The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 3.0

[VGCgroupie]

What’s the delta between the two now?

.8663

 

[Mathmagicland]

Sometimes I look at availability, just for fun. Any idea why there would be no 1-bedrooms available on October 10th? Something special must be happening but not sure what.

Three day weekend with a federal holiday on Monday 12 October, might have something to do with it.

 

[Mathmagicland]

For 2026 planning - @LKing has put together a DL 2026 calendar thread -

https://www.disboards.com/threads/2...-calendar-official-unofficial-events.3976081/

 

[LilyJC]

Probably just the busy week.

I just tried to book 3 nights in a Studio at 11 months and could only get 2. That's crazy to me.

I believe studios are being walked to Candlelight Processional (at least that’s my best guess), so the missing day might open up for you!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Paid all of my 2026 dues today. Fun fun!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Paid all of my 2026 dues today. Fun fun!

I still don’t understand paying them upfront vs moving the cash to a High Yield money market and having them pulled monthly from there.

 

[VGCgroupie]

If I didn’t pay by gift cards I would for sure choose to pay monthly.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I have yet to find a money market account that his high yield for any length of time. I just buy gift cards throughout the year and save 5% on my dues. My yearly dues aren't too crazy at this point at just $3500.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I have yet to find a money market account that his high yield for any length of time. I just buy gift cards throughout the year and save 5% on my dues. My yearly dues aren't too crazy at this point at just $3500.

Even the 5% beats current rates and you don’t have to pay Uncle Sam.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Even the 5% beats current rates and you don’t have to pay Uncle Sam.

True. And the money I use monthly to buy the gift cards isn't money I'm pulling out of investments or anything like that. It's just from my checking account.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I can’t find enough GC deals that really move the needle (capped) and aren’t a complete PITA that take up a ton of my time (which has value) based on my level of dues. ($17k ish)

I drove out to a Best Buy yesterday to get a $50 GC for $45 and the guy in the store capped me at 1…. Absolute f’n waist of my time to drive there and back.

 

[tx911]

I can’t find enough GC deals that really move the needle (capped) and aren’t a complete PITA that take up a ton of my time (which has value) based on my level of dues. ($20k ish)

I drove out to a Best Buy yesterday to get a $50 GC for $45 and the guy in the store capped me at 1…. Absolute f’n waist of my time to drive there and back.

I’m with you for the most part. I try to grab a few when the 10% discounts start showing up around this time.

Otherwise I’m content with the 5% off routinely available at Sam’s.

I don’t use them for dues, just at the parks. That way my whole trip except flight is “free”

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

Between the Sams, Target, and Paypal deals this year I should end up with about $2400 of DGCs at a 25% discount.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I can’t find enough GC deals that really move the needle (capped) and aren’t a complete PITA that take up a ton of my time (which has value) based on my level of dues. ($20k ish)

I drove out to a Best Buy yesterday to get a $50 GC for $45 and the guy in the store capped me at 1…. Absolute f’n waist of my time to drive there and back.

Yes chasing the small deals is a huge pain. This year I was short but was able to pick up 7k in gift cards within a week without leaving home at a 17.64% savings on that 7k. So I had enough with some to spare. Then I picked up another 3k a couple days ago without leaving home at a 17.4% savings.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I can’t find enough GC deals that really move the needle (capped) and aren’t a complete PITA that take up a ton of my time (which has value) based on my level of dues. ($20k ish)

I drove out to a Best Buy yesterday to get a $50 GC for $45 and the guy in the store capped me at 1…. Absolute f’n waist of my time to drive there and back.

Also want to add I know you are reluctant on the GC thing and it really sucks one of the deals you decide to give a go was a crappy situation for you.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Also want to add I know you are reluctant on the GC thing and it really sucks one of the deals you decide to give a go was a crappy situation for you.

I do the target red card thing and was able to use the bonus circle $10 target GC for every Disney $100 GC purchased up to 10 to buy some Christmas presents this year.

