Disneyland Vacation Club

[trodrigue]

Wow! So it is actually at more than twice the cost to stay at DLR. Maybe even at Rack rate, if you figure that out. Hmm...

 

[bumbershoot]

Wow! So it is actually at more than twice the cost to stay at DLR. Maybe even at Rack rate, if you figure that out. Hmm...

But those are the points for the hotel rooms, not for *actual* DVC. I doubt the actual villas will be that many points for a stay.

 

[dbanzai]

But those are the points for the hotel rooms, not for *actual* DVC. I doubt the actual villas will be that many points for a stay.

True, like how staying at a moderate or deluxe in Orlando is more points than staying at DVC itself.

Even with the single rooms, it comes up to about double at DL than at the DVC resorts. That's why having DVC at DL will be so awesome!

 

[trodrigue]

OH, I just noticed the above poster said 2 rooms for 425 points for 6 days, so that is about 200 points for 1 room.

So then, would you expect that DVC at Disneyland would run you about 100 points for 6 nights??

This whole DVC thing is so confusing. I wish I had unlimited funds and could just go to a presentation and let some nice CM sell me a weeks worth a year and not worry about the value! Sigh...

 

[bumbershoot]

Have you looked through the DVC forums? Have you requested information from DVC?

Have you looked into resale, even?

I've been looking into DVC for almost a year now, and I still can't answer questions like the ones you posed.

The good news is that during your trip in 9 months, they will likely know much more than they do now, and when you go in for a presentation they will have better answers!

Request some info from them. They send a lovely book with the points for the current year at various resorts, so you can really start getting a handle on it.

It is all speculation about how many points it would be at the GCH villas, but it can give you an idea.

 

[dbanzai]

All DVC offerings, whether a DVC resort or using points for the "Disney Collection" (Disney resorts/hotels not with DVC units. Also the Disney Vacation Cruise line, but that doesn't factor into what I'm about tho say) work with Sunday-Thursday nights being relatively cheap and points about doubling on weekends. During the value times of year for instance, a studio at AKV will be eight points a weekday night but 16 points on Fri-Sat. On the points charts they also give you the weekly cost, which in this case is a mere 72 points. If you buy via DVC at AKV or SSR right now, you must purchase at least 160 points, which during value periods is good enough for two full weeks. Incidentally, the same type of room during the "premier" times of year is 124.

DL is less than half from weekdays to weekends. The cheapest offering right now, standard view at PPH, is 17-27 points weekdays/ends. That's during the cheap time of year. A week therefore would be 139 points. That's a standard room, two queen beds. Unless concierge is synonimous with suites, they don't give you those points on the list.

I say "right now" in that instance not only because we are still waiting to see the costs when the DVC opens here, but because there is no set standard for the Disney Collection hotels. DVC resorts points can't change: They always must have so many days in a calendar year at each point level, and the points used in each such category can never change... In other words it will always be 72 points a week for a studio during the value season and always 124 in the premier category for the duration of the 50-year contract. However, DL points do fluxuate from year to year. For instance, for some reason the DLH was actually cheaper last year point-wise than PPH, but that's now changed.

It is a good system if you learn how to master it. As a single guy needing only a studio usually and not being limited to school vacations, the 160 points works well, although I have more and still want to buy more both at AKV and GCV when available.

 

[DIS-NH]

Let me clarify....

I'm booking a 2 bedroom suite at DLH for 425 points. This is a standard (non-DVC) suite that they normally rent out for $850-$1000.00 per night.
It IS NOT Conceirge. If I wanted to upgrade to Concierge, It would cosy me an additional $150.00 per day over and above the DVC points I'm already using.

Yes...these numbers are accurate. I spent a long time on the phone with a reservation CM making sure I had it right.

This is a normal suite at DLH. The point usage is this high because it is not considered a DVC property. I'm certain that, once open, the usage for GC will be nowhere near the amount of points needed for my trip.

 

[trodrigue]

Thanks, now the two bedroom answer makes more sense!

I have actually been on the DVC board and also have gotten the info package from the resale company.

I will take your advice Molly and send for a brochure. But, yes, this is a very confusing and complex system.

The thing is, if I am going to sell my husband on it, then I really need to understand it and be able to sell him on the advantages for our family!

 

[nunzia]

Buying a small resale is a good way to ease into it..We bought Old Key West and will buy Grand California.
The points for staying at Disney hotels NOT on the normal points system is very high, but many seem to do it because they have the extra points. It seems almost like using points then is equal to the rack rate assuming a 10.00 per point value.
When the DVC opens it will be much more in line (I hope) with other DVCs..I am hoping for the cheapest time of year, studio, to be about 12-15 points per week night. Course..I could be WAY off...in which case those 75 points I'm planning for won't work out.

 

[barngro]

Believe me, you still save a lot over the "rack" rate at the DL resort hotels when you use your DVC points. I'm not so sure about Florida as I have heard they charge an extra 90 or so dollar booking fee. Remember, the resort fee is included when you book with DVC points which is I think is about 15 dollars a day. Assuming a DVC point is around $10.00 and our trip to the Grand in June is 24 points a night,that's about $240.00 a night with no resort fee or any other fee added. DVC is worth it even if you only stay at the resort hotels 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[drag n' fly]

We bought DVC at DL in November. Our home resort is AKV but we live in Alberta. We will add on points to possibly use GCV for summer vacations. They had some nice incentives in November. Two annual passes and founding members rights to GCV in addition to developer points. If you need a reference for a guide pm me and I will be happy to give you my guides name.

