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

[AstroBlasters]

Is it weird I also love buying cars? I have went with family to help with buying theirs

Adrenaline junky

 

[VGCgroupie]

Adrenaline junky

Accurate once again.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Stole this photo from FB. Please tell me I will get one of these room keys during my October stay.

 

[Dodgerburt8]

Just for comparison to Paul's video of the "refurbished" studio - here is a video of a Deluxe Studio at Grand Californian from 13 years ago. So this was even before the first soft goods refresh in 2017. Other than the new TV, carpet and murphy bed - you can hardly tell the difference between the two!

That is insane. The best part is her using a camcorder. Lol. But seriously, the Murphy bed and the flooring are the only meaningful updates since 2012! The rest of the room is as outdated as that camcorder. What are those dues paying for? Owners should be demanding a full accounting, possibly a lawsuit is in order. Disney has mismanaged those funds if not outright stolen them.

 

[VGCgroupie]

That is insane. The best part is her using a camcorder. Lol. But seriously, the Murphy bed and the flooring are the only meaningful updates since 2012! The rest of the room is as outdated as that camcorder. What are those dues paying for? Owners should be demanding a full accounting, possibly a lawsuit is in order. Disney has mismanaged those funds if not outright stolen them.

If you are an owner please contact william.c.diercksen@disney.com and let them know your feelings. It seems emails sent to the general DVC email are going ignored.

 

[Liquidice]

I believe it was discussed earlier that the external refurb that the DVC wing did along with the hotel side likely ate up a significant portion of the budget.

That doesn't make sense to me DVC should have only needed to pay a fraction of that as there are 48 DVC Units and 203 Hotel Units. According to the budget, DVC should pay 30% of the costs of any common area refurb.

According to the 2024 budget ( https://cdn2.parksmedia.wdprapps.di.../condo-association/180918-WDW-Mtg-Bk_GCAL.pdf ), the estimated remaining life of the roof is 9 years and external building painting had 3-8 years before it was needed.

Common Element Renovation which includes interior and exterior Common Elements of the Hotel Condominium does say there are 1-22 useful years left. So if we take a really pessimistic approach and say that everything under the umbrella of Common Elements Renovation needed to be replaced - the estimate to fully replace everything in all 48 Vacation Homes would be $3.8M.

I highly doubt everything needed to be replaced (hence the 1-22 years of useful life left) - but ... it means out of the $12,469,414 available in Capital Reserves, there was still $8,642,952 avalable for the refurb or $180,061.50 per unit which is less than the available Capital Reserves for BLT of $190,154.58 per unit (but does not subtract any money spent on a BLT Common Element Renovation - which certainly some money was spent on this) and only about $10,000 off - and you can't tell me the BLT refurb feels $10,000 per unit more than what is essentially nothing done to VGC.

All I'm saying is that VGC owners should be paying close attention to this. When the 2026 Annual Dues for VGC comes out, it will be really important to understand how much money was spent out of Capital Reserves. Of the $12.4M we should have in there now - I would expect a small portion was spent on this refurb. If we find that a large portion of the Capital Reserves are gone - we need to understand how our money was spent. If Disney somehow mismanaged the funds and spent the Capital Reserves on things that should have been paid for by the hotel side, then legal action needs to be taken.

If you're a DVC owner and OK with this - then expect even more disappointing refurbs to happen.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I feel like we had this discussion back in the spring….

 

[VGCgroupie]

I feel like we had this discussion back in the spring….

We did. I assume the new you tube video is making more people realize that the refurb is actually complete and this is what we got. I appreciate it being brought up again so if people are disappointed they can let DVC know. Things wont change if people are complacent.

 

[tx911]

Stole this photo from FB. Please tell me I will get one of these room keys during my October stay.

View attachment 987163

If you don’t, I have an extra for you

 

[VGCgroupie]

If you don’t, I have an extra for you

awww shucks.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We did. I assume the new you tube video is making more people realize that the refurb is actually complete and this is what we got. I appreciate it being brought up again so if people are disappointed they can let DVC know. Things wont change if people are complacent.

I told my guide that I wasn’t interested in new points there because I had strong concerns about the refurb…. of course I also got a post card from DVC saying she is no longer in the position and that I have been assigned to a “Team of Guides”….

 

[VGCgroupie]

I told my guide that I wasn’t interested in new points there because I had strong concerns about the refurb…. of course I also got a post card from DVC saying she is no longer in the position and that I have been assigned to a “Team of Guides”….

