DLH concerns

[RoseColored97]

I'm just over here happy that people are moving to the Grand. More DLH for me!!!!

Given the choice between GCH and DLH, the DLH will always win for us. I'm in the minority (obviously, based on this thread! lol), but for us the GCH was a step down because of the noise, room condition, and crowdedness. We value a clean, quiet, and spacious room which is what we find at the DLH. The added Disney features pull it all together. I think a lot of what made the GCH appealing for me was FOMO. I thought it would be amazing and after wanting to stay there for YEARS it just...wasn't? I think if we would have stayed there first before staying at the DLH we would have maybe felt different. It's just hard to go from having really amazing experiences at the DLH and then not have the same 10/10 experience at the other hotel. Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic hotel. It just isn't what we are looking for on our vacations, which is ok. It is for a lot of people, but not everyone has the same tastes or wants. If the amenities were exclusive to GCH guests only, I would be more willing to sacrifice room comfort for that and stay at the GCH occasionally when having quicker access to the hotel grounds would be beneficial (like during OBB). But our thought is why sacrifice for a lesser room when I can access most of GCH features and amenities as a non-hotel guest if I wanted to? The pool (cabana), the lobby, the DCA entrance is all available to me as a DLH guest as of next month.

The Grand is beautiful on the outside, but it just isn't worth the $850/night for a Woods/Courtyard to us. On the other hand, DLH is well worth $1100/night to stay Premium Club Level. The walk doesn't bother us in the least, I think because we are so used to walking all over the park and by the time we got to our room at GCH it felt the same distance. I figure if I'm walking 24,000+ steps in the parks, another 200 extra steps (maybe, depending on what room you are comparing) isn't going to break us.

All that to say - please stay at the GCH! The less people in my happy place, the better hahaha

 

[Living42Day]

Another consideration that I did not see mentioned. We just recently did a split stay and had turndown service at the DLH with chocolates in a deluxe view but did not have it at the GCH. My friend who stayed there about a month ago did have it, but they no longer leave Ghirardelli chocolates. Silly, I know I can turndown my own bed but it makes a difference in guest experience and that feeling of staying in a nice hotel.

 

[Living42Day]

The DLH is fine, but it's not the GCH. It is a downgrade no matter how you slice it. The biggest negative is the lack of dining there. There are 2 options, (4 if you count the coffee house and Trader Sam's (I don't, personally). Trader Sam's is literally the same menu as Tangaroa Terrace, so it's redundant. The food sitiation is super weak and relies heavily on Hawaiian inspired cuisine. This gets old fast. The bar is outdoors which is a problem when the weather isn't the best.

The pools are nice, but always super crowded. The foliage around the pools looks pretty, but there are constantly leaves and palm fronds in the water so it always feels dirty. I hate that; it's a major pet peeve of mine. The slides are fun but I don't like how they end up in a separate pool. And the lounge chairs aren't the fancy cushioned kind the GCH has.

The rooms definitely need some TLC at this point. Maybe that will happen after the DVC tower is fixed? They just feel old. Everything is a bit tired looking. It's an old hotel, so that is to be expected. I stayed there last year and was glad I only paid like $300/night.

The gift shop is fabulous. The cast members are great and the theme is classic Disney which I appreciate.

To ME, the walk to the hotel is long. It's noticeable on a multi day trip when you have to do it every day.

I'd wait for a discount for GCH. Get a Disney Visa if you don't have one. They have been doing DV discounts lately. Around 25% off. Or wait until 3 months out and get the CM discount from your daughter. There is a slim to none chance that the hotels will be fully booked at any point next year. That rarely ever happens. Worst case, you book rack rate room at the last minute at DLH.

To sum it up, I'd pay rack rate at GCH, but I never would at DLH. GCH is worth it. DLH is not.

I agree that the Grand needs some TLC, our room fixtures were starting to look worn when we were there last month. I think they last redid the rooms in 2014 so it's definitely time for a refresh and you can tell.

When are they redoing DVC? My friend is a DVC owner. They got in early when it was cheap at GCH, so that will be interesting to her to compare the rooms pre renovation vs post renovation. I thought I heard a rumor that the standard rooms were up for refurbishment next year but haven't heard about the DVC side yet.

 

[joseph821]

Another consideration that I did not see mentioned. We just recently did a split stay and had turndown service at the DLH with chocolates in a deluxe view but did not have it at the GCH. My friend who stayed there about a month ago did have it, but they no longer leave Ghirardelli chocolates. Silly, I know I can turndown my own bed but it makes a difference in guest experience and that feeling of staying in a nice hotel.

I stayed there from August 9 through the 16th...I got chocolates, pens and postcards for turndown. I was in a Woodscourt View Room.

 

[Living42Day]

I stayed there from August 9 through the 16th...I got chocolates, pens and postcards for turndown. I was in a Woodscourt View Room.

