The Official VILLAS at DISNEYLAND HOTEL (Discovery Tower) Owners and Fans Info Thread

[DonMacGregor]

I bet the north entrance (red dot) will remain open and the south entrance (blue dot) will be for the added convenience of DLH and PPH guests. N entrance needs to stay open for those parked at Mickey and Friends who elect to walk to the western part of Downtown Disney.

The "red dot" entrance is used mostly by people either staying at the hotel or parked in the Simba lot south of the hotel, and will likely be closed or moved to exclusively serve the hotel. Guests parked in Mickey & Friends and Pixar pals enter DTD through the entrance between the old Rainforest Cafe building and the former ESPN Zone (is that what you are referring to as the "north entrance, or are you calling the red dot entrance the "north entrance"?).

 

[Wedgeout]

California energy code requirement. All new hotels are required to have the sliding glass doors interlocked with the AC unit.

Shows I stay at my favorites Alpine Inn and the Castle Inn & Suites too much.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Shows I stay at my favorites Alpine Inn and the Castle Inn & Suites too much.

Do they still have the "Magic Fingers" coin op vibrating beds there? JK

 

[Wedgeout]

Do they still have the coin op vibrating beds there? JK

Hahaha nope. Alpine Inn refreshed all the rooms though! It’s like great Disney Cast Members. Locally owned with great staff who remember you. Feels good too getting free parking still in these modern times.

 

[Wedgeout]

Something about seeing VDH go from breaking ground to finished product sparked my interest to stay again some on DLR property. 67 points and after this stay, still have a smile I can’t get rid of. Last DLR stay was 2004.

 

[Chili327]

VERY intriguing! James Vasquez reported this on the Villas at Disneyland Hotel DVC Owners Facebook group:
"Something cool to point out. Looks like the Downtown Disney entrance is moving closer to the Villas. I was parking at the VGC and the attendant told me I had to park in the Paraidise Pier Hotel structure since the VGC lot was full. I asked why it was full and they told me it was because a chunk of the lot was recently taken away to add a new entrance to Downtown Disney. I took some photos of the new entrance which is where security will be. This new entrance is a slightly shorter walk for anyone staying at VDH. Red dot is the current entrance and blue is the new entrance. I am curious to know if they are going to make the current entrance exclusive for the Disneyland hotel."

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Isn't the red dot, just the Pixar Pier entrance? (now for both Pixar & DLH/VDH)

 

[Wedgeout]

Noticed the prorated purchase dues are posted on account. Pay by November 15.

 

[kes601]

Noticed the prorated purchase dues are posted on account. Pay by November 15.

Mine says billing in progress and due Dec 1. But we didn’t close until sept 27 so I guess that could affect it.

 

[longboard55]

Isn't the red dot, just the Pixar Pier entrance? (now for both Pixar & DLH/VDH)

speaking of entrances, we tried to enter the DTD entrance around 9pm and there was a massive line to get thru security, all the way to the parking lot, so we decided to just go thru Grand California, and it seemed the VDH key worked to get through security

 

[miksicnarf]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I wanted to get the thoughts of my fellow VDH owners on if we think the current practice of not allowing extra reservation spots on your Magic Key for when you are staying on property impacts you? For us, we have multiple trips planned out through April and all of our spots are booked.

We have already had this happen a few times and so far have been lucky that we are able to book the future days we need as we check into the parks. It's still weird to have your upcoming hotel stays booked out but you kind of have to gamble a bit on if you will be able to get your park days until just a few weeks/months out. We also space our trips out every few months so that helps, but if reservations stay very long term, I could see this being painful if we were near retirement.

In a way, we are lucky that we have the 2nd tier key and we have our Knott's passes so it forces us to go to the 3rd gate as we sometimes have at least one blackout date during our trips (plus we love Kott's so this works out for us).

I'm just wondering if anyone else has this on their mind and if they plan on reaching out to anyone to share the concern? Might be a moot point if the reservation system goes away....

I and others have had this issue in the past, and the work-around was to make the reservations on a desktop or laptop or switch your iPhone/iPad/device to desktop mode. Don’t ask me why, but it worked for me. CMs at DL insisted there was not an additional pool of park reservations for resort stays, but in my experience this is not true. Try the desktop!

