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

[franandaj]

I know this probably belongs in the "Dining thread" but is specific to the GC hence it's here for you GCV experts, so here goes.

I am finalizing our trip plans to DL this spring, April 29-May 5, and was wondering if Napa Rose has a "quiet room/area" like Jambo's house "Jiko" in AKL, and Contemporary's "Cal Grill", which both have dining room areas I call "quiet rooms/areas". They are rooms/area closed off from the main restaurants floor and so they are much quieter than the main restaurant.


Moe

Yes and no. They have a 24 seat semi private dining area that can be closed off into two smaller rooms. I sat in one of the rooms with a party of nine Friday night, I'm not sure if the host requested the room or they just put us in there due to the size of our group. It wasn't much quieter than the main room, but the main door was open completely to the restaurant. You might have to order from one of their special menus to actually request it.

I would call the restaurant directly and ask. I'm planning on celebrating a "milestone" birthday there in a few years, special menu and all. It's very cozy, we had the side with a gas fireplace and it felt really special.

 

[Nonsuch]

I would call the restaurant directly and ask...

Use the direct line: 714-300-7170

Napa Rose is doing a fixed menu on Valentine's day. I was planning on trying the Chef's Counter, but it was not clear if a special menu would be available. I will try the Chef's Counter on the 15th

 

[mopee3]

Thanks, I will give them a call and see what happens.

Never hurts to try!

Moe

 

[franandaj]

Thanks, I will give them a call and see what happens.

Never hurts to try!

Moe

Good luck! Let us know what you find out!

Use the direct line: 714-300-7170

Napa Rose is doing a fixed menu on Valentine's day. I was planning on trying the Chef's Counter, but it was not clear if a special menu would be available. I will try the Chef's Counter on the 15th

I love the Chef's Counter, we normally sit there when go. I can't wait to do it again, but we can only go there so often as we usually drop a bunch of money!

 

[mopee3]

Yes and no. They have a 24 seat semi private dining area that can be closed off into two smaller rooms. I sat in one of the rooms with a party of nine Friday night, I'm not sure if the host requested the room or they just put us in there due to the size of our group. It wasn't much quieter than the main room, but the main door was open completely to the restaurant. You might have to order from one of their special menus to actually request it.

I would call the resturant directly and ask. I'm planning on celebrating a "milestone" birthday there in a few years, special menu and all. It's very cozy, we had the side with a gas fireplace and it felt really special.

Thanks for the information, I noticed in your Kidani 2010 travel log you shipped wine to the resort. How did that work out for you? I have realized over the few years we go to Florida and DVC I enjoy Jiko and Cal Grill the best because of the wines. But the wine is expensive to buy at these resturants, but that doesn't stop me from drinking them I just have to take more money. So am thinking of taking my own and paying the corkage fee.


Moe

 

[mopee3]

Yes and no. They have a 24 seat semi private dining area that can be closed off into two smaller rooms. I sat in one of the rooms with a party of nine Friday night, I'm not sure if the host requested the room or they just put us in there due to the size of our group. It wasn't much quieter than the main room, but the main door was open completely to the restaurant. You might have to order from one of their special menus to actually request it.

I would call the resturant directly and ask. I'm planning on celebrating a "milestone" birthday there in a few years, special menu and all. It's very cozy, we had the side with a gas fireplace and it felt really special.

Thanks for the information, I noticed in your Kidani 2010 travel log you shipped wine to the resort. How did that work out for you? I have realized over the few years we go to Florida and DVC I enjoy Jiko and Cal Grill the best because of the wines. But the wine is expensive to buy at these resturants, but that doesn't stop me from drinking them I just have to take more money. So am thinking of taking my own and paying the corkage fee because I can drink some pretty good wines for the price they charge.


Moe

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for the information, I noticed in your Kidani 2010 travel log you shipped wine to the resort. How did that work out for you? I have realized over the few years we go to Florida and DVC I enjoy Jiko and Cal Grill the best because of the wines. But the wine is expensive to buy at these resturants, but that doesn't stop me from drinking them I just have to take more money. So am thinking of taking my own and paying the corkage fee.


Moe

We started off at the Treehouses, so I actually shipped the wine to SSR. I just went to my local "box" store and told them I needed a box for shipping wine. I get wine shipments all the time because I am in several clubs, but none of them send it by the case and we were there for 10 days so we shipped a case of reds (bought most of the whites at Publix). It was a very nice box with styrofoam cut outs inside for the bottles and I just taped it up nicely. One week prior to our arrival, I took it to Fed Ex (that's the shipper I have an account with for business purposes) and shipped it ground to myself "Hotel Guest Arriving X/X/X date". Whenever it was that we checked in.

