OVERALL REVIEW OF TRIP
FAVORITES/POSITIVES:
Here is a summary of my faves, must dos, and best memories of our trip (not in any particular order):
1) ONE BEDROOM VILLA: Cannot say enough of how much we LOVED having that huge villa: so spacious, homey, and luxurious. Better than my own home!
2) CABANAS: I completely understand now wanting to have that cabana. Wow! That was awesome! We did full days at GCH and DLH. If money is ok, we are TOTALLY doing this again in the future!
3) Surfs Up Breakfast with Mickey and Friends in PPH: We did this on Day Three. What fun interactions we had! These were some of our favorite memories. We thought the food was pretty good, too.
4) Having the Paradise Pier view was awesome! Every time we entered the villa, I opened the curtains wide open. Every morning I re-opened the drapes and opened the balcony slider. I LOVED hearing the sounds of DCA, even if it meant hearing the tests the CMs were doing in preparation of the parks opening. So soothing and made me very happy!
5) Chip and Dale Character Breakfast at Storytellers Café at GCH: We did this on our last day Day Six before checkout. We really liked the buffet. Our server Daniel was one of our best servers during our entire trip. I was worried that the kids would only recognize Chip, Dale, and Meeko the raccoon from Pocahontas. They had a blast with everyone. Unfortunately, we didnt get to meet Meeko.
6) Bell Services: We used Bell Services during check-in to store luggage until the villa was ready, to receive our grocery delivery, to deliver to the villa, upon checkout from the 1 bedroom and store until the studio villa was ready, to deliver to the studio, and to store after checkout until we were ready to go home. We had such positive experiences with everyone. Soooo nice!
ON A SIDE NOTE: We had an Amazon.com overnight delivery ordered our first day to receive the 2nd day. I got into detail about it earlier. I was so impressed about how the manager helped me and handled the situation.
7) DCA entrance through GCH: Loved this!!! We did NOT step foot once at Disneyland Park. The focus of our trip was to relax, to shop, and spend a LOT of time in the pools. Then, if we had time, we would go to the DCA. So convenient.
8) Proximity to DTD: Loved not sitting in a car for six days!!! We always ate in the room, in the hotel/pool, or in DTD. We actually tried Tortilla Joes and Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen for the first time. LOVED their food. We actually went to Tortilla Joes two times. We would have repeated Ralph Brennans, but theyre so expensive.
9) Favorite CM interaction/experience: When we had our GCH full day cabana, our initial cabana host/attendant was Jonathan. We were so impressed with him. He was so sincere and genuine, accommodating, & checked on us frequently enough but not impose himself. We saw him 3 days later when we had the full day DLH cabana. This time he was a lifeguard & he recognized me! The next day he was training another lifeguard & he remembered us again! We had quite a few nice conversations with him. Such a sweet young man!
10) We loved the Mariposa Pool at the GCH (it was quieter than the Fountain Pool and Redwood Pool. Actually this is where the 4 GCH cabanas are located. This pool was also closest to the DVC tower and the lobby.
NEGATIVES/REGRETS/BAD EXPERIENCES:
This is a list that is not in any particular order.
1) I made multiple requests at different points to hopefully ensure the view I wanted (Paradise Pier in order to have the World of Color View). I made the requests with specific villa numbers with DVC Member Services, when I called GCH 1 ½ weeks prior to the trip, & upon check-in. Based on when people were checking out, the highest view we got in the 1 bedroom villa was floor 3. I had requested floor 6, 5, & 4.
With the studio villa, we got floor ONE!!! Ugh!!! Saw close to nothing, but at least we could hear the sounds of DCA. Because of our location, hardly anyone could see us if we were getting dressed near the bathroom.
I know requests are NOT a guarantee, but these were a letdown for me.
2) The following is a biggie for me, too: This was our 1st time using points to stay at DVC and I was looking forward to using the kitchen. Because of our crazy schedule, I was only able to cook a few times. One dinner was linguini with clams. On our last day, I planned to cook a full breakfast (bacon, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, pancakes). I had coffee for DH & I and I also had OJ for the 4 of us. The cookware was SOOOOOO CHEAP
they were a set of cheap version of stainless steel cookware (a small pot, a small/medium frying pan, a medium sized saute pan). It was soooo hard to boil the pasta. I couldnt believe they did NOT have one piece of non-stick cookware. I really didnt think this should be acceptable for Disney Vacation Club. (I still have the comment cards for cabanas at GCH & DLH and I also plan on doing the DVC survey).
I had called Guest Services and they checked with Mousekeeping. They did confirm that they do not have any other options. I could NOT do the fried eggs and the pancakes were mediocre at best. I used the cookie sheet on low to low-medium heat. I had thrown out half of the pancakes. Note to self: Next time Im bringing two non-stick saute pans and one larger stock pot. If I had to fly to a DVC resort, I wouldnt be able to do this.
3) Hmmmm
Im supposed to think of other things to complain about and things I didnt like. Hmmm
hold on. Give me a minute. Wait
there was that one time where
Nope. Sorry! We had such an awesome time! It was hard getting back to the real world of work. Now we have to earn enough money to afford our
Disney Cruise Line vacations next May and next October! Hurray for no airfare and just driving down to San Diego!
Our family LOVES, lives, and breathes Disney!!! DLR annual passholders, Disney Vacation Club members, and addicted to
Disney Cruise Line. I LOVE my DISboards and love reading about everyone elses experiences. I am such the planner when it comes to vacations. Ive gotten my May and October cruises booked since their opening days (best prices). Im even contemplating about what to do about 2016. Hmmm
DVC member cruise or Aulani? What kills me is the idea of paying for airfare, the cost of food in Hawaii, & car rental costs in Hawaii!
Oh, but to dream, to plan, and to hope! Time will tell and I cant wait!
Thank you so much for joining me on my 1st journey as a Trip Reporter! It was fun sharing our experiences with you and hope you enjoyed the pictures as well!
Thoughts and comments are welcome!
Again, we rushed getting all 4 of us ready. We finished packing as were getting ready and we put the luggage by the entry door. We only brought my large purse w/the character autograph books and sharpie pen for signatures and the large camera. DH went to the registration desk for laundry tokens (shhhh!!! We redeemed the tokens for laundry detergent that we will use for our vacations next year).
Awww, forget it! I'll just post it...another post to follow! 
It was fun including them in our activities! 
