VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[rkstocke5609]

An early Happy Easter to all! Returned from WDW on Monday night at 11:45 PM to pouring rain (which Minneapolis needed). Turned out it snowed on Sunday, then turned to rain late Monday, and then turned cold by Tuesday morning into snowfall that surpassed the entire winter season in one day (we had an extremely odd mild winter).

In our last minute trip there were a few things I thought worth sharing:

Did the big balloon at Disney Springs, I can recommend it, quite a view!

We rented a pontoon for an hour while at the VGF. With the DVC discount it was only $88, which by Disney standards was a deal. Highly recommend, we did it on a windy day which was ideal as you can’t create much of your own wind with a 20 H,P. Motor pushing a 24’ Party Barge…

The 2BR at OKW was spectacular, I’ll be back.

The 1BR at VGF didn’t impress me much, I felt it was just OK, but I suppose that’s to be expected following the 2BR at OKW..

Highlight - The Gurgling Suitcase at OKW. Crazy little bar, seats 8 people. Ran across 3 other couples (same evening). None of them knew each other. Two couples had purchased OKW ( umm…DVC) in 1993. The other couple topped that by purchasing in 1991. Now, they told me they bought in for $50/point. That didn’t surprise me, but then they said that Maintenance Fees were $37/ year at the beginning? Well, if that doesn’t prove how inflation has changed things!

Money Grab - went to MK on Sunday at which time the mouse determined he needed $39/person for Genie+ , but had to do it. Only park it’s a must do for me.

Happy moment - I got caught in the crowd at fireworks right in front of the castle trying to cross. Stood for 45 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it as I feared my rheumatoid arthritis would never allow me to do that again - but thanks to my medication I did it.

Went to EPCOT on Thursday and it was a spectacular day, low crowds before the weekend.

Anyways, sorry for the ramble, and again, Happy Easter to all!

 

[WLWildlife]

Hello everyone! WL fan here! I have had 6 stays at The Lodge and 1 at AofA. The last 2 trips have been at CCV deluxe studios which are perfect for DH and I. Thinking about a trip in October with adult DD and staying at BRV in a deluxe studio for the first time. Are all the studios renovated with a murphy bed? I can't wait to be home again!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yes, all the BRV studios are renovated. We were in one this January and loved it! I actually found the murphy bed to be more comfortable than the regular bed.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Hello everyone! WL fan here! I have had 6 stays at The Lodge and 1 at AofA. The last 2 trips have been at CCV deluxe studios which are perfect for DH and I. Thinking about a trip in October with adult DD and staying at BRV in a deluxe studio for the first time. Are all the studios renovated with a murphy bed? I can't wait to be home again!

FYI the rooms on the 5th floor all appear to have gotten sleeper sofas instead of the murphy beds. Quite a few rooms up there have slanted ceilings because of the dormers. Quite a few rooms don't have that ceiling but it seems DVC decided to just skip the murphy beds up there in all the rooms. (per reports)

 

[TCRAIG]

Yes, all the BRV studios are renovated. We were in one this January and loved it! I actually found the murphy bed to be more comfortable than the regular bed.

I thought the rooms on the 5th floor, although renovated, had traditional pull out sofa beds due to the ceiling structure…

 

[Mike730]

It may be best to request the queen murphy bed explicitly.

On the short hallway side (left in the rotunda), the top floor is 4. On the long hallway side the top floor is 5.

The following link shows a pull-out couch on floor 4.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It may be best to request the queen murphy bed explicitly.

On the short hallway side (left in the rotunda), the top floor is 4. On the long hallway side the top floor is 5.

The following link shows a pull-out couch on floor 4.

Good catch! Or perhaps request lower floor so one hopefully doesn't end up on the top floor in either section.

 

[ClaraOswald]

So I've looked at the availability charts on some websites but I'm curious to hear actual experiences here...

Historically, is it very difficult to get a 1-bedroom for 6-7 nights in January/February? (Avoiding MLK and Presidents weekends) at the 7-month mark? I know everyone here owns at BRV so no need to wait for 7 months. But I thought some of you might still have an idea.

We're pretty sure we want to add more points (we only have 50 right now) in order to stay at a 1-bedroom (at least sometimes.) But we aren't sure if we'll 100% need to make sure those points are at BRV or if we could get them from elsewhere instead.

Thoughts?

 

[rkstocke5609]

So I've looked at the availability charts on some websites but I'm curious to hear actual experiences here...

Historically, is it very difficult to get a 1-bedroom for 6-7 nights in January/February? (Avoiding MLK and Presidents weekends) at the 7-month mark? I know everyone here owns at BRV so no need to wait for 7 months. But I thought some of you might still have an idea.

We're pretty sure we want to add more points (we only have 50 right now) in order to stay at a 1-bedroom (at least sometimes.) But we aren't sure if we'll 100% need to make sure those points are at BRV or if we could get them from elsewhere instead.

Thoughts?

I’ve always found that 1BR’s are the last to book out at most resorts. I’ve never had an issue getting one. January should be easiest and maybe a bit harder getting into late February. All those folks from New Orleans with kids come to the world during Mardi Gras. The 1BR’s at BLT & Kidani are particularly nice with 2 bathrooms. But, it may be easiest if you add on points at the same resort you own now and find a contract with the same use year. That would be the easiest to manage.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So I've looked at the availability charts on some websites but I'm curious to hear actual experiences here...

