Girlstar30
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2025
- Messages
- 4,430
We had one night booked at vgc for October. I felt very fortunate to get it because for some reason October was the hardest month for me to book here. I remember when Disneyland used to be empty in October so it is an adjustment every time realizing it will never be like that again 
We skipped Oogie Boogie Bash this year. I am just not impressed with the parade and I feel that MNSSHP is far superior with the parade and Hocus Pocus show. At first, I thought I liked the way the treat trails are setup better at DCA with the characters as part of the line, but then I quickly changed my mind. These treat trails at WDW are so easy to zip thru without characters. The kids had a blast going thru the trails in one minute at MNSSHP in September and getting candy. I liked that we could then choose what characters we want to see after and focus on candy when we wanted that.
Anyways, VGC was kind of dead in the morning and super busy at night. This could also have been due to the crazy weather we encountered. (Lots of rain and storm coming) When I woke up the morning of our trip. I was thrilled to see a night open the next day! I quickly found out why (probably due to the weather) but i was still elated! I needed to buy OTUP to extend so that was very nerve wracking, but by some miracle I pulled it off without anyone taking it! One night now turned into two
I was excited to attend Clarabelle's Enchanted Halloween dinner and decided we would finally see WOC from the hotel's viewing area since getting a tpv for me has been impossible after four previous stays at this hotel
The cast member at the front desk was super nice. I spent way too long chatting with her. She was a huge Disney fan and owned at AKV herself. She finally hooked us up with a Paradise pier view! It was on a lower floor tho so it was majorly obstructed by trees, but I could partially see the ferris wheel and had a pretty good view of the swings and that umbrella ride that goes up and down (dont know the name) ill take it!
As far as staying in the hotel, this was my least favorite vgc trip. Previously, almost everything had gone without a hitch. One of the first things we noticed was that the dresser under the TV was extremely sticky as if something had been spilled and not cleaned properly. It was a cold and rainy trip and the heater in the room wasnt working. I didnt want maintenance to come and possibly have to leave the room, so I ordered a mini heater from UberEats and let it be. After staying at Riv and PIT, I could now understand the anger about the showers. I understand those hotels are way newer than vgc, but a detachable faucet would have been a nice update. Its just very outdated.
We were starving and wanted to relax with our super cool view on the balcony. I thought it would be nice to have lunch on our balcony. Room service closed for lunch, I didnt know that. Bummer. They recommended we mobile orders from the Craftsman grill and pick it up. I attempted to do this, but they weren't accepting mobile orders. Grrr. It wasnt even crowded, what gives. We went downstairs and ordered and brought our food back up and enjoyed our food on the balcony. We def wouldnt be able to see WOC from here and we were blocked out of the parks, so the terrace viewing was a definite yes. We even invited our friends to join. All of us were super excited, especially after the terrace viewing of the fireworks at PIT and Riv being our first terrace view firework experiences, it was absolutely lovely.
This was another major disappointment. You couldnt even see the show from the terrace. Like literally none of the projections. Calling it a viewing terrace was a far, far stretch. We tried from many different places on the terrace, but it just wasnt possible and we gave up and left. I was a little embarassed we had been raving to our friends about the DVC viewing terraces, but no worries. Still a very gorgeous hotel!
The kids with us (and us!) enjoyed trick or treating around the hotel and decided to go to the Pixar Hotel for the first time. We thought they could be a little bit more generous with the candy, but still a fun touch. We loved Pixar Pier hotel! We wished it was DVC (although id probably be blocked out if it was) and were impressed with the Crush pool and had so much fun with the Pixar Putt golfing, although it was very expensive for what it was! It is Disney after all. A little secret that may be unknown, but our vgc room key worked to access the Pixar Pier POOL. We def plan to hit it up in the summer 
We went to Acorns to see the DVC merch the next day and again ran into an issue. The cast member did not want to give me my ap discount because I hadn't activated my pass yet. I was super annoyed that she could see my pass with my name on it and the ridiculousness of it. I asked to speak to a manager and she miraculously gave it to me. I loved the DVC luggage tag I purchased and the ornament was the first DVC ornament Ive seen that I liked!
The cast members at the DVC center in the hotel did not know what days the member update was. The activities guide given at the hotel front desk showed Wednesday as one of the days and this turned out to be false. They were calling their managers, but no one knew so we didn't know until we arrived at the Golden Vine when we went to DCA and asked. It is not on Wednesdays so this was a bummer as we were looking forward to some new Tink or Stitch swag, but they gave us some pins as consolation and we were very happy to get something new!
The positive of this stay is that we really enjoyed Clarabelles Enchanted Halloween Dinner! The character outfits were so cute (Especially Daisy!) And they were so interactive! Huge Clarabelle fans, so glad she had her own dinner. The whole table thought the food was good and there was a lot of variety.
Ofc I will be staying at this hotel again, but not every trip is going to be a total win. We decided to cancel our Xmas 1 bedroom reservation as we felt we needed a little break from vgc and the points could be used towards a one bedroom at WDW for our Spring Trip! Happy for whoever picked it up! VDH will be the next hotel we stay at in January and I couldnt be more excited! Since it has the same layout as PIT, we are sure to love it!
