Grand Cal Contract @ $324 a point gone in 2 days !

[NorCalFanatic]

Ok so it seems that everyone loves the GCV . That being said I could right now buy 500 points @ OKW for the same price 160 points @ GCV cost looking at the going resale prices. Then use those 500 points to rent a grand Villa @ GCV with the same cost in cash and points for 5 days in October as a studio for 148 points a week at the same place and price. I could probably get the GV @ VGC @ 7 months . Wouldn't you rather do that ?

I was thinking something similar. I’d rather take that $$$ and buy 520ish points at Aulani. Already have 500+ there, and spending that same amount for more resale we could put the whole extended family in a grand villa there for 7+ days. Or buy 250 more points at VDH. I see even more contracts listed this morning for GCV….I suspect prices will come down a bit soon. We’d buy in if they got down to the $250 range….no way we’re paying $300+ though. We’ve already got 500+ at VDH and 500+ at Aulani. We’d rather ad on at those two if we’re going to spend that much $$.

 

[AZMermaid]

No way are you getting 5 nights in a grand villa at 7 months in October.

Clearly you don’t see the value in GCV. And you’re right. For someone who frequents WDW and will maybe make a trip to DL once a decade- it doesn’t make any sense. Those members are far better off rolling the dice at 7 months and with VDH opening that is a more viable option… but theres the 50/ night tax for studios and up from there.

But for families who really want to stay at VGC for all the reasons listed above, we know we need the 11 month window. Studios are not available at 7 months. There are only 23 of them. Maybe, maybe with some flexibility 1-2 bedrooms are, but at obviously a higher cost per point. There’s a reason VGC points rent at $25/pt and OKW at 18. And we love OKW. When we hit retirement we loosely plan to sell our VGC points (which I bought at 125/pt) and use the money for OKW. But right now we live in AZ with sporty kids. We just got out of school and looked at the calendar. We literally do not have one open weekend between now and the start of school. So we have to plan and we aren’t very flexible. DL is a 6 hour drive. VGC makes sense for now. Trust me, I’d love to triple my money! But VGC is worth it for us! It doesn’t have to be for you.

 

[AZMermaid]

Oh January! You mean the month where I walked my studio for a month to get race weekend? And then switched it to walking a one bedroom once I walked past the holidays. Good thing I did because that was the only way to get a room that weekend! The same weekend that totally sold out at VDH opening day and is being rented out by the handful on FB!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Its Christmas week . Try again next month

I think in order for your strategy to work, if you are trying to book at 7 months, you have to be extremely flexible with dates and room types. It wouldn’t work for our family but it might for some. Also, you have to be ok with not getting VGC sometimes and staying in OKW instead.

If you are trying to rent out your OKW points and then renting VGC from someone else, that’s also something that people may or may not want to deal with. And VGC is very small there might not be anyone to rent from with the number of points and dates that you want.

Also OKW has higher annual dues. This is compounded by the fact that you are paying 500 x annual dues rather than 130 or whatever, it’s not quite completely fair criticism because you are getting more points with OKW after all. But it is 500 x 9.36 = 4680 per year vs 130 x 8.04 = 1045 per year, so it’s a significant difference.

So I think it just depends ultimately, if you really want to squeeze out value and are willing to put some work into it, maybe it would work. I personally would just rather own at the resort I want, but everyone is different

 

[Yankee626]

Its just funny how every other resale contract is going down in value over the past year and VGC has doubled. I actually thought about buying VDH points before I found out about the transient tax and the ridiculous $9.04 starting MF per point. I also don't understand why they are charging $1 more a point than the VGC on MF when the transient taxes are separate. If I go to DL it will be with my VGF points or not. Keep sending Pics of that cute little castle and exploding dragon.

 

[kboo]

Board sponsor is doubling down on high prices per pt for VGC. They just dropped some at 365/pt

And I just got a text notification from the former board sponsor that just dropped a contract listing at $260.

I might have made an offer but I am now in process for some VGF points direct.

 

[Yankee626]

I think in order for your strategy to work, if you are trying to book at 7 months, you have to be extremely flexible with dates and room types. It wouldn’t work for our family but it might for some. Also, you have to be ok with not getting VGC sometimes and staying in OKW instead.

If you are trying to rent out your OKW points and then renting VGC from someone else, that’s also something that people may or may not want to deal with. And VGC is very small there might not be anyone to rent from with the number of points and dates that you want.

Also OKW has higher annual dues. This is compounded by the fact that you are paying 500 x annual dues rather than 130 or whatever, it’s not quite completely fair criticism because you are getting more points with OKW after all. But it is 500 x 9.36 = 4680 per year vs 130 x 8.04 = 1045 per year, so it’s a significant difference.

So I think it just depends ultimately, if you really want to squeeze out value and are willing to put some work into it, maybe it would work. I personally would just rather own at the resort I want, but everyone is different

I could also rent out my OKW points @ $20 a pt pay of my dues and use the other $5k to pay cash for a room @ $725 a night there. ( If I don't get a res) .

