DVC for only DLR?

[prettyprincessbelle]

So today I was having a conversation with a friend who is possibly going to DLR for her birthday in March. We got to talking about hotels and she told me that her Mom has a timeshare and was going to look into using her timeshare in the DLR area for the week that they were there.

I started thinking and researching DVC and got to thinking if it would be worth purchasing DVC for mostly use at DLR? I know they're building villas at the GCH, but until they're built you can use the points at any of the 3 hotels.

The DVC board here on the Dis is pretty WDW focused so I wanted to know if anyone here had any answers for me.

Thank you!

 

[toocherie]

So today I was having a conversation with a friend who is possibly going to DLR for her birthday in March. We got to talking about hotels and she told me that her Mom has a timeshare and was going to look into using her timeshare in the DLR area for the week that they were there.

I started thinking and researching DVC and got to thinking if it would be worth purchasing DVC for mostly use at DLR? I know they're building villas at the GCH, but until they're built you can use the points at any of the 3 hotels.

The DVC board here on the Dis is pretty WDW focused so I wanted to know if anyone here had any answers for me.

Thank you!

Hi there-=-I live in Calif. but own DVC in Florida. I bought when I did because it gave me a right of first refusal to buy the Disneyland DVC when it becomes available (in just a couple of weeks). However, because the Disneyland DVC is so small (less than 50 units) there is a possibility it may never go on sale to the general public--as if it doesn't sell out to the people with rights of first refusal it then will go on sale to existing DVC members. You could always buy Florida DVC and use the points here, but because of the small resort it may be dicey--after the GCV opens it is unlikely that we will be able to continue to use points for the GCH. And, as any experienced DVC user will tell you, using the points for hotel stays at DLH and PPH would not be a good use of the points--you get best value using points at a DVC resort.

so, short answer is that unless because of the economy GCH doesn't sell out before it goes on sale to the general public, you could buy to use at GCH, but I would not recommend using the points for stays at hotels. (And remember you could also use those same points at WDW DVC resorts too!)

Let me know if that didn't answer your question.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

It does! Thank you, toocherie!

I kind of figured that the use of points at hotels is more than at a DVC resort. On the DVC website they have a list of sample points and I was trying to figure out why the DLR hotels were so much more than the DVC resorts at WDW.

But that does make sense and is smart for the people like you who have first dibs on the new GCV! So I guess it would be have to be played by ear on how it goes when it opens..

Thanks so much for the quick answer!

 

[pycees312]

yup what the above poster said... i also planned to buy the VGC as well but im now on the fence.. aaarrgg we own SSR and AKV..but we live in San Jose

 

[alvernon90]

I am hardly a DVC expert, but I did a bunch of research for a recent rental transaction and I wanted to offer a slight twist in perspective.

What toocherie says about DVC points being more valuable at DVC resorts is absolutely true, but for somebody who wants to use them at the DLR hotels exclusively that may not be the right question. Rather, the question is whether DVC points are better than cash when staying at DLR hotels. In my view, the answer can be yes under the right circumstances, depending on when you want to go, how flexible you can make your plans, your access to other discounts, and so on.

That could all change if there are big changes in the rules for using DVC points at the DLR hotels after the DVC units open. That also doesn't necessarily mean that you should buy DVC just for DLR, even if using the DVC points saves you money in the long run.

If I were you, I would make use of the excellent DVC rental board right here at DIS. There are tons of nice people there with extra DVC points for rent, and it is a high-trust kind of place. By renting you retain the ability to pay cash for a particular trip if you can get a good enough discount. Just remember that hotel reservations with DVC points do not have to pay taxes or the parking or resort fees, so you have to consider the total cost per night against the cost for the nightly point allotment.

Sorry for the long post, hope it is at least a little helpful.

 

[ACDSNY]

I guess it would depend on when you typically travel to DLR. I've used our points at all three DLR hotels and my cost of points & MF has been less then AP rates for rooms. We typically travel in the off season and Sun-Thurs. so the points are pretty reasonable.

I don't believe the demand for GC is so high that it will sell out before it's opened to the general public so once we know the point chart, maintenance fees and initial buy in cost you should check to see if it fits your travel needs.

I've even used points to exchange to Kauai, but now that DVC is using RCI instead of II I doubt if I'll we'll do another exchange.