We skipped Oogie Boogie Bash this year. I am just not impressed with the parade and I feel that MNSSHP is far superior with the parade and Hocus Pocus show. At first, I thought I liked the way the treat trails are setup better at DCA with the characters as part of the line, but then I quickly changed my mind. These treat trails at WDW are so easy to zip thru without characters. The kids had a blast going thru the trails in one minute at MNSSHP in September and getting candy. I liked that we could then choose what characters we want to see after and focus on candy when we wanted that.
Anyways, VGC was kind of dead in the morning and super busy at night. This could also have been due to the crazy weather we encountered. (Lots of rain and storm coming) When I woke up the morning of our trip. I was thrilled to see a night open the next day! I quickly found out why (probably due to the weather) but i was still elated! I needed to buy OTUP to extend so that was very nerve wracking, but by some miracle I pulled it off without anyone taking it! One night now turned into two
I was excited to attend Clarabelle's Enchanted Halloween dinner and decided we would finally see WOC from the hotel's viewing area since getting a tpv for me has been impossible after four previous stays at this hotelThe cast member at the front desk was super nice. I spent way too long chatting with her. She was a huge Disney fan and owned at AKV herself. She finally hooked us up with a Paradise pier view! It was on a lower floor tho so it was majorly obstructed by trees, but I could partially see the ferris wheel and had a pretty good view of the swings and that umbrella ride that goes up and down (dont know the name
) ill take it!As far as staying in the hotel, this was my least favorite vgc trip. Previously, almost everything had gone without a hitch. One of the first things we noticed was that the dresser under the TV was extremely sticky as if something had been spilled and not cleaned properly. It was a cold and rainy trip and the heater in the room wasnt working. I didnt want maintenance to come and possibly have to leave the room, so I ordered a mini heater from UberEats and let it be. After staying at Riv and PIT, I could now understand the anger about the showers. I understand those hotels are way newer than vgc, but a detachable faucet would have been a nice update. Its just very outdated.
We were starving and wanted to relax with our super cool view on the balcony. I thought it would be nice to have lunch on our balcony. Room service closed for lunch, I didnt know that. Bummer. They recommended we mobile orders from the Craftsman grill and pick it up. I attempted to do this, but they weren't accepting mobile orders. Grrr. It wasnt even crowded, what gives. We went downstairs and ordered and brought our food back up and enjoyed our food on the balcony. We def wouldnt be able to see WOC from here and we were blocked out of the parks, so the terrace viewing was a definite yes. We even invited our friends to join. All of us were super excited, especially after the terrace viewing of the fireworks at PIT and Riv being our first terrace view firework experiences, it was absolutely lovely.
This was another major disappointment. You couldnt even see the show from the terrace. Like literally none of the projections. Calling it a viewing terrace was a far, far stretch. We tried from many different places on the terrace, but it just wasnt possible and we gave up and left. I was a little embarassed we had been raving to our friends about the DVC viewing terraces, but no worries. Still a very gorgeous hotel!
The kids with us (and us!) enjoyed trick or treating around the hotel and decided to go to the Pixar Hotel for the first time. We thought they could be a little bit more generous with the candy, but still a fun touch. We loved Pixar Pier hotel! We wished it was DVC (although id probably be blocked out if it was
) and were impressed with the Crush pool and had so much fun with the Pixar Putt golfing, although it was very expensive for what it was! It is Disney after all. A little secret that may be unknown, but our vgc room key worked to access the Pixar Pier POOL. We def plan to hit it up in the summer We went to Acorns to see the DVC merch the next day and again ran into an issue. The cast member did not want to give me my ap discount because I hadn't activated my pass yet. I was super annoyed that she could see my pass with my name on it and the ridiculousness of it. I asked to speak to a manager and she miraculously gave it to me. I loved the DVC luggage tag I purchased and the ornament was the first DVC ornament Ive seen that I liked!
The cast members at the DVC center in the hotel did not know what days the member update was. The activities guide given at the hotel front desk showed Wednesday as one of the days and this turned out to be false. They were calling their managers, but no one knew so we didn't know until we arrived at the Golden Vine when we went to DCA and asked. It is not on Wednesdays so this was a bummer as we were looking forward to some new Tink or Stitch swag, but they gave us some pins as consolation and we were very happy to get something new!
The positive of this stay is that we really enjoyed Clarabelles Enchanted Halloween Dinner! The character outfits were so cute (Especially Daisy!) And they were so interactive! Huge Clarabelle fans, so glad she had her own dinner. The whole table thought the food was good and there was a lot of variety.
Ofc I will be staying at this hotel again, but not every trip is going to be a total win. We decided to cancel our Xmas 1 bedroom reservation as we felt we needed a little break from vgc and the points could be used towards a one bedroom at WDW for our Spring Trip! Happy for whoever picked it up! VDH will be the next hotel we stay at in January and I couldnt be more excited! Since it has the same layout as PIT, we are sure to love it!