 

[emchen]

The "red dot" entrance is used mostly by people either staying at the hotel or parked in the Simba lot south of the hotel, and will likely be closed or moved to exclusively serve the hotel. Guests parked in Mickey & Friends and Pixar pals enter DTD through the entrance between the old Rainforest Cafe building and the former ESPN Zone (is that what you are referring to as the "north entrance, or are you calling the red dot entrance the "north entrance"?).

Let me clarify, I was referring to "north" and "south" as relative to each dot...I can see how that can be confusing when both dot's are technically west of DTD. I had forgotten about the entrance you reference between old RC and ESPN.

Isn't the red dot, just the Pixar Pier entrance? (now for both Pixar & DLH/VDH)

on the reference map the blue dot is the one closest to PPH and has not been completed yet. ETA: if you were talking about the entrance to DLCA, we were talking about a possible new entrance to DTLA.

 

[Wedgeout]

Hope the lobby area ends up getting the nice colorful Mickey statue as planned in the original artwork. Rest of lobby matching up. Realizing we just got a plant on opening weekend.

 

[kes601]

Mine says billing in progress and due Dec 1. But we didn’t close until sept 27 so I guess that could affect it.

Following up -- this morning the bill was there as it should be. It said it would autopay on Dec 1, but said it was going to be a $0.00 payment. I decided to pay w/gift card instead. It errored out every time I tried indicating a $0 payment even though it said it was going to take the full amount. I had to turn auto-pay off, pay w/the gift card and now have auto pay turned back on.

We've always paid our dues up front but decided next year to go the auto pay route but pay with a gift card ahead of time to save 5% (Target). Is this typical behavior with the difficulties paying when it is turned on?

 

[CarolynFH]

Following up -- this morning the bill was there as it should be. It said it would autopay on Dec 1, but said it was going to be a $0.00 payment. I decided to pay w/gift card instead. It errored out every time I tried indicating a $0 payment even though it said it was going to take the full amount. I had to turn auto-pay off, pay w/the gift card and now have auto pay turned back on.

We've always paid our dues up front but decided next year to go the auto pay route but pay with a gift card ahead of time to save 5% (Target). Is this typical behavior with the difficulties paying when it is turned on?

We have auto pay set up and turned on but do the Target 5% GC payments before DVC drafts anything. We’ve never had an issue. Even when we have a $0 balance, I click Pay Balance, Pay By Contract, and fill in the GC information. At some point in the transaction a note pops up to say the amount I paid will be held as a credit and applied to next dues assessed, but I’ve never had to turn off auto pay.

 

[kes601]

We have auto pay set up and turned on but do the Target 5% GC payments before DVC drafts anything. We’ve never had an issue. Even when we have a $0 balance, I click Pay Balance, Pay By Contract, and fill in the GC information. At some point in the transaction a note pops up to say the amount I paid will be held as a credit and applied to next dues assessed, but I’ve never had to turn off auto pay.

Thanks. I'm guessing it was an issue w/it being pro-rated and new contract. I'll see what happens in January.

 

[DennieC]

Following up -- this morning the bill was there as it should be. It said it would autopay on Dec 1, but said it was going to be a $0.00 payment. I decided to pay w/gift card instead. It errored out every time I tried indicating a $0 payment even though it said it was going to take the full amount. I had to turn auto-pay off, pay w/the gift card and now have auto pay turned back on.

We've always paid our dues up front but decided next year to go the auto pay route but pay with a gift card ahead of time to save 5% (Target). Is this typical behavior with the difficulties paying when it is turned on?

My understanding is you have to turn auto-pay off when switching default payment methods. So the process is exactly as you described.

 

[Kidguile]

I did the check-in on the app for this weekend's stay - I picked 1 car at $35 since there was no other options to pick the free parking while stay on DVC points. Is that correct and there will be no charge for parking upon checking out?

 

[DennieC]

I did the check-in on the app for this weekend's stay - I picked 1 car at $35 since there was no other options to pick the free parking while stay on DVC points. Is that correct and there will be no charge for parking upon checking out?

Yes, that is correct. With online check-in at Disneyland Resort, there is no separate option for DVC owners. It is the same process at the Grand Californian. It defaults to the same function as for regular hotel guests, but will be handled correctly on your folio at checkout day.

 

[arich35]

I am really hoping I can grab a studio at 7 month mark for next September

 

[Wedgeout]

I am really hoping I can grab a studio at 7 month mark for next September

So far the preferred category studios are the ones doing pretty well so far at 7 months.