The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 2.0

[bigAWL]

I have a question about grocery delivery at VGC. We like to do the grocery delivery service through the MS sight when staying in the WDW DVC resorts, we like to get milk, pop, water, breakfast items, and any snacks for the room. When I was looking at the grocery order form for VGC, I noticed that they don't have as much of a selection as the ones for WDW. We like to get donuts or poptarts for breakfast on certain mornings but have found that you can't order these items while staying at VGC. I'm just wondering if there is a market somewhere in GCH where we can purchase these items at...we would still have the water, pop, milk and other items delivered to the room so we won't have to lug it up ourselves.

Another option is Vons.com. We used their grocery delivery service a couple years ago. It was easy. Bell services called us when the delivery arrived, then brought them to the room.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Thank you, I am definitely going to check them out. I'm glad that there is another option to use other then the one listed on the MS sight .

 

[Anal Annie]

Another option is Vons.com. We used their grocery delivery service a couple years ago. It was easy. Bell services called us when the delivery arrived, then brought them to the room.

We always use Garden Grocer at WDW for our grocery deliveries and they will also deliver beer - do you happen to know if this Vons will do that too? Also, at WDW, we get the order delivered to Bell Services around the time our plane lands and since they have access to refrigeration they store everything for us until we arrive and our villa is ready. Does it work the same at VGC?

ETA - nevermind - I called them! They DO deliver beer, wine & spirits and they WILL leave orders with Bell Services at DL but you have to contact Bell Services ahead of time to let them know to expect it. YAY!! AND I discovered that Vons is also Safeway so if you have a Safeway card you can use that account too. I am very happy! We can get our waffles and our beer all in one order!v

 

[hjgaus]

I have not done delivery but I often hear they would prefer YOU to be there when delivered for signing off IF you have alcohol WITH your order. Hopefully some can comfirm who has done this.

 

[bigAWL]

We always use Garden Grocer at WDW for our grocery deliveries and they will also deliver beer - do you happen to know if this Vons will do that too? Also, at WDW, we get the order delivered to Bell Services around the time our plane lands and since they have access to refrigeration they store everything for us until we arrive and our villa is ready. Does it work the same at VGC?

I have not done delivery but I often hear they would prefer YOU to be there when delivered for signing off IF you have alcohol WITH your order. Hopefully some can comfirm who has done this.

I think I've heard that, too. My order did not have alcohol. I'm pretty sure the hotel staff does store it in a refrigerated area if it is not going directly to your room.

 

[Anal Annie]

I have not done delivery but I often hear they would prefer YOU to be there when delivered for signing off IF you have alcohol WITH your order. Hopefully some can comfirm who has done this.

I think I've heard that, too. My order did not have alcohol. I'm pretty sure the hotel staff does store it in a refrigerated area if it is not going directly to your room.

I just edited my post above....I called them (Vons). Bell Services needs to know in advance if we're expecting beer or alcohol so they can be sure to have someone 21 or over to accept the order.

 

[hakepb]

Thanks for the tip, cinnamon rolls does sound much better then pop-tarts, especially if the cinnamon rolls look like those .

The DisneyWorld cinnamon rolls have become a tradition for our family, but I've seen a few reviews saying the Disneyland ones are even better

 

[DonnaL]

Well......as far as alcohol in your Von's order....we were just at VGC last month and had Von's deliver our groceries which did include beer. We were told by Von's AND Bell Services that if we had any alcohol in our order we would need to be there to accept delivery ourselves. I had heard mixed thoughts on this so I called both Von's and the VGC and asked for Bell Services the week before our trip to verify whether they would accept or if we needed to so I could plan for the most convenient time to schedule a delivery when we would be there to accept it. Von's does give you a delivery window so we just made sure we were there during that window and they were right on time. The Von's delivery person called my cell when he was five minutes out and I just went to the lobby to sign for it......and then had Bell Services bring it up to the room (we had quite a large order....about $200....we ate most of our meals in since VCG is just so convenient to the parks...literally takes less than 10 minutes to get to/from either park). We were very pleased with Von's service and will definitely use them again when traveling to VGC. Check their website also.....they usually have a code for free delivery on your first order.

 

[gortman65]

Check their website also.....they usually have a code for free delivery on your first order.

That's great info. Thanks!

 

[Anal Annie]

Well......as far as alcohol in your Von's order....we were just at VGC last month and had Von's deliver our groceries which did include beer. We were told by Von's AND Bell Services that if we had any alcohol in our order we would need to be there to accept delivery ourselves. I had heard mixed thoughts on this so I called both Von's and the VGC and asked for Bell Services the week before our trip to verify whether they would accept or if we needed to so I could plan for the most convenient time to schedule a delivery when we would be there to accept it. Von's does give you a delivery window so we just made sure we were there during that window and they were right on time. The Von's delivery person called my cell when he was five minutes out and I just went to the lobby to sign for it......and then had Bell Services bring it up to the room (we had quite a large order....about $200....we ate most of our meals in since VCG is just so convenient to the parks...literally takes less than 10 minutes to get to/from either park). We were very pleased with Von's service and will definitely use them again when traveling to VGC. Check their website also.....they usually have a code for free delivery on your first order.

So when you called Bell Services what did they say? Would they accept it with the beer included? The girl I talked to yesterday at Vons said they would accept it as long as they were expecting it. Was she wrong?