 

[bumbershoot]

drag n' fly, does that mean you already bought GC DVC? Or you bought for another resort while there.

 

[Laurabearz]

Bumbershoot... People who buy at least 160 points at either AKL or SSR while at DLR (not at WDW) get first dibs on the GCV points and only they will be allowed to buy into GCV for the first 60 days or something like that... And they can buy up to 160 GCV points.

Then we guess other members will be allowed to add on there, and if any points are left it will be open to the general public.


Many people feel with only 50, 2 bedroom equalivants being DVC units, if you want to stay there, your going to have to own points there. And Weekends are going to be WICKED hard to book with all the locals.

We are also staying at the DLH on points (2 standard rooms 19 points a night 6 nights) If they follow the pattern at WDW, we should be able to stay at both DLH and PP on points once GCV opens, but not the GC.

and FWIW, my guild says now that DVC has got the foot in the door in California, there is no stopping them. So there will be another DLR DVC within the next 5 years I bet... but then again, what do I know.

 

[nunzia]

Believe me, you still save a lot over the "rack" rate at the DL resort hotels when you use your DVC points. I'm not so sure about Florida as I have heard they charge an extra 90 or so dollar booking fee. Remember, the resort fee is included when you book with DVC points which is I think is about 15 dollars a day. Assuming a DVC point is around $10.00 and our trip to the Grand in June is 24 points a night,that's about $240.00 a night with no resort fee or any other fee added. DVC is worth it even if you only stay at the resort hotels 2 or 3 times a year.

Good point. The resort fee is only $10.00 per night ( I just paid this), and of course all the fees..so I guess since we don't yet have the $95.00 fee it's still better than paying cash. I just don't have that many points so for me, I'm saving them for a week in WDW (80) instead of the few days I'd get in DL.
..and can't WAIT for the GCV announcement.

 

[drag n' fly]

drag n' fly, does that mean you already bought GC DVC? Or you bought for another resort while there.

We bought AKV at DL and are on the founding members list like Laurabearz said. However we will only be adding on points not buying a full 160 point contract so we may be waiting in line like everyone else

 

[dragonflymom]

I agree with one of the posters that advises anyone interested in learning more about DVC to check out the DVC forum, especially the Operations sub-forum. I learned a ton from the stickies as well as from reading other posters' questions and the experts' answers. I did that for 3 months and bought a small contract through resale, quickly found out that I needed more points and bought another contract directly from Disney last November with a ton of great incentives, plus I really want to be a Founding Member and get first dibs on GCV.

One thing I disagree with some of the posters of the DVC forum is that they are pretty adamant that using points outside of the WDW DVC properties is not a good use of points. I think it's a great use of points in the DLR hotels in peak season for Sunday - Thursday. Cash rates with the minimal AP discount are nothing to sneeze at, then add on the resort fee and the room tax, you're looking at $1000+ hotel bill if you stay 3 nights or more!

We did a 200-pt. contract directly with Disney last November to take advantage of the bonus 270 developer points. We got a December Use Year, so we received the full set of 200 points from 2006 use year, which we immediately banked into the 2007 use year and within 2 days of signing all the paperwork, we got full use of 670 points (200+200+270)! Along with 2 free annual passes and $500 Disney Visa rewards for putting the deposit on Disney Visa interest-free for 6 months. We also got a lot of miles on our mileage Visa card by putting the rest of the purchase on the card but paying off the balance in the next billing cycle, something you may want to consider if you're deciding Disney vs. resale as you cannot charge your purchase on a credit card for resale. On a high reward credit card, it can mean getting you enough points or miles for a round trip flight award.

We burned most of the points at GCH on three separate trips, stayed 4 nights at Hotel Del Coronado over Christmas, just came back from a week in Disney World and will go again in October for Food and Wine. When we tried to cash in the 2 free annual passes at Disney World, nobody knew how to convert the vouchers to an annual pass as this seemed to be an unusual perk only available to those who purchased onsite at Disneyland or at a Doorway to Dreams location. Luckily, I had the letter from my DL Guide that accompanied the vouchers with me so they had to figure out a way to give me the 2 free annual passes!

There have been observations made on the DVC forum that Fall incentives are usually the best, so if you decide to get the incentives, make sure you have the available vacation time to fully take advantage of the extra points!

 

[Terrif]

Our first trip using dvc points (we own at akl) was the grand californian concierge. what a way to splurge. It was 210 points in april, sunday thu friday (5 week nights). I was very impressed with how easy it was to book with member services and how quick the GC cast member met us at our car and took the kids (older) and showed them to the lounge for snacks while they checked me in. The added bonus was that although we on the east coast had spring break the west coast was done with them!

 

[#1DisneylandFan]

Buying DVC has been the best thing we've ever done. These Boards are a great resource for information for anyone considering buying. We found the DLR DVC experience when purchasing to be no pressure at all. There is a first-ever DVC member reception at DLR in May - many of us are hoping it has to do with the opening of GCV!