New 350 room DVC tower coming to Disneyland Hotel

[lazyboy97o]

Anyone notice how that DVC style matched the proposed hotel for the DTD AMC/ESPN zone/Rainforest location. My bet is this a phased hotel build with each tower coming down as a new one opened. They are just picking and choosing which building to build.

How does it match?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I wouldn’t be able to either, except this is a company that announced VGC 6 weeks after Jim Cramer’s “They Know Nothing!” rant and began public filings on Aulani a month later, despite being in the middle of building a secret project that became BLT and having no end in sight for unloading SSR or AKV inventory.

If it’s 8 million points at $225 each (educated guesstimates), that’s $1.8 billion. Not sure how much this hotel will cost but I’m betting they can recoup the build cost in a matter of months (or perhaps go Bugatti style and make you pay before it’s built?)

Given the lack of DVC inventory at DLR and the size of the tower, they shouldn’t have a problem. WDW, on the other hand...

 

[mickEblu]

I’m a DVC owner and I don’t think it will be a big deal. That’s why you pay the extra points for a premium view.

I’ve actually stayed at the Disneyland hotel with a standard view that was facing that direction and while I didn’t care much for the view, it was still a great experience and I got to enjoy staying on property, using the pools, and everything else that goes along with staying at the hotel.

I personally cannot wait for this addition. It’s been a long time coming to add more DVC in Anaheim.

So this conversation got me interested in researching the DVC. Is it true that to come out even or ahead you would have to vacation at a Disney property every year or every other year for the next 30 years + ? (I guess not that different than other timeshares). Then I also read that you have to pay extra for housekeeping? I understand why Disney would want to lock people into Disney vacations for the rest of their life as well as collecting the yearly maintenance fees. Im just wondering what are the perks of being a DVC member?

 

[el_super]

How does it match?

The fourth hotel concept had a very similar 1960s modernist appearance, presumably to offer a more "themeless" contemporary environment. It wouldn't be all that shocking that it would blend in with the Disneyland hotel towers, since they were essentially right next to each other. It would be shocking if the new DVC tower didn't match the style of the existing towers as well. So it would make sense that they all sort of blend in together.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The fourth hotel concept had a very similar 1960s modernist appearance, presumably to offer a more "themeless" contemporary environment. It wouldn't be all that shocking that it would blend in with the Disneyland hotel towers, since they were essentially right next to each other. It would be shocking if the new DVC tower didn't match the style of the existing towers as well. So it would make sense that they all sort of blend in together.

The fourth hotel art was more contemporary, a faux sustainable design and not Midcentury Modern. It’s composition was angled, it’s mass elevated and capped by a heavy roof plane, and its elevations were defined by balconies infilled with vertical landscaping, none of which are present in the DVC tower.

 

[CastAStone]

So this conversation got me interested in researching the DVC. Is it true that to come out even out ahead you would have to vacation at a Disney property every year or every other year for the next 30 years + ? Then I also read that you have to pay extra for housekeeping? I understand why Disney would want to lock people into Disney vacations for the rest of the life as well as collecting the yearly maintenance fees. Im just wondering what are the perks of being a DVC member?

If you buy direct from Disney the payback for a studio vs a hotel room is very long. However, 2 things to think about with that:

1. DVC holds its resale value really well (at least it has so far), so if you use it for a decade and then sell it for what you paid for it, that really changes the math
2. The real value in DVC for a lot of people is the 1 and 2 bedroom units, as the DVC units are the only on-property units with kitchens

Daily Housekeeping typically isn’t included in timeshares of any kind; Disney provides it on day 4 of a 7 day stay. Typically you can get trash and towels done as needed, I think officially there’s a charge but I don’t think it’s commonly applied.

 

[el_super]

The fourth hotel art was more contemporary, a faux sustainable design and not Midcentury Modern. It’s composition was angled, it’s mass elevated and capped by a heavy roof plane, and its elevations were defined by balconies infilled with vertical landscaping, none of which are present in the DVC tower.

Yeah there were elements to distinguish it from the Disneyland Hotel, but within the context of the Disney community, the theme was basically the same as the Disneyland Hotel: 20th Century Hotel. I think I understand where they were going with it. Since it was being subsidized as a luxury hotel, they didn't want to give it one of those "cute" Disney makeovers like the resorts in Florida. It was going to have to compete with real hotels.

So compared to the Florida hotels, and other Disney properties, that they all looked so modern and contemporary, like other hotels, means they all looked the same.

 

[mickEblu]

If you buy direct from Disney the payback for a studio vs a hotel room is very long. However, 2 things to think about with that:

1. DVC holds its resale value really well (at least it has so far), so if you use it for a decade and then sell it for what you paid for it, that really changes the math
2. The real value in DVC for a lot of people is the 1 and 2 bedroom units, as the DVC units are the only on-property units with kitchens

Daily Housekeeping typically isn’t included in timeshares of any kind; Disney provides it on day 4 of a 7 day stay. Typically you can get trash and towels done as needed, I think officially there’s a charge but I don’t think it’s commonly applied.

