First time buyer - needing 2bdr always…

[KalamityJane]

I’m glad to see that we aren’t the only family who is giving priority to 2BR units even though there is only 4 of us. We just love the idea of extra space and not having to use the living room beds and being able to keep it as a social gathering place is our goal for most trips. We will use them on trips where we invite other families to join us for a reunion or something like that.

As the OP mentioned that they were considering waiting for VDH (new Disneyland tower DVC) I just have to see if there was any thought to VGC (DVC at Grand Californian). VGC is very expensive, but a lot of us on the board are concerned with the location of the VDH tower (half of the views being a residential area of apartments and such), most villas being studios and even most of the “premium” villas not having balconies. Plus VGC will have more dedicated 2BR units than VDH despite being significantly smaller in number of units. Many, our family included, think that in the long run VGC will net more value due to the location of the property and the great theming/amenities at the Grand Californian. Likely resale restrictions at VDH are also a concern.

If you are like us and really do want to buy DVC and are close to Disneyland Resort and expect to use DVC points in California, I’ll repeat the advice of others and say that you really need to own at the California properties as it can get all booked up at 7 months.

We are going for a split strategy of VGC points and some at WDW to use there or for Aulani at 7 months.

Best of luck to you on your purchase

I talked to the other half, and he also prefers Disneyland to WDW. We’ve stayed at both VGC and Disneyland Hotel as well as off site, and VGC is SO nice due to location. I wouldn’t have even considered VGC until your post, so I really appreciate it!

I looked into it more and it seems like buying VGC direct vs resale doesn’t have as many benefits as it might at WDW due to it being the only DVC property there. We are closer to CA than FL as well, plus we enjoy the smaller, more compact parks in CA.

I’m definitely going to look into it more and see!

 

[KalamityJane]

Yup. If we hadn't been able to add 200 pts. in resales after the covid reopening, we'd have been in serious hurt dealing with the borrowing limit going forward.

Beware the multi-room stay! That's what ruined us for being satisfied with studios.

Yeah, with only two of us, we don't actually NEED a 1br. However, I'm a night owl, and DH isn't. He also likes to nap in the afternoon, whereas I'm pinballing around the villa or going out to roam about places that don't interest him.

It's markedly easier to have the separate bedroom, washer-dryer and full kitchen. Besides, we're on vacation at "The Dreams Place" and deserve the stay of our dreams (well, DVC dreams, that is ), not just the make-do one.

We’ve stayed in 1-2 bedrooms and it’s so hard to go back to studios after!

 

[NVDISFamily]

I talked to the other half, and he also prefers Disneyland to WDW. We’ve stayed at both VGC and Disneyland Hotel as well as off site, and VGC is SO nice due to location. I wouldn’t have even considered VGC until your post, so I really appreciate it!

I looked into it more and it seems like buying VGC direct vs resale doesn’t have as many benefits as it might at WDW due to it being the only DVC property there. We are closer to CA than FL as well, plus we enjoy the smaller, more compact parks in CA.

I’m definitely going to look into it more and see!

Glad I can help. As you are considering it here is some pros and cons based on my journey into looking into and taking the first steps towards buying VGC:

Pros:

Awesome location. The only DVC directly connected to a park and now that the new entrance near Pixar Pier is open it actually has two and one is a few minute walk from the DVC portion of the resort. In full disclosure the signs around the area say it’s for PP hotel guests only but multiple reports on the board say they are more than happy to let GCH/VGC guests use it. Huge win

Great resort with awesome theming.

Rooms, though showing their age, are well laid out with a bonus bathroom for living room guests. As far as I know only one of a few DVC resorts to have this. BLT at WDW has it and perhaps another? Still a perk.

The rack rate at the Grand Cal is insane, goes up all the time, and in the long run if you add up the cost today plus dues (and future increases) vs the cost to book cash and it’s typical increase you will save a lot despite it costing so much.

Cons:

Expen$ive. Even with the market in buyer mode it’s still the most expensive DVC by a wide margin. This makes me feel like these points will be on their own island for quite some time and I will be reluctant to use them at other resorts where you can buy the points for those resorts at a much lower price then VGC. I’m sure in time when the sting of buying VGC for it’s high cost has gone away we’ll just view them the same as other DVC points and just try and use them to have fun at WDW or Hawaii if that’s where our goal for the next trip is, but for a while it will sting….

Smallest resort of all DVC and may still be competitive to book in the 11 month window for some rooms/seasons.

Reports say (and I agree per watching a lot of recent YouTube reviews) that the rooms look dated and a bit worn. Putting some faith in the 2024 remodel but I am a believer so not too concerned with this one.

