The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners Group

[DVCGeek]

Good luck T & interesting dates; I'm arriving on Oct. 16th for my first stay @ VGC. Doing MHP (+ Chef's Counter @ Napa Rose!) on my BD, Oct. 19th... Never ate there or a did a 'special event' @ DL either; lots of family firsts!

 

[funatdisney]

Good luck T & interesting dates; I'm arriving on Oct. 16th for my first stay @ VGC. Doing MHP (+ Chef's Counter @ Napa Rose!) on my BD, Oct. 19th... Never ate there or a did a 'special event' @ DL either; lots of family firsts!

You will love the Chef's Counter at Napa. We did it a couple of years ago and had a great time. We ended up closing the place down and the wine was fabulous! Yum!!! Sounds like a great trip and one to look forward to.

 

[franandaj]

Good luck T & interesting dates; I'm arriving on Oct. 16th for my first stay @ VGC. Doing MHP (+ Chef's Counter @ Napa Rose!) on my BD, Oct. 19th... Never ate there or a did a 'special event' @ DL either; lots of family firsts!

You will love the Chef's Counter at Napa. We did it a couple of years ago and had a great time. We ended up closing the place down and the wine was fabulous! Yum!!! Sounds like a great trip and one to look forward to.

We always eat at the Chef's Counter! I just love being right there in the middle of the action. I just made reservations for my parents and my DP & I for our wedding anniversaries, they are two days apart so we celebrate together now! We'll even be dining there on our actual Anniversary!

 

[funatdisney]

Lucky you, franandaj! I was amazes how the kitchen is run like a fine dance. A short nod to the pastry counter and the deserts for a party of 12 starts to be prepared. It is truly entertaining to watch all that goes on in the kitchen, and the meal is marvelous. Can't to it again until the economy improves. I would love to do it again.

 

[disneySCLA]

Good morning all. My family of four (2 DD under 5) are officially DVC members! We bought 175 points at VGC and we closed last week. We're looking forward to start planning our Disney vacations!!!

 

[funatdisney]

home!!! You will love staying at VGC. In fact, it can be addicting!

 

[trampslady]

YAH! YAH! I got my (short) waitlist for the weekend of September 17 in a studio. We own at GCV, but this was a last minute idea. I'm very excited!

 

[mike9950]

Good luck T & interesting dates; I'm arriving on Oct. 16th for my first stay @ VGC. Doing MHP (+ Chef's Counter @ Napa Rose!) on my BD, Oct. 19th... Never ate there or a did a 'special event' @ DL either; lots of family firsts!

Just to add to the Chef's Counter (Which is absolutely incredible) -- you can also decide not to order from the menu when it's presented to you. You can simply say "surprise us"... And items start coming out that aren't even on the menu (this option was not told to us by staff, but another frequent diner sitting next to us) If you are adventerous, I would go for it!

 

[funatdisney]

That was my experience. The Chef asked us what we like to eat and what foods we didn't like. There were 4 of us and each of us got a different dish for each course It was absolutely wonderful. And then each course was paired with a different wine for each of us. We even got to sample some wine "just for the fun of it". Hard to beat this type of dining experience.

 

[franandaj]

Just to add to the Chef's Counter (Which is absolutely incredible) -- you can also decide not to order from the menu when it's presented to you. You can simply say "surprise us"... And items start coming out that aren't even on the menu (this option was not told to us by staff, but another frequent diner sitting next to us) If you are adventerous, I would go for it!

I've never been daring enough to do this, but perhaps next time we go there we'll try this. I just always wanted to eat what was on the Chef's tasting menu. Except my last time that we went, but then I wanted to actually try some of the menu items since we'd never really done that before.

 

[mike9950]

Funatdisney: the wines fun sounds fantastic! we didn't get that, but they did bring over some super premium reserve wine to try. It was excellent...

I still remember that night, after all that food and wine we ran over to Space Mountain rode 3 times before the park closed. Ah the benefits of dining and staying at The Grand Californian

 

[rmonty02]

Good morning all. My family of four (2 DD under 5) are officially DVC members! We bought 175 points at VGC and we closed last week. We're looking forward to start planning our Disney vacations!!!

Congrats and WELCOME HOME!

 

[funatdisney]

Funatdisney: the wines fun sounds fantastic! we didn't get that, but they did bring over some super premium reserve wine to try. It was excellent...

