Disneyland hotel?

[Sherry E]

I have also had 'one of those rooms' at the GCH like what DizMe and Bumbershoot experienced, down the endless corridors, around all kinds of corners, far, far away from all signs of life and elevators. In fact, that was what I had on my very first stay at the GCH in 2001, and it almost (but not quite) soured me from wanting to stay there again. We did have a great DTD view and a wonderful vantage point from which to watch the fireworks, but that long trek to and from the elevators was crazy. Thankfully, the next time I stayed at the GCH the room was very close to the elevator and it seemed like we were only a few minutes away from the entrance to both parks.

Like DizMe, I would also choose to stay onsite all the time if money allowed. Yes, the lure of the Entertainment Rate beckons for Hojo and it is hard to ignore the tremendous savings that can be had by staying offsite, but, to me, staying onsite enhances my whole Disney experience a great deal and I feel 'immersed in the magic' when staying onsite. I know a lot of folks don't feel the same way. I can't always stay at GCH, and I am not sure I would always choose to stay there over the other 2 DLR hotels anyway, but I definitely make a point of enjoying the fabulous lobby area, and plunking down in the comfy chairs to relax, especially around the holidays. Such a nice atmosphere! Otherwise, I like the perks that come with the DLR hotels (the MM and the package delivery service have very worked well for me), and I love the little Disney touches like the Mickey ears toiletries in the bathrooms of the PPH and the DLH.

 

[seadd67]

Yes, I think it depends on how much you pay. I usually pay $149/night for DLH and consider that well worth the money. Sure, I could pay less across the street, but it isn't the same and I don't mind paying the difference to stay onsite. Now if I had to fork over rack rate, I might be singing a different tune, but there always seem to be bargains out there if you look.

Thats me,I want that Disney experince as Long as I am not paying for a dump I will pay for that experince,gladly

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

I have also had 'one of those rooms' at the GCH like what DizMe and Bumbershoot experienced, down the endless corridors, around all kinds of corners, far, far away from all signs of life and elevators.

So any advice as to avoid one of those rooms? When we check in is there an area we should ask for? Any advice about that would be FAB! thanks

 

[Sherry E]

So any advice as to avoid one of those rooms? When we check in is there an area we should ask for? Any advice about that would be FAB! thanks

Well, hmmm....I think that there is no guarantee where you will end up if you book a standard room. Some of them are very close to the elevator, or just a few feet away. Maybe some of them are further. I suppose you could put in a request on the phone (and perhaps Reservations can make a note in their system) to not put you in a room way out in the hinterlands. If they won't take the request on the phone, then yes, mention it when you check in that you want a room that is not located in another galaxy. But they will say they cannot guarantee it before you arrive. I am sure there are probably folks who request rooms which are close to the elevator for health reasons, or at least not far away, so they probably would not think it was an unusual request. I know for sure that the DTD view rooms are 'those rooms,' at that far end, down the endless corridors, so unless you have your heart set on getting a DTD view room, then avoid that.

 

[ColB]

Really ! I think you are the first ! Please give us a report

I feel bad for not taking more photos of the room or spending some time appreciating the finer details of it.

The only in-room photo I have is this;

The room number was 5066. I sneaked a look in 5064 and it was still empty. I think there were only one or two rooms finished. Everything was brand new and unopened or untouched, so I assumed we were the first to stay in that particular room.

My son loved the light and music show on the headboard.

The bathroom was nice and the shower big enough to fit my 6'5" frame.

I booked a standard room but asked for a view room when we got there. I also asked to be close to DTD as we were with my 70yo mother in law.

 

[McKelly]

When are all the rooms expected to be rehabbed? Anyone know?

 

[Judy from Boise]

I feel bad for not taking more photos of the room or spending some time appreciating the finer details of it.

The only in-room photo I have is this;

The room number was 5066. I sneaked a look in 5064 and it was still empty. I think there were only one or two rooms finished. Everything was brand new and unopened or untouched, so I assumed we were the first to stay in that particular room.

My son loved the light and music show on the headboard.

The bathroom was nice and the shower big enough to fit my 6'5" frame.

I booked a standard room but asked for a view room when we got there. I also asked to be close to DTD as we were with my 70yo mother in law.

Looks like they really upgraded their linen package......how were the towels?

How do you start/control the light display?


was there a microwave or fridge?

 

[disney-super-mom]

can you clearify for me, is there a height or age requirement or swim test involved for the big slide or is it just that it empties into the deep end and you must be able to swim?

We tend to choose our hotels based on their pool. Last year we chose Hojo, for their pool as well as price.
we are going again this spring and I am continually looking for a good price for DLH, but if the pool/slide really are an issue then it would be a no go for us.

