Villa Concierge Cost at Grand Californian

[boiseflyfisher]

I am a DVC owner at GCV and I would never ever assume I had concierge lounge access. I'm not sure why that DVC owner would have thought that, especially at PPH. On a side note, we love the PPH concierge lounge and staff. I miss the old days of the AP $169 concierge discount at PPH.

 

[bbeagle]

I am a DVC owner at GCV and I would never ever assume I had concierge lounge access. I'm not sure why that DVC owner would have thought that, especially at PPH.

Coming from someone who isn't part of DVC, I guess I've always thought that DVC members are 'elite' Disney members who get all the special perks. And the concierge would seem be a given to me.

Looking from difference view points, I see different things.

 

[Sully14]

I am a DVC owner at GCV and I would never ever assume I had concierge lounge access. I'm not sure why that DVC owner would have thought that, especially at PPH. On a side note, we love the PPH concierge lounge and staff. I miss the old days of the AP $169 concierge discount at PPH.

Last year we were taking a break around 1pm in the PPH concierge lounge and there were two women, sisters about 60 years old, demanding that their room must be ready since they just moved over from GCH. One of the women was using language very un-Dsiney like, and the other one was blubbering (tears too) away on the couch....we presumed she had some mental issues by the way she was crying. The argumentative one was bellowing about how much money she spends at Disney, blah blah blah. Unreal. When management was summoned, those of us in PPH concierge all supported the staff's side.

As for DVC members, I think some of the sales reps can give out bogus info at times. Also the great majority of DVC owners are at WDW, which is a whole different set up. We have only stayed 3 times at GCH villas, and now we prefer GCH rooms since we always do 14-15 hr days. On New Years Eve I think we did an 18 hr day

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Coming from someone who isn't part of DVC, I guess I've always thought that DVC members are 'elite' Disney members who get all the special perks. And the concierge would seem be a given to me.

Looking from difference view points, I see different things.

LOL, we are probably Disney suckers, not elite members. Owning DVC doesn't get me any big breaks at DL. DVC members get a small discount on annual passes and a discount at some restaurants. Occasionally there is a special DVC event. They already have our money, they don't need to cater to us any more. There are 50 villas at The Grand and they are totally booked over 95% of the time. There is no way the lounges could support all of those guests.

At the end of the day, DVC is just a timeshare from the Disney brand. Owning gives me pretty nice accommodations for the length of my membership. I consider it a prepaid vacation(we still pay annual maintenance fees on top of our initial purchase) and it gives us some flexibility. Luckily there is a great rental market for GCV DVC, so if I don't want to go, I can rent my points very easily. We are also sitting in an unusual situation right now where we could sell our membership for the same price, if not more, than what we paid for it since the price has gone up to buy direct and resale prices have risen above our original direct buy in. That's pretty odd in the timeshare world and it could change at any minute.

If DVC members are acting elite, they don't have any right to. For our family, we actually take advantage of having a full kitchen and we make most of our meals in our room, so just looking at a week long trip, we probably spend less money in the park than the average family. My kids are older, so it isn't a big deal to make the short walk back to the villa. That is just speaking for my family, I know that other owners use their villa times in different ways. I will say that it has changed our park habits. We do get up and take advantage of the early entry, but we are no longer park commandos. We assume that there will always be a next time.

 

[hjgaus]

LOL, we are probably Disney suckers, not elite members. Owning DVC doesn't get me any big breaks at DL. DVC members get a small discount on annual passes and a discount at some restaurants. Occasionally there is a special DVC event. They already have our money, they don't need to cater to us any more. There are 50 villas at The Grand and they are totally booked over 95% of the time. There is no way the lounges could support all of those guests.

At the end of the day, DVC is just a timeshare from the Disney brand. Owning gives me pretty nice accommodations for the length of my membership. I consider it a prepaid vacation(we still pay annual maintenance fees on top of our initial purchase) and it gives us some flexibility. Luckily there is a great rental market for GCV DVC, so if I don't want to go, I can rent my points very easily. We are also sitting in an unusual situation right now where we could sell our membership for the same price, if not more, than what we paid for it since the price has gone up to buy direct and resale prices have risen above our original direct buy in. That's pretty odd in the timeshare world and it could change at any minute.

If DVC members are acting elite, they don't have any right to. For our family, we actually take advantage of having a full kitchen and we make most of our meals in our room, so just looking at a week long trip, we probably spend less money in the park than the average family. My kids are older, so it isn't a big deal to make the short walk back to the villa. That is just speaking for my family, I know that other owners use their villa times in different ways. I will say that it has changed our park habits. We do get up and take advantage of the early entry, but we are no longer park commandos. We assume that there will always be a next time.

