How many points to rent?

[swilly]

Hi. I'm new to all of this and am trying to figure out how many points I would need to stay at the Grand California Hotel in Disneyland? I found the point calculator on this site but unless I am doing something wrong it doesn't allow you to calculate points for Disneyland trips. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot.

 

[Lynne M]

What are your dates, and what room type/view are you interested in?

I think you'll find that renting points is only a good value when staying at DVC resorts. There will be a DVC resort at Grand Californian, but the villas are currently under construction. So you'd have to stay at the hotel, and I'd be willing to bet that you'd get a much better rate booking through Disney.

Owners are also reluctant to rent points for stays at non-DVC resorts, as there are severe restrictions on the re-use of the points if the reservation were to be cancelled.

 

[swilly]

We are planning to stay Nov 16 thru the 20th. 2 Rooms Park view. Thanks for the information. So the points really aren't made for disneyland at this time?

 

[Lynne M]

Yes, DVC owners can currently make reservations with their points at the Disneyland resorts. But - there's a big difference between using your points at a DVC resort and a non-DVC resort. When an owner makes a reservation at a non-DVC resort, they are transferring out of the DVC system. The points may no longer be used at DVC resorts, and there may be additional fees involved.

The cost would be 29 points per night, per room. So, if you were able to find an owner to rent for $10 per point, that would be $290 a night, for each room. I'm not sure if the $95 transfer fee applies to the Disneyland resorts.

IF you can find an owner to make this reservation for you, it will likely be non-refundable if you need to cancel. As I mentioned above, once the owner makes the reservation for you, the points can no longer be used at DVC resorts if you cancel (they become "reservation points").

Owners generally don't like to be stuck with reservation points, because of the poor value in booking non-DVC resorts. The point costs for DVC resorts are much, much lower than they are for non-DVC resorts. For instance, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge runs around 12 points a night for a studio, and OKW is 8 points a night. Compare that to the 29 points for your GC room.