DVC member - worth it to use points for 12/02 at DH?

[luckytso]

Hi,

I would like to get advice on travelling around the Xmas week to visit Disneyland. My brother lives half an hour away. People are telling me that it will be a bit cold for the kids to use the pool at DH. I am tempted to use the points to stay there for 2 nights. Are there any benefit of staying on-site? Or maybe I should just stay with my brother and save the points.

Also, is my understanding correct that DH seems more kids friendly and more convinient (due to the monorail stop) when compared to GC?

Thanks

 

[larry_poppins]

This is a hard call.

It probably will be too cold to swim in late December. The Disneyland Hotel is not really more kid friendly than the Grand Californian. The hotel theme is just more fun for kids/families/and Disney enthusiasts. The pool is definitely better.

Disneyland Hotel is closer to the monorail station. The Grand Californian is closer to Disneyland main entrance. 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. Disneyland is very compact, unlike WDW, both hotels are very convenient for Disneyland access.

By staying at the hotels you will be able to stay at the parks until closing without having to worry about getting home to your brother's house! Have a great trip.

Larry

 

[luckytso]

Thanks so much for your advice.

 

[raidermatt]

larry hit on most of it. We went last August with our then almost 3-year old son and stayed a the GC on points.

We didn't find any issues at all with kid-friendliness. Though we didn't take advantage of it, they have storytelling in the lobby, and other kids activities as well. Chance are it will be a bit chilly for the pool.

The proximity to DCA from GC really is nice. The GC has a direct entrance into the park, and DL is easily withing walking distance. Its not spread out like WDW.

Its hard to place a dollar or point value on this, but in the time it takes to walk to the parking lot or take the monorail, you can get from DL or DCA to your room in the GC.

The main issue with using points is that you can get more value (i.e., more nights) by using them at a DVC resort. But if you need to use them or lose them, or you just don't want to pay the cash, two nights won't hurt much.

 

[ceejay13]

We've done both, paid cash and used points. We are returning and paying cash again next month. We love to visit Florida with our points, so I don't think we will use them again at DL. I do agree that if you have plenty or some left over by all means it is a great way to use them up. We got a great deal this year on the GC with an AP, but it sure is nice to have the option to use points if you want. The beauty of the DVC!