Grand Californian Resale vs. Copper Creek Direct

[DisneyDictator]

We LOVE the Grand Californian. It is our favorite of all the Disney properties. We can drive a few hours and we're at Disneyland. I don't want to hop a plane and fly to Florida...Maybe once every 5 years MAX.

We spoke to a sales rep at a DVC Kiosk last week during our trip to Disneyland. We didn't go for the full presentation. I realize by purchasing direct it entitles us to the extra benefits. But why would I purchase direct to have points at a property I will rarely visit?

I'd like to purchase 250 points resale at the Grand Californian. That gives me at least a week in a 1 bedroom during the Adventure Season. Here are my questions:

1. What is the smallest contract I can buy direct from Disney for Aulani or Copper Creek and would that give me access to extra member benefits?

2. How can I make the direct points work with my resale points? (eg. can I combine them to bump up to a 2 bedroom at the Grand Californian?)

3. I'd like these points to be passed on to my kids when I pass on. What happens at the end of the lease term?

4. If I find resale at Grand Californian with a February Anniversary date, should I buy my contract at Aulani or Copper Creek for the same month?

Thanks!

The Dictator

 

[supersnoop]

1. 25 points at Aulani or 50 at Copper Creek after you’re a member
2. You can only combine points from different resorts at 7 months
3. Legally, Disney owns the land and you own the building. When the lease expires, Disney gets their land back and you forfeit anything left on top of it.
4. Yes. For the contract sizes listed in #1, the same use year is a requirement


Be aware that VGC is the smallest resort and demand is very high. Booking at 7 months is almost impossible. Don’t expect to combine points for a room, and expect to make your reservation at least 8 months ahead of time. Some folks in California like the idea of owning at VGC, but if you think you can hop down for a weekend on short notice, you will be very disappointed.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

First, you get just the same or better benefits being an AP holder at DL. Yes, there are food discounts for DVC owners there but they are no better than the AP discounts and it's a whole $20 off of the top 2 AP's that you get as a benefit - nothing at all like WDW AP discounts.

Actually first should have been - Buy VGC resale. Can't think that anything else makes sense if that's where you want to stay.

So third - they seem to have raised add on limits for CCV so 50 points is the least. I'm not positive about Aulani - that may have stayed at 25 points. But you'd then be having to wait until the 7 month window to try and use them for your VGC stay. In your situation I'm not certain it makes sense for any direct points except VGC if you lucked into their being some for sale for you to purchase direct.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

And you can pass the contract to your children but it does expire in early 2060 and at that time reverts back to Disney.

 

[DisneyDictator]

Thanks Snoop! So, when you say AFTER you're a member (in question 1). Do you mean after I have bought my points via RESALE for VGC?
Concerning question 2, Could I book my VGC 11 months out and then wait until there's 7 months and see if I could snatch something by combining the points I purchased directly? It may just be better to buy resale and forego the extra benefits.

 

[Ben E N]

Thanks Snoop! So, when you say AFTER you're a member (in question 1). Do you mean after I have bought my points via RESALE for VGC?
Concerning question 2, Could I book my VGC 11 months out and then wait until there's 7 months and see if I could snatch something by combining the points I purchased directly? It may just be better to buy resale and forego the extra benefits.

1. Yes. Once you buy resale, you are a full owner and are eligible for direct add-ons.

2. It is possible, but not very likely. You are hoping to get 1-2 exact nights, 4 months after all direct owners have had a shot at them, at the same time that thousands of other people are trying to get the same nigbts. Your home resort priority from those other points do not help yout case at 7 months.

If you only, or mostly, want to stay at VGC, buy all the points you need there via resale. Then bug your guide to get a 25 point add on. It may take some time yo get it, but will be worth the hassle once you have it at a place you want.

 

[DisneyDictator]

One more question, how does the 11 month booking work? Let's say my anniversary date is February 1st. On February 1st do I log into the reservation system and select a room? How do I obtain a Theme Park view room? Is it 1st come, 1st serve or does someone with more points than me get the best opportunity?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

One more question, how does the 11 month booking work? Let's say my anniversary date is February 1st. On February 1st do I log into the reservation system and select a room? How do I obtain a Theme Park view room? Is it 1st come, 1st serve or does someone with more points than me get the best opportunity?

