The Official VILLAS at DISNEYLAND HOTEL (Discovery Tower) Owners and Fans Info Thread

[Wedgeout]

Wow!! There it is on 10th upper right. 344 it is.

 

[FeliciaB23]

Checked out of VDH today; 4 nights - rented a friend’s Riv points (booked on first available day). First trip to DL for my Mom. My Mom and I LOVED it. We were in room 1127 (Sleeping Beauty Standard View with Tub). I shared photos of the view in the room view thread. Didn’t hear any noise throughout our stay and I’m a very light sleeper. The Murphy bed was very comfortable (Felt like the same as the Poly). Loved all the storage space. It was 2 doors down from the ice/water machine which was very convenient. The elevators were always fast and never had to wait more than a few seconds for one to arrive. The path connecting the fantasy tower to the villas is still under construction so we had to walk around each time which was annoying at times (when we were exhausted from walking all day lol).

Our sliding mirror got stuck yesterday and we made a call to maintenance; they implied it happens often.

Otherwise everything else was perfect! Loved the theming. I requested high floor sleeping beauty room. We got to the resort ant 10:10am, checked in online and also at the front desk. Room was ready by 10:50am! Lucky us.

 

[Raedisney]

We’ve just returned from a 10 day trip to VDH, we stayed on points. It cost us 235 points for a delux studio with a preferred view. Our room number was 0320. I can honestly say I never want to stay there again. When we checked in on November 1st they tried to put a hold of $900 on our card, our card won’t allow this. We were told this was for taxes and room charging to which we replied we didn’t want to charge to the room. So @$700 was done instead. We went to our room where there was already signs of wear and tear, scratches and scuffs. The charges didn’t seem right and we returned to the desk the next morning to be told they had tried to charge us for parking, but the rest are just our taxes. 2 days later our card is frozen. We live in Ireland so getting in touch with our bank is difficult with the 8 hour time difference, but we did and we were told that the hotel was causing a fraud alert because they keep going in and out of our account. So we returned to the desk. Spoke to lady who said it was probably their fault but there was nothing they could do. She got her manager, I asked could they remove the hold, giving them the reasons. They refused, I then asked could they authorise the payment they also refused this. So I said there is nothing you can do to help he replied no. I have never been so frustrated or had such bad customer service. They made no attempt to help. In the end we had to ring our bank on 4 different occasions to lift the hold, each time the hotel went straight back in and put it back on. We barely got time to take money from an atm before the hold was back on, freezing our card. It takes a day or 2 transfer money to a different account, so this wasn’t even possible. 3 separate occasions we went to the desk only to be told to ring our bank even though the hotel was causing the problem. On the last trip to the desk the gentleman told again ring my bank, explained we had and he said we could pay cash. No one had said this. This was our only help, but the continued hold meant it wasn’t possible. We checked out on the 11th, the hotel took payment of the taxes @ $660 on the 12th but kept a hold of @ $430 for another week. I didn’t feel like we were in a Dvc resort it didn’t feel like home. I feel the staff need more training in Dvc and customer service. Also our were not made once in 10 days. Rant over sorry if this is the wrong place but just felt people should be aware, particularly international Dvc owners. Thanks

 

[Royal Consort]

