Grand Californian Hotel- $950/night makes for good VCG rental prices!

[heathpack]

Shortly after Disneyland announced reopening plans, I snagged a single Monday night studio reservation at VGC in June that popped up. At the time, we had a litter of pups due and I wasn’t sure we’d be able to actually go to DL, although we‘d really love to. I have a Disney fanatic friend the heads up that we might not use the night, and she was able to get park reservations for the two surrounding days. We told her we’d rent it to her at a fair price if we decided not to use it- I usually shoot for 60% of Disney’s nightly rental rate for a hotel room for the nights in question.

The pups have since been born and are doing well (meaning we’ll still have pups and can’t go to DL) so yesterday I checked what the single night hotel room would cost at the Grand. With taxes and fees: $950 for the worst room category! Jeepers.

I did not charge my friend 60% as I usually would. She is happy to pay $400 for the night. She’s staying two nights and will be paying >$950 for the other hotel night.

I was able to book this with my Hilton Head points. That’s just a 25 point contract. But now my MF on that contract are paid for almost the next two years.

Haha and despite the costs and having puppies as a consolation prize, I’m jealous that I’m not going!!! I thought I’d be fine with no DL for a couple of years. Nope.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I really miss Disneyland. We received very fair refunds for our AP's that were to expire mid-Sept of 2020. Our son and daughter-in-law were so disappointed we didn't get another trip on the AP's, but Disneyland really stepped up and gave us a little over half of what we paid. $322 X 5 passes. When they open again, our little Callan will be over two, so he will truly enjoy Disneyland more than he did as a very small baby.

I haven't rented Dolphin's Cove for any price. I have the weeks listed on go-Koala.com I hope they rent but so much indecision with Disney currently. I don't have to cancel the first one until later May.

 

[heathpack]

I really miss Disneyland. We received very fair refunds for our AP's that were to expire mid-Sept of 2020. Our son and daughter-in-law were so disappointed we didn't get another trip on the AP's, but Disneyland really stepped up and gave us a little over half of what we paid. $322 X 5 passes. When they open again, our little Callan will be over two, so he will truly enjoy Disneyland more than he did as a very small baby.

I haven't rented Dolphin's Cove for any price. I have the weeks listed on go-Koala.com I hope they rent but so much indecision with Disney currently. I don't have to cancel the first one until later May.

Maybe try Orange County Craigslist. I have had pretty good luck there in the past renting VGC. But I think right now people here in SoCal are specifically craving Disney, to the extent that they can charge any price for their hotel. Dolphins Cove might not cut it for the Disney junkies that need a fix.

Lol we had annual passes last year and I called in to get my refund. They told me that I was making monthly payments and I didn’t get a refund because they just stopped collecting payments when they closed. What?! That wasn’t right, I’d paid in advance for my annual passes! Um, until I checked my records and found out they were right.

We got the APs in Sept 2021 and managed to go 10x before they were shut down, including our last visit on Feb 28 where everything was touched by pixie dust. We experienced low warm season (Sept), Halloween time, Christmas time, cold low season (Jan), Moonlight Magic, Lunar New Year, Food and Wine. And we got to ride Rise of the Resistance 3 or 4 times. It was a fun year. I wanted to do all available tours. We did the Christmas tour and Walk in Walts Footsteps. We were eagerly awaiting the reopening of the steam train tour, but didn’t get to it before the park closed.

They are saying no more APs. It will be interesting to see what kind of “membership” they come up with. I’m guessing it will be something that is more a pay-per-visit format, with a more discounted cost per visit the more visits you buy. But I think they’ll be glad to be rid of the AP system which encouraged too many of we SoCal residents to visit as many times as possible to get our money’s worth...

 

[ds53cns]

We normally go to the Grand Californian at least once a year. The last time we went (November 2020) we had a standard double hotel room that was over $700/nt. I don't foresee those prices going anywhere but up in the future so it seems like it may be worthwhile to try and get a DVC resale. We would probably be looking at going 3-4 nights a year during the high season. What's the best way to get a resale? We'd probably like to have enough points to book those 3-4 nights in a two bedroom each year.

 

[presley]

We normally go to the Grand Californian at least once a year. The last time we went (November 2020) we had a standard double hotel room that was over $700/nt. I don't foresee those prices going anywhere but up in the future so it seems like it may be worthwhile to try and get a DVC resale. We would probably be looking at going 3-4 nights a year during the high season. What's the best way to get a resale? We'd probably like to have enough points to book those 3-4 nights in a two bedroom each year.

Make sure that you look at current point charts because points needed can vary a lot. I'd look at the most expensive time that you think you'd want to travel and get enough points for that. There are tons of resale brokers which you can find by googling DVC resales. Some offer financing. There's one that doesn't pull your credit, they just take your contract from you if you default on payments. Paying cash is best for multiple reasons, but I notice that many people finance their DVC purchases. VGC contracts sell very fast. You need to look at the all the resale sites often to catch a contract that will suit you.

They just broke ground on the Disneyland Hotel tower. People are predicting that will go on sale in 18-24 months, but nobody knows for sure.

 

[rickandcindy23]

They just broke ground on the Disneyland Hotel tower. People are predicting that will go on sale in 18-24 months, but nobody knows for sure.

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And the cost will be substantial, and those points will sell quickly. People are in line to buy. Only Disney! The only company that never exerts pressure to buy.

Every other company is envious, I am sure.

 

[darly2004]

We were able to snag 2 nights in a one bedroom this June! We were supposed to use the points for Hawaii last year, but obviously didn't happen. Points would have expired after summer, so I figured we'll just try it out since we'll be there anyway. The kids are super excited, and I was super surprised at how much those rooms go for nightly. Maybe I should rent them out, lol.

 

[ds53cns]

Fingers crossed. Our offer got accepted on a VGC resale. Hopefully DVC doesn't snag it on ROFR.

 

[TimeshareTraveller]

When you get your answer, post it on the ROFR.net board.

Another way to see what Disney is snabbling up is on dvcnews.com: https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/fin...s-decline-in-private-sales-and-buyback-volume

That's the data from the Orange County property sales of Disney resort points.

 

[ds53cns]

Everything went through and we recorded at the end of July. Still waiting on the new account... Apparently it's taking a month.

 

[luvsvacation22]

I am thankful for the points I have, but my only regret is, I wish I had bought more points at VGC when it first became available.

Congrats Ds53cns and Welcome Home!