DisneyaHolic23
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2000
Travelers: Shannon (38) Super huge Disney Nut & Ron (39) Not such a Disney Nut, but a Good Sport!
Boy, have I been waiting for this trip!! We flew in to LAX at 10:00 AM, boarded the Airport Bus (boy were we lucky - only one other guest on the bus, so not many stops!), and were at the Grand Californian by 11:00. Better yet, our room was ready!! We checked in through the concierge lounge, and were in our room in about 20 minutes. Our room was beautiful - we had a view of California Screamin', The Maliboomer, The Sun Wheel, etc., as well as the GC pool. You could hear the sounds of the park as we sat on our balcony. What a glorious sound!! And, when we closed our door, the sound was gone! It was very quiet.
We stayed in our room, soaking up the elegance. It really is a great room.
Impressions of Concierge Service:
*The people in the lounge are REALLY nice - I was especially impressed with the pre-visit call from Janet to make reservations (we had Blue Bayou before even leaving home!);
*If you've stayed concierge at DW, you will be disappointed. There is next to nothing out during the day. You must ask for pop and water (in DW, we could just go in and get them), and it seemed like the food items were sparce.
*The continental breakfast was good (but no yogurt - a fellow guest was mildly complaining to us that she needed her yogurt!) - there were croissants (chocolate and butter), banana bread (delicious!), muffin tops, fruit, coffee, tea, juice, cereal, and bagels and cream cheese.
*There was limited seating - a couple of times we couldn't find seats. People were great about sharing tables.
*The wine and appetizers from 5-7 were fun(we never missed!), but limited. There was usually many cheese choices and crackers. Then, there was one appetizer - salmon mousse in a puff pastry, for example. There were many wine choices and champagne, and you could drink as much as you wanted. However, you didn't pour yourself - it was served.
*At DW I remember tipping being discouraged in the concierge lounge. That wasn't the case here, although there was no hinting. And the service was VERY good. I just didn't think about tipping at first, because our tips were refused in DW - I was embarrassed when I saw them accept tips from others - luckily that was on the first day, so we tipped from then on.
*I wish there had been a DVD movie list in our room. We had a DVD player in our room, and could check out DVD's in the lounge, but you had to go to their desk and look in the drawer to see what was available.
*Once, a reservation that had been promised wasn't made (or the restaurant lost it).
*Maybe it was because we were adults, but housekeeping didn't make any cute animals out of washclothes in our rooms.
*We left a gold cross in our room, and didn't discover it until this morning - when I called, it had been turned in, and will be mailed to us. I love Disney!!
Downtown Disney - After checking in, we decided to explore Downtown Disney. My husband likes a leisurely pace, and if I want future vacations to be at Disney, I have to be mindful of ignoring my desire to GO-GO-GO!! We had lunch at House of Blues (about the same as other HOB, food quality-wise). We explored the World of Disney - HUGE!! We played our free $10 playing card at ESPN (it came with our 3-day Hopper Pass from AAA - which also explains why we didn't go directly to a park - we are there for four days, with a 3-day Hopper).
We rested around the pool, until our dinner reservation at Napa Rose. I had planned to have the wine pairing dinner, but the choices weren't my favorites (I am really unpicky, but the wine pairing dinner has no choices - I expected to choose from two appetizers, salad or soup, a meat or seafood entree, two desserts...That wasn't the case - just one choice). We decided to share an appetizer plate, and then my husband had the three kinds of pork (he said it was extraordinary), and I had the salmon (also very good). For dessert, we shared a chocolate pate - very rich! Our waiter was more fun than we expected in a high class restaurant!
Tomorrow we hit California Adventure, and I share the secret of the burnt popcorn smell!!
Boy, have I been waiting for this trip!! We flew in to LAX at 10:00 AM, boarded the Airport Bus (boy were we lucky - only one other guest on the bus, so not many stops!), and were at the Grand Californian by 11:00. Better yet, our room was ready!! We checked in through the concierge lounge, and were in our room in about 20 minutes. Our room was beautiful - we had a view of California Screamin', The Maliboomer, The Sun Wheel, etc., as well as the GC pool. You could hear the sounds of the park as we sat on our balcony. What a glorious sound!! And, when we closed our door, the sound was gone! It was very quiet.
We stayed in our room, soaking up the elegance. It really is a great room.
Impressions of Concierge Service:
*The people in the lounge are REALLY nice - I was especially impressed with the pre-visit call from Janet to make reservations (we had Blue Bayou before even leaving home!);
*If you've stayed concierge at DW, you will be disappointed. There is next to nothing out during the day. You must ask for pop and water (in DW, we could just go in and get them), and it seemed like the food items were sparce.
*The continental breakfast was good (but no yogurt - a fellow guest was mildly complaining to us that she needed her yogurt!) - there were croissants (chocolate and butter), banana bread (delicious!), muffin tops, fruit, coffee, tea, juice, cereal, and bagels and cream cheese.
*There was limited seating - a couple of times we couldn't find seats. People were great about sharing tables.
*The wine and appetizers from 5-7 were fun(we never missed!), but limited. There was usually many cheese choices and crackers. Then, there was one appetizer - salmon mousse in a puff pastry, for example. There were many wine choices and champagne, and you could drink as much as you wanted. However, you didn't pour yourself - it was served.
*At DW I remember tipping being discouraged in the concierge lounge. That wasn't the case here, although there was no hinting. And the service was VERY good. I just didn't think about tipping at first, because our tips were refused in DW - I was embarrassed when I saw them accept tips from others - luckily that was on the first day, so we tipped from then on.
*I wish there had been a DVD movie list in our room. We had a DVD player in our room, and could check out DVD's in the lounge, but you had to go to their desk and look in the drawer to see what was available.
*Once, a reservation that had been promised wasn't made (or the restaurant lost it).
*Maybe it was because we were adults, but housekeeping didn't make any cute animals out of washclothes in our rooms.
*We left a gold cross in our room, and didn't discover it until this morning - when I called, it had been turned in, and will be mailed to us. I love Disney!!
Downtown Disney - After checking in, we decided to explore Downtown Disney. My husband likes a leisurely pace, and if I want future vacations to be at Disney, I have to be mindful of ignoring my desire to GO-GO-GO!! We had lunch at House of Blues (about the same as other HOB, food quality-wise). We explored the World of Disney - HUGE!! We played our free $10 playing card at ESPN (it came with our 3-day Hopper Pass from AAA - which also explains why we didn't go directly to a park - we are there for four days, with a 3-day Hopper).
We rested around the pool, until our dinner reservation at Napa Rose. I had planned to have the wine pairing dinner, but the choices weren't my favorites (I am really unpicky, but the wine pairing dinner has no choices - I expected to choose from two appetizers, salad or soup, a meat or seafood entree, two desserts...That wasn't the case - just one choice). We decided to share an appetizer plate, and then my husband had the three kinds of pork (he said it was extraordinary), and I had the salmon (also very good). For dessert, we shared a chocolate pate - very rich! Our waiter was more fun than we expected in a high class restaurant!
Tomorrow we hit California Adventure, and I share the secret of the burnt popcorn smell!!
