heart is telling me to do an MK resort, but my head is telling me that being on the Boardwalk would be good for not having park tickets and gives us extra spending money?

I know some may say don’t do the Deluxe stay before the Moderate but the Gran Destino Tower is beautiful and I really don’t feel like we will feel we’ve hugely downgraded! We can’t do it the other way round anyway.

Thanks for any input.

loldis · 11 Jan 22, 08:26 PM

You can't activate the tickets early. You might get lucky with CM discretion but I wouldn't make any firm park plans on those days.

So having said that, I would go for Boardwalk. I wouldn't want to stay at an MK area resort and not be able to go to MK at all. And being an older style resort, GDT will still feel like an upgrade when you move even though you're technically going down a tier.

orlandoamber · 11 Jan 22, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by loldis

You can't activate the tickets early. You might get lucky with CM discretion but I wouldn't make any firm park plans on those days.

So having said that, I would go for Boardwalk. I wouldn't want to stay at an MK area resort and not be able to go to MK at all. And being an older style resort, GDT will still feel like an upgrade when you move even though you're technically going down a tier.

Thank you. I’m not sure why I thought I’d read you could do that!

I’m thinking the pool area will be important too so will have a look at the pools at each as we would definitely have a pool day without park tickets.

**sha9** · 11 Jan 22, 08:38 PM

I would also go for Boardwalk. It’s a lovely area.

**Dr.JumbaJookiba** · 11 Jan 22, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by loldis

So having said that, I would go for Boardwalk. I wouldn't want to stay at an MK area resort and not be able to go to MK at all. And being an older style resort, GDT will still feel like an upgrade when you move even though you're technically going down a tier.

I agree with this thinking, there's mini golf and loads of walkable dining options too.

BCV for Stormalong Bay but the woods view if you get one is awful, you can't specify on booking.

BWV for the Boardwalk or garden pool view (bookable categories)

orlandoamber · 11 Jan 22, 08:51 PM

Thanks everyone, definitely leaning to BWV. I wonder what DH will think of my suggestion for the cheapest option! Not sure he’s expecting that

Can only see either standard or preferred view studios at BWV on Dave’s DVC rental (using it as a guide) - tips on where to request depending on which category if we went for it? Presume Boardwalk view and pool view are preferred Dr JJ?

**Dr.JumbaJookiba** · 11 Jan 22, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by orlandoamber

Thanks everyone, definitely leaning to BWV. I wonder what DH will think of my suggestion for the cheapest option! Not sure he’s expecting that

Can only see either standard or preferred view studios at BWV on Dave’s DVC rental (using it as a guide) - tips on where to request depending on which category if we went for it? Presume Boardwalk view and pool view are preferred Dr JJ?

Preferred encompasses Boardwalk and Garden/Pool categories on Dave's because they are the same no. of points but they are separate booking categories on DVC so, subject to availability, you should pick between them.

Requests - either high floor BW view or a high floor pool view depending on what you pick.

KarenG · 11 Jan 22, 09:10 PM

We’ve been lucky to stay at BWV many times and it would be a great pick for a short non park stay, because you have so many options to eat / drink / walk in lovely surroundings.

My only caveat is …. I’m not so fond of the pool.

11 Jan 22, 08:26 PM	#2
	11 Jan 22, 08:26 PM loldis Imagineer
loldis Imagineer Join Date: May 17 Location: Sussex	You can't activate the tickets early. You might get lucky with CM discretion but I wouldn't make any firm park plans on those days. So having said that, I would go for Boardwalk. I wouldn't want to stay at an MK area resort and not be able to go to MK at all. And being an older style resort, GDT will still feel like an upgrade when you move even though you're technically going down a tier.