Renting a villa at Grand Californian

Lyn-CA

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 9, 1999
Hi everyone,

We are planning a trip to DLR in late September through early October of this year. The last time we were there was in 2007. We just got back from a wonderful 12 day trip to WDW last month with our 2 year old. We got spoiled staying at suites-Art of Animation and then Bonnet Creek.

So, we would love to get a villa at the Grand Californian for this trip. I wanted to post here and see if any DVC owners would be willing to rent out to us. If so, please PM me.

Also, what other ways are there to secure a villa without going directly through Disney as they want at least $700 a night :scared:

Thanks in advance.

Lyn
 
My understanding is that these go pretty quickly.

We have a time share through Intrawest that gives us access to the villas second to DVC members. There are a few other time shares that are given access too after us at a certain amount of months out.

Even being 'second' in line we can basically only get in during low season, and even then not necessarily. We have to book it about 7 months in advance aswell.
 
Hi everyone,


So, we would love to get a villa at the Grand Californian for this trip. I wanted to post here and see if any DVC owners would be willing to rent out to us. If so, please PM me.

Lyn

There is a separate "DVC" board on here and in that board there is a sub-forum where people do post points they have available for sale/trade etc. It's an "at your own risk" type thing of course.

There is also a website that Dis and a few other disney board sites to recommend as tried and true - google Dave's DVC and you should find it easily.

But yeah go check out the DVC section for sure - there is lots of tips etc for this over there :-)
 
You can go to the DVC board. I just rented through David's and was fine. I will say you want to jump on that sooner than later -- those book up FAST. I went through David's and just reserved 2 studios end of January for December!
 


The 7 month booking window is now open for DVC members to book for late September so I would get on that now if you want to rent an owners points. Since the VGC have a very small amount of rooms they get snatched up quickly!
If I were you I would contact Davids asap and see if he has any points that would work for your trip.
 
My understanding is that these go pretty quickly.

We have a time share through Intrawest that gives us access to the villas second to DVC members. There are a few other time shares that are given access too after us at a certain amount of months out.

Even being 'second' in line we can basically only get in during low season, and even then not necessarily. We have to book it about 7 months in advance aswell.

We are DVC members & own here @ VGC but own another timeshare (weeks) that we trade out though RCI. I often see trades for WDW resorts but have NEVER YET seen any for VGC. Do you see alot through Intrawest? :confused3 Is it an exchange company? I know I can get into DVC (WDW) though RCI but I would like to also use it for getting "back INTO" VGC when I may be out of points. :scratchin
 
Yes, you must get on reservations early for the VGC. There's only I'm told 50 units total and we have to utilize our 11 month window to get the rooms and dates we want. Typically it is booked up within a day or so once the 7 month window becomes available for folks that don't have it as their home resort.
 


Thanks for the replies. I already contacted David's DVC. They have availability but no points to put towards it. They have us on a waiting list once points become available. I did hear from a VGC owner directly who may be able to help. :)
 
We are DVC members & own here @ VGC but own another timeshare (weeks) that we trade out though RCI. I often see trades for WDW resorts but have NEVER YET seen any for VGC. Do you see alot through Intrawest? :confused3 Is it an exchange company? I know I can get into DVC (WDW) though RCI but I would like to also use it for getting "back INTO" VGC when I may be out of points. :scratchin

I'm not sure because Intrawest works differently then RCI and such... With Intrawest we don't have a home resort. We just have a certain amount of points per year and book through their system usually 6 months to 1.5 years in advance depending on wherever we want to stay.

For example with the Grand Villas, DVC members have first priority for a certain amount of time. Then it opens up for us and if there is availability we can book it. After that it goes to RCI and such, but I hear it very rarely gets to that point.

Inyrawest Members have to be present to even use the points so I'm not sure we could even sell off a week or trade it or what not. I could be wrong though!
 
I'm not sure because Intrawest works differently then RCI and such... With Intrawest we don't have a home resort. We just have a certain amount of points per year and book through their system usually 6 months to 1.5 years in advance depending on wherever we want to stay.

For example with the Grand Villas, DVC members have first priority for a certain amount of time. Then it opens up for us and if there is availability we can book it. After that it goes to RCI and such, but I hear it very rarely gets to that point.

Inyrawest Members have to be present to even use the points so I'm not sure we could even sell off a week or trade it or what not. I could be wrong though!

