The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners Group

[KAT4DISNEY]

Congrats Nonsuch!

 

[stopher1]

These are June use year, so I get points for 2009 now

I will be making my first DVC reservation in a few days

Congrats and Welcome Home!

 

[pycees312]

if anyone has not recieved thier founding members gift. I highly suggest to call. After reading that many members alreasy had thiers I called..
At first I was told no one has them yet until I told the lady people on the message boards have them and have posted pictures. She took my info and said she would call me back. 4 days later I get a call that they are shipping my gift out to me and it should arrive in 1 weeks time. Well it's actually been more than that so i'm calling again. But just wanted to put that out there for anyone else who did not get thiers.

 

[Nonsuch]

Congrats and Welcome Home!

Thanks, everyone.
This thread helped me decide to join

Information is usually spread among many threads on many boards, but this is some of the information I found in this thread (spread over 100 pages):

Grand Californian expansion
751 rooms increased to 954 plus DVC

GCV rooms
2 grand villas
23 2 bedroom
23 2 bedroom lockoff
(1 bedroom with studio)

Total points
1,136,968

Sales estimate as of 6/26/2009 (6 months of sales)
1800 recorded contracts
wild guess of 200 points/contract
1800 x 200 = 361k --> 36% sold

Views
77% of DVC rooms have theme park view
others are pool view

Use Year
June - Dec receive points for 2009
Jan - May first points are 2010

Valet
$17/day​

 

[franandaj]

Just to throw in some random contrary information

wild guess of 200 points/contract

I only added on 165 points

Use Year
June - Dec receive points for 2009
Jan - May first points are 2010

Since I added on with Disney they matched my existing September use year, I bought in June but my points actually started in Sept 09, which was OK because I bought them mostly to use in the Spring during F&W

 

[ACDSNY]

Thanks, everyone.
This thread helped me decide to join

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

One tip I received from these boards was to break up larger contracts into smaller ones, that way it's easier if you ever wanted to sell. Smaller contracts are considered to be 100 points or less.

 

[toocherie]

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

One tip I received from these boards was to break up larger contracts into smaller ones, that way it's easier if you ever wanted to sell. Smaller contracts are considered to be 100 points or less.

I believe that if you buy direct, you have to have at least one 160-point contract--so nonsuch could have a 160 point and a 60 point contract.

 

[ACDSNY]

I believe that if you buy direct, you have to have at least one 160-point contract--so nonsuch could have a 160 point and a 60 point contract.

Typically that's correct. There have been some cases were people were allowed to break the first purchase into 100/xxx or 100/xx/xx

First purchasers can buy into AKV & SSR at 100 points. This isn't talked about too often, but it can happen.

 

[Nonsuch]

I believe that if you buy direct, you have to have at least one 160-point contract--so nonsuch could have a 160 point and a 60 point contract.

I forgot to ask my Guide about that. I'll check if it is not too late.

I had thought that 220 might not even cover our needs, and so we would not be selling off points. Rethinking the issue, if for some reason we are selling all our points the smaller contracts will easier to unload.

It's hard to think about selling points, when I can't even make a reservation

 

[stopher1]

It's hard to think about selling points, when I can't even make a reservation

True, but once it's done, it's done, and you can't break it up later on - ever. It's best to do it while you can. Even if your contract were to be written up today and had been fedex'd out to you, as long as you haven't sent back the signed docs they can rewrite them. It's not too late.

When we got our VGC points, I had our guide rewrite the contracts twice, adding more points each time. It's really not a big deal.

 

[DVCGeek]

My 2010 dues are up online! Actual 2009 real estate taxes for VGC were zero, so that dropped my balance forward from 2009 down. Not that it was big on my 50 points to begin with, but lower dues always = good. Everything seemed to be in order from what I reviewed; I'll plug it into my spreadsheets at home over the weekend!

 

[kinhops]

Did you request the park view or just get it? Just curious.