It seems to be inconsistent on whether or not you get it. We stayed in a partial theme park view room and out of the 5 nights we were there we didn't get it once, the 4 nights at the DLH did have it for all nights. Maybe it depends on what room view you choose? I'm not sure what my friend booked when she stayed there last.

I would think they would do it for a theme park view but maybe not...

 

[DLgal]

I agree that the Grand needs some TLC, our room fixtures were starting to look worn when we were there last month. I think they last redid the rooms in 2014 so it's definitely time for a refresh and you can tell.

When are they redoing DVC? My friend is a DVC owner. They got in early when it was cheap at GCH, so that will be interesting to her to compare the rooms pre renovation vs post renovation. I thought I heard a rumor that the standard rooms were up for refurbishment next year but haven't heard about the DVC side yet.

The DVC rooms at Grand haven't been done in ages. The resort side rooms got a major renovation just a few years ago in 2019. They are NOT in need of TLC. I was talking about the DLH rooms.

 

[joseph821]

It seems to be inconsistent on whether or not you get it. We stayed in a partial theme park view room and out of the 5 nights we were there we didn't get it once, the 4 nights at the DLH did have it for all nights. Maybe it depends on what room view you choose? I'm not sure what my friend booked when she stayed there last.

I would think they would do it for a theme park view but maybe not...

You should have gotten it. I must say the housekeeping staff I had were wonderful. This was my first time at GCH. Previously always stayed at DLH.

Are the theme park view rooms worth the view?

 

[DLgal]

Are the theme park view rooms worth the view?

No, in my opinion. They are such a long walk from the lobby and they are loud. Best rooms at GCH are Standard and Woods/Courtyard View.

 

[joseph821]

[QUOTE="joseph821, post: 65012602, member: 156408"

Are the theme park view rooms worth the view?

No, in my opinion. They are such a long walk from the lobby and they are loud. Best rooms at GCH are Standard and Woods/Courtyard View.
[/QUOTE]
Ok Thanks @DLgal ..I will stick with a Woods/Courtyard View room. I had a nice Woods Courtyard room that was located near the main elevators and the NR elevator bank.

 

[Living42Day]

You should have gotten it. I must say the housekeeping staff I had were wonderful. This was my first time at GCH. Previously always stayed at DLH.

Are the theme park view rooms worth the view?

We liked the view, we were able to kind of see WOC from the balcony when we had a down night of just hanging out in the hotel and ate room service on the balcony which was fun. It was interesting to watch the delivery trucks early in the morning, but would caution that they are pretty loud so if you are not up by around 5 you may get woken up by the beeping. The price difference wasn't much either, I think from standard to partial it was like $100/night?

 

[joseph821]

We liked the view, we were able to kind of see WOC from the balcony when we had a down night of just hanging out in the hotel and ate room service on the balcony which was fun. It was interesting to watch the delivery trucks early in the morning, but would caution that they are pretty loud so if you are not up by around 5 you may get woken up by the beeping. The price difference wasn't much either, I think from standard to partial it was like $100/night?

Sounds good...Room service at GCH is great. WOC from room awesome!! I will probably stick with a Woods Courtyard room. The price upgrade sounds ok too.

 

[DizMe]

No, in my opinion. They are such a long walk from the lobby and they are loud. Best rooms at GCH are Standard and Woods/Courtyard View.

Totally agree. There aren't any view rooms I consider worth the extra cost but occasionally the CMs will upgrade you. I like Woods/Courtyard but usually just book standard. I've always gotten very nice rooms, often Woods/Courtyard, LOL. I care more about location in the hotel than view.

The two times I stayed at GCH in the past 6 months, there was always turndown service and chocolate. We do tip well daily and try to be good guests.

 

[Living42Day]

The DVC rooms at Grand haven't been done in ages. The resort side rooms got a major renovation just a few years ago in 2019. They are NOT in need of TLC. I was talking about the DLH rooms.

Oh wow, it was just in 2019??? Ours was definitely in need of something if it wasn't TLC . I could have sworn it was longer than just before COVID when they took away the bunkbeds and redid the rooms. That is a little surprising.

 

[DLgal]

Oh wow, it was just in 2019??? Ours was definitely in need of something if it wasn't TLC . I could have sworn it was longer than just before COVID when they took away the bunkbeds and redid the rooms. That is a little surprising.

I guess sometimes some rooms get roughed up more than others.

We have always had rooms in wonderful shape at the GCH since the refurbishment.

 

[Living42Day]

The two times I stayed at GCH in the past 6 months, there was always turndown service and chocolate. We do tip well daily and try to be good guests.

Maybe it was a fluke between the two of us, it's just weird for a longer stay we never received. We tip $20/day for the morning housekeeping and will leave $10 for turndown on the off chance they stop in but still didn't get it. Maybe they didn't feel it was enough, but I thought it was a fairly decent tip amount. They were always friendly when we saw them in the hallways, though. Not sure what my friend tips.

