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

DH and I will make our 1st visit to DL in April, and have reserved our DVC unit. We'll be coming off a cruise, and will have a rental car. Is parking included at no charge for our length of stay?
Thanks
 
DH and I will make our 1st visit to DL in April, and have reserved our DVC unit. We'll be coming off a cruise, and will have a rental car. Is parking included at no charge for our length of stay?
Thanks

Self-parking for up to two cars is included if you’re staying on DVC points. Valet is $30/night at this point I believe.
 
Self-parking for up to two cars is included if you’re staying on DVC points. Valet is $30/night at this point I believe.

Yes, we're booked on points. Consider ourselves lucky to have gotten our ressie at 7 months. All our points are at DVC reaorts in Florida.

Guess we have a lot of reading to do in a short time. No idea how to go about making plans to see, taste, and hear all DL has to offer. Any suggestions?
 


Yes, we're booked on points. Consider ourselves lucky to have gotten our ressie at 7 months. All our points are at DVC reaorts in Florida.

Guess we have a lot of reading to do in a short time. No idea how to go about making plans to see, taste, and hear all DL has to offer. Any suggestions?

Thankfully DLR is much more chill of an experience than WDW. The Disneyland thread here on the DISboards is a great resource, and even though we’re local, I still really enjoy following Casey at Disneyland Daily on Facebook. She also has a website: disneylanddaily.com.

You are definitely in for a real treat as VGC is absolutely amazing! Enjoy your trip!:)
 
Guess we have a lot of reading to do in a short time. No idea how to go about making plans to see, taste, and hear all DL has to offer. Any suggestions?

When in April are you going?

What are your interests? Are you comando park goers, ride junkies? Do you enjoy fine dining, drinks? There are so many different ways to enjoy DLR, my experiences are completely different than many people as i tend to take it more slowly and enjoy a lot more of the adult experiences.
 
Just booked a studio for 2 nights in December before our cruise! Super excited to be back. We will miss the one bedroom size, but for 2 nights I just couldn't see using the extra points.

Can't wait for a little pre-cruise Disney Christmas magic!
 


Hello everyone! I haven’t got to stay yet, first trip this June! I was just wondering, how would the 2 bedrooms be comfort wise fitting a family of 5 and a family of 4? Would it be spacious enough to be comfortable or would it feel super cramped? I know it’s a subjective question, but any insight would be appreciated. Kids in family one will be 12,4, and 2. Family 2 will be 5 and 9. Thank you!
 
Hello everyone! I haven’t got to stay yet, first trip this June! I was just wondering, how would the 2 bedrooms be comfort wise fitting a family of 5 and a family of 4? Would it be spacious enough to be comfortable or would it feel super cramped? I know it’s a subjective question, but any insight would be appreciated. Kids in family one will be 12,4, and 2. Family 2 will be 5 and 9. Thank you!

It all depends on how much "togetherness" you all are comfortable with. We stayed for a week in a 2bd last Christmas and it was great, but we were a family of 3 and my wife and myself. it felt plenty big for us, but we had 3 fewer children. We did spend almost all of our time together in the main living area, and almost never took advantage of the 2 large bedroom other than to sleep because it was so large.

I think your main issue will be seating, there is a small couch and one nice chair in the living room and that is it, you will need to pull in a couple chairs from the dining area if you all want to sit together and not on the floor.

I do think you will find it big enough as long as you are all "familiar" enough with each other and don't need too much personal space all the time.

hope that helps a little.

-Lane
 
Last week I tried to book October 14-18 in a studio. This will be my first DVC trip since closing on my GVC points. All nights were available except the 15th, which I waitlisted. I also booked 4 days a couple weeks later in the event we don’t get the 15th.

Anyone know the success rate of waitlist for the VGC studios? I’m also stalking each morning
 
Hello everyone! I haven’t got to stay yet, first trip this June! I was just wondering, how would the 2 bedrooms be comfort wise fitting a family of 5 and a family of 4? Would it be spacious enough to be comfortable or would it feel super cramped? I know it’s a subjective question, but any insight would be appreciated. Kids in family one will be 12,4, and 2. Family 2 will be 5 and 9. Thank you!
Considering the ages of all the kids, you should be comfortable :thumbsup2
The kids will fight over the murphy bed, while the adults will fight over the king bed :laughing:
roomlayout_twobedroom.jpg
 
You don't hear much with the windows closed during the day ... but you *will* hear all showings of World of Color even with the patio door/windows closed. My kids slept through it, but one summer I woke up to the last show every single night of our stay. (We were in 5500)
 
Grand Villa Paradise Pier side. Can anyone comment on the noise level coming from the park?
I stayed in that GV in 2011, and don’t recall any noise issues. Our group was all adults and still awake during WOC, or still in the parks.

The real test will be ‘this June, when our guests will bring DD (~18months)
 
Last visit we noticed that Pinocchio's workshop is no longer. I know that VGC offers a nanny service, but has anyone else ideas on how to keep eight to ten year olds occupied while parents enjoy a quiet dinner?

Thanks!
 
Checked in today room 3508 a 1 bedroom here is the view. Not too bad would’ve liked to have been higher :)
 

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It's a little early, but is anyone going to try to book a stay for opening day of Star Wars Land? I know the date probably won't be announced before the home booking window closes. We may just book a stay and keep our fingers crossed for timing. We'll be able to handle the pandemonium and mayhem. My wife has an affinity for park history, so the provenance of such an event is very tempting to her. It's not every day a new land opens.
Any guesses as to when the big day will be? Or which month for that matter?
 
It's a little early, but is anyone going to try to book a stay for opening day of Star Wars Land? I know the date probably won't be announced before the home booking window closes. We may just book a stay and keep our fingers crossed for timing. We'll be able to handle the pandemonium and mayhem. My wife has an affinity for park history, so the provenance of such an event is very tempting to her. It's not every day a new land opens.
Any guesses as to when the big day will be? Or which month for that matter?

If nothing is announced before, we will be booking for the first weekend of June (right after memorial day), week after labor day, and mid-december. If it turns out SWL isn't ready by that June trip, we'll cancel and try to squeeze in another in the fall. We like to go during low crowds, but want to visit at least a few times with our AP. Based on some previous openings, I'm thinking Memorial Day weekend?

We were thinking of trying to go to WDW in Jan 2020 to see their SWL as well, so my conundrum is do I get a DLR AP this December 2018-Dec 2019 and separate tickets for WDW in 2020? Or do I get a park hopper this December and a premier AP in June 2019? #firstworlddisneyproblems
 
My only concern is that the actual date of opening could change based on any number of factors. We're going to book a room in November, which is when we usually go to Disneyland. It would be fun to be there on opening day, but at this point I just don't know if you can really know when that is for use. As we all know, changing a VGC reservation close to the date is almost impossible. We're going to be there on November 15 this year for the Midnight Madness. I called to get a one-bedroom, which was no problem; however, all of the studios were already gone. We're going to stay until the 19th to catch Mickey's 90th birthday on the 18th. I hope they do something special.
 
My only concern is that the actual date of opening could change based on any number of factors. We're going to book a room in November, which is when we usually go to Disneyland. It would be fun to be there on opening day, but at this point I just don't know if you can really know when that is for use. As we all know, changing a VGC reservation close to the date is almost impossible. We're going to be there on November 15 this year for the Midnight Madness. I called to get a one-bedroom, which was no problem; however, all of the studios were already gone. We're going to stay until the 19th to catch Mickey's 90th birthday on the 18th. I hope they do something special.

What a great trip. Midnight Madness sounds really fun. I bet they'll do something special for Mickey's 90th.
 

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