It’s just that I put in a lot of cognitively intense hours at work and my stress level reservoir for having to do other things that offer little benefit vs the time spent is pretty low. Really…. what is my mental health worth in my non-working hours and how much non mandatory stress and I willing to accept for a given dollar amount.

Throwing money in a high yield money market and having a direct debit… easy.

Buying $500 target gift cards for $475… easy.

Lots of little $10, $25, and $50 gift cards and going through all sorts of hoops to save in $1, $2.5, and $5 increments… PITA…

 

[VGCgroupie]

I do the target red card thing and was able to use the bonus circle $10 target GC for every Disney $100 GC purchased up to 10 to buy some Christmas presents this year.

It’s just that I put in a lot of cognitively intense hours at work and my stress level reservoir for having to do other things that offer little benefit vs the time spent is pretty low. Really…. what is my mental health worth in my non-working hours and how much non mandatory stress and I willing to accept for a given dollar amount.

Throwing money in a high yield money market and having a direct debit… easy.

Buying $500 target gift cards for $475… easy.

Lots of little $10, $25, and $50 gift cards and going through all sorts of hoops to save in $1, $2.5, and $5 increments… PITA…

Yeah it is. I have slowed down on picking up the small deals of $50 etc. The recent large deals have been really great and easy. But you can always just pay dues monthly and if you see an easy to get deal use those cards for expenses while at Disney. We seem to spend minimum of 1k every trip, most are more like 2500.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yeah it is. I have slowed down on picking up the small deals of $50 etc. The recent large deals have been really great and easy. But you can always just pay dues monthly and if you see an easy to get deal use those cards for expenses while at Disney. We seem to spend minimum of 1k every trip, most are more like 2500.

Yup, that’s where I have landed.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I can’t find enough GC deals that really move the needle (capped) and aren’t a complete PITA that take up a ton of my time (which has value) based on my level of dues. ($20k ish)

I drove out to a Best Buy yesterday to get a $50 GC for $45 and the guy in the store capped me at 1…. Absolute f’n waist of my time to drive there and back.

I fainted when I saw your dues. When I told my husband our dues were $3500 he was like "YEESH." So I'll tell him yours to make him feel better.

I don't care to put much mental energy into deal hunting either. I just go with the 5% off using my Target Red Card. I pay my CC bill at the beginning of the month. Then I immediately go onto the Target site and buy a couple $200 e-gift cards for that billing cycle. Then go to the disney GC website to transfer the balance onto one of the physical Disney GCs I have. You can only have $1000 on each card. So I currently have 4 physical cards. I ended up with three full cards and one with $500 on it. Just went online and paid dues with them and that it was. It was basically like I paid monthly, in a way. And now I'll start back up again for 2026.

Yes chasing the small deals is a huge pain. This year I was short but was able to pick up 7k in gift cards within a week without leaving home at a 17.64% savings on that 7k. So I had enough with some to spare. Then I picked up another 3k a couple days ago without leaving home at a 17.4% savings.

So are you just buying gift cards for other places and then considering that as savings towards your dues? Or are those actual Disney gift cards you use to pay for your dues?

 

[VGCgroupie]

I fainted when I saw your dues. When I told my husband our dues were $3500 he was like "YEESH." So I'll tell him yours to make him feel better.

I don't care to put much mental energy into deal hunting either. I just go with the 5% off using my Target Red Card. I pay my CC bill at the beginning of the month. Then I immediately go onto the Target site and buy a couple $200 e-gift cards for that billing cycle. Then go to the disney GC website to transfer the balance onto one of the physical Disney GCs I have. You can only have $1000 on each card. So I currently have 4 physical cards. I ended up with three full cards and one with $500 on it. Just went online and paid dues with them and that it was. It was basically like I paid monthly, in a way. And now I'll start back up again for 2026.



So are you just buying gift cards for other places and then considering that as savings towards your dues? Or are those actual Disney gift cards you use to pay for your dues?

Actual Disney gift cards I buy to pay my dues. The recent large lump sum offers was from gift cards . Com who was having a sale for 10% off plus I had 5% cashback for that store on my chase credit cards, then I also used cashback portals all stacked for the total savings.