Both Pro and Con:

Can only buy resale (there are rumors of some being offered direct points but it’s rare). This also means that Disney has yet to use ROFR on VGC but I am a bit worried about this myself. My first bid went into ROFR on 5/19 so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I’d be shocked if they do take it as it’s just way more money tied up on expensive points where they could buy back almost double the points at SSR or OKW and make the same margin but the whims of the ROFR monster do change. This should mean that your purchase of VGC won’t be as difficult as others have for resale on other properties (but it still takes a long time).

Sorry for this wall of text about VGC. When I see a fellow west coast person looking who is also into Disneyland Resort like our family I have to share

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We are also in the same situation as the original poster with a family of 6 kids aged from 4 to 11yrs.
We love to stay Deluxe, but this is becoming too expensive for us, as we now have to book two rooms.

We come from Australia so our trips are never less than 2/3weeks.
So we are thinking to buy either the new GFV or the upcoming poly2.

We would only be able to go every 2/3 years as airplane tickets alone cost us $15000. I'm under the impression you can borrow from the previous and following year so we would need 461 points @207 that would be a $95,500 investment plus the $2000 per year dues.
So if we plan to go four times in the next 12years that would be a total investment of $119,500 or $29,875 per trip.
To book two deluxe rooms now, it would cost us around $28,000, although this price will certainly go up in the next 12years.

But will the quantity of points needed to stay at a particular resort also increase yearly?Therefore requiring to always buy additional points? Making it then like the price increase of booking a normal Disney room?

Do you think this is the right choice or Dvc is not for us?

Thank you for the suggestions.

Important to note that owners counting on 3 year point use definitely have suffered since Disney said you can only borrow 50% of next year's points. Disney can change borrowing rules at any time.

 

[tjkraz]

Kids are 14. 11, 9 and the baby.

What are the odds one of your kids will discover some activity that changes your travel patterns? We were pretty flexible on travel times, until our 12yo daughter discovered a love for club volleyball. That narrowed our window of unrestricted travel to July and parts of December. (And left us with considerably less disposable income.)

 

[Dreams&wishes]

It’s because you only have three years’ points available at any one time. The prior year banked, the current year, and the next year borrowed. If you only go once every three years, you have to use 3x your annual allocation exactly or you will end up wasting points.

Additionally, the banking/borrowing rules can change. For example during the “pandemic bulge” an owner could only borrow half of the next year’s allocation.

IMO, one needs to commit to going at least every other year for owning to work b

Thank you for this.

I was planning to buy enough points for one week stay so that by borrowing/banking I could spend 3weeks or 2weeks depending on the year.

We wouldn't be able to just go one week every year it's just too far too costly and we like to holiday in other places as well.

Buying 3weeks worth of points would be too costly for us as well.

Do you think that with the banking/borrowing strategy Dvc is still not for us?

I really value your opinion.

Thank you

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you for this.

I was planning to buy enough points for one week stay so that by borrowing/banking I could spend 3weeks or 2weeks depending on the year.

We wouldn't be able to just go one week every year it's just too far too costly and we like to holiday in other places as well.

Buying 3weeks worth of points would be too costly for us as well.

Do you think that with the banking/borrowing strategy Dvc is still not for us?

I really value your opinion.

Thank you

It can work for many with the every other year. But, you have you think what will happen if they change any of the banking/borrowing rules on an every 3 year plan.

While DVC gives us that right, it doesn’t have to be 100%. Like borrowing is now at 50%.

Just be sure to think about what you would do if the change the limits.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I’m glad to see that we aren’t the only family who is giving priority to 2BR units even though there is only 4 of us. We just love the idea of extra space and not having to use the living room beds and being able to keep it as a social gathering place is our goal for most trips. We will use them on trips where we invite other families to join us for a reunion or something like that.

We stay in a 2BR no matter what, regardless of how many people are going. I just like the space. My son and I are doing a mini trip for F&W in September (the heat is no bueno for his Mexican mom, lol), and yup, 2BR.

 

[Brian Noble]

I was planning to buy enough points for one week stay so that by borrowing/banking I could spend 3weeks or 2weeks depending on the year.

We wouldn't be able to just go one week every year it's just too far too costly and we like to holiday in other places as well.

If you are planning to come every other year, then DVC can make sense. If you are planning every third year, IMO it does not.

One other consideration: Three weeks is a long time to spend on "just Disney." I was at SSR for two weeks this Spring, and even then I ended up doing a few other things--including a few days for a lovely visit to Sea World. Their food & wine festival is excellent, and unsurprisingly a much better value than Epcot's booths.

They also have Mako, which might be my favorite Central Florida coaster, pending rides on Velocicoaster and Iron Gwazi.