 

[kerickson]

We also specifically bought DVC last year at SSR to have the first option to purchase the Villas at Grand California(VGC). Since we don't think we'll get out to Orlando more than every 3-4 years, our plan is to use our SSR points for the occassional WDW trip, Disney Cruises and DLR (either the GC Villas if we can get at 7mo during off season times) or DLH/PPH. We'll then use our VGC points for targeted stays at DL.
Even though the DLR/DCL points are much higher than WDW DVC properties, it's still worth it to us because if we didn't prepay these types of vacations we wouldn't go. Also, just because using DVC points per stay are less at DVC properties, doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good use of points. The last two non DVC trips I priced out what it would have cost if I paid cash. The value came out well over $10 per point (usually the going rate for renting points and what most members use as a benchmark)

I don't believe VGC sales will make it to the general public, if it does it will go quickly as we've heard some local companies have already expressed purchasing thousands of points for their use... I also think it will be very difficult to book at 7mo. Waitlists might come through more often due to the fact that most DL visitors don't usually plan 11 or 7mos in advance, but the waitlists will probably be very long... Biggest concern will be that you won't be able to book a back up plan like at WDW as there are no other DVC properties at DL (yet) My secret hope is that they will tear down PPH and build a larger DVC/Hotel property...

If you continue to be interested in DVC, hop over to the DVC boards, there's lots of folks who love to lend their DVC knowledge. If you purchase through Disney, the inital purchase price is high (160 pts ~ $16k) the other option is to buy a small resale contract (smallest is 25 pts for a few thousand). You won't have the ROFR to purchase VGC, but you will be able to purchase 2mo later with the rest of the general membership (March 26, 2009)

 

[nunzia]

Since I travel mainly to DLR for my Disney fix, I really wanted to at least be in the general DVC population before VGC came on line. There was no way I wanted to buy a full contract (160 pts..although for awhile it went down to 100) at SSR or AKV to get in the founder's program, so I bought a very small OKW resale. Now I'm holidng my breath that I'll be able to get my GCV March 26 after the founders have their way. I also can't wait to see the point charts, but am guessing (hoping) they are similar to BLT..in that case I'll need 110 points which I'll break up in chunks of 50 and 60 ( to cover more trips in the beginning as grandkids are little, but be able to sell some as we retire)
I also hope they build more units at DLR but am still scratching my head wondering why the initial DVC allotment there is so small..the cash rooms they are building are much larger.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Thank you all! Every post was so helpful!

I never thought about renting, that might be a good choice. We live in Southern California, but still far enough away where we like to stay at DLR longer than a weekend. We have APs and so far have taken 4, 4 day trips since May. We're planning around another 2 or 3 until we renew our APs.

Sometimes its hard trying to put together a last minute trip with hotels, and it gets frustrating unless we stay at some dive on Harbor, which isn’t always fun. I think that’s what really made me consider DVC (also wanting to take a WDW trip soon).

I didn’t know there was an option for under the 160 points. 16k is a lot and I wouldn’t buy that with my income now. I should check out the lower point options.

Thank you everyone!!

 

[toocherie]

Thank you all! Every post was so helpful!

I never thought about renting, that might be a good choice. We live in Southern California, but still far enough away where we like to stay at DLR longer than a weekend. We have APs and so far have taken 4, 4 day trips since May. We're planning around another 2 or 3 until we renew our APs.

Sometimes its hard trying to put together a last minute trip with hotels, and it gets frustrating unless we stay at some dive on Harbor, which isn’t always fun. I think that’s what really made me consider DVC (also wanting to take a WDW trip soon).

I didn’t know there was an option for under the 160 points. 16k is a lot and I wouldn’t buy that with my income now. I should check out the lower point options.

Thank you everyone!!

Another thing to think about is that there is a pretty active resale market where contracts as low as 50 points can be bought. Because of the economy you can get some good deals (Disney-wise) right now. Remember though that Disney has right of first refusal (so in other words--if you get TOO good a deal Disney can take it back themselves for that price and you're back looking for another contract to buy.)

With resale contracts you can buy in at a resort at a low number of points, be in the system, and then add on more later. Remember too that you have maintenance fees every year for every point you own.