Disneyland Hotel - Booked and have a few questions

[KCmike]

We are a family of five. How big is the day bed?
What are the pool hours? How late does it stay open?
How big is the hot tub? I've only seen one picture and couldn't tell.
Which restaurant is the best? For a family? For just me and my wife if I was to surprise her?
Is there anyway to pool hop over to Grand Californian?
Are there any other amenities from DL Hotel?
Any websites I should check out to see more?

We decided to splurge on a Disney hotel this time around. It was really the buy 3 get two free that helped us move from a good neighbor hotel. We plan on going to Yosemite for a couple of days before hand and then driving down. What time is check in there?
I understand that it is older and a little tired looking in some areas. I am going in with a little lowered expectations. We usually stay at Port Orleans Riverside (Alligator Bayou portion) and we really love it there. Are there any food courts?

Anything I should do at Grand Californian other than just visit the lobby and take a look around?

Thanks everyone!

 

[mechurchlady]

You can charge stuff to your room key at cash registers but not at places without cash registers.

You will be able to go through the Grand Californian and enter DCA via the GCH entrance into DCA.

Napa Rose is a fine place to take the wife.

 

[blackjackdelta]

There is a recent thread about the pool hoping and it appears a NO. Someone stated they were checking your hotel "ID's". I would do Napa Rose in the GCH or Steakhouse 55 in the DLH.

Jack

 

[wendypooh22]

Yes the hotel is older, but I find the special touches in the room really nice and they add to the “magic”. The resort fee includes entrance into the fitness center, parking in the hotel parking lot (not valet) internet in the room and because you are a guest of the hotel, you can use Magic Morning (early entry) each day that it is available – even on your check in day!

The grounds are nice and we love to go to the waterfalls (especially at night) and my boys like to drive the little boats. There are times during the week when you can go and feed the KOI fish.

The daybed is a twin sized bed and an adult could sleep on it if needed. You can also request a roll away at no extra charge.

We like to take the family to Naples in DTD for dinner – Good food, portion size and reasonable prices. For lunch we usually go to whitewater snacks in the GCH. I would also suggest Steakhouse 55 (located at the DLH) for a nice dinner with your wife.

I cannot remember if check-in is at 3 or 4 pm, but you can always check in early and hold your baggage at the bell desk. You can check back with the hotel later in the day to see if your room is ready. On a couple of our trips, we have checked in early (7 – 10 am) and our room was ready. The CM was kind enough to give us our keys and we went directly to our room before heading over to the park.

Your key to the magic will be given to you at check-in. This will be used for early entry and charging to your room. Like the previous post, it can only be used where credit cards are accepted. You can also have your in park purchases delivered to you at the hotel and they will be waiting for you at the bell desk.

Have a great trip!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We really loved it there......someone commented that the rooms had been refurbished since their stay.

I have quite a few pics from the hotel & grounds in my TR (link below in signature)
Page 9, Post #124 & #134 & #136
Page 13, Post #193
Page 16, Post #230 & #232

Maybe that will give you a better idea of the "magic" we felt while staying there!!!

 

[GRandPsMommy]

We are a family of five. How big is the day bed?

We just stayed the beging of the month and are also a family of 5. We fit in the room very nicely the daybed is twin size plus you can get a twin size roll away at no charge and there is a pack and play play pen in the closet of the room if you need.

What are the pool hours? How late does it stay open?

The poolhours were 11-10 I think I know until 10 for sure because we had two hours after park closing to go to the pool.

How big is the hot tub? I've only seen one picture and couldn't tell.

The hot tub is a pretty good size I would say maybe 15-20 could sit in there. As a side note there is a jet at the back of the hot tub that will hit your feet or calves and it feels very good.

Are there any other amenities from DL Hotel?

