Honeymoon Planning Advice needed!

[vampiroth]

So,

I'm getting married in October, and we plan on taking an 11 day Disney//Orlando vacation. We plan on seeing absolutely everything we can at Disney, doing the space center for a day, and universal for 2 days. While having some rest/relaxation time mixed in there.

We had every intention of staying at the Grand Floridian for our stay doing a DVC rental, but I was told there isn't availability for our stay (Oct 22-Nov2nd). Now we are completely unsure of what resort to stay at. We wanted to be in a central location within disney, and have that luxury feel of the Grand Floridian. Being 9 months out we thought we would be safe booking now, but apparently not!

It's been so long since either of us have been, and when I went to Disney in the past we either stayed value (2004), or camped at Ft Wilderness (pre 2000)

So what I've been told is the wonderful veterans of the disboards would have the best experience at giving good recommendations as to where to enjoy our honeymoon (unless someone has a top secret trick to getting in the GF).

Thank you all!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Studios at Grand Floridian book 11 months out, close to the day, during what DVCers sometimes call "Fall Frenzy." Your dates include Halloween and some of Wine & Dine Half Marathon week, so it doesn't surprise me you can't book.

The first big question for where to stay would be your budget. Because you could book a regular room at the Grand Floridian if budget isn't an issue, of course. The DVC villas are just a small portion of that property.

But I'm guessing that since you were considering DVC rental, budget is an issue.

 

[vampiroth]

We are trying to stay under $6000 including dining plan before the trip, room alone we would be comfortable in the $3200 range so we have extra spending money during. That makes pretty much any DVC resort fit into our budget. I guess at this point for us its between BLT, Beach Club, and Board Walk.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

TBH, I can't check as I don't own there, but I think odds are good you can't get 10 straight days that week at BCV or BWV either. It's Food & Wine.

If it has to be a DVC, I'd actually recommend Poly as the most likely, if you can find an owner before 7 months. It's biggest of the near-park DVC. BLT Standard is also almost certainly gone, but Lake View may have availability. Those dates, more than 7 days, though... to be honest, you needed to book in December to have a clear shot.

Otherwise, I would try pricing out Coronado Springs.

 

[NJ Goofy]

I just went online to check resort availability. The following came up for your 10 days: AK both views, Poly both views, SSR and BLT lake view. I only checked for a deluxe studio not a one bedroom. I think for a honeymoon Poly would be the best choice. Good luck, let me know if you'd like me to check something else.

 

[vampiroth]

She doesn't like the art style of the polynesian for some reason. I don't ever rememeber walking around poly myself. I've heard good things though. Thank you NJ goofy, you are awesome.

 

[vampiroth]

I just went online to check resort availability. The following came up for your 10 days: AK both views, Poly both views, SSR and BLT lake view. I only checked for a deluxe studio not a one bedroom. I think for a honeymoon Poly would be the best choice. Good luck, let me know if you'd like me to check something else.

Is anything at Boardwalk or Beach Club available?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Is anything at Boardwalk or Beach Club available?

Not studios. Prime Food & Wine. You'd have needed to book in December for a studio.

Note that AK "both views" are Standard and Savannah -- no Value or Club.

 

[NJ Goofy]

Boardwalk and Beach Club only had partial availability, I'll check which days as soon as the site comes back online. DVC site is experiencing technical difficulties. Maybe you can do a split stay (2 different resorts) ??

 

[vampiroth]

Well I got my fiancee to watch a video tour of the poly and she loved it. I guess the pictures she looked at gave a really bad example of the resort. We did consider splitting our trip but that was mainly to avoid having extra meals as we won't be in disney parks for 3 days. We opted to keep it though, and do 3 of our 11 nights at signature restaurants.

Thank you all, you've been very helpful! After watching the tours of Poly and BLT, it's not even close for me. I'd much rather be at Poly. The commute over to Epcot won't take long from there either. Honestly the only benefit of boardwalk/beach club would be quick access to all the wonderful food in Epcot!

 

[clapton]

The Poly is beautiful and you can walk to the GF and hop on the monorail to the CR and walk to the TTC to get to Epcot. It's very convenient and beautiful at night to watch the fireworks from MK on the beach. Congrats on your upcoming wedding and have a wonderful honeymoon!

 

[vampiroth]

So we've been cautioned that it could be hard to find someone with the amount of points we need to book it from both dvcrentalshop and davids. How worried should I be about the 7 month mark?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So we've been cautioned that it could be hard to find someone with the amount of points we need to book it from both dvcrentalshop and davids. How worried should I be about the 7 month mark?

