The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 2.0

[czmom]

Do the full kitchens have a blender in them? I am staying in a studio...but could I call Mousekeeping for a blender?

Thanks!

 

[Breyean]

Yeah, I would be interested to know this too!

When you check in, even if your room isn't ready, it has been assigned to you.

They will give some paperwork to sign, like you won't smoke in the rooms, when check out is, and at the top (I believe) is the room number you are signing for.

 

[Nonsuch]

Do the full kitchens have a blender in them? I am staying in a studio...but could I call Mousekeeping for a blender?

None of the villas have a blender, but are "available upon request"

 

[Nonsuch]

...Many, many thanks, Nonsuch, for your help: We checked in a 7am, and even though we had to wait until 4:30 for the room to be ready (and we never got the promised text ) I used your info on how to figure out our room number from the sign-in paperwork, and your map to see which room it was. So all day at the parks, at least I knew it was worth waiting for! And when we got it, it was sooo easy-access to the pool.

You are very welcome
I have also not received a text on several visits, but already knowing the assigned villa makes the wait much easier.

...I've never checked to see whether you can get into the pool area through the gate accessible through the back. We always ask for the ground floor, but don't always get it.

The back gate does open with a room key. Several pool gates are marked "emergency exit", but it is OK to used them (unless there is an alarm warning).
Do you request in advance?

They will give some paperwork to sign, like you won't smoke in the rooms, when check out is, and at the top (I believe) is the room number you are signing for.

I learned about this on this board, but was initially very skeptical. The room (both hotel and villa) number has always been printed on the form, and I often check in before 7AM for EMH

 

[Breyean]

I learned about this on this board, but was initially very skeptical. The room (both hotel and villa) number has always been printed on the form, and I often check in before 7AM for EMH

Last December our son, who lives in Ca, got to the VGC before us and checked us in around 6am. He had my list (based on your postings) of the room requests I had made when I made the reservation, and he mentioned it to the CM at the desk.

She said she couldn't tell him the room we were assigned, but all the while she was pointing to the room number right there on the check in slip as he was signing it.

So they may not be able to actually TELL you, but it's there to see for yourself, I guess.

 

[wbl2745]

The back gate does open with a room key. Several pool gates are marked "emergency exit", but it is OK to used them (unless there is an alarm warning).
Do you request in advance?

I always request the ground floor in advance. If we're not on the ground floor we're on the second floor, which doesn't really accomplish what I wanted. I've got a reservation for a studio during D23 in August, we'll see what we get.

BTW, I always make a note of the room number when I check-in. Since they give you the keys at check-in I've always been tempted to just go to the room at 4:00 PM even if I haven't received the text message.

 

[dcfromva]

We stay park view often and it has never bothered us. It seems to add to the excitement of the theme park view. I'm sure what you experienced was isolated to Grad Nights. Try to remember back to when you were18 years old and were out later than ever and are celebrating a great accomplishment. It would be strange to tell a bunch of people that they can't scream as loud as they want on a roller coaster. Maybe check if it is Grad Night Season before your next stay and if it is, choose a pool view. Hopefully you were still able to enjoy the rest of your nights since Grad Night is usually Thursday & Friday nights only.

I stayed at VGC 14-22 June 2013 and I found it pretty noisy, too. I don't generally make any room requests (and I usually get pool view or ground floor ) I didn't make any requests this time either, so I was surprised to have a theme park view.... It was a really good view, but....
I don't think the screams were as bothersome as the running The World of Color at 2:30am--especially when the fire/explosions go off. It was impossible to sleep through.
I was wondering if the grad night schedule is published anywhere? I do like going in June because of the nice weather (compared to VA ) and favorable points values.

 

[Breyean]

I stayed at VGC 14-22 June 2013 and I found it pretty noisy, too. I don't generally make any room requests (and I usually get pool view or ground floor ) I didn't make any requests this time either, so I was surprised to have a theme park view.... It was a really good view, but....
I don't think the screams were as bothersome as the running The World of Color at 2:30am--especially when the fire/explosions go off. It was impossible to sleep through.
I was wondering if the grad night schedule is published anywhere? I do like going in June because of the nice weather (compared to VA ) and favorable points values.

Here's the schedule for next year...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/Events/grad-nights.html

 

[taaren]

We haven't been to our west coast home in two years, and I've been feeling a bit homesick. We were supposed to go in February, but the PAP deals that were offered to us from WDW caused us to return there. We're hoping to make it out west in 2014.

I know the feeling. We haven't been in over a year, and that was only a short weekend trip to see Carsland so we haven't been to the VGC to relax since '11.
We won't get to go back there until Feb '14, and that's for another weekend trip. Unless my early December waitlist comes through (I'm running 4 of 'em but its looking doubtful, and I put them in around 9 months out), our next trip where we'll get to stay and relax at the VGC will be October '14 ... way too long, IMHO.

