Grand Cal, seriously $800 .....

[CampbellzSoup]

I mean I’m going to Disney my main day and nights are going to be at the parks that’s the point of vacation be out of the room…but whatever pay what you want

 

[jujubiee4]

Or people who understand why the resort is so great to stay at and value those qualities.

We paid it over 4th of July weekend. I've never paid rack rate EVER at a Disney resort. We paid it because we really, really, REALLY wanted to continue our annual Disney 4th of July tradition that we had to skip in 2020. We figured since we didn't travel at all in 2020, we had twice as much to spend.

I will not say it wasn't worth it. It was worth every penny.

I have some relatives coming in December and after going over all the hotels/motels close by
DLR half ended up booking Disneyland hotel and the other half booked.....Grand Californian.
They did have sticker shock but are now excited and told me "You only live once"

I'm glad you thought it was worth it!!

 

[MouseOfCards]

I have some relatives coming in December and after going over all the hotels/motels close by
DLR half ended up booking Disneyland hotel and the other half booked.....Grand Floridian.
They did have sticker shock but are now excited and told me "You only live once"

I'm glad you thought it was worth it!!

You meant “Grand Californian”, right?

 

[jujubiee4]

You meant “Grand Californian”, right?

Haha yes. I corrected it. We were all originally going to WDW and I still have Orlando on the brain.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I was never uncomfortable around homeless people either until my 11 year old autistic child was literally attacked physically by one inside the Macy's in Union Square in San Francisco, a few years ago. My husband had a PTSD flashback and had to consciously stop himself from literally killing the man with his bare hands. Because he froze on the spot, *I* had to remove the man from my son and get him away from us. I never want to be in that kind of situation again. That man was clearly out of his mind on drugs and that kind of unpredictably erratic behavior can come out of nowhere. Up until that point, I would have said homeless people are no big deal and nothing to worry about. I know better now and won't put our family in that environment ever again.

Yikes! Never had that kind of experience but it is a drag to see and walk through the homeless and crazies selling stuff on our way to and from the Residence Inn. I never put much thought into it until we went to Disney World for 2 weeks this August and felt so safe being in the giant bubble. I truly felt completely immersed the entire stay, something I never felt at Disneyland. DL is still our first love but now our eyes have been opened to the Magic of WDW.

 

[SherylLC]

I have some relatives coming in December and after going over all the hotels/motels close by
DLR half ended up booking Disneyland hotel and the other half booked.....Grand Californian.
They did have sticker shock but are now excited and told me "You only live once"

I'm glad you thought it was worth it!!

Well, they have a couple of months for the sticker shock to wear off or at least fade from memory! When they arrive in December I bet they'll be glad they chose as they did. At least, I hope they will!

Have a great family trip! Sounds like fun!

 

[StormyCA]

These recent posts about unfortunate incidents are what makes me hesitate to stay offsite. I'd be solo and am 'older'. In other words, a perfect target.

I don't want to have to drive & park every day and don't want to be walking alone 'off property' after dark. I know there's ART and Uber but neither would be my fav option.

 

[jujubiee4]

Well, they have a couple of months for the sticker shock to wear off or at least fade from memory! When they arrive in December I bet they'll be glad they chose as they did. At least, I hope they will!

Have a great family trip! Sounds like fun!

Thanks. I have been fretting for 2 days they are spending way too much and worried they aren't
going to think it is worth it. Especially with many other choices. However I realized I was breaking
my rule (which can be annoying on the board sometimes)... Stop worrying about what other people
do with their own money.

 

[DizMe]

These recent posts about unfortunate incidents are what makes me hesitate to stay offsite. I'd be solo and am 'older'. In other words, a perfect target.

I don't want to have to drive & park every day and don't want to be walking alone 'off property' after dark. I know there's ART and Uber but neither would be my fav option.

You should be fine if you stay in one of the places right across the street on Harbor. There are lots of other people coming and going from DLR. What you want to avoid is being too far away to where you may be walking by yourself without many other DL visitors around. Also, my story above about the homeless guy chasing us was partially due to our ignorance, as we didn't cross Harbor at the crosswalk on our return to Hojo but walked on the sidewalk down the Disneyland side, where it's kind of dark and down closer to Hojo there are (or were at that time) large bushes close to the sidewalk.

