PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks
  About Us  |  Customs Office   |   Register Books   |   Book Updates   |   Blogs   |  Newsletter  |   News Desk   |  Articles  |  Photos  |  
PassPorter Blogs | Tag Archive | 2013 points charts

PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide – what’s changed and been updated?

Filed under Disney Vacation Club, Fresh Picked Posts by Cheryl Pendry on July 1, 2012 at 9:39 am {one comment}

With the publication of the latest update to PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide for Members and Members-To-Be, you may be wondering what’s changed. After all, it can’t be that much, can it? Well, you’d be surprised….

It’s six months since the last update, which saw the addition of all the 2013 points charts for the Disney Vacation Club resorts. Things like that are headline news, so you’ll be aware of them, but here are some things that you may not have spotted….

More Member perks

More Member perks have been introduced at Aulani (copyright Elaine Masters)

There have been so many member perks added that we’ve had to put more pages into the book… seriously!

The vast majority of the new additions are at Vero Beach, Hilton Head, and especially at Aulani. Perhaps that’s not as much of a surprise, as it’s a brand new resort and Disney have been busy arranging as many special offers as they can for members who are lucky enough to visit. Hopefully we’ll be able to sample some of those offers someday soon….

Even at Walt Disney World and Disneyland there are constantly changes to the offers available to members, with some added while others are removed.

 

The addition of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel to the Member portfolio

Recognising that the Villas at the Grand Californian’s 50 two-bedroom-equivalent villas may not be enough for their members, the Disney Vacation Club is now allowing members to stay in the Grand Californian Hotel itself on points.

Members can now use their points at the Grand Californian Hotel

To my mind, it’s a great change, as it is tough to get into the Villas, but is it a great deal, and what is the hotel like compared to the Villas? Well, we’ve added a brand new section into PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide covering exactly that topic. That means even more pages again!

Changing prices of DVC resorts

With the Disney Vacation Club raising its prices three times in the last six months, we’ve recalculated the break-even point for people considering joining DVC, with some interesting results. The resale price of each resort is also constantly changing, and we’ve gone back and double checked all those figures to give you an idea of how much buying through resale will set you back.

Adventures by Disney

Adventures By Disney have announced their 2013 itineraries, including new ones for DVC members only in Scotland, South America, and Southeast Asia. I’ve already covered this in detail in a previous blog.

We’ve added all of those into the book, along with the new points charts for 2013. All I’m going to say is if you want to go to places like Australia, you’re going to need a lot of points!

More 2013 points charts..

The Disney Vacation Club is literally changing all the time, and within the last few days, the 2013 points charts have appeared for the Walt Disney World resorts other than the DVC resorts. We’re talking the likes of the Polynesian, Yacht Club, Fort Wilderness, and Port Orleans here, and those details have been added into PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide.

2013 points charts are now out for Tokyo Disney

Equally, the World Passport Collections points charts are out for next year, so we’ve checked for any changes in those. In fact, we delayed publishing the latest edition, as at first only Tokyo Disney had their 2013 charts out, with no sign of those from Paris, and Hong Kong. However, as soon as those appeared we added them in, holding publication for a few extra days to ensure you had the most up to date information.

And, just in case you’re thinking is that it?, those are only the major changes in the latest edition. There are also a huge amount of small changes, so small you may not even notice them, as they’re not highlighted in the way that changes to PassPorter’s Walt Disney World and PassPorter’s Disney Cruise Line are.

In fact, since the first edition of PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide was published back in 2009, now we’re on the tenth edition, and a total of 23 additional pages have been added, bringing the page count up to 191. Soon, the way the Disney Vacation Club is growing, we’ll be way over the 200 page mark…. and we’ll ensure that it’s fully updated with the latest changes for all Members and Members-To-Be….

2013 points charts for the Disney Vacation Club resorts

Filed under Disney Vacation Club, Fresh Picked Posts by Cheryl Pendry on January 20, 2012 at 3:45 pm {one comment}

Changes ahoy for Bay Lake Tower in 2013

Some of the latest discussion about the Disney Vacation Club or DVC for short has been about the latest points charts for 2013.

What do these mean if you’re not a Disney Vacation Club member? Essentially, they outline how much members will have to “pay” for their stays in 2013, so they’re really important in helping to plan future vacations.

