Pics and Mini TR From our stay at a studio at VGC 9/29-10/2

[justkeepswimmin]

So moving on to the bathroom area, the shower and toilet area feels a little small but it has a sliding LOCKING door (I have heard about the BLT situation so glad VGC is different). Love the shower head.

The sink area next to the bathroom. There are 2 small drawers that open and can be used for storage. I really like this feature. There is also a metal trash can and a full sized hair dryer in a cloth bag on one of the shelves. I like this much better than the wall mounted ones and I am glad to see a lot more hotels moving to this. Note to parents w/ small children: This sink is high! My 4 yr old, who is a compulsive hand washer, could not reach the faucet. In looking over the items available on request, I see that a step stool is listed and I would definitely request one next time.

Close up of one of the drawers.

The toiletry starter kit. I love the products at GCH so I was happy to see it was the same brand and quality.

The nice and big closet. This picture does not really capture the storage potential of this closet. Notice the robe! I was so happy to see this! Our room came with 2 but Jon had put his on. I love those robes and did not think the villas would be stocked with them. There were also lots of extra plastic laundry bags provided which we used for trash but I kind of wish they provided standard (and cheaper) trash liners instead.

The pack n play in the far back of the closet. We used this for our 2 year old.

The closet after I had unpacked some of our stuff. I was able to stuff a large box we had hauled food in, 2 small coolers and a large suite case wih plent of room to spare. Awesome!

The entry area of the studio. This little nook also accommodates the pack n play quite nicely though I apologize to whoever was in the 1 bdrm next to us as my 2 year old slept very poorly this trip as I think she may be too big for these now .

Close up of the little valet shelf mounted by the door. This was my dh's favorite feature. He wants one just like it in our house. It was a really useful place to keep park tickets, room keys, wallets or phones so they were not forgotten.

 

[queenie82]

Thank you SOOO much for all the wonderful and practical photos!!!!!

We will be spending 5 nights in one of these studios
I can't wait!!!

 

[Longhairbear]

We are on the 3rd floor Grizzly Peak view. We can see the tops of the pines, beautiful view. Very "woodsy", and cozy.

 

[DVC Mike]

Wow! I love a trip report with pictures, and you're doing a great job!

For those folks who haven't been to DLR, ya gotta go!

I love the GCH and look forward to my first stay at VGC (I'll be going every other year starting in 2011).

 

[CarolMN]

Awesome Report! No need to apologize for the pictures - they add so much to the report.

Thanks for taking the time to do it.

 

[nunzia]

GREAT report! I am loving all the pictures..Can't wait to stay in the Villas in May..we just got back from DLR Sept 15, but now I want to go back

 

[justkeepswimmin]

We are on the 3rd floor Grizzly Peak view. We can see the tops of the pines, beautiful view. Very "woodsy", and cozy.

That view looked really nice and peaceful! Right now, there is a lot of construction noise on the Paradise Pier view side that occurs even in the middle of the night. It was not horrible but I am considering requesting a Grizzly Peak view for our Dec trip as we are bringing my parents who are a little more noise sensitive.

Have a great time!

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Wow! I love a trip report with pictures, and you're doing a great job!

For those folks who haven't been to DLR, ya gotta go!

I love the GCH and look forward to my first stay at VGC (I'll be going every other year starting in 2011).

Thank you! I was inspired to do one after seeing your last report and AMAZING pictures from the DLR a little while back.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Thank you SOOO much for all the wonderful and practical photos!!!!!

We will be spending 5 nights in one of these studios
I can't wait!!!

You are going to love them! We are so happy to have purchased here. I am still on.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

GREAT report! I am loving all the pictures..Can't wait to stay in the Villas in May..we just got back from DLR Sept 15, but now I want to go back

I want to go back too! Lucky for me this trip was sort of unplanned and our 1st planned trip to the Villas will happen Dec 6-9th in a 2 bdrm lockoff with my parents. I think this made leaving a little easier as I am usually bawling on the drive back!

 

[dcfromva]

Nice pictures!
Was the guest laundry in the villas operational when you were there? (There had not yet installed the washers/dryers when we were there)...

