GCH: 2 questions.....

[ddwlms]

So after paying for the GCH, I'd really like to save a buck by packing in food. DH doesn't want to. (OK, more then saving a buck, I would really prefer to eat while waiting in line instead of wasting valuable time waiting for food, but since we're at the parks for 6 days, that line of reasoning will get me no where.) DH thinks it is tacky to carry a large ice chest into a high end resort. I see no problem with it, but I admit, I'm somewhat of a hick, so maybe he's right. What do you think? (about the ice chest, not about whether I'm a hick or not)

Secondly, and I suspect I could find this on the GCH super thread, but HAVE YOU SEEN THAT THREAD???? Ok, it's a little overwhelming. (I will study it before we leave) Back to the question. I requested a room with a day bed for 3 adults and 2 kids. My reservation came back with the code CH S4, but said 1 adult, 0 kids. I called back to request they change it, and the ressi came back with 3 and 2, and the code CH S5. What do those codes mean?

thanx

 

[calicat]

I always bring enough food with me for breakfasts and lunches when visiting disneyland. I have stayed at all three resort hotels. What I usually do is pack foods needing refrigeration in a soft/collapsible ice chest and then I pack the ice chest along non-cold foods (bread/cereal/chips etc) in a suitcase. It means that I have two suitcases to roll around instead of one, but it sure is nice not to have to pay for all my meals in the park.

 

[tholczer]

So what if it's tacky to some people? As one fellow hick to another, I say do what's comfortable and to heck with the judgemental hordes.

I'm thinking the codes have something to do with room occupancy. Some rooms only sleep a max of four and some five. Your first reservation would have fallen into the four category since they only had you down for one. Thank goodness you caught that!

Have a great time. We'll be staying at the Grand for the first time next week and I'll be taking my cooler with me.

 

[skiingfast]

The room will have a refridgerator in it. You might want to use Vons grocery delivery instead of hauling groceries from home.

But if you think you still need a cooler, don't worry, it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[kmedina]

No matter how cheap or expensive the room is, you should bring in whatever you want as long as it is not against the rules. It should not matter if there are some people who think it's tacky. Do what you want as long as your husband comes around. If your husband has a problem with the cooler, it may not be worth the argument at the happiest place on earth.

Have fun VGC is beautiful. You will love it there.

 

[mrswh]

I think you should do whatever makes you have a fun, stress-free vacation! You're not bothering anyone else, so who cares what other people think? I am sure people have seen much weirder at DL! There is a Target about a mile up Harbor (at Chapman) so making a quick stop there might be easier than packing it from home, though! Also keep in mind that the refrigerators in the rooms are pretty small.

As for the room request - I don't know what the codes are, but it is a good thing you caught it as I highly doubt they'd have given you a day bed for one adult only! If I were you I'd call again at some point before your trip to confirm that your request is still in there. Then, the morning you are going to check in (I mean like, first thing in the morning), call the GCH pre-registration line and reconfirm your request. When I called they assigned a room right then and I got everything I asked for. I don't have the number off hand but someone did post it recently (I think the thread was about "room request") so if you search you should be able to find it.

Have a great trip!

 

[toocherie]

Remember that the Grand Californian Hotel shares the front desk/valet/bell service with the Grand Californian Villas. Since many of the villas have full kitchens, it is not unusual to see coolers of food at the Grand Californian. No problem at all and no one will think a thing about it.

As for the codes--sorry, can't help you with that.

 

[closetmickey]

We too, are staying at the GCH this month but I have only made it through the first 15 or so pages and the last few pages of the super thread. I remember the codes being discussed there, though. Sorry I can't give you an exact but hopefully that narrows it down for youi a bit!

 

[cpster]

We were there the last week of July and saw many folks checking in and out with coolers. We just brought in food, but the bellhop asked if we had a cooler...so he could put it at the bottom of the stack on the rolly cart. It's not a big deal.

We had lots of bags since we were hauling baby gear and decided tipping the bell hop would be totally worth it instead of hauling stuff ourselves.

 

[teach1abc]

My daughter has food allergies so we don't really have the option of getting food on the run in the park and we didn't want to take the time for sit down meals where we could talk to the chef. We brought a soft sided cooler, microwave, and coffee pot (we drove from Northern CA)! We saved a lot of time and money by doing this and it worked great for us!!!

 

[ddwlms]

thank you so much EVERYONE! I swear, I love this Forum. You all ROCK!

 

[rramstad]

We had a classic $8 styrofoam cooler and it was a great great investment. The refrigerators are small and we used it to keep beverages in, and we also used it to take larger quantities of snacks and food down to the pool on a couple of occasions. Very helpful. With three kids, we went through two gallons of milk in five days, and there would have been no way to keep this stuff cold without the cooler. (That's just breakfast and late night cookie snack milk!)

 

[oumagic]

We drove in and stayed at Grand Calif. last year and actually had 3 coolers. We had two rooms and had a small cooler, large cooler and one that you plug in and do not need ice. It was great to have whatever we wanted for snacks, breakfast, lunch, drinks, etc. My wife has a severe food allergy so we brought way more than we ended up needing because she was very comfortable eating at the sit-down restaurants. We just didn't know that going into it. We have been on vacations where we thought we'd be ok with resort restaurants and ended up buying a cooler and food for the week and didn't want to go that route. We drive so it is real easy to take a cooler. If people thought we were tacky, I sure didn't know it.