I should also note that getting into Disney WORLD resorts is super easy for us, I guess cause there are so many. But Disneyland only has like one option so we HAVE to go off season to even have a chance.
 
Dave's is a good idea. The DISBoards have strict rules on requests for renting points, which are outlined on the Rent/trade Board. In addition, members are not allowed to find availability for other DISers if asked.

No worries, since many DISers don't know about it, but I didn't want you to run afoul of them.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29
 
We are DVC members & own here @ VGC but own another timeshare (weeks) that we trade out though RCI. I often see trades for WDW resorts but have NEVER YET seen any for VGC. Do you see alot through Intrawest? :confused3 Is it an exchange company? I know I can get into DVC (WDW) though RCI but I would like to also use it for getting "back INTO" VGC when I may be out of points. :scratchin
Club Intrawest is a points-based timeshare with resorts in several locations. They (CI) have a direct exchange with DVC through DVC's Buena Vista Trading Company.

For a DVC member to book a CI resort, you would have to phone the request through DVC Member Services. I assume a similar path is taken by CI members trying to book DVC -- that they work through their own reservation department.
 
Club Intrawest is a points-based timeshare with resorts in several locations. They (CI) have a direct exchange with DVC through DVC's Buena Vista Trading Company.

For a DVC member to book a CI resort, you would have to phone the request through DVC Member Services. I assume a similar path is taken by CI members trying to book DVC -- that they work through their own reservation department.

Yep we do. That's exactly right.
 
We are planning a trip to DLR in late September through early October of this year. The last time we were there was in 2007. We just got back from a wonderful 12 day trip to WDW last month with our 2 year old. We got spoiled staying at suites-Art of Animation and then Bonnet Creek.

So, we would love to get a villa at the Grand Californian for this trip.

What type of villa do you want? A studio, a 1-Bedroom, or larger? And how many nights? Just wondering what a 12-night WDW person is planning on doing at DLR.
 
Yes, you must get on reservations early for the VGC. There's only I'm told 50 units total and we have to utilize our 11 month window to get the rooms and dates we want. Typically it is booked up within a day or so once the 7 month window becomes available for folks that don't have it as their home resort.

Yep. Florida DVC owners usually have to walk in their reservations night by night, as each day crosses the 7 month barrier.
 
What type of villa do you want? A studio, a 1-Bedroom, or larger? And how many nights? Just wondering what a 12-night WDW person is planning on doing at DLR.

We have 2 trips planned as we will be getting APs for the first time. We're looking for either studio or 1 bedroom. The first trip will be end of Sept/first of Oct. for 9 nights and the second trip will be for either the first or second week of December for 3 nights.

Sorry but I don't understand your last question.
 
We are going the end of September. I went to make my reservations 1week late and had to push my trip back a week to get a room. This hotel fills FAST.
 
We are going the end of September. I went to make my reservations 1week late and had to push my trip back a week to get a room. This hotel fills FAST.

In 2010 I waited 2 days past the booking window and there were no studios available but luckily a one bedroom was :) but we also had to change our dates by a few days. Definitely learned firsthand to book when the window opens especially for VGC.
 
In 2010 I waited 2 days past the booking window and there were no studios available but luckily a one bedroom was :) but we also had to change our dates by a few days. Definitely learned firsthand to book when the window opens especially for VGC.

In general with DVC rooms, the 2BR fill first, then studios, then the 1B, so yes, you have a better chance of a 1BR.
 
In general with DVC rooms, the 2BR fill first, then studios, then the 1B, so yes, you have a better chance of a 1BR.

That isn't the case for GCV. The studios absolutely fill up first, probably because of the higher number of points required. The dedicated 2br units are last to fill up. Even with that, they all fill very quickly.

If you look at the 7 month window, currently the week of 9/21-28 is wide open for 2br units. Studios have two nights available during that week and 1br units have 3 nights available. Right now everything starting on 10/29 is wide open, but those dates won't be bookable until tomorrow for the 7 month window.

Looking ahead to the beginning of December, in the first week, studios are booked for 4 out of the 7 days of the first week. Everything else is open. In fact, they are wide open for the month of December with exception to the studios the first week and studios on New Years Eve.

If you are set on your dates and are renting, you need to find an DVC owner who has GCV as their home resort or keep an ongoing request with David's.
 

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