My wife and I were perfect candidates to buy VDH. We live in LA, own Aulani, CC, and VGF with a mix of resale and direct, and love
Disneyland, but always have trouble booking VGC at 7 months or earlier. I would have been almost willing to swallow the high pp cost, since we would have bought 100 points or maybe less. But isn’t $230 kind of ridiculous? And the incentives, whatever they are, won’t mean anything because I think most contracts will not have a huge point count.
But that’s not all. The tax, which is more than Aulani (which I don’t mind paying because the amount isn’t egregious and I love Hawaii), is unreasonable, greedy on the part of city government, and let’s face it Anaheim ain’t Hawaii. But lack of clarity on parking could mean another substantial per stay fee, not to mention particularly high dues that will only get higher, which are hard to understand because the building is brand new and sits on a particularly small footprint.
Also, I had kind of convinced myself that the architecture had a nice streamlined moderne feel while still respecting its surrounding hotel buildings. But now I see it more as a bit of an unthemed block of boringness, with mostly parking lot and unscenic residential neighborhood views. No grounds to speak of, no immersive escapist environment. Riviera is controversial because its theming is more understated (though I still love it!) but, aside from a fun grand villa which I’d never book in a million years, and what looks to be a mildly fun kids splash area, and maybe a few fanciful touches in the rooms, there’s really nothing here.
In a way I’m glad. We’ll pass on this one and hope DVD does better with Poly 2.
