VGC Slim Availability?

[Chereya]

I checked into TSS, dvcbyresale and Fidelity. It looks as though resales of VGC are very hard to come by. Anyone else looking to buy at VGC?

 

[cmwade77]

We own there and are not about to give it up, I would imagine many others are in the same boat.

Really, having this gives me the ultimate in flexibility. I am able to book there at 11 months out; however, because of this fact I have had several DVC members at other resorts offer to essentially rent points for their home resort in exchange for ours, if I wanted to book there at 11 months out (in other words, I would book a reservation for them and they would book for me, both of us renting our points to the other with no money changing hands). This basically means that I can still get some of the coveted reservations at other resorts, if I so choose. That being said, we haven't needed to take anyone up on that yet, but it is nice to know that we have that added flexibility, if needed.

 

[Chereya]

We own there and are not about to give it up, I would imagine many others are in the same boat.

Really, having this gives me the ultimate in flexibility. I am able to book there at 11 months out; however, because of this fact I have had several DVC members at other resorts offer to essentially rent points for their home resort in exchange for ours, if I wanted to book there at 11 months out (in other words, I would book a reservation for them and they would book for me, both of us renting our points to the other with no money changing hands). This basically means that I can still get some of the coveted reservations at other resorts, if I so choose. That being said, we haven't needed to take anyone up on that yet, but it is nice to know that we have that added flexibility, if needed.

Yes, this is also why I would like to own there as well. Are they still selling direct from Disney? There are only 3 resale contracts up that I have seen today and none have enough points to be useful for when I want to travel in 2013.

 

[JimmyJam838]

They still are. Last I heard they were putting people on a waitlist, but not sure if that is still the case.

 

[Homemom]

Yep, waiting to see if Disney will let us buy one, they ROFR'd our first two attempts.

 

[Breyean]

Yep, waiting to see if Disney will let us buy one, they ROFR'd our first two attempts.

Man, I didn't know you got ROFR'd a second time like I did. I know just how you feel.

I finally gave up and bought direct. Actually, we bought in two different stages to spread out the cost a little.

I wish you all the luck. We've already used those points for 1 trip there and have 2 more scheduled for this year. Maybe we'll run into each other some day!

 

[Chereya]

Man, I didn't know you got ROFR'd a second time like I did. I know just how you feel.

I finally gave up and bought direct. Actually, we bought in two different stages to spread out the cost a little.

I wish you all the luck. We've already used those points for 1 trip there and have 2 more scheduled for this year. Maybe we'll run into each other some day!

JimmyJam mentioned a waitlist. When did you buy your points direct? Is there a waitlist currently?

 

[Pilotdog]

What was your point cost that Disney ROFRed you? I have a 50 point contract that just went to ROFR at VGC. It is our first DVC contract and we wanted to start small. Oh we offered $97 per point as these small contracts seem to go fast and it was still less then Disney wants.

 

[Homemom]

What was your point cost that Disney ROFRed you? I have a 50 point contract that just went to ROFR at VGC. It is our first DVC contract and we wanted to start small. Oh we offered $97 per point as these small contracts seem to go fast and it was still less then Disney wants.

$85 & $88. Maybe the $90 will go through.

 

[Homemom]

Man, I didn't know you got ROFR'd a second time like I did. I know just how you feel.

I finally gave up and bought direct. Actually, we bought in two different stages to spread out the cost a little.

I wish you all the luck. We've already used those points for 1 trip there and have 2 more scheduled for this year. Maybe we'll run into each other some day!

We checked into direct on our trip to DL in January, but we never made it through the whole tour. The guide was awful and insulting, she said our debating on going the resale route was dumb and went so far as to call my DH stupid. We instantly left the tour and decided we would never buy direct. We thought we'd give resale one more try. Maybe the third time will be a charm!

 

[Breyean]

We were on a wait list - twice. In fact, we went back on it a second time before we even got our first batch of points because they were raising the price.

We paid $120. I think it's now $130. We figured enough was enough since we knew we wanted to do a couple of trips this year (including the 1/2 Marathon in Sep) and the waiting only to get ROFR'd was making it impossible to get a reservation for that. So the extra $20 or so per point we figured we had the extra vacations last year and this.

I don't know if there's currently a wait list, but I'm guessing there is since they are still ROFRing resales.

The best was when we bought the second batch, we never even heard from our guide. We found out one day by looking at our on line account and just saw the points were there.

There was a reason, I think. Our guide was mad at us. We had bought Aulani on a cruise last year, but when they had the issue with the MFs, they offered to buy back the contract, including interest. So, even though it was months later, we decided to sell them Aulani and use that $$ for VGC. Plus we got to keep the $500 gift card they gave us for buying Aulani. PLUS we had used a bunch of Aulani points for another vacation we had already taken, and they just waived those. I understand Hawaii made them do that. So even though we had bout 160 points, we only had a fraction of that left for the first UY and we got that vacation free.

Of course, our guide lost his commission on that sale...

 

[taaren]

There was a reason, I think. Our guide was mad at us. We had bought Aulani on a cruise last year, but when they had the issue with the MFs, they offered to buy back the contract, including interest. So, even though it was months later, we decided to sell them Aulani and use that $$ for VGC. Plus we got to keep the $500 gift card they gave us for buying Aulani. PLUS we had used a bunch of Aulani points for another vacation we had already taken, and they just waived those. I understand Hawaii made them do that. So even though we had bout 160 points, we only had a fraction of that left for the first UY and we got that vacation free.
Of course, our guide lost his commission on that sale...

Wow, what a great deal! Kinda makes me wish I'd bought some Aulani points before so I could give the contract back!

