GCH Pre-Registration?

[Merryweather]

I noticed on our reservation confirm mention of pre-registration two hours before you get to the property. Has anyone done this and is it worthwhile?

 

[Merryweather]

Anyone?

 

[Macy Bear]

My mom is going to do that on Thursday morning before we get there. This is the first time we have ever stayed at GCH and she told me that two hours before she can call them and tell them that we are coming. I think it's a good idea.

 

[Sherry E]

I will chime in! I have stayed at the GC twice, the most recent time being this past December, on the weekend right before Christmas (love it there at the GC at Christmas, by the way!). Our room was not officially going to be available until after 3 p.m., BUT because of the parking situation (which I will explain in a second), we pulled up right in front of the hotel at probably 6:00 A.M. - 9 hours early - and my friends suggested I go in and see if I could do any pre-check in stuff to save us time later in the day. I was skeptical that they would let me do anything at that early a time of the morning, but they did it all! In fact, the only thing that we could NOT do at 6:00 a.m. was go to our room. But they took my hotel voucher, got all my info, gave me my necessary papers and brochures AND our room keys! They even gave us our birthday pins and Million Dreams pins, etc. It was all taken care of. We never had to go back to the front desk again. What we were told to do was to wait until about 1 p.m. and start calling the number they gave to see if we could get into our room yet. SO our room was ready a little earlier than 3 p.m. Probably closer to 2:15. We just left Disneyland, walked to the room and we already had our keys. Because we showed up SO early in the morning, I was able to go right up to the Guest Services desk and be helped. Later in the day, that area is crowded and you usually have to wait a bit to be helped. This was the first time a hotel has given the actual keys in advance. It used to be they would just give you your papers and stuff and you would have to go back to get the keys later, but they give them to you up front now.

Now, once in the room, for two nights in a row, or as many nights as you are staying there, the maid will knock on your door and ask if you want the 'turn down service' for your beds, and she hands you two or three chocolate candies with Disney characters on the wrappers. It seems to me like she must have knocked each night at around 6 or 7 p.m. Somewhere in there.

As for the bath items in the room, they used to have all things that said Grand Californian on them. Now, they have products by H20 (a popular bath company), which are more upscale. Very few traces of Mickey on the items like in the other two Disney hotels.

And as for parking, be forewarned in case you have people in your group who are averse to walking or toting luggage. We wrongly assumed that there was guest parking on the property of the GC, since it was included in the package. There is no parking for guests on the immediate lot. We found out when we got there that the guest parking is actually across the street from the hotel, and my friend did not want to schlep our bags across the street to the hotel and back, so we ended up with the $34 (or $17 per night) valet parking. When we waited for the Valet guys to bring the car back when we left, we waited a long time, as they have to go and fish your vehicle out of wherever they stashed it across the street! So if you don't want to lug bags or if you have grouchy companions, you might either want to drop them off in front of the hotel with their bags while you find parking across the street, or go valet like we did!

 

[Macy Bear]

Sherry! That helped a lot! I am going to give this information to my mother because she will really need the help. Thanks for posting. I am sure it will help the O/P even more.

 

[Sherry E]

Good! I am so glad! Normally, most people on this board have gotten to a thread before I get there and have more knowledge on whatever subject it is, but this time I am glad I got to you and the OP early on and could share my own experience. This board is so helpful for that - everyone has had some experience they can share with another person about to do the same thing! In December, I remember being quite pleased that the GC made it possible that we didn't have to go back to Guest Services AGAIN later for a key, after pre-registering earlier in the morning. That was always the standard procedure in the old days, for all the hotels. All we had to do was make the call from our cell phones to the phone number they gave and got our room number.

OH! ONE OTHER THING! CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS! When we DID call the GC from within Disneyland before and right after 2 p.m. to get our room number, and were lucky to hear that the room was available, they asked us for our "PASSWORD." We didn't know we had a password. I am not sure if I missed seeing it on one of the little Grand Californian brochures we got with check in, or what. But the Guest Services lady, nice as she was, did not tell me we would need a password to get our room number. So, we came to find out later, after they established we were on the up and up, that the "PASSWORD" is usually the FIRST FOUR LETTERS OF YOUR LAST NAME. No one told me this earlier. They may have even changed that now, since it is a new year, and maybe they have a new way of choosing passcodes, but that is what we were told when we got our room number. So be prepared for that. They may not tell your mom about the password, so if she needs it later to get her room number over the phone, tell her to try the first four letters of her last name.

 

[Macy Bear]

Oh! Thanks for the heads up!! Actaully, I will print your posts and show them to my mom. She will be so happy.

Thanks again!!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh! Thanks for the heads up!! Actaully, I will print your posts and show them to my mom. She will be so happy.

Thanks again!!