The reason I want to plan to get it left with Bell Services is that we are (supposed to) land at 11:35 AM. I figure we'll likely just use a service like Super Shuttle to get to the resort. Not sure about the timing for that but was hoping maybe we'd be there by around 1:30ish. Well, so odds are that our villa won't be ready by then but if we're paying for a day of park tix we'll likely just want to store our luggage with Bell Services and head out to the parks. It's going to be hard to figure out a time that we'll be back to get our room. With only 4 nights in CA I'm certain we won't want to cut our park time short to sit around waiting for a grocery delivery. Not sure how to pick a delivery window if we don't just plan to get everything left with Bell Services. This is how we usually do it at WDW with our Garden Grocer deliveries...We just get it delivered around the time we land so that when we arrive at the resort just in case a villa IS ready we can just have it brought up right away.

 

[Checkers]

We are going to DL in mid-April and I don't remember seeing this anywhere but does anyone know if you can charge back to your room like you can at WDW? I can't remember if I listed a CC# when I made my reservations. TIA.

 

[Cinderpamela]

When you check in they will ask you if you want charging privileges activated on you hotel room keys. But unlike WDW your theme park ticket cannot be added to your room key.

 

[Checkers]

When you check in they will ask you if you want charging privileges activated on you hotel room keys. But unlike WDW your theme park ticket cannot be added to your room key.

Thanks, Pam, I didn't even think about the ticket part of it!

 

[bigAWL]

Does anyone else try to keep up with resale rates at VGC? I do try, though I have no current intention of ever selling.

Our home resort seems to be keeping its value as well as or better than any other DVC property. I've seen recent listings as high as $115 per point. I wonder if any future additional DVC rooms opening on the west coast would cause the value to slip more.

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Does anyone else try to keep up with resale rates at VGC? I do try, though I have no current intention of ever selling.

Our home resort seems to be keeping its value as well as or better than any other DVC property. I've seen recent listings as high as $115 per point. I wonder if any future additional DVC rooms opening on the west coast would cause the value to slip more.

I try to check listings every once in a while. I'm glad to see that it is holding its own. At that price, a lot of us could sell at a profit. I'm not giving up my points any time soon, though. I'd love to add more!

It is always a case of supply and demand. As long as the there are so few units available, demand will always be high. I would guess that we would see our value drop some if they decided to add more DVC to DL. I know there were discussions about converting or adding a tower to DLH, but haven't heard any rumblings in quite a while now that GFV is being built.

 

[XMom]

So every year we stay at the villas in a studio for the 1/2 marathon weekend. We decided since we are not vacationing this year except for that trip that we would try to upgrade to a 1 BR. We put in our first wait list ever after figuring it out for Friday, Aug 30 to Monday, Sept 1 thinking that there was no way that we would get it since everyone there is usually running the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. Well this Saturday the Fri-Mon wait list came through! We almost fell over! Just to be daring we thought we would add one more day so that we can stay until Monday evening and head home after dinner. Well I just got notification that the wait list for that one ought came through also! So we are staying in a 1BR for the first time. We have been members since 2008 and always have stayed in a studio with the three kids sharing a bed or getting a sleeping bag and pad from housekeeping and they would rotate who would sleep on the floor. Now we all get our own beds and hubby and I even get our own room

Just had to share my excitement with people that understand!

So we were so excited to see that our waitlist came through, but have discovered that they took the extra points from the wrong contract! I called and asked if they could fix it and they said no. They said that the other contract shouldn't have even been listed as an option since we were not in the 7 month window yet. So now our Grand CA contract only has 59 points for next year. We need at least 98 to book for the 1/2 marathon in 2014. Not happy...

 

[Breyean]

Does anyone else try to keep up with resale rates at VGC? I do try, though I have no current intention of ever selling.

Our home resort seems to be keeping its value as well as or better than any other DVC property. I've seen recent listings as high as $115 per point. I wonder if any future additional DVC rooms opening on the west coast would cause the value to slip more.

We own at VGC and are in the process of waiting to close on an add on - we paid $90/point and passed ROFR last week.

But, from what I've read on other threads, people are paying between $105-110 for resales and these contracts are selling for asking price, most times within hours of being posted.

I saw that $115/point contract yesterday. 100 points with 16 from 2012, I believe. It was marked as Sale Pending within hours, so maybe it went for asking price or very close to it.

Mine was for 125 points, so not too many more, and the closing costs, which are pretty high in Ca, were about $800. If that holds true for this 100 point contract, then that knocks the costs up to $123/point, again, with only 16 points from 2012.

It was a June UY (which is also mine), so if the buyer could have gotten those points direct within the next few months he could have gotten all 100 2012 UY points rather than just 16. For $130 direct pricing.

That price for that contract did not make sense to me.

 

[icephoenix25]

Does anyone else try to keep up with resale rates at VGC? I do try, though I have no current intention of ever selling.

Our home resort seems to be keeping its value as well as or better than any other DVC property. I've seen recent listings as high as $115 per point. I wonder if any future additional DVC rooms opening on the west coast would cause the value to slip more.

Yes, we were looking to possibly add on to ours and there is simply nothing available. I did see a couple in the high 90s and one at 108 be pending within hours. So happy we got in in 2011, with a fully loaded resale contract.

 

[nunzia]

Yes, we were looking to possibly add on to ours and there is simply nothing available. I did see a couple in the high 90s and one at 108 be pending within hours. So happy we got in in 2011, with a fully loaded resale contract.

That 108 one would be the one I am waiting on to see if it passes ROFR. It seemed there used to be contracts in the high 90's, which is what I paid for my original direct contracts. (I have 4 contracts purchased direct). The contract I made an offer on at 108 looked high, but I see now that many are listed higher. Never thought I'd go the resale route, but being on the direct waitlist for almost a year pushed me into it

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Speaking of direct buy wait lists, does anyone have any knowledge on the length of wait for each use year? Nunzia, you mentioned that you have been waiting for a year now on the wait list. Were you looking for a use year that matched your current contracts or were you open to any use year?