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

[ambula603]

New to Disneyland, but not DVC...I have gone back about 10 pages in this thread but thought I would just go ahead and ask.

We are first time DL visitors (will probably be our only time, as we are in Kentucky and typically go to WDW). My husband and I have two daughters, age 11 and 8. We just went on a Disney Cruise and now want to see the other side of Disney in CA!

We have two options - go in summer 2020 and stay at a Good Neighbor Hotel because we can't get GCV via DVC. We would lose out on the experience of staying on property. (Which I know is not the same maybe as WDW, but it is still important to me because I LOVE the resort experience.) We won't pay cash for a Disney room, so that is not an option for us.

Or...wait and TRY to get a GCV studio or 1 bedroom in October 2020 during our Fall Break. I know it is a risk and we still may not get one so that makes me nervous. We rent points from my best friend so I can't control when she logs in and tries to get the room. I would prefer to travel in the summer due to our schedules, but we could do October, if necessary. I really don't want the Halloween theming, since we did a Halloween Cruise and WDW the Halloween before that.

So, if you had one shot - would you prefer to see DL in the summer or fall?
Is GCV worth waiting until October? Is it even likely at 7 months out?
Am I already behind in planning for a summer trip?

I have lots of questions, so thanks in advance!

 

[crvetter]

We would lose out on the experience of staying on property.

Just be aware that the only resort on property at DL that rivals WDW resorts in terms of seclusion from the outside world and level of theme is GCH. I know you said you won't pay cash so I assume that means that DLH and PPH are off the table, but wanted to give you that detail in case you end up considering it..

So, if you had one shot - would you prefer to see DL in the summer or fall?
Is GCV worth waiting until October? Is it even likely at 7 months out?

So I would say this summer you are mostly going to have to stalk the RAT to see if anyone cancels rooms. Usually it's unlikely; however, I cancelled about a month ago for February 2020 so cancellations do happen. Also the decorations for Halloween I personally don't think take away from DCA or DL in any fashion, the ones in DL are a little better done than those at MK, IMO. Also GCH isn't really decorated besides a Cake or Gingerbread house. Actually Halloween time (or Christmas) at DL is super great for the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted House overlay (and its corresponding gingerbread house). And Carsland in DCA is amazing at Halloween.

Availability anytime at VGC is luck you just need to be on at 7 months out whenever there is availability and hope for the best at 8 AM EST. Either summer or fall DL is a must (though I wouldn't be too worried about the Halloween theming its very unique). If you don't care about middle of the week or even upgrading to 1 beds your odds increase.

 

[emchen]

New to Disneyland, but not DVC...I have gone back about 10 pages in this thread but thought I would just go ahead and ask.

We are first time DL visitors (will probably be our only time, as we are in Kentucky and typically go to WDW). My husband and I have two daughters, age 11 and 8. We just went on a Disney Cruise and now want to see the other side of Disney in CA!

We have two options - go in summer 2020 and stay at a Good Neighbor Hotel because we can't get GCV via DVC. We would lose out on the experience of staying on property. (Which I know is not the same maybe as WDW, but it is still important to me because I LOVE the resort experience.) We won't pay cash for a Disney room, so that is not an option for us.

Or...wait and TRY to get a GCV studio or 1 bedroom in October 2020 during our Fall Break. I know it is a risk and we still may not get one so that makes me nervous. We rent points from my best friend so I can't control when she logs in and tries to get the room. I would prefer to travel in the summer due to our schedules, but we could do October, if necessary. I really don't want the Halloween theming, since we did a Halloween Cruise and WDW the Halloween before that.

So, if you had one shot - would you prefer to see DL in the summer or fall?
Is GCV worth waiting until October? Is it even likely at 7 months out?
Am I already behind in planning for a summer trip?

I have lots of questions, so thanks in advance!

If you look at the availability thread by @skier_pete and @Bing Showei:

Post for Villas at Grand Californian - this is not updated from 2015 because it already is impossible to get in.
View attachment 332358 View attachment 332359

...you'll see that your odds will be none in October and spotty most of summer, so best bet is summer at 7-mo window shooting for 1-BR.