Everything is first come first served (with a few fixed week exceptions that don't apply to VGC).

The 11 month booking window means you can book at your home resort 11 months ahead of your check in date if there is availability. So if you wish to check in on December 1st you could go online or call to book on Jan 1st. If you wanted to check in on June 1st then you could book that starting July 1st of the previous year - 11 months ahead. You are allowed to book up to 7 nights at the 11 month window. Only points from that resort can be used to book stays during the 11-7 month window. At 7 months from your check in date you can book at any resort that has availability. The only ones who get ahead up on anyone else is those few who own fixed weeks which was an option at Aulani, VGF, PVB and CCV. There are no fixed weeks at VGC.

When your UY starts has no affect on when you can book - it just will change what UY the points can be used from. What points depends on when the stay occurs. So for example a Jun 1, 2019 check in with a February UY could book that starting July 1, 2018 because that's 11 months before. The stay would fall within the the Feb's 2019 UY (Feb 1, 2019-Jan 31, 2020). For that stay a Feb UY could use current 2019 points, banked 2018 points for borrow from the 2020 UY. Compare that to a Sept UY. The June 2019 stay would fall within the Sept 2018 UY (Sept 1, 2018-Aug 31, 2019). They also could call to book it starting July 1, 2018 but they would use different UY points than a Feb UY. They could use current 2018 points, banked 2017 points or borrow 2019 points.

VGC has no view categories. A theme park view is going to be a request and it's the most popular request so it may or may not be something you would get.

 

[supersnoop]

On February 1st do I log into the reservation system and select a room?

No. You’re conflating the booking window with use year. They are unrelated. You can always book 11 months from when you want to stay. The date of your trip determines which use year the points come from. You just need to make sure you have points left in that use year to support the trip.

 

[Littlelulu01]

Something to think about with purchasing an Aulani direct add on: the closing costs on a 25 point direct contract there are very high. It’s something over $400 direct add on. Direct add on at any other resort is about $100 for 25 point add on.

Also if you choose to sell it down the road, the selling costs at Aulani are more as well. Hawaii imposes a tax on sale of I think 5%. So the Hawaii taxes, the Dvc $170 fee and broker commission is what it cost to sell a 25 point contract at Aulani.

For now CCV is only selling 50 minimum for direct current owners. Minimum of 75 for new owners but once an owner you can add 25 at any other resort. The other Dvc properties are technically sold out and GCV and GFV and sometimes bcv are hard to get add ons at but if there’s another property at WDW that is appealing you can add on there for 25 once you’re a member without much waiting, as in typically a couple days.

I would think about talking to the guide you met with and tell him you only have interest in GCV and what your plan is. See if he could potentially pull some strings to get you some GCV points. All resorts are continually acquiring points via many methods and Disney can take any contract back in rofr process when a current owner sells his points. They have ability to get you direct points- perhaps not the amount you want but I’d see what they can do. Of course they want to sell you Aulani or CCV. If they know that is never an option for you and GCV is the only way you will become a Dvc owner they may work with you.

Regarding use years- direct points purchase of a December uy prior to December 1 of 2017 will get you 2016 points banked no mf’s, 2017 mfs prorated till end of year so only 1/12 cost on 2017 mf’s. Any other uy direct purchase is 2017 points and forward. If really shooting for GCV I’d say being flexible about amount of points and uy would be a big help and not worth chasing the 2016 points just for December uy.

Dvc advertising suggests 100 buy in minimum for a new owner but I know they will sell 75 for CCV and 50 for the others to new owners. On one hand if you are purchasing GCV you may want to get that contract resale first because matching a direct add on will be much easier. On the other hand purchasing a small direct Dvc contract first may be an easy way to try out Dvc to see if it is good for you. GCV is expensive resale and you are talking about purchasing a good chunk of points. Figure owning Dvc saves about $10/point each year compared to renting the same points. So at $145/point on a resale contract you are at 15 years from purchasing prior to seeing actual savings when compared to renting points. That’s a long pay off for a 30k+ expense today. You can get into Dvc direct with 50 points buy in. Perhaps just call the 1-800 number for Dvc sales if guide in ca isn’t willing to work with you.