If you know that your 2-3 weeks will be all Disney all the time, then DVC could work on a bi-annual basis. But, if you might instead enjoy a 2-3 week "Central Florida" vacation, then you don't need to pay the Disney premium. There are a ton of very nice Orlando timeshares, and some of them are as nice or (again IMO) nicer than the typical DVC resort. We are planning a stay at Marriott's Cypress Harbour next spring, primarily to visit Universal. (I haven't been since before Diagon Alley was built.)

We've done WDW vacations from non-Disney timeshares (usually Bonnet Creek) and the difference between onsite and off was, in our experience, much less than we expected--even during high-attendance periods. (One of our visits was the week leading up to and including Christmas Day.) We do prefer being onsite for a WDW-centric vacation, but it is not strictly necessary for us.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

If you are planning to come every other year, then DVC can make sense. If you are planning every third year, IMO it does not.

One other consideration: Three weeks is a long time to spend on "just Disney." I was at SSR for two weeks this Spring, and even then I ended up doing a few other things--including a few days for a lovely visit to Sea World. Their food & wine festival is excellent, and unsurprisingly a much better value than Epcot's booths.

They also have Mako, which might be my favorite Central Florida coaster, pending rides on Velocicoaster and Iron Gwazi.

If you know that your 2-3 weeks will be all Disney all the time, then DVC could work on a bi-annual basis. But, if you might instead enjoy a 2-3 week "Central Florida" vacation, then you don't need to pay the Disney premium. There are a ton of very nice Orlando timeshares, and some of them are as nice or (again IMO) nicer than the typical DVC resort. We are planning a stay at Marriott's Cypress Harbour next spring, primarily to visit Universal. (I haven't been since before Diagon Alley was built.)

We've done WDW vacations from non-Disney timeshares (usually Bonnet Creek) and the difference between onsite and off was, in our experience, much less than we expected--even during high-attendance periods. (One of our visits was the week leading up to and including Christmas Day.) We do prefer being onsite for a WDW-centric vacation, but it is not strictly necessary for us.

Thank you for this.
We do like to take it easy and spend some good time at the resort.
We have done 21days before and it wasn't long enough!
I guess we could always do one week at Aulani (closer to Australia) and two weeks to DW so to only use two weeks worth of points instead of 3.

 

[KalamityJane]

Glad I can help. As you are considering it here is some pros and cons based on my journey into looking into and taking the first steps towards buying VGC:

Pros:

Awesome location. The only DVC directly connected to a park and now that the new entrance near Pixar Pier is open it actually has two and one is a few minute walk from the DVC portion of the resort. In full disclosure the signs around the area say it’s for PP hotel guests only but multiple reports on the board say they are more than happy to let GCH/VGC guests use it. Huge win

Great resort with awesome theming.

Rooms, though showing their age, are well laid out with a bonus bathroom for living room guests. As far as I know only one of a few DVC resorts to have this. BLT at WDW has it and perhaps another? Still a perk.

The rack rate at the Grand Cal is insane, goes up all the time, and in the long run if you add up the cost today plus dues (and future increases) vs the cost to book cash and it’s typical increase you will save a lot despite it costing so much.

Cons:

Expen$ive. Even with the market in buyer mode it’s still the most expensive DVC by a wide margin. This makes me feel like these points will be on their own island for quite some time and I will be reluctant to use them at other resorts where you can buy the points for those resorts at a much lower price then VGC. I’m sure in time when the sting of buying VGC for it’s high cost has gone away we’ll just view them the same as other DVC points and just try and use them to have fun at WDW or Hawaii if that’s where our goal for the next trip is, but for a while it will sting….

Smallest resort of all DVC and may still be competitive to book in the 11 month window for some rooms/seasons.

Reports say (and I agree per watching a lot of recent YouTube reviews) that the rooms look dated and a bit worn. Putting some faith in the 2024 remodel but I am a believer so not too concerned with this one.

Both Pro and Con:

Can only buy resale (there are rumors of some being offered direct points but it’s rare). This also means that Disney has yet to use ROFR on VGC but I am a bit worried about this myself. My first bid went into ROFR on 5/19 so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I’d be shocked if they do take it as it’s just way more money tied up on expensive points where they could buy back almost double the points at SSR or OKW and make the same margin but the whims of the ROFR monster do change. This should mean that your purchase of VGC won’t be as difficult as others have for resale on other properties (but it still takes a long time).

Sorry for this wall of text about VGC. When I see a fellow west coast person looking who is also into Disneyland Resort like our family I have to share

Glad I can help. As you are considering it here is some pros and cons based on my journey into looking into and taking the first steps towards buying VGC:

Pros:

Awesome location. The only DVC directly connected to a park and now that the new entrance near Pixar Pier is open it actually has two and one is a few minute walk from the DVC portion of the resort. In full disclosure the signs around the area say it’s for PP hotel guests only but multiple reports on the board say they are more than happy to let GCH/VGC guests use it. Huge win

Great resort with awesome theming.