Not cool. I wouldn't want a team of guides.

 

[Liquidice]

We did. I assume the new you tube video is making more people realize that the refurb is actually complete and this is what we got. I appreciate it being brought up again so if people are disappointed they can let DVC know. Things wont change if people are complacent.

For me it just so happens I stayed there last week for the 70th - I had heard the refurb was meh but seeing it for myself and then comparing it to old videos had me curious about why it was such a simple refurb.

I also seem to recall there was speculation that the refurb was not actually complete back when we first saw the rooms and there was speculation that they just installed the flooring and murphy beds first and then would be coming back to do the rest of the room so they did not have to take rooms offline for a long time.

Money alone or lack of budget does not seem to be the reason by itself. It worries me that Disney may have mishandled the money and mixed the funds together with the hotel refurb and most of the money went incorrectly to the hotel side or common areas and they didn't leave enough money for the Villas.

If you all already discussed it in the spring and have accepted that it is what it is ... then I'll shut up about it. I just am hoping there are more people that will ask about what happened during the annual meeting later this year.

In the past, DISBoards was the place that championed point distribution issues when the new seasons were released a few years ago and caused DVC to go back and fix the seasons, so I figured this was the best place to find out if anything were already being done to address this (sounds like there is not).

 

[Liquidice]

Stole this photo from FB. Please tell me I will get one of these room keys during my October stay.

View attachment 987163

I don't know if this is true or not but when I checked in last week on the 16th, the CM checking me in told me to come back and get a keycard when my room was ready because it was themed for the 70th (looks just like the one in your picture) and that after the actual 70th on the 17th that they would no longer be giving them out. I did think that was highly suspect since the 70th celebration continues into 2026.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Not cool. I wouldn't want a team of guides.

I really liked that she would email me with reminders of when to bank and would also send me a list of events at Aulani when she saw I was going there…. but as someone who is done with their buying cycle and aware of resale I can see why I would get moved to a “self-directed” profile….

 

[VGCgroupie]

I really liked that she would email me with reminders of when to bank and would also send me a list of events at Aulani when she saw I was going there…. but as someone who is done with their buying cycle and aware of resale I can see why I would get moved to a “self-directed” profile….

She sounds like she was a gem.

 

[Chili327]

Honestly this is a HUGE pain when you have 4+ magic bands to charge each night, as well as your phones (personal and sometimes work devices) watches, back up battery, etc.

I stay at VGC for location, location, location— but I am disappointed they didn’t add convenient outlets, the option of brighter lighting, or a nightstand on both sides of the bed.

You need to pack a splitting device!!
I’m sure there are plenty out there, but you could use one badly.

If you are an owner please contact william.c.diercksen@disney.com and let them know your feelings. It seems emails sent to the general DVC email are going ignored.

I will send him an email as well.

 

[Royal Consort]

If you all already discussed it in the spring and have accepted that it is what it is ... then I'll shut up about it. I just am hoping there are more people that will ask about what happened during the annual meeting later this year.

In the past, DISBoards was the place that championed point distribution issues when the new seasons were released a few years ago and caused DVC to go back and fix the seasons, so I figured this was the best place to find out if anything were already being done to address this (sounds like there is not).

I've tried to push this as far as I can. I've exchanged emails with DVC and had phone calls with DVC with the aim of speaking to someone higher up. I was met with dead ends and politely told (after being put on hold several times) that this was the end of the line for my enquiry. It was suggested that I attend the condo meeting and raise it if I wanted to, which I cant because I'm international. But I believe owners are owed an explanation and rationale. Disney have made it clear they dont want to be transparent about what happened here.

Disney also Informed me they consider this soft goods.

 

[AstroBlasters]

You need to pack a splitting device!!
I’m sure there are plenty out there, but you could use one badly.



I will send him an email as well.

This is what we purchased:

https://a.co/d/13iKEzi

 

[VGCgroupie]

I've tried to push this as far as I can. I've exchanged emails with DVC and had phone calls with DVC with the aim of speaking to someone higher up. I was met with dead ends and politely told (after being put on hold several times) that this was the end of the line for my enquiry. It was suggested that I attend the condo meeting and raise it if I wanted to, which I cant because I'm international. But I believe owners are owed an explanation and rationale. Disney have made it clear they dont want to be transparent about what happened here.

Disney also Informed me they consider this soft goods.

What email did you originally email?