[2012] Possibly Buying into DVC

So far, the only restrictions on resale owners (and those who bought resale before 3/21/11 are grandfathered/excluded) is that we can't use our points for Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. These are poor redemption values anyway, from what I've read. All other perks are exactly the same.

What is the discount on the AP for DVC members?

Also, is there a discount for the Premier Pass for DVC members?

hypnotiq said:

What is the discount on the AP for DVC members?

Also, is there a discount for the Premier Pass for DVC members?

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No discount for Premier.
The WDW AP used to be $100./off, but I read that the discount is better now after the AP increases.
The DL AP is only $20./off and that is only off of the $649./ pass.

hypnotiq said:

What is the discount on the AP for DVC members?

Also, is there a discount for the Premier Pass for DVC members?

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The discount actually went up recently (at the same time as the latest AP price increase, making just a minimal increase for DVC owners!).

Regular WDW AP: $425 ($149 discount)
Renewal WDW AP: $385 ($149 discount)
Premium WDW AP: $559 ($140 discount)
Renewal WDW AP: $509 ($140 discount)

Deluxe DL AP (315 days): $449 ($20 discount)
Deluxe DL AP with Parking: $578 ($20 discount)
Premium DL AP (no blockout days): $629 ($20 discount)

Premier AP (DL and WDW): no discount

Another (small) factor is that WDW APs have 6.5% sales tax added to them, so a $149 discount is really $158.69. For five of us, we save $793.43 on our APs. The renewal WDW DVC AP rate ($385) isn't much more than a 10 day base ticket ($318 adults, $300 kids).

PearlCity said:

Sigh.. Good to know.. How Many 1 BR units do they have? That's my minimum requirement for Grand Californian. We typically go in October because of the school Schedule in hawaii and a less amount of crowds. I have had friends in the past check for me and usualy there avaiability about 6 months out.. but less than that the rooms get snapped up.

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I think this has changed with the opening of Cars Land. DL has always been viewed as a local park and that is true but there are many WDW fans (East Coasters) who are coming out to visit DL. There is also an influx of DVC owners wanting to book at VGC at the 7 month. For example I have a friend that wanted to visit DL in Feb and one week after the 7 month window opened for February the rooms were booked. Weekends are most popular. I think it has gotten to the point, if you want to stay at VGC as a DVC member, you must own there.

bshmerlie said:

VGC is the nicest resort at Disneyland. The rooms are nice although not super high end. The ambiance of the resort is fantastic. Very Disney. Nice pool with a water slide. There is an entrance that leads directly into California Adventure. Proximity to Downtown Disney is another plus. Its expensive to get to but if you can it is a great resort.

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VGC in my opinion is the nicest of all the DVC resorts.

PearlCity said:

Thanks for the info... We do stay on site or right across the street on harbor. But youre right my needs will change as time goes on. Right now we pay the premium to stay close because my kids are small and we deal a lot with strollers. In five years we van stay farther away at a Homewood suites that has nice enough accomodations with free breakfast and weeknight dinners. When things slow down at work i need to run numbers to see what works for us. Last time i ran numbers was three years ago and buy in.prices were much higher so the numbers didnt work for our family. But timeshare prices have dropped and our family situation has changed such that we will probably always need two regular hotel rooms or a suite when we travel. So being able to book.a one bedroon at vgc and having a kitchen onsite is worth it.


Question out there is there anyone out there that has Dvc points that has been able to book gcv 1 or 2 Br 7 months out...Im pretty sure my friend of a friend checked for us last time and there was availability this past year but it went fast. Im just curious as to what inventory is like.

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Our kids are in college and we still love staying on-site. They love it too!

PearlCity said:

Question out there is there anyone out there that has Dvc points that has been able to book gcv 1 or 2 Br 7 months out...Im pretty sure my friend of a friend checked for us last time and there was availability this past year but it went fast. Im just curious as to what inventory is like.

