Grand Californian with David's Vacation Club

[beckymomof2]

I recently searched the Disney Vacation Club because I had heard of the name here and there but never really knew what it was. Wow expensive way to own your vacation. Anyway while reading about it I figured out that you can basically rent vacation points from someone. I never realized the the Grand Californian was any different than the other two Disney hotels. It seems like it is a nicer, bigger deal hotel. So with that being said... what is the difference if I were to book directly through the hotel/Disney website verses booking with these points through a place like David's Vacation Club? Are all the services the same or do you not get your typical housekeeping and that sort of thing?

 

[CarolMN]

I recently searched the Disney Vacation Club because I had heard of the name here and there but never really knew what it was. Wow expensive way to own your vacation. Anyway while reading about it I figured out that you can basically rent vacation points from someone. I never realized the the Grand Californian was any different than the other two Disney hotels. It seems like it is a nicer, bigger deal hotel. So with that being said... what is the difference if I were to book directly through the hotel/Disney website verses booking with these points through a place like David's Vacation Club? Are all the services the same or do you not get your typical housekeeping and that sort of thing?

FWIW, David answers your question (and other typical questions) on his website. If you click on his banner ad on the DVC Rent/Trade Board, you 'll be taken to his site).

Briefly, with a point rental, you will be getting a villa (studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom) rather than a hotel room. The Grand Californian has both hotel rooms and DVC villas.

The DVC studios have one queen bed and a sleep sofa, and include a kitchenette. You receive abbreviated housekeeping services, depending on how many nights you stay. When you rent, be sure to review the cancellation / change policy. Virtually all rentals are non-refundable and many cannot be changed after they are booked. The member retains control of the reservation until you check in, so there is some risk to you.

In return, you get a good price for very nice villa in a great location. HTH.

 

[csharpwv]

The common misconception with DVC is that it is cheaper to rent vs own.

Beckymomof2, what should probably realize before making a judgement about the cost of ownership is if you rent through David, not only will HE be making a profit on your rental, but the owner of those points will be making a profit on your rental as well.

So when you take both of the middle-parties out of YOUR point rental, the cost of ownership seems to come in to focus. Instead of RENTING points one time, you can own points and be all the merrier... for far more years.

Yes, there is a buy in cost and yearly maintenance fees, but if you've done this much research on how to save money on a Disney trip - you likely have come to realize how expensive a trip to any Disney destination (WDW, DL, DCL, ABD) can be.

We have been DVC members since 2008 and have since added on three times to our membership. When it comes to financial outlay, we are past out break even point in terms of what we paid for our points, and the value they have returned to us. We will own our points through 2060 - so 47 years from now - we will essentially be paying what we pay today to vacation at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Ownership comes at a price, but the value is far in excess of the price tag - and when you're big Disney fans like most DVC owners area.... that's bliss!

 

[Breyean]

While the GCH is very large, before you decide to rent from David to get a DVC villa there, keep in mind there are only 48 of them, spread among studios to 3 bedrooms. So getting what you want when you want can often be a challenge.

 

[beckymomof2]

The common misconception with DVC is that it is cheaper to rent vs own.

Beckymomof2, what should probably realize before making a judgement about the cost of ownership is if you rent through David, not only will HE be making a profit on your rental, but the owner of those points will be making a profit on your rental as well.

So when you take both of the middle-parties out of YOUR point rental, the cost of ownership seems to come in to focus. Instead of RENTING points one time, you can own points and be all the merrier... for far more years.

Yes, there is a buy in cost and yearly maintenance fees, but if you've done this much research on how to save money on a Disney trip - you likely have come to realize how expensive a trip to any Disney destination (WDW, DL, DCL, ABD) can be.

We have been DVC members since 2008 and have since added on three times to our membership. When it comes to financial outlay, we are past out break even point in terms of what we paid for our points, and the value they have returned to us. We will own our points through 2060 - so 47 years from now - we will essentially be paying what we pay today to vacation at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Ownership comes at a price, but the value is far in excess of the price tag - and when you're big Disney fans like most DVC owners area.... that's bliss!