We’ve just returned from a 10 day trip to VDH, we stayed on points. It cost us 235 points for a delux studio with a preferred view. Our room number was 0320. I can honestly say I never want to stay there again. When we checked in on November 1st they tried to put a hold of $900 on our card, our card won’t allow this. We were told this was for taxes and room charging to which we replied we didn’t want to charge to the room. So @$700 was done instead. We went to our room where there was already signs of wear and tear, scratches and scuffs. The charges didn’t seem right and we returned to the desk the next morning to be told they had tried to charge us for parking, but the rest are just our taxes. 2 days later our card is frozen. We live in Ireland so getting in touch with our bank is difficult with the 8 hour time difference, but we did and we were told that the hotel was causing a fraud alert because they keep going in and out of our account. So we returned to the desk. Spoke to lady who said it was probably their fault but there was nothing they could do. She got her manager, I asked could they remove the hold, giving them the reasons. They refused, I then asked could they authorise the payment they also refused this. So I said there is nothing you can do to help he replied no. I have never been so frustrated or had such bad customer service. They made no attempt to help. In the end we had to ring our bank on 4 different occasions to lift the hold, each time the hotel went straight back in and put it back on. We barely got time to take money from an atm before the hold was back on, freezing our card. It takes a day or 2 transfer money to a different account, so this wasn’t even possible. 3 separate occasions we went to the desk only to be told to ring our bank even though the hotel was causing the problem. On the last trip to the desk the gentleman told again ring my bank, explained we had and he said we could pay cash. No one had said this. This was our only help, but the continued hold meant it wasn’t possible. We checked out on the 11th, the hotel took payment of the taxes @ $660 on the 12th but kept a hold of @ $430 for another week. I didn’t feel like we were in a Dvc resort it didn’t feel like home. I feel the staff need more training in Dvc and customer service. Also our were not made once in 10 days. Rant over sorry if this is the wrong place but just felt people should be aware, particularly international Dvc owners. Thanks

We are from Australia and what I've learned over the years is that Disney has no clue about managing international guests and the problem is getting worse. All policies are catered to the US audience which often brings conflict when dealing with overseas guests. For example, Disney Cruise Line cleaned out our multicurrency debit card on the Transatlantic because they didn't complete the 'pending' charge, and added the entire cost AGAIN leaving us stranded in Europe because our cards kept declining. They also didn't inform US homeland security we left the USA either running the risk over overstaying. Their training across the board needs improvement, this isn't a VDH thing it's an entire company thing.

 

[emchen]

We’ve just returned from a 10 day trip to VDH, we stayed on points. It cost us 235 points for a delux studio with a preferred view. Our room number was 0320. I can honestly say I never want to stay there again. When we checked in on November 1st they tried to put a hold of $900 on our card, our card won’t allow this. We were told this was for taxes and room charging to which we replied we didn’t want to charge to the room. So @$700 was done instead. We went to our room where there was already signs of wear and tear, scratches and scuffs. The charges didn’t seem right and we returned to the desk the next morning to be told they had tried to charge us for parking, but the rest are just our taxes. 2 days later our card is frozen. We live in Ireland so getting in touch with our bank is difficult with the 8 hour time difference, but we did and we were told that the hotel was causing a fraud alert because they keep going in and out of our account. So we returned to the desk. Spoke to lady who said it was probably their fault but there was nothing they could do. She got her manager, I asked could they remove the hold, giving them the reasons. They refused, I then asked could they authorise the payment they also refused this. So I said there is nothing you can do to help he replied no. I have never been so frustrated or had such bad customer service. They made no attempt to help. In the end we had to ring our bank on 4 different occasions to lift the hold, each time the hotel went straight back in and put it back on. We barely got time to take money from an atm before the hold was back on, freezing our card. It takes a day or 2 transfer money to a different account, so this wasn’t even possible. 3 separate occasions we went to the desk only to be told to ring our bank even though the hotel was causing the problem. On the last trip to the desk the gentleman told again ring my bank, explained we had and he said we could pay cash. No one had said this. This was our only help, but the continued hold meant it wasn’t possible. We checked out on the 11th, the hotel took payment of the taxes @ $660 on the 12th but kept a hold of @ $430 for another week. I didn’t feel like we were in a Dvc resort it didn’t feel like home. I feel the staff need more training in Dvc and customer service. Also our were not made once in 10 days. Rant over sorry if this is the wrong place but just felt people should be aware, particularly international Dvc owners. Thanks

I re-read your experience and it made me frustrated at the CMs over at the front desk.

I wonder if what you call a “hold” is what we call in the states, a “deposit”?

As for DVC specific training, they certainly do need more! Seems they could’ve rotated to GCH for a bit to get trained before the grand opening. Either that or have a DVC specific check-in line like they used to have at Grand Cal.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

Took a crack at floor plans, with room numbers, views, accessibility, and theming info.

