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

[limace]

Oh man please no keurigs. I’ve yet to have a good cup of keurig coffeee…

 

[Nonsuch]

...One of the DVC guides mentioned it would probably happen in a few years based on the 7/14 year cycle. Does anyone know when it was last refurbed?

Refurb was 5 years ago. My report on changes, from earlier in this thread.

...I hope they will add in a rain shower...

Rain showers similar to this design were part of the Saratoga Springs refurbishment:

This type of "retrofit" system replaces the shower head, but requires no other plumbing changes.

 

[SeaDis]

Oh man please no keurigs. I’ve yet to have a good cup of keurig coffeee…

Yeah I think I would lean that way also. Especially in a 1 bed+ with a group. But we definitely bring our own filters and have grounds and creamer delivered. Necessity!

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

We had stayed previously on the hotel side (March 2020, before the shutdown) with DTD view and the DVC rooms definitely need a refurb. The difference was certainly noticeable.

I hope they will add in a rain shower, and increase the lighting, install king beds and add a night stand on both sides of the bed instead of just one side. Just a small wishlist

One of the DVC guides mentioned it would probably happen in a few years based on the 7/14 year cycle. Does anyone know when it was last refurbed?

100% agree on the lighting. Our first stay as owners was in a studio and we couldn't believe how dark it was! We kept looking for hidden light switches thinking it couldn't possibly supposed to be this dark in here.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Yup - wishlist:
laminate floors
murphy bed
a TON more lighting
and I'm with @RyanJW - would love a nightstand on both sides of the bed.
(and non-room related... can they prune those trees back so you can see the theme park without being on the 5th+ floor?)
In theory the hard refurb should be in 2023-24. Excited - they always do such an amazing job!

 

[AZMermaid]

Anyone who had been recently- how’s the dedicated entrance been at rope drop? I know its not usually the fastest, but my son wants to rope drop Goofys sky school (yep… I know ) so we have some wiggle room.

 

[SeaDis]

Yup - wishlist:
laminate floors
murphy bed
a TON more lighting
and I'm with @RyanJW - would love a nightstand on both sides of the bed.
(and non-room related... can they prune those trees back so you can see the theme park without being on the 5th+ floor?)
In theory the hard refurb should be in 2023-24. Excited - they always do such an amazing job!

Murphy bed? Interesting! Do you mean in place of the main queen bed in a studio? That would open up the room.

Trees: this is a great point, and I'm surprised it's gone this far without hearing more about it. Pine trees are absolutely beautiful, but there are plenty of them in the park and redwood trail. The same is true on the hotel side and the theme park views are disappearing, except for the upper floors.

I've never tuned in for an annual meeting or sent feedback, so I can't really complain. I hope they can find a maintenance solution to keep the trees and "some" view.

*From off-site trips in the past, I know HOJO pine trees are doing the same thing. But I think I read they are trimming those.

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

Yup - wishlist:
laminate floors
murphy bed
a TON more lighting
and I'm with @RyanJW - would love a nightstand on both sides of the bed.
(and non-room related... can they prune those trees back so you can see the theme park without being on the 5th+ floor?)
In theory the hard refurb should be in 2023-24. Excited - they always do such an amazing job!

I'm still relatively new to DVC so I haven't owned at a resort during a refurb. What will happen during the hard refurb at VGC since it has so few rooms- will they shut them all down at once? Or do they rotate and leave some open for guests?

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Murphy bed? Interesting! Do you mean in place of the main queen bed in a studio? That would open up the room.

Trees: this is a great point, and I'm surprised it's gone this far without hearing more about it. Pine trees are absolutely beautiful, but there are plenty of them in the park and redwood trail. The same is true on the hotel side and the theme park views are disappearing, except for the upper floors.

I've never tuned in for an annual meeting or sent feedback, so I can't really complain. I hope they can find a maintenance solution to keep the trees and "some" view.

*From off-site trips in the past, I know HOJO pine trees are doing the same thing. But I think I read they are trimming those.

Oh yes - they have made it clear that replacing sofa beds with Murphy beds is the wave of the future. That's the case from the beginning with Riviera and what they have been doing for refurbishments ever since including Saratoga and announced for Poly and Grand Flo. They seem to be even doing them as part of soft good refurb rather than wait until hard refurb.
If you watch this recent video of a Saratoga studio refurb and jump to about 3 mins in you can see:

Very exciting as they are much more comfortable and much easier to quickly transition.

