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

[AstroBlasters]

Extras in laundry

 

[ClaraOswald]

Is there just the 1 laundry room in the villa wing? First floor, right? (No, I'm obviously not going there for the snacks. Just planning on doing laundry during our trip this summer.)

 

[AstroBlasters]

Is there just the 1 laundry room in the villa wing? First floor, right? (No, I'm obviously not going there for the snacks. Just planning on doing laundry during our trip this summer.)

I’ve never used it except to drop off excess supplies, but I believe you are correct.

 

[bluecruiser]

Is there just the 1 laundry room in the villa wing? First floor, right? (No, I'm obviously not going there for the snacks. Just planning on doing laundry during our trip this summer.)

Just 1 room, with 2 washers and 4 dryers. There's a website showing the current status:

The LaundryView website shows the status of the washers and dryers. You can even set up notification alerts so that it tells you when a machine finishes its cycle. It works using a browser on a phone, tablet, or computer.

LaundryView - Grand Californian Hotel & Spa laundry status
LaundryView - DVC side - Villas at the Grand Californian laundry status

 

[Chili327]

Extras in laundry

That you left, or someone else left?

 

[PortlandFan]

I posted photos to the Room View thread from a trip earlier this month. We were in 3522, a dedicated 2 bedroom. The furniture was tired and worn. Couch cushion was ripped, wood in the bathrooms was marred. Definitely in need of care. The 2nd bedroom (with the 2 queens) - the door to the balcony doesn't seal properly anymore, and this caused a sound leak. We heard everything extra loud in that room (the living area and the primary bedroom windows were well sealed and while we still heard WoC, it was nowhere as strong as bedroom 2! Hopefully that is fixed in the rennovation.

They were testing a new parade in DCA, and around 1AM they practiced for an hour or so. The front desk warned us by placing a note at our door handle that evening, which was thoughtful.

We did have an issue with the front driveway greeting team -- part of our party was arriving a day after us, and was told they/we "were not on the list". Well it turns out that their list only reflects same day checkins, so they and we were not on it! Once they provided the room number, they were able to look it up in the computer and found them, but the gate folks should have known.

We used the Paradise Pier entry/exit frequently, super easy to get to and fro with that. We did not use it for early open as it was far too crowded.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We were in 3505 (2 BD) last week. The wood needs to be refinished and the furniture replaced…. but overall it was in good shape!

 

[cruisehopeful]

What's the true story about studio availability for VGC owners? Is it a walking situation every time?

I'm thinking about a small resale contract at VGC, but the low inventory makes me skittish. I like VDH too, but the taxes and fees are a turn-off there.

Not currently a VGC owner, but when I was, it was easy to book 10-11 months out.

I am currently a VDH owner and I have been booking my resort at 10-11 months out and then putting in a waitlist request for VGC when it gets to the 7 month mark. It's been hitting for me each time, but I only go on the weekends (1-3 night stays). They are studios.

 

[Rex1993]

I’ve got lots of points to burn after our use year turns over in August. Wish I could find a way to snag a 3bed but they just never seem available.

 

[ClaraOswald]

How many are there? Just a couple, right?

 

[franandaj]

I’ve got lots of points to burn after our use year turns over in August. Wish I could find a way to snag a 3bed but they just never seem available.

That's odd, they used to be available for quite a bit after the 7 month mark, they are so expensive!

How many are there? Just a couple, right?

There are two. One faces DCA the other faces the Pool. I've stayed in the DCA version several times, but never the pool view. My wife was Handicapped and the DCA facing version is the HA version.

 

[AstroBlasters]

How many are there? Just a couple, right?

Two

 

[PortlandFan]

I’ve got lots of points to burn after our use year turns over in August. Wish I could find a way to snag a 3bed but they just never seem available.

There's a handful of availability in Nov, Dec, and you can book the end of Feb into March as of today. But yeah, they are not as easy to get as they are at other DVC locations (I had been looking at Au Lani this morning just for kicks )

 

[AstroBlasters]

There's a handful of availability in Nov), Dec, and you can book Feb -Mar as of today. But yeah, they are not as easy to get as they are at other DVC locations (I had been looking at Au Lani this morning just for kicks )

That’s going to get deleted by the moderators…. you are not allowed to post availability…. just speak about it generally….

 

[PortlandFan]

That’s going to get deleted by the moderators…. you are not allowed to post availability…. just speak about it generally….

Thanks, I didn't even think about that. Makes sense.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Are there certain use years that just don't have certain sized contracts? I'm just wondering what the odds are of a 50-75 pointer showing up in my use year. So far I haven't seen anything under 160pts.

 

[CarolynFH]

Are there certain use years that just don't have certain sized contracts? I'm just wondering what the odds are of a 50-75 pointer showing up in my use year. So far I haven't seen anything under 160pts.

No, the issue isn't the size of the contract, it's that DVC for whatever reason didn't sell contracts in equal size UYs. For any given resort, the percentage of contracts in each UY varies, and there's no consistency. Now that DVC can change the UY when it sells a contract, there's even less knowledge of how common a UY is.

The most recent analysis of UY by resort that I'm aware of is here: https://dvcnews.com/?view=article&id=4071:use-year-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

The other factor that affects what you're looking for is that in the early years, DVC didn't sell very many small contracts, so if there weren't many of the size you want that were sold, it may be a while before that size contract in the UY you want is put on the market by the current owner.

So - patience!

 

[CarolynFH]

So far I haven't seen anything under 160pts.

I think that when VGC was first sold, 160 points was the minimum for a new buyer, so that's probably why that number of points is so common. Smaller contracts would have been add-ons, and I'm not sure when DVC began selling small add-ons at VGC.

 

[CWTC]

Are there certain use years that just don't have certain sized contracts? I'm just wondering what the odds are of a 50-75 pointer showing up in my use year. So far I haven't seen anything under 160pts.

If you aren’t already doing so, I’d suggest keeping an eye on the aggregator sites. I just looked for funsies - there was a 56 (weird number of points), a few 75 pointers, a 90, and a few 100s.

I’ve been unable to find a break down of UYs at VGC - it didn’t appear to be included in the above link.

 

[CarolynFH]

I’ve been unable to find a break down of UYs at VGC - it didn’t appear to be included in the above link.

I think that’s because of the different information publicly available (or not) in Orange County, California compared to Orange County, Florida.