# A single night at DVC Orlando -- which one?



## GregT (Apr 14, 2018)

All,

Jack and I are going to Orlando for 8 days in June -- 7 of which will be at one of the Marriotts on an II trade.  We fly out on a Monday to meet up with Jonell and the girls, and I am filling a single day Sunday reservation.

Which property has the best on-site amenities/activities for a 13 year old boy?  We will have been to all of the parks during the previous week, and looking for a place to set up base camp that would have lots of on-site entertainment.

The TUG reviews are all positive, and I would appreciate any additional comments.  Thank you!

Best,

Greg


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## Beachclubmum (Apr 14, 2018)

As a long time dvc member with boys of various ages....

I recommended either the Beach Club Villas (3 acre pool is a mini water water park) plus the fun of the Boardwalk area at night 

Or the Animal Kingdom Resort (good pool plus the fun of the animals, lots of interesting lodge activities as well).


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## icydog (Apr 14, 2018)

Well Animal Kingdom Concierge Level comes to mind.  Then you and Jack can go on the Sunrise Safari which is absolutely fabulous.  

The Beach Club has that incredible sandy bottom pool.  

I’m leaving out the monorail resorts because you will have seen everything at the parks by then. 

So those are my two choices for you and your son.


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## alwysonvac (Apr 14, 2018)

If you’re using DVC points, you might want to see what’s available. The leftover choices may be very limited this late.


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## sb2313 (Apr 14, 2018)

If available, animal kingdom. So much to see and do there, lots of interesting artifacts around the resort, and Boma is an amazing buffet(and with a 13 year old boy you’ll obviously get your money’s worth!)


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## icydog (Apr 14, 2018)

My experience with Boma is that  if your son doesn’t like to try new or different foods, it’s not a great choice.  He will be limited to meatballs, Mac and cheese, pizza and chicken strips.  You can get all those things in Mara for 1/2 the price


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## sb2313 (Apr 14, 2018)

icydog said:


> My experience with Boma is that  if your son doesn’t like to try new or different foods, it’s not a great choice.  He will be limited to meatballs, Mac and cheese, pizza and chicken strips.  You can get all those things in Mara for 1/2 the price


We’ve only done breakfast, should’ve prefaced it with that. Good info on dinner!


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## alwysonvac (Apr 14, 2018)

The WDW waterparks would be great if you didn’t visit one the previous week.

Regardless of which WDW resort you book, DVC members can pool hop with some exceptions   (see details below).

Here’s the WDW Unofficial Guide Pool rating from TouringPlans.com - https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/hotels/hotel-pool

From https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/discounts-perks-offers/recreation-relaxation/pools/
_When staying on your Membership at any Disney Vacation Club Resort at Walt Disney World Resort or at Disney's Vero Beach Resort, you and any Guests staying with you are permitted to take advantage of complimentary alternative pool use, which provides access to:_
_-The pool or pools at the Disney Vacation Club Resort where you are staying
-Select pools at Disney Vacation Club Resorts
-Select pools at Walt Disney World Resort hotels_

_Note: Capacity limits and blockout dates apply. To find out about pool-access availability, please check with a host or hostess at the front desk of the Resort you wish to visit._

_You must present your MagicBand or valid Disney Vacation Club Membership Card to use the other Resort hotel pools._

_Capacity Limitations_
_If the pool you are visiting reaches capacity, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate Guests of that Resort hotel. Please check with a host or hostess at the front desk of the Resort you wish to visit before you go to find out about pool-access availability._

_Blockout Dates_
_Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, you and your overnight guests may not pool hop during the following dates:_
_-Friday, May 25, 2018 through Monday, May 28, 2018 
-Sunday, July 1, 2018 through Saturday, July 7, 2018
-Friday, August 31, 2018 through Monday, September 3, 2018
-Monday, November 19, 2018 through Saturday, November 24, 2018 
-Friday, December 21, 2018 through Wednesday, January 2, 2019 _

_Important Information_
_Pool hopping is not available at the following pools—with no exceptions to this policy:_
_-Bay Cove Pool at Bay Lake Tower at *Disney's Contemporary Resort*
-Uzima Pool and Samawati Springs Pool at *Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge*
-Stormalong Bay at *Disney's Yacht Club Resort and Disney's Beach Club Resorts*
-The leisure pool at *Disney's Beach Club Villas*
-The Lava Pool and leisure pool at *Disney's Polynesian Village Resort*
-The Copper Creek Springs Pool at *Disney's Wilderness Lodge*
-The pools at *Disney's Art of Animation Resort*
_​_Other restricted dates than those listed above may be added based on projected pool capacity or maintenance needs.
Alternative pool use is subject to change or discontinuation at the sole discretion of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Complimentary alternative pool use (pool hopping) is not considered a Membership Extra. This benefit is offered to all Disney Vacation Club Members, regardless of how they purchased._​


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## icydog (Apr 14, 2018)

sb2313 said:


> We’ve only done breakfast, should’ve prefaced it with that. Good info on dinner!