We are new owners but you know I'm bringing that up at the next meeting re trees/view. I mean just being location-wise where VGC is... amazing but I've tasted glory of looking out at the wheel and I'm sad seeing that view disappear . Increase my dues for tree pruning .

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

I'm still relatively new to DVC so I haven't owned at a resort during a refurb. What will happen during the hard refurb at VGC since it has so few rooms- will they shut them all down at once? Or do they rotate and leave some open for guests?

This question keeps me awake at night. OK it doesn't... but I do wonder! Haha. When there's a big issue with plumbing or whatever at Jambo they just forcibly move people to the hotel side so I could see them doing that. Grand Floridian is the closest cousin to Grand Cal since it's attached to a huge hotel side and has few rooms (147 for VGF vs 71 VGC)... well depending on how you look at the rooms. So it will be interesting to see what Grand Flo does when they do their hard refurb (though they obviously have much more flexibility comparatively).

 

[DL1WDW2]

Mark your Calendar to attend or live stream :

2021 DVC Annual Condo AssociationMeeting
12/9/21 Thursday 2:00 p.m.
Contemporary Convention Center
Registration ? Might be required if Covid seating is enforced.

Reminder : List of locations that require tree trimming…
BLT room view was a Jungle especially since it rained (Like a rain forest)… I could have done “anything“ on that balcony !!! And nobody would know
California probably has legal statutes that regulate and protect all trees!

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

I love the word probably. It leaves hope . A quick search on google university doesn't give a definitive answer.
I wonder what it's like living in Florida when you can (more) easily attend such functions - tee hee.
Not that they take too many questions in the moment from owners but it would be fun to attend one in person.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Nice little video about the newly reopened spa:
https://fb.watch/83PV3c2JHf/

 

[IandGsmom]

Getting ready to book a 2 bedroom villa for May 2022 and want to put in a room request. Are there 2 bedrooms close to the pool or are those regular hotel rooms. Last time we has a gorgeous theme park view however the music from the rides does play over and over and over and over so wouldn't mind a different view this time

 

[AZMermaid]

We now ask for a quiet view and twice now we’ve gotten a side-ish pool view X509 in a studio. It is part of a lock off two bedroom. We are also over hearing Goofys Sky School after traveling during grad nights- lol! We’ve btdt with the theme park view!

 

[2boysmommy]

Parking question - we arrive late on a Friday night and are staying off property. We check into VGC on Saturday. Can we park at the hotel that morning? Drop our bags with bell services, etc.? I have zero expectations of our room being ready early but would love to get the car moved and settled and our bags stored away before we head into the parks.

 

[upritbass]

Parking question - we arrive late on a Friday night and are staying off property. We check into VGC on Saturday. Can we park at the hotel that morning? Drop our bags with bell services, etc.? I have zero expectations of our room being ready early but would love to get the car moved and settled and our bags stored away before we head into the parks.

Actually, you can check in up to 4 days in advance. The purpose of going to the front desk is to pick up your room key. Bell services will unload your car and store your bags until you are ready to move into the room. You park as soon as the luggage is unloaded.

 

[buffalobasingal]

Can someone tell me if the laundry room is open in the VGC villas? We are staying in a studio that doesn't have the washer/dryer in the room. So, I am hoping that we can do laundry on-site at the GCH during our visit next week.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Can someone tell me if the laundry room is open in the VGC villas? We are staying in a studio that doesn't have the washer/dryer in the room. So, I am hoping that we can do laundry on-site at the GCH during our visit next week.

Here now so checked on the way back to the room tonight. Yes, laundry room is open. There is a sign by the door requesting that only one family at a time be in the room. A couple of machines were running. Enjoy your visit!

 

[buffalobasingal]

Here now so checked on the way back to the room tonight. Yes, laundry room is open. There is a sign by the door requesting that only one family at a time be in the room. A couple of machines were running. Enjoy your visit!

Wow! Thank you so much for checking and replying during your trip! Hope you are having a great time and lots of magical moments!