How is Grand Californian?

[palacide]

My wife and I did our first DVC presentation just a week ago, and we're trying to decide if this is right for us. Staying at Disneyland California is easier for us than WDW since we're closer to Cali, so we want to get VGC. Since west coast DVC is fairly new, I just wanted to ask for opinions on buying VGC versus anything at WDW. For example, some questions I'm wondering about are: is home priority at VGC important (e.g. difficulty getting 7 month reservations)? VGC rooms seem to be more expensive (in terms of points) than WDW rooms -- is it worth it? What about dues differences? When's a good use year? Also, I was wondering if anyone had experiences using their points to stay at the Disneyland hotel or Paradise Pier (although, I realize that's a huge waste of points). Please add anything else we should be thinking about!

Finally, I'm getting confused about one of the selling points our guide has told us. She says there is a benefit to buying now rather than a few years down the road because in a few years, DVC might increase the number of points needed to book a room (similar to adjusting for inflation). I know that DVC can reallocate points needed for rooms/seasons, subject to the limitation that the total number of points cannot change, but it seemed like our guide is saying that the total number of points can change due to factors such as inflation. Maybe I misunderstood my her, but this is what I remember.

Thanks everyone!

 

[disneynutz]

Take some time to read through the posts. Your questions were discussed a few days ago.

I wouldn't buy VGC, but that's me, WDW has much more to offer IMHO. If I am going to spend my money., I want the biggest bang for my buck.

Bill

 

[nunzia]

I will only own VGC in a week or two when my OKW contract sells. I am also in New Mexico, and DLR is my 'home'..haven't been to WDW in 16 years and keep planning on going back, but DLR keeps sounding more appealing.
I think it is imperative to own at VGC if you want to stay there. It is the only DVC at DLR and it is the smallest resort. Having the 11 month booking advantage will be, to me, critical. When I do go to WDW I'll be happy to just have the 7 months out booking option as I don't really care where I stay at WDW as long as it's onsite, and since they have so many resorts there, is is pretty easy to find something open.
As of now, the dues for VGC are the lowest of all the DVCs. Since the resort is so small and attached to the hotel, services are shared which helps keep the dues down.
I have not used my points to stay at DLH or PP, mainly because I enjoy the VGC so much I don't want to stay anywhere else. I find the entire grounds beautiful and everything about the resort top notch. We just returned from a stay in a 1BR s few days ago and everything was perfect. If you are like me, love DLR, love staying on site, especially at the Grand, then I think the VGC is a perfect fit for you.
As for the suggestion that you buy now rather than later because points needed will go up, well, that's a mis-statement on the guides part. You are right that points can be allocated (and the VGC have been reallocated both years that points have been assigned to the resort), but the total number of points cannot change. They have shuffled weekday and weekend points, making them a little closer together, and this will change what you need for a visit, but not by much. Also, since they've already done this twice, I don't see how much more they can realistically do.
I would suggest you take the time to read the VGC Owners group thread on the Mouselaneous page of the DVC section, and the Grand Californian Super Thread on the Disneyland section. They are loaded with info, pictures and opinion.
Good luck in your decision!

 

[Snurk71]

I think the 11 month window is going to be crucial for a studio or 1BR as the restort sells out. In addition to a lot of the West coast owners favoring trips to DL over WDW, there are only 23 studios and 23 1BRs that can be booked as 2BR lockoffs (plus 23 dedicated 2BRs). That's not a lot of available inventory to be risking at 7 months with all of the WDW-based points.

Also, I think the VGC point costs from Disney-direct are the lowest. And as Nunzia mentioned, the maintenance fees are currently the lowest.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If DL is the location you want to visit and you want to stay onsite and not at any of the hotels surrounding the parks then VGC is probably the correct choice. It's small and is starting to show more difficulty in getting into at 7 months. It will be much easier to get into a WDW resort at 7 months when you do want to travel there although you may or may not get your first choice.

My maintenance fees for VGC cost less then what I would pay for a room at GC even with the high point cost. And I get a little more for the deal like a kitchenette. If I were wanting to stay at PP then it might be more break even. If offsite was fine then it wouldn't make any sense to buy VGC. I have used points to stay at PP prior to the villa's opening and at those times it's been less than if I paid cash so it all depends on when you go and what offers are available.

And IMO VGC is the best DVC resort. Quality, layout and location. Craftsman style is my favorite. But, you need to want to go to DL too.

Other questions you need to be clear about is if DVC is right for you in general. Do you go to DL or WDW every year or every other year? Do you like to stay in deluxe accomodations? I just ask b/c you say DL is easier for you rather than "we want to go to DL!". lol DVC's value is staying at a DVC resort and not trading out if that was a selling point.

I'll mention that you can get lower "cost" accommodations at WDW with DVC but that really isn't a factor b/c one's in FL and the other is CA. As I mentioned, it's a better value for us than paying cash b/c we do want to stay at GC/VGC. We like DL and it's also an easier trip for us from NV but we also go to WDW. We bought VGC for the 11 month window.

I don't know what your guide was talking about with the points. They don't inflate but they could be reallocated so potentially if you have a particular time you want to go it could end up costing more points but then some other room type or time would have to decrease. The price per point for buying will probably increase but by then there will also be more resales which might negate any direct purchase increase.

 

[wbl2745]

We just bought at VGC in February and stayed there for the first time in April. We've been to WDW several times, but never at DVC. We're making arrangements for that now.

We absolutely love the VGC. We had a two bedroom dedicated villa which was large enough for DW, DD, and three friends. Everyone was comfortable and there was plenty of room. The accommodations, as a previous poster said, are first class. We live in Utah and are likely to make more trips to DLR than to WDW, so VGC really made sense for us. The proximity to DCA and DL from the VGC is outstanding. The Grand Californian resort itself is breathtaking. I really, really like VGC.