I would worry. October is DVC high season, and 7 month bookings go fast in the morning.

I changed my DVC reservation at 7 months last year for October, and had to waitlist a day to get a complete stay. Brokers and owners renting points will almost never waitlist for a renter, for a lot of reasons.

In general, for most of fall season starting mid-September through the marathon, if Poly is not already booked or missing days by 7 months, all units will be gone or missing multiple days by 8:10AM (booking begins at 8). It's a matter of if an owner's computer communicates faster with the server than other owners' computers. If you're working with a broker, rather than a private owner, your odds of having someone online at 7:55 locked and ready to book are not good.

I would have a backup plan if you are looking at trying to book at 7 months for October dates.

 

[yaksack]

You may want to book a room newr the park you will be spending the most time. I have never stayed at th Poly, but want to. My wife and I are plannimg our 20 year anniversary trip this year. We booked a few days at the Boardwalk becuase it is close to the booze, i mean the food in EPCOT.

 

[vampiroth]

So I have 2 months to find a polynesian owner that wants to make a few grand LOL.

 

[Jaxbelle]

Have you thought about splitting your stay? It may be harder for you to find a DVC because of the length of your stay.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The issue is really that most Poly owners are newer owners, and have been using bank and borrow to book their own trips. They do not have points to rent. They used their own points. Because Poly points are so expensive to buy direct from Disney, many people also have been buying 50-75 point contracts. Even on bank and borrow, that is not enough to book an 11 night stay.

Demand for DVC rental is higher than supply of DVC owners renting points. Most people who own DVC use their points themselves. Demand for Poly points to rent is much higher. Only about 50% of the total timeshare points at Poly are sold, most are new owners, and many are small contracts.

 

[Marionnette]

So I have 2 months to find a polynesian owner that wants to make a few grand LOL.

Your problem is that the Poly DVC is relatively new and not sold out yet. That means that there aren't as many owners as, let's say, SSR (which is not only sold out, it is a much larger resort with many more owners than Poly will ever have). And as _auroraborelalis_ pointed out, being new owners at the Poly most of those owners want to use their points themselves and are not interested in "making a few grand".

And your trip coincides with a very popular time for DVC owners. I own at BWV and I have to be online right at 11 months before arrival if I want any shot at a week in a standard view studio during F&W.

And while someone has kindly looked at availability on the RAT for you, that's just a snapshot in time. DVC units book 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the website. Units free up and disappear constantly.

TBH, I recommend turning your efforts to booking a hotel room with Disney that suits your tastes and budget. Perhaps doing a split stay with most of your time being spent at a Moderate Resort and then a few nights in a Deluxe Resort (or DVC studio if you can find one) as a splurge? You might even get lucky and *free* dining will be offered at that time of year.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And, to put the "couple grand" in perspective...

The cheapest 11-night DVC Poly stay I can do in October, meaning only one Friday and Saturday night in the stay, is 184 points.

If someone is banking/borrowing on a 3-year cycle to cover that, they need a 62-point contract. A contract that small has not qualified for any incentives. The cheapest Poly has ever been, without incentive, is $160 per point. So that's $9,920 for the points, before closing costs. It's also three years of dues. I'll use 2016's dues rate of $6.0937, or $1,134 in dues against the points needed for that reservation.

On a two year bank/borrow, or a contract that actually has 184 points, the dues won't really change, save that they'll all be paid in 2 or 1 year, but the overall buy-in cost will increase rapidly -- call it $16,500 for a two-year bank/borrow, and nearly $30k for someone who owns enough Poly points to do them all out of one UY.

Through a broker, an owner gets paid $13.20 per point for home resort at Poly; privately renting, they can ask $15-16 and pocket it all. It basically pays the dues, but doesn't put much dent in the capital outlay.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I'm completely unhelpful on the DVC rental issue because we've never done it. We have stayed at both Poly and Yacht Club (connected to Beach) and really enjoyed both. Poly highlights are the proximity to Magic Kingdom, a pretty easy trip on the monorail to Epcot (though you have to change monorails at the transportation center), and very pretty grounds. The pool at Poly is nice but nowhere close to the pool at Beach Club. Beach Club highlights are a very short walk to Epcot or the Boardwalk area, meaning lots of dining options, a 20 minute walk/boat ride to Hollywood Studios (I hate Disney buses), the best pool on property, and everything (stores, restaurants, etc.) is inside the resort, whereas at Poly you could be in a room that is a 5-10 outside walk over to the main building for food, shopping, etc.