You can do a early check in and get a card with a number and be able to call off and all if you want to see if a room isand may get one early we got ours by noon. We asked for the dreams tower and were told at 730 in the morning we could have a 3rd floor room and at noon my husband called and asked if we could get a highr floor and wegit a ninth floor room facing DTD. The pool has towels so no need to take own towels down to the pool. We did not found out until we got home but I guess you can ask for autograohed pictures from the desk.

Our room was very nice and big and we were very pleased with it only complaint with room was the refrigerator did not cool well. I went a little over board with pictures from the hotel but if you would like I can post the link for my pictures for you.

 

[KCmike]

GRandPsMommy please post away....I would love to see your pictures.

Which would you guys do if your wife's sister was able to watch your kids:
1. Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour
or
2. Nice dinner at Steakouse 55 or Napa Rose

Do you only get in early on certain days at the resort hotels?
What time do you usually get in? How early? Do you walk in the main gate in front of others?

Would you take the monorail into the park vs. the main gate? Does it help at all at opening time?

Does the hot tub only have one jet? Confused.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

[kaoden39]

Congratualtions on your choice. I love the DLH. Here is a picture of the pool from the room we stayed in last time we went to Disneyland.

 

[GRandPsMommy]

GRandPsMommy please post away....I would love to see your pictures.
http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b241/coreybdgr/Disney 2009/?albumview=grid

Which would you guys do if your wife's sister was able to watch your kids:
1. Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour
or
2. Nice dinner at Steakouse 55 or Napa Rose

I have yet to do any of these so not sure,,,

Do you only get in early on certain days at the resort hotels?
What time do you usually get in? How early? Do you walk in the main gate in front of others?

If you are talking about Magic Mornings it is on S and T days of the week and you would line up at the front gates...Other people would be using their MM also...MM is 1 hour brfore park opens..

Would you take the monorail into the park vs. the main gate? Does it help at all at opening time?

THe momorail can not start running until the gates open at the reagular opening time and runs every ten or so minutes we never used it to go in first thing in the morning...We did use it though to go back after going to the hotel foir jackets or what not...

Does the hot tub only have one jet? Confused.

Sorry for the confusion there are many jets that hit about mid back but the one at the back of the hot tub hits at the leg level and back at the same time...There is also a jet by the stairs that shoots out cool water if you get to hot and it is not busy...

 

[KCmike]

Thanks kaoden39...that shot of the pool is impressive.

Thanks GRandPsMommy for all your shots. They were great!

I was hoping that there were several days you could get into the parks earlier...oh well. Are there food courts/areas inside each tower of DL Hotel? Do they all have walkout balconies?

 

[kaoden39]

Thanks kaoden39...that shot of the pool is impressive.

Thanks GRandPsMommy for all your shots. They were great!

I was hoping that there were several days you could get into the parks earlier...oh well. Are there food courts/areas inside each tower of DL Hotel? Do they all have walkout balconies?

The only tower that actually has anything in it is the main tower that used to be called the Marina Tower. The other towers don't have anything like tah but it is all in the center or like Goofy's Kitchen and the coffee shop in another tower all together.

The balcony if you can really call it that is at most six inches wide. There is no sitting out there.

I hope this helps. Oh and thank you. My niece took that picture.

 

[KCmike]

Thanks everyone. I love to plan and to learn as much ahead of time as possible. If anybody else has stayed there and has information please post away.

 

[mechurchlady]

The only tower that actually has anything in it is the main tower that used to be called the Marina Tower. The other towers don't have anything like tah but it is all in the center or like Goofy's Kitchen and the coffee shop in another tower all together.

The balcony if you can really call it that is at most six inches wide. There is no sitting out there.

I hope this helps. Oh and thank you. My niece took that picture.

It is a french Balcony thus legally it is still a balcony, lol. French balconies have a railing and little or no actual balcony. Nice for advertising and they do have fresh air. I saw a french balcony upstairs inside the LA county fairgrounds of all places.

http://www.sylvanscustomironworks.com/albums/stairs/french_balcony_rail3.jpg

http://www.jamaicajim.com/brz-bah/images/balconys.jpg

 

[Queenbillabong]

Which would you guys do if your wife's sister was able to watch your kids:
1. Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour

or

2. Nice dinner at Steakouse 55 or Napa Rose

Do you only get in early on certain days at the resort hotels?

