Grand Californian Super Thread

[nalabear]

Unconfirmed, but appears likely that a transient tax will be added for DVC members buying in to VDH. I wonder if the reason the VGC doesn't was due to a deal with Anaheim at the time. Anaheim isn't being super 'Disney friendly' right now so possibly they couldn't get the same deal for VDH.

From another website:
"Annual Dues will be $9.06 per point in 2023, and members will also be responsible for a transient occupancy tax of $2.73 per point. This tax rate has been expressed to several members by their guides but is not found in writing. There has only been a disclaimer a tax would be imposed. So for the time being, this tax rate is not confirmed in writing.

At a 50 point minimum buy in, that tax is going to add up.

Anaheim more friendly now since covid and realization that where Disney goes a lot of Anaheim goes too and the council itself is more pro-Disney of late.

There's also Disney doesn't really lose on ToT so carrot for them to hang to anaheim to get their ultimate goals done: DisneyForward and the Redesign of east entrance

 

[pineapplepalms]

Advantages to VGC over VDH is there is no transient tax (that I’m certain owners will pass to the renters) of about 2.30 a point and VGC parking is included.

Re: the parking, there was a rumor about this before sales started, but there is no nightly parking charge when staying on points at VDH.

 

[crvetter]

Re: the parking, there was a rumor about this before sales started, but there is no nightly parking charge when staying on points at VDH.

You are correct they quietly removed that language from point charts for now. The fact they had it seems to think they can take it away maybe. But for now seems it is included. At the other properties they can’t take it away for sure

 

[DisneylandFan22]

That’s great to hear! Maybe they changed it! In 2021 when I last went they were ushering everyone towards the main gates and said *everyone* had to exit from the main gates.

Again, I think if I had left 10-15 minutes early I would have been fine, but if you close out the park they didn’t let us go back into the hotel that way.

Makes sense. Last year was the first year when we attended the party that we also stayed at GCH. So I don’t know if it was a change or we just got lucky on that night. But we definitely closed down the party and used the GCH exit after the party was over.

 

[pindecisive]

You can't get a harbor drive motel at $200. Where would you stay for that price?

True, GC isn't a $500+ hotel; that's why we do VGC

The $200+ is the difference between the $400 actual worth of the room, and what most people pay for it.

What makes it 'worth it' are the onsite extras: package delivery, early entry, and above all location, location, location.

I would agree if the DL package delivery were same day or even at an additional cost for 4 hour delivery. We currently only stay for 1-2 days and can't reliably trust the items will be delivered before we leave for our flight.

For Amazon delivery, our last visit to GCH we never got a call or text notification from the front desk and ended up leaving our package at the hotel after we forgot about it. Many basic hotels will at least call the room and leave a VM.

I feel much safer walking through DTD to get to my room as opposed to walking down Harbor.

100% agree with you. I've only stayed on Harbor once and never will again. I hated walking down Harbor and would rather fly in for the day or pay for onsite.

Overall I'm curious what the price point of PPH will be after construction has ended. The walkway seems nice enough that we'd probably lean towards PPH over DLH.

 

[jordan13402]

The $200+ is the difference between the $400 actual worth of the room, and what most people pay for it.



I would agree if the DL package delivery were same day or even at an additional cost for 4 hour delivery. We currently only stay for 1-2 days and can't reliably trust the items will be delivered before we leave for our flight.

For Amazon delivery, our last visit to GCH we never got a call or text notification from the front desk and ended up leaving our package at the hotel after we forgot about it. Many basic hotels will at least call the room and leave a VM.



100% agree with you. I've only stayed on Harbor once and never will again. I hated walking down Harbor and would rather fly in for the day or pay for onsite.

Overall I'm curious what the price point of PPH will be after construction has ended. The walkway seems nice enough that we'd probably lean towards PPH over DLH.

if its still cheaper than the DLH, I MIGHT consider the PPH once its all done only because of the new PPH entrance into DCA

 

[Philsfan77]

We have returned from our trip and your answers to my questions about the in-room coffee were much appreciated.

I did bring my own pods and preferred creamer so I was well supplied there. Even though I used cups and the boxed sugar/stir sticks each day, they did NOT replenish them each day. Seems housekeeping is pretty hit and miss about replenishment. To be fair, the bellman who brought up our bags on check-in day DID tell me that and suggested calling guest services to request whatever quantity I would want for the whole stay so I would not be short, but I did not do that. He also said I could request as much hot cocoa as I wanted as well.

I did not find the water to be a problem at all and the brew machine seemed clean. I did not see any build up in the visible portions of the machine. Since I was using my own pods, I found the coffee to taste exactly as I expected, so no issue with the water or scale that I could tell.

I DID have some issues with the room and the hotel, which are probably minor really, but not what I want in such an expensive hotel!

GOOD
--I checked in using the app two days before our stay and indicated we would be on site at 9 am that day (Sunday 5/14).
--The ScooterBug scooter we rented was ready when we got there just before 9 and the Bell Desk helped us get started and going with it for our first day in DCA
--Our room was ready and we were texted at 11 am just as we started the Mother's Day character buffet at Storyteller's.