Couple things I know I need to improve, and hope to crowdsource the info:

• Theming markers
• Accessibility markers

Other things that might be wrong or need confirmation:

• Room numbers beyond xx37, especially odd
• Rooms on floor 2
• Room 1217 (not 100% sure it exists, or the actual room number)

Floor 1 - 6:
View attachment 810010

View attachment 810011


View attachment 810012

View attachment 810013

View attachment 810014

View attachment 810015

Has anyone stayed in on of the standard view studios on the first floor? 0132-0142? Wondering about the view/noise level. Might be nice with a stroller.

 

[Wedgeout]

Has anyone stayed in on of the standard view studios on the first floor? 0132-0142? Wondering about the view/noise level. Might be nice with a stroller.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/v...-hotel-dvc-view-from-the-room-thread.3931280/
Couple of those in the views thread have been posted so far.

 

[dcfromva]

... I feel the staff need more training in Dvc and customer service. Also our were not made once in 10 days.....

We are not international-I can't imagine the stress getting the situation all resolved. So sorry this was your experience.

But, to the training issue-we also had to make a couple of trips to the front desk during our visit. When we checked in the person said something about how the parking charge was going to be posted to our account, but it was going to be picked up by DVC (we also checked in on 1 Nov ).

Anyway, parking posted to our account, but it wasn't zeroed out. So, we had to go to the front desk where they said the correct code was not used when we checked in (and they fixed it). We also had to go to the front desk to get a card in operate the laundry. The cast member had to go into the back room to ask for guidance twice but did get it sorted. It would be nice if they would ask folks on check in if they wanted a card to do the laundry.

 

[Raedisney]

I re-read your experience and it made me frustrated at the CMs over at the front desk.

I wonder if what you call a “hold” is what we call in the states, a “deposit”?

As for DVC specific training, they certainly do need more! Seems they could’ve rotated to GCH for a bit to get trained before the grand opening. Either that or have a DVC specific check-in line like they used to have at Grand Cal.

Why would we need to place a deposit when we stayed on points. When we queried at checkin they said it was the taxes. They hadnt taken payment and it was on hold, which to us meant it was pending.

 

[upritbass]

Why would we need to place a deposit when we stayed on points. When we queried at checkin they said it was the taxes. They hadnt taken payment and it was on hold, which to us meant it was pending.

In the US, 'on hold' means a charge has been placed on your card but will be revoked when you successfully check out.

 

[Raedisney]

In the US, 'on hold' means a charge has been placed on your card but will be revoked when you successfully check out.

I do understand the term but thats not what happened. We checked out online on 11th, the hotel took payement on the 12th but didnt take the hold off until nearly a week later. The issue arose from hotel going in and out of our account putting a hold on different amounts, thus causing a fraud alert repeatly.

 

[emchen]

Why would we need to place a deposit when we stayed on points. When we queried at checkin they said it was the taxes. They hadnt taken payment and it was on hold, which to us meant it was pending.

It is a standard practice in the states (even if you are staying on points). “Deposit” is used in the same sense as if one were renting an apartment or flat (for the first and last month). It technically isn’t a deposit and the term is frequently used interchangeably with “hold” for incidentals and future charges (ostensibly).

For us in the states, hotels have this common policy requiring a credit card to be “put on file” and a ”deposit” of, for example, $200 charged at check-in (to be reversed up to a week after checkout). It is so universal here that we don’t give it a second thought.

Your unfortunate experience highlights the state of our society, where companies feel compelled to do this to have recourse when guests take home souvenirs from the rooms (eg. robes, mugs, lamps, coffee table books). That is the real reason (as opposed to “incidentals”).

Imagine how difficult it would be for Disney trying to chase down guests who skip out on the transient occupancy tax. Even more so for international guests.

