Disneyland Hotel vs Grand Californian

[eyeore100]

Hi! Planning a trip to Disneyland Resort for the first time.
Also this is our first trip to Southern California. We are really really excited!!!



But we do need help determining where to stay. There's tons of books & info for WDW resorts,
but I have found so little info for DL resorts. We are now debating between the
Disneyland Hotel versus the Grand Californian. We are inclined on staying at the Grand Californian
just because it's newer and looks very romantic. But we have young kids and it seems from
the little that I have read, that the DL hotel will be more appealing for them with the new pool area
and probably more convenient for us. I have a few questions if you do not mind:

1. What are the approximate room sizes in DL Hotel and GC?
2. How about the bathrooms in the DL Hotel ? Are they old and run down?
3. Also, if we decide to stay at the Grand California, can we use the pool area in
DL Hotel?
4. How convenient is the GC to the monorail to Disneyland?

Any responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[Peter Pan Fan]

I can help with a few of your questions

Yes, if you stay at any of the DL hotels you can use the pool at the other ones. The DL hotel pool has a Peter Pan theme, but I have seen pictures of the GC hotel and it looks nice as well.

GC would be much more convenient IMO to both parks, you can walk. No monorail needed.

I'm sure others can help with the rest of your questions.....good luck & have a great trip!

Susan

 

[daannzzz]

The rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are much bigger than the rooms at the Grand Californian. When we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in 1996 and 1997 the bathrooms were fine. The one in the Sierra Tower was excellent, large, decorated nicely and in great shape. The one in the Bonita Tower was a standard (mundane) hotel bathroom but was in great shape. The walk from the Disneyland Hotel to the Monorail can be quite a distance. You do not need the Monorail at the Grand Californian. The kids would probably like the Disneyland Hotel better as it is more colorful and "fun". The Grand Californian was wonderful though and I can't wait to go back.

 

[wdwluvr]

We chose the DLH over the GCH because we thought our kids would like it better. When I look at the pictures, it looks like it has more of a Disney feel than GCH, but it doesn't go overboard like the All Stars at WDW.

Here are some links to some pretty good pictures of the DL Hotel. The first one has a link for a picture of a bathroom. Check out the one of the armoir that holds the TV. The second one shows a close up of the bedspread that has drawings of some of DL favorite attractions. I would love to have this in my bedroom!

I hope these help you with your decision. Have a great trip!



DL Hotel Pictures

DL Hotel room

 

[jeffreyml]

We just returned from the GC hotel 2 weeks ago. We have 3 children(8, 7, 3) and they loved the GC. Our room 3010 was facing the CA theme park and also had a view of the south pool with the water slide. The room was more than spacious for what we used it for. It consited of a Queen bed and Bunk beds with a pull out trundle under the bottom bunk. The hotel is beautiful and is located within walking distance of Disneyland and also has a special entrance into the CA park. It took us no longer than a 3-5 minute walk from the hotel through DD to DL.

The early entry into the CA was at 8:30 and you could only ride Soaring over California. The hotels special entrance is locted directly across from the Grizzly River Falls.

On our first nite to DL we walked through DD to the Monorail and rode it to DL. This took longer then just walking to the park. The entrances to both parks are located directly across from each other.

 

[TrlyScrumptious]

I can't say enough good things about the Disneyland Hotel, particularly if you have kids. It may not be quite as convenient as the GCH (in terms of access to DCA, for instance) but it's very close. It's a short walk to either the monorail or the main gates, and either way it's a pleasant walk through DD.

The rooms at the DLH have all been refurbished recently. (I think the bell captain actually said there were a few that were still in progress that aren't in use right now.) The rooms are really quite large. The width of the room (from the entry door to the window on the far end) accomodates two queen sized beds (might be doubles, if you're not on a concierge floor?) with a nightstand between them, and then a desk/chair, and a couple of feet of "walking around room." The depth of the room accomodates the length of a queen-size bed, the depth of a TV armoire/clothing chest, with about 5 feet between them. There's also a table with a chair and a sofa bed grouping in some rooms. The beds are quite high off the ground, and you can store all your junk underneath them, and it keeps the room very uncluttered so it doesn't feel overcrowded. There's a fairly small closet for hanging clothing....about the average sized hotel room closet.

The bathrooms are nice! They have double-sinks, an average-sized bath, and a separate room with its own door for the toilet. The bathrooms are very nice...not a bit run down.

There were only 3 of us in our room, but they hold up to 5, and I would think that even 5 would feel like they had enough space to be comfortable. The ability to stash your luggage and the things you don't need beneath your bed helps alot!!

The GCH has "real" balconies, which I think is a nice plus. When you throw open the huge sliding-glass windows at the DLH, there's just a railing there to prevent you from failing. There's no seating space or anything. It's pleasant and I really enjoyed it, but it's definitely not a balcony. If you're on the park side of the Sierra tower in a high enough floor, you can watch the fireworks from your room!

I'm sure you'll be happy with either hotel, but I just wanted to put in a plug for my favorite!

Have fun!!!

 

[eyeore100]

Thank you all very very much for your helpful comments and
the DL hotel links. We checked out the links and searched through
the DIS boards for a couple of days reading all we can.
It was very hard deciding. We finally went for the DL hotel -
seemed like there would be more things for our kids to do.
We figured the bathrooms can't be too bad after being refurbished.
And we'll definitely request a room in the Sierra Tower
to shorten the walk to the monorail.

You guys are great! Thanks again!
~