Cabana Help

[lunaland]

So we are heading down to Disneyland October 16th to the 20th. Staying at PPH. 2 adults, 2 kids (5,9). Had planned on renting a cabana at DLH in the afternoon for arrival day followed by dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. 17th DCA, 18th DL, 19th MHP, 20th Character breakfast at PPH and fly home. I've been calling for a few weeks now and they didn't have the ability to book that date yet. Called this morning and they are sold out! I was able to reserve one at the GCH but I'm having serious second thoughts. We love the DLH, and prefer to stay there. We especially like the pools and atmosphere of the pool area at DLH. Would have stayed there, but we need the guaranteed sleeper sofa that only the PPH offers. Not sure the pool at the Grand would be as magical for the kids (our biggest priority). This is their first real trip to DLR. They are my friends Grandkids and likely won't be back anytime soon.

If we decide to skip the cabana idea, other thoughts?? I thought about an extra night at MHP but with early flights and even earlier wake ups, that seems like it could be rough.

Thanks for any feedback!!

 

[BriannaRuth]

You know you can stay at the DLH and do the cabana at the GCH, right?

I agree, the GCH pool, while great for adults, is not as good as the DLH pool for kids that age. I'd keep calling; you never can tell when they'll get a cancellation.

Have you done the new virtual reality place in DtD? Kids that age might enjoy it.

 

[alvernon90]

This is a real dilemma. I don't think I'd waste the money on a cabana at GCH because their pool isn't nearly as awesome for children. Would it be possible to get a room at DLH just for the day to get pool access? You would also have a spot to change and get cleaned up for dinner. At the rate they're charging for GCH cabanas it might not be that much more expensive, but I don't know. Just a thought.

Have you tried calling to see if they will confirm a room with a sleeper sofa at DLH? They are pretty accommodating, and several rooms have them. And is the sleeper sofa really guaranteed, or could the kids share a bed? It just seems to me that what you really want here is to stay at DLH, so maybe consider what compromises you might make -- and they could be "just in case" compromises because you might get the sleeper sofa anyway. DLH is the best, go for it if you can!

 

[whoever]

Ugh... yeah, we always call FIRST THING the day they open. We've had Cabana #2 at the DLH pools 4 times I think now. It's perfect and our favorite. I honestly don't think you'd have a great time at the GCH cabanas. The kids will want to be in the redwood pool and that's not exactly right there for where they have the cabanas placed. Honestly they should have them on the East end of the pools fronting both the Redwood pool and the Fountain pool, instead of over by the Mariposa and Hot Tub but hey, I don't run that hotel.

 

[whoever]

This is a real dilemma. I don't think I'd waste the money on a cabana at GCH because their pool isn't nearly as awesome for children. Would it be possible to get a room at DLH just for the day to get pool access? You would also have a spot to change and get cleaned up for dinner. At the rate they're charging for GCH cabanas it might not be that much more expensive, but I don't know. Just a thought.

Have you tried calling to see if they will confirm a room with a sleeper sofa at DLH? They are pretty accommodating, and several rooms have them. And is the sleeper sofa really guaranteed, or could the kids share a bed? It just seems to me that what you really want here is to stay at DLH, so maybe consider what compromises you might make -- and they could be "just in case" compromises because you might get the sleeper sofa anyway. DLH is the best, go for it if you can!

Every room I've had in the Adventure Tower (with the exception of the Adventureland suite) had a sleeper sofa in it.

 

[Nonsuch]

...I honestly don't think you'd have a great time at the GCH cabanas. The kids will want to be in the redwood pool and that's not exactly right there for where they have the cabanas placed. Honestly they should have them on the East end of the pools fronting both the Redwood pool and the Fountain pool, instead of over by the Mariposa and Hot Tub but hey, I don't run that hotel.

I don’t run GCH either, but suspect the cabanas are deliberately placed away from the Redwood Pool (and away from the noise of the redwood slide) — which makes it hard to monitor kids on the slide.

Every room I've had in the Adventure Tower (with the exception of the Adventureland suite) had a sleeper sofa in it.

The OP might want to book a party of 5, and should be assigned a room with 2 queens and sleeper sofa (or sleeper chair or daybed).

 

[whoever]

I don’t run GCH either, but suspect the cabanas are deliberately placed away from the Redwood Pool (and away from the noise of the redwood slide) — which makes it hard to monitor kids on the slide.

At DLH, the cabanas have 1-3 by the Monorail Pool AND 4-6 by the E-ticket pool. That is the ideal setup IMHO. We LOVE #2, but may move to 4-6 at some point as the kids age and want to use the E-ticket more than they want to use the Monorail slides. I imagine most of the action is going to be by the Redwood Pool at the Grand and every time we've used the pools at the Grand, the girls are in the Redwood and we are on chairs fronting it. The cabanas at the Grand would CONSTANTLY have the kids outside of our view whereas at the DLH, we can just lay in the chairs and find them on the monorail structure or in the splash pool. Makes for more relaxation.

 

[emmybee]

Just curious: how soon do you have to start calling to make a reservation for the cabanas?

 

[whoever]

Just curious: how soon do you have to start calling to make a reservation for the cabanas?

60 IIRC.

 

[otten]

Just curious: how soon do you have to start calling to make a reservation for the cabanas?

60 though in our case they hadn’t opened up booking right at 60 so we had to call back a few times.

 

[lunaland]

Have you tried calling to see if they will confirm a room with a sleeper sofa at DLH? They are pretty accommodating, and several rooms have them. And is the sleeper sofa really guaranteed, or could the kids share a bed? It just seems to me that what you really want here is to stay at DLH, so maybe consider what compromises you might make -- and they could be "just in case" compromises because you might get the sleeper sofa anyway. DLH is the best, go for it if you can!

I have tried to confirm a couch in the past at DLH, and have been accomdated all but one time. But they always tell me it's just a request. But that's always been with a reservation with 1 or 2 people. The kids will be sharing a bed, the couch is for me (lol). I have an old back injury, and the only way I can sleep thru the night is on a couch. At home, as well. Otherwise I wake up with the lower half of my body numb and the upper half pretty sore. But you are right, we really do prefer the DLH. I think we may just go for it!

The OP might want to book a party of 5, and should be assigned a room with 2 queens and sleeper sofa (or sleeper chair or daybed).

Is that truly an option? We would really like to stay at the DLH but need that couch. The kids Aunt is spending 1 day with us but not staying the night, I suppose I could just add her name?

 

[lunaland]

Thank you everyone, I think we will be cancelling the cabana at the Grand and looking into just switching hotels to the DLH after all