Is DVC a Good Choice for Californians?

[Chris1072]

I have been considering DVC for the past couple of weeks since going to Disneyland with my cousin who is a owner at Saratoga Springs (and also a frequent poster to these boards - tidefan). The thing I cannot decide is whether joining DVC makes sense for someone who will generally go the the Disneyland Resort with occasional (say once every three to five years) to Disney World and maybe one or two cruises.

I have two very young children (3 years old and 8 months), and my wife and I are very big Disney fans. Add to that the fact that we live in Sacramento, but my DW's family lives in Anaheim. We always stay in a hotel however when in the area - so one or two trips to Disneyland a year with a hotel stay is likely. We always try to get a one bedroom which will generally run around 150-160 a night.

We love the Grand Californian, but I am very concerned with the fact they are only building 50 rooms. We will often be travelling at non-peak times, but also will have occasional holidays, etc. What is the liklihood I will generally be boxed out of a room would you imagine? It seems like DVC is really geared towards the East Coast - and from some of the rumors I read - their commitment to building up the West Coast may not be there.

In the marketing material they sent - it seems like the points required to exchange for an II timeshare are reasonable (16 points for a 1-bedroom Sunday - Thursday). IS there a particular downside to occasionally using points for this?

I would appreciate any thoughts anyone has. Thanks!

 

[dwelty]

I live in Southern California and Own DVC. If you never plan on going to WDW I would not buy DVC just to trade into another timeshares. It is far cheaper to buy into another timeshare company and arrange the same trade.
However, if you plan on using DVC to go to Disneyland often, than I would recommend waiting until the Grand Califonian Villas go on sale. You should be able to buy points (there will be 600,000 for sale) and they will only sell enough to fill the capacity of the units. In other words, if you own there you can almost always get a room at 11 months, but if you do not own there, it will be very difficult to book with other DVC home resort points, or to trade into with another timeshare company.

Regarding the west coast market for DVC. I do not know what rumors you are referring to, but quite the opposite is true. With the opening of the Hawiian DVC in 2011 and a recent survey sent to members asking about potential resorts in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Cabo San Lucas, it is very apparent that they intend to tap into the lucrative west coast time share market. I would not however, make up my mind based on on possible future resorts. If you want to stay at the Grand California once a year in a 1 bedroom, then just buy enough points for that.

 

[pycees312]

I live in the Bay Area. I cannot tell you if DVC is right for you but I can tell you my reason for purchasing. We go to Disneyland 3 to 4 times a year( never less than 4 nights) but i do not own enough points to stay 3 or 4 times. I have 160 points. I use points in the fall/winterto early spring and stay at hojo the rest.I do plan to go to disneyworld at least once every 2 years and i know i get the most value using points staying at Disney properties. I did not buy to trade because the popular places i would like to trade are very hard to trade into anyway. I also have a true love for Disney and right now I do not see myself tiring of it. I think DVC has to work for you financially and also be sure you plan to really USE it. Right now in Cali all we have are the Disneyland hotels and even using points for them is not the best value at the moment. Not sure how easy it will be to get a room at the GCV once it's finished if you dont have points there. But im willing to grow with Disney right now because although not 100% certain i do think they will build more over here. That said if you don't plan to go to Disneyworld every 2-3 years then wait for the GVC villas. with the economy the way it is i do think it will make it to outside sales. If your worried buy 100 pts for AKV but at the disneyland sales center and become a founding member to get frist crack at GCV when it goes on sale. Good luck on your decision.

 

[tidefan]

I have been considering DVC for the past couple of weeks since going to Disneyland with my cousin who is a owner at Saratoga Springs (and also a frequent poster to these boards - tidefan). The thing I cannot decide is whether joining DVC makes sense for someone who will generally go the the Disneyland Resort with occasional (say once every three to five years) to Disney World and maybe one or two cruises.

Hello Cousin!

That's just because ya'll haven't been to WDW with us yet! We'll get you loving it there too.

BTW, we had a great time at DL with you guys. We have a trip report with pictures on the Mousecellaneous boards.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1885115

Looking forward to more trips out to CA, especially when GCV opens up!

 

[ACDSNY]

Howdy neighbor! We take more short trips to DL than WDW. We use more points when we go to WDW as they are longer trips. I'm sure Tidefan will turn you into a WDW regular eventually.

 

[kerickson]

We live near Sacramento and purchased DVC Saratoga Springs in Dec 07. We have kids who are 4 and 2. One of the reasons we bought DVC was to pre-purchase our vacations which would force us to actually take them! We now have a trip to San Diego's Del Coronado in Oct using our Developer pts, an 8 day stay in WDW in Jan (where we can include my brother in law & family), and just booked a Western Caribbean Cruise in Oct 09.
Before there were always excuses not to go on a trip, not to spend the money, take time off work....now no more excuses and with Disney, we don't have to worry about quality or safety... We are looking to add on when the Grand California Villas open, just waiting on the point price and point charts (my DH has 2 business trips to DL in Oct and Nov, hoping to tag along with him so I can see the VGC models...)

 

[jerseygal]

Does anyone know what a 2 BR Grand California Villa 5 night stay Sun-Thurs middle to end of August...Equivalent Flor season I believe is around Aug 16th..Flor points 2 BR units is about 35/night...

How many Sun-Thurs there? Anyone know where I could find the info?

How likely is booking 7 months in advance for that time of yr? Booking mid Jan for mid August?????

Thx.

