The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 3.0

Chili327

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WELCOME! to The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Owners & Lovers Group - 3.0 (copy & pasted from v2.0)

Special thanks goes to The River's Rats for starting the original thread, also @stopher1 for version 2.0 and extra thanks go out to all of the special DIS people who shared, posted pictures and participated in that first thread running from before the resort opened through it's first full year of operation and then some. We simply outgrew that first thread since the page count nearly met the maximum allowed, so welcome to version 2!! :cool1: (now welcome to v3.0)

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You are about to enter an online realm where we are able to discuss, share and enjoy together the unique and wonderful splendor of the first West Coast DVC resort, The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, first opened September 23, 2009. (aka VGC)

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This beautiful addition to the DVC family of resorts was added-on to the lovely Craftsman-inspired hotel, built upon the former DisneyIand parking lot when the expansion to DisneyIand went full throttle - brining about both Downtown Disney and the 2nd gate, Disney's California Adventure park - forever changing Walt's ORIGINAL theme park from being Disneyland to "The Disneyland Resort" and a true multi-day destination. The Grand Californian was the first Disney designed-hotel on property - since the original DisneyIand Hotel was not built by Disney...in fact it wasn't even owned by Disney until 1988 when The Walt Disney Company purchased it from the Wrather Corporation (Walt originally asked his friend Jack Wrather to build and operate a hotel across the street from his Magic Kingdom and further licensed the use of the DisneyIand name to Jack Wrather). The Paradise Pier hotel, built and operated under a different name, was not purchased by TWDC until the mid-1990's, and then re-branded as the PP Hotel when DCA was about to open in 2001. The original Grand Californian designer was Peter Dominick, the same architect who designed both the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kindgom Lodge at Walt Disney World... you can certainly feel the influence of both of our sister lodges in the lobby of the Grand Californian (though I will say that personally I think that the Grand is the most elegant and cozy of all three of the Dominick hotels - and I have points at AKV and the WL is my favorite resort at WDW... so it's not just a bit of bias coming out - LOL - I just truly feel that in this case, the third time really was the charm!)

VGC as it is commonly referred to here on the DIS is home to 48 villas, and officially became "sold out" in October, 2010. Of course there will always be the possibility of points available on the resale market, but for now, "our" home is no longer available.

As owners, many of us became the "first" to buy, becoming Founding Members, while others waited and purchased later on. No matter if you were the first or even the last to buy your points and be able to call VGC "home" - whether it was your initial purchase into the DVC system, or VGC is just one of multiple resorts you call "home" - welcome to the 2nd version of our thread. We're happy you've stopped by.

Whether you've joined us by stepping through the resort's front door... or you're a "back door" guest coming in from Downtown Disney...

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...here you can find out information about our beloved VGC; get your questions answered; share photos and upcoming trip information; review your stays; or just shoot the breeze... no matter, you're welcome here, and you'll find that the people that make up this thread are friendly, happy to help, and very glad you've stopped by.
You'll find a variety of links to other threads related to the Grand Californian, Disneyland or DCA, transportation options, reservation information, etc, that you might find helpful in researching or planning your own upcoming stay.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/hotels/grand-californian-hotel
https://disneyland.disney.go.com


Your room might be amongst the 73% of the villas that look out onto the neighboring DCA with a "theme park view"... or it might look out over the pools...
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Many of them will provide amazing views of the all-new World of Color spectacular...
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There are only 2 Grand Villas at VGC. They are two-story units, and both have a pool table for your added enjoyment - 1 is theme park view, the other isn't. Both will amaze you!
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The lobby of the hotel is spectacular... the fireplace is very cozy & inviting...
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...and the elevator lobby to the villas wing is just a short covered walk away from the main resort lobby...
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In the evenings you might enjoy a beverage with friends at the Hearthstone Lounge, or a meal at Storyteller's Cafe or Napa Rose; You might simply relax in the overstuffed chairs listening to the pianist play, or during the holiday season, the carolers come around and serenade guests with lively tunes to get you into the spirit of the season. And of course, like all Disney parks and resorts, the Grand Californian goes out all decking its' halls making the season bright.
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Compared to most Disney resorts, the grounds of the Grand Californian are small, but very lovely... and the amenities plentiful...
...including those plush poolside cabanas... and the fun pool slide...
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...and an outdoor fireplace & wedding lawn too!
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One of the best parts of the resort though has to be its' proximity to both theme parks, and its' own private entrance directly in to Disney California Adventure ... just steps away from both Soaring Over California , Grizzly River Run...and soon, the all-new Little Mermaid attraction coming to Paradise Pier. I would say that unless Disney builds another DVC resort INSIDE a theme park in the future - there will never be another resort CLOSER to a theme park than VGC - with its' views and entrance both directly into DCA.
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WELCOME! We're very happy you're here... :)
 
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Info and various links to other Grand Californian related threads

Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian
1600 S. DisneyIand Drive
Anaheim, CA 92802
Phone: (714) 635-2300


Here are some links from the original thread regarding specific information about VGC

Floorplan Maps of VGC - thanks to @Nonsuch
Resort Maps & Room Locations Thanks @UrsulaWantsYourSoul


Here are a few other links to threads that you might find interesting and valuable as you consider your stay at VGC - especially if you have never been to DisneyIand before!





Here are a few links that are NOT Grand Californian related, but rather related to all of our sister resorts within the greater DVC family, just for fun, but also in case anyone has specific questions about another resort, all of the DVC resort threads are in one place here...

 
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Room Info

Room Floor Plan & Virtual Tours​


Deluxe Studio
full


1 Bedroom Villa
full


2 Bedroom Villa
full


2 Bedroom Villa "Lock-Off"
full


3 Bedroom Grand Villa (1st Floor)
full


3 Bedroom Grand Villa (2nd Floor)
full





Room Locations:​


1st Floor
full



2nd Floor
full


3rd Floor
full



4th Floor
full



5th Floor
full


6th Floor
full




All DVC Floors
full




Resort Map


full




Room Numbers

full



Pool (looking north)
full


Trail (looking east)
full


Pier (looking south)
full



Views from Room Numbers
https://www.disboards.com/threads/villas-at-disneys-grand-californian-room-views.2906031
 
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What is the latest thinking about when the refurb will begin and end?
 
What is the latest thinking about when the refurb will begin and end?
My guess is January 3, 2025. When I was looking at booking there were some irregularities at that time and it's a slow time of the year but past new years. Just my educated guess. It's such a small resort though I'm wondering if they are going to divert some people to the hotel side or to cash side of Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
 
What is the latest thinking about when the refurb will begin and end?

I asked when I was there in July a couple times. I got answers a wide range of answers from not knowing to wild guesses. I had one cast member say he had heard 2 times --- one I would hate and one I would really hate! The one I would hate was sometime next year and the really hate was 2026. I made sure to be on top of booking my reservation for next July for the anniversary just in case it was next year.
 
So i keep running into issues on max amount of images to host... Thoughts on how to host more images?
The problem with hosting is the host goes dark & images disappear, so hosting them on "TheDis" is best, but the limit is 10 per post.
 
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Proud VGC owner and a member of “West coast is the best coast” DVC club. After many wonderful trips to VGC have to say it’s a magical place. Looking forward to lots of trips there in 2025.

The best time to visit is in November when the holiday decorations are up.

Thanks for rebooting v 3.0 of the thread.
 

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