Best way to get a VGC reservation?

[sndral]

My extended family is planning a Disneyland/CA Adventure visit for fall 2022. My sister has a cash reservation @ the Grand CA for a 3 br. - which I assume is a grand villa. I’ll be getting my own room and am trying to decide how to go about that, I think my choices are:
1) Just rent a cash room or villa at the Grand CA from Disney (expensive, but hassle free.)
2) Wait until 7 months and hope a studio or 1 br. is available so I can use my own points - how likely is this? Fallback would be option 1 & lots of RAT stalking so as to cancel the cash reservation if I’m successful.
3) Try to rent points for Grand CA @ 11 months, if so broker? If I go the rent points option can I have the points transferred to me & make my own reservation?
4) Try to exchange some of my WDW points (I own at VGF & AKV) for VGC points before 11 months (I transfer to them, they to me) - how would I even do this, could I use the rent/trade board here for that, I read the rules, but didn’t find an answer?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!

 

[Imkarlawithak2005]

I’ve been successful at getting rooms at the VGC several times, but we are flexible with our dates. So if I log on and don’t get it the first time, I try again the next day. I‘d go with option 2. Even if you can’t get a full stay, you can always waitlist. I would try a few days early and see if you can get a reservation just for practice. In my experience, the rooms go fast. Good luck!

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

You could do 1 with a 2 chaser. By which I mean pay for a cash room on the hotel side for the sure thing but try right at 7 months to snag a 1 bedroom DVC (the most likely) and wait list if you don't get it. If you get lucky to snag one to use your own points you can cancel your cash reservation. I'm not sure what the cancelation policy is though so I'd check that first. Another option (while not the best use of points) is you could use DVC points to book a room on the hotel side. At which point they change them into reservation points. At most DVC resorts there's a fee when you book this way but for the Disneyland properties they wave the fee. I just did a google search and found this via PlanDisney recently:

"To cancel a hotel reservation at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, you will need to call (407) 520-5060. If you cancel your resort reservation at least 5 days prior to your arrival date, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel 0-4 days prior to arrival, the first night’s room rate plus taxes will be retained as a cancellation fee. If you decide to book a vacation package, you will need to cancel more than 30 days in advance to avoid fees or penalties."

 

[boscoj]

Actually, I think your sister got a 3 bedroom suite on the hotel side. There are only 2 GV’s and they are almost impossible to obtain with a cash reservation. In fact I think it’s almost impossible, unfortunately, to get any type of villa with a cash res cause there are so few to begin with. We have been successful in obtaining both a 1 or 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark in the fall, but had to do it right at 8 am eastern time (which was 2 or 3 am Hawaii time).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Try to exchange some of my WDW points (I own at VGF & AKV) for VGC points before 11 months (I transfer to them, they to me) - how would I even do this, could I use the rent/trade board here for that, I read the rules, but didn’t find an answer?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!

Cannot do this. One transfer per year, in or out. Cannot do this kind of reciprocal.

 

[sndral]

Actually, I think your sister got a 3 bedroom suite on the hotel side. There are only 2 GV’s and they are almost impossible to obtain with a cash reservation. In fact I think it’s almost impossible, unfortunately, to get any type of villa with a cash res cause there are so few to begin with. We have been successful in obtaining both a 1 or 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark in the fall, but had to do it right at 8 am eastern time (which was 2 or 3 am Hawaii time).

Ah, thanks for the information, do you know how far apart the DVC villas are from the suites on the hotel side? My reason for going is to enjoy time w/ family & especially to experience the first Disney park experience of my great nieces and nephews who’ll be age 6 & under next fall, so that may impact my decision.
Being in CA I am used to getting up before 5 a.m. my time for various WDW reservations, not that I enjoy the experience

Cannot do this. One transfer per year, in or out. Cannot do this kind of reciprocal.

Thank you! I had no idea.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Here's a hotel map for reference. You can see the VGC rooms at the bottom right.

 

[boscoj]

I’m not sure how many 3 bedroom suites are at the GC.....the one I am aware of is located above the World of Disney so it’s pretty much at the other end of the resort. I wouldn’t let that discourage you tho because it’s a beautiful resort that I think your family will really enjoy! We’ve done it where some family members are in the hotel side & we stayed in the DVC side but it worked out fine. We usually met in the lobby in the mornings and at night got together in one of the rooms....

 

[starry_solo]

Option #5 - get a transfer of the VGC points you need, rent out your own WDW DVC points to help pay for it. Unless the VGC owner has all the points you need in one use year, you may need transfers from two use years, in which case, you can't transfer your points out.

See if they will go through escrow/broker, but you may have to pay more per point (like $25/point to go through a broker)

But check to see if cash is cheaper (maybe it will be, if you go during a convention time where they have blocks of rooms available at good prices, like Dapper Days or something like that)

 

[DonMacGregor]

They are pretty much at opposite ends of the resort.