VGC at 7 months

[Raven01]

We are on the East Coast, and in a couple of years I would love to fly to California, then to Hawaii.

I know VGC is next to impossible to book. What month would give me the best chance of stringing together 2-3 days? Weekdays or weekends?

Would renting VGC points be easier?

 

[Bing Showei]

VGC has only 23 2BR lockoffs that yield studios and 1BRs. 23 dedicated 2BRs and 2 GVs.

At exactly the 7-month mark it’s slim pickings; random days here and there mostly; true even of 1BRs. At 7-month +1 day, there’s nothing. This is largely true year round.

Given the trip is going to be a bigger part of a HI trip, your dates may not be as flexible as a dedicated trip to DLR, so renting from a VGC owner will be your best option.

 

[Raven01]

How hard is it to rent?

 

[Sandisw]

The only way to rent to increase odds would be to find someone who owns there so they can try and book 11 months out.

 

[Frederic Civish]

How hard is it to rent?

The only way to rent to increase odds would be to find someone who owns there so they can try and book 11 months out.

I don't own at Grand Californian, but I have seriously considered buying a contract there because it is such an amazing place. And very difficult to get into, unless you own there.

I have done DVC at Grand Californian, but I literally had to stalk the boards like never before, AND try every morning at 8 AM to pick up SOMETHING. I once got a 2 bedroom for 2 days. It is possible to pick up one bedrooms once in a while, but rarely continuous days.

I have stayed in hotel rooms at Grand Californian that were marvelous, but 2 rooms for 3 days literally runs to over $5000.

I have used DVC points through the Disney Collection and it got me rooms but is WAY TOO POINT INTENSIVE and I have decided to never do that again.

If I really want to stay in Grand Californian, in the future, and I have the time, then I will try to stalk the boards to find a Grand Californian owner who is either willing to trade me points, or trade me reservations, such as an 11 month reservation at BLT for an 11 month reservation at VGC (both types of trades with VGC owners seems unlikely, but I DO have some good points of my own,) or find someone who can rent me points, probably at a significant premium, and then I will rent out my own points from Poly, BLT or AKL to get the money to pay the Grand Californian owner. I suggest you might want to try this strategy.

 

[JETSDAD]

We're planning the same type of trip for Spring 2021 so rented out some of our points and plan to rent from an owner there at 11 months. As much as I think we do pretty good playing the game at 7 months this is one that wouldn't have the same sort of flexibility.

 

[Raven01]

Makes me wonder if I should just get a hotel for such a short stay. The goal is twofold - see Disneyland and break up a long flight to Hawaii. Would 2 full days be enough for Disneyland?

 

[Frederic Civish]

Their hotel rooms are extremely expensive at Grand Californian. But, if you do get one, request a room that overlooks the Brisa Courtyard and is near the lobby. It is also amazing to be able to walk right out of your hotel room, and straight into the park - California Adventure. So far, Grand Californian is the only Disney hotel that does this.

A bit cheaper is Disneyland Hotel, and even a bit lower than that is Paradise Pier. I don't think Paradise Pier has a single thing to recommend it. I have stayed there and been somewhat disappointed. If I was going to stay in a Disney hotel, I would probably spring the few extra bucks for the Disneyland Hotel. However, a truly better option might be one of the hotels right across the street, to the east, across Harbor Drive. Or even down the street on Harbor Drive, a bit. Just make sure that if you stay at a hotel down the street, farther south than Candy Cane Inn, that you get ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) bus tickets and that there is a stop right outside your hotel.

You can ALWAYS spend more time at Disneyland. There is a lot to see and do, BUT, 2 days IS enough to see and do most of the things you want at Disneyland. Spend 1 day in each park. Go commando (I'm not talking about underwear). Be there, through security and through the ticket gate, at Rope Drop. AND, buy the MaxPass option and learn to use it. You will be able to get almost everything you want. But only if you start early early early in the morning. Better to be at the parks from Rope Drop until noon, than from Noon until closing. My preferred length of stay is 4 or 5 days, but truthfully, you do start to feel like you are repeating things on the 3rd day.

