WOW! It sure takes alot of points to stay at the Grand Califonia Resort

[Farmboy90]

I agree with these points..and my issue is..if they anticipated all this why raise the maximum founder's could purchase? The 160 was fair and would certainly have allowed other members a chance to purchase. As of 1 day before sales started, my guide told me the maximum had not changed. I'm confused why they would do this. I would have bought in at DLR to get a shot at this, but I don't want or need that many points, nor can I justify or afford a full WDW contract plus a VGC add on of the amount I want. This whole thing was handled very badly. I purposely bought my OKW resale to get into the membership with the understanding that founders would have a 160 point limit, and hoping existing members would have a shot beofre the general public. The Grand is my favorite place and if it sells out, then I guess I'll just wait for resales but the whole thing has been handled poorly considering the anticipation of this resort.
Just my .02

This is precisely my issue with all of this. My guide all but promised there would be points available. She even mentioned the 160 pt limit. She even has a license to sell in California, so I bought from her! But since she wasn't physically sitting in DL at the time, I was denied founding member status the day after buying my SSR points. It will be a real shame if I can't grab 160pts somehow.

Why doesn't a founding member--who hasn't bought their 500 pt limit-- buy another contract for 160pts and then sell it to me right after they get it? I will pay full price for it.

 

[bethy]

Believe me, if I had the extra money sitting around I would be buying 500 points as an investment for sure. But we just don't have the liquidity. I still think there will be points leftover even if 1/4 of the ponts are already sold. I think most everyone anxious to spend a bunch of cash on this has already called. I bet the pace will slow down over the coming weeks - this is the biggest rush that will happen.

Now. Even if there are points left over I'm not sure there will be enough for everyone who wants them. If I were in that position then my next concern would be how to make sure I was at the top of some guide's list to get the points I need before someone else does.

I agree it would be unfair not to offer the general DVC membership a shot before the general public.

Also I imagine the Founding members program is a recruiting tool and job incentive for the CA guides. They now get their shot at earning cash on these sales. I think that selling WDW properties only up until now must have been a tough sell. If DVC wanted kiosks and sales offices in DLR then they needed to be able to hire and keep the guides to make that happen.

 

[nuts]

I can't comment on other folks' "sources", but my direct source says that 25% sold is way over exaggerated. However, she would not divulge the actual numbers. There will still be points after the founder period is over.

 

[nunzia]

I can't comment on other folks' "sources", but my direct source says that 25% sold is way over exaggerated. However, she would not divulge the actual numbers. There will still be points after the founder period is over.

I like that answer
That said, my guide has me on a 'list' and will do pre sale stuff mid Feb (if anything is left) Of course..now I want more points than I originally told him..but think I'm set on 125..hopefully.

 

[toocherie]

Believe me, if I had the extra money sitting around I would be buying 500 points as an investment for sure. But we just don't have the liquidity. I still think there will be points leftover even if 1/4 of the ponts are already sold. I think most everyone anxious to spend a bunch of cash on this has already called. I bet the pace will slow down over the coming weeks - this is the biggest rush that will happen.

I agree that the biggest flurry of activity will have happened already--those of us who are founding members have had over a month to make a decision on whether to buy or not (although I'm sure there are a few on the fence with the point chart changes, minimum point changes, etc.). I think the next big flurry will be right before the founding member period closes on March 26th (interestingly, the day I leave to go to wDW on some of my DPs!).

Then, hopefully there will be points available and they will offer them to the non-founding DVC members first --at least for 30 days or so--before going on sale to the public. I think the points will sell out at that point.

I think I had calculated at some point or read here on the Dis that there were 880,000 points available I think? At an average of 200 points per buyer that would be only 4,400 contracts. Even at an average of 100 points it would only be 8,800 contracts. (And obviously it's an average of over 100 points with the minimum.) I've got to think there are at least 4,400 - 8,800 members between the Founding Member and non-Founding Member programs that would want to buy--even in today's economy.

I like that answer
That said, my guide has me on a 'list' and will do pre sale stuff mid Feb (if anything is left) Of course..now I want more points than I originally told him..but think I'm set on 125..hopefully.

I would be calling your guide regularly to make sure you are on top of his list.

