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

[HIRyeDVC]

Yikes!

Well. Only 40 some villas and 14 years of non stop usage. VGC rooms never go vacant. It’s probably been used and abused more than any other DVC. It’s time for a refurb.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Well. Only 40 some villas and 14 years of non stop usage. VGC rooms never go vacant. It’s probably been used and abused more than any other DVC. It’s time for a refurb.

They didn’t replace the couches at last refurb?

 

[MonaMN]

My kid (14) didn't complain about it when we were there a few weeks ago. Gave her the option of the pull down mattress under the TV as well and she picked the pull out.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Lounge open on 4/19 - just in time for our welcome home stay at VGC

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...-member-lounge-at-disneyland-opening-april-19

 

[ClaraOswald]

I wonder when they will put the refurb on the calendar. I heard it was supposed to happen in 2024 but didn't they already release the refurb calendar for 2024 and it's not on there?

 

[CarolynFH]

I wonder when they will put the refurb on the calendar. I heard it was supposed to happen in 2024 but didn't they already release the refurb calendar for 2024 and it's not on there?

They don’t really release a calendar per se. At the 2022 member meeting they just listed a sequence of resorts to be refurbed and didn’t necessarily promise when they’d be done. I don’t expect it to be set in stone, and it’s possible VGC might be refurbed in 2024 after whichever resort they listed for 2024.

See meeting recap here: https://www.dvcnews.com/dvc-program...vacation-club-condo-association-meeting-recap

 

[Heroes_or_Villains]

I"m going to cancel my upcoming 2bdrm reservation for 9/24 - 9/28 at VGC in case anyone wants to try and jump on it. Hitting the button to cancel at 9:30am PST. I know sometimes it will get held to fill waitlist, but that assumes the system is sophisticated enough to lock the availability before Guest Services can get to it.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Count us as Grand Californian lovers! We don’t own there but we have been lucky enough to get waitlists on several occasions, including this past Monday night. We had a great stay, as always. We had never visited Walt’s original park until our daughter moved to LA two years ago, now we get there twice a year.

I did have a bone to pick with our stay, however. Yes, it’s spring break, and we expected it to be crowded.

What was the problem? Morning access to Downtown Disney/Disneyland, that was the problem. The security line was nutso in the am! Took us twenty minutes. Now, you might say that twenty minutes isn’t a big deal. However, when early park access is only 30 minutes (7:30 instead of 8:00) twenty minutes becomes more significant. No, that twenty minutes, and missing the early entry half hour, had no measurable impact on our day, especially with Space Mountain having been down that morning. And yeah, you could say we should have gotten to the security line sooner. Live and learn I guess.

However, here is my bone to pick. We shouldn’t have had to get there earlier. It shouldn’t have taken twenty minutes to get through. At Disneyland they are still using antiquated security technology. Search every bag (and the security people REALLY search, like every nook and cranny of your bag), go through the metal detector (a quarter I didn’t realize was in my pocket sent me back thru). It takes a long time, and with the amount of people coming in it is a huge bottleneck!

What should they do differently, you ask? Easy, put in the newer security technologies they currently employ at WDW. Scanners where everyone just walks on through, no bag check unless something big prompts a search of a bag, which doesn’t happen often. It would speed up the flow in the am immensely, and is the kind of convenience you’d expect of their flagship resort attached to the parks. It’s not like they don’t already have the technology, and with what they charge they can and should afford it! I did ask security if they have considered installing the scanning technology used in WDW. The guard I asked said they have talked about it but it didn’t happen. It does, however, need to get done!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Wow...I didn't even know that WDW had screening like that. I just went and looked it up. I'm jealous!

We almost never had a line of more than 2 people ahead of us on our recent trip. But it still seemed to take a while for them to check every pocket of my fanny pack. They even made me unzip things that were barely big enough to hold a tube of chapstick.

 

[ehh]

Count us as Grand Californian lovers! We don’t own there but we have been lucky enough to get waitlists on several occasions, including this past Monday night. We had a great stay, as always. We had never visited Walt’s original park until our daughter moved to LA two years ago, now we get there twice a year.

I did have a bone to pick with our stay, however. Yes, it’s spring break, and we expected it to be crowded.