Isn't it like $20,000+ plus your yearly $900+ to own? That seems like a lot to me. I can't guarantee that we'd be able to go often enough to make it worth it. We live in Alaska, so to get out of state has it's own cost alone. Obviously someone has to make a profit somewhere whether it is a hotel or Disney or David and the owner etc. I just thought it was worth looking into for our trip in January. It's not something we'd be likely to do even on a yearly basis or even every other year.

While the GCH is very large, before you decide to rent from David to get a DVC villa there, keep in mind there are only 48 of them, spread among studios to 3 bedrooms. So getting what you want when you want can often be a challenge.

 

[Garthilk]

Isn't it like $20,000+ plus your yearly $900+ to own? That seems like a lot to me. I can't guarantee that we'd be able to go often enough to make it worth it. We live in Alaska, so to get out of state has it's own cost alone. Obviously someone has to make a profit somewhere whether it is a hotel or Disney or David and the owner etc. I just thought it was worth looking into for our trip in January. It's not something we'd be likely to do even on a yearly basis or even every other year.

If you really like the resort, and plan on visiting every 3 years or so, picking up a resale contract might be up your alley. They are harder to come by in smaller contracts, but definitely worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing. A nice 100 point contract for 8600, would give you 300 points every three years.

 

[Cinderpamela]

Isn't it like $20,000+ plus your yearly $900+ to own? That seems like a lot to me. I can't guarantee that we'd be able to go often enough to make it worth it. We live in Alaska, so to get out of state has it's own cost alone. Obviously someone has to make a profit somewhere whether it is a hotel or Disney or David and the owner etc. I just thought it was worth looking into for our trip in January. It's not something we'd be likely to do even on a yearly basis or even every other year.

In which case it may not be worth it for you to own. Those of us that have decided to own have done the math and have decided that in our case it was worth it to own.

If I remember correctly based on your PPs over on the DL boards you are planning a family trip, so it might be worth it for you to rent for this big trip to be able to accommodate everyone in your group. Just know that the VGC are harder to get than just hotel rooms, and they book up quickly, so the earlier you can book the better your chances are(like 11 months before). But David can help you with all those details.

When we first started looking onto DVC it was to rent points for a big trip we were planning to WDW. Then the more I looked at it, the more it made sense for us and the way we vacationed, to actually buy for ourselves. It doesn't make sense for everyone, but we love it!

 

[nunzia]

If you really like the resort, and plan on visiting every 3 years or so, picking up a resale contract might be up your alley. They are harder to come by in smaller contracts, but definitely worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing. A nice 100 point contract for 8600, would give you 300 points every three years.

You would not be able to get a resale 100 pt contract at VGC in this market for 86 pp..I paid $108 resale (which was higher than all but the last of my direct purchases) and I have seen recent resales of VGC points selling for $115.

 

[cwdefouw]

Definitely check with David's about availability before going too far in the planning process. It sounds like you might need a larger unit, two or three bedrooms. These require a lot of points which would likely need to be VGC points so they can be booked at 11 months. I thought I saw something on the boards here recently that David's wasn't getting a lot of VGC points at the present.

 

[tjkraz]

The common misconception with DVC is that it is cheaper to rent vs own.

Beckymomof2, what should probably realize before making a judgement about the cost of ownership is if you rent through David, not only will HE be making a profit on your rental, but the owner of those points will be making a profit on your rental as well.

So when you take both of the middle-parties out of YOUR point rental, the cost of ownership seems to come in to focus. Instead of RENTING points one time, you can own points and be all the merrier... for far more years.

Yes, there is a buy in cost and yearly maintenance fees, but if you've done this much research on how to save money on a Disney trip - you likely have come to realize how expensive a trip to any Disney destination (WDW, DL, DCL, ABD) can be.

We have been DVC members since 2008 and have since added on three times to our membership. When it comes to financial outlay, we are past out break even point in terms of what we paid for our points, and the value they have returned to us. We will own our points through 2060 - so 47 years from now - we will essentially be paying what we pay today to vacation at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Ownership comes at a price, but the value is far in excess of the price tag - and when you're big Disney fans like most DVC owners area.... that's bliss!

That's a pretty big leap for someone who is mildly interested in renting points. Not every individual is a prime candidate for DVC ownership.