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I could also rent out my OKW points @ $20 a pt pay of my dues and use the other $5k to pay cash for a room @ $725 a night there. ( If I don't get a res) .

Well, again it just depends if you think it's worth the effort to do that rather than just paying a little bit more and get exactly what you want.

$20 already seems high just browing the rental forum, but even then, by renting out the points and then paying cash for a VGC room, you save about $1000 per year? For some, saving $1000 may not be worth the effort to rent as well as the added uncertainty as to whether you will get what you need.

The more moving parts there is to a plan, the higher chance of failure down the road. 30 years is a long time.

What if VGC gets more expensive either to stay at the hotel or rent points there?
What if OKW points decrease in value on the rental market?
What happens in 2042 when OKW expires?

Maybe it all works out, maybe it doesn't. That might be ok for some people, but others just may want to just pay for VGC.

 

[KalamityJane]

And I just got a text notification from the former board sponsor that just dropped a contract listing at $260.

I might have made an offer but I am now in process for some VGF points direct.

I was very tempted to make an offer on that!

 

[Sunnyore]

There’s now 6 stripped VGC contracts on the market between 300-340. There was some direct VGC available the other day for 310, loaded, which I’d buy rather than pay for resale at those prices. I don’t mind waiting

Did your guide tell you about the direct points or someone posted they bought some? I know last year they had some direct points here and there to sell and my guide said I would have to be ready to buy. I wouldn’t pay over $300pp for resale but would definitely entertain a small direct contract. I can wait patiently at this point though because I own VDH now and have rooms booked for the days I wanted.

 

[KalamityJane]

Did your guide tell you about the direct points or someone posted they bought some? I know last year they had some direct points here and there to sell and my guide said I would have to be ready to buy. I wouldn’t pay over $300pp for resale but would definitely entertain a small direct contract. I can wait patiently at this point though because I own VDH now and have rooms booked for the days I wanted.

Yes, they just had some last week, but I’m not a member yet (waiting on ROFR for a resale contract) so I’d have to get 100+ points. If I wait until my contract goes through, I can get as low as 25pts direct. I’m okay waiting!

 

[kboo]

VGC direct might be appealing for a small contract so I could choose my UY and not have a stripped contract. But at this rate booking and waitlisting, day by day if I have to, may end up being my strategy. We go to wdw multiple times a year, and though I loved VGC on our last trip (2022) there is a deep attraction to significantly more points to be able to book larger units at my home resorts.

 

[kboo]

I was very tempted to make an offer on that!

LOL. I’m still in my 10-day rescission period for VGF. But given the timing I’m beginning to think that owning VGC isn’t in the cards for us, and that’s ok too.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I thought pricing at VGC was crazy when it was approaching $240, ie 3X the price of my SSR points. But now at 4X the price and more!? Yikes! This plebe will stick to the Harbor Blvd motels

 

[AZMermaid]

The other piece of this is anyone who is paying $300 a point is using these points at 11 months at VGC either for themselves or as rentals. They aren’t using them in Florida or Hawaii. This inflated resale cost is only going to make the 7 month window harder and harder to book at- and it’s already the hardest resort to get.

Initially there was a lot of hope VDH would make vgc easier to get… but I think it’s had the opposite effect.

 

[Sandisw]

Reminder: We do not allow people to post what is available/or not for resorts here. I have deleted a few posts. Talking in general about trends is fine.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Board sponsor is doubling down on high prices per pt for VGC. They just dropped some at 365/pt

They dropped 51-point contract this morning at $348 PP (and it's loaded). Someone over there needs to make up their mind.

 

[kboo]

I thought pricing at VGC was crazy when it was approaching $240, ie 3X the price of my SSR points. But now at 4X the price and more!? Yikes! This plebe will stick to the Harbor Blvd motels

Or get the last laugh when you get a stay at VGC with your 1/4 price points!

I am currently getting direct VGF points for around half the price of VGC resale, I think even if I were to rent my points at a discount and then rent VGC points it would be a win-win.

 

[farscape]

Living close to DL, I questioned the value of GVC however decided to buy one of the original 100 point contracts at $90 plus a $500 gift card.
As many have pointed out above, we found so much value in GVC as we would book 5 separate one night weekday studio stays each year. GVC would allow us to utilize fully both the check-in and check-out days (room would not be available until 4 pm but you could still check in to get access to early entry, CA back entrance, pool, free self parking for both days). We had annual passes so we had everything we needed for a short vacation.
However, times and circumstances drastically changed (Covid/mask protocols, eliminating annual passes, required Reservation availability, escalating ticket/parking/food prices).
So when the current sales prices for GVC became available, I decided to sell and luckily found a buyer within a few days.
Kind of bitter sweet, with so many great memories.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I think it's funny how pressed people get about how other people spend their money or what they find value in.

We get it, some people don't like the Grand Californian or even Disneyland. That's perfectly fine. Don't go there and don't worry about those of us who do.