GCH Questions & Pool ?

[BurnsideMommy]

We'll arrive Monday night to check in at the GCH for our first time! I have a few questions.

Since kids we prefer to stay at DLH (over PP). We love it there, even though the rooms are a bit dated and I'd prefer more obvious Disney theme, but oh well. We really wanted to stay at the GCH only because it's Christmas and the lodge feel just screamed Cmas to me. If this was our normal September trip I don't think I'd be excited to stay there.

I read that the rooms are smaller at GCH and looked at pics. How 'bad' is the downsize? We have 3 small kids, 2.5 girlie, 4.5 and 6.5 boys. They're full of energy all the time, and need some space to play in the room. We always do 2 queens at DLH and the rooms seem ok sized. We've requested the queen with bunks at GCH. I thought this might give us more room - but now I'm worried our room will be too far from the elevator/lobby. Would we be better with the 2 queens? Honestly, the bedding lineup doesn't matter much to us, as all the kids wind up in our bed almost every single night (thankfully at home we have a king). Granted the boys will be put in their own bed to get to sleep but after midnight they're snugglers. Which bed line up would you suggest for our family? The kids used to have a bunk bed, so the novelty is ok for them (they were excited on the cruise ship still) but it's not like they're going to care too much if they don't get bunks - I mean we're at DL!

Also, I remember DH & I went swimming at the PP at our December trip in 2000, and I recall freezing. Is there any point to us bringing our swim suits? My girlie hates pools for the most part. The boys love to swim but hate cold (Austin is the bravest). DH & I are wimps too. But if the pool is super fun, and it's our first time there and the weather/water is tolerable we might try. I'm thinking not though.

Anything special I should know about the GCH? I heard there was story time in the lobby and carolers at night. Is this on some sort of schedule?

Oh and I know when you check in people have asked for balloons and signed character pics before. I never get this. Does GCH do this? What characters pics would we likely get? Last time we asked, she went backstage and came back and said no characters were around, sorry. We'd be looking for Mickey, Minnie and either Pluto or Chip & Dale.

How bad is the walk from the parking lot to the hotel? When we stay at DLH we drop the bags at the front door, and then DH parks the car, and we almost never need to go back to it until we need to go. But it's not too far away if we need it. Is the walk similar to DLH or worse?

I think that's it. This is the least planned vacation we've ever been on because there is so much going on in our lives right now. It's driving me nuts, I feel horrible.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

We were married at the GCH on Dec 23, 2001, so you can well imagine it's one of our favorite places for the holidays. We either stay over or just go there for our anniversary dinner and Santa pics for the girls.

You should have a fair amount of room with the bunks. They also have rooms with 2 queens and a daybed. We had one in August with 4 adults and 2 small children in it and it was doable.

I wouldn't worry too much about being too far from the lobby - they have those rooms scattered all over. Standard rooms are usually in the front of the hotel, too. Garden/courtyard views are also in the same area, as the courtyard is to the left of the hotel lobby (from the entrance view).

To answer some of your other questions -
Swimming is iffy. Depends on the weather. We usually don't that time of year.
Carolers, story time and Santa in the lobby - all still there and good - no posted schedule for the singers, but you can ask the guest services desk.
No characters at the GCH, except at breakfast for Storytellers.
Self park is across the street next to the PPH. An easy walk, but one you probably won't do much.

 

[disneymom23]

I read that the rooms are smaller at GCH and looked at pics. How 'bad' is the downsize? We have 3 small kids, 2.5 girlie, 4.5 and 6.5 boys. They're full of energy all the time, and need some space to play in the room. We always do 2 queens at DLH and the rooms seem ok sized. We've requested the queen with bunks at GCH. I thought this might give us more room - but now I'm worried our room will be too far from the elevator/lobby.

We just got back from the GCH last week. I also have 3 kids. We had the room with the bunk beds. We were so close to the elevator, it was great. We were in room 3108. Not much of a view though. But we could be down in the lobby in less than a minute.

The room was small. We've stayed at PPH and that room was much bigger and there was more drawer space. We had to live out of our suitcases this trip. But the convenience to the parks could not be beat. One day we rode Grizzly, got soaked and were back in our room 5 minutes later.

