Disney Grand Hotel

[cdnmomoftwo]

Is it worthwhile paying the extra for the hotel? I was thinking of spending 1/2 the trip at a good neighbour hotel and then spending the last few days at the GC as a treat. Are there any perks for staying at a Disney hotel? The kids are under 5.
Thanks

 

[drag n' fly]

Is it worthwhile paying the extra for the hotel? I was thinking of spending 1/2 the trip at a good neighbour hotel and then spending the last few days at the GC as a treat. Are there any perks for staying at a Disney hotel? The kids are under 5.
Thanks

For years I could have cared less and did not mind staying offsite it was a place to sleep...however we went to WDW in February and stayed onsite and will never stay offsite again. For US it is worth every penny. Staying onsite really makes the vacation complete for us. The themeing, the amenities we love it all. If you stay at the GC or any Disney hotel you can go to all EE (early entries) you get direct access to DCA (California Adventure)as the hotel is litertally right in DCA so you avoid line ups. You can have purchases delivered to your hotel and charge to your hotel. Onsite restaurants are usually Disney themed with Character meals. At the GC they have special activities planned for the kids. Childcare is available (check age restrictions). It really completes our Disney experience. We love it so much we are buying DVC in 5 days! A lot will argue about the cost but it really makes your holiday special! IMHO

 

[jenksdj]

All of the perks that drag n' fly mentioned, plus if your kids are under 5, the DLH is pretty magical. If you can afford it, I would do every day at a DLR hotel. My only advice would be that if you're going to split your stay, make sure you do the good neighbour hotel first and the DLR hotel last. You will appreciate the good neighbour hotel a lot more if you're not constantly comparing it to the DLR hotel that you just checked out of!

And that's my 2 cents worth, since you asked.

 

[DangerMouse]

IMHO it's not worth it. I've stayed at both the GCH and DLH. If I were to return to one, I'd pick the DLH, but only if I got a KILLER rate. My favorite off-site hotel is the HoJo.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We stayed there in Oct, only because we got the Gay Day's rate of $209 a night. Otherwise no, I don't think it's worth over $350-400 a night. It's a beautiful hotel, and I love all the perks. But I can't say it's worth that much.

We normally will stay at the DLH with a rate around $250 a night. Which is still really high IMO, but way better then twice that amount!

 

[CoolPool]

Love the Disney Hotels. Ambiance. Pools. Theming. Friendliness. EE perks. You are in the Disney magic bubble where even the princesses give you a good night story (on TV).

 

[Wendi2000]

Is it worthwhile paying the extra for the hotel? I was thinking of spending 1/2 the trip at a good neighbour hotel and then spending the last few days at the GC as a treat. Are there any perks for staying at a Disney hotel? The kids are under 5.
Thanks

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Disney's Grand Californian... I would stay there every trip if I had the money. However, I don't have the money!!! hahaha I only think it's worth it to stay there if I get a really, really good rate. Otherwise I can't justify the expense.

 

[DL4my2kids]

Last year was our first year as a family and we stayed at DL hotel. This year we are staying at GCH. As of right now, we only go once a year so we'll continue to stay on site but if our trips get more frequent, we'll consider off site. This trip we are going to check some of the off site ones listed here on this site as favorites.

 

[GrumpyCAdad]

I have stayed at the GCH twice and the PPH once. My wife LOVES the GCH, but this upcoming trip, I don't really think we could afford it. We may stay off site, or if we get a good rate, the PPH again. It's going to be a trip where we celebrate out 10 yr wedding anniversary, plus we both turn 40 within 5 days. Maybe they'll give us a free upgrade, LOL...

 

[cjsmom5]

We have stayed at all three Disneyland Resort Hotels. This year we stayed offsite at the Hyatt for one night before going to the DLH. We found that the condition of the room at the Hyatt as well as the bedding and bathroom amenities were much nicer at the Hyatt. We kept thinking of the extra money we spent staying on site vs. the condition of the room, etc. and almost concluded that we could take a cab to/from, etc. and it would be less expensive and give us a similar experience. So, now we are torn as to where we will stay in the future. The rates at the DLR properties have really gone up in the last several years ... so we are starting to look at off-site hotels since we don't typically go during busy seasons.