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

[jerseygal]

Are parks more crowded generally when grad nights start in May into June?

Thinking of trying to book at 7 months Grand Californian Villas end of May, beginning of June after our youngest finishes his first year of college next year.
Concerned though that some have said that the parks generally seem more crowded during the month of May into June when the grad nights are????

Thanks for any insight!
Stayed at Grand California Resort back in August, 2009 and had a BLAST!
Loved it! Villas were opening up in Sept. or October of 2009 I believe..
They looked AWESOME!

 

[rentayenta]

The view for the 2 bedroom villa #3513 is of the poolside & is one of the BEST to see the DL fireworks show while sync to the music on TV! No need to leave the master bedroom just open sliding glass door and turn your desk chair around!! Surprising nice as it was let me just say this was the ONLY good thing about this HA room!! For some reason there were NO frying pans available to make our breakfast & as I made 3 phone calls to housekeeping thus taking them 30 minutes to realize there was NO drawer UNDERNEATH the oven to house the frying pans & eventually bringing them to ME!!! On a better note the BBQ outside was easy and a pleasure to use & wondering why not to many DVCer's take advantage of them?

We don't have an HA 2 bedroom but any other villa number suggestions for a pool/fireworks view? Thanks! I am generally so fixated on the PP/DCA view but this sounds wonderful.

 

[hjgaus]

We don't have an HA 2 bedroom but any other villa number suggestions for a pool/fireworks view? Thanks! I am generally so fixated on the PP/DCA view but this sounds wonderful.

2 bedroom #5505 or 1 bedroom #5507 ......

For a guide to villa views you can check on bigAWL's thread which is recently a few pages back from here.

I noticed there were not too many photo links for the pool view levels but this STILL is a GREAT guide to check for views.

Also checking along side Nonsuch's thread (always keeps a link) which helps just as well!!

Love EVERYBODY'S shared info for our VGC home!!!

Thank you all !!!

 

[XMom]

Are parks more crowded generally when grad nights start in May into June? Thinking of trying to book at 7 months Grand Californian Villas end of May, beginning of June after our youngest finishes his first year of college next year. Concerned though that some have said that the parks generally seem more crowded during the month of May into June when the grad nights are???? Thanks for any insight! Stayed at Grand California Resort back in August, 2009 and had a BLAST! Loved it! Villas were opening up in Sept. or October of 2009 I believe.. They looked AWESOME!

Yes, the parks are more crowded during these days as the grads get regular park hopper tickets that are good anytime during regular hours. Depending upon what time their busses arrive, they will be mixing with the regular paying crowds until their event starts around 10pm in Ca Adv. I don't think that there are Grad Nites on Sun-Tues so if you could go those days it might be better. Here is the schedule from this year: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/Events/grad-nights.html
Hope that helps you out!

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[jerseygal]

If we go, we will try to avoid the days for grad nights, I guess Sun-Tues would be fine....

Thanks for the info!:

 

[Longhairbear]

We just got our copy of Disney Files today. I have to say we are in shock at what's been done to the decor of the villas. They took out all the personality of the rooms.It looks like any generic hotel room now. It's such a shame in our opinion. Everything has been painted over in beige.

 

[rentayenta]

We just got our copy of Disney Files today. I have to say we are in shock at what's been done to the decor of the villas. They took out all the personality of the rooms.It looks like any generic hotel room now. It's such a shame in our opinion. Everything has been painted over in beige.

I don't see anything in a Disney Files on the GCH. What page?

 

[Sur]

VWL, perhaps? That's in the new Files mag.

 

[Longhairbear]

I don't see anything in a Disney Files on the GCH. What page?

OOps, wrong thread, I meant to post in WVL.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Hi, everyone! We are fortunate enough to be locals and annual passholders of DLR. Next month, We have our very FiRST on property stay and it's at VGC!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

I have been doing a lot of reading up, but have a couple questions that I hope you experienced people can help with. TIA!

1) We booked a pool cabana for a whole day. If you have the cabana staff obtain your food, is there a service charge? I was planning on tipping anyway for the food service.
On top of the dining service tip, is there an additional tip I should provide at the end of the day? Are we assigned one specific person or us it a group of staff?
2) we will attend the Monday DVC Royal Member Gathering at DLH at 8am. We have an almost 2 year old DS and 6 1/2 year old DD. Do you remember what kind of foods are served? We were hoping to use this as a breakfast opportunity.
3) what have your experiences with your children been attending the storytelling and the Quest hunt?
4) any other advice us welcome!!!

We are probably doing the parks little to none at all so we can take advantage of the hotel amenities. We may not stay at VGC for another two years.

 

[LisaT91403]

Hi, everyone! We are fortunate enough to be locals and annual passholders of DLR. Next month, We have our very FiRST on property stay and it's at VGC!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

I have been doing a lot of reading up, but have a couple questions that I hope you experienced people can help with. TIA!