 

[pixiewings71]

We had a bunk bed room with a DTD view in Nov. 07. OMG, it was GREAT. I do remember the rooms being smaller than at the PP but we still loved the GCH. Our room was on the 4th floor near the stairs so we had a small walk to our room but on our way out we just took the stairs and came out between Club Libby Lu and Sephora. Loved that! I can only imagine how amazing the GCH must look at Christmas, it's gorgeous on a regular day, at Christmas it must be spectacular!

 

[DizMe]

I can't confirm this, but I was told the 2 queens/daybed rooms are larger. They are also all located close to the lobby, which is a huge plus.

We stayed at GCH in October for the first time. We had a bunkbed room and it worked fine for us (2 5-year-olds and an 8-year-old, all girls). It was definitely smaller than the DLH rooms, but it was nice. You get a balcony that you can actually use--has a table and chairs--unlike the 6" one at DLH. My personal preference would be 2 queens and a daybed over the bunks, but my girls have bunks at home and were kind of disappointed (we were told we had 2 queens/daybed room every time I called, but somehow it had been changed when we arrived). I think you'd have more room and it's easier to work with a bed surface (play, suitcases, etc) than the bunks. Oh yes, the bunks are very small, but fine for your kids' ages. The trundle is in the way if you don't push it back in every morning, and my girls did not like sleeping on it.

I would just make certain if possible that your room is not too far away from the elevators/lobby. It takes away the convenience of being so close to the parks when you have to hike a mile just to get from your room to the lobby (or vice versa). If you do get one of those rooms, you can at least take the stairs down. It saves a lot of walking because you avoid all of the wings and cut straight through the courtyard.

I was at DL last week with my sister and we had a drink in the lounge. The tree was up and it was just beautiful. I think the holidays are the perfect time to stay at GCH. I totally agree with you on that.

The pools are heated, so you might want to pack suits just in case.

You are going at the perfect time! If I ever go back to GCH, I am sure I will have a better appreciation for it if I get a room that isn't in the back 40 and I don't have a kidney stone attack in the middle of the trip

 

[disneymom23]

(

we were told we had 2 queens/daybed room every time I called, but somehow it had been changed when we arrived).

The same thing happened to us. I called twice and requested 2 queens/daybed and was told that while not guaranteed, it was likely. When we checked in, they said it was not available and that the bunk bed rooms were an upgrade. I'm not sure I believe that. The CM who checked us in was not very friendly. It was fine and I'm glad we were near an elevator but the beds were not ideal.

 

[wdhinn89]

Will they at least guarantee 2 queen beds when your children are older? There is no way my 15 year old son will fit in the bunk bed.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Shouldn't be any problem getting a 2 queen bed room. They only have a handful of bunk bed rooms, and plenty of 2 queen rooms!

I really never notice that the GCH rooms are much smaller. They both seem decent to us. However there is only 3 of us when we go, so that may make a difference.

 

[mmmears]

We've stayed at GCH lots of times.

There are rooms with both bedding types both close and really far away from the lobby. If you are concerned about it, put in a request to be close to the lobby. Whenever we've asked for it, we've gotten that request. Our best views were a long way from the lobby, though (and I mean looooooong way).

As for the pools, the back pool is really fun. It has a tiny waterslide and a bigger one. There are also jacuzzis there (I think there might only be one now because of the DVC construction), so you should have no problem with water temp. If it's too cold, you can always hang out in the jacuzzi.

Definitely use the back-door entrance to DCA -- especially after getting soaked at Grizzly. My DD loves that ride and will go on it again and again until she's soaked. Then we go up to our room, change, and head back out.

The bunk beds are nice since there's a trundle under them, so you'll have 3 beds for the kids that way. I dont believe the rooms are any smaller than the ones with the queens. We've stayed in adjoining rooms with friends (we had bunk, they didn't) and our rooms were otherwise identical.

The lobby of the GCH is so nice -- I've never seen it at xmas but I bet it's really gorgeous then.

We've only been given a signed photo once -- and we were staying in concierge then. The CM asked who my DD's favorite character was and she said "Ariel". The next time we were in the lounge, there was a signed, personalized photo of Ariel for her! We were so surprised with the magic!

Have a great time -- we LOVE the GCH and dont like to stay anywhere else when we're at DLR.