 

[Minniesgal]

If it is only a night or so just book a room hotel side through the concierge collection

 

[CanadaDisney05]

I'd skip DVC, and just pay OOP for an offsite hotel. There are plenty that are within a 5 to 10 minute walk of the parks. I prefer 4 to 5 days, but you can definitely see more than the highlights in 2 to 3 days.

 

[justadreamaway77]

We stayed at the Tropicana two years back. Clean rooms and the walk to the parks was the same as walking from BLT to Magic Kingdom. Price couldn't be beat, $139 a night! We stayed for four days and were a bit bored. Two days covered everything (we had maxpass), the third and fourth day we left the parks to check out other stuff like Trader Sam's and the lounge in Grand California.

 

[Raven01]

I’ve got resale, so no RCI! I like the idea of an offsite hotel. I think Disneyland is very different from what I’m used to at WDW!

 

[crvetter]

I’ve got resale, so no RCI! I like the idea of an offsite hotel. I think Disneyland is very different from what I’m used to at WDW!

Resale has RCI. What resale doesn’t get is the Concierge or Disney Collection (which allows you to exchange into disneyland hotels) or access to adventures by Disney or disney cruise line.

 

[eMoneyBug]

Just stalk + waitlist, to increase your chances, you can find sometimes as being a SoCal local, I’ve used points at GC plenty of times on weekends

 

[Raven01]

Resale has RCI. What resale doesn’t get is the Concierge or Disney Collection (which allows you to exchange into disneyland hotels) or access to adventures by Disney or disney cruise line.

Is this correct? I should note I bought resale in 2019, after the latest rounds of restrictions. Can I trade into RCI?

 

[JETSDAD]

Is this correct? I should note I bought resale in 2019, after the latest rounds of restrictions. Can I trade into RCI?

Yes, everybody can trade into RCI.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Makes me wonder if I should just get a hotel for such a short stay. The goal is twofold - see Disneyland and break up a long flight to Hawaii. Would 2 full days be enough for Disneyland?

Yes, 2 full days would be an adequate amount of time. I'd also suggest paying the money to stay onsite because you will get early entrance to the park both mornings. In DCA, you can pretty much hit all the headliners within the first 2 hours of park opening when you use the early entrance benefit of staying onsite.

Don't trade in RCI for a 2 nights stay. The RCI "resorts" are significant trade downs from what you own and they are not as close as similar lodging that you'll pay cash for.

I'd try my luck in this order:
Rent VGC for the nights you want to go
Pay for a cash reservation at one of the Disney Hotels onsite
Pay cash for a "hotel" on Harbor Blvd (these are more like motels, but labeled as hotels) and there are many within walking distance. CandyCane Inn also has a shuttle that goes back and forth every 30 minutes.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We were able to get 4 nights in a 1-bedroom at Grand Californian this past January. It was a Tuesday-Saturday, if I remember correctly. 3 of the nights I just happened to see on the website one day in early December, and the 4th came through as a waitlist on New Year's Eve.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

One Bedroom is prob our only real shot. Rentals are $20 per point on many of the rent pages which makes sense. We had a lot of success with two beds for a few years and then nothing for the last 18 mos so we gave up and bought in. Doesn't mean you cant get in if you're willing to stalk and be flexible which wont be the case if you are attaching to another trip. There is no where like it but that doesn't mean you can't have a wonderful stay at a good neighbor hotel. The area is nothing like WDW Resort. There are few lines of Marriott just outside the gates. The Courtyard has a water park style pool. Most have free breakfast and all have shuttles.

 

[RedVines2001]

Just to give you a ray of hope, i was able to get two nights at VGC at 7months in a studio last April during spring break. I literally sat at my computer with multiple windows open to the DVC website and clicked book when it turned 5am (west coast). It was a very stressful experience. I bought a VGC contract shortly after that. If your dates are flexible and you're a morning person I'd just stalk the reservation page everyday at 8am and hope you get lucky.