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Here's what I see online at the moment...

As of today I can book my arrival as far out as February 28, 2013 at any non-home resort.

January & February 2013 online availability at the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Studio (sleeps 4) - Sat Jan 5, Fri Jan 11, Mon Jan 14 thru Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22, Fri Jan 25, Mon Jan 28, Thur Jan 31, Tues Feb 12, Sun Feb 24 thru Thur Feb 28

One Bedroom (sleeps 5) - Fri Jan 4, Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Tues Jan 15, Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22 thru Fri Jan 25, Sun Jan 27, Mon, Jan 28, Wed Jan 30 thru Sat Feb 2, Mon Feb 4 thru Wed Feb 6, Fri Feb 8, Wed Feb 20, Sat Feb 23 thru Thur Feb 28

Two Bedroom dedicated (sleeps 9) - Wed Jan 2 to Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Fri Jan 11, Sun Jan 13 thru Thur Jan 17, Mon Jan 21 thru Fri Feb 15, Fri Feb 22 thru Thurs Feb 28

Three Bedroom (sleeps 12) - Sat Feb 23 thru Thurs Feb 28

Plenty of dedicated two bedrooms. Studio and one bedrooms seem to go first along with the two bedroom lockoff units.
NOTE: Martin Luther King is on Jan 21 and President's Day is on Feb 18.

alwysonvac said:

Here's what I see online at the moment...

As of today I can book my arrival as far out as February 28, 2013 at any non-home resort.

January & February 2013 online availability at the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Studio (sleeps 4) - Sat Jan 5, Fri Jan 11, Mon Jan 14 thru Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22, Fri Jan 25, Mon Jan 28, Thur Jan 31, Tues Feb 12, Sun Feb 24 thru Thur Feb 28

One Bedroom (sleeps 5) - Fri Jan 4, Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Tues Jan 15, Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22 to Fri Jan 25, Sun Jan 27, Mon, Jan 28, Wed Jan 30 to Sat Feb 2, Mon Feb 4 thru Wed Feb 6, Fri Feb 8, Wed Feb 20, Sat Feb 23 thru Thur Feb 28

Two Bedroom dedicated (sleeps 9) - Wed Jan 2 to Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Fri Jan 11, Sun Jan 13 thru Thur Jan 17, Mon Jan 21 thru Fri Feb 15, Fri Feb 22 thru Thurs Feb 28

Three Bedroom (sleeps 12) - Sat Feb 23 thru Thurs Feb 28

Plenty of dedicated two bedrooms. Studio and one bedrooms seem to go first along with the two bedroom lockoff units.
NOTE: Martin Luther King is on Jan 21 and President's Day is on Feb 18.

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I agree, most people want a studio or one bedroom The dates my friend needed for the weekend are not available. They wanted a studio or one bedroom.

PearlCity said:

Thanks for the info... We do stay on site or right across the street on harbor.

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Since you're staying on site, you're probably paying over $1,000 a week for your stay.

I took a look at prices during the Hawaii School Fall Break for 2012 which is Oct 1 thru Oct 5

Mon Oct 1 to Fri Oct 5 (4 night stay)
A Standard View Room for 2 adults and 2 children under 6 for 4 nights range from $1170 to $1848 depending on the onsite Disneyland Resort.
A two bedroom villa for 4 nights at GCV is 184 DVC points @ $10pt = $1,840
A one bedroom villa for 4 nights at GCV is 124 DVC points @ $10pt = $1,240

Sat Sept 29 to Sat Oct 6 (7 night stay)
A Standard View Room for 2 adults and 2 children under 6 for 7 nights range from $2,094 to $3,311 depending on the onsite Disneyland Resort.
A two bedroom villa for 7 nights at GCV is 361 DVC points @ $10pt = $3,610
A one bedroom villa for 7 nights at GCV is 251 DVC points @ $10pt = $2,510

IMHO.....If you really want Ko Olina and Disneyland, perhaps getting a small number of DVC points (no more than 100 DVC points) via resale at one of the cheaper DVC resorts (like Old Key West) might work for you. Disney allows you to bank and borrow and to do a point transfer once each use year (if you decide to rent points from another member) Due to the limited number of units at Disneyland, I would book as close as possible to the 7 month window and avoid major holidays. If you're unable to use your points at Disneyland, you can still use them at Aulani in Ko Olina. And you can always add more DVC points later after you get your feet wet.

