disneyland hotel vs grand ca

[MeRSiamese]

...I loved being able to open up the sliding glass door to get fresh air and lean over the railing to watch the fireworks, I will miss that when all of the rooms are renovated....

And this is precisely why this visit will be our last stay at the DLH.
Losing the precious ability of being able to stand at the railing with coffee in hand and "drink it all in" - rather than thru a blue fishbowl glass is heartbreaking...
(That and the horrific mini-waterpark monorail pool going in right in the middle of the towers!) Gah...

 

[KCmike]

GC = Location, location, location

 

[rentayenta]

2 weeks ago I would have voted for the Disneyland Hotel but not anymore. I am a true convert to the GCV! It is pure magic. I have seen holiday lobby pics and it looks amazing. We stayed in a 2 bedroom villa which is obviously bigger and more deluxe but their standard rooms are nice too.

The GC is a resort. The Disneyland Hotel is a hotel.

 

[DaisyLuvr]

Having stayed at all three, I recently came to the conclusion that the PPH is my favorite hotel of them all. I was very unimpressed with the GCH. Thankfully I had a steller AP rate otherwise it would NOT have happened and I would have been even less happy with my stay. But more to the OP's original question. This last Christmas I stayed at the PPH with my niece who is the same age as your DD (according to your sig) and she was in LOVE with the hotel! There were fun Disney Touches but not in your face. It had a BEAUTIFUL TREE in the lobby, I can PM you a photo if you would like to see and we got a free upgrade! Who doesn't love that!
The turndown also left us free snowflake ricekrispy treats! She was over the moon and loved the PPH over the other two by far. Just one opinion though!

 

[nunzia]

I love the Grand, and yes, there are little Disney touches. I don't really find the rooms small. I love the look of the remodeled DLH rooms..look very Walt-centric and I'm a Walt fan, so will want to stay there one day. I actually stayed there once, but that was in the 60's so can't really count that.

 

[Jenna319]

I can't wait to stay at GC for the 1st time in September! Its just DH and myself so I dont care if the room is small, we are just there to sleep. Location is the key thing for us and the pool looks wonderful! Cannot wait!

 

[kelmac284]

I have stayed at all three as well and I must say that I prefer the PP as well. The last two times we stayed at DLH and the GRAND we got stuck in microscopic rooms and we just got back from the grand and we were put in the farthest room we could possibly get from the elevator. We literally had to walk almost a mile. It was awful! It was my birthday and I had to ask twice just for a pin and got NOTHING from them. At paradise pier it was my mom's and she got balloons a lovely cake made of towels with a picture of mini and free photopass photo and we both got two mickey rice krispie treats. It was SO much nicer AND the rooms were MUCH bigger. The pool is the least themed and it is a bit farther away but I was VERY happy with it.

The Grand is the closest and the DLH probably has the best themeing but money wise I would pick PP any day because the rooms were the best and they were VERY friendly and helpful!

 

[jodeja]

What floor were you on?
How high would you say would be a good view, but not so high you are too far up? I was hoping to be able to be above the trees, but not so above everything as to be removed from the "action" below so to speak!!!

QUOTE]

We were on the 5th floor. I would say that is the level that you described: high enough but not too high.
Our room, 2325, did have a somewhat disappointing view of a parking lot. But there were quite a few trees so it wasn't too stark. And I was surprised that we had a perfect view of the fireworks ~ that made it worth it.
I am guessing that you could be in the same tower, same floor but on the other side of the building and have a nice view of the pool.
I hope you get the room that you are hoping for!

 

[jodeja]

And this is precisely why this visit will be our last stay at the DLH.
Losing the precious ability of being able to stand at the railing with coffee in hand and "drink it all in" - rather than thru a blue fishbowl glass is heartbreaking...
(That and the horrific mini-waterpark monorail pool going in right in the middle of the towers!) Gah...

I was glad to stay in one of the "old" rooms - both because it will likely be our last chance to stay in one and because I like the old rooms. I find them to be light & bright and homey feeling. The pictures of the new rooms look slightly too modern and dark but I am sure I would love them once inside one - minus the lack of the sliding glass door of course! I showed my boys pictures of the new rooms online and they both wanted to get a non-renovated room, so we were all very happy with the room we got.
I went to the waterfalls right away after check-in and took lots of pictures. I am very sad about the plans to remove the waterfalls to make way for the water park.

 

[MeRSiamese]

We were on the 5th floor. I would say that is the level that you described: high enough but not too high.
Our room, 2325, did have a somewhat disappointing view of a parking lot. But there were quite a few trees so it wasn't too stark. And I was surprised that we had a perfect view of the fireworks ~ that made it worth it.
I am guessing that you could be in the same tower, same floor but on the other side of the building and have a nice view of the pool.
I hope you get the room that you are hoping for!

Thank you SO much! That was what I figured... about the 4th or 5th floor would be best!
We paid for a "preferred room with a pool view" so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I will be calling before we go to make sure they have our "request" for the right view again... and then pre-checking in as early as possible - and be willing to wait if one is going to take a bit longer.
We're staying a full week, so I want the perfect room since we plan to spend the midday heat (about 4-5 hours) in them resting and taking naps from early mornings and late nights at the parks! LOL

After this trip, I'm not sure what hotel we'll choose after DLH... but I definitely refuse to stay in closed-in blue fishbowl rooms - and not happy anyway about the upcoming new view of that monorail pool.

PP sounds like it has bigger rooms than the GC, but I'm just not thrilled with the theming and think it's a bit too far removed location-wise for the price...

While the GC *would* be okay in every other way, everything I'm reading is that the rooms are tiny and cramped.
Are the VC standard rooms larger? Never done that route, but it might be something worth looking into I guess. Providing they don't remove the balconies at the GC anytime soon. Grrrr!! lol

 

[nunzia]

Thank you SO much! That was what I figured... about the 4th or 5th floor would be best!
We paid for a "preferred room with a pool view" so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I will be calling before we go to make sure they have our "request" for the right view again... and then pre-checking in as early as possible - and be willing to wait if one is going to take a bit longer.
We're staying a full week, so I want the perfect room since we plan to spend the midday heat (about 4-5 hours) in them resting and taking naps from early mornings and late nights at the parks! LOL

After this trip, I'm not sure what hotel we'll choose after DLH... but I definitely refuse to stay in closed-in blue fishbowl rooms - and not happy anyway about the upcoming new view of that monorail pool.

PP sounds like it has bigger rooms than the GC, but I'm just not thrilled with the theming and think it's a bit too far removed location-wise for the price...

While the GC *would* be okay in every other way, everything I'm reading is that the rooms are tiny and cramped.
Are the VC standard rooms larger? Never done that route, but it might be something worth looking into I guess. Providing they don't remove the balconies at the GC anytime soon. Grrrr!! lol

Are you asking about the Grand's Conceirge rooms? We had one last year..it seemed a bit bigger, plenty of room for the 2 Queens and day bed. I have always found the rooms to be fine in size, but maybe I don't ever stay in hotels with huge rooms..

 

[MeRSiamese]

Are you asking about the Grand's Conceirge rooms? We had one last year..it seemed a bit bigger, plenty of room for the 2 Queens and day bed. I have always found the rooms to be fine in size, but maybe I don't ever stay in hotels with huge rooms..

Actually was asking about the Vacation Club rooms... but that's also a thought that the concierge level might be bigger!

Ya, the GC room size is probably adequate and similar to regular rooms everywhere... just seems there's a lot of comments on being cramped and feeling like they are small. Maybe it's just the decor or furnishings that make them seem less spacious...
It's definitely worth a try for the next trip! :-D