From Katella/Disneyland Drive - how do I get into the parks?

[boiseflyfisher]

Any update on this?? I'm booked at Stovalls as well for the Star Wars race weekend and have always liked cutting through the GCH and just getting a taste of staying on property. Love that lobby! This new update makes me a little sad. Is the new route only for entering DTD and the pass. Can we exit through GCH when going back to Stovalls at the end of the day?

You can exit through GCH to go back, but the entrance into DTD and CA through GCH are for GCH guests only now in the mornings. (Oh, and those with a dining reservation there, I think.) The hotel front entrance is not longer accessible to anyone other than guests and dining guests at all times of the day.

 

[ParkHopper1]

You can exit through GCH to go back, but the entrance into DTD and CA through GCH are for GCH guests only now in the mornings. (Oh, and those with a dining reservation there, I think.) The hotel front entrance is not longer accessible to anyone other than guests and dining guests at all times of the day.

Just to clarify...the GCH to DTD and GCH to DCA restrictions have remained essentially uncahnged for non resort guests. Anyone can still come in and out of those two access points from the Grand (except only after 11a into DCA as always)...but you however can no longer enter the front doors of the Grand from the street. Heading into the park you would need to enter DTD by the Disneyland Hotel. Heading back however you can still exit through the GCH lobby as a shortcut.

 

[AC7179]

So, if we stay at PPH, we can't go in the GCH to eat at WWS except through DTD? Bah humbug!

 

[ParkHopper1]

So, if we stay at PPH, we can't go in the GCH to eat at WWS except through DTD? Bah humbug!

Correct.

 

[AC7179]

That stinks. I understand not being able to use their park entrance but gosh....we loved hopping over there for a drink or snack. :-/

 

[Darkbeer1]

If you want to eat at Napa Rose or Storytellers Cafe, you can make reservations in advance, and they will have your name at the GCH Pedestrian Entrance. so you can walk straight from the PPH to the GCH.

And well, Disney thinks they have nice places to grab drinks and snacks at the PPH, so they have no motivation to change the rules, which are in place to keep the GCH free flowing.

And of course, you can always enter the Hotel from the Sephora Entrance, and usually the DCA entrance to the GCH.

 

[luckycharliegirl]

Following- I have reservations for Best Western Pavilions in June. This is only my second visit to Disneyland and I don't want to waste any time walking there

 

[AC7179]

We stay at PPH for a week and usually go and eat at WWS two or three times over the week, and probably head over a few more times for some of their boxed items, fruit, milk, etc. I realize we have our own little shop at PPH, but White Water Snacks seemed to have more of a variety. It's not worth walking around DTD for those things, though, and it is disappointing as it will (slightly) adversely affect the convenience of our visit.

Darkbeer, are you saying the people from PPH were causing a problem shopping and eating at the GCH? We haven't been in maybe three years, but this is the first I've heard of that issue.

 

[Darkbeer1]

We stay at PPH for a week and usually go and eat at WWS two or three times over the week, and probably head over a few more times for some of their boxed items, fruit, milk, etc. I realize we have our own little shop at PPH, but White Water Snacks seemed to have more of a variety. It's not worth walking around DTD for those things, though, and it is disappointing as it will (slightly) adversely affect the convenience of our visit.

Darkbeer, are you saying the people from PPH were causing a problem shopping and eating at the GCH? We haven't been in maybe three years, but this is the first I've heard of that issue.

Not really, the issues are first, the new Security Check at the Sephora Entrance, the way Disney figured out was the easiest way to restrict that was stopping guests from entering at Disneyland Drive. The second was the back-up at the DCA gate from the GCH, which was causing issues with folks who wanted to eat at Storytellers. And now with the pool areas closed off, and people have lost a major shortcut if staying at the GCH, they now will have to use the corridor in front of Storytellers to access Whitewater snacks. So it is more where Whitewater is located that causes the problems.

 

[People Mover]

Sorry I am new to DLR, is this entrance at ESPN zone the only one, or best one if say I am coming from the Marriott at the Convention Center?

Is there a better way walking down South Harbor?

 

[People Mover]

Whoops, looks like South Harbor and Disney Way is my best bet from the Marriott, walk straight down SHarbor?

 

[Darkbeer1]

Basically from the Marriott and any other Hotel near the Convention Center, walk North up Harbor Blvd until you past Disney Way. The Main Pedestrian Entrance is located off of Harbor, basically where the Monorail Tracks meet Harbor. Turn left and follow the crowds to the Security Check and Main Entrance Plaza.