Rooms, though showing their age, are well laid out with a bonus bathroom for living room guests. As far as I know only one of a few DVC resorts to have this. BLT at WDW has it and perhaps another? Still a perk.

The rack rate at the Grand Cal is insane, goes up all the time, and in the long run if you add up the cost today plus dues (and future increases) vs the cost to book cash and it’s typical increase you will save a lot despite it costing so much.

Cons:

Expen$ive. Even with the market in buyer mode it’s still the most expensive DVC by a wide margin. This makes me feel like these points will be on their own island for quite some time and I will be reluctant to use them at other resorts where you can buy the points for those resorts at a much lower price then VGC. I’m sure in time when the sting of buying VGC for it’s high cost has gone away we’ll just view them the same as other DVC points and just try and use them to have fun at WDW or Hawaii if that’s where our goal for the next trip is, but for a while it will sting….

Smallest resort of all DVC and may still be competitive to book in the 11 month window for some rooms/seasons.

Reports say (and I agree per watching a lot of recent YouTube reviews) that the rooms look dated and a bit worn. Putting some faith in the 2024 remodel but I am a believer so not too concerned with this one.

Both Pro and Con:

Can only buy resale (there are rumors of some being offered direct points but it’s rare). This also means that Disney has yet to use ROFR on VGC but I am a bit worried about this myself. My first bid went into ROFR on 5/19 so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I’d be shocked if they do take it as it’s just way more money tied up on expensive points where they could buy back almost double the points at SSR or OKW and make the same margin but the whims of the ROFR monster do change. This should mean that your purchase of VGC won’t be as difficult as others have for resale on other properties (but it still takes a long time).

Sorry for this wall of text about VGC. When I see a fellow west coast person looking who is also into Disneyland Resort like our family I have to share

We’ve stayed at VGC a few times and 100% agree. I saw you in the ROFR thread and you got a great deal, it looks like! Hope it passes! If you don’t mind sharing, did you find your contract at one of the bigger resalers? I’ve been looking around to gauge pricing.

We do stay at WDW but we’ve had APs this past year and haven’t been back to DLR since 2015 so we are all really wanting to visit. We haven’t been as impressed with the WDW parks this last year, even going during low periods, it was rough to get onto rides. At least with DLR and VGC, you are 2 steps away from the parks versus 20-40 min worth of transportation like at WDW. Overall, it hasn’t been as magical. I’ve heard CA has stayed a bit more magical

We have a 3 way split stay at BCV/BLT/BWV coming up to suss out those resorts. If we like them, I’d consider adding on later at WDW. We really enjoy the resorts as much as the parks though!

 

[KalamityJane]

I don’t know why it quoted twice, sorry about that!

 

[NVDISFamily]

We’ve stayed at VGC a few times and 100% agree. I saw you in the ROFR thread and you got a great deal, it looks like! Hope it passes! If you don’t mind sharing, did you find your contract at one of the bigger resalers? I’ve been looking around to gauge pricing.

We do stay at WDW but we’ve had APs this past year and haven’t been back to DLR since 2015 so we are all really wanting to visit. We haven’t been as impressed with the WDW parks this last year, even going during low periods, it was rough to get onto rides. At least with DLR and VGC, you are 2 steps away from the parks versus 20-40 min worth of transportation like at WDW. Overall, it hasn’t been as magical. I’ve heard CA has stayed a bit more magical

We have a 3 way split stay at BCV/BLT/BWV coming up to suss out those resorts. If we like them, I’d consider adding on later at WDW. We really enjoy the resorts as much as the parks though!

The three contracts were all from what I believe are fairly well known brokers. I was waiting for them to survive the ROFR process (still no updates yet…..) and was going to start a post in closing time thread about them. But here you go:

One was from www.fidelityrealestate.com and the others were from www.**********.com

One tip I can share that I used is that I found the VGC listings for each broker and created a VGC folder in Chrome and added the bookmarks there. That way I could just open a new browser window, right click on the VGC folder in the bookmark bar, and open all and there you go I could quickly scan the listings. I also cheated and used a aggregator site that helps a bit, but the data can be off and it sometimes helps to look at each site.

And I just waited for some to lower price (the first one came on the market at 280, went to 270, and dipped to 255). And for the others I was able to guess that the same seller owned two contracts that totaled about the number of points I wanted so I watched them and after they sat for a few weeks I started a dialog about purchasing both for a discount and also referenced the market conditions and that went well.

Best of luck on getting a great deal and I’ll let the ROFR thread known as soon as I hear back on them. Hopefully they aren’t taking VGC back now