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

[Disney Princess]

We booked our next stay at VGC and can't wait! We couldn't deicde when to go, and we almost waited too late - we booked at 8 months. We are going February 5-9. It'll be our son's first trip. He'll be about 5-6 months depending on when he arrives. We were delighted to have the studio available. We'll have to call back and add his name to the reservation once he has one. We couldn't give MS a birth date either.

We are so excited to be heading back to our west coast home soon!

 

[cpster]

Hi everyone,

We're hoping to join the family soon. How do you all rate the sofa sleepers in the studios? Are the mini fridges better than the average hotel fridge? Are there toasters in the units?

Thanks!

 

[australiankaren]

So excited, was so worried I wouldn't get in @ 7 mths.
We now have a studio, and cant wait.

One more night to book then we are done!

 

[elgerber]

Hi everyone,

We're hoping to join the family soon. How do you all rate the sofa sleepers in the studios? Are the mini fridges better than the average hotel fridge? Are there toasters in the units?

Thanks!

I just slept 5 nights on the sleeper sofa, it was just fine.

 

[DonnaL]

Hi Lucille1963......love the pictures of the 1 bdrm from your trip report....we're also waiting for the SWA schedule to be released before making our air reservations.......we have enough points for one round trip and a one way....we're taking our 11 year old grandson with us.

 

[australiankaren]

Question: Can we charge for meals, stuff etc in the parks to our DVC room key at GCV??
Is it the same system as WDW..deluxe resort =$1500 limit??

Thanks heaps

 

[Nonsuch]

Question: Can we charge for meals, stuff etc in the parks to our DVC room key at GCV??
Is it the same system as WDW..deluxe resort =$1500 limit??

Yes, the room key can be used for payment in the parks and the hotel.
I don't know about a limit.

 

[australiankaren]

Yes, the room key can be used for payment in the parks and the hotel.
I don't know about a limit.

thanks for that, good to know and I would have hated to ring member services from australia just to ask that little question

 

[Lucille1963]

Hi Lucille1963......love the pictures of the 1 bdrm from your trip report....we're also waiting for the SWA schedule to be released before making our air reservations.......we have enough points for one round trip and a one way....we're taking our 11 year old grandson with us.

Hooray! I'm glad you liked them. I just wish I had a fancier camera, perhaps I will by the time our next trip rolls around.

We have almost enough points for all of our flights to be covered, perhaps we will by the time the window opens up. The initial Southwest points from the credit card and the AP we had to get on our last trip made this one possible.

I only wish we could stay in a 1BR again. We only have enough points for a studio. I looooovvvveeedd the 1BR!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Hi all, I'm sure this info is buried in here somewhere - but can someone point me to a good info spot for high/low/medium demand times? We're hoping to book a trip in 2013, preferably in the first half of June, be we are owners at WDW and won't be able to book until 7 months. If that's just an incredibly bad time to try, I was going to attempt to talk my husband into something else..... thoughts? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Korea Ears]

Is it possible to add the Craftsman lounge to a dvc reservation? If so, how much?

 

[blackjackdelta]

Is it possible to add the Craftsman lounge to a dvc reservation? If so, how much?

Not that I have ever heard of, concierge is for those specific rooms in the hotel.

Jack

 

[taaren]

Hi all, I'm sure this info is buried in here somewhere - but can someone point me to a good info spot for high/low/medium demand times? We're hoping to book a trip in 2013, preferably in the first half of June, be we are owners at WDW and won't be able to book until 7 months. If that's just an incredibly bad time to try, I was going to attempt to talk my husband into something else..... thoughts? Thanks in advance for any help!

Because there are only 48 units (22 2-bedrooms, 22 2-bedroom lock-offs, 2 grand villas), its pretty much high demand time all the time at the VGC. Hmm ... my math is off there ...

As far as the first few weeks of June, I can only tell you about my experience for booking a weekend trip that I just took 2 weeks ago. I booked the 2nd weekend of June (9-10) at 11 months, then DH's work said he couldn't go until the week after that (17-19) at 8 months out, fully a month before non-VGC owners could book. I was able to grab one night that we wanted, had to wait list for the other. Wait list came through just before 7 months, so a VGC person probably traded it for an Aulani or WDW trip would be my best guess.

People have reported getting rooms at 7 months fairly easily when they wake up and use the online system as soon as its open, then rooms being gone later in the day though. Good luck!

My guess would be that mid to late summer July-mid August might be easier to grab since the point amounts are so much higher. I've never wanted to go in the heat though, always preferred May and October, of which October has always had less availability when I've had to move reservations or add nights.

 

[Nonsuch]

Because there are only 48 units (22 2-bedrooms, 22 2-bedroom lock-offs, 2 grand villas), its pretty much high demand time all the time at the VGC. Hmm ... my math is off there ...

23 2-bedroom dedicated, 23 2-bedroom lockoff, 2 3-bedroom grand villas

My guess would be that mid to late summer July-mid August might be easier to grab since the point amounts are so much higher.

The various point rates serve to balance demand, and with only 48 units demand will generally be very high
January and February are quite slow, and I have booked several trips on short notice.

 

[DonnaL]

I can only tell you of my own experience when booking at the 7 month window.
I just booked on June 18th for 1/13/13 thru 1/18/13 in a 1 bdrm at VGC. Had no problem getting it and there were also 2 bdrms available......don't think there were any studios though.

 

[taaren]

23 2-bedroom dedicated, 23 2-bedroom lockoff, 2 3-bedroom grand villas
The various point rates serve to balance demand, and with only 48 units demand will generally be very high
January and February are quite slow, and I have booked several trips on short notice.

Thanks for fixing my math. I've never tried for late summer, or Jan through April. Only looked/booked in May/June, and Sept-Dec. Thanks for the tip about Jan/Feb! Maybe one of these days we'll add on a night or two adjoining our late January ski trip!

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Just wanted to say that I am so glad to be an owner at GCV. Out of curiosity I looked at availability for the remainder of this year and as of right now there are only 7 open nights, none consecutive. That 11 month booking window is nice to have!

 

[lowe@massed.net]

DH and I returned last week from an 8-day trip to the DLR in conjunction with the American Library Association's annual conference which was right next door at the Anaheim Convention Center. We stayed at the Grand Californian and got to experience Cars Land just a week after it opened. Thanks to tips from this board, I requested studios 6504, 5504, 4504, 3504, 5510, 4510, 3510, 5516, 4516, 3516 and we got 5504. What a fabulous view of the Paradise Pier area and WOC! I have posted lots of photos with commentary on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/msla/sets/72157630427550432/

I hope you enjoy my photo travelog!

 

[Nonsuch]

...Thanks to tips from this board, I requested studios 6504, 5504, 4504, 3504, 5510, 4510, 3510, 5516, 4516, 3516 and we got 5504. What a fabulous view of the Paradise Pier area and WOC!

x504 are the only Studios with WOC view, so you beat the odds

 

[Longhairbear]

Just wanted to say that I am so glad to be an owner at GCV. Out of curiosity I looked at availability for the remainder of this year and as of right now there are only 7 open nights, none consecutive. That 11 month booking window is nice to have!

We ran into the same info when trying to book our 2 night trip next week. We got a room at PP on points. We don't own at GVC, so I'm jealous...LOL.