Using DVC in California

[cemeb4dk]

Hi all,

I am in the starting phase of planning our 2012 vacation, its our 10 year anniversary and we are planning on going to Hawaii. We live in the Chicagoland area so I thought of stopping and doing Disneyland for 3 days on the way to Hawaii. We are taking our daughter who will be 6 1/2 at the time.

My question is have any of you used points for a DL Hotel. Thoughts and preferences? It looks to be about 26pts a night for a studio, and was wondering if its worth the point value or just get a close off site hotel.

Also if I am using points ( I have only ever booked at wdw) do I have to wait til the 7 month window I assume and is there any transfer fees.

Thanks in advance

 

[robert@dvcstore]

The Disneyland Hotel is a classic. It is going thru some major renovations right now and I'm not sure of the timeline for completion.

There is a $95 fee to make a reservation at the DL Hotel as it not a DVC resort. You can make your reservations up to 11 months prior to check in.

Happy Anniversary!

Robert

 

[M4travels]

The Disneyland Hotel is a classic. It is going thru some major renovations right now and I'm not sure of the timeline for completion.

There is a $95 fee to make a reservation at the DL Hotel as it not a DVC resort. You can make your reservations up to 11 months prior to check in.

Happy Anniversary!

Robert

Actually, reservations at the Disneyland Hotel and/or Paradise Pier do NOT have the $95 fee attached. It may occur sometime down the line, but not now.


Michael

 

[emlutz23]

We went in 2008 and splurged on a one bedroom suite at the DH (MS had to call for point values) and it was so worth it! Stay on-site, you'll be glad you did.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

We are doing a similar trip this fall, but we are staying at the Grand California Villas on the way out to Hawaii and then on the way back.

We were able to book a studio at VGC at the 7 month mark. We're going in September of 2011 and didn't have any problems, your mileage may vary.

Can't wait! Hope your trip in 2012 works out well too!

 

[robert@dvcstore]

My apologies if I caused any confusion. There is no reservation fee at the Disneyland Resort hotels as Michael said.

Robert

 

[cemeb4dk]

We are doing a similar trip this fall, but we are staying at the Grand California Villas on the way out to Hawaii and then on the way back.

We were able to book a studio at VGC at the 7 month mark. We're going in September of 2011 and didn't have any problems, your mileage may vary.

Can't wait! Hope your trip in 2012 works out well too!

Thanks, we have alot on common both sox fans and live a few minutes apart. I would love to hear your plans even via PM. Especially on how you worked flights, there are no flight schedules as of yet for next Aug 12 yet. So I am just looking for price ideas, I am planning a one way from ohare to lax, then lax to Maui, then a direct flight back. We have gone to WDW so much lately I am at a loss for planning any other trips. LOL

Thanks for your help everyone.

From what I have read some of the good neighbor hotels are closer, I know you can't beat the Disney magic but just trying to put a value on my points if I should drop the 66pts or the $300 or so bucks for the 3 nights hotel. Good thing I have lots of time to plan.

On a side note the reason I am already starting is because our wdw trip this year is a surprise to our daughter in Sept. Doing AKL and vero beach. The wife made me promise no ADR's or anything just going without a plan. So internally its killing me.LOL So i figured why not start on the next trip

 

[stopher1]

From what I have read some of the good neighbor hotels are closer, I know you can't beat the Disney magic but just trying to put a value on my points if I should drop the 66pts or the $300 or so bucks for the 3 nights hotel. Good thing I have lots of time to plan.

The Disneyland Hotel is no further away from the park than the closest Good Neighbor Hotel.

It's rough and crude but here's a drawing without posting a picture (imagine this as a big rectangle - and just like the words, move from left to right. Disneyland is directly to the north of DCA - with a street to the left and right of the parks.)


DL Hotel / street / DISNEYLAND and DCA / street / GNH's


There is a walkway connecting Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel that crosses over that street and it is called Downtown Disney. To get to the various GNH's you have to use a crosswalk, and then turn north or south to continue walking along Harbor Blvd to get to the various hotels / motels with that distinction.

The absolute closest Disney hotel is the Grand Californinan, which is technically inside Disney California Adventure park - and has a wing of the hotel that is actually above the shops of a portion of Downtown Disney. The Grand is a DVC property too - so you could use your points there at the 7 month mark if there is availability.

Of the 3 DL resort hotels - I would rank them VGC/GCH then DLH then Paradise Pier Hotel.

The DL hotel itself is going through a major renovation now, as each tower is being gutted and rebuilt. One of the three towers is complete while the other two are still being worked on. A new pool complex, restaurants and shopping are being added as well. The hotel itself goes back to the mid 1950's shortly after Walt opened Disneyland. The towers were built in the '60's and have reached their functional lifespan.

