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

[RedVines2001]

Oh, also I was able to buy Oogie Boogie Bash tickets. You have to go down in person to the front desk and it will be the same price as whatever it was on the original calendar (not increased) depending on your party date. The desk will start the sales at 6am and the line forms before then. I got down at about 5:55am and was 8th in line. They will also only sell you a maximum number of tickets as there are official guest names checked into the room. You will need to have an ID on you to verify that you are the guest who is checked into your room number and they automatically charge the tickets to your room folio. They will not allow you to purchase with other tender.

Wait are you saying that you were able to get Oogie Boogie Bash tickets as a VGC guest on site after it’s already been sold out?

 

[Nonsuch]

Wait are you saying that you were able to get Oogie Boogie Bash tickets as a VGC guest on site after it’s already been sold out?

Access to sold out OBB tickets has been an On-site benefit since the parties started.

Helpful update from the PP, since the logistics of purchasing can change year-to-year

 

[Chereya]

Wait are you saying that you were able to get Oogie Boogie Bash tickets as a VGC guest on site after it’s already been sold out?

Yes, they reserve an unknown amount of tickets for hotel guests to be sold on the same day of the party. I didn't inquire as to how many tickets they had available left. It may be that there is a single pool that all three hotels are drawing tickets from rather than an allotment to each hotel. But I was #8 in line and there were probably another 7-8 people that lined up behind me. No idea if they accommodated everyone who's in line for tickets or if someone got told "Sorry, sold out".

 

[RedVines2001]

Thanks. I didn’t know this. Too bad there aren’t any OBB on my travel dates. Good to know for the future though

 

[Chereya]

Another observation I had is that there's way more people lining up for Early Entry than it seems there used to be in years past. Had to have been about 1000 hotel guests waiting in line for the DTD security check by the time 7am rolled around. I got in line at 6:40-6:45 and I was already 250 people deep. The other 700+ people came in after me, wrapping around the circle area and back into the hotel lobby. If you wait to go down to security right at 7am, you've waited too long to be FotL at the gates. I'd say I was about 15-20 people back from the DL front gates.

 

[nasmith]

Just got back from my stay in a 1BR at GVC for 3 nights. I requested a specific list of park view rooms and got none of them, lol. But after so many trips over the years, I don't mind not having a park view anymore. I rather more value the convenience of room placement and just happened to luck out with a fantastic room location right over the new park entrance by the Corn Dog Castle! It was room 2522 and it was right next to the stairwell when taken down to the ground floor put us right at the new entry gate. I didn't ever try it for park opening or Early Entry but at any other time of the day it was empty and fantastic! I will probably adjust my room preference list to now be closer to this stairwell or on the ground floor. This room is located in the corner tower just below the grand villas.
Apologies to @Nonsuch for using your room layout map to mark the stairwell. I had a heck of a time envisioning exactly where this new gate was before I had a chance to see with my own eyes. I hope this will be helpful for others View attachment 704639

Could you help me come up with a list of park-view studios? We are heading down next month for my 60th B-day ( first time in 12 years)- couldn't believe it when I was able to get 4 nights over my birthday at 7-mo!! Thanks!

 

[shaunacb]

I need to cancel a VGC reservation for next month, and thought I would see if any fellow VGC owners would like to try to coordinate and pick it up (assuming the waitlist doesn't grab it). It is a studio Nov 11-17, and one night in a 1BR Nov 13. PM me if you are interested.

 

[Chereya]

Could you help me come up with a list of park-view studios? We are heading down next month for my 60th B-day ( first time in 12 years)- couldn't believe it when I was able to get 4 nights over my birthday at 7-mo!! Thanks!

Happy early birthday to you!!

For studios with a park view, here's the list I recommend for requesting: 6504, 5504, 5510, 4504, 4510. Good luck!

 

[The_MT]

I need to cancel a VGC reservation for next month, and thought I would see if any fellow VGC owners would like to try to coordinate and pick it up (assuming the waitlist doesn't grab it). It is a studio Nov 11-17, and one night in a 1BR Nov 13. PM me if you are interested.

I'm interested! Sent you a PM

 

[KPeterso]

I need to cancel a VGC reservation for next month, and thought I would see if any fellow VGC owners would like to try to coordinate and pick it up (assuming the waitlist doesn't grab it). It is a studio Nov 11-17, and one night in a 1BR Nov 13. PM me if you are interested.

Not sure if it was because of you, but I just had a waitlist come through for a studio on 11/15. I had 11/16-18 on my other membership but had a few expiring (and previously banked) points on this contract membership, so I booked the additional single night. They called me as we had to discuss the points for it (cancelled my single night in January that I had trying to use these points) and borrowed 3 more and am now set!

 

[The_MT]

Not sure if it was because of you, but I just had a waitlist come through for a studio on 11/15. I had 11/16-18 on my other membership but had a few expiring (and previously banked) points on this contract membership, so I booked the additional single night. They called me as we had to discuss the points for it (cancelled my single night in January that I had trying to use these points) and borrowed 3 more and am now set!

