Grand Californian vs WDW DVC

[Patrix]

Hi - my family is considering purchasing DVC via resale and we keep going back and forth between making our home resort Grand California or a WDW Resort (possibly Bay Lake). I would really appreciate your wisdom and opinion on this.

Background and considerations:
We are a family of 4 with 2 small children (ages 2 and 4) and we live in Northern California. Right now, we go to DL every 1-2 years (for about 4 nights) and can plan to go to WDW every 2-3 years (for 8-9 nights). We go to WDW in May or early June now. When the kids get older we have to push trips to the summer. We had a trip planned for Oct this year, but are pushing it to next May.

Right now we're fine with staying in Studio; however we can also see staying in 1-2 bedroom as the kids get older.

Option 1 (buy Grand Californian) - more expensive buy-in, but able to book at 11 months. Will only be able to book at 7 months on WDW trips.

Option 2 (buy Bay Lake or other WDW resort) - less expensive buy-in; able to book WDW trips at 11 months. Will be very difficult to get into Grand Californian at 7 months.

We'll be going to DL more often than WDW, however if we had to we're fine with not staying in a DL hotel due to the proximity of non-Disney hotels to DL (you can usually still walk between hotel and DL). However, we will always want to stay in a deluxe at WDW (I would be fine staying at any deluxe besides SSR)

Again thank you so much for your opinions.

 

[chalee94]

Hi - my family is considering purchasing DVC via resale and we keep going back and forth between making our home resort Grand California or a WDW Resort (possibly Bay Lake). I would really appreciate your wisdom and opinion on this.

Background and considerations:
We are a family of 4 with 2 small children (ages 2 and 4) and we live in Northern California. Right now, we go to DL every 1-2 years (for about 4 nights) and can plan to go to WDW every 2-3 years (for 8-9 nights). We go to WDW in May or early June now. When the kids get older we have to push trips to the summer. We had a trip planned for Oct this year, but are pushing it to next May.

Right now we're fine with staying in Studio; however we can also see staying in 1-2 bedroom as the kids get older.

Option 1 (buy Grand Californian) - more expensive buy-in, but able to book at 11 months. Will only be able to book at 7 months on WDW trips.

Option 2 (buy Bay Lake or other WDW resort) - less expensive buy-in; able to book WDW trips at 11 months. Will be very difficult to get into Grand Californian at 7 months.

If you want to stay at GCV, you should own there and book early.

We'll be going to DL more often than WDW, however if we had to we're fine with not staying in a DL hotel due to the proximity of non-Disney hotels to DL (you can usually still walk between hotel and DL). However, we will always want to stay in a deluxe at WDW (I would be fine staying at any deluxe besides SSR).

Considerations:

1) you can't trade pts for DLR hotels unless you buy direct

2) I would not own DVC to use every third year (too risky)

 

[com_op_2000]

IMHO, since you are so close to DL, make VGC your home. It will be eaiser to get something at the 7 month window at WDW than at VGC.

 

[bwvBound]

Boy, that is a toughy. As a Disneyland local, my $0.02 is to ask yourself, "Would I book the Grand Cal during the home resort window (7-11 months from travel)?"
If yes, buy Grand Cal as the home resort.

However, if your DL trips are more spontaneous, especially given your comments accepting nearby hotels, then owning Grand Cal makes far less practical sense. You might as well own your WDW target and use them as "network" points when visiting DL, Aulani and points beyond. Best wishes on your deliberations.

 

[chalee94]

However, if your DL trips are more spontaneous, especially given your comments accepting nearby hotels, then owning Grand Cal makes far less practical sense. You might as well own your WDW target and use them as "network" points when visiting DL, Aulani and points beyond.

...or take a pass on DVC altogether...

 

[bwvBound]

...or take a pass on DVC altogether...

Fair enough, yes!

OP, have you looked at Worldmark the Club? Great point system with lots of locations across the western states. Two resorts w/in walking distance of Disneyland and two w/in a short drive of WDW. Trades nicely through both RCI and II.

 

[Patrix]

Thanks for your replies

Fair enough, yes!

OP, have you looked at Worldmark the Club? Great point system with lots of locations across the western states. Two resorts w/in walking distance of Disneyland and two w/in a short drive of WDW. Trades nicely through both RCI and II.

I guess the main reason for wanting / considering DVC is the WDW resorts. We're fine with staying off-property at DL; however we would only book a deluxe at WDW. We've stayed off-property before at WDW and really didn't like it. Yes it was cheaper, but I missed magical feeling. Specifically what got us thinking about this is that we spend between 300 - 400 a night (usually 8-9 nights per trip). In the long run it would make sense to purchase DVC. We would use GCV more often if that was our home base, but if it wasn't we'd be fine using DVC at WDW and staying off-property at DL. Of course if it's pretty easy to book at the 7 month mark at WDW, then we could go GVC route.

