Grand Californian Super Thread

[Nonsuch]

...OH, and the VGC construction is clearly not finished as well . Last week .............and ALL week , they were doing contruction in the hallways of the VGC wing. Dont know what they were doing, but it was loud and dusty . Plastic wraps on the floor all week.
Oh and they shut off the water 2 nights last week ................11-6 !

Thanks for the VGC update. When I visited in December our villa and the halls were done, so I assumed all were done. (Assumption is the mother of all F* ups)

 

[Syndrome]

Thanks for the VGC update. When I visited in December our villa and the halls were done, so I assumed all were done. (Assumption is the mother of all F* ups)

Yea not sure what they were doing as they had sections of the hallways curtained off for the construction. We were on the fifth floor, and the construction on our floor and the 6th was towards the end of the hallways towards the Paradise Pier viewing area . Make a right as you get off the elevators. Sometimes the curtains were to the left as well . We walked on plastic wrap on the brand new carpets all week. It was dusty at times , kind of loud , and construction workers milling about . Also one of the elevators had plywood coverings on the walls from work being done.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough ..........although our view was pretty great . Room number 5508 , overlooking Paradise Pier area nicely . If you looked down .........there was construction going on below in the shrubbery/grass , all ripped up , and the barbecue area was walled off too . Trucks, equipment, noise and workers all over the place down there too !

I am seriously thinking about calling DVC and complaining about it (and we are NOT complainers!) , all of this all together was a bit too much to handle. Some points refunded would not be too much to ask I think .........

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yea not sure what they were doing as they had sections of the hallways curtained off for the construction. We were on the fifth floor, and the construction on our floor and the 6th was towards the end of the hallways towards the Paradise Pier viewing area . Make a right as you get off the elevators. Sometimes the curtains were to the left as well . We walked on plastic wrap on the brand new carpets all week. It was dusty at times , kind of loud , and construction workers milling about . Also one of the elevators had plywood coverings on the walls from work being done.

That is the area I mentioned where you could see they were working on the hotel wing that connects to VGC. But when we were there the plastic just jutted out a little bit from that hallway and there wasn't anything going on in the Villas wing itself.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...I am seriously thinking about calling DVC and complaining about it (and we are NOT complainers!) , all of this all together was a bit too much to handle. Some points refunded would not be too much to ask I think .........

If that's something you want to pursue I'd consider doing it sooner rather than later. I'm sure they'll be flooded with complaints, maybe being amongst the first will up your odds of points back? (For record I know nothing about DVC!)

PS- love your user name!

 

[Peter C]

I haven't stayed here yet, but will be planning our trip soon. I took my family to DL a couple of years ago and remember walking through CA and seeing the Grand Californian. I thought to myself, "wow how awesome would it be to be staying there!"

 

[jsilvers]

Have any of you guys been to the Grand Californian's DCA gate for early entry? Any improvement with the crowds since the security changes?

At least on 2/1, they opened the GC gate about 30 minutes before the early entry opening time, and held the crowd inside Grizzly Peak until 9am (one rope was next to the GRR/WOC Fastpass machines; I don't know where the other rope was, but I presume it was near Soarin). This seemed to work quite acceptably - and even allowed you to pull WOC FPs before 9am.

 

[GeneralTso]

Definitely NOT a time to be staying at GC. I'll happily wait till all the commotion is over. Looks like a disaster and I'd be upset at all the noise and construction. I won't pay that amount of money to feel that way. Zero magic in that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

At least on 2/1, they opened the GC gate about 30 minutes before the early entry opening time, and held the crowd inside Grizzly Peak until 9am (one rope was next to the GRR/WOC Fastpass machines; I don't know where the other rope was, but I presume it was near Soarin). This seemed to work quite acceptably - and even allowed you to pull WOC FPs before 9am.

Now THAT makes sense! Safer and better guest satisfaction. Win-win.

 

[closetmickey]

Anyone have a guess as to when the first renovated rooms will be completed?

 

[Disn3yVision]

We were there last week and the lines for the VGC entrance to DCA were still super long. Going into DTD by sephora and using the parks main entrance was a lot faster.

 

[closetmickey]

Have any of you guys been to the Grand Californian's DCA gate for early entry? Any improvement with the crowds since the security changes?

Not sure if this helps, but I was there last week- 10am opening, no early entry. When walking from DCA into GCH at 10:20am, there was absolutely no line. So while I'm not sure when the last guest in line made it into DCA from the special entrance, I can report that the line that day had to have been much shorter than last November when we were told it would be an hour to get in at park opening

 

[closetmickey]

Are they making any changes to the pool/slide other than resurfacing?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Are they making any changes to the pool/slide other than resurfacing?

When is this scheduled to be completed?

Thank you!

 

[closetmickey]

I believe the booking website lists it as closed "thru spring 2017"

 

[StarlitNight05]

If anyone has stayed recently - have they started on the rooms yet?

 

[Delilah1310]

any update on how the construction is for anyone staying there?

we are headed out in early August and trying to decide if it will be minimal impact on us or if we should stay at Paradise Pier for maximum cost savings.
we are okay paying for GC but not if the construction will be a huge problem.
thanks in advance.

 

[mlnbabies]

We just stayed in the villas on the first floor(1510). There was plastic coverings on the floor and various areas blocked for construction. There are walls around the pool area. We didn't hear any construction noise.

 

[LisaT91403]

We stayed on the night of 2/19. If not for the walls around the pool area, we wouldn't have known there was construction going on.

Despite the conventional wisdom on this board, we also opted to use the GCH private entrance for EMH on Monday morning. The line looked daunting when we got in it (around 7:55 for an 8:00 entry). They were already letting people in even though it wasn't 8:00 yet. We were in the park by 8:05, and went straight to Toy Story. It was a complete walk on -- we didn't go through the queue at all, just walked up to the CM who handed us our glasses, and got on the ride. In addition to that, we were able to ride Screamin' twice and Soarin' (complete walk on)...all before the park opened. Note we are slow walkers, so it took us a while to walk to TSMM, then back to Soarin'. If we had hurried, we could have accomplished even more.

 

[sgrap]

We stayed on the night of 2/19. If not for the walls around the pool area, we wouldn't have known there was construction going on.

Despite the conventional wisdom on this board, we also opted to use the GCH private entrance for EMH on Monday morning. The line looked daunting when we got in it (around 7:55 for an 8:00 entry). They were already letting people in even though it wasn't 8:00 yet. We were in the park by 8:05, and went straight to Toy Story. It was a complete walk on -- we didn't go through the queue at all, just walked up to the CM who handed us our glasses, and got on the ride. In addition to that, we were able to ride Screamin' twice and Soarin' (complete walk on)...all before the park opened. Note we are slow walkers, so it took us a while to walk to TSMM, then back to Soarin'. If we had hurried, we could have accomplished even more.

We usually listen to the warning and use the main entrance, but we have on occasion just decided to try the GCH entrance to DCA, and have actually had fairly good luck with it as well. Haven't been since the new security measures, though!

 

[Is This Real]

Nonsuch, did they indicate when all Bunk Beds would be gone? We,family of 5, are booked in for March/April 2017. At the time I did request Bunk Beds and the CM didn't mention anything about them disappearing. We really like those 3 beds(two bunks plus trundle) as our kids don't like sharing a queen anymore. I see the room refurbs should be done by fall 2017, so hopefully they'll still be some around in March.

We are in the same boat.
I booked the GCH with a request for bunk room.
My 13 and 15 year olds are not real keen on sleeping in the same bed.
When they say day bed, is it big enough for an average size, 13 or 15 yo to sleep on.