I still remember that night, after all that food and wine we ran over to Space Mountain rode 3 times before the park closed. Ah the benefits of dining and staying at The Grand Californian

Space Mountian!! That must have been fun. We closed the place down. It was too late to get to the park, but maybe next time.

We got to taste a desert wine that their buyers bought from some winery in SLO. The wine was a "mistake" that didn't meet the winery's standards. They didn't want it so sweet. The buyers liked the wine so much that they bought everything they had. That was sooo good, and knowing that once their stock was gone, we would never taste anything like it again, made it special, too. I remember savoring every sip! Ahhh fond memories!

 

[ssxa]

We have a 1 bedroom reserved at GCV for Oct 3rd thru the 10th. Any advice on requesting a certain room? This is our families second trip to Disney and we are still very new at this. Our boys are 7 and 5, we would like to get a good view of the CA park and WOC show. Any rooms to avoid? I've been going through the treads and well...it's quite overwheming

 

[Nonsuch]

Our boys are 7 and 5, we would like to get a good view of the CA park and WOC show. Any rooms to avoid?

Request a Paradise Pier view on a high floor
Be aware that Little Mermaid construction noise can upset light sleepers.

 

[jpeka65844]

Funatdisney: the wines fun sounds fantastic! we didn't get that, but they did bring over some super premium reserve wine to try. It was excellent...

I still remember that night, after all that food and wine we ran over to Space Mountain rode 3 times before the park closed. Ah the benefits of dining and staying at The Grand Californian

Aren't those memories the best? We were fortunate to snag a ressie at Club 33 last summer and shut that place down. On the way out, we decided to ride Pirates one last time. There was no one in the park and we got a boat all to ourselves. Just a magical Disney evening.

We're hoping to get to DLR and VGC next summer. If we can't score another Club 33 ressie, we just might have to do the Chef's Table. Chez magnifique!!!

 

[DVCGeek]

That was my experience. The Chef asked us what we like to eat and what foods we didn't like. There were 4 of us and each of us got a different dish for each course It was absolutely wonderful. And then each course was paired with a different wine for each of us. We even got to sample some wine "just for the fun of it". Hard to beat this type of dining experience.

That is EXACTLY what I'm planning to try! I was thinking about getting a 'regular' reservation and going Vintner's Menu w/ wine pairings before I heard about Chef's Counter. Can't wait for my BD!!!

 

[Disney Princess]

All of this Napa Rose talk has me wondering. We are considering doing Napa Rose for our anniversary next year during our first trip home (to our west coast home!). Is the pricing for the Chef's Counter different than the regular dining? What if you do the "surprise us" method? Would you recommend Chef's Counter over a regular table?

Thanks for any help!! We can't wait for 60 days out to make our priority seatings. I guess it can't hurt to research early!

 

[franandaj]

All of this Napa Rose talk has me wondering. We are considering doing Napa Rose for our anniversary next year during our first trip home (to our west coast home!). Is the pricing for the Chef's Counter different than the regular dining? What if you do the "surprise us" method? Would you recommend Chef's Counter over a regular table?

Thanks for any help!! We can't wait for 60 days out to make our priority seatings. I guess it can't hurt to research early!

When we go, we always tell them that we want to split "everything" and we usually add one or two things off the menu, so we end up with a six or seven course meal. They split all our plates except when we order two soups (which we usually do) and they give us just one glass of wine that we share.

We find it actually quite affordable as a really fine dining restaurant since we split dishes this way. My guess on the pricing of the "surprise us" method is that they would charge you the cost for the Chef's Tasting Menu.

 

[Grumpygrandpa]

Enjoy the villas and DLR GrumpyGrandpa!
Let us know what you think of everything.

OK I'm back. I loved my first trip home to VGC at Spring Break! It's been so long that I can't remember the room number. It was the one bedroom on the sixth floor (I think there is only one). Yes we had that stunning view of Mickey's Wheel do Death (My DGD hates it when I call it that). One of my favorite memories was when we first entered our room and my DGS said "This is best place we have ever stayed at!" (and believe me it's hard to impress my spoiled grandkids). I would have to agree with others who have said it is the best DVC property. I know it is the best I've stayed at.

Sorry for having been absent these past few months. I have been going through some challenging financial difficulties and thought I would have to sell all of my points. I have sold my SSR points and one of my GVC contracts. It is looking as if I may be able to hang on to 150 GVC points. DW and I are downsizing our lifestyle and figuring out how to make things work. I'm sure I will be able to right my financial ship and add on some points in the future!