What was the problem? Morning access to Downtown Disney/Disneyland, that was the problem. The security line was nutso in the am! Took us twenty minutes. Now, you might say that twenty minutes isn’t a big deal. However, when early park access is only 30 minutes (7:30 instead of 8:00) twenty minutes becomes more significant. No, that twenty minutes, and missing the early entry half hour, had no measurable impact on our day, especially with Space Mountain having been down that morning. And yeah, you could say we should have gotten to the security line sooner. Live and learn I guess.

However, here is my bone to pick. We shouldn’t have had to get there earlier. It shouldn’t have taken twenty minutes to get through. At Disneyland they are still using antiquated security technology. Search every bag (and the security people REALLY search, like every nook and cranny of your bag), go through the metal detector (a quarter I didn’t realize was in my pocket sent me back thru). It takes a long time, and with the amount of people coming in it is a huge bottleneck!

What should they do differently, you ask? Easy, put in the newer security technologies they currently employ at WDW. Scanners where everyone just walks on through, no bag check unless something big prompts a search of a bag, which doesn’t happen often. It would speed up the flow in the am immensely, and is the kind of convenience you’d expect of their flagship resort attached to the parks. It’s not like they don’t already have the technology, and with what they charge they can and should afford it! I did ask security if they have considered installing the scanning technology used in WDW. The guard I asked said they have talked about it but it didn’t happen. It does, however, need to get done!

They definitely need the WDW scanners and process! It would make security so much more efficient.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Did anyone see the pictures of the new tree they put in the lobby today? My wife showed me on twitter, but I don’t have the link. IMO, it’s a great addition.

 

[DVChris]

Someone posted this photo on FB but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

 

[LilyJC]

What should they do differently, you ask? Easy, put in the newer security technologies they currently employ at WDW. Scanners where everyone just walks on through, no bag check unless something big prompts a search of a bag, which doesn’t happen often. It would speed up the flow in the am immensely, and is the kind of convenience you’d expect of their flagship resort attached to the parks. It’s not like they don’t already have the technology, and with what they charge they can and should afford it! I did ask security if they have considered installing the scanning technology used in WDW. The guard I asked said they have talked about it but it didn’t happen. It does, however, need to get done!

They actually did try these a few years ago, and for whatever reason they weren’t working out for DLR.

 

[Canchaser143]

They actually did try these a few years ago, and for whatever reason they weren’t working out for DLR.

I wonder if California and it’s weird laws and rules strikes again

 

[ClaraOswald]

I've heard mixed reports....is the tree real or fake?
I read it's just for the month of April.

 

[DisneyKidds]

They actually did try these a few years ago, and for whatever reason they weren’t working out for DLR.

We’ve been visiting DL since 2021 and it was the same security procedure/technology as they are using now. If they tried something different before 2021 it probably wasn’t the security tech they are currently using at WDW. Whatever it is, they need to do better!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I wonder when they supposedly tried new technology because every time I've been, it's just regular bag checks and metal detectors.

Several years ago, they would just give my bag/fanny pack a quick look and I'd be on my way. But this recent trip they were way more thorough. And I'm your standard, middle aged, white mom so I don't think they were profiling people or anything either.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Anyone who has stayed in a 1 bedroom villa and used the beds in the living area, how comfortable are they? Thanks

We just stayed in a 1 Br on Monday night. My adult daughter and her boyfriend slept on the pull out couch. My 21 year old, 6 foot, 175 pound son slept on the pull down bed (in the tv cabinet). I didn’t ask how good a nights’ sleep they got, but nobody complained!

 

[LilyJC]

We’ve been visiting DL since 2021 and it was the same security procedure/technology as they are using now. If they tried something different before 2021 it probably wasn’t the security tech they are currently using at WDW. Whatever it is, they need to do better!

No, we definitely went through them (the same scan as WDW) to get into DtD. It could have been in 2020 when just DtD was open… They most certainly tried them for a bit and then they were gone again.

 

[DisneyKidds]

No, we definitely went through them (the same scan as WDW) to get into DtD. It could have been in 2020 when just DtD was open… They most certainly tried them for a bit and then they were gone again.

Right you are! A little digging reveals that the Evolve Express scanners have been tested at DLR twice…..first in October of 2020 and then again in August of 2021. Time to dig more to see if we can figure out why the security standard that is the norm at WDW hasn’t been adopted at DLR….