DVC Studio vs Sheraton {castle one}

[dkrahne]

Okay, so my hubbie are going to do ONE trip to disney this year, and we are going during halloween time! We've done the party 2 years now, and love it. Last year we stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim that has a free shuttle which we really enjoyed taking. This year I'm contemplating using the David's Timeshare thing that I've seen here where we "borrow"/rent points and stay at the Grand Californian in a studio {there's just the two of us!}. We have stayed at the grand californian before on our honeymoon, so know it would be awesome, but have never stayed in DVC rooms. It's an extra $700 over course of a week vs Sheraton. Does anyone have picture of the studios, or opinions as to whether its worth it? We are THINKING about DVC and wanted to see what it's like, but are the studios just going to be too small? I've seen they have only queen beds, anyone know if they have Kings at all?? Any help or advice would be appreciated!!

 

[Cinderpamela]

We have stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim and really enjoyed it. The dedicated shuttle is nice and the rooms are really large.

Staying at the DVC wing of the VGC might be kind of tricky this late in the game. For normal hotels this would not be late at all, but VGC has one of the smallest allotment of actual vacation club suites of all the DVC resorts.

DVC members who have the VGC as their home resort can book those rooms at 11 months out,(this would have been your best bet for renting through Davids, he probably has some VGC owners who rent their points to him at 11 months) and then DVC members who have different "home" resorts are allowed to book the villas at 7 months out.

Again, since this is the smallest of the DVC resorts, and booking a studio (in high demand because they are the lowest in points "cost") at 7 months out can be tricky, it will be hard for Davids to get you a studio with less than 8 months notice.

Hoping for pixie dust for you guys!

 

[zavandor]

I'm sorry, but I've checked on the DVC website and VGC are booked solid throughout the full month of October.
There is no availability at any room size for the whole month.

I only found a 1 bedroom villa for these nights: 23 25 29
But no night in the middle, only those 3 single nights.

I've also read on another post that David does not have many points of VGC available for renting, so booking with him at the 11 months mark might be not easy too.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I have tried many times several months out to get a booking at VGC, (thru Davids, usually)--and there are never any reservations left. Apparently there is a window of time (11 months out to the day of your travel) that you really need to pay attention to and try your luck then. Even doing this, I have been unable to secure a room, so it still isn't a given.

 

[dkrahne]

LOL...you know when I've been thinking about this trip, I checked Sheraton and knew they were available, never dawned on me that David's Points weren't going to be available! Thanks everyone, guess I know where we are staying! I would still love to see pics of Grand's studios if anyone wants to share!

 

[Cinderpamela]

LOL...you know when I've been thinking about this trip, I checked Sheraton and knew they were available, never dawned on me that David's Points weren't going to be available! Thanks everyone, guess I know where we are staying! I would still love to see pics of Grand's studios if anyone wants to share!

There are a bunch of pics on the DIS website, if you check out the DVC resort section of the forums, there is a whole thread on the Grand Californian that is full of photos.

Here is a link to just some of the GC photos:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/grand-californian-hotel/p33553-dvc-model-studio.html


there are also some photo's of the studios, as well as the other DVC rooms on AllEars here:http://www.allears.net/dlr/acc/g_gcv.htm

Originally Posted by dkrahne:
We are THINKING about DVC and wanted to see what it's like

If your thinking of buying into DVC, and the Grand Californian is where you want to stay, you should think about buying re-sale, since that resort is sold out.

People have been known to be able to buy direct from Disney if they have contracts available, but you will pay more for the convenience. To research, check out the DVC forums here on the DIS, they are super helpful!

They helped us take the plunge into buying DVC last May!