Grand Californian Questions

[Ilovestitch]

Hi, I just booked a standard room at Grand Californian. Are there any requests I should make for the room-- like upper floor, or near lobby? I'm not sure what they layout is of the hotel and can't find a map online anywhere.

Or should I not request anything and have maybe a better chance of being upgraded?

 

[justmestace]

Depends on what you need. How many in your family? We've always requested the rooms with bunkbeds, since we had a boy and a girl, who didn't want to share a bed.

Did you get standard view? That could end up being the parking lot...when you get to the hotel, you can ask about being moved to pool or park view, but I've not had much luck with that.

 

[Ilovestitch]

Our party is just two adults and we have a standard room. Is it better to be near the lobby for less walking?

 

[Pirate-Emery]

Our party is just two adults and we have a standard room. Is it better to be near the lobby for less walking?

Only if you take the stairs... Otherwise, you shouldn't be too far from the elevators...


Well, it is the GC... last time I was there, it was like a maze to get to the elevator on our floor.

 

[lpfeiffer]

Hi,

We've stayed at the Grand Californian several times. It's a very large complex, and depending on your room location you may have a lot of walking to do to get to your room. I only remember two elevators, one in the main lobby and one close to Napa Rose and the Cal Adventure private entrance. If you don't want to walk much, you may want to request being close to one of these elevators.

I think a standard view room will be either overlooking Disneyland Dr (parking lot) or a courtyard view. If given the choice I'd take the courtyard view. The monorail passes through the courtyard (which can be interesting), otherwise it's very peaceful there.

Upgrades are becoming harder to get, but if you get a room you're unhappy with call down right away and they'll try to move you. It doesn't hurt to ask when you check in too.

My favorite view is the pool view, you get a direct view of the pool, a side view of PP and it's close to the elevator. There are more amusement park view rooms, but many of them are not that great.

We are actually booked for a standard view room for this Sat night. We usually book a DD view or pool/amusement park view, but we're just staying the one night and decided to economize. If we get a room in a nice area, I can let you know when I get back.

Hope this helps!

 

[suzannen]

I'm planning on booking a room there as well and I've heard some rooms do not have balconies. We were thinking of requesting a DTD view but wondering do all of them have balconies and am also interested if there are certain floors to request to lessen noise?

 

[MATTERHORN]

Here you go, we like to request close to the elevator but those are pretty standard. Most of the DTD view and park view rooms you will have to walk a little!! We had DTD one time over World of Disney and it was quite a haul but a great view!

http://www.go2mickey.com/images/maps/gcroomlocalmap.jpg


Andrea

 

[GailT]

I would want to be near and elevator, the fire alarm wenr of when we were there at Christmas time, down the five flights of steps, thank God it was down and not up

 

[lpfeiffer]

I'm planning on booking a room there as well and I've heard some rooms do not have balconies. We were thinking of requesting a DTD view but wondering do all of them have balconies and am also interested if there are certain floors to request to lessen noise?

I don't remember any rooms not having balconies, but I haven't really looked. We've stayed twice in DD view rooms. For me, the noise from the area (lots of music) was still audible at night even with the windows closed. But, after a long day at the park you may not notice. And, if you like to people watch, it's a great view. Finally, we had a great view of the fireworks over DL from our balcony. It's not a highrise so being higher probably wouldn't help much with the noise. I think the DD view rooms have the farthest walk from the elevators, if that matters to you. Good luck!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Andrea, thanks for that floorplan/map. That is really helpful to see.

Lives4Disney

 

[TwingleMum]

How are the concierge rooms located?? Are they a hike from everything?? Thanks!! I'm getting really excited for our trip in March!!

 

[suzannen]

I don't remember any rooms not having balconies, but I haven't really looked. We've stayed twice in DD view rooms. For me, the noise from the area (lots of music) was still audible at night even with the windows closed. But, after a long day at the park you may not notice. And, if you like to people watch, it's a great view. Finally, we had a great view of the fireworks over DL from our balcony. It's not a highrise so being higher probably wouldn't help much with the noise. I think the DD view rooms have the farthest walk from the elevators, if that matters to you. Good luck!

This is really helpful information, thank you! Someone else just told me that they thought the only rooms that did not have balconies were those where the monorail went by, which would not apply to the DD view. Can anyone confirm that? And, we LOVE to people watch, which is one reason we thought DD view might be fun. We're also NYers who walk everywhere so being further from the elevator is not a key factor for us, but great to know in case we ever wanted to take my parents or MIL along since it would definitely be an issue for them.

 

[blackjackdelta]

This is really helpful information, thank you! Someone else just told me that they thought the only rooms that did not have balconies were those where the monorail went by, which would not apply to the DD view. Can anyone confirm that? And, we LOVE to people watch, which is one reason we thought DD view might be fun. We're also NYers who walk everywhere so being further from the elevator is not a key factor for us, but great to know in case we ever wanted to take my parents or MIL along since it would definitely be an issue for them.

I have to agree. I like to just sit and watch the folks moving thru DTD shopping and exploring. We are hoping for a park view in August just to see the lights from a different vantage point. None of us mind the walk since we are already walking all over the park and the hotel is close enough to take a quick break.

Jack

 

[MATTERHORN]

This is really helpful information, thank you! Someone else just told me that they thought the only rooms that did not have balconies were those where the monorail went by, which would not apply to the DD view. Can anyone confirm that? And, we LOVE to people watch, which is one reason we thought DD view might be fun. We're also NYers who walk everywhere so being further from the elevator is not a key factor for us, but great to know in case we ever wanted to take my parents or MIL along since it would definitely be an issue for them.

In the picture on the first page of this thread we are sitting out on our balcony as the monorail goes by!!!


Andrea

 

[suzannen]

In the picture on the first page of this thread we are sitting out on our balcony as the monorail goes by!!!


Andrea

That would be a fun view also. I think what I've gotten from this thread is - there are no really bad views at the GHC, it's just a fun place to be and I can't wait to stay there. You guys have gotten me so excited!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

You can find some descriptions of the Grand Californian Hotel, including pics, aerials, and layouts at this link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=841225

This is a standard view that I had from room 4101 - I really liked that room. This is a view of the monorail & Disneyland Hotel

Looking the other way I could see the Paradise Pier Hotel & a corner of California Adventure with Mulholland Madness

This is a view of the courtyard. I think there are 6 or 12 rooms without balconies. I forget the exact number. The other rooms do have balconies. In this pic you see the Downtown Disney entrance.

This is a pool/themepark view