Are there any ground floor rooms at onsite hotels?

[shuteye]

My aunt is deathly afraid of elevators and we're hoping we can find an onsite hotel which has ground floors??

 

[1945MB]

Yes, Grand Californian has some and also has second floor rooms with a staircase near the bell desk. Hope this helps.

 

[shuteye]

Yes, Grand Californian has some and also has second floor rooms with a staircase near the bell desk. Hope this helps.

Perfect! Thank you!

 

[Nonsuch]

...Grand Californian has some and also has second floor rooms with a staircase near the bell desk.

There are only 15 ground floor rooms (not counting villas), all are located at the South end of the hotel.

Second floor rooms are more abundant, but areas over DTD do not have second floor rooms. The stairs to the second floor off the lobby have a beautiful design, but there are also enclosed stairwells throughout the hotel reaching all floors (although not so beautiful).

OP: If your aunt is OK using stairs the GCH should easily be able to accommodate your requests for a ground floor or second floor room. If you aunt must have a ground floor room, you might need to "escalate" the issue since your need a guaranteed ground floor room. The GCH does not guarantee requests (view, bed type...), however Handicap Accessible reservations are guaranteed. Inform the hotel in advance about your special needs.

 

[shuteye]

There are only 15 ground floor rooms (not counting villas), all are located at the South end of the hotel.

Second floor rooms are more abundant, but areas over DTD do not have second floor rooms. The stairs to the second floor off the lobby have a beautiful design, but there are also enclosed stairwells throughout the hotel reaching all floors (although not so beautiful).

OP: If your aunt is OK using stairs the GCH should easily be able to accommodate your requests for a ground floor or second floor room. If you aunt must have a ground floor room, you might need to "escalate" the issue since your need a guaranteed ground floor room. The GCH does not guarantee requests (view, bed type...), however Handicap Accessible reservations are guaranteed. Inform the hotel in advance about your special needs.

Thanks for the info! Is the south end a good location or is it a far away close to nothing?

 

[Nonsuch]

...Is the south end a good location or is it a far away close to nothing?

If you look at a satellite view of the resort, the south end of the GCH is nearest the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure. There are detailed maps of the VGC (the DVC timeshare villas) linked in my signature, which also include the ground floor hotel rooms you are requesting. All ground floor rooms have a small patio with a table and chairs, most face Paradise Pier (near Goofy's Sky School) -- the area is nicely landscaped and almost no one walks in this area.

This is overall the most distant wing of the hotel, but guest in the rooms over DTD must walk similar distances (due to the location of the elevators). These rooms have excellent access to the pools. I love staying in the villas, which are all in this area

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

We ended up in a ground floor room in the south wing of GC after a reservation mix-up a couple years ago. (They had us reserved for bunk beds...no.) I was hesitant at first, in part because our view was basically of a high brick wall that separated us from DCA and because I usually think of ground floor rooms as noisy.

But the location was actually really nice. We were close to the pool and the main lobby, but there was very little foot traffic by our room or our patio. It was quiet except for the occasional, rhythmic shriek of people going around a corner on Goofy's Sky School, which was right next to our room. Even that never really bothered us. By the end, it made us smile, because it was a reminder that the magic was right outside our window. (And over a wall.)

 

[Nonsuch]

...our view was basically of a high brick wall that separated us from DCA...

The wall is still there, but some climbing plants have grown to cover it
View of the area (October 2013):

A 360 video of the area (February 2010)

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

The wall is still there, but some climbing plants have grown to cover it
View of the area (October 2013):

A 360 video of the area (February 2010)

And that top level turn on Goofy's Sky School lead to a repetive "Ah!" sound that still makes me smile to think of it.