I got the actual address from allears.net and when we checked in the package was waiting for us. It was really nice because we had a reservation at the Turf Club for after we got off Magical Express. We took our carry ons and the package to Bell Services, opened the box, took out the bottle we had picked for that dinner, checked the box and headed off to dinner.

The best part of it all was that my wines are aged in my temperature controlled cellar and the wines served in restaurants are much younger than most of my bottles. It was great to have 10 year old Cabernet at CA Grill! Well worth the $20 corkage fee!

Now at Napa Rose, I just let them pick for me because there are so many wonderful wines by the glass. I get to try things outside my "clubs" for some variety.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

So due to our constant state of borrowing and a fabulous trip over Tinkerbell Marathon Weekend in THE villa to stay at in VGC (6502/6504 2 bedroom lockoff , I am convinced we need more points!

My dh called today and resale rate for VGC direct through Disney is $130 pp

I looked at the dvc resales page through the time share store and there are 4 VGC contracts but all are "sale pending" and none for the small size I am looking for (60 points or less, June UY).

Is it crazy to go direct or have other add on addicts had success waiting for their "perfect" VGC add on? I know about the other drawbacks to resale now (no Disney collection, cruises) and while we have occasionally used our points for paradise pier and DLH it is not a deal breaker for us. Our DVC guide made it sound like closing costs for resale run like $800 whereas Disney is around $100. I have no idea if that is accurate or not.

I love VGC and cannot imagine having a different home resort so we will be using our points primarily there and occasionally at WDW and definitely Aulani. Aulani will probably be an every 2-3 year trip for us as I fell in love when we were there in September. I think adding on is going to happen for us just not sure what would be best for our situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nunzia]

So due to our constant state of borrowing and a fabulous trip over Tinkerbell Marathon Weekend in THE villa to stay at in VGC (6502/6504 2 bedroom lockoff , I am convinced we need more points!

My dh called today and resale rate for VGC direct through Disney is $130 pp

I looked at the dvc resales page through the time share store and there are 4 VGC contracts but all are "sale pending" and none for the small size I am looking for (60 points or less, June UY).

Is it crazy to go direct or have other add on addicts had success waiting for their "perfect" VGC add on? I know about the other drawbacks to resale now (no Disney collection, cruises) and while we have occasionally used our points for paradise pier and DLH it is not a deal breaker for us. Our DVC guide made it sound like closing costs for resale run like $800 whereas Disney is around $100. I have no idea if that is accurate or not.

I love VGC and cannot imagine having a different home resort so we will be using our points primarily there and occasionally at WDW and definitely Aulani. Aulani will probably be an every 2-3 year trip for us as I fell in love when we were there in September. I think adding on is going to happen for us just not sure what would be best for our situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Are there direct points available at VGC for the $130? I'm curious if the waiting list has been fulfilled. I'm way out of points too and am looking at 1BR for future trips (spoiled!) so would love to add on but of course there is that pesky $$$ thing to consider. And not really the purchase price. The MF are the real burden. I'd look at resales as I really only stay at VCG and if I go to WDW have to wait for 7 months out anyway. I did use my points once for DLH but that was very painful and upcoming years points are even worse.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Are there direct points available at VGC for the $130? I'm curious if the waiting list has been fulfilled. I'm way out of points too and am looking at 1BR for future trips (spoiled!) so would love to add on but of course there is that pesky $$$ thing to consider. And not really the purchase price. The MF are the real burden. I'd look at resales as I really only stay at VCG and if I go to WDW have to wait for 7 months out anyway. I did use my points once for DLH but that was very painful and upcoming years points are even worse.

Yes, there seems to be contracts popping up here and there as Disney is buying up a lot of VGC points to meet the demand. Our guide indicated he had something available but at the $130 pp price point, we are hesitating because we haven't explored the resale option fully. With the size contract we are seeking however, the the price pp buying direct is less of an impact and I like that the points will retain all the same privileges for that occasional DL hotel stay ( agree that point chart is getting hard to take for DL collection hotels!) You are right about MFs, that is the real long term impact to our budget. An add on would put us just shy of 300 points though so I still feel the MFs on that amount of points to be manageable even as VGC approaches the $5 per point costs.

DH is calling our guide today and likes the hassle free part of buying direct. I would like to keep the extra $1000 or so in our pockets if I can get what we need on the resale market.