Thanks

Apparently, the lifeguards may have your kids do a swim test for the bigger slide. Our DD6 and DS4 just went (we knew they could both swim) and althought the lifeguards were watching, they were never required to do a test as she could see they were fine. Near the big slide it is over their heads and there is a bit of a pull from the water coming off the slide and they have to get out of the way so they don't get hit by the next kid coming down. So they do need to have some basic swimming skills for this one.
There is a very small slide in the shallow end but not very exciting.
As for the comments about not being able to play on the pirate ship (it is just for decoration), my kids were only concerned about that for about a minute - they wanted to slide and slide!

The lifeguard at the DLH made our 4.5 year old son take a swim test before even allowing him near the big slide at the DLH. I don't know how often that happens, but it happened to us. Now luckily we had a pool at home and he was a pretty decent swimmer. However, we had a younger son too, and then we moved to a home without a pool. Because of this, our younger son wasn't a skilled swimmer by the time he turned 4, so after our first stay at the DLH (when our younger son was just a toddler) we had to stay at the Paradise Pier Hotel to use the big pool slide there. Because the slide at the Paradise Pier empties into a catch trough rather than a pool, any child who can climb up the steps to the top of the slide can use it, even if they can't swim.

It was a good solution for us, because our older son is happy with any big pool slide, and our younger son wants to have fun on a pool slide too (of course).....so Paradise Pier it is, and we've always had wonderful stays there.

However, now that our youngest is 6.5 years old and a better swimmer, maybe a stay at the DLH is in our future. Once we save up the money that is.

 

[TheZue]

I guess you just have to try it for yourself and see which kind of person you are. Some, like bumbershoot, don't mind the walk across the street and down Harbor. I know that she dislikes walking through DTD so that is no draw for someone with that same sentiment. I am one who much prefers DTD to Harbor and thinks that the walk seems way shorter because of it.

I have to agree about some of the rooms in GCH, though. The walk can be extremely annoying because the person who designed that hotel was insane . They have this gorgeous lobby and the most obnoxious layout ever. For some unknown reason, they stinted on the elevators so that the outlying wings have this huge trek even to get to the elevator banks. Then when you do get to the lobby from the elevators, there is a kind of rat maze to get out of the hotel. It's not bad if your room is close to the elevators, but on our first stay at GCH we had one of the rooms bumbershoot described and it was a royal pain. I really think the walk from our room was farther from the parks than a room at DLH, where the towers don't involve convoluted meanderings to get out and on your way.

We started taking all 3 of our youngest girls at age 4, and they all LOVED the pool at DLH. Not one even mentioned the pirate ship but they're all good swimmers (we have a pool at home) and could go down the slide without any problems. They like the pool at GCH but they prefer the one at DLH. They like the pirate cove at Hojo's but they get kind of bored with it after a little while because they want to swim and they're older (6 and 9). The problem is that the pool is not in the same place as the pirate play area so you can't do both at the same time. There are actually a couple of pools at DLH but my girls always want to stay in the themed one .

Hojo's is a good value. FFI is also nice (stayed there in Nov). BUT I would never pick a Harbor Blvd hotel if I could get a resort hotel at a good rate, which fortunately I can usually manage at the times I like to go. I will gladly pay $200 or so for DLH. We paid almost that much for a crappy motel room in Nowheresville on our trip down I5. I also paid $400+/night for GCH last month, but that was concierge and covered most of our food, plus was split 4 ways.

It really depends so much on the person...I totally get why others won't stay onsite and consider it a poor value, but I spend more time around the hotel than most people and I want more than a motel. I'm also older and have been the motel route already, and since I generally have the means to stay onsite, it isn't such an agonizing choice. The only reason I ever stay off site is to squeeze in more trips in a year

We stayed at the GCH for the first time at Halloween and we won't be staying off site again. It was a TOTALLY different experience. We generally stay at the BWPPI so we are used to an ultra short walk. We also got the annoying room but I didn't mind it at all. We had a view of the fireworks from our balcony so for me that more than balanced out the walk. And the big thing for us was with a napping toddler it was nice to already be in in DTD instead of staying in the room trying to be quiet; the balcony was also nice for that. Next time I want to try out Disneyland Hotel.

The big thing for me was the previous times I visited it felt more like I was vacationing in Anaheim and going to Disneyland most of the days. This time we were vacationing in Disneyland and didn't leave the resort area at all. It's a subtle difference but made for a really relaxing escapist vacation.

As for the rates I just can't get that upset about them. San Francisco was more when I looked if I wanted something simple like a Holiday Inn. New York was about the same. Then I was looking somewhat locally for a nice getaway for Dh & I this may and the local resorts here are all upwards of $300/night.

 

[CrazyDuck]

But that's the thing, for me. Even at GCH, depending on your room, you are NOT any closer to the parks than you would be, even, depending on room placement, if staying at HoJo. Trust me; we had one very very obnoxious room at GCH on our last trip. Not in the correct wing to easily and quickly use that special exit into DTD (the one near La Brea), and we had to walk the entire length of the wing to the elevators, then the entire length back, to get to the normal exit/entrance to DTD. Ob-nox-ious.