Speaking as a DVC member I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH THIS ENTIRE POST!!!
Although I do have to ask the original poster - " If you are attempting to rent the 2 bedroom villa WITH A full KITCHEN, WHAT is the need for CONCIERGE? I understand if you would be staying at the hotel side BUT you could always order from VONS delivery for drinks of all kinds (alcohol included) and easy snacks to STORE in the FULL fridge PLUS heat up in the MICRO! Also go OUT to eat if actual cooking is not your thing! THIS is the 3rd most important reason to stay @ the VGC while 2nd is SPACE and 1st is LOCATION to the park!!! LOVE MY DVC!!!!

 

[bbeagle]

Although I do have to ask the original poster - " If you are attempting to rent the 2 bedroom villa WITH A full KITCHEN, WHAT is the need for CONCIERGE?

Cost.

I was just thinking that if the concierge costs an extra $200, and you had 7 guests, the cost per person would be less than $30, which seems at least break-even for the breakfast food, snacks/water to bring to the parks, drinks at night, and view of World of Color.

I agree that buying groceries and cooking them in the kitchen is more cost effective, we are just looking at what options are available.

 

[boiseflyfisher]

You can't see WOC from the lounge. Guests can view it from the balcony in the DVC wing, but you won't be able to see the projections and the view isn't great. HTH.

 

[hjgaus]

Cost.

I was just thinking that if the concierge costs an extra $200, and you had 7 guests, the cost per person would be less than $30, which seems at least break-even for the breakfast food, snacks/water to bring to the parks, drinks at night, and view of World of Color.

I agree that buying groceries and cooking them in the kitchen is more cost effective, we are just looking at what options are available.

I can kinda see your thoughts into this other option BUT if you do rent the villa using the kitchen IS STILL the BEST way to go even if you are just needing snacks & drinks!! We only have stayed 2 - 4 days at a time @ VGC and we ALWAYS bring a COOLER full of stuff to save $$$ in the parks! I think you say you have little ones so snacks might be low keyed and easier to manage. I have 2 huge teenagers who are sometimes endless eaters so buying & storing LOTS of SNACK stuff is the way we go!! The one time we PAID to stay @ PPH concierge with AP discount they ate just as much!! We also like that we could bring a CASE of favorite wine or beer from Costco and not rely on what THEIR choices were PLUS drink it on OUR TIME not when they were open for business. I have not heard of seeing the WOC while staying in the lounge but the viewing tower is okay if you do not get a parkview room. The view MAYBE better from your villa! Also if you do get a park/woods view room & CANNOT SEE WOC, you CAN see the DLR Fireworks show from your balcony while turning your heads to the LEFT!! Good luck in getting a reservation for Feb. 2014!!!

 

[Nonsuch]

...We are also sitting in an unusual situation right now where we could sell our membership for the same price, if not more, than what we paid for it since the price has gone up to buy direct and resale prices have risen above our original direct buy in...

I also agree with your complete post. Demand for VGC point is high enough I could make enough profit selling to almost cover maintenance fees, meaning all my visits to VGC would have been "free"
Of course, I'm not selling. The hotel prices are so high, I should buy more points

 

[bbeagle]

I also agree with your complete post. Demand for VGC point is high enough I could make enough profit selling to almost cover maintenance fees, meaning all my visits to VGC would have been "free"
Of course, I'm not selling. The hotel prices are so high, I should buy more points

Yes, we are now in the queue at Dave's waiting for VGC reservations until the 7 month mark.

Have to agree with you - not enough points from VGC owners. VGC points could be priced higher and sell quickly, especially at peak times. I'm sure there is no way I'd get a peak time DVC reservation at VGC.

 

[bbeagle]

Good luck in getting a reservation for Feb. 2014!!!

Thank you!

We managed to get our reservations for a 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark!

We got all but 1 day - we'll spend the day we couldn't get at the Disneyland Hotel. So, on the bright side, it sort of works out - we'll get to try both hotels now.

Has anyone else switched Disney on-site hotels mid-way through a trip? Do you need to go back at 11am to check out, haul your stuff over to the other hotel, and check into the new hotel, or is there some way Disney can help with this? Thanks! Really excited about our trip!

 

[ToodlesRN]

Thank you!

We managed to get our reservations for a 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark!

We got all but 1 day - we'll spend the day we couldn't get at the Disneyland Hotel. So, on the bright side, it sort of works out - we'll get to try both hotels now.

Has anyone else switched Disney on-site hotels mid-way through a trip? Do you need to go back at 11am to check out, haul your stuff over to the other hotel, and check into the new hotel, or is there some way Disney can help with this? Thanks! Really excited about our trip!

We moved from the villas to the DLH on our last night, we pack up our luggage and it was taken over for us, but hard to say if it had to do with our room malfunction and being courteous or they do that with guest staying between the 3 resorts.

 

[Nonsuch]

We managed to get our reservations for a 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark!

Congratulations
Try to make a view request This can be a little difficult, since the DVC owner needs to contact member services. More details about making a view request can be found in the VGC Superthread

...Has anyone else switched Disney on-site hotels mid-way through a trip? Do you need to go back at 11am to check out, haul your stuff over to the other hotel, and check into the new hotel, or is there some way Disney can help with this?

