The Official VILLAS at DISNEYLAND HOTEL (Discovery Tower) Owners and Fans Info Thread

[PCDisFan]

I'm late to the start of the Official Thread party! Thank you so much UrsulaWantsYourSoul for getting this up and running!

Doing our family's first stay in early December in a 2 bedroom. I can't wait to experience the property.

 

[bbeagle]

Can a non-Villas at Disneyland DVC member not call in to check on availability?

I called in this morning to check on availability and they told me that they could not tell me as I wasn't a Villas DVC member. I was confused, and after the call was over I thought - 'Wait a minute - what about CASH buyers - can't they ask about availability?'

What gives?

 

[CarolynFH]

Can a non-Villas at Disneyland DVC member not call in to check on availability?

I called in this morning to check on availability and they told me that they could not tell me as I wasn't a Villas DVC member. I was confused, and after the call was over I thought - 'Wait a minute - what about CASH buyers - can't they ask about availability?'

What gives?

People who own VDH can call for points reservations availability now. The rest of us have to wait until July 27, when online booking will open for all.

People wanting to book for cash can call Disney reservations, not DVC.

Edited - see my post #105 for correct information. I was really confused!

 

[bbeagle]

People wanting to book for cash can call Disney reservations, not DVC.

Ah, okay. Thanks! So, DVC members can call Disney reservations to get availability.... at least until Dec 31. Cash bookings aren't available after Jan 1, so I guess we can't check availability after Jan 1 then.

 

[CarolynFH]

Ah, okay. Thanks! So, DVC members can call Disney reservations to get availability.... at least until Dec 31. Cash bookings aren't available after Jan 1, so I guess we can't check availability after Jan 1 then.

VDH can be booked for cash via the Disneyland Resort website - https://disneyland.disney.go.com/hotels/disneyland-hotel/rates-rooms/.

VDH owners can book points reservations now by calling MS; other DVC owners have to wait until July 27, when online booking opens for all.

 

[Sandisw]

Ah, okay. Thanks! So, DVC members can call Disney reservations to get availability.... at least until Dec 31. Cash bookings aren't available after Jan 1, so I guess we can't check availability after Jan 1 then.

The cash rooms are different inventory than what can be booked via points.

So, you can call Disney to find out what can be booked for cash. If you want to use your points, you have to wait until July 27tb to check with MS for what is available for points based bookings.

 

[ahintz]

Excited to say we were able to book a stay in a standard-view studio this morning for the first week of January! I had called about a month ago about booking that, and at that time both standard and preferred view studios were booked for that week. I figured I'd call today before it opens up to everyone and standard view was available after January 1, and preferred view was available if we wanted to book over New Year's. Looking forward to having our 3-year-old experience Christmas at Disneyland!

 

[ehh]

Excited to say we were able to book a stay in a standard-view studio this morning for the first week of January! I had called about a month ago about booking that, and at that time both standard and preferred view studios were booked for that week. I figured I'd call today before it opens up to everyone and standard view was available after January 1, and preferred view was available if we wanted to book over New Year's. Looking forward to having our 3-year-old experience Christmas at Disneyland!

Nice! Seems likely there might have been another declaration set to go live early 2024!

 

[noisycricket]

... We will see.... if not, the we will have to "live" with a 2BR at the Grand Cal..... I keep telling my kids how lucky they are, but they don't get it LOL.

Are you getting a 2BR in the 7 month window, not the 11 month? If yes, are you generally successful with that? Enquiring minds want to know...what we might be able to do with VDH points.

 

[CarolynFH]

Are you getting a 2BR in the 7 month window, not the 11 month? If yes, are you generally successful with that? Enquiring minds want to know...what we might be able to do with VDH points.

Competition at 7 months comes from owners at other DVC resorts. They won’t be able to book VDH until July 27, so today it’s only owners who are booking, and the 7 month window is meaningless.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Are you getting a 2BR in the 7 month window, not the 11 month? If yes, are you generally successful with that? Enquiring minds want to know...what we might be able to do with VDH points.

As of right now I think the 7 month window aligns with late February so it would be in the > 7 month window.

 

[bbeagle]

Does anyone know how often Disney adds new DVC rooms to the inventory at their resorts?

Just an update to my above post where I was wondering about declared rooms, as I was a bit worried that I had 0 chance of getting a 1 or 2 bedroom when I called in on my 11 month booking windows. I didn't need to worry. Called in (member services answered right away) and both 1 and 2 bedrooms were available, so I grabbed a 1bd (as well as some studios for other family members for our California family reunion).

I'm wondering about that too.

On July 27, all DVC members can book at VDH. Many nights will be sold out initially because of the low allocation of rooms to DVC.

But those nights will become available when new rooms are allocated to the DVC side. Won't this be a constant thing where one day what you want will be sold out, then a few studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms are added, and the next day it's available?

