Hard time deciding how many points we truly need.

[Wedgeout]

I still feel like the cheaper upfront cost of VDH is probably a wash when you add up TOT costs.

But you don’t needs to add up any TOT costs. That’s paid only when you play at the Disneyland Hotel. Those taxes exist already with any Anaheim lodging & most likely still cheaper outcome then cash stays.

You don’t pay a yearly TOT. Stay somewhere else, you pay their fees. Most $0 with a little to Hawaii on those stays.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, the TOT is a big negative and it’s unfortunate that they had to build that into it. Still there’s a lot of positives for you. I wouldn’t worry about your age. That’s a problem for another day.

Yeah....future me has a lot of problems waiting for her though.

But you don’t needs to add up any TOT costs. That’s paid only when you play at the Disneyland Hotel. Those taxes exist already with any Anaheim lodging & most likely still cheaper outcome then cash stays.

You don’t pay a yearly TOT. Stay somewhere else, you pay their fees. Most $0 with a little to Hawaii on those stays.

Well, if we buy at VDH, our points would mostly be used there. At least until 2042 when our BRV expires. After that, maybe we'd use some for WDW. But maybe not since the whole reason we want to add more points is so that we can get into 1-bedrooms for Disneyland trips.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I just did the math for a 6 night stay in June 2027 at VDH in a 1-bedroom.

TOT would be $788.31 or $806.64, depending upon which nights.
Not a ton of money, but probably still more than the tax that I'm paying (lumped into my dues) at VGC.

Thankfully, we would be alternating with VGC if we bought VDH so it wouldn't be an every single year/visit charge.

I still think the upfront cost difference between resale VGC and direct VDH would even out over time. Partly due to TOT. And also because if we do VGC, we'd really be looking more for a contract of 100 points instead of 150 at VDH. So less in dues every year.

(And in the end, cost won't be the driving factor for us anyway.)

 

[Wedgeout]

But maybe not since the whole reason we want to add more points is so that we can get into 1-bedrooms for Disneyland trips.

This exactly. VDH is the answer. Don’t worry about the TOT. (If drive like us, the parking fees are non existent so you feel better with the TOT bill). You will have the points for each and every 1 bedroom trip. Use them all at VDH or not. Each year vacation plans may change anyway.

 

[Wedgeout]

Buying resale VGC for Disneyland is similar to buying resale Riviera for WDW. You are stuck at one DVC resort.

 

[atthebeachclub]

You can buy direct VDH and may be able to 7 month or waitlist into VGC but still have a Disneyland booking reserved if wanted, but you can’t do the opposite with resale VGC. And if you decide to just do Disneyworld instead, you can spare some of your BRV points by using VDH instead at 7 months.

 

[ClaraOswald]

This exactly. VDH is the answer. Don’t worry about the TOT. (If drive like us, the parking fees are non existent so you feel better with the TOT bill). You will have the points for each and every 1 bedroom trip. Use them all at VDH or not. Each year vacation plans may change anyway.

That's the trickiest part. Right now, we are basically limited to how often we go during the school year. I only like to pull my son out of school for 5 days for vacation. But once he graduates (2032), who knows what we'll want to do. It's possible we would want to go more often. Or during more expensive times. I really don't want to keep having to buy more points every few years.

We had decided when we purchased BRV, we'd go to WDW 2 years in a row, then a break year. Then repeat that. 2 years on, 1 year off. We are likely to always go in January. So that would be our winter vacation and then we'd do Disneyland in the summer. And then on that "off" WDW year, we'd do a winter DLR trip. That's the cycle we are currently in and we just took our winter DLR trip. So that means there's been a gap between our WDW trips - January 2025 and then January 2027.

Well, tonight, my husband said he wouldn't mind going to WDW every winter with maybe just a one off year here or there with a DLR winter trip. He's missing WDW right now in this long gap. And also, he prefers our flight to Florida (non-stop) over the one with a layover to CA. (We don't do road trips in winter months.)

So I guess now I'll need to take some time to run some point scenarios with doing a WDW trip most winters. This actually would mean possibly less Disneyland than originally planned then. At least until 2032 and beyond.

Being type A is really hard when there are so many unknown variables!

 

[Wedgeout]

Best of luck & hope don’t end up pulling too much hair out…go into it full zen mode.

I’d look at my purchase like insurance. Have points for DLR when I need them. Manage the points like any other. 7 month bookings at WDW & elsewhere, 11 month for VDH.

(Wouldn’t want California resale points, because I’d want to have options for RIV, CFW, & all the other new pop ups in the future..even the next DLR DVC..it will happen).

 

[ClaraOswald]

Well, we do already have VGC resale. So if we went that route, we'd just add more resale with no intent to use it elsewhere.

I won't pull my hair out much. I kind of enjoy running all the difference scenarios even though it may not help me get any closer to a decision. My husband does get bored of listening to it all which is why I come here to talk about it all the time.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Being type A is really hard when there are so many unknown variables!

Are you still thinking it'll be a year or two before you buy? If so, your desires and needs might change by then. It's good to learn as much as you can, but when you are absolutely ready to buy, I'd just buy what makes the most sense for the travel you are doing at the time vs what you believe you'll be doing eventually.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Are you still thinking it'll be a year or two before you buy? If so, your desires and needs might change by then. It's good to learn as much as you can, but when you are absolutely ready to buy, I'd just buy what makes the most sense for the travel you are doing at the time vs what you believe you'll be doing eventually.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Since there's really no real way to know what we'll do eventually. It would just be a bummer to end up with too little points...or too many.

We aren't exactly sure when we will buy. I suppose if the unicorn VGC popped up sometime in 2026, we may consider it, if we could financially swing it with the home projects we have coming up.

Otherwise, who knows....still could do 2026. Or 2027. I don't suspect we'd want to wait too much longer than that but I guess we'll see.