There have been mixed reports about bell services transferring bags between hotels. You will need to checkout at 11AM and put you bags in storage at the Grand. Once you have your room at DLH, you could call bell services at the Grand to have them bring them to you.

Check in to the DLH early in the morning, before visiting the parks or checking out of your villa. If your room becomes available early, you can avoid storing your bags.

 

[nunzia]

LOL, we are probably Disney suckers, not elite members. Owning DVC doesn't get me any big breaks at DL. DVC members get a small discount on annual passes and a discount at some restaurants. Occasionally there is a special DVC event. They already have our money, they don't need to cater to us any more. There are 50 villas at The Grand and they are totally booked over 95% of the time. There is no way the lounges could support all of those guests.

At the end of the day, DVC is just a timeshare from the Disney brand. Owning gives me pretty nice accommodations for the length of my membership. I consider it a prepaid vacation(we still pay annual maintenance fees on top of our initial purchase) and it gives us some flexibility. Luckily there is a great rental market for GCV DVC, so if I don't want to go, I can rent my points very easily. We are also sitting in an unusual situation right now where we could sell our membership for the same price, if not more, than what we paid for it since the price has gone up to buy direct and resale prices have risen above our original direct buy in. That's pretty odd in the timeshare world and it could change at any minute.

If DVC members are acting elite, they don't have any right to. For our family, we actually take advantage of having a full kitchen and we make most of our meals in our room, so just looking at a week long trip, we probably spend less money in the park than the average family. My kids are older, so it isn't a big deal to make the short walk back to the villa. That is just speaking for my family, I know that other owners use their villa times in different ways. I will say that it has changed our park habits. We do get up and take advantage of the early entry, but we are no longer park commandos. We assume that there will always be a next time.

I agree...we are not elite..we just bought a timeshare, folks! I would never think we were 'entitled' to concierge or anything else. We DID use points to stay in concierge one time..we had just purchased VGC points and they were classified as Developer Points since the Villas were not yet open, so we could use them for the hotel rooms including Concierge rooms (there was a time after the vills opened that you couldn't use points to stay in the hotel rooms). It was great! But I really don't think it would be that fun staying in the villas to schlep all the way over to the lounge. Seems kinda like a hassle to me, and I'd just as soon pour my own wine and go up to the WOC viewing area for a nice time. OP can still stay Concierge..just use cash only or rent out your points and use the cash for that. And if you have points to burn, you can still use points to stay in the hotel club level, so if it means that much to you it can be done.

 

[hjgaus]

Thank you!

We managed to get our reservations for a 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark!

We got all but 1 day - we'll spend the day we couldn't get at the Disneyland Hotel. So, on the bright side, it sort of works out - we'll get to try both hotels now.

Has anyone else switched Disney on-site hotels mid-way through a trip? Do you need to go back at 11am to check out, haul your stuff over to the other hotel, and check into the new hotel, or is there some way Disney can help with this? Thanks! Really excited about our trip!

Hi bbeagle!! That's awesome about getting your reservation for Feb. 2015!!! Definitely take advantage of onsite guest EARLY ENTRY MORNINGS as well as the NICE KITCHEN & WASHER/DRYER plus just have a GREAT stay!! As they should say to you @ VGC for even being a temporary DVC member, "Welcome home!!"

 

[bbeagle]

Hi bbeagle!! That's awesome about getting your reservation for Feb. 2015!!! Definitely take advantage of onsite guest EARLY ENTRY MORNINGS as well as the NICE KITCHEN & WASHER/DRYER plus just have a GREAT stay!! As they should say to you @ VGC for even being a temporary DVC member, "Welcome home!!"

Feb. 2014. yep! It'll be our first introduction to DVC, and if we like it, we'll think of becoming a full DVC member.

 

[hjgaus]

Oops about the year BUT still have a GREAT time anyway!! Even if you decide not to be a permanent DVC member you NOW know you can still get some of the benefits as a renter!!

ENJOY!!!!

 

[taaren]

Thank you!

We managed to get our reservations for a 2 bedroom at the 7 month mark!

We got all but 1 day - we'll spend the day we couldn't get at the Disneyland Hotel. So, on the bright side, it sort of works out - we'll get to try both hotels now.

Has anyone else switched Disney on-site hotels mid-way through a trip? Do you need to go back at 11am to check out, haul your stuff over to the other hotel, and check into the new hotel, or is there some way Disney can help with this? Thanks! Really excited about our trip!

Congrats on getting a 2 bedroom!

We've switched to the DLH before and after our VGC stays, and they have always been very gracious about transferring our luggage for us. We don't usually just call for bell services whenever we're ready to go to the park, tell them we're going to the next hotel, and they say it'll be at the other hotel by 4p.
The only bad part is that if you're going from villa --> hotel, sometimes your room will be ready before your stuff gets there, in which case it might not be a bad idea to keep a day bag with a few items (eg. for us, pool stuff). I've found in recent years the villas are rarely ready before the afternoon, but checked in before noon at the DLH and been given our room right away.