 

[moredisneyplease]

Hey OP! We are so similar.....except I'm in SoCal! I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old and can I tell you how much I LOVE my DVC?? I know you like DL and if you do buy into GCV DVC then you will have the 11 month advantage. HOWEVER, I completely agree with your cousins above post!! You haven't done WDW with your cousin and seen the DVC!!!

I love me some DL but it doesnt even compare to WDW!!! When you go you will be in heaven and will FIND a way to get there yearly!

Now, you mentioned that you do WDW every 3-5 years and that you have little kids. So with that said I'm going to throw my vote in that I personally think DVC is right for you:

1) You'll be traveling w/ your kids for the next 18 years (maybe more if you have more kids or they continue to travel w/ you once adults) so you're going to want/need the space of a one or two bedroom! I absolutely LOVE being able to put my kiddos down in the other room so my husband and i can have a "normal life" in the main living area! If we were in a regular room then we'd have to be quiet all of the time while they were sleeping! No fun!

2) Lets assume that once you do try DVC at WDW you'll love it (how can you not?? ) and will go every 3 years regularly. You can easily bank one year of points and then on year 2 borrow your points from year 3. Here you get to go every three years w/ a big clump of points to make the most out of your big trip!!

3) Assuming you dont use all of your points every 3 years as mentioned above, lets talk about use of them at DL. If you do buy at DL when the GCV go on sale you'll be able to book your stays there at GCV before the rest of us at that 7-11 month window. You'll just have to plan ahead and stick w/ that plan for your SoCal trips so that you wont get "boxed" out. Simple as that.

In regards to DVC's committment to the West Coast, I think that if they see the GCV sales doing great like the East Coast DVCs then I'm sure we'll see more in the pipeline!! Cross your fingers!!

With this said, I think that you're a good candidate for DVC!! And if you need an absolutely awesome CA rep the PM me and I'll give you her info!!

Good luck!!

 

[kerickson]

Does anyone know what a 2 BR Grand California Villa 5 night stay Sun-Thurs middle to end of August...Equivalent Flor season I believe is around Aug 16th..Flor points 2 BR units is about 35/night...

How many Sun-Thurs there? Anyone know where I could find the info?

How likely is booking 7 months in advance for that time of yr? Booking mid Jan for mid August?????

Thx.

The Villas at Grand California point charts haven't been released yet (villas scheduled to open late fall 2009), so your guess is as good as mine. Given they are only building 50 units, booking at any time of the year less than 11 mo out will probably be tough, but only time will tell...

 

[Cherta]

give me their opinion on whether or not there will be points left over for us "run-of-the-mill" DVC owners to buy after the founding members buy up their share? I read on another thread that all members who bought DVC in California will be considered founding members, so I believe that will shrink the number of points available considerably. I think this is something to be considered by anyone who buys DVC now with the intention of either adding on points at VGC or booking at the 7-month window.

BTW OP, I'm a SoCal DVC owner (BWV) and I love WDW!

 

[Chris1072]

Cherta - you touch upon my main concern - as a non-DVC owner right now, how likely is it that I will actually be able to purchase at GCV? I assume I could always be patient and wait for a resale to open up - but who wants to do that? And I am not sure I want to purchase a non-GCV resort, then try to buy at GCV as a founding member, and sell the non-GCV points- that just seems like a costly proposition. I just keep hoping the touchy economy will allow lowley non-DVC members like me to buy into GCV!!

 

[Cherta]

The only thing that might work in our favor, Chris1072, is that a higher than average price per point and/or points chart might persuade some people to pass or take their chances at the 7-month mark. Of course, that wouldn't be the best scenario for anyone interested in purchasing, but then the decision would basically come down to "how bad do I want this?", or more importantly, "can I afford this?!"

 

[ACDSNY]

Cherta - you touch upon my main concern - as a non-DVC owner right now, how likely is it that I will actually be able to purchase at GCV? I assume I could always be patient and wait for a resale to open up - but who wants to do that? And I am not sure I want to purchase a non-GCV resort, then try to buy at GCV as a founding member, and sell the non-GCV points- that just seems like a costly proposition. I just keep hoping the touchy economy will allow lowley non-DVC members like me to buy into GCV!!

Are you aware Disney is allowing new members to purchase 100 points at AKV at the DL DVC office and this gets you first rights to purchase GC before the rest of the DVC members? This might be the way to go for you.

 

[Chris1072]

I did hear about the ability to buy at AKV - I just have a hard time justifying plunking down $10K, and then when GCV opens plunking down another $20K while hoping to sell my AKV points at a decent price. I know it is an option, but since DW and I are planning to do this while avoiding any debt, that option seems too expensive. I think my backup plan should GCV sell out is to wait out the secondary market and buy in 2011 or so (UGH!)

 

[Cherta]

I did hear about the ability to buy at AKV - I just have a hard time justifying plunking down $10K, and then when GCV opens plunking down another $20K while hoping to sell my AKV points at a decent price. I know it is an option, but since DW and I are planning to do this while avoiding any debt, that option seems too expensive. I think my backup plan should GCV sell out is to wait out the secondary market and buy in 2011 or so (UGH!)

Sounds like a good, well-thought out plan to me (especially after looking at all of the listings on the timeshare store website)!

 

[La2kw]

We bought many years ago because we enjoy traveling to Florida yearly. We go to Disneyland often, but I rarely use points to stay at Disneyland, and I will probably rarely use them to stay at the GCV. I can priceline a room at the Hyatt or Hilton in Anaheim for about 40 bucks a night, so I save my points for WDW. If I didn't plan to travel to WDW, I would have never purchased the points. II exchanges cost $95 each, and the cruises cost way too many points. The best point value is always at the DVC resorts.