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

[teawar]

A little late to the game, but finalized plans for a trip to Disneyland and put in a waitlist for the VDH. Anyone have much luck with a waitlist coming through for the new tower. I know it’s a roll of the dice, but I was curious to see if anyone has had success recently?

 

[soniam]

All week they have been letting hotel guests in at 6:45 through security. They check room keys. Non-hotel guests and harbor aren’t let into Downtown Disney until 7am. They said it’s to give EE guests more time and make entry easier. It’s working well; however, it’s not terribly busy. It’s an experiment right now.

 

[MartyParty]

All week they have been letting hotel guests in at 6:45 through security. They check room keys. Non-hotel guests and harbor aren’t let into Downtown Disney until 7am. They said it’s to give EE guests more time and make entry easier. It’s working well; however, it’s not terribly busy. It’s an experiment right now.

Roger Roger. Thanks for the status update Soniam. Our next VDH trip is middle January. Fingers crossed that they'll have this gate entry sorted by then.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

All week they have been letting hotel guests in at 6:45 through security. They check room keys. Non-hotel guests and harbor aren’t let into Downtown Disney until 7am. They said it’s to give EE guests more time and make entry easier. It’s working well; however, it’s not terribly busy. It’s an experiment right now.

Good to know, I'm here this week as well but haven't yet used early entry. Will tomorrow

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

All week they have been letting hotel guests in at 6:45 through security. They check room keys. Non-hotel guests and harbor aren’t let into Downtown Disney until 7am. They said it’s to give EE guests more time and make entry easier. It’s working well; however, it’s not terribly busy. It’s an experiment right now.

That is amazing! I hope they keep it. Even when staying at grand cal and wanting to head to Disneyland it drives me a little crazy to see hoards of people from harbor entering the esplanade before we can get there.

 

[soniam]

We re-entered last night about 7pm and had no issues. The lines weren’t long, even though only 1 or 2 were open. The crowds aren’t bad though.

 

[DebbieB]

Stayed at VDH on 8/3, standard studio. Room was nice, I liked the long counter underneath the TV. The setup of the closet and the kitchenette made the room feel a little closed in. Loved the bathroom.

Have to say, the email with the $72 tax charge left a sour taste. That is supposed to be the beauty of DVC, no room bill.

 

[soniam]

Security said they are supposed to open the hotel guests only entrance at the old location near the hat sometime next month. Only 4 tables though. Can’t see much construction yet. 15 minute early experiment is going well. Security would like to get back to an hour early for early entry. I don’t know how much of that is up to security though.

 

[LarsoftheJungle]

All week they have been letting hotel guests in at 6:45 through security. They check room keys. Non-hotel guests and harbor aren’t let into Downtown Disney until 7am. They said it’s to give EE guests more time and make entry easier. It’s working well; however, it’s not terribly busy. It’s an experiment right now.

Any security or a specific one? I haven’t been yet and I’m trying to figure out the best strategy to get in front of crowds for early entry (staying at DLH) next month. Thank you.

 

[soniam]

Any security or a specific one? I haven’t been yet and I’m trying to figure out the best strategy to get in front of crowds for early entry (staying at DLH) next month. Thank you.

Security at the hotels. They are assuming that if you are using Harbor, then you are not a hotel guest and don’t have early entry. I specifically used the new entrance near DLH.

 

[MartyParty]

Security at the hotels. They are assuming that if you are using Harbor, then you are not a hotel guest and don’t have early entry. I specifically used the new entrance near DLH.

Thanks Soniam. Is the "new entrance" Mickey's Hat or something else?

 

[soniam]

Thanks Soniam. Is the "new entrance" Mickey's Hat or something else?

It’s down from the hat toward Pixar Place on that same road. There’s a dedicated thread with maps in the Disneyland forum.

 

[DonMacGregor]

It’s down from the hat toward Pixar Place on that same road. There’s a dedicated thread with maps in the Disneyland forum.