If you decide to buy resale, visit the Mouseowners forum for Questions about Buying DVC - http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4 (see Sticky threads at the top of the forum)

Good Luck

luvsvacation22 said:

VGC in my opinion is the nicest of all the DVC resorts.

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From the ones I've seen (everything except BLT, Aulani, HH and VB), I would agree. Of course my opinion might change once I stay at Aulani in September! I kind of dought it, though. Being able to walk right out into California Adventure is pretty awesome.

MichaelColey said:

So far, the only restrictions on resale owners (and those who bought resale before 3/21/11 are grandfathered/excluded) is that we can't use our points for Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. These are poor redemption values anyway, from what I've read. All other perks are exactly the same.

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Does this include not making hotel room reservations at Disneyland? I.e. the regular disneyland resort hotels?

alwysonvac said:

Here's what I see online at the moment...

As of today I can book my arrival as far out as February 28, 2013 at any non-home resort.

January & February 2013 online availability at the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Studio (sleeps 4) - Sat Jan 5, Fri Jan 11, Mon Jan 14 thru Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22, Fri Jan 25, Mon Jan 28, Thur Jan 31, Tues Feb 12, Sun Feb 24 thru Thur Feb 28

One Bedroom (sleeps 5) - Fri Jan 4, Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Tues Jan 15, Wed Jan 16, Tues Jan 22 to Fri Jan 25, Sun Jan 27, Mon, Jan 28, Wed Jan 30 to Sat Feb 2, Mon Feb 4 thru Wed Feb 6, Fri Feb 8, Wed Feb 20, Sat Feb 23 thru Thur Feb 28

Two Bedroom dedicated (sleeps 9) - Wed Jan 2 to Sat Jan 5, Thur Jan 10, Fri Jan 11, Sun Jan 13 thru Thur Jan 17, Mon Jan 21 thru Fri Feb 15, Fri Feb 22 thru Thurs Feb 28

Three Bedroom (sleeps 12) - Sat Feb 23 thru Thurs Feb 28

Plenty of dedicated two bedrooms. Studio and one bedrooms seem to go first along with the two bedroom lockoff units.
NOTE: Martin Luther King is on Jan 21 and President's Day is on Feb 18.

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Thank you for checking for me! I really appreciate it. My co-worker has rented points in the past from her friend who owns Disney in Florida and has been able to book 2 bedroom units at VGC 7 months out for both July and December. but I think she is super "on it" with calling at 7 months out and I never knew what studio or 1 BR availability was like. I really appreciate your help!

PearlCity said:

Does this include not making hotel room reservations at Disneyland? I.e. the regular disneyland resort hotels?

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The DL hotels are part of the Disney collection andbthus not available to resale owners. As Michael said, its a bad use of points. A single night at the grand Californian hotel room is about 50 points.

Yep, awful value.

We got an RCI Exchange into a 2BR VGC earlier this year. One evening while I was at the grills, grilling steak, I visited with a guy at the next grill who was grilling hot dogs. He was a DVC owner, but he didn't book in advance so the only thing available was a hotel stay. He said he was just staying for 3 nights (in a GC hotel room). If it cost him 50 DVC points per night, at $10/point that's $1500 for three nights. My week was 37 TPU (at $10/TPU, plus a $189 exchange fee), so I was paying almost a third of what he paid for over twice as long of a stay, in a full 2BR timeshare. Talk about getting steak at hot dog prices...