BAD
--Room keys. I used the app and linked reservation for room access and though sometimes slow to launch and connect. We got regular room cards for the wife and kid and tested them the first time. Then when we next returned to the room, they did not work any more. We got a new set and tested them, then again later they did not work. Seemed like every time I used the phone to unlock the door, it broke the regular keys and they no longer worked. We went through 3 sets this way, complaining each time and asking if that was "normal" and never got a good answer. Just "that's unusual" each time. It sucks that only 1 person's phone can be used and my wife did get stuck outside the room once because of this.
--"Early access" to the parks and security. This SUCKS. The lines to the parks for early morning access are terrible. We would have had to be in line around 6:30 AM to get to the front of the line to pass security early enough to be in Downtown Disney in time for an actual 7:30 entrance to the parks. We were told they only start letting folks in at 7:15 and by then the line was snaking around the patio and back into the lobby. The one day we tried to get into DL at 7:30 had us in line at 7:15 (we didn't know that was too late) and finally scanning into DL at 8:05. Yes, it was still fairly light crowds but we lost our best half hour. The DCA line was almost as bad when we went for early access on Wednesday. Hitting the line at 7:05, we were told they didn't even start checking security until 7:15 and we were IN THE LOBBY. We did manage to get in at about 7:40 so hit GotG with a walk-on, then Radiator Springs Racers single-rider just as the wave of humanity hit at 8 am.
--I got take-out from the Craftsman Bar and Grill one afternoon and ordered the "baked nachos". These looked fantastic on other people's tables and were served in a huge oval metal platter hot out of the oven. After a 25 minute wait for my order, I was disappointed with a to go box that had about HALF an order of them. They tasted good, but for $24 we were given a much smaller portion than those eating in. I called guest services and asked to talk to a manager of the restaurant, but was told I could not be connected. They took my complaint and promised to have a manager call me, but it never happened.

All in all, we enjoyed the trip and the location was good. But it is still a long way from everything and this is not really an $800 per night hotel. With my wife's mobility issues, though, I'm not sure another location would have worked either. I guess I'm glad we'll probably never do another big DL trip like this again.

Rob

With regards to Early Entry...what time would you say to be in line for DL and what time to be in line for DCA if looking to take advantage of both. We are planning to be at Downtown Disney security entry for DL around 7AM and DCA the same for entrance through the hotel. Is this realistic?

 

[StormyCA]

The $200+ is the difference between the $400 actual worth of the room, and what most people pay for it.



I would agree if the DL package delivery were same day or even at an additional cost for 4 hour delivery. We currently only stay for 1-2 days and can't reliably trust the items will be delivered before we leave for our flight.

For Amazon delivery, our last visit to GCH we never got a call or text notification from the front desk and ended up leaving our package at the hotel after we forgot about it. Many basic hotels will at least call the room and leave a VM.



100% agree with you. I've only stayed on Harbor once and never will again. I hated walking down Harbor and would rather fly in for the day or pay for onsite.

Overall I'm curious what the price point of PPH will be after construction has ended. The walkway seems nice enough that we'd probably lean towards PPH over DLH.

You've got a point if they're taking their sweet time! If it's taking them 1-2 days to get them to the hotels, that is NOT good service! In the 'Before Times' we always had our packages at Bell Services the next morning, usually in time to run down and get them so we could wear our 'just bought' t-shirts! I know they usually used to caution about doing delivery if your next day was an early departure day. I usually just rent a locker and stow purchases there if I'm still shopping on the last Park day. We drive down so have a bit of leeway on our departure day since we aren't really on a strict timetable.

 

[twodogs]

We have returned from our trip and your answers to my questions about the in-room coffee were much appreciated.

I did bring my own pods and preferred creamer so I was well supplied there. Even though I used cups and the boxed sugar/stir sticks each day, they did NOT replenish them each day. Seems housekeeping is pretty hit and miss about replenishment. To be fair, the bellman who brought up our bags on check-in day DID tell me that and suggested calling guest services to request whatever quantity I would want for the whole stay so I would not be short, but I did not do that. He also said I could request as much hot cocoa as I wanted as well.

I did not find the water to be a problem at all and the brew machine seemed clean. I did not see any build up in the visible portions of the machine. Since I was using my own pods, I found the coffee to taste exactly as I expected, so no issue with the water or scale that I could tell.

I DID have some issues with the room and the hotel, which are probably minor really, but not what I want in such an expensive hotel!

GOOD
--I checked in using the app two days before our stay and indicated we would be on site at 9 am that day (Sunday 5/14).
--The ScooterBug scooter we rented was ready when we got there just before 9 and the Bell Desk helped us get started and going with it for our first day in DCA
--Our room was ready and we were texted at 11 am just as we started the Mother's Day character buffet at Storyteller's.

BAD
--Room keys. I used the app and linked reservation for room access and though sometimes slow to launch and connect. We got regular room cards for the wife and kid and tested them the first time. Then when we next returned to the room, they did not work any more. We got a new set and tested them, then again later they did not work. Seemed like every time I used the phone to unlock the door, it broke the regular keys and they no longer worked. We went through 3 sets this way, complaining each time and asking if that was "normal" and never got a good answer. Just "that's unusual" each time. It sucks that only 1 person's phone can be used and my wife did get stuck outside the room once because ofs is not really an $800 per night hotel. With my wife's mobility issues, though, I'm not sure another location would have worked either. I guess I'm glad we'll probably never do another big DL trip like this again.

Rob

One way to overcome the issue you had with the digital key is to have everyone in your party sign in as you on the app. That way everyone has the digital key on their own phone. That also means they can change LL reservations, dining reservations etc, so make sure you trust them! This works well for my family with older teens because they understand the app very well and know how to use it.

 

[DizMe]

One way to overcome the issue you had with the digital key is to have everyone in your party sign in as you on the app. That way everyone has the digital key on their own phone. That also means they can change LL reservations, dining reservations etc, so make sure you trust them! This works well for my family with older teens because they understand the app very well and know how to use it.

Thank you for this tip!

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Confirmation for everyone who asked if guests from other DLR hotels can use the GCH and PPH hotel theme park entrances. They are officially open to all DLR hotel guests. This was at the bottom of the email I received announcing the hotel discount.

 

[crvetter]

Confirmation for everyone who asked if guests from other DLR hotels can use the GCH and PPH hotel theme park entrances. They are officially open to all DLR hotel guests. This was at the bottom of the email I received announcing the hotel discount.

As of three weeks ago my GCH key card wouldn’t open the PPH path and security were telling people that they couldn’t enter GCH from Disneyland Drive unless they were a guest or had a dining reservation.

Now if you enter GCH from Downtown Disney anyone could enter DCA from inside. I didn’t see them put up a sign like they did years ago in the morning saying it was exclusive for GCH guests anymore (which was always just the first couple hours).

The website seems to suggest now you can use it too as long as you are on site. It’s weird because it says to use them you have to be a guest of one of the hotels which would’ve a change for GCH which was always open to the public (except the early morning).

 

[StormyCA]

It says 'Special walking path to either Theme Park'. I know about the new path from PPH and the GCH entry to DCA, but where is there a 'special' path to DL?

 

[crvetter]

It says 'Special walking path to either Theme Park'. I know about the new path from PPH and the GCH entry to DCA, but where is there a 'special' path to DL?

The website seems to spin the monorail as one

http://t.mail.disneydestinations.com/r/?id=h184e1414,69d1807f,409e5ace&CMP=EMC-1775337599|366626594&cid=PDM729509&bid=407770132

 

[DnA2010]

If you don’t take bags in the morning you can bypass the security line and pretty much get right to the esplanade.

If the security guards allow it. Sometimes I’m told yes and sometimes I’m yelled at (yes yelled) that there is a line for a reason.

I wish all the lines at Disneyland were explicit in allowing this. It’s my main gripe wdw managed this but here it’s not explicitly allowed.

When we have stayed they have had a separate security entrance at the back of the courtyard. There was no line for it you just had to walk past the regular line that circles through the courtyard. The security yells out that people with no bags or strollers can come through.

We were there a couple of weeks ago and there was no bypassing security with no bags, and also no separate entrance in the back of the courtyard 2/3 days- I asked security about it, and the fella I asked mentioned people calling in sick and not being backfilled.

I did express that they really should be "loading" people earlier from the hotels so they can make the 7:30 gate times, especially with it only being 30 min now, not 60.

 

[pindecisive]

The website seems to spin the monorail as one

http://t.mail.disneydestinations.com/r/?id=h184e1414,69d1807f,409e5ace&CMP=EMC-1775337599|366626594&cid=PDM729509&bid=407770132

Although I understand why they don't currently do it, I'd like to see EE utilized via the monorail for DLH guests. I've considered staying at DLH but the extra walking time to do EE in the morning makes us lean towards PPH.

 

[Mexacajun]

So I am staying at Grand Californian in July and know nothing about this resort. I booked with DVC points (was super lucky and got it at 7months). So with dvc I got a 2bd. I see on the website that they have all these different named 2 bdrm suites. How do you know what you are getting?

 

[CarolynFH]

So I am staying at Grand Californian in July and know nothing about this resort. I booked with DVC points (was super lucky and got it at 7months). So with dvc I got a 2bd. I see on the website that they have all these different named 2 bdrm suites. How do you know what you are getting?

The DVC villas are separate from the hotel rooms and suites, in a separate wing of the hotel. If you booked a DVC 2BR villa, that’s what you’ll get (unless something unexpected happens and makes your villa temporarily unusable, which is rare). You won’t get any of the named 2BR suites.

 

[crvetter]

So I am staying at Grand Californian in July and know nothing about this resort. I booked with DVC points (was super lucky and got it at 7months). So with dvc I got a 2bd. I see on the website that they have all these different named 2 bdrm suites. How do you know what you are getting?

Better to ask questions in this thread. But as the other poster said the DVC villas are not in the "hotel" side.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...-californian-owners-lovers-group-2-0.2592085/

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah...the named suites are the fancy-schmancy ones, not DVC.

You can see the DVC floor plans here - https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...ifornia/grand-californian-villas/points-rooms

And if you check youtube, you can find some good video tours of them.