DC

 

[peloha86]

Hello everyone,

Just returned from our first ever DVC stay at the Villas at Grand Californian hotel. We had a wonderful stay and I took a ton of pics of the studio. As I mentioned in a pp, it was little cozy for our family of 5 but since we have one that is under 3 we still meet the occupancy limits for the studio so we booked it to save some points.

You did a FANTASMIC job! Every little detail was not spared!
I too get a little whenever I leave DL, especially now with the DVC. My family is so happy, and thank you again for taking the time to post the pics and awesome report.

I'm going to the Disney museum in San Francisco today....Will post pics when I get back!

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Nice pictures!
Was the guest laundry in the villas operational when you were there? (There had not yet installed the washers/dryers when we were there)...

DC

No it was not operational yet and the hotel and guest services is a little shaky on how to handle it because when we asked for tokens for the other laundry facility, GS had a hard time getting an answer and finally ended up giving us actual QUARTERS to do a load of laundry!

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Hello everyone,

Just returned from our first ever DVC stay at the Villas at Grand Californian hotel. We had a wonderful stay and I took a ton of pics of the studio. As I mentioned in a pp, it was little cozy for our family of 5 but since we have one that is under 3 we still meet the occupancy limits for the studio so we booked it to save some points.

You did a FANTASMIC job! Every little detail was not spared!
I too get a little whenever I leave DL, especially now with the DVC. My family is so happy, and thank you again for taking the time to post the pics and awesome report.

I'm going to the Disney museum in San Francisco today....Will post pics when I get back!

Oh cool! I love San Francisco and look forward to pictures of the new museum!

 

[justkeepswimmin]

So far, I had been pretty pleased with our level of service. Now keep in mind, this is from the perspective of someone new to DVC so my expectations may be different, but I felt the staff was really trying to do their best despite being new to the whole DVC process. Here are a few specific Customer Service encounters:

Bell Services: Okay, the guy who brought up our bags was over the top, fantastic. I so wish I had gotten his name. He said "welcome home" and came into the room and it was so cute because he was like "Would you look at THAT view!" He seemed genuinely excited to see that the views turned out so great. I asked him if he got the opportunity to "test" out the rooms prior to opening but he said that was mostly for higher ups. He said they did open up all the rooms for about 2 hours and allowed all the hotel CMs unrestricted access to roam around and check everything out so they could become familiar with all the rooms and layouts. He raved about the GV and its size and he was just a pleasure to talk to because he really was the first GCH CM I had encountered who seemed truly excited that DVC was there at the hotel. Maybe the DVC guests are better tippers?

He also talked up the Hawaii property and said he was asked if he wanted to go out for several months to help "open" the resort. Single guy, all expenses paid, still get you regular "days" off-heck yeah! He would be the perfect CM to go out there and train everyone too so I hope he does go out!

Guest Services: The guest services desk is immediately on the right as you enter the lobby from the new wing. Overall, they seemed the most knowledgeable about DVC though many of our questions did require additional follow up. As an example, they did not appear prepared to handle the fact that the laundry room would not be ready as they had to give us quarters for the other laundry room (as mentioned above). They do have a very large binder of movies behind the desk that are available for complimentary check out. Given the location of the GS desk, this was pretty convenient. We used this service 2 of the 3 nights we were there. The movies have to be returned by 11 am the following day I think or they will charge you $50 but they call you each morning with a courtesy return reminder message on your phone.

We also requested additional blankets and pillows and they brought up promptly and Guest Services even called to verify we had received our requested items so the service standard at the hotel is pretty high

Overall, I think that as the staff gets more practice and skill in handling DVC related issues, the service will improve and continue to be top notch. Now, I do wish there was a dedicated DVC desk of some kind but I also want to keep my dues low so I can live with the current set up, provided all the CMs are adequately DVC trained.


1st Day Wrap Up:

After getting unpacked and doing some major nesting, we got the girls ready to go out for a night at Disneyland. Think they were excited?

The parks were busy but we lucked out at the end of the night and caught the Nemo Submarine Voyage when it was a walk on. If you rode the subs as a kid, this is a really nostalgic ride. If you have never ridden them, it is still really wonderful, especially if you are a big fan of the Nemo Movie like I am. It is way better than the Nemo ride at Epcot and it was such a nice, peaceful ride to end our night.

This is me, waiting for our sub with my youngest daughter.