 I love Boma but my grandson and son in law hated it. They wanted good old American fare and eating at the kids station for all that money did not make my DSIL happy.t It was my husband's and my favorite restaurant on site. The breakfast buffet is very good but there are no characters. But at 13 the OPs son won't care about characters anyway!


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## ljmiii (Apr 14, 2018)

GregT said:


> We will have been to all of the parks during the previous week, and looking for a place to set up base camp that would have lots of on-site entertainment.


A really great and unique question. The problem is that unlike many MVCI resorts none of the DVC resorts have lots of on-site entertainment. Disney assumes you are going to go to the parks...or the waterparks...or Disney Springs. That said...

Animal Kingdom Lodge has great pools and animals on-site. But while the on-site dining is exceptional it is somewhat exotic.
Beach Club Villas has the best pool and good dining...especially if you add in Boardwalk's restaurants across the lake.
The themeing at the Wilderness Lodge is awesome and it does have boat access to Ft. Wilderness which might be worth the trip for a 13 yr old. There are also things to do on Seven Seas Lagoon...but they are kind of expensive.
Lastly, you might consider Saratoga Springs if easy access to the kid-friendly activities and Marvel/Lego/Disney shops at Disney Springs sounds good to you. But again, something of a money pit.

Actually, my real suggestion would be go to the Disney parks one less day while you are at the MVCI resort and go while you are staying on-property. Walking to the Magic Kingdom from Bay Lake Tower or to EPCOT or Hollywood Studios from Beach Club or Boardwalk would really be the best use of staying at a DVC resort.


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## Dean (Apr 14, 2018)

GregT said:


> All,
> 
> Jack and I are going to Orlando for 8 days in June -- 7 of which will be at one of the Marriotts on an II trade.  We fly out on a Monday to meet up with Jonell and the girls, and I am filling a single day Sunday reservation.
> 
> ...


I'm not sure any of the DVC resorts are that great from the stand point of hanging out just at the resort.  I'm not sure which Marriott you're at but you might look at something else like the Gaylord hotel or something close to Universal.  For a timeshare non DVC, you could try the Fountains or one that gets you to access to Marriott's World Center if you're not there already.  I presume this is cash.  If I were going to hit a Disney hotel for 1 night to hang out at the resort it'd likely be Port Orleans or Coronado Springs for us, it has been in the past.  If you want to do shopping, Saratoga Springs might be best and the feature pool there is very nice.  If you do decide on a DVC, renting for 1 night privately should be best.  And if you do so, you could get the Dining Plan for just the 1 night which would be good from check in (as early as 5-6 AM) until MN the following night.

I wouldn't do the Monorail resorts if you're not planning to do parks either of those days.  Wilderness lodge has a nice feel and some nice restaurants with a decent pool.  Animal Kingdom is unique with the Animals.  Beach Club and Boardwalk have good to very good pools with some unique shopping and dining options.


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## alwysonvac (Apr 15, 2018)

Resort activities calendar for each Disney resort
http://blog.dvcrequest.com/walt-disney-world-resort-activities-schedules/ (scroll to the bottom for the link for each resort)

Disney resort comparison webpage
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts-compare/

Other things do at WDW (beyond the theme parks)
http://allears.net/btp/beyond.htm


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## GregT (Apr 15, 2018)

All,

Thank you for the thoughtful (and complete) responses -- TUGgers rock!!!!  My 60 day window opens soon and I will see what is available.   Both Beach Club Villas and Animal Kingdom look very appealing and hopefully one of them will be available.  Pool hopping is another interesting idea!

Thanks again and I will post back with how the search turns out.

Best,

Greg


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## Dean (Apr 15, 2018)

GregT said:


> All,
> 
> Thank you for the thoughtful (and complete) responses -- TUGgers rock!!!!  My 60 day window opens soon and I will see what is available.   Both Beach Club Villas and Animal Kingdom look very appealing and hopefully one of them will be available.  Pool hopping is another interesting idea!
> 
> ...


Greg, are you using DVC points that are in a holding account?


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## GregT (Apr 15, 2018)

Dean said:


> Greg, are you using DVC points that are in a holding account?