 

[People Mover]

Basically from the Marriott and any other Hotel near the Convention Center, walk North up Harbor Blvd until you past Disney Way. The Main Pedestrian Entrance is located off of Harbor, basically where the Monorail Tracks meet Harbor. Turn left and follow the crowds to the Security Check and Main Entrance Plaza.

Fantastic, thank you!

 

[dshimel]

Darkbeer, are you saying the people from PPH were causing a problem shopping and eating at the GCH? We haven't been in maybe three years, but this is the first I've heard of that issue.

Disney does not have room for more than 2 security check stations from GCH to DTD (to get to Disneyland). That is not nearly enough for all the people from GCH, PPH and the hotels on Katella and DL drive that had been using that access point.

They had a choice....
1) Don't let anyone except GCH guests use that DTD entrance.
Good: People from PPH can get to White Water snacks without having to walk 500 yeards out of the way through DTD.
Bad: Anyone in DL or DTD that wants to go into GCH have to walk 1000 yards out around the movie theater to get back into DTD/DL.

2) Block access to the GCH front entrance to all except GCH hotel guests and people with reservations at a restaurant.
Good: People can freely go to GCH from DTD and DL (via DTD), then go back via the GCH->DTD entrance without a 1000 yard walk around the movie theater.
Bad: PPH and Katella hotel guests have to go through DTD to get to GCH.


If you know of a way that all guests can go from DTD to GCH then back to DTD without walking around the movie theater, while at the same time allowing PPH guests to go through the GCH front entrance but then NOT into DTD unless they came in from DTD, I'm sure Disney would love to hear it.

Hand stamp at the DTD->GCH entrance, then block the GCH->DTD to anyone except GCH guests and people with hand stamp? Would that hand stamp collide with hand stamp of 1-day ticket users?

 

[AC7179]

I don't know if you mean to sound snarky or not, although it's hard to read this any other way.

"If you know of a way that all guests can go from DTD to GCH then back to DTD without walking around the movie theater, while at the same time allowing PPH guests to go through the GCH front entrance but then NOT into DTD unless they came in from DTD, I'm sure Disney would love to hear it."


That said, my point was that for me, personally, with this change, I'm experiencing what Kevin Yee described as "Declining by Degrees." I am paying more my hotel room than I ever have. The rate for our 7 night trip is $370 a night, I believe. While paying more for the room, the convenience and amenities of staying there have declined, significantly for us, because of the new change. We will stay there this trip and give it a shot. Maybe it will end up not being that big of a deal. I'm kind of looking forward to some Monorail trips into Disneyland, which we had gotten out of the habit of because it was so much easier to cut through the Grand.

All that said, I have been off the boards for a while and out of the loop, so I'm asking this honestly. What is the purpose of changing the security? To make DTD a secure area and safer? Have there been issues or just as a prevention measure?

 

[AC7179]

Would it be possible to check room keys at the front entrance of the Grand? That would allow PPH and DLH guests (I'm assuming there wouldn't be many DLH guests going) into the hotel. I guess they'd then be allowed to go through the hotel to DTD, but if it was just PPH hotel guests, would that back things up too much? I don't know the numbers of how many people used the access point from PPH versus from the other Katella hotels and DL Drive Hotels?

 

[ParkHopper1]

All that said, I have been off the boards for a while and out of the loop, so I'm asking this honestly. What is the purpose of changing the security? To make DTD a secure area and safer? Have there been issues or just as a prevention measure?

Several factors...first is to encompass DTD into the security "bubble". I would argue as much as a PR move as a practical security move cuz God forbid there were ever an incident at DTD...the news and PR that would come out of that would not distinguish between DTD and inside the parks, it would be billed publicly as an incident at "Disneyland" if someone wanted to do something to strike "terror" on an american icon.

Second is the security checkpoint at the Esplanade was often a backup at many times throughout the day and a point of complaints for both resort guests and park visitors due to the volume of folks coming from M&F Garage. DTD retailers were starting to see a decline in sales even though attendance was rising due to the fact that guests did not wanna go though the security to go back and forth to DTD. I know when we stayed on the harbor side we would think hard and twice about going to Starbucks and DTD for a quick breakfast. Now it is free sailing.

That said, my point was that for me, personally, with this change, I'm experiencing what Kevin Yee described as "Declining by Degrees." I am paying more my hotel room than I ever have. The rate for our 7 night trip is $370 a night, I believe. While paying more for the room, the convenience and amenities of staying there have declined, significantly for us, because of the new change. We will stay there this trip and give it a shot. Maybe it will end up not being that big of a deal.

While I agree with your sentiment that the removal of a perk is always hard to swallow, as I have said in several other posts the removal of the security checkpoint at the Esplanade that would often get backed up and now having free flowing access to DTD is well worth the tradeoff for me personally.