The points charts have just been issued for the 11 Disney Vacation Club resorts, located in Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, and ‘Oahu. Because your home Disney Vacation Club resort can be booked (the resort you purchased your points in) up to 11 months in advance, they needed to be out by February. Usually they come out a bit earlier than that – in 2010, they were actually issued just before Thanksgiving – but this year the DVC were making one or two changes.

No-one quite knew what those changes were until the charts were published, and or course people were keen to find out, as these charts can influence how much of a vacation you’ll be able to have. In the end, I thought they were less radical than perhaps I’d been anticipating. I was expecting almost a wholesale change, along the lines of what we saw in 2010, and 2011, when the number of points for Sunday through Thursday night stays increased substantially, while at the same time, the points needed for Friday and Saturday night stays decreased.

So what’s changing for 2013? Bay Lake Tower for one…

This time though, the changes centred on just two resorts, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, and Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

The Disney Vacation Club explained the changes to Bay Lake Tower as being down to a re-classification of about 10 rooms, which they took out of the theme park view category, instead putting them in the standard view category. This resulted in various changes across the board, although interestingly not to the three-bedroom grand villas, so if you were after one of those, they’re still going to cost you the same points as they would’ve done in 2012.

There aren’t any major changes to any of the other accommodations at Bay Lake Tower. Many of the alterations are literally just a couple of points a week. The more significant changes see 13 points being added to a two-bedroom villa during the Magic Season, covering mid February to the end of April, with the exception of the period around Easter, mid June to mid August, and Thanksgiving.

Inside a studio at Bay Lake Tower

There’s a five point change for anyone wanting a studio with a lake or theme park view for a week in Choice Season (early October to mid December with the exception of the Thanksgiving weekend) or a theme park view in a one-bedroom villa for a week in Dream Season, covering early February, early May to mid June, and late August. There’s also the same weekly increase of five points for a theme park view in Dream Studio in a one-bedroom villa.

For two-bedroom villas, theme park views all go up by seven points for a week’s stay in Adventure Season (January, September, and early December), Choice or Dream Seasons. It’s not a huge increase, but it could be enough to make a day’s difference to some people’s vacation.

Treehouse Villas to cost more…

With Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, it’s a lot more clear cut. The most obvious change, when you look at the 2013 points charts, is that the three-bedroom Treehouse Villas are now in their own category, rather than as previously, when they were lumped in with the two-bedroom villas. While that may be disappointing for anyone wanted to book a Treehouse Villa, I’ve got to say, I can understand it. There did always seem to be a discrepancy there, that you could pay the same for a two- and three-bedroom villa that just didn’t exist at any resort. Obviously, the Disney Vacation Club have recognised that, and rectified it.

So what difference is it going to make? If you wanted a week in a Treehouse Villa in the Adventure Season (January, September or early December), it’s going to cost you 281, 35 points more than in 2012. By the time you get up to Premier Season (essentially Easter and Christmas), a week is going to set you back 477 points, 60 points more than in 2012.

Generally, that’s the only change in the Premier Season, and anyone travelling in the Magic Season (mid February to the end of April, except Easter, mid June to mid August, and Thanksgiving) won’t see much change either, unless they’re after a three-bedroom grand villa. The change isn’t massive though, literally just an additional point on Sunday to Thursday nights.

Elswhere at Saratoga Springs

It’s when you look at the other times of year to visit that there are changes across the board to all types of accommodation. For anyone who wants to travel in the Adventure Season, the number of points needed have universally gone down across the board, making it even more of a value for money time of the year to travel.

Saratoga Springs, nestled across the lake from Downtown Disney

It’s a more mixed story for the Choice Season (early October to just before Christmas, with the exception of the Thanksgiving weekend), with stays in one-bedroom villas costing nine points more for a whole week, while a week’s stay in a two-bedroom villa goes down by the same amount. Equally, it’s two points more for a week in a studio, and two less for a week in a three-bedroom grand villa.

So, in as much of a nutshell as is possible with these things, that gives you an idea of what you can expect from the changes to the 2013 points charts. It’ll be interesting to see what 2014 brings, but that’s starting to look a little too far ahead … even for a planner like me!