Any secrets to snagging an exchange thru RCI at VGC?

You'll need to be extreamly flexible on dates. Most who have had success, have a running search for anyweek of the year. You could also look at RCI points, there have been more sightings of VGC on RCI points. Most likly this is because Points don't have any ongoing searches.

How do folks figure out where to buy? I'd want to stay at VGC or aulani
(Aulani schedule is flexible for us). I know folks say buy where you want to stay but do people really do that? I'm torn between VGC and SSR....SSR just for low buy in and mf.

If you want high demand times, you pretty much should own where you want to stay - to book at 11 months out. If you are flexible, at 7 months you can try for resorts other than your home resort.
I own at SSR and have been able to get reservation wherever I want so far. I have booked the first day at the 7 month mark for Bay Lake Towers and been able to get a stay there, even during Feb school break.
I am happy owning SSR.
JP

JPrisco said:

If you want high demand times, you pretty much should own where you want to stay - to book at 11 months out. If you are flexible, at 7 months you can try for resorts other than your home resort.
I own at SSR and have been able to get reservation wherever I want so far. I have booked the first day at the 7 month mark for Bay Lake Towers and been able to get a stay there, even during Feb school break.
I am happy owning SSR.
JP

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Thanks I think you answered my question I honestly font like Disney during peak times. It's nuts for me with my own kids much less being surrounded by crowds! Since my original post I was going back and forth between Hgvc and dvc. Even though hgvc is cheaper I really think our family will make more use of dvc in the next 10 years...

PearlCity said:

How do folks figure out where to buy? I'd want to stay at VGC or aulani
(Aulani schedule is flexible for us). I know folks say buy where you want to stay but do people really do that? I'm torn between VGC and SSR....SSR just for low buy in and mf.

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VGC is very hard to book at 7 months out. They don't have very many villas and they fill up. You can book it at lower season times for the most part. If you don't buy there, just don't plan on going in the summer or during school holidays.

Aulani has also been hard to book at 7 months out, but it is new. It should be easier to book in the future.

presley said:

VGC is very hard to book at 7 months out. They don't have very many villas and they fill up. You can book it at lower season times for the most part. If you don't buy there, just don't plan on going in the summer or during school holidays.

Aulani has also been hard to book at 7 months out, but it is new. It should be easier to book in the future.

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If I bought a small SSR and found that it doesn't work is it possible to buy a second vgc contract and transfer points between propertoes so I could get the vgc booking priority or do you only get that priority for points associated with that property?

PearlCity said:

If I bought a small SSR and found that it doesn't work is it possible to buy a second vgc contract and transfer points between propertoes so I could get the vgc booking priority or do you only get that priority for points associated with that property?

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You only get priority booking for the VGC points. All transferred points hold onto their original use month/year and home resort.

FYI....Here's what I currently see right now for March & April.
As of today I can book my arrival as far out as April 22, 2013 at any non-home resort.

The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Studio (sleeps 4)
Wed 3/6 - Sat 3/9, Mon 3/11, Tues 3/19, Wed 3/20, Tues 3/26, Sat 4/6, Sun 4/7, Sun 4/14, Wed 4/17, Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21

One Bedroom (sleeps 5)
Fri 3/1 - Sun 3/10, Wed 3/13, Thurs 3/14 - Sat 3/23, Fri 3/29 - Mon 4/1, Wed 4/3 - Tues 4/9, Fri 4/12 - Sun 4/21

Two Bedroom Villa (lockoff sleeps 9)
Wed 3/6 - Sat 3/9, Tues 3/19, Wed 3/20, Sat 4/6, Sun 4/7, Tue 4/9, Sun 4/14, Wed 4/17, Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21

Two Bedroom Villa - (dedicated sleeps 9)
Fri 3/1 - Sat 3/23, Wed 3/27 - Sun 4/21

Three Bedroom Grand Villa (sleeps 12)
Fri 3/1, Sat 3/2, Thurs 3/7 - Sat 3/9, Mon 3/18 - Fri 4/11, Sat 4/13 - Sun 4/21

Just like in Jan & Feb the dedicated two bedrooms and Grand Villas have more availablility and the smaller units are being booked first since they require the least amount of points.

