The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 3.0

[AstroBlasters]

Personally I'd have no expectations that it isn't done other than perhaps an art piece or two. It would be quite unusual to piecemeal a refurb with bathroom refurb done later etc and I can't think of another refurb that was done in stages. A single piece of furniture or artwork or lamps is about the only thing I can recall being done to complete a refurb after rooms were reopened. If they were to change out some plumbing fixtures I guess that could happen but I would not expect tile work etc.
I'm OK with it all as long as they did do necessary repairs on cabinetry. Admittedly a bit disappointed about the kitchen floor which I never thought was a good fit with the rest of the decor. The bathroom tile was and still is a great choice. Concerns about mold and mildew can and should be about cleaning or if necessary replacing grout and caulk, not full rip and replace.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Right, but there also hasn’t been a fire that destroyed 12,000 homes close to other resorts that are getting a refurb.

There are also other things going on that might cause a reduction in the supply of construction labor and materials that hasn’t existed before.

So…. we shall see…

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Right, but there also hasn’t been a fire that destroyed 12,000 homes close to other resorts that are getting a refurb.

There are also other things going on that might cause a reduction in the supply of construction labor and materials that hasn’t existed before.

So…. we shall see…

I believe they would have delayed it entirely.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I believe they would have delayed it entirely.

Possibly not if they already had the appliances, Murphy beds, and carpets on order and ready to install….

There is a LOT of construction going on at Downtown Disney, DCA, etc…. so it’s not like they have a lot of extra storage for items….

 

[ajiuo]

Right, but there also hasn’t been a fire that destroyed 12,000 homes close to other resorts that are getting a refurb.

There are also other things going on that might cause a reduction in the supply of construction labor and materials that hasn’t existed before.

So…. we shall see…

The fire likely has nothing to do with this. Disney probably had its materials prior to the fires even starting. They also have contractors that pretty much work exclusively for them. There’s also generally a different set of contractors who work on residential and commercial… I also don’t think they’re anywhere close to construction projects in the situation of the fire. The grand Californian could potentially be completely done before they even start that…. But no, the fire probably doesn’t have anything to do with this.

The only reason that I can see that they might be doing the carpet and a few other things first… is that they are also replacing the carpet in the rest of the hotel so maybe they need to do it at the same time… I really hope that’s the reason and that there’s actually a lot more to this referb than what we’ve seen so far.

 

[AstroBlasters]

The fire likely has nothing to do with this. Disney probably had its materials prior to the fires even starting. They also have contractors that pretty much work exclusively for them. There’s also generally a different set of contractors who work on residential and commercial… I also don’t think they’re anywhere close to construction projects in the situation of the fire. The grand Californian could potentially be completely done before they even start that…. But no, the fire probably doesn’t have anything to do with this.

The only reason that I can see that they might be doing the carpet and a few other things first… is that they are also replacing the carpet in the rest of the hotel so maybe they need to do it at the same time… I really hope that’s the reason and that there’s actually a lot more to this referb than what we’ve seen so far.

I disagree with you.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I just know I'm going to hold out hope that they still update some of the things......

In general, I'm a pessimist/realist. But for this...I'm choosing to be an optimist.

 

[tx911]

I just know I'm going to hold out hope that they still update some of the things......

In general, I'm a pessimist/realist. But for this...I'm choosing to be an optimist.

A pessimist is an optimist with experience

 

[Orsino]

Another pic request if you have the time…

Curious if the artwork behind the little twin pop down under the tv was changed out?? Would you mind grabbing a pic of that?

I looked. There is no art in there.

 

[Orsino]

As a guest in the room, I don’t feel like the refurb is incomplete in anyway. The room looks nice and is clean. I don’t really need more than that. Ripping out the bathroom to make changes seems like a waste to me. I like the bathrooms as they are.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I looked. There is no art in there.

I think this would be another sign that there is more to come….