Fall is the better season over Summer at DLR by a long mile! Weather, fall decorations, Nightmare Before Xmas Haunted Mansion, Cars Land Halloween Decor, among other reasons.

See quoted availability chart to answer the remainder of your questions.

Wish you luck, hoping you get a chance to come visit The Original!

 

[Cynister]

Does anyone have any room recommendations to request for a studio? Thanks!

 

[crvetter]

Does anyone have any room recommendations to request for a studio? Thanks!

High floor (4+) room number x504 if not available x510 is the second best. x504 (where x is floor number) looks out over Pixar Pier and is the closest to theme park view IMO.

 

[mouschievous]

I am still in shock that someone was willing to rent us their points for 5 nights in a 2 BR villa next September! We are going for my parents' 50th anniversary and this is going to make it that much more special (and is actually cheaper than the 4 of us staying at DLH, interestingly!).

We have never been to GCH at all, let alone VGC, so we're very excited about this trip. I know that we can make room requests, and I also know from reading here that we don't want 6500 because of the door to the WOC viewing area. I do think we'd like to be up higher so we have a view of something, but I think we'd also like a quieter room and I have read that some rooms have a lot of park noise, etc. Any advice from the experts?

 

[Cynister]

High floor (4+) room number x504 if not available x510 is the second best. x504 (where x is floor number) looks out over Pixar Pier and is the closest to theme park view IMO.

I'm not familiar with how many floors there are to insert the numbers. Would it be 5510 & 5504 or are there more?

 

[sgrap]

I'm not familiar with how many floors there are to insert the numbers. Would it be 5510 & 5504 or are there more?

There are 6 floors, but the 6th floor only has 3 rooms, one of each type. 6500 is a dedicated 2-bedroom, 6502 is a 1-bedroom and 6504 is a studio (or last 2 combine for a 2-bedroom lock-off). Those all face Pixar Pier. They do tend to be a little noisier because of the location, and also the bedroom with the 2 queens in 6500 backs up against the door to the big viewing patio, so people tend to go in and out of there frequently and the you can hear the heavy door slamming from the bedroom. But the view from those rooms is amazing!

 

[Jperiod]

Higher the better. We were on the 4th floor in December and you can only see the tops of the WoC fountains. It didn't stop us from watching it, but it was nothing compared to when we were there in 2013 when the trees were shorter.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Hi, all! This past Thursday I was able to book for August and sooooo excited! Lot of points since only 2 bedroom available though.

Have some questions since it’s been awhile since we have been able to do the villas at the Grand californian.
1. If I get Vons grocery delivery, will the hotel charge a service fee for receiving them if villa isn’t ready yet? I know the order can’t have alcohol if I’m not present.
2. Have you used other grocery companies for delivery? How was your experience? Has anyone used Ralph’s?
3. I tried once the early walk at 6:00 at California adventure. If my daughter is willing to get up early with me, will they question her age or do a look up on reservation? I think the minimum is 14 and she will be 13.
4. Plan on cooking few meals in kitchen. Last visit in villas was 2014. I remember the pans weren’t nonstick. Is it still the same? (Trying to figure out if I should bring my own...we are locals passholders and driving over.)

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Jperiod]

Hi, all! This past Thursday I was able to book for August and sooooo excited! Lot of points since only 2 bedroom available though.

Have some questions since it’s been awhile since we have been able to do the villas at the Grand californian.
1. If I get Vons grocery delivery, will the hotel charge a service fee for receiving them if villa isn’t ready yet? I know the order can’t have alcohol if I’m not present.
2. Have you used other grocery companies for delivery? How was your experience? Has anyone used Ralph’s?
3. I tried once the early walk at 6:00 at California adventure. If my daughter is willing to get up early with me, will they question her age or do a look up on reservation? I think the minimum is 14 and she will be 13.
4. Plan on cooking few meals in kitchen. Last visit in villas was 2014. I remember the pans weren’t nonstick. Is it still the same? (Trying to figure out if I should bring my own...we are locals passholders and driving over.)

Thanks in advance!!!

1. There was no service fee for our orders. Not sure about alcohol.
2. I used Amazon Fresh, Prime 2 hour, and Whole Foods (through Amazon) while we were there and all went great!
4. Yes, they were nonstick when we were there in December and they give you a hard plastic spoon and flat spatula which were awkward to use in the pan for eggs. I missed my silicone spatulas.