 

[kikiq]

Why doesn't a founding member--who hasn't bought their 500 pt limit-- buy another contract for 160pts and then sell it to me right after they get it? I will pay full price for it.

Here's one founding member who is not buying in. If I was a tenured teacher, I MIGHT consider it, but since I don't know whether I'll have a fulltime position next year, we are going to wait. Personally I think there will be points left.

 

[bookswin]

How do you feel about this? I am a little put off by the point chart and feel the amount of points needed to stay there should be in line with the other resorts. This resort seems to require almost double the amount of points. Who knows how many points will be needed to stay at the Hawaii resort.

Sound off here...

The thing is, this is a REALLY NICE PROPERTY. The existing GC is gorgeous.

Rack rates there are above $400 for the regular hotel rooms sometimes. And to that you have to add 15% hotel tax, which is included in the points chart already.

If SSR is worth 12 points for a Sun-Thurs studio in January 2010, then 15 for the VGC in January (seen on a preliminary chart [http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=770&Itemid=162], since I don't see one at dvcmember.com right now) is a bargain, as are the VGC studio points for April 19-June 28 (17 for Sun-Thurs) vs. 14-15 for SSR.

So I don't consider it out of line.

Not sure whether I am buying, but at certain times of year you will surely have to be a VGC owner to get a reservation.

 

[Bob Price]

What on earth makes you think that this will be the only DVC in California? It is widely known that Disney has been in long term negotiations to manage the hotels to be built at Garden Walk plus with plans to rebuild the DLH and ALOT more land in and around the existing two gates, it befuddles me why anyone would think this will be Disney's only DVC property.QUOTE]

Wow, I didn't know this.

 

[Bob Price]

Why doesn't a founding member--who hasn't bought their 500 pt limit-- buy another contract for 160pts and then sell it to me right after they get it? I will pay full price for it.

How about a little somethin for the effort?

 

[bethy]

The thing is, this is a REALLY NICE PROPERTY. The existing GC is gorgeous.

Rack rates there are above $400 for the regular hotel rooms sometimes. And to that you have to add 15% hotel tax, which is included in the points chart already.

If SSR is worth 12 points for a Sun-Thurs studio in January, then 15 for the VGC (seen on a preliminary chart, since I don't see one at dvcmember.com right now) is the biggest bargain in history.

So I don't consider it out of line.

As far as I recall, rack rate is always above $400 per night year round for a standard room. Maybe it comes down to $385 but usually it's $450. Historically the hotel has been 90% booked at those rates. Now yes, especially right now there are discounts to be had. Now you can sometimes get a room for a mere $200- something. Before the economy went south I never saw those AP discounts happening during summer or Christmas or Spring Break for example but we'll see what happens. Anyway, on top of the rack rater and 15% hotel tax is also a $12 per night resort fee that you don't have to pay if you are using points.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

What on earth makes you think that this will be the only DVC in California? It is widely known that Disney has been in long term negotiations to manage the hotels to be built at Garden Walk plus with plans to rebuild the DLH and ALOT more land in and around the existing two gates, it befuddles me why anyone would think this will be Disney's only DVC property.QUOTE]

Wow, I didn't know this.

While Disney announced its interest in building something at GardenWalk in 2007, I think those palns were put on hold last year due to the economy. -- Suzanne

 

[Grumpygrandpa]

What on earth makes you think that this will be the only DVC in California? It is widely known that Disney has been in long term negotiations to manage the hotels to be built at Garden Walk plus with plans to rebuild the DLH and ALOT more land in and around the existing two gates, it befuddles me why anyone would think this will be Disney's only DVC property.QUOTE]

Wow, I didn't know this.

There may be other DL DVCs. I'm sure that will will do something at DLH. But none them will be the Grand. The Grand is stunning but it's best feature is it's location. No new DVC's will be able to compete with that. I don't think they will convert more of the Grand to DVC like they did at the AKL. There is too much demand for the rooms on a cash basis IMHO.

 

[nunzia]

There may be other DL DVCs. I'm sure that will will do something at DLH. But none them will be the Grand. The Grand is stunning but it's best feature is it's location. No new DVC's will be able to compete with that. I don't think they will convert more of the Grand to DVC like they did at the AKL. There is too much demand for the rooms on a cash basis IMHO.

I agree..which is why I will cry if they sell out before I get mine