 

[AstroBlasters]

It’s worth noting that there has never been a DVC hard refurb in the Western United States.

 

[ClaraOswald]

It’s worth noting that there has never been a DVC hard refurb in the Western United States.

I was thinking this as well. I don't think we can compare this one to ones in Florida at all. Not to mention, there are so few rooms. They may just be doing things differently.

I think them doing the carpet at the same time as the hotel side makes sense.

As for the single murphy bed....does the current one have any artwork? We've only stayed in a studio so haven't seen the little murphy beds here. Our son loved the one in the BRV studio though.

 

[NVDISFamily]

There’s also generally a different set of contractors who work on residential and commercial…

As someone who the algorithm knows loves the trades/construction/tools (I'm team red - IYKYK) I'm seeing a lot of videos of GCs saying even under the threat of massive fines to break contracts many of their subs are just walking from jobs and are not able to do the work right now. This is all over including big projects in the commercial space. Not saying this is the reason why.... but it's something to consider.

 

[ClaraOswald]

As someone who the algorithm knows loves the trades/construction/tools (I'm team red - IYKYK) I'm seeing a lot of videos of GCs saying even under the threat of massive fines to break contracts many of their subs are just walking from jobs and are not able to do the work right now. This is all over including big projects in the commercial space. Not saying this is the reason why.... but it's something to consider.

Is this because of the current political climate or something else? Sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable about this type of stuff at all.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Is this because of the current political climate or something else? Sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable about this type of stuff at all.

Sorry, talking about politics is not allowed

Oh and my team red comment has nothing to do with politics (@Sandisw if you don't get the reference PM me.....)

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, I figured "team red" meant something to do with a tool brand or something.

I know we can't talk politics here. But I was just trying to figure out if that's what people are implying delays or issues could be about.

 

[LilyJC]

I looked. There is no art in there.

Thank you for checking!

 

[ajiuo]

As a guest in the room, I don’t feel like the refurb is incomplete in anyway. The room looks nice and is clean. I don’t really need more than that. Ripping out the bathroom to make changes seems like a waste to me. I like the bathrooms as they are.

It’s not just about ripping the bathroom out jfor the sake of change.

The primary reason for doing it is that the bathrooms are 16 years old… that is a lot of use for a hotel bathroom. The plumbing and fixtures need to be changed out periodically to maintain the integrity and quality of the property. The full referbs happen, roughly every 14 years… yes this one is past due. Waiting until the next full referb would not be acceptable. Sure the tile might look nice (they did a good job when they first put put those bathrooms together), but they need to see what’s behind those tiles. Water and moisture cause damage over time.

Besides that… yeah. While they did do some nice tile work there. The fixtures and certain other things are outdated and not up to current standards and expectations.

The jetted tubs are also very likely to start failing if they haven’t already.

With that said they can still preserve certain things.

I would suggest looking up some photos/videos of what the hotel rooms look like. They once looked very similar to the DVC rooms and got a full referbs 6-7 years ago…. it was a really nice referb and I think something similar would go a long way in the DVC rooms… even those room are now getting a light refresh though…

 

[ajiuo]

I disagree with you.

You think Disney is going to send its own construction company to work on rebuilding homes as opposed to working on their own projects? I highly doubt that. Even if they don’t have all the supplies they can source that stuff from all over the place. The VGC rooms won’t even use a lot of lumber concrete and drywall… they’re not doing a full gut job

A lot of the stuff that would generally be used such as countertops and art… is all custom. for a project of this scale, they would’ve started producing that stuff a while back ago. They don’t just go in there and buy stuff as they go… they have this stuff planed out ahead of time… and it’s not new construction.

 

[AZMermaid]

For those who are there- when I was there last the cabinets were pretty worn and scuffed at the bottoms. Are they still like that? That was the major wear points I saw.

I like the carpet and Murphy bed. It’s pretty disappointing that they kept that ugly kitchen tile.