Advice that you'll see frequently is buy where you want to stay. If you're going to WDW more than DLR, then that's where to buy. I'm not sure what to say about 7 month vs 11 month for getting VGC reserations. I'd think that any sold out resort would have difficulties at 7 months since all of the accommodations (less the 2% held by DVD) are fully allocated to someone. True, there are fewer accommodations at VGC, but there are also fewer points and by extension fewer owners.

 

[ACDSNY]

Another one to say buy where you want to stay for most of your trips. In our case we've sold some of our WDW DVC points in order to have most of our points at the VGC. By far our favorite resort and it's much easier to get to than WDW since we're in CA.

I believe the 11 month booking window for VGC will be very necessary once the resort sells out.

We've used our points for all three DLR over the last five years and it's still cheaper than the cash rates.

As far as points going up the previous posters have covered most of it very well. One thing I'll add is the points for PP & DLH can increase each year and are not subject to the same limitations as the DVC resorts.

 

[3DisneyKids]

As an East-coaster, we stay at WDW often and that is where all of our points are. However, we just returned from VGC and OMG, did we fall in love with that resort! Hands down, our favorite DVC property. We won't buy there as we won't be able to go there too often. BUT, if our plans were to go to DL as often as we go to WDW, then it would be VGC all the way.

 

[walter]

We were staying at GCH when they had the grand opening party for VGC. The Grand Villa was beautiful. We would stay at either in a heartbeat.

 

[utahkennedys]

We just returned from GCV last week and it was outstanding! We owned OKW first and it is my favorite resort, so I really struggled about which to buy more points at. I knew that we would likely never be able to book GCV without owning there, and now that we live in Seattle it is getting too far and too expensive to get to Orlando. So, we took the plunge and bought at GCV.

The moment I walked in I loved it! The hotel staff was great, the self parking is easier than I anticipated, the room was gorgeous and the details and finishes were perfect. The resort is SO easy! My daughter forgot her socks at CA and within 2 minutes we were in our room. Loved the direct park access and the monorail access to DL! Loved the pool areas and the character breakfast!

I also knew that it would be easy to book at OKW at the 7 month mark as needed.

Yes, GCV requires more points, however, we only stay 4-5 days at DL instead of 7 nights at DW so to me it's a fair trade off. When you look at the rates at Grand Californian compared to a villa at DVC it's a no brainer we think.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

We bought first at AKV. We live an hour from DLR, and so thought it would be a "waste" to buy VGC. However, after a great AKV trip last year we booked VGC last February. I cannot tell you how much we loved it!! So much so, we just added on there!

I too think the 11 mo window will be critical for VGC. If I had it all to do over, all my points would be at the Grand. The mf's are less, and I have no worries that I couldn't get in to a large resort like AKV or even SSR at 7 months. I see that once World of Color opens, VGC will be even more popular.

 

[jerseygal]

We used our incentive points at GCH August, 2009!!

Wow, what an impressive experience and resort! First time to Disneyland and boy were we spoiled!!! A fabulous experience!!!!!

Our stay was August, 2009 GCH...I heard though that since GCV is operational though that points cannot now be used at the CCH anymore???
Anyone know if this is true?

We "splurged" on our incentive points and got 2 Connecting Standard Rooms,
one for our "teenagers" and one for us! It really was a GREAT GREAT TIME!

We did Huntington Beach and loved it!!!!!!!!!What a beautiful beach!
We're east coast folks so we LOVE A GOOD BEACH! My teenagers had a blast!

Thinking of returning summer, 2012!!!

If anyone can provide insight whether you are now restricted from using points at GCH, I would appreciate it!

 

[3DisneyKids]

We used our incentive points at GCH August, 2009!!

Wow, what an impressive experience and resort! First time to Disneyland and boy were we spoiled!!! A fabulous experience!!!!!

Our stay was August, 2009 GCH...I heard though that since GCV is operational though that points cannot now be used at the CCH anymore???
Anyone know if this is true?

We "splurged" on our incentive points and got 2 Connecting Standard Rooms,
one for our "teenagers" and one for us! It really was a GREAT GREAT TIME!

We did Huntington Beach and loved it!!!!!!!!!What a beautiful beach!
We're east coast folks so we LOVE A GOOD BEACH! My teenagers had a blast!

Thinking of returning summer, 2012!!!

If anyone can provide insight whether you are now restricted from using points at GCH, I would appreciate it!

Correct. Now that a portion of the GC is DVC, you can only use points to stay in the Villas portion. You cannot use points to stay in the hotel portion. You can, however, use points to stay at either DLH or PP. We just returned last week, so I know this is accurate and up to date. (I tried and tried to use points to extend our stay and since no villas were available, I tried to use points for a regular hotel room--no go.) And since there are SO FEW DVC rooms available at VGC, make your reservations the second you can. And even then, you will likely have to waitlist. However, you never know. I called about 2-3 weeks out and we got a villa!

I couldn't agree with you more--we loved absolutely every minute of that trip!

 

[curiouslittleoyster]

Correct. Now that a portion of the GC is DVC, you can only use points to stay in the Villas portion. And since there are SO FEW DVC rooms available at VGC, make your reservations the second you can. And even then, you will likely have to waitlist. However, you never know. I called about 2-3 weeks out and we got a villa!

Very true! In late April, we tried to book a studio for Labor Day wknd and there was no availability(Half Marathon, though) so we waitlisted...didn't come through. So, DH called back today and tried to see if there was any availability for a Studio or 1 bedroom villa for a consecutive 3 night stay during any of the first 2-3 weeks in September, and there was nothing! Like the PP said, make your reservations as soon as you can. Home resort priority will definitely work in your favor at this resort that is why we bought here. Great location!