It was simply cheaper to go to WDW with that awesome PAP deal though, and we're trying to stick to a budget atm. Its a pity they don't run deals for DLR DVC'ers, but the parks are pretty packed with SoCal residents so I guess they don't need to. I hope that whenever they get around to building another West Coast DVC and therefore have more DVC West Coast members, they'll start running specials to get us into the parks & spending more.

 

[5ofus]

I'm getting to the end of this wonderful thread - currently on page 107! - but thought I'd pop in with a question or two.

How do they treat renters differently from DVC owners? Do we (as renters) get the free parking? Any other differences? We're only staying two days in a studio.

Secondly, and this may be answered in a page I haven't made it to yet, but do they allow you to 'check in' by phone? We're driving in from Las Vegas on our check in day so I can't see us arriving any earlier than 1 or 2pm. I've asked the owner I'm renting off to send through our room requests, but would like to have the best chance of one of the WOC view rooms (thanks Nonsuch for the fantastic lists and graphics of the rooms).

Oh and one more, one of my DVC owner friends was invited to pool hop to the DLH pools in February while staying at the VGC - is this something that is not normally offered? I think I remember reading that they don't allow it on the West Coast.

 

[taaren]

How do they treat renters differently from DVC owners? Do we (as renters) get the free parking? Any other differences? We're only staying two days in a studio.

Secondly, and this may be answered in a page I haven't made it to yet, but do they allow you to 'check in' by phone? We're driving in from Las Vegas on our check in day so I can't see us arriving any earlier than 1 or 2pm. I've asked the owner I'm renting off to send through our room requests, but would like to have the best chance of one of the WOC view rooms (thanks Nonsuch for the fantastic lists and graphics of the rooms).

Oh and one more, one of my DVC owner friends was invited to pool hop to the DLH pools in February while staying at the VGC - is this something that is not normally offered? I think I remember reading that they don't allow it on the West Coast.

There is normally not pool hopping allowed at the DLR hotels. If one of the slides was broken, they sometimes send people over to hop as compensation.

They should not treat renters any differently, and as long as your reservation was input just right with MS, you should be fine ... the front desk doesn't know the difference between a renter, and say a family member/friend of an owner, its all the same to them. People staying on points reservations have parking included ... its not "free", because the maintenance fees on the points you rented include a line for parking, but you won't have to pay anything extra. Sort of like your public services aren't "free" you pay for them with your taxes, it just feels free.
I've never heard of anyone checking in by phone, and I haven't stayed in over a year but as far as I know there's still no online check in like there is in Florida.

 

[5ofus]

There is normally not pool hopping allowed at the DLR hotels. If one of the slides was broken, they sometimes send people over to hop as compensation.

They should not treat renters any differently, and as long as your reservation was input just right with MS, you should be fine ... the front desk doesn't know the difference between a renter, and say a family member/friend of an owner, its all the same to them. People staying on points reservations have parking included ... its not "free", because the maintenance fees on the points you rented include a line for parking, but you won't have to pay anything extra. Sort of like your public services aren't "free" you pay for them with your taxes, it just feels free.
I've never heard of anyone checking in by phone, and I haven't stayed in over a year but as far as I know there's still no online check in like there is in Florida.

Thanks so much! I've finally finished reading every single post in this thread and now I'm even more excited about our stay - despite how brief it is.

I wish we could buy into DVC. I've stayed at OKW and the VWL and have loved both of them. Buying from Oz though creates more obstacles than the usual financial ones.

 

[dcfromva]

Here's the schedule for next year...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/Events/grad-nights.html

Thx for the link. That helps a lot.

 

[Nonsuch]

...I've finally finished reading every single post in this thread and now I'm even more excited about our stay - despite how brief it is...

If you are bored, read the original thread
The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners Group

 

[5ofus]

If you are bored, read the original thread
The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners Group

Hmmm, don't know about bored, more like relieved

Might pop over and read a bit of that if I do get bored though...

 

[Bronte]

We are DVC owners (BCV) and after many, many visits to the world we are thinking about going to the land for the first time !!!!
Will I be able to book 2 studios for a mid Sept. trip at the 7 month mark or will it be waitlist city for us ???

Thanks

 

[DebbieB]

We are DVC owners (BCV) and after many, many visits to the world we are thinking about going to the land for the first time !!!!
Will I be able to book 2 studios for a mid Sept. trip at the 7 month mark or will it be waitlist city for us ???

Thanks

I got a studio for the end of Sept last year at 7 months.

 

[5ofus]

We are DVC owners (BCV) and after many, many visits to the world we are thinking about going to the land for the first time !!!!
Will I be able to book 2 studios for a mid Sept. trip at the 7 month mark or will it be waitlist city for us ???

Thanks

Our studio rental was booked at the seven month mark. We got one night (Sept 11th) straight away and waitlisted for the 12th. That came through about a month later.

 

[hjgaus]

URL=http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/hgaus52539/media/photo-23_zpsb5ebd2a3.jpeg.html]

[/URL][/URL]

testing adding photos to my post

 

[hjgaus]

[/URL][/IMG]

kareoke in the Grand Villa

testing still