One more thing about passing onto kids. They need to be 18. You can add them on to your contracts at that point for a few hundred $. If you have more than one child it may be wise to break contracts into smaller amounts. Example two 100 point contracts. One large contract can’t be broken down to smaller contracts. Smaller contracts also sell for higher prices should you decide to sell down the road. Larger contracts also carry the hefty mf’s so down the road a smaller point option is nice to offer kids. Also should kids not want someday and you and wife decided to downsize ownership you can sell off some and retain some with smaller contracts.

 

[CarolMN]

Take a look at this thread when you have a chance:

Understanding Use Year

Also, this thread has lots of info that you will find helpful as you make your decision:

DVC Resource Center

Good luck!

 

[CraigInPA]

In your situation, I'd buy he 250 points VGC resale. If VGC's wait list for points is open, I'd try to get 25 points there direct. If not, then I'd buy SSR direct for 25 points to get the additional benefits. I'd make sure to get the same use year as the initial VGC purchase. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to get CCV at a minimum of 50 points, or Aulani at its very high maintenance fees and closing costs, to get the additional benefits, and SSR has a lot of years to go and isn't terribly expensive direct.

One thing not touched on is your once every 5 year plan to go to Florida. I assume you're aware you can't bank more than one year of points. Thus, unless you are planning on using those points at 7 months to book VGC, you're either going to have to rent them or let them go to waste 2 of every five years.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I do not see a lot of value from the "additional benefits!" for a purchaser who is mostly going to visit VGC. Almost all of the additional benefits with economic worth focus on WDW.

Buy VGC resale if you can commit to booking between 11-8 months out for VGC. You can use those points at WDW at 7 months out for your occasional trip, or you can rent out the VGC those years and make a cash WDW booking; VGC gets premium rental rates.

 

[DebbieB]

I would go with the VGC resale. I own at BWV but typically go to DL every year or two. It's difficult to get into VGC at 7 months. We usually go for the D23 convention and can only get a 1 bedroom, studios are usually already booked. Because of the high number of points, I can only book 4 nights and then we move to Paradise Pier on cash for the weekend.

The DVC perks aren't as good for DL. You can get 10% off food & merchandise but you can also get that with an annual pass. The DVC annual pass discount at DL is only $20.

 

[longboard55]

good point on the one bedrooms, one bedrooms are double the points of the studios, so even if you can get a one bedroom at 7 months if all you need is a studio, you lost your savings. We never seem to have any issues at 11 months, but after 7 its basically random days at best. We bought retail after the change and have yet to see where we lose any benefits. I think there are more things at WDW. We live close and do one or two nighters, holy cow, with taxes parking, rooms at GC are getting over $700 a night, so its a huge savings

 

[Dean]

We LOVE the Grand Californian. It is our favorite of all the Disney properties. We can drive a few hours and we're at Disneyland. I don't want to hop a plane and fly to Florida...Maybe once every 5 years MAX.

We spoke to a sales rep at a DVC Kiosk last week during our trip to Disneyland. We didn't go for the full presentation. I realize by purchasing direct it entitles us to the extra benefits. But why would I purchase direct to have points at a property I will rarely visit?

I'd like to purchase 250 points resale at the Grand Californian. That gives me at least a week in a 1 bedroom during the Adventure Season. Here are my questions:

1. What is the smallest contract I can buy direct from Disney for Aulani or Copper Creek and would that give me access to extra member benefits?

2. How can I make the direct points work with my resale points? (eg. can I combine them to bump up to a 2 bedroom at the Grand Californian?)

3. I'd like these points to be passed on to my kids when I pass on. What happens at the end of the lease term?

4. If I find resale at Grand Californian with a February Anniversary date, should I buy my contract at Aulani or Copper Creek for the same month?

Thanks!

The Dictator

I'd ONLY buy VGC in this situation and I'd hold out for 25 points retail for VGC as well. Might take a year or 2 but worth the time and aggravation IMO for this situation. Otherwise I'd likely buy SSR or HH if I just wanted to get any points that would give me the additional benefits. Also, it's possible you could pick up the entire amount retail which likely wouldn't be that big of a difference between resale and retail right now. Just get with a guide, not the advanced sales associates, and see if they can find you a retail contract at VGC. Look at the numbers so if they do find one that works for you, you'll be ready to jump on it.