An option definitely is not doing DVC at all, but based on our calculations we save money in the long run, just need to decide Home base. I'm also guessing we have to make this decision somewhat quickly because based on the time it takes to complete initial purchase, we'd be close to the 11 month cut-off for our May trip.

 

[Minniesgal]

We ended up buying at both. I have turned out to be a big fan of 11 month bookings and travel to both WDW and DL so we bought at both. We don't go to DL every trip but have had no issue using of VGC points at BLT if we are not travelling there.

Our next trip is 5 nights VGC, 4 nights AKV, 3 nights Dream, 4 nights VGF all booked at 11 months and it feels great not having to stress about swapping at 7 months.

 

[chalee94]

If you were going to book GCV or go to wdw at least every other year, then buying DVC probably makes sense.

Owning at GCV to book at 11 months out is expensive but that's the best way to go if that is in your plans.

Booking wdw at 7 months out (which means the morning that the 7 month window opens - might mean getting up early for left coasters) is not typically too bad depending on the part of the year. The last quarter of the year is the toughest. SSR might be all that is available. AKV and OKW are also large resorts. Poly is too new to say for sure. BLT-lake view can be an option if you are on the ball at 7 months out. But if you are counting on VGF or BCV or standard view at BWV, that might be optimistic. (Results vary.)

Also, when you are going every other year, be aware that banking and borrowing are final transactions. Any banked or borrowed pts used for a reservation will be stuck in that use year. Which is all to say that your options might be limited if you need to reschedule a stay...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'd say that VGC makes the most sense if you are going to buy points to use for both WDW and DL trips. That is since DL is the location that you go to every 1-2 years and since studios are the more difficult. However - it's also not impossible to get in there right at 7 months but it will probably make it less stressful if you own there. The summer isn't the most difficult time to book at WDW once you get to that point and May is one of the easier times so using the VGC points there shouldn't be a problem.

If you planned on WDW every 1-2 years then I'd probably go with points just for there with the thought you could try and use them for DL trips now and then and if that didn't work you'd pay cash for a hotel there but every 3 years to WDW gets tricky to have the correct number of points.

 

[Patrix]

Thanks everyone for your input! When I told my husband I was going to post the question on here, I don't think he was expecting such thoughtful and responsive feedback. We both really appreciate it.

I think we've decided on VGC and will just hope to get good studio options at the 7 month mark for our trip in early May. I'm really excited about joining the DVC community.

 

[crazydad123]

We live in Arizona, and I bought points at Saratoga Springs in 2008. We have been happy with the 3 trips we've made to WDW, and we have rented out the points once, and taken a short cruise. Our most common use for the points has been to get a studio for a couple of days at the VGC, and it has meant that at exactly 7 months, I jump on the phone or the internet and book. So--this month, we bought resale points for VGC, and I really look forward to using them. Definitely, if Disneyland is your place to be, buy the VGC points.
Crazydad

 

[zavandor]

Thanks for your replies



I guess the main reason for wanting / considering DVC is the WDW resorts. We're fine with staying off-property at DL; however we would only book a deluxe at WDW. We've stayed off-property before at WDW and really didn't like it.

In your case, I'd buy SSR.
Booking GCV at 7 months it's not easy, but not impossible either. I did it twice, right the second the 7 months window opened. If you are happy to stay offsite then I don't see a good reason to pay a premium for VGC.

Also, if you are happy with any resort except SSR, then SSR is a good option to buy
Expecially in the summer you should always have OKW and AKV open and probably other resorts as well.

 

[starry_solo]

All good suggestions but there are so few resale contracts for VGC, it depends on how long you want to wait.

 

[disBOBney]

my 2 cents worth: I agree with those advocating buying both. Buy 1/3 the number of pts for the category room you desire at GCV. Then you can plan a stay every 3 rd year. Then buy a similar or perhaps smaller contract at the resort you would prefer at WDW. While it is not as easy to have an extended stay at GCV by using your WDW pts (I wasn't successful right at opening, or waitlist and I only wanted two nights in Feb). But it is much easier to extend a stay at WDW using your GCV pts. If you go the two contracts route I advise buying the same use year, it will make reservations a little easier to make.

 

[tasha99]

We have both, though if money were no object, I'd swap SSR for more vgc pts. My wdw and DL points are different use years as my vgc points are too few and too precious to ever use at wdw. If you do plan on mingling points, a single use year is wise.

 

[Patrix]

We put in an offer for VGC and it was accepted . It went to ROFR today (fingers crossed ). We're going to keep an eye out to see if any good low point WDW contracts get posted, but this one contract should be good for at least the next couple of trips. Again thank you everyone for your input, your opinions really helped us make the decision.