Feature Article: The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian - Disney Vacation Club Review - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > Welcome! > Using Your PassPorter: Tips and Answers > PassPorter News
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-26-2010, 05:20 PM   #1
PassPorter News
PassPorter Guide

Community Rank: Globetrotter
 
PassPorter News's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041

Post Thanks / Like
Feature Article: The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian - Disney Vacation Club Review

The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian - Disney Vacation Club Review
by Jane Price

Relatively new to the ever-expanding Disney Vacation Club are the Vacation Villas at the Grand Californian at Disneyland Resort. We are also relative newcomers to the vacation club as well, having purchased Bay Lake Towers in September 2009. We reserved a one bedroom villa at the Grand Californian which sleeps five people, for July 18-20, 2010. In retrospect, I wish we also stayed the 17th, so we could have attended the 55th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland. Nothing was done on Sunday, the 18th. Oh well.
You must check in at the Grand Californian reception desk, as online check in is not offered here as it is in Walt Disney World. The hotel is the flagship of the Disneyland Resort, so every detail here is stunning, from the soaring lobby with fireplace, to the inlaid stone floors that match the carpet design. This attention to detail carried over to the vacation villas as well.

The hotel is arranged in a squared-off circle surrounding the central theme pool, and is bordered by Disney’s California Adventure park on two sides. The vacation villas are located on the southern part of the circle, with southern exposure rooms overlooking Paradise Pier. Our room was in the extreme southeast part on the second floor, directly across from the Golden Zephyr ride and Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Now this is a real theme park view! Not like the so-called view we got at Bay Lake Towers a month before at a cost of extra points. The sun reflecting on the silver zephyr jets as the moved created a disco ball effect inside our villa. An added big bonus, we had a very good view of the new World of Color show every night. Currently, World of Color is running three times a night, so we were able to catch one or two shows every evening. The room décor echoes that of the rest of the hotel, early 20th century Arts and Crafts. The kitchen had granite countertops and a HUGE table, room for more than five. We had difficulty finding the extra bed. At Bay Lake Tower, the living room easy chair converts, but it was obviously not the case here. When the bellman delivered our luggage, I asked him where the bed was, but he didn't know, either. Later on, when trying to find the remote for the flat screen tv in the living room, I discovered a fold out bed in the large cabinet below the TV. This bed was large enough for a child 12 or under, but an adult over 5-foot tall would be pretty cramped.

There were two full bathrooms, which came in handy with a 14-year-old girl in tow. As with other DVC villas, there was a jetted tub and separate shower in the master bathroom. One big difference between here and the Florida villas is the lack of linens. In Florida, we always get two towels for every person, here it was only one. There was only one blanket for two beds, and only five pillows, total.

Being part of the hotel, we were able to enjoy the pool area of the Grand Californian. The area takes up pretty much the whole center of the hotel’s circle, with three pools and spas interspersed among the grass and trees. Inviting padded lounges are everywhere. The theme here reflects the mountainous northern part of the state, with lots of trees.

Again, a difference between the property here and the Florida vacation clubs; there is no playground area I could see and no community/activity room. The activity room was sorely missed since our children enjoyed doing crafts and playing games at Bay Lake Tower. However, we could take advantage of the hotel’s exclusive entrance to California Adventure, Downtown Disney was right outside our hotel, and it was a short five-minute walk to the Disneyland turnstiles.

We plan to return to the Villas in California next February, as they are really convenient, comfortable, and lovely. We hope we will get another truly theme park view.

Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 08-24-2010 08:08 AM

What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
PassPorter News is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2010, 06:13 PM   #2
Shari2137
Community Rank: Adventurer
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Southern California
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 653

Post Thanks / Like
Sounds wonderful - we are looking forward to our visit in November, which will be our first DVC visit. We fell in love with Grand Californian when we stayed there last May. I'm curious which room you were staying in, it sounds like a good one to put in as a request.

Thanks
Shari
__________________


My Countdown Counting down to: Return to Aulani
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsDLR many visits growing up, WDW June 2004, DLR May 2010 & Nov 2010, WDW Jan 2011, DLR May 2011 & Nov 2011, WDW Dec 2011 - BLT, WDW Feb 2012 - WLV & BWV, DLR May 2013, AKL & OKW Dec 2013, AKL May 2014 & SSR Oct 2014
Shari2137 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2010, 06:18 PM   #3
jimmymac
Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 35,829

Post Thanks / Like
Thanks for the review. We stayed there last Christmas and it is beautiful
__________________
Jim
My Countdown Counting down to:
My Previous Trips2015 BC, 2014 BC, 2014 BWI, 2013 BC, 2013 GF, 2012 BC, 2012 OKW, 2012 BWI, 2011 BWI, 2011 BC, 2010 BC, 2010 CSR, 2010 Kidani, 2009 GCV, 2009 BC, 2008 BWV, 2008 Grand Californian, 2008 BC, 2007 BWI, 2007 POFQ, 2007 Grand Californian, 2006 BC, 2006 POR, 2006 WL, 2005 BC, 2005 BWI, 2005 CBR, 2004 CR, 2004 GF, 2004 POFQ 2004 Poly, 2003 Poly, 2003 CSR, 2003 POR, 2002 AKL, 2002 GF, 2001 AKL, 2001 Poly, 2000 CBR, 1999 CBR, 1998 ASMo, 1997 ASMSp, 1996 ASMo, 1995 ASSp, 1991 Wyndham, 1989 off site, 1985 Off Site
jimmymac is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply




Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Feature Article: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa - A Resort Review PassPorter News PassPorter News 6 02-13-2011 12:28 AM
Feature Article: Disney's Grand Californian - A Hotel Review PassPorter News PassPorter News 0 01-25-2010 08:00 PM
Feature Article: The Turf Club at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort - A Dining Review PassPorter News PassPorter News 0 08-03-2009 06:40 PM
Feature Article: Disney Vacation Club - Disney's Best Kept Secret? PassPorter News PassPorter News 0 07-30-2009 02:10 PM










Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:51 AM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger