Since its opening in January 2001, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel has often been described as the crown jewel of the Disneyland Resort complex.  One feature in particular separates the Grand Californian from its fellow Disneyland resort hotels... that being its exclusive entry gate directly into Disney's California Adventure theme park. Soon the Grand Californian will earn another distinction-the first of Disney's west-coast resorts to house Disney Vacation Club villas.

On a recent trip to Disneyland, Walt Disney Imagineering Director of Design, Resorts and Facilities Development Mike Montague was kind enough to give us a personal tour of the Grand Californian Villa model rooms, discussing many aspects of the resort expansion and DVC villa design. Montague is a 20-year Imagineering veteran who has played an integral role in creating the Grand Californian expansion.

Well, we're back from our Disneyland / Grand Californian scounting trip!  Fortunately for our readers, it was a working vacation.  Courtesy of several meetings with Disney Vacation Club and Walt Disney Imagineering execs, we're going to have a ton of new information to share this week regarding the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Resort and Spa. 

And just to whet your appetite, here's some brand new concept artwork for the Grand Californian villas:

Artist Rendering--Proposed Construction
(Artwork copyright 2008 Disney)

Not bad, eh?

If you put this image side-by-side with the previously released concept art you will probably see some design differences between the two.  Why the differences?  Check back tomorrow and we'll explain--or rather we'll let a Disney Imagineer explain.