This depends on you. The Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour is very nice (not romantic at all though ). It is about 3 or so hours and you get a little history, go on a few attractions, see the Tiki Room (this is kind of neat because you get to see one of the first animatronic flowers - Ophelia!). At the end you will get a sandwich lunch/dinner. The dinner would be more romantic, so it depends on what you want......... Both would be great!

To clarify, the Magic Mornings are available on several days of the week. The T and S days are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. You can enter DL at the main gates one hour before park opening.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

GRandPsMommy please post away....I would love to see your pictures.

Which would you guys do if your wife's sister was able to watch your kids:
1. Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour
or
2. Nice dinner at Steakouse 55 or Napa Rose

I just wanted to reply to this part of the question. I guess I would choose them based on if my wife was a Disney lover.

I am a Disney lover so I personally would love to do a Walk in Walt's Footsteps. You get to see the lobby of Club 33. I also love to learn new things. So the tour would win out for me.

I'm actually planning the Segway tour for my husband. He is not much into tours but this one has a Segaway. So I hope the cool factor wins him over.

But, if your wife isn't like me, a really nice dinner date would be perfect. I have heard wonderful things about Napa Rose.

We have stayed at the DLH and the daybed fit my nephew who was 12, just fine. My DD also slept on one and it was good for her too. She was 7 at the time.

We never used the monorail to go in. We just walked.

We did use our Magical Morning both days that we were allowed to. One morning just my son was up so I took him with me. We had a blast doing stuff that no one else would like. We rode The Matterhorn 4 times in a row without having to get off. We also rode all the transportation on Main Street.

 

[KAYELIZ]

There's a great video of the Disneyland Hotel on YouTube -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhw_9tJu4OE

 

[charmama4]

Congratualtions on your choice. I love the DLH. Here is a picture of the pool from the room we stayed in last time we went to Disneyland.

ooohhh aaaahhhh. Love the view!!!

 

[kaoden39]

It is a french Balcony thus legally it is still a balcony, lol. French balconies have a railing and little or no actual balcony. Nice for advertising and they do have fresh air. I saw a french balcony upstairs inside the LA county fairgrounds of all places.

http://www.sylvanscustomironworks.com/albums/stairs/french_balcony_rail3.jpg

http://www.jamaicajim.com/brz-bah/images/balconys.jpg

I never knew that thank you. It's very interesting.

 

[Melynny]

We just returned , The main tower, where Check IN is and where the previous pics were taken is now called the Magic tower, the tower that faces DTD/Pool is the Dreams tower and the last tower that faces parking lot/DVC welcome center/ Pool is the Wonder Tower.

 

[Hound 109]

Mike, I haven't stayed at the DLH, but will try to answer a couple of your questions. See below:

Nice dinner at Steakouse 55 or Napa Rose?

I'd post this question on it's own....you'll get alot of responses. I've heard Napa is the one.....but haven't done it.

Do you only get in early on certain days at the resort hotels?

You get early entry on Tues./Thurs./Sat/Sun. Since you're staying at a DLR hotel you have the priviledge each (of these) days you stay...both departure day AND arrival day if you want to.

What time do you usually get in?

One hour before DL park opening.

How early?

As early as 7am on 8am opening days.

Do you walk in the main gate in front of others?

You go to the main gate & go to one of the many designated MM turnstiles.

Would you take the monorail into the park vs. the main gate?

If going for MM or Gen. Admission opening, it's best to walk to the main gate. If you're sleeping in (or coming or returning in the late morning/afternoon,) take the monorail.

Does it help at all at opening time?

Folks who walk will get to the rides & FP machines several minutes ahead of the Monorail riders.


Thanks for all the replies so far.

Have a great time. I'd love to hear how POR & the DLH compare. (pool, theming, etc.)