Not excusing the way they didn’t explain it to guests like you in a satisfactory way, but that’s just my opinion of what happened in a case like yours. Hopefully you will give VDH another try.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We’ve just returned from a 10 day trip to VDH, we stayed on points. It cost us 235 points for a delux studio with a preferred view. Our room number was 0320. I can honestly say I never want to stay there again. When we checked in on November 1st they tried to put a hold of $900 on our card, our card won’t allow this. We were told this was for taxes and room charging to which we replied we didn’t want to charge to the room. So @$700 was done instead. We went to our room where there was already signs of wear and tear, scratches and scuffs. The charges didn’t seem right and we returned to the desk the next morning to be told they had tried to charge us for parking, but the rest are just our taxes. 2 days later our card is frozen. We live in Ireland so getting in touch with our bank is difficult with the 8 hour time difference, but we did and we were told that the hotel was causing a fraud alert because they keep going in and out of our account. So we returned to the desk. Spoke to lady who said it was probably their fault but there was nothing they could do. She got her manager, I asked could they remove the hold, giving them the reasons. They refused, I then asked could they authorise the payment they also refused this. So I said there is nothing you can do to help he replied no. I have never been so frustrated or had such bad customer service. They made no attempt to help. In the end we had to ring our bank on 4 different occasions to lift the hold, each time the hotel went straight back in and put it back on. We barely got time to take money from an atm before the hold was back on, freezing our card. It takes a day or 2 transfer money to a different account, so this wasn’t even possible. 3 separate occasions we went to the desk only to be told to ring our bank even though the hotel was causing the problem. On the last trip to the desk the gentleman told again ring my bank, explained we had and he said we could pay cash. No one had said this. This was our only help, but the continued hold meant it wasn’t possible. We checked out on the 11th, the hotel took payment of the taxes @ $660 on the 12th but kept a hold of @ $430 for another week. I didn’t feel like we were in a Dvc resort it didn’t feel like home. I feel the staff need more training in Dvc and customer service. Also our were not made once in 10 days. Rant over sorry if this is the wrong place but just felt people should be aware, particularly international Dvc owners. Thanks

I am curious if you were using a debit card or a credit card.

 

[bbeagle]

Here is a youtube skit explaining this hold.

 

[soniam]

It is a standard practice in the states (even if you are staying on points). “Deposit” is used in the same sense as if one were renting an apartment or flat (for the first and last month). It technically isn’t a deposit and the term is frequently used interchangeably with “hold” for incidentals and future charges (ostensibly).

For us in the states, hotels have this common policy requiring a credit card to be “put on file” and a ”deposit” of, for example, $200 charged at check-in (to be reversed up to a week after checkout). It is so universal here that we don’t give it a second thought.

Your unfortunate experience highlights the state of our society, where companies feel compelled to do this to have recourse when guests take home souvenirs from the rooms (eg. robes, mugs, lamps, coffee table books). That is the real reason (as opposed to “incidentals”).

Imagine how difficult it would be for Disney trying to chase down guests who skip out on the transient occupancy tax. Even more so for international guests.

Not excusing the way they didn’t explain it to guests like you in a satisfactory way, but that’s just my opinion of what happened in a case like yours. Hopefully you will give VDH another try.

It may have just been a hold, but the amount sounds excessive. A couple of hundred is fine, but I thought OP said it was $600. It also seems to have stayed on for several days to a week. A couple of days is fine, but a week is also excessive. Although, I know it’s not unheard of in the US for holds to stay on for a couple of weeks after you checkout, which is ridiculous.

 

[AstroBlasters]

It may have just been a hold, but the amount sounds excessive. A couple of hundred is fine, but I thought OP said it was $600. It also seems to have stayed on for several days to a week. A couple of days is fine, but a week is also excessive. Although, I know it’s not unheard of in the US for holds to stay on for a couple of weeks after you checkout, which is ridiculous.

They were there for 10 days… so it was going to cover the TOT and potential room charges.

I don’t feel this is an issue in most cases if people use a credit card (where they stay well under their limit) instead of a debit card ….

 

[Raedisney]

I am curious if you were using a debit card or a credit card.