My son loved coming back to the room and grabbing a rest and lunch in the room. We ate out every night but only lunch in the parks twice (Blue Bayou and Corndogs).

 

[kikiq]

Bring the cooler!!! We stayed in the villas on Memorial Day weekend and not only rolled through the lobby with 2 coolers, but also unloaded our Costco run onto a cart which included 2 racks of ribs, tri tip steaks, hamburgers and sausages. Yep, people did wonder

 

[Nonsuch]

So after paying for the GCH, I'd really like to save a buck by packing in food. DH doesn't want to. (OK, more then saving a buck, I would really prefer to eat while waiting in line instead of wasting valuable time waiting for food, but since we're at the parks for 6 days, that line of reasoning will get me no where.) DH thinks it is tacky to carry a large ice chest into a high end resort. I see no problem with it, but I admit, I'm somewhat of a hick, so maybe he's right. What do you think? (about the ice chest, not about whether I'm a hick or not)

You can afford the GCH, so obviously you can afford to eat all meals in restaurants
This does not mean you must eat in restaurants, sometimes it's easier to just eat snacks in the room or carry snacks into the park
I never brought food to the GCH, until I bought into the DVC. Now I often bring several coolers, even though there are only 2 of us
The VGC have full kitchens so it makes sense to bring food, but even for regular GCH rooms I now bring food (nothing I need to cook). Bell services can even store items commercial refrigerators or freezers.

Secondly, and I suspect I could find this on the GCH super thread, but HAVE YOU SEEN THAT THREAD???? Ok, it's a little overwhelming. (I will study it before we leave) Back to the question. I requested a room with a day bed for 3 adults and 2 kids. My reservation came back with the code CH S4, but said 1 adult, 0 kids. I called back to request they change it, and the ressi came back with 3 and 2, and the code CH S5. What do those codes mean?

Sorry, I can't help with the codes
The daybed is the rarest room type. Check in as early as possible. You may also call the pre-registration line 714-300-7210, although I have never tried it.

 

[jenpace]

You can afford the GCH, so obviously you can afford to eat all meals in restaurants

Not necessarily. There are a lot of us who save up for the vacation of our dreams and need or want to make bfast and/or lunch (or even dinner) in the room. Just because someone is staying at the GCH doesn't mean that they're comfortable or able to swing park meals financially.

To answer the OP's question, I'll echo what a lot of people already said: bring the cooler and don't worry about it. I have seen many people checking in a and out of all 3 DLR hotels with huge coolers way before the GC Villas were even built and also recently. Not a big deal

Remember to pack some paper plates, napkins and any utensils you might need. If you bring metal forks/knives/spoons don't forget a small bottle of dish soap.

 

[rramstad]

Agree with PP. Part of our whole negotiation as a family in deciding to stay at the GCH was that we'd bring food and eat breakfast in the room, also some lunches and even some dinners in the room, from groceries. By doing that, it was much easier to justify the extra $$ -- because we were staying close, it was easier to come back to the room to eat, so the whole thing worked financially. If we had to eat all of our meals in restaurants, not only would this have greatly cut into our attraction and ride time, but it would have meant that we would have needed to find a cheaper hotel, which would have increased our travel time to and from the parks.

 

[Breyean]

Heck, we've stayed there many times, both on the hotel side and in the villas.

We carry in all sorts of bags, including grocery bags, of food and drink. We probably look like a band of gypsies (no offense to gypsies, but you know what I mean).

Then one night during our stay we usually pick up a pizza as a treat and walk it right through the lobby to the elevators.

We think it's one of the big advantages of being able to drive to DLR - we can pack up the car with all the junk we want and not have to worry about picking it up when we get there, as we do when we go to WDW and have to fly there.

 

[wbl2745]

Remember that the Grand Californian Hotel shares the front desk/valet/bell service with the Grand Californian Villas. Since many of the villas have full kitchens, it is not unusual to see coolers of food at the Grand Californian. No problem at all and no one will think a thing about it.

We own at the VGC and each time we've stayed there we have had one or two coolers, mostly with breakfast food. One time we had so much stuff we had bell services help us with the coolers and the luggage. I wouldn't worry about bringing coolers.

Another poster suggested the Target south on Harbor. I don't recommend that at all. It isn't a Super Target so the food section is very limited with no fresh food at all. If you're driving there are grocery stores on Ball Road and on Katella.

 

[Nonsuch]

We carry in all sorts of bags, including grocery bags, of food and drink. We probably look like a band of gypsies (no offense to gypsies, but you know what I mean).

...We think it's one of the big advantages of being able to drive to DLR - we can pack up the car with all the junk we want and not have to worry about picking it up when we get there...

We own at the VGC and each time we've stayed there we have had one or two coolers, mostly with breakfast food. One time we had so much stuff we had bell services help us with the coolers and the luggage.

We always need assistance from bell services
This is the cart full of bags and coolers for only 2 of us
The brown coolers match the GCH color scheme

The shallow coolers (with white tops) will fit into the opening of the ice machine, which makes it easy to reload your ice supply
They are Coleman 25 Quart Party Stackers.