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

[ValW]

I was able to book a 2 BR villa at the end of July when all the reservations were "open" for that brief time. I got a call from member services tonight saying that there is an overbooking issue and they are willing to transfer my reservation to a 2 bedroom suite at the GC instead of the Villas, but no kitchen, no washer/dryer, etc. I see no benefit to switch. I have the option not to switch, but there is no guarantee that there will be a villa opening when we arrive in which case they would transfer us to a suite anyway. What would you do? Switch to a suite or stay put with the villa reservation and see what happens?

So, my 1-night booked during the glitch was overbooked and they offered to move me to the hotel. I just cancelled that night as I didn't really need it and my 5-night is still good. However, if I was in your position, I would probably take the 2-bedroom suite. I would hate to chance going and not having a nice room.

Edited to add: Basically, you will be waitlisted and if an opening doesn’t happen you will be moved to the hotel - maybe a 2-bedroom suite, maybe not.

 

[Drewmama]

I was able to book a 2 BR villa at the end of July when all the reservations were "open" for that brief time. I got a call from member services tonight saying that there is an overbooking issue and they are willing to transfer my reservation to a 2 bedroom suite at the GC instead of the Villas, but no kitchen, no washer/dryer, etc. I see no benefit to switch. I have the option not to switch, but there is no guarantee that there will be a villa opening when we arrive in which case they would transfer us to a suite anyway. What would you do? Switch to a suite or stay put with the villa reservation and see what happens?

I would wait to see what happens if you really want the 2 bd villa. But if they have to move you, maybe they can give you some pixie dust for the hassle of not having a kitchen and washer/dryer.

 

[niroc]

I would wait to see what happens if you really want the 2 bd villa. But if they have to move you, maybe they can give you some pixie dust for the hassle of not having a kitchen and washer/dryer.

I asked that question. No pixie dust, they are "allowing" us to use the hotel's laundry room for free. That is not a deal-breaker but the washer and dryer is a nice perk especially since there isn't mousekeeping every day. I am assuming if we stay on the hotel side then mousekeeping would be a daily service, but I did forget to ask that. I have stayed at the GC several times before and I love it, I never stayed in the villas though. I am an East Coast person so I stayed at most of the resorts and I love the villas. Not sure what to do, a tough call.

 

[niroc]

So, my 1-night booked during the glitch was overbooked and they offered to move me to the hotel. I just cancelled that night as I didn't really need it and my 5-night is still good. However, if I was in your position, I would probably take the 2-bedroom suite. I would hate to chance going and not having a nice room.

Edited to add: Basically, you will be waitlisted and if an opening doesn’t happen you will be moved to the hotel - maybe a 2-bedroom suite, maybe not.

According to member services if I am waitlisted and it doesn't come through I would automatically get a suite.

 

[SeaDis]

Just received a call from Member Services regarding my VGC booking in October. The message said something about overbooking. I had booked 5 nights a while ago. I booked a separate 1-night reservation during the "blip". On the phone with them now to find out what's going on.

Thanks for the update. So it's confirmed about the glitch. My goodness, I can't imagine the workload they have with everything else going on. Self-inflicted...ouch

 

[NHLFAN]

We had a studio booked at VGC and they called tonight and offered us a standard room at GC instead. We end up just having them cancel the reservation as they were unable to upgrade us or change to another week that we had wanted. Not feeling that great about Disney tonight ....

 

[Drewmama]

We had a studio booked at VGC and they called tonight and offered us a standard room at GC instead. We end up just having them cancel the reservation as they were unable to upgrade us or change to another week that we had wanted. Not feeling that great about Disney tonight ....

When was your stay booked for and when did you make it? I'm getting worried about my reservation.

 

[Evita_W]

I was able to book a 2 BR villa at the end of July when all the reservations were "open" for that brief time. I got a call from member services tonight saying that there is an overbooking issue and they are willing to transfer my reservation to a 2 bedroom suite at the GC instead of the Villas, but no kitchen, no washer/dryer, etc. I see no benefit to switch. I have the option not to switch, but there is no guarantee that there will be a villa opening when we arrive in which case they would transfer us to a suite anyway. What would you do? Switch to a suite or stay put with the villa reservation and see what happens?

I would ask them for a room credit or something to compensate for the lack of kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. As the lack of these items will cause you to spend extra money and you are doing them a favor to voluntarily switch and not wait.

