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

[ClaraOswald]

I haven't been following prices much, but I think it's less expensive to buy VDH direct than VGC resale. I'm glad I have both.

Yes, after incentives, direct VDH drops below $200 per point (as low as around $188 or so if you're buying at least 150 points.) Lately, you'd be lucky to get VGC resale for under $240 per point, I think. More per point for the smaller contracts, of course.

I have found that owning both makes me appreciate each one more in a way that I could not if we were going to the same property every trip.

My husband is worried if we end up buying VDH, we will walk by the Grand Cal entrancing longingly every other trip.

 

[Jperiod]

SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive point charts at certain times of year, Palm Breeze Bar anytime of day and Trader Sam’s at night (where people can actually come visit and you can hear each other having a conversation) , walking around the grounds isn’t a sea of humanity like Grand Cal, the showerheads aren’t disgusting, I don’t have to cross a major road to get to my car, access to Dole Whips on property, they have enough security lanes to get into Downtown Disney, there is actually availability for studios….

Interesting, I guess most of that doesn't apply to or bother us. We only stay in 1 bedrooms and our preferred time is more points at VDH, plus the ToT rate is laughable. Maybe that will change as we become empty nesters but I doubt it since we like king beds. Maybe that's why disney still doesn't put kings in studios, it'd make competition even more fierce!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yes, after incentives, direct VDH drops below $200 per point (as low as around $188 or so if you're buying at least 150 points.) Lately, you'd be lucky to get VGC resale for under $240 per point, I think. More per point for the smaller contracts, of course.



My husband is worried if we end up buying VDH, we will walk buy the Grand Cal entrancing longingly every other trip.

Would $7800 of upfront cash and a 10-20% savings on food and merchandise for the rest of your Disney park going lives help soothe things a bit?

BTW, you can always waitlist VGC @ 7m. Especially the 1BDs as they have the most availability.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Interesting, I guess most of that doesn't apply to or bother us. We only stay in 1 bedrooms and our preferred time is more points at VDH, plus the ToT rate is laughable. Maybe that will change as we become empty nesters but I doubt it since we like king beds. Maybe that's why disney still doesn't put kings in studios, it'd make competition even more fierce!

I don’t stay in studios with the family, just when I take solo trips to LA for work or charitable endeavors.

The 1BD points charts are much better at VDH than VGC for the majority of the year. VGC is better for BDs, IMO.

For 1BD:

Early Jan: VDH 30 points, VGC 62 points
Spring Break: VDH 50 points, VGC 64 points
June: VDH 42 points, VGC 39 points
August: VDH points, VGC 52 points

Also, the teens love to have some downtime in the rooms and my wife and I enjoy dressing up and go out for a date night as long as it’s close by.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Interesting, I guess most of that doesn't apply to or bother us. We only stay in 1 bedrooms and our preferred time is more points at VDH, plus the ToT rate is laughable. Maybe that will change as we become empty nesters but I doubt it since we like king beds. Maybe that's why disney still doesn't put kings in studios, it'd make competition even more fierce!

I was curious how the points charts compare for the months we tend to travel in. I just looked at a 1-week stay in a 1-bedroom to make comparisons easier.

January = VDH is better
February = VGC is better
June = VGC is better
December = VGC is better (but only by 1 point for a weeklong stay.)

So it looks like VGC is mostly better for us. However, I have no idea what months we'll want to travel in as the years go on. I could honestly see is going during just about any month. (Unlike at WDW where we pretty much only travel January/February.)

Would $7800 of upfront cash and a 10-20% savings on food and merchandise for the rest of your Disney park going loves help soothe things a bit?

BTW, you can always waitlist VGC @ 7m. Especially the 1BDs.

I wonder how hard it is to get a waitlist to come through for a 6 or 7 night stay though. I feel like that would be tough.

 

[Jperiod]

After going so many years, we know what times we like best and they're all more at VDH (late may, june, nov & dec). With the added TOT, one might as well take that money and buy VGC.

 

[ClaraOswald]

After going so many years, we know what times we like best and they're all more at VDH (late may, june, nov & dec). With the added TOT, one might as well take that money and buy VGC.

