DVC Chit Chat Thread

[AstroBlasters]

Wait, wait, wait…

@PolyRob ’s only home resort is VGF?!!!

POLYRob? With a Stitch avatar? (I think? I can only squint so hard…)

*faints away*

I mean…. if you are staying in OG VGF…. aren’t you basically at the Grand Floridian & The Polynesian?

It’s a 4 min walk to Gasparilla and a 6 min walk to Wailulu…. maybe another 2-3 minutes to Trader Sam’s?

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We like sleeping in, taking our time, not rushing around. But we also like to feel like we’ve done everything we want to do each trip, so the long trips work well for us. With all of our park days (plus 4 EEHs) we do all our favorite rides multiple times. I honestly can’t imagine only going for a few days. Just as you’re getting into the vacation it’s over. Plus just doing one long trip a year instead of multiple smaller ones saves on costs. We also have other trips throughout the year so we only have time for one WDW trip, and with only one trip I want to spend as much time there as I can. When DH retires (at least 15 years away) we plan on taking a lot more frequent and longer trips to Disney, it for now the one longer trip works.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

We are the exact opposite of stuffy people but somehow feel complete at home at VGF. Maybe because it's the first resort we stayed at? IDK but we absolutely love that place.

We usually take two long trips (18 nights) every year and fit in a couple shorter (7-10 night) trips.

 

[RuntheMouse]

We are on our way back from 2 weeks. Longest we have done. I decided while convenient for flying purposes it’s really just too long. I think 7 days could be a sweet spot. But we normally do 4-5 nights prior to this.

We do a nice mix of trip lengths. DH is self employed so he takes off when he wants. October is 6 nights, December is 3-4 nights, January is 2-3 weeks, Spring is 3-7 nights depending on if I booked in advance. The January trips are VERY different than the others in terms of schedule and pace.

 

[Chili327]

We are the exact opposite of stuffy people but somehow feel complete at home at VGF. Maybe because it's the first resort we stayed at? IDK but we absolutely love that place.

We usually take two long trips (18 nights) every year and fit in a couple shorter (7-10 night) trips.

How do you split up the resorts on those trips? All 18 nights at one place or split stay or changes every time?

 

[Chili327]

We do a nice mix of trip lengths. DH is self employed so he takes off when he wants. October is 6 nights, December is 3-4 nights, January is 2-3 weeks, Spring is 3-7 nights depending on if I booked in advance. The January trips are VERY different than the others in terms of schedule and pace.

I’m curious about January details.
How many park days do you do on average? And what else do you do, just resort days DS, or any off property stuff?

 

[RuntheMouse]

I’m curious about January details.
How many park days do you do on average? And what else do you do, just resort days DS, or any off property stuff?

We start our trip around marathon weekend so we’re pretty low key to start. We take a couple of resort days and only do half days in the parks until the Monday after. After that we tend to do more park days but also a lot of extras like tours at AK, Keys to the Kingdom, Sangria University, Cirque du Soleil and mini golf. Then it’s time for FoTA so we focus on EPCOT. We never leave property, I refuse!

 

[J-Dog]

I’ve been at my company for 10 years. We get 4 weeks of flex-PTO and an extra week every 5 years. We also get 5 sick days or something like that.

We can carry over up to 7-days each year, but if we have more than that then they are gone forever. There is no vacation payout.

I just make sure to carry over my 7-days in case someone gets sick and beyond that I am going to use every minute of vacation I can.

I'm clearly in the wrong line of work. I just recently moved to Florida, and get 10 business days of per year. Before that, I was contracted at a different hospital in Washington state - was there 13 years and at the end was still only getting 8 business days off per year. I don't think either place would fret if a took an extra day or two off per year, but it's definitely discouraged.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I'm clearly in the wrong line of work. I just recently moved to Florida, and get 10 business days of per year. Before that, I was contracted at a different hospital in Washington state - was there 13 years and at the end was still only getting 8 business days off per year. I don't think either place would fret if a took an extra day or two off per year, but it's definitely discouraged.

8-10 business days off a year? Wow! What is your occupation, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[J-Dog]

8-10 business days off a year? Wow! What is your occupation, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm a veterinarian.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

I didn't realise ear plugs help with ears popping, my son doesn't like that so I will get him some for the next trip

Chewing gum and wearing earplugs helps my ears a lot with the air pressure changes in flights. Once we're at cruising altitude, I don't need to chew gum much, but the earplugs stay in. DW and I have to type notes to each other on our phones to "talk" during flights.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I'm a veterinarian.

Oof, that is rough to only get 10 days off a year.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

I'm a veterinarian.

As a vet, you'll probably survive the AI revolution better than other industries. My industry is about to get ravaged. Although I don't work for either, Microsoft and Meta just announced big layoffs & hiring reductions due to AI. The writing on the wall is obvious at my company: evolve or die. Good thing that I'm planning to retire soon.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I'm clearly in the wrong line of work. I just recently moved to Florida, and get 10 business days of per year. Before that, I was contracted at a different hospital in Washington state - was there 13 years and at the end was still only getting 8 business days off per year. I don't think either place would fret if a took an extra day or two off per year, but it's definitely discouraged.