So It sounds like the typical DVC member is someone who does not mind only vacationing at Disney resorts for the rest of their lives, prefer to vacation in bigger rooms with kitchens and/ or have enough disposable income and are still vacationing elsewhere in addition to being a DVC member. Outside of Anaheim and WDW, are there other DVC locations around the world that offer some more of variety? Im sure at the very least, Aulani is an option and maybe all of the other foreign park destinations?

Personally, I would prefer to not limit my vacation options for a good chunk of my life unless I was getting a significant discount and there was enough variety with the destinations worldwide.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yeah there were elements to distinguish it from the Disneyland Hotel, but within the context of the Disney community, the theme was basically the same as the Disneyland Hotel: 20th Century Hotel. I think I understand where they were going with it. Since it was being subsidized as a luxury hotel, they didn't want to give it one of those "cute" Disney makeovers like the resorts in Florida. It was going to have to compete with real hotels.

So compared to the Florida hotels, and other Disney properties, that they all looked so modern and contemporary, like other hotels, means they all looked the same.

Contemporary and Modern are different things in architecture and Midcentury Modern is a more specific thing. The fourth hotel was not a Midcentury Modern design and not really similar to any of the other major Modern interpretations of the 20th century.

 

[Chris Jarrett]

Personally, I would prefer to not limit my vacation options for a good chunk of my life unless I was getting a significant discount and there was enough variety with the destinations worldwide.

That’s fair. DVC is not for everyone. I personally am the type that specifically wants to travel at Disney with my family so it’s great for us. We spent plenty of years staying on Harbor blvd. or Katella and one day I finally decided that I loved Disneyland enough to commit long term and the only part of the trips I didn’t like were when I was sitting in an off property hotel waiting to get back in. My family is the type that goes in early, takes a break to nap/swim, then heads back in the evening. Doing that at the Grand Californian made our trips so much more special than doing that at the best western. It is expensive, challenging to book, and requires lots of advanced planning so again, it’s definitely not for everyone.

Also, we specifically bought in for the ability to stay at the Grand Californian. After having the DVC contract for a few years though, it opened up a lot of other opportunities to stay at Disney World at the many properties there and also try Aulani and Vero Beach. Without already having the points I don’t think we would have ever done those other trips so while it’s still under the Disney umbrella, it allowed our family a chance to enjoy some really special vacations.

 

[Phroobar]

So how much of a cost savings is a DVC vs the equivalent room for the same time period?

 

[CastAStone]

So how much of a cost savings is a DVC vs the equivalent room for the same time period?

It depends on a lot of factors, as DVCs points charts (how much rooms cost when) is so different from the resort pricing calendar, so a DVC Grand Californian room for Columbus Day weekend is cheaper than a DVC Grand Californian room for the last week of February, when the opposite is true for cash rooms. Also DVC prices in Anaheim don't jump when large conferences are scheduled, while cash prices do. But just taking the averages:

At Old Key West in Orlando? You can pay back the (direct from Disney) buy in cost in 5 years vs the cash price at OKW and be saving thousands of dollars per year in 5 years.
OTOH At Grand Californian, the current buy in (direct from Disney) to do a 5 day weekend every summer would be about $37,500 and the annual dues are about $1,000, vs a cash price for a hotel room of about $3600 with tax for the same period - in the Grand Californian scenario, when considering opportunity cost and inflation, payback is 20 years+ if at all (the studio villas do have a kitchenette, while the hotel rooms do not). In addition, while DVC owners get several hundred dollars per year per person in AP discounts at WDW, at DLR the discount is $20. VGC is sold out and Disney acquires and resells very few contracts per year at its current $260/point price - the pricing when the resort was initally being sold was $112/point, and the math worked much, much better.

So I don't find VGC a particularly attractive purchase, personally, at least not currently.

 

[CastAStone]

So It sounds like the typical DVC member is someone who does not mind only vacationing at Disney resorts for the rest of their lives, prefer to vacation in bigger rooms with kitchens and/ or have enough disposable income and are still vacationing elsewhere in addition to being a DVC member. Outside of Anaheim and WDW, are there other DVC locations around the world that offer some more of variety? Im sure at the very least, Aulani is an option and maybe all of the other foreign park destinations?

Hilton Head, Aulani, and Vero Beach in Florida are all DVC properties that it is easy to use points at. All DVC members can put their points into the RCI exchange to stay at hundreds of timeshares around the world, although it's not a particularly good "deal" vs just renting a timeshare for cash off of a Redweek or similar.
In addition, DVC members with a Blue Card (which currently requires a direct purchase of 100 points from Disney - resale contracts don't count) can use their points for Disney Cruises, hotel rooms at the international Disney Parks, and Adventures by Disney. Again, when considering all associated costs, the value isn't great compared to just paying cash for those things.

