Using DVC points for non-DVC Disney Resort

Tanya Tink

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Has anyone used DVC points to stay at a non-DVC resort, such as the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel? Does anyone have a points chart for these resorts? Also, is there a fee for using points for these resorts rather than for a DVC Resort?
 
Has anyone used DVC points to stay at a non-DVC resort, such as the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel? Does anyone have a points chart for these resorts? Also, is there a fee for using points for these resorts rather than for a DVC Resort?

Yes but it was years ago and the point requirements were less. For WDW resorts there's a $95 fee anytime you book or make a change when using points at a Disney hotel. Disneyland hotels though do not have that fee. Once you use the points to book they become Reservation Points and if you were to cancel cannot be use to book a DVC resort. They will stay Reservation points and would have to be used to book in the Disney collection or to trade out to the World Collection.

Also - you have to have either purchased points direct or have purchased them prior to the 2011 resale changes to book into one of the Disney hotels.
 


The exchange rate is also awful. You are much better off renting out your points and then just using the cash to book a hotel room directly.
Paradise Pier looks reasonable enough for a point exchange compared to cash prices. I've been considering a Disneyland trip, but you know how hard the villas are to get into at 7 months out...

Remember though, your points have to be eligible, purchased direct or purchased resale before the Disney Collection benefit cut off date.
 
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Paradise Pier looks reasonable enough for a point exchange compared to cash prices. I've been considering a Disneyland trip, but you know how hard the villas are to get into at 7 months out...

Remember though, your points have to be eligible, purchased direct or purchase resale before the Disney Collection benefit cut off date.

Yeah I suppose the word "awful" doesn't apply there. 49 points for a Polynesian room obviously does. Doing a quick comparison of May 15-17th as a sample stay, they value DVC points as being worth just over $12 for Paradise Pier. You could still get more renting them out and buying in with cash, especially if any discount is offered, but not a huge amount more like you could elsewhere. If I remember right, the cruises value your points as being worth something like $7.20 each.
 


Has anyone used DVC points to stay at a non-DVC resort, such as the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel? Does anyone have a points chart for these resorts? Also, is there a fee for using points for these resorts rather than for a DVC Resort?
Howdy! and Welcome to the Disboards forums for DVC!

The link in post #3, above, will help you find the point charts. Once you click on that link, scroll down to the resort of interest, such as Paradise Pier, and find the specific link "View Points Chart" for that specific destination. The charts are different year by year and can be downloaded as PDF.
  • If using DVC points w/in the collection of native DVC resorts, there is no fee.
  • If using DVC points for the Disney Collection (Disney hotels and Cruises) there is a $95 fee per reservation except for the resorts/hotels in California.
  • If using DVC points for the Concierge Collection (a hand-selected list of non-Disney hotels), the $95 fee applies.
  • If using DVC points for the World Collection (timeshare exchanges through RCI), the $95 fee applies but has been waived for a promotional period.
Note @KAT4DISNEY and @Chuck S provide important pointers regarding eligibility and cancellations.

FWIW, we've used our DVC points, many years ago, for stays at the Grand Californian Hotel before DVC was added to that location. We've also used them to book two short DCL Cruises. Using for the Disney Hotels was easy ... a bit less so for the cruises as you must go through DVC <> DCL to make changes. It added a layer of communication that I found cumbersome and somewhat unreliable.

Most here will say, "Use your DVC points for stays at DVC resorts." (Note the period.) There are no savings to be found by staying in a "normal hotel room" using DVC points.

Best wishes with your research!
 
Doing a quick comparison of May 15-17th as a sample stay, they value DVC points as being worth just over $12 for Paradise Pier. You could still get more renting them out...

Just keep in mind that rental income is taxable...
 
Thank you all for the info!! My reasoning for looking into using DVC points for those other hotels is because I’ve heard from some people that their kids like staying at Disneyland hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel better than Grand Californian, probably because they have more of a Disney theme that kids love. Also, I’m assuming rooms at those places would have better availability than the rooms/villas at Grand Californian?? Anyone else have any thoughts on all this??
 
Thank you all for the info!! My reasoning for looking into using DVC points for those other hotels is because I’ve heard from some people that their kids like staying at Disneyland hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel better than Grand Californian, probably because they have more of a Disney theme that kids love. Also, I’m assuming rooms at those places would have better availability than the rooms/villas at Grand Californian?? Anyone else have any thoughts on all this??

DVC doesn't control the inventory that there is access to for the hotels so there may or may not be more inventory. It just depends on what the hotels turn over for trades. As for the other - kids I've seen at GC/VGC seem to be having a mighty good time too! haha

I've stayed in all 3 hotels. I have no complaints about any of them but I'd have a complaint over paying more for PP or DLH if I could get VGC for less. It sounds like you don't own there though so there may be an issue in booking it at 7 months although it is possible to do that. You also could rent your points out and pay cash for one of the other locations vs trading in. It will give you the most flexibility and the value of trading into one of the hotels is not as good as booking at VGC.
 
Thank you all for the info!! My reasoning for looking into using DVC points for those other hotels is because I’ve heard from some people that their kids like staying at Disneyland hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel better than Grand Californian, probably because they have more of a Disney theme that kids love. Also, I’m assuming rooms at those places would have better availability than the rooms/villas at Grand Californian?? Anyone else have any thoughts on all this??

I like PPH more than the other hotels. The Grand is my least favorite. Wiole I have toured the villas I’ve only stayed in a normal room, and it was tiny and dark. POH has big bright rooms, and every single time I’ve stayed there I’ve been upgraded so far. DLH is really decent.
 
Are you sure about this? We have stayed at Paradise Pier before on DVC points. It was a few years ago, so I don't know if this has changed.

That was not correct. You can trade to a non-DVC hotel if there is availability.
 
The exchange rate is also awful. You are much better off renting out your points and then just using the cash to book a hotel room directly.
We have done this for several places in the past. It's also cheaper to do it this way for cruises.
 
DVC doesn't control the inventory that there is access to for the hotels so there may or may not be more inventory. It just depends on what the hotels turn over for trades. As for the other - kids I've seen at GC/VGC seem to be having a mighty good time too! haha

I've stayed in all 3 hotels. I have no complaints about any of them but I'd have a complaint over paying more for PP or DLH if I could get VGC for less. It sounds like you don't own there though so there may be an issue in booking it at 7 months although it is possible to do that. You also could rent your points out and pay cash for one of the other locations vs trading in. It will give you the most flexibility and the value of trading into one of the hotels is not as good as booking at VGC.
We've stayed at all 3 hotels and Villas at the Grand Californian. DH, DD and DS and I all love the GC the best. It's proximity to the parks, Character meals, ect.
 
Grand California is awesome! Availability depends on when you are going. We have always been able to get a 2 br mid-May at 7 months.
 
I have stayed at both The Disneyland Hotel, and Paradise Pier on DVC points, I would not recommend it. It felt like a waste of my points because it takes such a high number of points per night, plus Paradise Pier feels like a glorified Holiday Inn. I have been to Disneyland annually and I recommend staying on Harbour Blvd. as the walk to the gates is actually shorter than from Paradise Pier or the Disneyland Hotel.
 

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