 

[FeliciaB23]

For Thursday, am I correct in assuming no one knows what dates are already sold out yet? Just curious what my chances are for a deluxe studio, SV or PV, for 4 weeknights in November or December.

 

[bbeagle]

For tomorrow, am I correct in assuming no one knows what dates are already sold out yet? Just curious what my chances are for a deluxe studio, SV or PV, for 4 weeknights in November or December.

Except for VDH DVC owners. They can call DVC and get the information over the phone. Nobody else can.

I'm not sure what the availability is going to look like. Theoretically, if every VDH DVC owner used ALL of their points before July 27, there would be zero availability, right?

And also theoretically, if half of the VDH DVC owners used ALL their points and ALL their borrowed points from next year.... (twice the points they bought per year) ... wouldn't half of the VDH DVC owners see absolutely no availability at all?

Or does DVC open more rooms than exactly 100% of what owners can buy?

 

[Sunnyore]

Except for VDH DVC owners. They can call DVC and get the information over the phone. Nobody else can.

I'm not sure what the availability is going to look like. Theoretically, if every VDH DVC owner used ALL of their points before July 27, there would be zero availability, right?

And also theoretically, if half of the VDH DVC owners used ALL their points and ALL their borrowed points from next year.... (twice the points they bought per year) ... wouldn't half of the VDH DVC owners see absolutely no availability at all?

Or does DVC open more rooms than exactly 100% of what owners can buy?

Don’t forget a bunch of us sold our first year points back to Disney. As for what Disney actually did with those points so far is anyone’s guess. I

 

[FeliciaB23]

Don’t forget a bunch of us sold our first year points back to Disney. As for what Disney actually did with those points so far is anyone’s guess. I

Would that possibly mean more or less rooms will be available to book tomorrow?

 

[Canchaser143]

Would that possibly mean more or less rooms will be available to book tomorrow?

They have not made any announcements about declaring more inventory, so my guess is no

 

[ehh]

Does anyone know how often Disney adds new DVC rooms to the inventory at their resorts?

It depends on how fast it's selling. Until it sells out, they always have to have more declared in inventory than what has been sold.

Generally, they'll add a handful of rooms a few times a year until it's fully sold out. Exact volumes and frequency will vary, as will what types of rooms they add. Sometimes they'll add all Studios and no big Villas, or a more even split (which is disproportional at VDH, which is very Studio-heavy).

Based on how many declaration phases are in the Condo Plan (at least 21) and Phases 1+2 including 72 rooms, each future Phase will add an average of ~13 more rooms. Considering the sales pace is targeting a sell-out date of mid/late 2025 (or later), we might see ~13 more rooms added every 1-2 months.

But you might not actually see the inventory increases...

I'm wondering about that too.

On July 27, all DVC members can book at VDH. Many nights will be sold out initially because of the low allocation of rooms to DVC.

But those nights will become available when new rooms are allocated to the DVC side. Won't this be a constant thing where one day what you want will be sold out, then a few studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms are added, and the next day it's available?

I've seen two ways of declaring inventory at other resorts.

1) Roughly what you describe, where they add inventory to all or many dates within 11m. This will appear like a large influx of available nights and many waitlists will be fulfilled.
2) They anticipate when they'll need in advance and add that inventory at 11m+7d, such that it's an invisible increase unless you're monitoring specific room inventory levels. This is what they prefer to do, based on what I've seen at Riviera.

I suspect they'll try to do as much of #2 at VDH, too. Because they're doing declarations basically a year in advance, they must err on the side of caution and make sure they don't under-declare. This means inventory should be proportionally more available compared to what is sold. More rooms declared compared to what has sold, plus the cushion they need to factor in, means that booking should be a little easier while it's still selling.


EDIT: As for what's available tomorrow, my guess is that 2023 is gonna be pretty slim pickings, but 2024 should have better inventory. Race weekend is probably still completely sold out.

 

[FireflyTrance]

So I don’t own at VDH but I am hoping to book it tomorrow within the 7 month window. If I log in at 5am is there likely to be decent availability or will it be really slim pickings? We live in CA and I am somewhat flexible about when we go.

 

[bbeagle]

2) They anticipate when they'll need in advance and add that inventory at 11m+7d, such that it's an invisible increase unless you're monitoring specific room inventory levels. This is what they prefer to do, based on what I've seen at Riviera.

I suspect they'll try to do as much of #2 at VDH, too.

Thank you for the detailed explanations.

One thing I don't get is that if they only add inventory to 11m+, then there will only be one 1 bdrm and two 2 bdrms available for, say, Easter Spring Break. I'd think a lot of VDH owners might want to go that week. They wouldn't be able to get what they wanted, but NEXT Easter Spring Break there would be larger quantities.