1) We booked a pool cabana for a whole day. If you have the cabana staff obtain your food, is there a service charge? I was planning on tipping anyway for the food service.
On top of the dining service tip, is there an additional tip I should provide at the end of the day? Are we assigned one specific person or us it a group of staff?
2) we will attend the Monday DVC Royal Member Gathering at DLH at 8am. We have an almost 2 year old DS and 6 1/2 year old DD. Do you remember what kind of foods are served? We were hoping to use this as a breakfast opportunity.
3) what have your experiences with your children been attending the storytelling and the Quest hunt?
4) any other advice us welcome!!!

We are probably doing the parks little to none at all so we can take advantage of the hotel amenities. We may not stay at VGC for another two years.

We just did a full day cabana at the DLH, and there was no service charge for having the food delivered to the cabana. I'm sure it's the same way at the GCH pool.

We tipped the server who brought our food, and also tipped the cabana attendant at the end of the day. We did have a specific person assigned to us (actually, we had two people helping us). They were the ones who set up the cabana in the morning, brought DS(6) a signed Mickey photo and an "I Graduated" button, brought the fruit bowl and bottled waters for our fridge, and then checked on us throughout the day.

I can't comment on any of the other activities you mentioned, but I will say that my son enjoyed the "make your own pizza" option at Storyteller's Cafe.

Have fun!

 

[carissa1970]

Hi, everyone! We are fortunate enough to be locals and annual passholders of DLR. Next month, We have our very FiRST on property stay and it's at VGC!!! Whoo-hoo!!! I have been doing a lot of reading up, but have a couple questions that I hope you experienced people can help with. TIA! 1) We booked a pool cabana for a whole day. If you have the cabana staff obtain your food, is there a service charge? I was planning on tipping anyway for the food service. On top of the dining service tip, is there an additional tip I should provide at the end of the day? Are we assigned one specific person or us it a group of staff? 2) we will attend the Monday DVC Royal Member Gathering at DLH at 8am. We have an almost 2 year old DS and 6 1/2 year old DD. Do you remember what kind of foods are served? We were hoping to use this as a breakfast opportunity. 3) what have your experiences with your children been attending the storytelling and the Quest hunt? 4) any other advice us welcome!!! We are probably doing the parks little to none at all so we can take advantage of the hotel amenities. We may not stay at VGC for another two years.

At the Royal Gathering it was just continental breakfast. Pastries and fruit, and some juice and coffee.

 

[Nonsuch]

2) we will attend the Monday DVC Royal Member Gathering at DLH at 8am. We have an almost 2 year old DS and 6 1/2 year old DD. Do you remember what kind of foods are served? We were hoping to use this as a breakfast opportunity.

I attended a DVC meeting while my wife slept in late...
I should have stayed in bed

Seriously, I found it a waste of time

Welcome Home, and have a great visit

 

[4Vals]

I just wait-listed a trip for the end of July. Really short notice on the trip planning this time around. Has anyone had success with wait listing? My wife has some friends and family coming to Disneyland at the end of July so we are going to meet up with them.

Thanks

 

[barney44]

BWV owner here but want o tour Southern California. What are the chances of landing a villa at the 7 month mark around this time of year.

Thank sin advance from a long time BWV owner.

 

[bellazachmom]

What size villa are you looking for?

I think your chances are pretty good if you can book right at 7 months and possibly be a bit flexible with your dates (a day or two)

You can book online an hour earlier (8am eastern) then you can book with MS (9am eastern). If you are logged in and ready to go and hit "select" right as it turns 8am you shouldn't have a problem. 5 minutes later, you might be out of luck

 

[barney44]

Thanks. Ideally a one bedroom. It's school vacation back east and flights are already purchased. If only some nights are available we can stay along the coast somewhere a couple of nights.

 

[Snurk71]

Thanks. Ideally a one bedroom. It's school vacation back east and flights are already purchased. If only some nights are available we can stay along the coast somewhere a couple of nights.

The prevailing thought is 1brs are the easiest to get, since the capacity is only 5 and when someone books a studio it automatically makes the 1br available. So in general, your odds are theoretically best for a1br.

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[TexasErin]

Sorry to ask so similar a question, but do I have a chance at getting a studio at 7 months for May 30- June 9 next year? I know 10 days is a long time, so I hope that doesn't hurt our chances.....I have tried to go ahead and rent points through a couple of the brokers, but they didn't give me much hope and there don't seem to be a lot of for rent posts for VGC.

We rented for our stay last month and had a fabulous time!!

Thanks,
Erin

 

[lfishe3]

My DH and I are planning a trip with the family for next yr in the fall. Fingers crossed we will be able to get in 7 mo. out. Looks like it will be 6 of us. Is a 2 bedroom going to be big enough?
Should we wait for xmas to see all the decorations or stick with Halloween? The pictures of the Grand Californian look amazing.
I would love some advice. Neither of us have been to Disneyland before.