It was a debit card. When we checked we weren’t told that this could cause issues but when I made my 3rd trip to desk the lady said they advise customers not to use a debit card as it can cause issue. This is part of the issue, no 2 people said the same thing, no one fully seemed to understand. The reiteration of contact your bank became very old. California is 8 hours behind Ireland, which makes contacting a bank during working hours difficult. As some posters have asked the original amount they wanted to put on hold was actually $900, which I think is completely excessive. I understand most hotels have an incidentals/resort fee but if we knew this hold was going to happen we would have been prepared. We’re owners since 2017, we bought in Coppercreek and have never had this hold in other Dvc resorts even when we stayed in Grand California in 2019. Everyone that spoke about VDH stated that the taxes were taken when you check out no one mentioned incidental charges. I personally feel Dvc members should be aware that this can happen. Our biggest problem though was the desk staff, there is a lack of training, in dealing with Dvc members and international customers. We were visiting with the hope of buying into VDH. We waited for this resort to be ready with great anticipation, we were so excited to be able to book 10 days there but they very nearly ruined our holiday. It really left a sour taste with VDH and dvc

 

[AstroBlasters]

It was a debit card. When we checked we weren’t told that this could cause issues but when I made my 3rd trip to desk the lady said they advise customers not to use a debit card as it can cause issue. This is part of the issue, no 2 people said the same thing, no one fully seemed to understand. The reiteration of contact your bank became very old. California is 8 hours behind Ireland, which makes contacting a bank during working hours difficult. As some posters have asked the original amount they wanted to put on hold was actually $900, which I think is completely excessive. I understand most hotels have an incidentals/resort fee but if we knew this hold was going to happen we would have been prepared. We’re owners since 2017, we bought in Coppercreek and have never had this hold in other Dvc resorts even when we stayed in Grand California in 2019. Everyone that spoke about VDH stated that the taxes were taken when you check out no one mentioned incidental charges. I personally feel Dvc members should be aware that this can happen. Our biggest problem though was the desk staff, there is a lack of training, in dealing with Dvc members and international customers. We were visiting with the hope of buying into VDH. We waited for this resort to be ready with great anticipation, we were so excited to be able to book 10 days there but they very nearly ruined our holiday. It really left a sour taste with VDH and dvc

But to be fair, this issue would have occurred at almost any hotel you would have stayed at since they all would put a hold for room charges, tax, and parking.

Either way, I’m sorry you had a stressful experience on your trip. I hope you were able to enjoy Disneyland and Southern California outside of this incident.

 

[Raedisney]

But to be fair, this issue would have occurred at almost any hotel you would have stayed at since they all would put a hold for room charges, tax, and parking.

Either way, I’m sorry you had a stressful experience on your trip. I hope you were able to enjoy Disneyland and Southern California outside of this incident.

We stayed in 2 other hotels before VDH without any incident. It wasnt that they put 1 continuous hold on our card, it was that they kept going into our account, putting different amounts on hold. For example the first few days it was about $700 then that would come off and they would go in again within an hour or 2 and put another hold on. We’ve stayed many times in America with holds on our cards with no issue., but because they kept coming in and out of our account it look like someone trying to commit a fraud thus the fraud alerts and the freezing of the cards. We love Disneyland, its a beautiful park. Walt had such great vision. We will definitely return just not to VDH.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

Just got back from a week in a 1 bedroom. It was great! Very few complaints. I do wish there was a little more storage, the bedside nightstand in the bedroom could easily accommodate a drawer.

Everything was in working order except the Faucet in the master bath leaked a tiny bit when you turned it on. Could also use a little more silverware as we were constantly having to wash it to make sure there was always enough.

Loved the room and decor (princess and the frog). The room still had that “fresh paint” smell and no signs of early wear and tear. Housekeeping was quick to respond to any requests and the CM in general were great. No charges for parking, we just made sure they linked our room to our Dvc account and we were able to come and go as we pleased.

Didn’t have a chance to try the palm breeze but will next time. They were consistently busy and there was live music at least one night as I recall.

We’re pretty happy (which is good cause we have A LOT of VDH points) we’ll be back in mid Jan in a 2 bedroom.


Edit…..pic added….not perfect but still decent view of the fireworks.