Your job may be more important to the health of wellness of our civilization than mine

 

[kgou]

Have watched multiple videos on multiple resorts and there’s one takeaway I just don’t understand. What’s the hype for the Grand Floridian? It’s a beautiful resort but just can’t understand the how popular it actually is. Maybe I just have to see it in person?

IMO the rooms at VGF are hands down the nicest in the DVC portfolio. Something about them just feel more luxe than some of the other resorts. Sure, that might not be for everyone.

Since our first (and only so far) stay at VGF we find ourselves comparing the other resorts to VGF and VGF reigns supreme for us. I have a stay coming up in a few months at PIT and RIV, so we'll see if that changes my tune.

The great thing about DVC is that there is something for everyone, and as I've said before on these boards I think I could find a positive thing to say about each resort. I may treat my VGF points like SAP+ but it's my favorite resort. I definitely recommend everyone try it at least once, even if it's just a night or two as part of a split stay to see what you think!

 

[kgou]

It only supports one bus at a time. The waiting area is far too small and it is impossible to know who is waiting for which bus or who got there first, so it is a crazy feeding frenzy when a bus shows up. The walkway right around the bus stop is very narrow and congested with sharp turns and overflowing guests. If guests in mobility scooters and/or strollers meet going opposite up/down directions to/from the bus stop, somebody has to put it in reverse.

this is my only complaint about VGF!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Have watched multiple videos on multiple resorts and there’s one takeaway I just don’t understand. What’s the hype for the Grand Floridian? It’s a beautiful resort but just can’t understand the how popular it actually is. Maybe I just have to see it in person?

I never really understood the hype either. I have always loved the way they look on the outside, though. But the rooms and lobby always seemed "meh" for me. I think it's the color scheme that always put me off, for some reason. And it just felt like faux-fancy or something. I can't quite explain it.

That said, I do like the DVC villas the more I look at them. And we might try to stay there someday. I think I'm just more of a darker color scheme with a rustic vibe type of person.

For me, 4 nights is the sweet spot for DLR.
At WDW, I find I can really enjoy a variety of trip lengths from as short as 3 nights up to 6 or 7 () nights. I think 7 is the longest I've stayed at this point, but can't imagine needing more than that. Obviously if you are traveling long distances that would probably change.

We have been happy with our 6 nights (5 park days) at Disneyland these last couple trips. But we are actually considering adding a 7th night in the future (but not an extra park day.) I feel like we rarely spend much time at the pool or wandering DTD. Plus, we never really venture off site at all. As we start to travel to DLR once a year or so now...I'm hoping to maybe take some more time away from the parks just to visit some places in the area. I just need to convince my husband since he never really wants to leave the grounds.

For WDW, 7 nights seems to be a good amount for us. It's just a crazy amount of walking and so much time spent getting on and off buses that by the end of the week, we've had our fill.

 

[AstroBlasters]

IMO the rooms at VGF are hands down the nicest in the DVC portfolio. Something about them just feel more luxe than some of the other resorts. Sure, that might not be for everyone.

Since our first (and only so far) stay at VGF we find ourselves comparing the other resorts to VGF and VGF reigns supreme for us. I have a stay coming up in a few months at PIT and RIV, so we'll see if that changes my tune.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I never really understood the hype either. I have always loved the way they look on the outside, though. But the rooms and lobby always seemed "meh" for me. I think it's the color scheme that always put me off, for some reason. And it just felt like faux-fancy or something. I can't quite explain it.

That said, I do like the DVC villas the more I look at them. And we might try to stay there someday. I think I'm just more of a darker color scheme with a rustic vibe type of person.



We have been happy with our 6 nights (5 park days) at Disneyland these last couple trips. But we are actually considering adding a 7th night in the future (but not an extra park day.) I feel like we rarely spend much time at the pool or wandering DTD. Plus, we never really venture off site at all. As we start to travel to DLR once a year or so now...I'm hoping to maybe take some more time away from the parks just to visit some places in the area. I just need to convince my husband since he never really wants to leave the grounds.

For WDW, 7 nights seems to be a good amount for us. It's just a crazy amount of walking and so much time spent getting on and off buses that by the end of the week, we've had our fill.

I think the thing is that it’s not faux-fancy…. it really is fancy.

There are other resorts, not to be named, that definitely fall in the faux-fancy category.

 

[kgou]

Since our first (and only so far) stay at VGF we find ourselves comparing the other resorts to VGF and VGF reigns supreme for us. I have a stay coming up in a few months at PIT and RIV, so we'll see if that changes my tune.

Elaborating here. We are still early-ish into our DVC ownership (omg, my 3 year anniversary just passed I think!) and as a family we want to accomplish trying all of the resorts. Once we've tried them all, I could see us being more loyal to VGF and switching out less often, unless we need something a little more point friendly from time to time

I'll also add that the hospitality at VGF is appreciably better than the other resorts at which I've stayed, with BWV a close second. We've had wonderful experiences with CMs at both properties!