OP - Yes, VGC offerings are slim because there's not nearly as many points/owners as there are at other resorts ... I'm not shopping atm but I do like to keep an eye out just in case we end up with some extra cash somehow and I find a contract I can't resist.
Last I'd heard there was still a wait list (though I'm not sure if that was for all UY or just some) though people's names seem to be coming up more quickly now than they were a year ago. For the add-on we did, we got on the wait list for our UY (June), and then we saw a perfectly-sized contract on the resale market with a different year and we jumped on it, fortunately it was right after VGC sold out and before they were ROFRing contracts so we got it for $82/pp but I don't think one can buy resale for less than $90 now that Disney has people waiting. It might behoove you to get on the waitlist while you look for resale contracts, then your name will be higher on the list later if you decide to give up looking for resale. Or if your name comes up and you have already found a contract you like you can decline to buy or take your name off the waitlist when you find one.

 

[Chereya]

OP - Yes, VGC offerings are slim because there's not nearly as many points/owners as there are at other resorts ... I'm not shopping atm but I do like to keep an eye out just in case we end up with some extra cash somehow and I find a contract I can't resist.
Last I'd heard there was still a wait list (though I'm not sure if that was for all UY or just some) though people's names seem to be coming up more quickly now than they were a year ago. For the add-on we did, we got on the wait list for our UY (June), and then we saw a perfectly-sized contract on the resale market with a different year and we jumped on it, fortunately it was right after VGC sold out and before they were ROFRing contracts so we got it for $82/pp but I don't think one can buy resale for less than $90 now that Disney has people waiting. It might behoove you to get on the waitlist while you look for resale contracts, then your name will be higher on the list later if you decide to give up looking for resale. Or if your name comes up and you have already found a contract you like you can decline to buy or take your name off the waitlist when you find one.

Gosh, I wish I could be so bold as to join the wait list now but there's a few things currently in the way. My DH is a huge penny pincher and I'm just starting to be able to get him to come around to the idea of owning DVC. I've been researching it on and off for years including back when VGC was first being offered. (Drat!) But we couldn't really justify the expense back then. We've moved states and sold and bought a new house all within the past year. DH got a much better paying job and we're hoping to get a nice bonus hopefully this summer. But I would only feel comfortable buying if the bonus was twice what the buy in cost is.

So we are trying to plan a trip for April 2013 which we basically just decided on and invited my DH parents to tag along. It would be 4-5 adults and 3 kids so we'd be needing a 2br Villa or book 2 standard GCH rooms. I priced out renting points for the villa vs booking 2 standard rooms and kinda feel like if I am going to spend the money anyway, I would rather put it towards DVC ownership. We usually only go once every 2-3 years so an entry size 160 point contract would be ok for banking/borrowing for us.

Trying to piece together an ideal theoretical situation...

If I want to be able to book April 2013, I need to call between May 2012 and Sept 2012 if I want to be in the 11 month window but before all the 7 month people? (Is that right?)

If I want to be able to have 3 years worth of points, I will need to have 2011 points banked into 2012 UY, and borrow the points from 2013 UY? (I hope I am understanding this, but if not someone will correct me )

We used to go to DL in the Halloween season but with the kids getting older, I think we need to change our usual travel time to keep with the school schedule of a the week after President's Day or the 3rd week of April.

What UY would work out best considering that I would need to bank and borrow points and I probably won't have any bonus money until August?

I don't think I'd be able to find the right resale contract that would meet my needs and be able to close/process in time to make the res. I'm actually starting to feel kind of bummed because typing it all out, it seems like a lot of things have to fall into place. I'm not even confident that I'd be able to rent the points from someone because of the high owner demand. Ugh! Why didn't we have any money 3 years ago??

 

[Eileen36]

I finally gave up and bought direct. Actually, we bought in two different stages to spread out the cost a little.

 

[Longhairbear]

In hindsight we should have added VGC to our contracts, but at the time the economy took that huge fall and it scared us. We really wanted to add on there, but decided for our financial health not to at the time.
We are thinking about joining the waitlist for a contract at VGC, it's probably the only way to get one unless they build another DVC here.

 

[bumbershoot]

We checked into direct on our trip to DL in January, but we never made it through the whole tour. The guide was awful and insulting, she said our debating on going the resale route was dumb and went so far as to call my DH stupid. We instantly left the tour and decided we would never buy direct. We thought we'd give resale one more try. Maybe the third time will be a charm!

Wow, what a guide! Glad ours wasn't like that. Then again, he's gone from DVC now, so....

 

[DenLo]

We checked into direct on our trip to DL in January, but we never made it through the whole tour. The guide was awful and insulting, she said our debating on going the resale route was dumb and went so far as to call my DH stupid. We instantly left the tour and decided we would never buy direct. We thought we'd give resale one more try. Maybe the third time will be a charm!

I would write and complain about that guide. I don't care how hard it is to make sales that sort of conduct cannot be condoned.

 

[Homemom]

I would write and complain about that guide. I don't care how hard it is to make sales that sort of conduct cannot be condoned.

We went straight back to the DVC desk at the GCH and got the appropriate phone number to call and make our complaint.

 

[Quilter007]

It's all about perspective.....we just sold our VGC contract...but while we were waiting for that perfect buyer, it seemed like there were a MILLION other people selling all lower priced than us! We were just about to give in the towel when we got the phone call that there was a buyer at our asking price. So, keep looking! Maybe they'll announce DH Villas...

 

[Chereya]

It's all about perspective.....we just sold our VGC contract...but while we were waiting for that perfect buyer, it seemed like there were a MILLION other people selling all lower priced than us! We were just about to give in the towel when we got the phone call that there was a buyer at our asking price. So, keep looking! Maybe they'll announce DH Villas...

I don't think they'll announce DH Villas anytime soon since the "official" word is that there are no plans to add any additional DVC to Disneyland.

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