Staying at GNH's you'll be close - so if the price is right - go for the GNH's. But if you want the DVC experience and to be able to look out over the DCA park (and see parts of the World of Color show from your room) go with VGC. It is the smallest, and IMO the best DVC resort of the entire collection.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Thanks, we have alot on common both sox fans and live a few minutes apart. I would love to hear your plans even via PM. Especially on how you worked flights, there are no flight schedules as of yet for next Aug 12 yet. So I am just looking for price ideas, I am planning a one way from ohare to lax, then lax to Maui, then a direct flight back. We have gone to WDW so much lately I am at a loss for planning any other trips. LOL

Thanks for your help everyone.

From what I have read some of the good neighbor hotels are closer, I know you can't beat the Disney magic but just trying to put a value on my points if I should drop the 66pts or the $300 or so bucks for the 3 nights hotel. Good thing I have lots of time to plan.

On a side note the reason I am already starting is because our wdw trip this year is a surprise to our daughter in Sept. Doing AKL and vero beach. The wife made me promise no ADR's or anything just going without a plan. So internally its killing me.LOL So i figured why not start on the next trip

From your comments, I think you are talking about booking a studio at the Grand Californian Villas, which is 26 points for week nights in August. There is no other hotel in Anaheim closer to the parks than the GCV.

The Disneyland Hotel is a separate hotel, which is a little further away from the parks, although still within a very reasonable walking distance. Less than 2 months after he had a knee replaced, my DH walked from Tomorrowland at DL to the DLH with no problem. For a standard hotel room there for an August stay, points per night start at 34.

The 3rd Disney operated resort at Disneyland is the Paradise Pier hotel. It is closer than some of the rooms at the DLH and further than many others. For a standard hotel room there for an August stay, points per night start at 30.

With the opening of Carsland next summer, I expect it will be very difficult to book a studio at the VGC at the 7 month window. This doesn't mean it is not worth trying, but you may need to have a back-up plan. -- Suzanne

 

[2disneydads]

We were able to get a 2-bedroom unit at VGC less than 7 months in advance for a stay last August. We had a great time - it is a beautiful resort and well worth the point values. Downtown Disney in California is a great location - both hotels (The Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel) are in walking distance of both parks, and the whole Downtown Disney is walkable. There is a nice vibe in the evening, too. The Grand Californian is an incredible complex. Good luck trying to book there - I would say go for it if you can get in.

 

[Anal Annie]

From your comments, I think you are talking about booking a studio at the Grand Californian Villas, which is 26 points for week nights in August. There is no other hotel in Anaheim closer to the parks than the GCV.

The Disneyland Hotel is a separate hotel, which is a little further away from the parks, although still within a very reasonable walking distance. Less than 2 months after he had a knee replaced, my DH walked from Tomorrowland at DL to the DLH with no problem. For a standard hotel room there for an August stay, points per night start at 34.

The 3rd Disney operated resort at Disneyland is the Paradise Pier hotel. It is closer than some of the rooms at the DLH and further than many others. For a standard hotel room there for an August stay, points per night start at 30.

With the opening of Carsland next summer, I expect it will be very difficult to book a studio at the VGC at the 7 month window. This doesn't mean it is not worth trying, but you may need to have a back-up plan. -- Suzanne

We have a similar plan as the OP - planning to go to Aulani and DL in early August of 2012... I was just wondering, when is Carsland expected to open? Have they announced a date yet? I didn't realize it was scheduled for next summer. I would hate to miss that!!! I'm hoping to get into a studio at VGC but figured if we couldn't get in there we'd just take the cheapest DL hotel on points...not the ideal solution BUT could work in a pinch. Probably just go to PP (which is a fine property - we stayed there in 2005). Glad to hear there is no fee to stay at athe other DL properties....

 

[JimmyJam838]

They haven't announced an opening date, but from what I have read, Carsland has a "tentative open date" of June 2012.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

If you can't get into a Disney hotel, we've always enjoyed staying at the Marriott Fairfield Inn across the street. Easy walking distance, nothing fancy, but always up to Marriott's high usual standards of clean and friendly.

 

[mdsd8700]

We have visited DLR 4 times and stayed at all 3 of the DLR hotels. Once on GC hotel side and last year in a 1 bedroom at the VGC. As well as once at the Disneyland Hotel and once at Paradise Pier. As a PP also said I would rank the Grand Californian first, the Disneyland Hotel second and the Paradise Pier third. Although the DL Hotel is a classic and we loved our stay overlooking the downtown area the VGC cannot be beat and our view was amazing overlooking Paradise Pier (could also see WOC). If you can snag a DVC reservation this is where I would recommend. Now with that being said we have never stayed off site so I cannot comment on that and although the "on site" experience in CA is much different than it is in FL, I still would recommend VGC for a complete Disneyland Experience.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I am in the starting phase of planning our 2012 vacation, its our 10 year anniversary and we are planning on going to Hawaii. We live in the Chicagoland area so I thought of stopping and doing Disneyland for 3 days on the way to Hawaii. We are taking our daughter who will be 6 1/2 at the time.