 

[DLgal]

These recent posts about unfortunate incidents are what makes me hesitate to stay offsite. I'd be solo and am 'older'. In other words, a perfect target.

I don't want to have to drive & park every day and don't want to be walking alone 'off property' after dark. I know there's ART and Uber but neither would be my fav option.

You should be okay if you are LITERALLY across the street. I'd recommend staying somewhere between the Courtyard and the Grand Legacy. I wouldn't venture beyond those limits, personally, if alone.

 

[HairyChest]

As a Disneyland local, this is a big reason why I think Disneyworld is so much better then Disneyland. The resorts. Here at Disneyland, the hotels pale compared to Disneyworld. You look at grand cal and say oh very nice and then you look at the wilderness lodge and it blows your mind! With a lake surrounding it! Here it’s dingy streets and homeless. And you can get wilderness lodge for $300/night.

I keep wanting to do a staycation here but then the price makes me think, I can add on nights to my Disneyworld trip for cheaper yet a nicer hotel. Tough to justify.

Ive stayed at the Hilton Anaheim for $110 and was very satisfied. The walk was quick and it felt like a proper hotel. I’m never touching those dingy motels across the street from Disneyland.

 

[DLgal]

As a Disneyland local, this is a big reason why I think Disneyworld is so much better then Disneyland. The resorts. Here at Disneyland, the hotels pale compared to Disneyworld. You look at grand cal and say oh very nice and then you look at the wilderness lodge and it blows your mind! With a lake surrounding it! Here it’s dingy streets and homeless. And you can get wilderness lodge for $300/night.

I keep wanting to do a staycation here but then the price makes me think, I can add on nights to my Disneyworld trip for cheaper yet a nicer hotel. Tough to justify.

Ive stayed at the Hilton Anaheim for $110 and was very satisfied. The walk was quick and it felt like a proper hotel. I’m never touching those dingy motels across the street from Disneyland.

I get what you're saying, and we love WDW also. It's not either or for us, we do both. While WDW at first glance appears cheaper, the flights out there and now the transport from airport to hotel and then those "extra days" and the expenses that come with it ends up making a WDW trip FAR more expensive (for us) than a staycation at DLR where we can drive and also bring some food/drinks from home if we wish.

And while I love WL (spent my honeymoon there), Grand Californian is a better resort in my opinion. It has a far better pool area, better dining, and much nicer appointed rooms. The Grand Californian is my favorite Disney resort, followed by Beach Club and then Contemporary. Wilderness Lodge was so disappointing our last 2 stays that I don't think we will ever return there again.

When we stay at GCH, I get the bubble feeling. I don't encounter the world outside the gates at all when we stay there and in that way, it's no different than WDW. Every time I board a bus at WDW, I feel like the bubble has burst. Traffic destroys the illusion for me.

 

[bigtimmy]

I pay the $500 to $575 a night that the Disneyland Hotel charges (without splitting with anyone) and that kinda sucks… but I just love being onsite…

yes, the convenience of being right on the grounds (almost) is the only way to go.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I get what you're saying, and we love WDW also. It's not either or for us, we do both. While WDW at first glance appears cheaper, the flights out there and now the transport from airport to hotel and then those "extra days" and the expenses that come with it ends up making a WDW trip FAR more expensive (for us) than a staycation at DLR where we can drive and also bring some food/drinks from home if we wish.

And while I love WL (spent my honeymoon there), Grand Californian is a better resort in my opinion. It has a far better pool area, better dining, and much nicer appointed rooms. The Grand Californian is my favorite Disney resort, followed by Beach Club and then Contemporary. Wilderness Lodge was so disappointing our last 2 stays that I don't think we will ever return there again.

When we stay at GCH, I get the bubble feeling. I don't encounter the world outside the gates at all when we stay there and in that way, it's no different than WDW. Every time I board a bus at WDW, I feel like the bubble has burst. Traffic destroys the illusion for me.

I agree with most everything you said. Just curious. How come you didn’t like WL?