That's not true. There is no room at HOJO that is closer than ANY room at GCH! The longest walk you could have at GCH would be to the east wing above World of Disney and that would be about 2200 feet to the center of the esplanade (between both parks). Even so if you are in the East wing you can use the fire escape to go "TO" the parks which would only be 634 feet from those same rooms. It would be about 1600 feet to the furthest point in the west wing above the valet entrance. At most 2000 feet to the south wing between the pool and DCA. The closest rooms would be around 1300 feet and most rooms will average about 1600 feet of walking. The closest room at HOJO is about 2500 feet using the shortcut by the taxi drop off and the northern crosswalk. BTW BWPPI is 1400 feet to the closest rooms.

So any advice as to avoid one of those rooms? When we check in is there an area we should ask for? Any advice about that would be FAB! thanks

If you get a theme park view room you are pretty guaranteeing yourself a longer walk as those rooms are in the south and east wing. Downtown Disney view room could net you in the east wing as well. If you get a standard view or courtyard view room you are less likely to have one of those long walks. I'm going with standard view rooms for my upcoming trip because I got some old people with me who don't walk very well.

 

[DizMe]

If you get a theme park view room you are pretty guaranteeing yourself a longer walk as those rooms are in the south and east wing. Downtown Disney view room could net you in the east wing as well. If you get a standard view or courtyard view room you are less likely to have one of those long walks. I'm going with standard view rooms for my upcoming trip because I got some old people with me who don't walk very well.

We had a standard room with courtyard view and bunk beds. It was as far away from everything as you could get, although you could use the stairs to exit and they were pretty close. Kind of a pain with little kids and would be tough with strollers since we were on the 5th floor, and not too convient for using the pool etc.

The largest rooms (2 Q + daybed) are over the lobby and therefore also the closest to the elevators. I always request a room near the main elevators now, but I'm not sure they pay much attention to those requests as I've yet to get what I requested . However, I've managed to get them to move me to one at check-in. The only time I got the daybed room was when there were 5 of us so I would guess they give those to larger parties, which is what they should do IMO.

I want to add that I still love GCH in spite of its idiosyncrasies!!

 

[CrazyDuck]

We had a standard room with courtyard view and bunk beds. It was as far away from everything as you could get, although you could use the stairs to exit and they were pretty close. Kind of a pain with little kids and would be tough with strollers since we were on the 5th floor, and not too convient for using the pool etc.

The largest rooms (2 Q + daybed) are over the lobby and therefore also the closest to the elevators. I always request a room near the main elevators now, but I'm not sure they pay much attention to those requests as I've yet to get what I requested . However, I've managed to get them to move me to one at check-in. The only time I got the daybed room was when there were 5 of us so I would guess they give those to larger parties, which is what they should do IMO.

I want to add that I still love GCH in spite of its idiosyncrasies!!

If you had a courtyard view AND access to the fire exit near labrea you were probably in the 401-417 (odd) rooms. It may have seemed like endless corridor walking if you used the elevators near the grand lobby. If you used the elevators near storytellers cafe then it would have been much better a walk. The longest walk at GCH (Not including GCV) would still be rooms near 451 so it coulda been worse ... here:

 

[DizMe]

If you had a courtyard view AND access to the fire exit near labrea you were probably in the 401-417 (odd) rooms. It may have seemed like endless corridor walking if you used the elevators near the grand lobby. If you used the elevators near storytellers cafe then it would have been much better a walk. The longest walk at GCH (Not including GCV) would still be rooms near 451 so it coulda been worse ... here:

Hmmmm...we were about where it shows 162 but we were a few floors up. There were no elevators available except the lobby ones, I think.

When I went in November, I had requested a room near the elevators and concierge lounge. I explained that it would be 4 adults and one of them had a serious spinal injury (my sister). We were put in one of those 400-odd rooms which *was* quite a trek from the lobby elevators and even a distance from the other elevator bank. Since we were staying concierge, it was a very long way back to the lounge, which is next to the lobby elevators. They did move us, but not without reminding me numerous times that I was "only" paying $435/night AP while others were paying almost twice that amount. I finally told them that I am a frequent visitor and thought that ought to count for something, not to mention the fact that as an AP holder I was being given a perk for the same thing and didn't appreciate being made to feel like a lesser guest. The concierge people were very friendly but not very helpful, for the most part. There was one woman who did help us a lot but the rest were rather cool if you asked for information.

ETA: the stairs I mentioned were the fire exit stairs and just took you down to the courtyard. Going down that way allowed you to avoid the two corridors to get to the elevators and you could just exit out into DTD through the main entryway there. I'm not sure whether or not that's the secret stairway people talk about.