This is going to get confusing very quickly. The “newest” open entrance a the west end of Downtown Disney is the main parking lot entrance closer to Pixar Place and the south end of Din Tai Fung. That is the main “public” entrance to DTD and is connected to the Simba parking lot.

However, they are nearly halfway done with what will be the new dedicated hotel security entrance which is where the old entrance was, by the Sorcerer hat. That entrance will serve Disneyland Hotel exclusively.

 

[MartyParty]

This is going to get concussing very quickly. The “newest” open entrance a the west end of Downtown Disney is the main parking lot entrance closer to Pixar Place and the south end of Din Tai Fung. That is the main “public” entrance to DTD and is connected to the Simba parking lot.

However, they are nearly halfway done with what will be the new dedicated hotel security entrance which is where the old entrance was, by the Sorcerer hat. That entrance will serve Disneyland Hotel exclusively.

Whew! Thanks for that Don. All clear now. Our next VDH stay is early January. Sounds like this will all be sorted by then.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Whew! Thanks for that Don. All clear now. Our next VDH stay is early January. Sounds like this will all be sorted by then.

I meant to say “confusing”, not “concussing”.

The actual entrances aren’t confusing and only 100 yards apart. When you’re there it will be simple and obvious.

I just meant using the term “new entrance” would get confusing because there will be two of them shortly.

 

[MartyParty]

Hello VDH thread. Seeking some of your educational input. I have two studios resevered on points for four nights middle of January. I have a waitlist that DVC helped me setup a few months back for a two bedroom that would replace both studios.

I’ve been checking the Disneyland site for when the 2 br would be available to book via cash (not planning to do that). The 2 br is available for my dates and my waitlist is active for a 2 br.

So here’s my question. How long can DVD hold off filling my waitlist request trying to rent the room for cash? Is it up till the last day prior to a member arriving? 30 days? Etc.?

 

[CarolynFH]

Hello VDH thread. Seeking some of your educational input. I have two studios resevered on points for four nights middle of January. I have a waitlist that DVC helped me setup a few months back for a two bedroom that would replace both studios.

I’ve been checking the Disneyland site for when the 2 br would be available to book via cash (not planning to do that). The 2 br is available for my dates and my waitlist is active for a 2 br.

So here’s my question. How long can DVD hold off filling my waitlist request trying to rent the room for cash? Is it up till the last day prior to a member arriving? 30 days? Etc.?

Cash inventory is separate from DVC points inventory, especially in the case of VDH where only a portion of the villas have been declared into the timeshare. So the 2BR you're seeing is probably not one that can be used to fill your waitlist. Sorry.

 

[MartyParty]

Cash inventory is separate from DVC points inventory, especially in the case of VDH where only a portion of the villas have been declared into the timeshare. So the 2BR you're seeing is probably not one that can be used to fill your waitlist. Sorry.

Thanks for this. I was thinking it was something like this. Two separate books and balance sheets for two separate Disney companies.

Sigh….,

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Thanks for this. I was thinking it was something like this. Two separate books and balance sheets for two separate Disney companies.

Sigh….,

There's a possibility that more inventory will be declared into the VDH association before your trip. That would mean rooms that are in the cash "books and balance sheets" get assigned to DVC so that DVC has the inventory they need to keep selling points. So there's hope!

Now, I don't know how proactive Member Services is at fulfilling wait-lists when new inventory arrives, so it might still be good for you to keep checking from time to time. I have had it happen that I grab a room that becomes available myself even if I had a wait-list (I feel like it should be automatic but I guess it isn't?). Good luck!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for this. I was thinking it was something like this. Two separate books and balance sheets for two separate Disney companies.

Sigh….,

Duckburg.Ducktales has a very good point - and twice now I've had waitlists that filled very close chronologically to new declarations in new DVC resorts. So there's hope still! Just keep watching the member booking site, not the cash site, and if you see your 2BR appear, grab it! We don't know exactly how the waitlist works, other than that the computer puts a hold on it and then a CM has to manually finish assigning to you. Many owners have success booking on their own and then canceling the waitlist.