Thinking about buying resale GCV again…

[Woody and Buzz]

I am thinking about buying resale GCV DVC again. I have been researching DVC for the last couple of years, but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I know if I ever buy into DVC, I want GCV because we live in northern California and will spend most of our time at DL.


My family & I take around 3-4 trips a year to DL (wife & 8 year old twins). Usually the trips last 3-4 days each trip. We bought annual passes in 2013 and renew them every year or every other year. I like to plan our big DL trips well in advance because it makes it easier on our work schedule and then the kids school schedule. We are going to Hawaii this summer 2016, not staying at Aulani but staying at the Beach Villas at Ko Olina. The wife does want to check out Aulani while we are there but I am thinking of sitting and talking with a cast member about DVC.


The reason I bring up Hawaii is because we plan to take 2017 off for Disneyland because of our trip to Hawaii and plan to go to WDW sometime in 2018. So if I buy GCV in late 2016 or early 2017, I could use my points for our WDW trip and then plan DL trips according to our travel times.


Does this make any sense or am I just trying to justify DVC for my family & I? When we usually go to DL, we stay at a good neighbor hotel or on site. We have not stayed on site the last couple of years because we saving for Hawaii and then WDW. I know about the new changes that went into effect last week with buying a resale contract, but that does not really matter. If I buy resale, it is to stay at GCV or anyone resort at WDW.


Please any thoughts, good or bad will be much appreciated.

 

[Supplanter]

Sounds like you're justifying, but we all do hahaha. Certainly there are cheaper ways to travel so at some point it is just a decision that you want to do it and that's good enough imo. Good luck!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I am thinking about buying resale GCV DVC again. I have been researching DVC for the last couple of years, but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I know if I ever buy into DVC, I want GCV because we live in northern California and will spend most of our time at DL.


My family & I take around 3-4 trips a year to DL (wife & 8 year old twins). Usually the trips last 3-4 days each trip. We bought annual passes in 2013 and renew them every year or every other year. I like to plan our big DL trips well in advance because it makes it easier on our work schedule and then the kids school schedule. We are going to Hawaii this summer 2016, not staying at Aulani but staying at the Beach Villas at Ko Olina. The wife does want to check out Aulani while we are there but I am thinking of sitting and talking with a cast member about DVC.


The reason I bring up Hawaii is because we plan to take 2017 off for Disneyland because of our trip to Hawaii and plan to go to WDW sometime in 2018. So if I buy GCV in late 2016 or early 2017, I could use my points for our WDW trip and then plan DL trips according to our travel times.


Does this make any sense or am I just trying to justify DVC for my family & I? When we usually go to DL, we stay at a good neighbor hotel or on site. We have not stayed on site the last couple of years because we saving for Hawaii and then WDW. I know about the new changes that went into effect last week with buying a resale contract, but that does not really matter. If I buy resale, it is to stay at GCV or anyone resort at WDW.


Please any thoughts, good or bad will be much appreciated.

We are new BLT owners with our first WDW trip planned in January. We also live in Northern California and are considering adding on some VGC points. We are going to stay at the Grand Californian Hotel in September to give it a test run before we decide on buying it, and hopefully the price will come down a bit over the next few months with all the changes.

Looking at it from a research point of view (without firsthand experience), my gut is that a DVC membership is more worth it for WDW trips than DLR trips. For me personally, anyway, proximity to the parks is the main reason I want to stay on-site. At Disney World, BLT is a lot closer to MK than really anything else, and there is no off-site hotel that could even come close.

The off-site hotels at DLR are pretty darn close, as you already know, I found this link that Jerryp49 posted on a different thread that I found interesting.

https://www.mouseplanet.com/7280/How_Far_Is_It

The gist of it is that the off-site hotels are pretty close the the park.

VGC is also a pretty expensive resort, not just in terms of $/point but also points required per room. VGC is approximately $145 per point now, and a studio for a week at the lowest season is 129 points, compared to say Boardwalk Villas which is 106 or Animal Kingdom which is 69 per week. The cost for WDW DVC resorts is much lower.

Of course, it's not just about distance to the park, it's also about the "bubble." Many (most?) posters don't seem to think that the bubble at DLR is worth it (as compared to the WDW bubble).

All that being said, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law recently stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for a week, and they loved it and can't wait to go back. They said they definitely felt the bubble and thought that it was totally worth it.