When I checked in around 10am I asked what kind of view I had and they said it was a partial park view. I asked if I was willing to wait to get into my room if there would be a park view available. The cast members looked on her computer for a little bit and said if I was willing to wait there would be a park view available. My recommendation is to call DVC and request a park view room (they will put it in the notes) and then check in on the day of your arrival early and ask if you can get a park view room. If there is one available you should be able to nab it, but like always it will be a first come first serve I imagine.

 

[JimmyJam838]

My 2010 dues are up online!

My 2009 dues only show being prorated for 32 days. Anyone else have a different number of days?

 

[ACDSNY]

My 2009 dues only show being prorated for 32 days. Anyone else have a different number of days?

I paid ours back in Oct, but they were also for 32 days. I believe it's for 11/30/09 - 12/31/09.

 

[DVCGeek]

My 2009 dues only show being prorated for 32 days. Anyone else have a different number of days?

Not here- my "GCAL" lines for 2009 are also 32 days. No RE taxes; 50 point contract has: Subtotal - 2009 Operating and Capital Reserves $ 13.12
{under Balance Forward at the top of my statement; there was no BF for my BLT contract since i actually paid for it in '09 by monthly withdrawals...}

 

[dcfromva]

My 2009 dues only show being prorated for 32 days. Anyone else have a different number of days?

That's what I have, too (32 days). That is what they estimated, but since VGC actually opened earlier than planned I figured we would have to pay more when they got it all figured out. (It is a nice Christmas present not to have to pay more. )
I paid 2009 online already and since I paid estimated property taxes for 2009 which turned out to be zero I received a credit towards 2010 dues. Nice!

 

[kerickson]

As predicted: my Guide responded to my request for an email, with a phone call
I asked for the webcast price of 220 points at $92, and she told me the information needed to process the order
These are June use year, so I get points for 2009 now

I will be making my first DVC reservation in a few days

Congrats! Are you getting the Castle to Castle promo? Free APs is a great promo. We just had our 3rd trip this year with our free APs. Was tempted to add on more to get more for next year DL and the next WDW!
Also, make sure your UY of June works well for your travel habits, you should have a choice. June is a a great UY if you travel in the Summer or Fall, not so great if you travel in the winter/spring.

 

[Nonsuch]

True, but once it's done, it's done, and you can't break it up later on - ever. It's best to do it while you can.

My purchase will be split into 2 contracts, 110 points each.
My Guide did not say anything about a 160 point minimum first contract.

 

[Nonsuch]

Congrats! Are you getting the Castle to Castle promo? Free APs is a great promo.

I was told, either free AP or point discount -- not both.
The fine print of the Castle to Castle offer says:

This offer is only valid for The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.

The point discount is much more valuable, and we would only use a WDW passport for at most a week. It might end up being Disney's loss, since those "free" passports might have motivated a cross-country vacation.

Also, make sure your UY of June works well for your travel habits, you should have a choice. June is a a great UY if you travel in the Summer or Fall, not so great if you travel in the winter/spring.

June seems good in the short term: we get 2009 points now, and 2010 points in June.
I don't understand the advantage of having the UY aligned with travel.

 

[bumbershoot]

June seems good in the short term: we get 2009 points now, and 2010 points in June.
I don't understand the advantage of having the UY aligned with travel.

It's based on IF you have to cancel.

For instance, we have a Feb UY. Our first big trip is planned for December of 2010. For this trip we have already banked our remaining points into '10 (did that end of September, I believe). We will be using '10 points, and in all likelihood a good portion of '11 points, which we will borrow.

If for some reason at the last minute we have to cancel our next year's trip, there will be almost no time to travel with the banked '09 points before they expire, there will be no time left at all to bank the '10 points for the future b/c that would have had to be done by the end of September if I'm getting that right LOL, and our borrowed '11 points will be lost as well if we can't travel between dec and end of Jan, expiring in early '11 since they were pulled into the '10 UY.

Little bit of gambling going on there!

If this were the time that we ALWAYS were going to book, a Feb UY would be too "dangerous" IMO. But we homeschool and hubby's job is flexible, so it just works out that December is when we're doing this trip...future trips can be whenever we want.