Back at the studio, the older girls fell asleep almost instantly on the comfy pull out sofa. My 2 year old was a little more sleep resistant but who could blame her, check out that view!

After all the girls had finally fallen asleep, Jon and I sat out on the balcony, enjoying the view pictured below and a nice glass of wine. They were also testing out the Halloween Party music that night so that was kind of cool to listen to. We had an absolutely wonderful first day! I think we are going to love being part of DVC and our new home resort.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Your pictures are gorgous!!! I haven't been to Disneyland for almost 25 years, but I sure would be tempted to visit with a stay the GCV!

 

[VallCopen]

Great report and great pics... Thank you very much. We are leaving on the 30th for a 2 week stay and I can't wait.

I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.

1.Did you ever check out the arcade room? How big was it and about how many games were there?

2.You said there are movies to check out, were they DVD's? Do you know if the 1 and 2 bedrooms have DVD players in the bedrooms or are they just in the living room? Did they just have disney kid movies or were there other types of movies too?

3.How did the pools seem as far as the temp goes?

Thanks for the report again and thank you for any questions you can answer.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

They do have a very large binder of movies behind the desk that are available for complimentary check out. Given the location of the GS desk, this was pretty convenient. We used this service 2 of the 3 nights we were there.

I know this is a silly question, but how do you set the TVs to accept signal from the DVD players? We had a two bedroom lockoff, and for some reason none of us could figure how to set the "input" of the TVs to get a signal from the DVD players. And, of course we never got around to calling guest services, because, well, we just plain forgot! What sequence of button presses will get a DVD signal up on the TVs?

Thanks!

Do you know if the 1 and 2 bedrooms have DVD players in the bedrooms or are they just in the living room?

We were in a 2BR lockoff, and the living room area and one of the bedrooms (the studio lock-off) had DVD players...and I'm 95% sure that the other bedroom had a DVD player as well.

3.How did the pools seem as far as the temp goes?

They were neither warm nor cold...perfect for jumping in on a sunny day, and warm enough to allow swimming even at 9pm (which we did), even though it was a little chilly getting out. The jacuzzi's were perfect, very warm, but not lobster pot hot.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

I know this is a silly question, but how do you set the TVs to accept signal from the DVD players? We had a two bedroom lockoff, and for some reason none of us could figure how to set the "input" of the TVs to get a signal from the DVD players. And, of course we never got around to calling guest services, because, well, we just plain forgot! What sequence of button presses will get a DVD signal up on the TVs?

Thanks!

That's funny you should mention this as this was one of our first Guest service calls and they were not surprised by our question. It had to be on a specific channel, I wanna say 91 (my dd says it was 90 something). It seemed totally random and they definitely need to post this info somewhere.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Great report and great pics... Thank you very much. We are leaving on the 30th for a 2 week stay and I can't wait.

I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.

1.Did you ever check out the arcade room? How big was it and about how many games were there?

2.You said there are movies to check out, were they DVD's? Do you know if the 1 and 2 bedrooms have DVD players in the bedrooms or are they just in the living room? Did they just have disney kid movies or were there other types of movies too?

3.How did the pools seem as far as the temp goes?

Thanks for the report again and thank you for any questions you can answer.

1. I poked my head in the arcade and it seemed a decent size but they only game we remember was "Rock Band". Sorry. The arcade was right next to the child care center/ Pinocchio's Workshop which was very big and had lots of windows.

2. Yes all DVDs. Not sure about the 1 and 2 bdrm units. According to the DVC planner, DVD players are only standard in living rooms/ studios but with this being a new resort it may be different. We will be back in Dec in a 2 bdrm lockoff and I would really like it if my dh & I had a separate DVD player . I will report back then.

The movie selection was not just kid movies. My daughter remembers seeing some rated "R" selections while flipping through the movie binder and as I mentioned, the binder and selection is quite large. They did not seem like all disney selections but they may have all been produced by some kind of disney company like touchstone/ buena vista.

3. The pools were a bit chilly, according to my dh but he says that about every pool. The girls said the temp was fine (of course they say THAT all the time too ). I did not go in the pool but went in the hot tub and found the temp to be as the pp described, just about perfect! The jets are superstrong though and I would prefer less pressure but maybe they need to be at that pressure due to the size of the hot tub (it is really big!).

Hope this helps some.