Also, when we were planning our DLR trip in September, we need at least a 1-bedroom suite. The Best Western suite at $199 per night vs Disneyland Hotel 1-bedroom suite at $541/night vs Grand Californian Hotel at $736. GCV unfortunately was booked, but at 31 points/night (Adventure Season) and renting points at $13 per point (we used up all our points for our January trip) would have been about $400 per night for a 1-bedroom villa (though if you own, the ultimate cost would be cheaper than that, assuming that you use all your points). I showed the options to my wife, and she said "I want the bubble" and immediately crossed of Best Western as an option and ultimately decided to splurge and try the Grand Californian.

tl;dr From a strictly dollars/cents point of view, DVC membership for VGC at Disneyland seems questionable due to the abundant off-site options, especially when compared to the WDW resorts, but who cares we will probably buy VGC anyway

 

[ScubaCat]

We just did DL a couple of weeks ago, stayed at the Embassy Suites. For me, I'd be hard pressed to justify the cost to stay on property there. The Embassy Suites was like 2 blocks away, and for $150-$200 a night you get the 2-room suite and full breakfast for everyone. And, the DVC perks helped us because almost EVERYWHERE in DL gives you 10% off as opposed to just certain places in WDW. I guess I shouldn't judge without seeing the property first, but it doesn't seem to be the same advantage compared to our home resort BCV when you factor in walking to Epcot, SAB, etc.

 

[Lauren in NC]

We own at VGC (also Northern CA, visiting DL 2-3 times a year). I don't agree that the logic is much different for DVC in terms of DL vs WDW - for regular hotel goers, yes, but not DVC. We've stayed (and still do stay, if we have a last minute trip) at several off-site hotels. While all the ones we've stayed at were nice, they simply don't compare to a deluxe accommodation at either DL or WDW, and DVC makes the most sense if you prefer staying at deluxe hotels. If you'd be equally as happy staying at Pop Century as the Poly, then DVC probably won't make financial sense to you.

I know you mentioned staying on-site, but have you stayed at the Grand Cal before? With young kids, staying in the bubble is great - restaurants on-site or Downtown Disney just a few steps away, plus the entrance right into DCA! We really enjoyed the theming and the pools as well. We spend a lot of our time in DCA currently, so it was nice to have the hotel close by. It made running back to the room for a nap or to pick something up much easier.

Cons - it's $$$, and one of the most expensive per point. We bought when it was much lower than it is now. Our annual outlay for dues is less than what we used to pay to stay off-site for one of our trips, which is nice, but we did still have to fork over the upfront cost. Using the $$$ VGC points to stay at a WDW resort or Aulani may not be the most cost efficient depending on what resort you get - I've heard it recommended to rent those points out (since the VGC points in the 11-7 month range command a premium) and then use that cash to either rent a DVC reservation or book a normal room. More work, but some people even end up with a little extra to pay for a dining plan or extra souvenirs.

 

[Woody and Buzz]

Thank you all for your insight and information.

 

[rangermom]

One of our contracts is with VGC and we have owned there since before the villas opened. When we bought we lived in NJ about to move to AZ, but now we live in SOCAL with annual passes. That being said I have only stayed there 3 times in the last 7 years. This is usually due to availability. We don't usually book our DL trips 11 months in advance so availability for a family of 5 can be difficult to find. Sometimes, well actually a lot of times, it is less points for us to book a room (sleeps 5) at PPH or DLH (which is our favorite). I'm all about booking with least amount of points so we can have more trips. Plus,since we are so close we are only stay for a few days so we can deal with a smaller room. I'm in the process of booking our hotel for the Super Heroes RunDisney weekend. Last year we stayed at the DLH and loved the closeness to the starting line and expo. There is a one-bedroom available at VGC, but I think we might still book at the DLH for proximity and cheaper points.

Since we bought directly through Disney we are still able to book the Disney Collection. At the DL the $95 fee to book the Disney Collections is waived. We like staying in the "bubble" and we know that it is not always the best use of points to stay at the Disney collection but it works for us. I'm not going to go through the trouble of renting my points outs to pay out of pocket. We have already reached the point where we have gotten more out of our DVC than we have put in financially. If purchasing resale means you can not use your points on the Disney Collection at DL, I know for us it would not be worth it.

Other people may see this differently but this is our experience on how we have used our points. We need the flexibility that resale no longer offers for us to really use our points at DL. Hope this helps.