So the TLDR is yes, but except for Aulani, HHI, and VB, don't.

 

[Chris Jarrett]

So how much of a cost savings is a DVC vs the equivalent room for the same time period?

I’m sure there are better people than me to explain the math on this but I bought in by buying a contract on the secondary market at Saratoga Springs at WDW for about $30k for 400 points. I bought back in 2015 and the contract expires in 2054 so I have it for 39 years. The annual dues per year are $2,654.76 per year or $221.23 per month. That number does change a little year by year but not much.

$30,000 divided by the 39 years a have left on the contract averages out to $769.23 per year

Add the $2,654.76 for annual dues and you actually spend $3,423.99 per year For 400 points.

400 points would get you 2 weeks in a studio during the summer at the grand Californian and a studio is the fair comp to a hotel room because they are essentially that. 14 days for $3,423.99 works out to $244.57 per night. Compare that to a standard view at the Grand Californian in July which cost $766 per night. Not to mention that the views at the studios are much better than the standard hotel room and I think it ends up being a really good deal. That is if you can actually find availability. That’s the real catch. It’s very competitive. You absolutely have to be up at 5am 7 months out to book that type of room and even then, you’ll have to be flexible with your dates cause most likely it will take a few days to secure a reservation.

I hope this helps and more importantly I hope my math is right. Lol

 

[Curious Constance]

We rented someone’s points when we stayed at Aulani. I can’t remember the exact amount, but we saved a decent amount of money. And we were able to afford a view that was amazing by doing so. That place was sooooooo nice. So glad we got to do that while the kids were kids. The only thing that we disliked was no maid service lol

 

[Darkbeer1]

The project is scheduled to go in front of the Anaheim Planning Commission on Monday, July 20th.

Only one of the needed steps, the decisions on the TOT tax schedule and related matters have to go through the City Council process.

But the project is moving forward.

 

[cmwade77]

So It sounds like the typical DVC member is someone who does not mind only vacationing at Disney resorts for the rest of their lives, prefer to vacation in bigger rooms with kitchens and/ or have enough disposable income and are still vacationing elsewhere in addition to being a DVC member. Outside of Anaheim and WDW, are there other DVC locations around the world that offer some more of variety? Im sure at the very least, Aulani is an option and maybe all of the other foreign park destinations?

Personally, I would prefer to not limit my vacation options for a good chunk of my life unless I was getting a significant discount and there was enough variety with the destinations worldwide.

No, we just used RCI to stay in Branson, MO at an awesome resort. We have also used it to stay in New York (Times Square) for a week for the $99 exchange fee (currently being waived, but wasn't at that time)

As for us, we bought into the Grand Californian when the cost was equal to about three trips (admittedly, this is more like four to five once you factor in dues over the course of the contract). We could literally resell it today for about 2.5 times what we paid for it. We won't do it, because it isn't in our long term best interest, but you definitely don't have to only stay at Disney, although that is usually your best bang for the points, although RCI worked in our favor on the two trips mentioned above.

I’m sure there are better people than me to explain the math on this but I bought in by buying a contract on the secondary market at Saratoga Springs at WDW for about $30k for 400 points. I bought back in 2015 and the contract expires in 2054 so I have it for 39 years. The annual dues per year are $2,654.76 per year or $221.23 per month. That number does change a little year by year but not much.

$30,000 divided by the 39 years a have left on the contract averages out to $769.23 per year

Add the $2,654.76 for annual dues and you actually spend $3,423.99 per year For 400 points.

400 points would get you 2 weeks in a studio during the summer at the grand Californian and a studio is the fair comp to a hotel room because they are essentially that. 14 days for $3,423.99 works out to $244.57 per night. Compare that to a standard view at the Grand Californian in July which cost $766 per night. Not to mention that the views at the studios are much better than the standard hotel room and I think it ends up being a really good deal. That is if you can actually find availability. That’s the real catch. It’s very competitive. You absolutely have to be up at 5am 7 months out to book that type of room and even then, you’ll have to be flexible with your dates cause most likely it will take a few days to secure a reservation.

I hope this helps and more importantly I hope my math is right. Lol

Actually, depending on the way you work it, with those 400 points, you could get close to 4 weeks a year at the Grand Californian, as we have about half that and can get 2 weeks or so out of it. Which makes it closer to $122 a night, making it more like an offsite room in the area because remember that $122 (or $244 by your math) would also need to cover the cost of taxes, the $766 per night quoted is BEFORE taxes, so it gets closer to $842 or more a night.

As for availability, there are those of us that own at the Grand Californian that will trade at the 11 month mark to be able to get where we want to go, depending on your home resort.

 

[truecoat]

Here's the layout of the Pod and Studio rooms.

 

[truecoat]

Here are the 1 Bedroom with lock-off and 2 Bedroom.

 

[truecoat]

And for the people with more money than they know what to do with, here is the Grand Villa levels 1 and 2.