 

[DLgal]

I agree with most everything you said. Just curious. How come you didn’t like WL?

The bus transportation was horrible. We always had to go to either Poly/GF or Ft. Wilderness and it took forever to get anywhere. The rooms are so small and only have sleeping space for 4 with no daybed option (my teen boys don't like sharing a bed so this isn't ideal). There is not enough seating indoors for the counter service Roaring Forks so we had to eat outside in the heat or rain a couple times. The pool is too small for the size of the resort. People are on top of you in the water. There were too many bugs around the pool area.

This resort was great in its early days but it's gotten too big with all the DVC additions and they didn't beef up the amenities to match.

 

[mamapenguin]

As someone who stays at both, it is 7 mins further.

Aren’t the rooms at Contemporary much larger? It sure felt that way.

 

[StormyCA]

As a Disneyland local, this is a big reason why I think Disneyworld is so much better then Disneyland. The resorts. Here at Disneyland, the hotels pale compared to Disneyworld. You look at grand cal and say oh very nice and then you look at the wilderness lodge and it blows your mind! With a lake surrounding it! Here it’s dingy streets and homeless. And you can get wilderness lodge for $300/night.

I keep wanting to do a staycation here but then the price makes me think, I can add on nights to my Disneyworld trip for cheaper yet a nicer hotel. Tough to justify.

Ive stayed at the Hilton Anaheim for $110 and was very satisfied. The walk was quick and it felt like a proper hotel. I’m never touching those dingy motels across the street from Disneyland.

I agree regarding the WDW resorts. A price point for pretty much everyone and still in the 'bubble'. We drag our trailer from No Cal to Fla just to stay at Ft Wilderness. Hands down the best RV park we've ever stayed and and so convenient!

Walt must never have imagined that the Disney Parks would take off the way they have as far as being 'destination locations'. If he had he would have built Disneyland in an area with a LOT more available property. Back in the day there were acres upon acres of citrus groves, orchards, and vineyards from the tip of the San Gabriel Valley to the ends of the Inland Empire. He probably could have bought up huge swaths of land, although probably not at stealthily as he did in Fla.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I agree regarding the WDW resorts. A price point for pretty much everyone and still in the 'bubble'. We drag our trailer from No Cal to Fla just to stay at Ft Wilderness. Hands down the best RV park we've ever stayed and and so convenient!

Walt must never have imagined that the Disney Parks would take off the way they have as far as being 'destination locations'. If he had he would have built Disneyland in an area with a LOT more available property. Back in the day there were acres upon acres of citrus groves, orchards, and vineyards from the tip of the San Gabriel Valley to the ends of the Inland Empire. He probably could have bought up huge swaths of land, although probably not at stealthily as he did in Fla.

I think at the time, Walt bought as much as he could afford in Anaheim. But as soon as the park was built, speculators and investors saw the potential and immediately bought up all the land surrounding it. If anything, the city of Anaheim should have better planned the area surrounding it but this is all in hindsight. I think in Orlando, Walt took all of his mistakes and lessons learned and applied it to Disney World. Disney has enough land in Orlando to build many more parks and resorts if they chose to do so.

 

[Wesley815]

I think at the time, Walt bought as much as he could afford in Anaheim. But as soon as the park was built, speculators and investors saw the potential and immediately bought up all the land surrounding it. If anything, the city of Anaheim should have better planned the area surrounding it but this is all in hindsight. I think in Orlando, Walt took all of his mistakes and lessons learned and applied it to Disney World. Disney has enough land in Orlando to build many more parks and resorts if they chose to do so.

Living locally it's incredible how much the City of Anaheim didn't get along with Disney pre-covid closures, fighting and denying so many different plans or changes to area. Now they're basically begging the park to bring back guests, and being more flexible with future changes.

This:
https://disneylandforward.com/

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Living locally it's incredible how much the City of Anaheim didn't get along with Disney pre-covid closures, fighting and denying so many different plans or changes to area. Now they're basically begging the park to bring back guests, and being more flexible with future changes.

This:
https://disneylandforward.com/

I love the concept of Disneyland Forward and glad to hear that Anaheim residents and politicians are coming around in realizing importance of Disney that is their economic engine and life blood.