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

[AstroBlasters]

Agreed. I wouldn't want to see any drastic changes. Maybe add that extra light strip like in the hotel rooms. And murphy beds instead of pull-out couches.

I'm kind of glad we will be in the 'old' room next summer so we get a nice comparison when the refurbishment happens. I think my son will be fine on the pull out so I'm not too upset that the refurb seems to be delayed.

Are the current showerheads in the villas the removable kind or just fixed?

All of the videos I have seen show the cheap looking fixed ones.

 

[DebbieB]

I saw that the recent refurbs out in Florida seemed to get rid of all carpet. I'm really hoping they keep in in the studio and living areas.

The GF resort studio rooms have an area rug look, part laminate. Poly is carpet in the bed/couch area. Boulder Ridge has an area rug. I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside last month, it was all laminate and to be honest, felt kind of bare. I have hardwood in my home living room, dining room and kitchen but have area rugs. Those would be easier to replace.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Do any of the refurbed studios have carpet or rugs? The ones I've looked at don't seem to.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Our welcome home trip is underway with a brief detour to the 3rd and 4th gate of Disneyland Resort (Knott’s and Soak City - well not Soak City this trip). Considering Knott’s a 3rd gate for Disneyland is highly recommend for anyone who will frequent Disneyland and the area. We loved the first day at the park, the food was good (we’ll get value out of that annual food plan for 160 bucks I’m sure), and it’s such a good value at 190 to 280 bucks for a pass. I’m now very glad I didn’t get into the FOMO for not getting the $1599 Magic Key. I’d be more than happy to spend the block out days at Knott’s, the family had a great time. Our kids had a blast at Camp Snoopy and it was lit up beautifully at night. Not as themed or immersive as what is at Disneyland, but still very charming.

I’m not trying to detour this VGC chat into a Knott’s topic, but I figured I’d share the thoughts so those looking to add some variety into their VGC stays through the year could add this to their list of things to do

With all of that said, we are so eager to get to the Grand Cal in a few days I keep checking the Magic Key calendar and telling @MrsNVDISFamily there is room tomorrow to go for a few hours and she says we can wait and just enjoy our time there in a few days.

 

[Chili327]

Considering Knott’s a 3rd gate for Disneyland is highly recommend for anyone who will frequent Disneyland and the area.
Not as themed or immersive as what is at Disneyland, but still very charming.

I’m not trying to detour this VGC chat into a Knott’s topic, but I figured I’d share the thoughts so those looking to add some variety into their VGC stays through the year could add this to their list of things to do

Agreed, Knotts is a gem!!

 

[ClaraOswald]

What is a welcome home trip?

 

[DebbieB]

What is a welcome home trip?

When you buy direct the first time, they will try to find your first reservation not otherwise available using developer inventory. I didn’t think VGC was included.

 

[NVDISFamily]

What is a welcome home trip?

Officially it’s a way you can use your first booking if purchased direct to access inventory on the cash side to get access to a room that may not show as available on the DVC member website. I believe Panda on a recent DVCFan YouTube video was saying how he purchased direct at Rivera and he wanted to go for a day that was just a few weeks out and there was no availability on the site so he called member services and said it was his first stay so they granted him a Welcome home stay and were able to book him which made it so everything was now available to book for the days he wanted (it’s not guaranteed that they will have rooms, but just more flexibility as they can access rooms held back for cash stays - they won’t kick people out of a reservation to give you a room).

Unofficially, as many of us own resale points (or a mixture of them both) we call our welcome home stay(s) our first trip to the resort we purchase and are visiting on our points. My first stay at VGC is coming up so it’s our welcome home stay (but using our “dirty” resale points).

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ah. Thanks. That makes sense. Have fun!! Our "Welcome Home" trip is so far away.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Ah. Thanks. That makes sense. Have fun!! Our "Welcome Home" trip is so far away.

We were in your shoes for a long time. Watched that number flip counter go from the hundreds, to double digits, to now for what felt like eternity. Buying more points and booking more stays eases the pain but is expensive therapy.

Side note - that counter thing on the DVC site seems like it was programmed by an expert in psychology to keep the excitement going just enough…

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'll be happy once my account is finally set up so I can explore the site and whatnot. Still waiting on my deed to show up so it'll be a while.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Our welcome home trip is underway with a brief detour to the 3rd and 4th gate of Disneyland Resort (Knott’s and Soak City - well not Soak City this trip). Considering Knott’s a 3rd gate for Disneyland is highly recommend for anyone who will frequent Disneyland and the area. We loved the first day at the park, the food was good (we’ll get value out of that annual food plan for 160 bucks I’m sure), and it’s such a good value at 190 to 280 bucks for a pass. I’m now very glad I didn’t get into the FOMO for not getting the $1599 Magic Key. I’d be more than happy to spend the block out days at Knott’s, the family had a great time. Our kids had a blast at Camp Snoopy and it was lit up beautifully at night. Not as themed or immersive as what is at Disneyland, but still very charming.

I’m not trying to detour this VGC chat into a Knott’s topic, but I figured I’d share the thoughts so those looking to add some variety into their VGC stays through the year could add this to their list of things to do

With all of that said, we are so eager to get to the Grand Cal in a few days I keep checking the Magic Key calendar and telling @MrsNVDISFamily there is room tomorrow to go for a few hours and she says we can wait and just enjoy our time there in a few days.

Have a great trip! Perhaps start a separate thread to share your thoughts.

Let me know how the new bread is in Star Wars Land (I know that’s not its official name, but we call it Star Wars Land).

 

[ehh]

All this talk of Welcome Home reminds me of the time we were staying at VGC on non-VGC points and during the stay our first VGC purchase was apparently finalized/entered into DVC systems (I exactly forget which of the many steps).

We returned to our room mid-day to find a fruit basket from DVC and we were so confused why. It was a nice touch though. I bet it's fairly rare for them these days that someone's ownership begins while staying there, I'm surprised they even identified it, let alone had a procedure for it.

Our actual VGC Welcome Home stay was a whole 2 years and 3 months later, due to the pandemic shutdown.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Have a great trip! Perhaps start a separate thread to share your thoughts.

For sure. I’ll create a thread in the Trip Report section and share some thoughts

Overall I think the fact that we are very lucky to align our stay with the open of the lounge is awesome so I’m looking forward to share some pictures and thoughts of that.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Be sure to come back and post a link when you get that thread going. I'd love to check it out.

 

[Nonsuch]

...I would love to get a 2 bedroom with a view of the park, I have heard people have put requests in to member services, but how would I request something with a view? Are there specific rooms to request or something else to put in the request to help increase our chances?

Search this thread for "6500" for tips on view requests. That is the only 6th floor dedicated 2 bedroom, so it appears in most view discussions. I have had good results making requests using a list of specific room numbers.

 

[DebbieB]

Search this thread for "6500" for tips on view requests. That is the only 6th floor dedicated 2 bedroom, so it appears in most view discussions. I have had good results making requests using a list of specific room numbers.

I have too. My studio requests are 6504, 5504, 4504, 5510, 4510. I did get 6504 twice.

 

[Chili327]

I have too. My studio requests are 6504, 5504, 4504, 5510, 4510. I did get 6504 twice.

This is the kind of stuff that could/should be made into its own thread… similar to the ROFR thread where the first post gets updated with best rooms, changes, etc for each & every resort.!!

 

[ClaraOswald]

When do you make room requests? When you make the reservation or right before check-in? Do you do it online or do you have to call?

 

[limace]

This is the kind of stuff that could/should be made into its own thread… similar to the ROFR thread where the first post gets updated with best rooms, changes, etc for each & every resort.!!

It has its own thread.