Ooh congrats! I bet it did. @shaunacb coordinated with me last night but when she dropped the nights all the studio nights disappeared so we figured they fulfilled waitlist requests. Glad you got your extra night!

 

[AZMermaid]

I dropped 12/17 and 12/18 studio last night too. It didn’t appear so it must have gone to WL. Hope someone here for it!

 

[NVDISFamily]

Hi neighbors. We are looking into options for trying to take the kids to Oogie Boogie Bash in 2023 and I was thinking about booking a room for a weekend in September. Per this years calendar it seems like they do Oogie Boogie on Sundays starting in early September. Is it a safe bet that they will have the event on all Sundays in mid/late September?

Also, if I decided to book a local room off property for our drive in day and then transfer over to the Grand Cal to drop off our bags and park (to perhaps go into Disneyland for the day) how early am I allowed to park my car there and drop stuff off?

 

[Nonsuch]

...Is it a safe bet that they will have the event on all Sundays in mid/late September?

Very likely to be every Sunday. All parties sold out quickly this year, so perhaps even more parties next year.

...how early am I allowed to park my car there and drop stuff off?

I have checked-in and parked at 6AM

 

[KPeterso]

Also, if I decided to book a local room off property for our drive in day and then transfer over to the Grand Cal to drop off our bags and park (to perhaps go into Disneyland for the day) how early am I allowed to park my car there and drop stuff off?

I have arrived and checked in before 8 AM many times. Never had an issue. We typically arrive early morning as we are local so getting in early is easy and then we can hit the parks.

 

[mathgeek]

I have a question that may have been asked earlier, but 250 pages is a lot to sort through, so I'm going to ask...

I recently bought a small contract at VGC and I like to keep an accounting of what rack rates would have been for the same dates. But I know the DVC rooms are never really for sale to the general public b/c it's such a small resort that stays booked. So what would you consider a "similar" hotel room to be compared to a studio? Woods-Courtyard view maybe?

Thanks!

 

[VegasDisneyMom]

I have a question that may have been asked earlier, but 250 pages is a lot to sort through, so I'm going to ask...

I recently bought a small contract at VGC and I like to keep an accounting of what rack rates would have been for the same dates. But I know the DVC rooms are never really for sale to the general public b/c it's such a small resort that stays booked. So what would you consider a "similar" hotel room to be compared to a studio? Woods-Courtyard view maybe?

Thanks!

I think it also depends on the view. Some of the villa rooms have theme park views and theme park view rooms on the hotel side are a lot more expensive than woods-courtyard.

 

[Chereya]

I have a question that may have been asked earlier, but 250 pages is a lot to sort through, so I'm going to ask...

I recently bought a small contract at VGC and I like to keep an accounting of what rack rates would have been for the same dates. But I know the DVC rooms are never really for sale to the general public b/c it's such a small resort that stays booked. So what would you consider a "similar" hotel room to be compared to a studio? Woods-Courtyard view maybe?

Thanks!

When I want to do a comparison of my cost (original cost of each point + that year's maintenance fees) I calculate it against the current going rate for point rentals for the same room. At VGC this can be in the range of $22-24 per point. I travel with a family of 5 so for us, we would typically needed to have booked 2 traditional hotel rooms vs a 1 bedroom. Mainly because we need two bathrooms and the extra space is nice, too.

 

[mathgeek]

When I want to do a comparison of my cost (original cost of each point + that year's maintenance fees) I calculate it against the current going rate for point rentals for the same room. At VGC this can be in the range of $22-24 per point. I travel with a family of 5 so for us, we would typically needed to have booked 2 traditional hotel rooms vs a 1 bedroom. Mainly because we need two bathrooms and the extra space is nice, too.

I suppose that would be another way to look at it. But I've been keeping track of what the rack rates would've been for my DVC stays since 2007, so it would be hard to go back and redo that. Reality is that I probably wouldn't have been able to get many of my harder to get reservations as point rentals anyway b/c of what I book - standard view studio at BWV, studio in the summer at HHI, and things like that. Although I probably wouldn't have gotten them as cash bookings either. I just find it interesting to compare and see how much it would've cost me in cash for my reservations, but I likely wouldn't have booked them in reality and would've found less expensive options - like not even going to Aulani or Hilton Head at all, or staying at All-Stars at WDW on an AP discount, or staying at a Good Neighbor hotel on Harbor Blvd. at DL.

DVC has allowed me to travel in ways I definitely would not have without it, and I'm looking forward to using my own points at VGC!

 

[VegasDisneyMom]

I read in the VGF thread that people with handicap placards get free valet. Anyone know if this is true at VGC? I’m planning on paying as I always have, but was curious if I’ve been paying for a service that’s free for people with mobility issues since my son would qualify.