I would also ask that they provide free tokens for the laundry room.

 

[RoseGold]

The bookings were over a week ago! Why weren't they calling earlier?

This is going to be a fun call...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The bookings were over a week ago! Why weren't they calling earlier?

This is going to be a fun call...

They probably had to first decide what they were going to do - cancel or provide other options and then negotiate with the the Disneyland hotels for rooms and with the rooms involving what sounds like several months that probably took a bit of time.

 

[JETSDAD]

I'm on hold right now returning their call....we'll see how this goes. To be honest, I'll be happy if they just throw a gift card at me to cancel. I assumed there was a glitch when I made the reservation.

 

[RoseGold]

I won’t be happy with a gift card. I put 350 points into this and canceled beach club. Well, I guess it depends on the gift card.

 

[JETSDAD]

I won’t be happy with a gift card. I put 350 points into this and canceled beach club. Well, I guess it depends on the gift card.

I figured it was a glitch and have a bunch of extra points that I'll probably have to rent next UY so grabbed a few nights. Only options are switching to hotel or cancelling so I'll likely end up just cancelling. Taking a few days to decide.

 

[JETSDAD]

Someone posted on FB that if you take the hotel booking then they're converting the points to reservation points. That's all well and good unless you have to cancel.

 

[starry_solo]

I was able to book a 2 BR villa at the end of July when all the reservations were "open" for that brief time. I got a call from member services tonight saying that there is an overbooking issue and they are willing to transfer my reservation to a 2 bedroom suite at the GC instead of the Villas, but no kitchen, no washer/dryer, etc. I see no benefit to switch. I have the option not to switch, but there is no guarantee that there will be a villa opening when we arrive in which case they would transfer us to a suite anyway. What would you do? Switch to a suite or stay put with the villa reservation and see what happens?

since there were no actual VGC rooms available, wait to show up and see what happens.

 

[JETSDAD]

So they're just cancelling the rooms now whether you make a decision or not. Then they've got a list of people who have stays that can be booked on the hotel side as replacements. Those are booked as reservation points. I'm waiting to hear how long I have to make that decision.

ETA, I was told they are just cancelling the reservations and automatically converting to reservation points to book on the hotel side unless you cancel altogether.

 

[Evita_W]

So they're just cancelling the rooms now whether you make a decision or not. Then they've got a list of people who have stays that can be booked on the hotel side as replacements. Those are booked as reservation points. I'm waiting to hear how long I have to make that decision.

ETA, I was told they are just cancelling the reservations and automatically converting to reservation points to book on the hotel side unless you cancel altogether.

Umm, no, they don't get to just automatically convert to reservation points and I would be livid if they did since it is thier mess up.

 

[starry_solo]

So they're just cancelling the rooms now whether you make a decision or not. Then they've got a list of people who have stays that can be booked on the hotel side as replacements. Those are booked as reservation points. I'm waiting to hear how long I have to make that decision.

ETA, I was told they are just cancelling the reservations and automatically converting to reservation points to book on the hotel side unless you cancel altogether.

i can’t see them doing that. They are probably canceling reservations at this point without doing anything other than an email saying your reservation was booked when there was no availability...

 

[JETSDAD]

Umm, no, they don't get to just automatically convert to reservation points and I would be livid if they did since it is thier mess up.

That's what I was told. They aren't telling most people that if they accept the hotel room then it's actually being made on reservation points. The CM that I asked said they weren't being booked as reservation points until I said that I had read otherwise....after speaking with a supervisor she came back and said that they would in fact become reservation points.

My reservation was cancelled and I asked how long I had to decide whether or not I'd like to accept the hotel room...she said that within the next couple of days they are automatically being converted to hotel reservations on reservation points if we don't agree to cancel by then. If we then cancel after being converted to hotel rooms they are returned as reservation points.

 

[JETSDAD]

i can’t see them doing that. They are probably canceling reservations at this point without doing anything other than an email saying your reservation was booked when there was no availability...

They're calling everyone and giving the option to cancel or take a hotel room. I've seen post where people were told they had to decide right then...I said I'd call back and was told that was fine but then they cancelled the studio I had booked. When I called back the CM was trying to find my dates on a list that they have for rooms needing to be booked on the hotel side (my reservation was on that list).