Yes, I am.   Thought I was going to take the family to GC but then had school conflict, so 48 points are sitting in holding and expiring at end of September.  So I hope to redeploy in Orlando on June 17th!   Thanks again for all the help and advice.

Best,

Greg


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## Dean (Apr 15, 2018)

GregT said:


> Yes, I am.   Thought I was going to take the family to GC but then had school conflict, so 48 points are sitting in holding and expiring at end of September.  So I hope to redeploy in Orlando on June 17th!   Thanks again for all the help and advice.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg


Do you have other points you could book, cancel then rebook the holding account points?


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## GregT (Apr 15, 2018)

Dean said:


> Do you have other points you could book, cancel then rebook the holding account points?


I dont, my future points are tied up in an Aulani reservation next year.  

What would the trick be?  Does this substitute in the holding points into a desired reservation?

Thanks very much!

Greg


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## Dean (Apr 15, 2018)

GregT said:


> I dont, my future points are tied up in an Aulani reservation next year.
> 
> What would the trick be?  Does this substitute in the holding points into a desired reservation?
> 
> ...


You can't just substitute but you often can release and catch.


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## chalee94 (Apr 15, 2018)

icydog said:


> Well Animal Kingdom Concierge Level comes to mind.  Then you and Jack can go on the Sunrise Safari which is absolutely fabulous.



Just a note that the sunrise safari was discontinued several years ago...

http://dvcnews.com/forum/showthread...at-Disney-s-Animal-Kingdom-to-be-discontinued


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## GregT (Apr 16, 2018)

Dean said:


> You can't just substitute but you often can release and catch.


And does this cleanse the holding points and make them unrestricted?  Wow, that would be a good trick....


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## Dean (Apr 16, 2018)

GregT said:


> And does this cleanse the holding points and make them unrestricted?  Wow, that would be a good trick....


Yes it does currently assuming you use all the restricted point in holding and do so before 30 days out


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## GregT (Apr 16, 2018)

Dean said:


> Yes it does currently assuming you use all the restricted point in holding and do so before 30 days out


Wow, that's a good trick -- thank you for alerting me to it!

Best,

Greg


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## Dean (Apr 16, 2018)

GregT said:


> Wow, that's a good trick -- thank you for alerting me to it!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg


I'm not sure if you're aware but DVC does not treat changes as a cancelation and rebook as much as other companies do.  You can add to a current reservation or subtract from it without penalty or risk to the reservation.  In some cases you can even reduce the size of a lockoff without losing the reservation though that's more hit or miss.  I'm sure you can think of ways to use this to your advantage.  I personally don't feel they should allow it but as long as they do, that is the lay of the land.  They do limit you to 2 wait lists per Use Year total and different view types at a single resort would be treated as multiple.  They also limit transfers to one in or one out.

This raises some interesting thought on multiple master contracts of a single owner which are technically treated as separate owners.  So technically you transfer from one master to another and you've used the single transfer per UY on both.  Sometimes they will make an exception in this situation but it's normally where you're trying to get points together for a single night or where you need all points in a single account like for a cash type exchange which is usually a bad idea anyway.  But you do get additional wait list slots in this situation.


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## GregT (Apr 19, 2018)

Okay,

The property I was able to book was Boardwalk Villas.  I’m also hoping Marriott Lakeshore Reserve, which has a good pool, and I will research them both to see where I end up.  

Thanks all for the suggestions!

Best,

Greg


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## frank808 (Apr 21, 2018)

GregT said:


> Yes, I am.   Thought I was going to take the family to GC but then had school conflict, so 48 points are sitting in holding and expiring at end of September.  So I hope to redeploy in Orlando on June 17th!   Thanks again for all the help and advice.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg


Hi greg!  My son and i will be at wdw from june 18-30.  We could meet up for drinks or something.  We will be at bcv until 25 and then move onto blt for the rest of the stay.  

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk


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## frank808 (Apr 21, 2018)

GregT said:


> Okay,
> 
> The property I was able to book was Boardwalk Villas.  I’m also hoping Marriott Lakeshore Reserve, which has a good pool, and I will research them both to see where I end up.
> 
> ...


Lakeshore reserve is our favorite marriott in orlando. Can't beat that heated lazy river. Also get to use the pools at the ritz and jw marriott.  Very nice resort complex and the pool area at lakeshore never feels crowded.  The only mvc pool complex, that i have been to, that has life guards aroind pool area

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## GregT (Apr 21, 2018)

Frank, thank you for the comments and I’m looking forward to the trip. 

I’m afraid we will just miss you on the 18th.  We check out and head to the airport on the day you arrive.  But thank you for thinking of us!

Best,

Greg


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