Instead of stopping in California on the way TO Hawaii, consider stopping there on the way back FROM Hawaii.

The big advantage is that you can then take a daytime flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles International and then, several days later, a daytime flight from Los Angeles International (or John Wayne Orange County Airport in Santa Ana) to Chicago.

If you try to fly back from Hawaii to Chicago without laying over on the West Coast, you'll spend a miserable, sleepless night on a red-eye flight (or a connection that includes a red-eye).

Play with flight schedules on a site like Kayak.com and you'll see what I mean.

I highly recommend the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. It's the nicest DVC resort in the whole DVC system. (No, I don't own there, unfortunately.)

 

[JimMIA]

Instead of stopping in California on the way TO Hawaii, consider stopping there on the way back FROM Hawaii.

The big advantage is that you can then take a daytime flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles International and then, several days later, a daytime flight from Los Angeles International (or John Wayne Orange County Airport in Santa Ana) to Chicago.

If you try to fly back from Hawaii to Chicago without laying over on the West Coast, you'll spend a miserable, sleepless night on a red-eye flight (or a connection that includes a red-eye).

Play with flight schedules on a site like Kayak.com and you'll see what I mean.

This is a very good suggestion, and the way we did it our last trip -- except that we stopped at San Francisco on the way back. It prevents returning home from a great vacation exhausted from the flight!

With regard to the online travel sites, I usually find I can do better on the individual company sites for both rental cars and flights. I look on several of the travel sites to get a feel for the pricing, but when I go to the company site, I usually have many more options at the same price as the travel site. And, with many things (car rental, hotels, etc) I don't have to pay up front.

 

[Anal Annie]

Stopping at DL on the way home was my first thought too BUT when we reach our 7 mo. window (Dec 29 for July 29) I am going to try to be flexible with whatever I can get whenever & wherever we can get it. We want to visit Aulani AND DL and the points are much higher at DL on the weekends so I want to go there for about 3 nights between Sun-Thur. One of the things I LIKE about Aulani is that the points are the same across the board so our days of the week there won't matter. So I figured strategically when we reach our 7 mo. window I would try to book VGC on our way to Aulani (starting on a Sunday) and if I can't get that then I would start with Aulani and flip it to try to get VGC or another DL resort on the way home. We will also island hop to Maui (our fav island) after we visit Aulani - so I really don't care if DL is first or last just as long as we can get a studio & as long as it's not weekend dates. I figure if we want to plan both resorts and hope to get in at 7 months we need to be flexible with how we plan it.

As far as I'm concerned the jet lag from the east coast is bad going in either direction so it is what it is. And from a relaxing standpoint doing DL FIRST would get the mad rushing around the parks over with and would make Hawaii more relaxing. Sorta like doing the parks before a cruise rather than after. Since our only other visit to DL was for 3 nights back in 2005 we WILL go commando at DL for the brief time that we have - especially if Carsland is just opened - we know the lines will be horrible...

OH, and out of curiosity I looked at the Disney website to see how they're pricing the hotel side of Aulani because we have some DIS peeps from one of our cruises that want to meet us there (but they don't own DVC). $499 / night incl. tax for a standard view room in September. Add $114 for garden / pool view.... ETC. Kinda makes a small add-on there look pretty good...could pay for itself in about 2 visits!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

With regard to the online travel sites, I usually find I can do better on the individual company sites for both rental cars and flights. I look on several of the travel sites to get a feel for the pricing, but when I go to the company site, I usually have many more options at the same price as the travel site. And, with many things (car rental, hotels, etc) I don't have to pay up front.

My point about using a comparison website (such as http://www.hipmunk.com/ or http://www.kayak.com/) is that it's a great way to get an overview of which airlines provide nonstop and connecting service between two locations, travel times, and price ranges.

When it's time to buy airline tickets, book hotels, and book cars, I use the individual company's own websites.

 

[cemeb4dk]

Thanks for the flight info. I never thought of doing the trip reverse. We are pretty flexible in our planning at this stage, so I will consider all options at this point, my only prerequisite is the first friday we are on vac is Aug3rd and I want to be in Hawaii since thats our 10th wedding anniversary but that will work out either way we plan the trip. I just know its going to be a pricey vacation, going to make our typical 11 day WDW trips seem like a drop in the bucket.

Also I was not aware of the carsland, We only have a 5 year old daughter so Cars is lower on our Disney list.

Thanks again.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

As far as I'm concerned the jet lag from the east coast is bad going in either direction so it is what it is.

To me, there's a big difference between jet lag (from going between distant time zones) and being forced to take an overnight flight because there is no other option between two airports. For long eastbound air travel, overnight flights are often the only choice.

I'm lucky if I can get a hour of sleep on an overnight ("red-eye") flight. I'm miserable the next day.