No problem at all! You are welcome!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh! Thanks for the heads up!! Actaully, I will print your posts and show them to my mom. She will be so happy.

Thanks again!!

Tell your mom, too, that the beds in the Grand Californian are very high! We were surprised! When we walked in to the room, my friend started laughing because she said they looked like "Paul Bunyan Beds." We are of average height - not short - and had to hoist ourselves up a bit to sit on them, So if someone is short or has trouble with their back or some kind of pain issue, that can be a problem when they have to climb up! The beds are very firm and they gave us three mushy pillows per bed, whereas at the other two hotels, there are usually two firm pillows!

I will just keep rattling off facts as I remember them until Thursday!

 

[Macy Bear]

Tell your mom, too, that the beds in the Grand Californian are very high! We were surprised! When we walked in to the room, my friend started laughing because she said they looked like "Paul Bunyan Beds." We are of average height - not short - and had to hoist ourselves up a bit to sit on them, So if someone is short or has trouble with their back or some kind of pain issue, that can be a problem when they have to climb up! The beds are very firm and they gave us three mushy pillows per bed, whereas at the other two hotels, there are usually two firm pillows!

I will just keep rattling off facts as I remember them until Thursday!

LOL! I can't wait to see the beds. I'll be sure to tell my mom that. I am going to have my mom read this thread. I already told her about it and she was happy that someone could tell us the details. She had a bad tooth ache right now so she is taking a nap but when she wakes up, she will get on and read.

 

[Sherry E]

LOL! I can't wait to see the beds. I'll be sure to tell my mom that. I am going to have my mom read this thread. I already told her about it and she was happy that someone could tell us the details. She had a bad tooth ache right now so she is taking a nap but when she wakes up, she will get on and read.

I think the beds are not so noticeably large when you walk in the room and see them - at least not to me - but, as I said, my friend was giggling, and I tried to just sit down on mine, then we realized that we couldn't just plop down on them and had to climb up on them. It was comical! You would definitely have to lift a child onto one of their beds if you have a child! But they are not giant beds by any stretch - just unexpectedly higher than the beds in the other two hotels. And I was having some orthopedic problems at that time, so it was a challenge for me! Maybe it was just our room that had them! I cannot recall what the beds were like at the GC when I stayed there in 2001.

 

[Macy Bear]

My mom just got done reading your posts. And she wants to know if you ever received a letter in the mail to confirm hotel reservations that had a phone number for us to call two hours prior to the arrival which is supposed to be some sort of early check in? I think this is the original question for this thread but she wants some more information, lol.

By the way, she says thanks for all the other info. It's really helping us out of our rut.

 

[Merryweather]

Wow thanks for all the details Sherry! Please do keep posting as you remember things. We don't leave until February 22nd.

Macy - the number on our confirmation for pre-registration is (714) 300-7210

 

[Sherry E]

Wow thanks for all the details Sherry! Please do keep posting as you remember things. We don't leave until February 22nd.

Macy - the number on our confirmation for pre-registration is (714) 300-7210

I am glad you have that number handy! I would have had to dig up my reservation info from December to find it. I was trying to remember if I even saw that number. I booked a package through the Walt Disney Travel Co., and it seemd like their paperwork both pre- and post-check in was pretty complete. I got detailed confirmations/receipts via email with all the info, and then about three weeks before we arrived, I got the package that had the voucher for the hotel (that is what probably had the phone number on it) and all the other stuff that came in the package, and then when I pre-registered at the front desk, as I said, everything was taken care of.

 

[Sherry E]

Wow thanks for all the details Sherry! Please do keep posting as you remember things. We don't leave until February 22nd.

Macy - the number on our confirmation for pre-registration is (714) 300-7210

One other thing I did remember, too, is that if you don't go on a holiday weekend, often times what all the Disney hotels will do is, when they slip your final bill under your door on the morning you are due to check out (and check-out just means leaving the room; you don't need to go back to the front desk for anything and they let you keep your keys as souvenirs), they will offer you an extra night's stay at a very, very discounted rate. Obviously, this is based on availability, and they don't do it on holiday weekends or during really busy times, they told me. But if they have rooms available during sllightly less busy times of year, they will often do that, and the rates they offer are usually SO low compared to what they normally would be that it is hard to resist.

So be on the lookout for that too. I stayed once when they did offer that and once when they did not make the offer because it was a holiday weekend. When you wake up on the day of your departure, you will see the final bill has already been slipped under the door. So if you have an extra day to spare, see if they make that offer to you in a separate letter enclosed with the final bill. They tell you that you MAY have to switch rooms if you take the offer, but all you have to do if you get the letter is call them from your room and tell them you accept it. Otherwise, you just keep your keys as mementos and leave!

 

[Merryweather]

Thanks for the heads-up Sherry. Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to take advantage of such an offer as we are flying out there from Florida.

Appreciate all the information you are providing.