Are we paying tax at VGC too...but it's just already lumped into our dues?

 

[AstroBlasters]

After going so many years, we know what times we like best and they're all more at VDH (late may, june, nov & dec). With the added TOT, one might as well take that money and buy VGC.

If you can find a contract…. There really isn’t any inventory right now.

Also, you asked me why I like staying at VDH in addition to VGC. When you happen to travel doesn’t invalidate the reasons that apply to me.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I was curious how the points charts compare for the months we tend to travel in. I just looked at a 1-week stay in a 1-bedroom to make comparisons easier.

January = VDH is better
February = VGC is better
June = VGC is better
December = VGC is better (but only by 1 point for a weeklong stay.)

So it looks like VGC is mostly better for us. However, I have no idea what months we'll want to travel in as the years go on. I could honestly see is going during just about any month. (Unlike at WDW where we pretty much only travel January/February.)



I wonder how hard it is to get a waitlist to come through for a 6 or 7 night stay though. I feel like that would be tough.

6-7 night waitlist? Oof, I wouldn’t count on that in June and December. Jan and Feb are much lighter times of the year as long as there isn’t an event life RunDisney.

 

[Jperiod]

If you can find a contract…. There really isn’t any inventory right now.

Also, you asked me why I like staying at VDH in addition to VGC. When you happen to travel doesn’t invalidate the reasons that apply to me.

I didn't mean to imply your reasons aren't valid. I asked because I wondered if I was overlooking something. But your reasons don't really apply to us, so I believe our choice not to buy there still makes sense for us. When I first heard they were building VDH, I was sure we would buy, but as more details were revealed, we decided it wasn't a good fit. ClaraOswald sounds like she's waffling between the two resorts, so my comment about buying VGC over TOT was just a pricing opinion that they're not terribly far off from each other when you weigh all the costs.

 

[Jperiod]

Are we paying tax at VGC too...but it's just already lumped into our dues?

Yes, it was negotiated low with Anaheim or something, into our dues. If I remember right.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I didn't mean to imply your reasons aren't valid. I asked because I wondered if I was overlooking something. But your reasons don't really apply to us, so I believe our choice not to buy there still makes sense for us. When I first heard they were building VDH, I was sure we would buy, but as more details were revealed, we decided it wasn't a good fit. ClaraOswald sounds like she's waffling between the two resorts, so my comment about buying VGC over TOT was just a pricing opinion that they're not terribly far off from each other when you weigh all the costs.

I own significantly more points at VGC than I do at VDH, so I’m not saying that VDH is better…. but, by owning both I have options because in some instances VDH is a much better value.

Also, since the amount of VGC resale contracts on the market is down to 2…. It could be significantly more expensive to purchase a smaller contract in a specific UY that it has been over the past year or so.

Also…. the showerheads in VGC really are pretty awful at this point….. someone should take them out and install them in the DVC executive’s homes….

 

[ClaraOswald]

6-7 night waitlist? Oof, I wouldn’t count on that in June and December. Jan and Feb are much lighter times of the year as long as there isn’t an event life RunDisney.

Yeah, that's what I figured, unfortunately. Much easier for people who just like to stay a couple nights...but I don't think that would ever be us. That's why we will only buy VDH if we feel excited enough to want to stay there half the time.

I do think we will eventually want direct points....somewhere. Especially if we want to keep going to WDW after all the 2042 contracts expire. I feel like as time goes on, resale won't be as good of a deal once everything has restrictions, basically.

But I guess that's more of a Future Me problem.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yeah, that's what I figured, unfortunately. Much easier for people who just like to stay a couple nights...but I don't think that would ever be us. That's why we will only buy VDH if we feel excited enough to want to stay there half the time.

I do think we will eventually want direct points....somewhere. Especially if we want to keep going to WDW after all the 2042 contracts expire. I feel like as time goes on, resale won't be as good of a deal once everything has restrictions, basically.

But I guess that's more of a Future Me problem.

You may like Lakeside Lodge…. You seem to like outdoorsy theming…