 

[joseph821]

Totally agree. There aren't any view rooms I consider worth the extra cost but occasionally the CMs will upgrade you. I like Woods/Courtyard but usually just book standard. I've always gotten very nice rooms, often Woods/Courtyard, LOL. I care more about location in the hotel than view.

The two times I stayed at GCH in the past 6 months, there was always turndown service and chocolate. We do tip well daily and try to be good guests.

I tipped the housekeeping staff between $15-20 a day during my 8 day/7 night stay this month..I was one person in the room which had 2 queens sized beds. I only used one bed and the other bed was untocuhed and I was very clean. On my checkout, I left $20 and all my change which had to be over 10 bucks. I always write a thank you note everyday with the tip and usually ask for extra pens or postcards and they are very generous.

 

[joseph821]

Maybe it was a fluke between the two of us, it's just weird for a longer stay we never received it for either of us. We tip $20/day for the morning housekeeping and will leave $10 for turndown on the off chance they stop in but still didn't get it. Maybe they didn't feel it was enough, but I thought it was a fairly decent tip amount. They were always friendly when we saw them in the hallways, though. Not sure what Katie tips.

That is a generous tip.

 

[DizMe]

Maybe it was a fluke between the two of us, it's just weird for a longer stay we never received. We tip $20/day for the morning housekeeping and will leave $10 for turndown on the off chance they stop in but still didn't get it. Maybe they didn't feel it was enough, but I thought it was a fairly decent tip amount. They were always friendly when we saw them in the hallways, though. Not sure what my friend tips.

I tipped the housekeeping staff between $15-20 a day during my 8 day/7 night stay this month..I was one person in the room which had 2 queens sized beds. I only used one bed and the other bed was untocuhed and I was very clean. On my checkout, I left $20 and all my change which had to be over 10 bucks. I always write a thank you note everyday with the tip and usually ask for extra pens or postcards and they are very generous.

That's more than generous!! Wow, I'm so sorry you didn't get turndown/chocolates. I know it's not necessarily something you really want, it's just that it's part of the whole reason for staying at a place like GCH and it's kind of a letdown not to have it.

You guys tip more than I do, and I thought I did pretty well. I may have to up my game!

 

[Disney Ron]

I'm just over here happy that people are moving to the Grand. More DLH for me!!!!

Given the choice between GCH and DLH, the DLH will always win for us. I'm in the minority (obviously, based on this thread! lol), but for us the GCH was a step down because of the noise, room condition, and crowdedness. We value a clean, quiet, and spacious room which is what we find at the DLH. The added Disney features pull it all together. I think a lot of what made the GCH appealing for me was FOMO. I thought it would be amazing and after wanting to stay there for YEARS it just...wasn't? I think if we would have stayed there first before staying at the DLH we would have maybe felt different. It's just hard to go from having really amazing experiences at the DLH and then not have the same 10/10 experience at the other hotel. Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic hotel. It just isn't what we are looking for on our vacations, which is ok. It is for a lot of people, but not everyone has the same tastes or wants. If the amenities were exclusive to GCH guests only, I would be more willing to sacrifice room comfort for that and stay at the GCH occasionally when having quicker access to the hotel grounds would be beneficial (like during OBB). But our thought is why sacrifice for a lesser room when I can access most of GCH features and amenities as a non-hotel guest if I wanted to? The pool (cabana), the lobby, the DCA entrance is all available to me as a DLH guest as of next month.

The Grand is beautiful on the outside, but it just isn't worth the $850/night for a Woods/Courtyard to us. On the other hand, DLH is well worth $1100/night to stay Premium Club Level. The walk doesn't bother us in the least, I think because we are so used to walking all over the park and by the time we got to our room at GCH it felt the same distance. I figure if I'm walking 24,000+ steps in the parks, another 200 extra steps (maybe, depending on what room you are comparing) isn't going to break us.

All that to say - please stay at the GCH! The less people in my happy place, the better hahaha

Enjoyed your post. Each person needs to stay at a resort that fits their needs. All I want to say is that you stated you value a clean, quiet and spacious room, well when we were at GCH 3 weeks ago our room was spotless, it was very quiet and had a beautiful glass shower. The mousekeeping was the best we have ever had and they worked very hard to make our stay magical. I realize that DLH has larger rooms but for the 4 of us we had more than enough room where we were.

I'm very happy to hear how much you love DLH because we visited there and thought it was beautiful also. Each resort has it's own magic.

 

[FeliciaB23]

Something to think about regarding the DLH - I haven’t stayed there yet (first trip will be this November!) but the new DVC rooms there open up at the end of September so if you want a newer room, you could always book a cash stay studio. They were the same price as a regular guest room when I was looking for this November.