NOTE: Easter falls on March 31 in 2013. However the OP stated that he doesn't like Disney during peak times

Honestly, I find it hard to believe that Aulani is hard to book at 7 months out. Yes, perhaps like WDW certain size units and views might be harder to book at the 7 months but not completely shut out for all size units.

PearlCity said:

How do folks figure out where to buy? I'd want to stay at VGC or aulani
(Aulani schedule is flexible for us). I know folks say buy where you want to stay but do people really do that? I'm torn between VGC and SSR....SSR just for low buy in and mf.

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You might find this mouseowner thread helpful
"Choosing Your Home Resort" - http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23281

alwysonvac said:

FYI....Here's what I currently see right now for March & April.
As of today I can book my arrival as far out as April 22, 2013 at any non-home resort.

The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Studio (sleeps 4)
Wed 3/6 - Sat 3/9, Mon 3/11, Tues 3/19, Wed 3/20, Tues 3/26, Sat 4/6, Sun 4/7, Sun 4/14, Wed 4/17, Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21

One Bedroom (sleeps 5)
Fri 3/1 - Sun 3/10, Wed 3/13, Thurs 3/14 - Sat 3/23, Fri 3/29 - Mon 4/1, Wed 4/3 - Tues 4/9, Fri 4/12 - Sun 4/21

Two Bedroom Villa (lockoff sleeps 9)
Wed 3/6 - Sat 3/9, Tues 3/19, Wed 3/20, Sat 4/6, Sun 4/7, Tue 4/9, Sun 4/14, Wed 4/17, Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21

Two Bedroom Villa - (dedicated sleeps 9)
Fri 3/1 - Sat 3/23, Wed 3/27 - Sun 4/21

Three Bedroom Grand Villa (sleeps 12)
Fri 3/1, Sat 3/2, Thurs 3/7 - Sat 3/9, Mon 3/18 - Fri 4/11, Sat 4/13 - Sun 4/21

Just like in Jan & Feb the dedicated two bedrooms and Grand Villas have more availablility and the smaller units are being booked first since they require the least amount of points.

NOTE: Easter falls on March 31 in 2013. However the OP stated that he doesn't like Disney during peak times

Honestly, I find it hard to believe that Aulani is hard to book at 7 months out. Yes, perhaps like WDW certain size units and views might be harder to book at the 7 months but not completely shut out for all size units.

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Alwaysonvac--you're awesome! Thank you.. I must say that I love looking at your sightings I really appreciate your help! There actually seems to be a lot of availability in March.. Hawaii schools spring break is usually week 11 (mid march) and rooms seem to be wide open for 1 and 2 bedrooms. That time is probably the most crowd I'm willing to deal with. Lol. I think I have a decision.. SSR.. I could afford more points with SSR so I actually could book a two bedroom somewhere which is important as often my mom or Mother In law wants to come along with us.

As for Aulani, yes I find it hard to believe that it will be that difficult to book 7 months out in the future. When they first opened, reservations were a little difficult to get, but right now, they have hotel rooms, studios, 1 and 2 bedroom villas at 40 percent off on weekdays, 30 percent off on weekends for military, annual passholders and Hawaii Residents (yes there is construction but still). but even then my Aulani stays would not be a week--more like 2 or three days so I could book those I think whenever. Hawaii is also a weird place. Room occupancy rates are dependent on so many things, economy, airfare, world events-its not driving distance for 95 percent of DVC owners..

PearlCity said:

Thanks I think you answered my question I honestly font like Disney during peak times.

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just remember that peak times for the parks are not always the same as peak times for DVC bookings.