 

[pepe3penelope]

1. There was no service fee for our orders. Not sure about alcohol.
2. I used Amazon Fresh, Prime 2 hour, and Whole Foods (through Amazon) while we were there and all went great!
4. Yes, they were nonstick when we were there in December and they give you a hard plastic spoon and flat spatula which were awkward to use in the pan for eggs. I missed my silicone spatulas.

Thanks for your responses! Trying not to make things complicated. Will plan to bring couple cooking items from home depending on what I’m making.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Hi! Another question! Does anyone know if we would be able to bring our Nintendo switch, would we able to connect it to the TV? TIA!

 

[Wakey]

Sorry to ask the question again, but room recommendations from the experts.

We have a 1 bed booked. I like the look of the theme park view, but my wife likes it very quiet so that seems a no go. We usually request far from lift as she cannot stand lift noise, or a lot of people passing etc,

What will be quiet, but have a nice view?

 

[sgrap]

Sorry to ask the question again, but room recommendations from the experts.

We have a 1 bed booked. I like the look of the theme park view, but my wife likes it very quiet so that seems a no go. We usually request far from lift as she cannot stand lift noise, or a lot of people passing etc,

What will be quiet, but have a nice view?

The rooms facing pixar peer get a fair amount of noise. They are pretty close to the park.

 

[DebbieB]

Sorry to ask the question again, but room recommendations from the experts.

We have a 1 bed booked. I like the look of the theme park view, but my wife likes it very quiet so that seems a no go. We usually request far from lift as she cannot stand lift noise, or a lot of people passing etc,

What will be quiet, but have a nice view?

The other options are woods view or pool view. For quiet, I would choose woods view but all you will see is trees. For pool view, I would request upper floor.

 

[bluecruiser]

Sorry to ask the question again, but room recommendations from the experts.
We have a 1 bed booked. I like the look of the theme park view, but my wife likes it very quiet so that seems a no go. We usually request far from lift as she cannot stand lift noise, or a lot of people passing etc,
What will be quiet, but have a nice view?

I agree with @DebbieB. Pool view from higher floor should get you a quieter room.

Adding a few examples of other views from my recent trips:

In December 2017 I had room 2514 facing the back of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. The view was mostly of trees and it was very quiet.




In December 2019 I had room 3508, mostly trees but I could see the tops of some attractions (see below). There was a good bit of music noise during the day and evening from the groups playing at the Festival of Holidays. I had requested a higher floor room with a view of World of Color, and this room technically met one of the two requirements, but I would not make this request again due to the noise.

 

[Nonsuch]

We have a 1 bed booked. I like the look of the theme park view, but my wife likes it very quiet so that seems a no go. We usually request far from lift as she cannot stand lift noise, or a lot of people passing etc,

You should request villa 5514, perhaps the most peaceful room in the hotel (or any hotel)
link to photos earlier in this thread

This villa is on the 5th floor and there are no rooms above. The dead end hallway that wraps around this villa only leads to the second floor of a Grand Villa, and is seldom used.
All the x514 villas will be very quiet. Avoid 1514 (or any ground floor villas), since there are occasional reports of noise from the underground valet parking.

 

[Wakey]

You should request villa 5514, perhaps the most peaceful room in the hotel (or any hotel)
link to photos earlier in this thread

This villa is on the 5th floor and there are no rooms above. The dead end hallway that wraps around this villa only leads to the second floor of a Grand Villa, and is seldom used.
All the x514 villas will be very quiet. Avoid 1514 (or any ground floor villas), since there are occasional reports of noise from the underground valet parking.

That looks v nice, problem is I suppose it means someone checking out the day I arrive. Would you also recommend something more generic like ‘high floor pool view’ as well?

 

[Nonsuch]

That looks v nice, problem is I suppose it means someone checking out the day I arrive. Would you also recommend something more generic like ‘high floor pool view’ as well?

I send a list of 10 villas and usually get one of the top 5. Requests should be sent in advance to DVC Member Services, and must be sent by the owner.
(the map linked in my signature should help you create a list of villas)