What am I missing here-Disney prices are through the roof!!!!!!

[Tinkerbell313]

I was looking at the DVC point chart, and you use less points during the dream vs magic seasons, which would translate to less $s if you rent points. Perhaps it doesn't follow through to booking your own rooms through Disney? I'm not 100% sure.

I don't think it does...if you book through Disney...April through July appears to be a regular season. That chart provides rack rates.

However, if you rent points through DVC, DVC point seasons are probably different then booking rooms directly using chart mentioned above as guideline.

[Roni]

Have you tried booking a package through Southwest.com? Dd's dance teacher is booking our hotel package, so I'm not looking into deals, but we got our own flight on SW, & they seem to always have "flash deals" on vacation packages.

[TwinFoxes]

OK-I tried looking at this option on disboards and the entire board is overwhelming. I became a member for our 2010 trip and logged back on to check things out. turns out , I know the free dining pins floating around now will not be cheaper for us than a room discount, based on the room we want. So, I went into the points section and it was just a bunch of points for sale/rent/trade. how do I even know how many points I would need for our choice of resort and our time? and how much will I really save? is there a good place to figure that out before I just start asking to buy points from a stranger?

I always look at David's site to see how many points for my vacation. His site is http://www.dvcrentals.com/. On the left, choose the points calculater and plug in your dates. I just leave all the resorts checked so I see the number of points for each resort/room type.

You can rent from David's directly. He runs a legit business and his is a straight $13 a point.

I have been looking at renting points on the dis boards and I have been in contact with several people. We were looking to go the first weekend in May. We are only looking for a studio. But, they are already booked. And I would expect that...DVC owners can rent up to 11 months before at their home resort and then up to 7 months before at all other DVC resorts. Studios are the least expensive and work for a small family or couple.

I know what you mean by stranger...once I am in contact with someone...I stalk them...yep, I check to make sure they actually own the DVC. I look to see they have facebook account...and what they say on it if its available to read. With one owner, when I googled him. I found out that he graduated from the same school as my husband (a small private unique school). So, after talking with him on the phone, I felt very comfortable. His reference happens to live 20 minutes away from me. And his reference is a dis board member as well...so I checked out her posts. I did not rent...because again, I was looking for a studio and they were all gone.

Sorry Veronica I missed your post. But I agree with Tinkerbell, I've heard good things about David's site. I think going through him would give you peace of mind. I know what you mean about buying from a stranger as well. I haven't done it, so I can't give you tips. I would just make sure they've gotten good reviews, try to stalk them on the web, the same things Tink is doing. Good luck! I think we may be making a return visit in the fall.

[veronica]

Have you tried booking a package through Southwest.com? Dd's dance teacher is booking our hotel package, so I'm not looking into deals, but we got our own flight on SW, & they seem to always have "flash deals" on vacation packages.

Southwest doesn't really fly near us. I just checked flights and they would cost double what it would cost us to fly spirit air, from our tiny airport!

[Roni]

Southwest doesn't really fly near us. I just checked flights and they would cost double what it would cost us to fly spirit air, from our tiny airport!

That would be a problem. Bummer.

[boolady]

We got really good rates when we flew Southwest to Orlando from Philadelphia. Too far to travel to the airport?

[veronica]

We got really good rates when we flew Southwest to Orlando from Philadelphia. Too far to travel to the airport?

not too horrible but the additional driving, additional park costs and shuttle ride to the airport aren't wort the hassle.

right now, I am getting 4 round trip tickets (fuel and taxes included) from spirit air for $695 total out of atlantic city. it's only a 50 minute drive, their parking is right on the front lawn. they have 1 or 2 gates open at a time , so it's incredibly stress free. The added hour of driving and stress of PA isn't worth it and , right now, tickets are double. and, we may even have a friend drop us off/pickup to save on parking. if not, parking costs are super cheap!

I was hoping to save on the disney cost of the trip, lol!

[boolady]

not too horrible but the additional driving, additional park costs and shuttle ride to the airport aren't wort the hassle.

right now, I am getting 4 round trip tickets (fuel and taxes included) from spirit air for $695 total out of atlantic city. it's only a 50 minute drive, their parking is right on the front lawn. they have 1 or 2 gates open at a time , so it's incredibly stress free. The added hour of driving and stress of PA isn't worth it and , right now, tickets are double. and, we may even have a friend drop us off/pickup to save on parking. if not, parking costs are super cheap!

I was hoping to save on the disney cost of the trip, lol!

Do you absolutely want to stay on-site?

[AnnieW625]

Wow! $695 for four plane tickets is great, Virgin Atlantic from LA was our best bet at $1800 for four round trip non stop tickets. Last night I was on Disney pricing things out and even though it was mid August and it might be hot and crowded I found 5 nights at the Pirt Orleans Riverside for less than $1000. With all that said we probably won't go until 2013 right before DD2 turns 3, but I thought even for a moderate that price was pretty good.

Have you thought of contacting AAA? It was advertising in our Jan. AAA magazine that it was Disney month so maybe they have some promos going on.

[Cam&Clay]

We are going from April 26 to May 6 and the only discount we found was the military rate of 30% off. DH got our flights from United for a decent price, but we're about to get hosed because I have to change DS1's flight to Orlando to a few days later because of a soccer tournament. I dread seeing how much that's going to cost me.