 

[Anal Annie]

I recently searched the Disney Vacation Club because I had heard of the name here and there but never really knew what it was. Wow expensive way to own your vacation. Anyway while reading about it I figured out that you can basically rent vacation points from someone. I never realized the the Grand Californian was any different than the other two Disney hotels. It seems like it is a nicer, bigger deal hotel. So with that being said... what is the difference if I were to book directly through the hotel/Disney website verses booking with these points through a place like David's Vacation Club? Are all the services the same or do you not get your typical housekeeping and that sort of thing?

Well, first, buying into DVC may look expensive to someone planning a first-time or a one-time trip but to anyone who goes to Disney on a regular basis it's a great value as you get deluxe accommodations for much less than a rack room cash rate. But it's not for everyone and for those who only go every 2 or 3 years it makes sense to just buy smaller contracts and utilize the banking & borrowing options (then it wouldn't necessarily have to be $20K to buy in). Our original buy-in costs and annual dues have more than been recovered with all of the trips we've been able to take since we bought in. Owning makes it a lot more affordable to go more often - which is kind of the point of buying in. This summer we're spending 4 nights at VGC in a studio and then 7 nights at Aulani in an OV studio...rack rates for 4 n. in a reg. hotel room at VGC would be $2,000 + tax and $5,185 for our OV studio at Aulani. The fact that we have no current out of pocket expenses for these nights (other than our annual dues which is a drop in the bucket compared to the rack rate of $7,185) is a HUGE factor for us to even be able to make this trip. So for us the math works to own.

VGC is very small so it may be harder for you to find points to rent - but if you CAN find them it would be a lot more cost effective for your one-time trip than to pay rack rate prices. My advice is to start having him (David) look EARLY. You will want David to try to find you a VGC owner so they can book before the 7 mo. window opens to everyone else.

"Typical" DVC housekeeping is not every day and many owners prefer that as you don't have someone in your room every day. For a weeks stay you will get "trash and towel" service on day #4.

 

[beckymomof2]

Thanks for all the info. I've decided not to try to rent the points for this trip. My husband said the kids suite at Howard Johnson should be fine. However, you all have peaked my curiosity about owning the vacation rental or however you would word that.

Here's the deal... My family hasn't been able to vacation much because of our jobs. My husband is a police officer and always had to pick his time off in November for the entire upcoming year. Then my job didn't care if I could give them a years notice. They would only approve time off when it was three months prior. So I could never plan. Now I've taken a job where I can have almost any time off I want except for a few specific months. So I would like to travel more but have a little less money due to taking a lower paying job.

So with all that said I should look into it more. I know they have resorts in several areas. We might enjoy that. Hawaii isn't too bad as far as airline tickets go from Alaska. I think they out deals on when PFDs come out.

 

[tjkraz]

Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare program which typically provides a lower-cost means of staying in Disney accommodations. Frankly, if you are content with non-Disney hotels (which many people are--nothing wrong with that), it's doubtful DVC will save you much money...if any.

There are only two DVC destinations on the west coast--the small number of villas at Disneyland and Aulani in Hawaii. The others are all at Walt Disney World and two on the eastern seaboard (Hilton Head Island, SC and Vero Beach, FL.) I'm guessing those are a pretty expensive flight from Alaska.

DVC does have some framework in place to trade points to other destinations but that is neither as easy as it sounds, nor does it return the same quality as a Disney resort in many cases.

Timeshares can save a lot of money for people who are committed to traveling. But the trade-off is you're locking yourself into recurring fees and expenses. If you have to finance the timeshare purchase, you'll have a monthly mortgage bill of $150+ for even a modest purchase. Annual dues will probably set you back $600+ per year (or another $50+ per month.) And then there's the reality of having to buy airline tickets, theme park tickets and any other travel expenses associated with actually USING the timeshare each year.

When you buy a timeshare, you often don't have the luxury of skipping a couple years when the house needs a new roof or your car's transmission dies...not to mention something more serious like loss of a job. Each timeshare will have features which allow you to roll-over your use to a future year (DVC calls it "banking") but even that is limited to just one year. And you still have to pay the mortgage and dues bills.

It's not a commitment to be undertaken lightly.

There are many other timeshare systems with a wider array of destinations including Hawaii and Anaheim. If you still wish to know more, make sure you expand your research beyond just DVC.

Good luck.