Historically, is it very difficult to get a 1-bedroom for 6-7 nights in January/February? (Avoiding MLK and Presidents weekends) at the 7-month mark? I know everyone here owns at BRV so no need to wait for 7 months. But I thought some of you might still have an idea.

We're pretty sure we want to add more points (we only have 50 right now) in order to stay at a 1-bedroom (at least sometimes.) But we aren't sure if we'll 100% need to make sure those points are at BRV or if we could get them from elsewhere instead.

Thoughts?

1 BR's are typically the easiest and will be there at 7 months other than the busiest of times. In January you need to avoid the marathon weekend. MLK and Presidents may be fine. Though I own BRV I typically need more points and am booking at 7 months although that's more for 2 BR's these days but they also are a bit more difficult to book.

 

[Flossbolna]

The trick about booking at 7 months is that you need to do it at exactly 8 am 7 months out. Not at 6 months 27 days or even at noon 7 months out.

 

[Granny]

An early Happy Easter to all! Returned from WDW on Monday night at 11:45 PM to pouring rain (which Minneapolis needed). Turned out it snowed on Sunday, then turned to rain late Monday, and then turned cold by Tuesday morning into snowfall that surpassed the entire winter season in one day (we had an extremely odd mild winter).

In our last minute trip there were a few things I thought worth sharing:

The 2BR at OKW was spectacular, I'll be back.

Highlight - The Gurgling Suitcase at OKW. Crazy little bar, seats 8 people. Ran across 3 other couples (same evening). None of them knew each other. Two couples had purchased OKW ( umm…DVC) in 1993. The other couple topped that by purchasing in 1991. Now, they told me they bought in for $50/point. That didn’t surprise me, but then they said that Maintenance Fees were $37/ year at the beginning? Well, if that doesn’t prove how inflation has changed things!

Ron...glad you had a good trip. Yes, the OKW 1BR and 2BR set ups are amazing in how large the villas are. It didn't take Disney long to figure out that they didn't have to have that big of a villa in order to sell DVC points!

Not only did the early buyers of DVC get the low price per point, they also got free park passes for several years. I want to say they got free hopper passes until about 1998 or so? Clearly, that will never happen again!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I’ve always found that 1BR’s are the last to book out at most resorts. I’ve never had an issue getting one. January should be easiest and maybe a bit harder getting into late February. All those folks from New Orleans with kids come to the world during Mardi Gras. The 1BR’s at BLT & Kidani are particularly nice with 2 bathrooms. But, it may be easiest if you add on points at the same resort you own now and find a contract with the same use year. That would be the easiest to manage.

Yeah, ideally I would just add on at BRV with our UY but I'm getting antsy since I haven't seen anything pop up with the amount of points I would want. So I'm trying to figure out if I should go for CCV as my "add-on" instead. I'm really on the fence about it. Though I definitely know I want the same UY.

 

[MsChristy12]

Yeah, ideally I would just add on at BRV with our UY but I'm getting antsy since I haven't seen anything pop up with the amount of points I would want. So I'm trying to figure out if I should go for CCV as my "add-on" instead. I'm really on the fence about it. Though I definitely know I want the same UY.

I would stick with BRV if I were you, especially if you're trying to stay in the one bedroom from time to time. Don't give up, keep stalking the brokers site daily! Something will come up! What's your UY?

 

[ClaraOswald]

June. I decided I definitely want to stick with BRV. I was thinking that if I decided to go with CCV now...and then a month or even a year from now, I see the perfect BRV contract pop up, I would completely regret doing CCV. Sure, I could just sell CCV and get BRV instead but I honestly don't want to hassle with that.

Waiting is tough for me so I just need to keep reminding of the above!

Kind of a bummer though because we're wanting to maybe go to WDW in January and if we do, we'll have to use our VGC points at the 7 month mark. But that's what we did this year and it was fine. We probably won't luck out and get BRV this time though, so that's a bummer.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

June. I decided I definitely want to stick with BRV. I was thinking that if I decided to go with CCV now...and then a month or even a year from now, I see the perfect BRV contract pop up, I would completely regret doing CCV. Sure, I could just sell CCV and get BRV instead but I honestly don't want to hassle with that.

Waiting is tough for me so I just need to keep reminding of the above!

Kind of a bummer though because we're wanting to maybe go to WDW in January and if we do, we'll have to use our VGC points at the 7 month mark. But that's what we did this year and it was fine. We probably won't luck out and get BRV this time though, so that's a bummer.

Why don't you think you'll get BRV again? Is think the chances will be good for a January trip.

 

[twinklebug]

Happy Easter to my one and only online family
We may stray to the far corners of this internet world, but we always come home.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Why don't you think you'll get BRV again? Is think the chances will be good for a January trip.

I guess I just figure the chances are slim since the days we want are already booked for the room type we want. We're pretty picky about the dates. (Though we're waiting for SWA to release flights for January to decide exactly which ones would work best. Or if a DLR trip would be better suited.)

 

[WLWildlife]

KAT4DISNEY and CaraOswald, thank you for your response! Mike730, I'm trying to come up with a request. I don't want to sleep on a pull out sofa and I don't want to have a pool view, hear the beeping buses, or have the closed in balcony. We spend a fair amount of time in our room and I enjoy the balcony, it's one of the reasons we stay deluxe. I know I'm being picky, but would like to be floor 3 or 4 on the lake side. I know the chances are slim since there aren't that many in that location.
Thanks to all who responded.

 

[Granny]

Happy Easter to all !!!







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