Whatever happens, we are SO happy with our VGC purchase! It is an amazing resort. It feels like our true home away from home now and I am so excited about future stays and also returning to Aulani. I never could have paid cash rates there and Aulani made our 1st trip to Hawaii feel like a once in a lifetime experience. I am actually more interested in using our points there every couple years than I am using them in WDW.

 

[mopee3]

We started off at the Treehouses, so I actually shipped the wine to SSR. I just went to my local "box" store and told them I needed a box for shipping wine. I get wine shipments all the time because I am in several clubs, but none of them send it by the case and we were there for 10 days so we shipped a case of reds (bought most of the whites at Publix). It was a very nice box with styrofoam cut outs inside for the bottles and I just taped it up nicely. One week prior to our arrival, I took it to Fed Ex (that's the shipper I have an account with for business purposes) and shipped it ground to myself "Hotel Guest Arriving X/X/X date". Whenever it was that we checked in.

Thanks for the tip. I will try this in the fall when we go back.

Moe

 

[franandaj]

I bought all of my VGC points direct, but my WDW points were all resale. I have 290 at VGC and am spoiled to (only wanting to stay in 1brs). We're starting to feel that isn't enough and considering another add on is some real estate deals come through. At which point I'll be faced with the same dilemma. I like that you can put the direct points on your Disney Visa for extra Disney money.

I know that Disney is exercising ROFR on many VGC contracts to meet the demand. Going direct might be faster then waiting for the right contract to come up for resale.

 

[ACDSNY]

Whatever happens, we are SO happy with our VGC purchase! It is an amazing resort. It feels like our true home away from home now and I am so excited about future stays and also returning to Aulani. I never could have paid cash rates there and Aulani made our 1st trip to Hawaii feel like a once in a lifetime experience. I am actually more interested in using our points there every couple years than I am using them in WDW.

We feel the same way, we love VGC and Aulani. Now if we could get an every other year Westin Kauai or Maui I'd be in heaven.

 

[disneydenisel]

We feel the same way, we love VGC and Aulani. Now if we could get an every other year Westin Kauai or Maui I'd be in heaven.

We have every year at Westin Maui and need more VGC points to enjoy DLR more often .

Timeshare weeks are addictive .

 

[ACDSNY]

We have every year at Westin Maui and need more VGC points to enjoy DLR more often .

Timeshare weeks are addictive .

They sure are!

 

[8timesblessed]

I can provide a little infomation on that. I made an offer of $85 per point on a 160 point contract that had all the points for 2011/2012 and a few banked from 2010. Disney bought the contract in November. I then made an offer on a 200 point contract for $88 pp with all 2011 & 2012 points and some (96) 2010 points. That one passed ROFR in December. The first was a June use year while the one that passed was October use year. I did notice that someone posted a contract passing at $75 a point, but it was stripped of points until late 2013. If you are already a member that is a great deal, but I did not look at any contracts that were stripped of upcoming points. In contrast to the other resorts, not many resale contracts on VGC show up in the listings and they dont tend to last very long.

Anyway-- I have been lurking on this thread - reading with envy - but very shortly I should be able to "officially" announce my arrival. I just sent in the closing papers.

Congratulations and welcome home! We need to add on sometime to our 260 points, they just don't go very far and we already borrowed our 2013 points for a early December trip. Glad to know the current rate. Are you enjoying our Gig Harbor weather??

 

[gonecrusin]

Hey everyone, I need your help booking my 2013 trip.
I have only a small contract for VGC and a bigger one for AKL. I need to book 2 studios for the Memorial Day weekend: Saturday and Sunday night, as we are going to take the DCL on that Monday.
Using my VGC points at 11 months I only have enough to book 2 rooms for one of the two nights, and have to wait till the 7 month mark to book the other night. My Question is: which night is more difficult to get? Which night I should book first at 7 month?

Please help.

Did you already use your 2013 points?

 

[luckyman_apd]

So my wife and I are buying in at BLT. We'll know about ROFR within the next 5 days. Since we are not members yet, I can't check availability. There is a strong possibility that she'll be required to attend a conference in San Diego for late June. All of us would take the trip and we were thinking of adding an extra 2 days at the end of the trip to drive up to Disneyland. We are East coast people and have never been west of Ohio, but travel to WDW every other year. Just curious it there was any possibility of DVC rooms being available On the nights of June 27 & 28 or 28 or 29? I'm sure we won't close and be into the system until March. Just curious what our chances of having any availability left.

 

[Nonsuch]

Just curious it there was any possibility of DVC rooms being available On the nights of June 27 & 28 or 28 or 29?

 

[luckyman_apd]

Thanks! I guess that nixes our plans for using point Thanks for the quick reply. Someday I'll figure out how to do a screen shot like that!