Grand Californian Super Thread

[SeaDis]

Oooo now I’m a little worried. We are staying in a DVC 1 bedroom and 2/3 of our trip is grad nights. Do the DVC rooms overlook the park? I was hoping for a park view but now second guessing that with 3 small children…

I think above advice is good on DVC requests (Redwood probably the quietest, but not many rooms there). We still request theme park side. But every stay on day 3 or 4 I ask myself "why do I do this?" I don't mind screams on Goofy's. It's the repetition of the swings and zephyr soundtracks that get me.

I've never had an issue with Grad nights (only had 2 or 3 of them I think), but certainly have heard horror stories like the one above (if that was the cause-- not sure). Have fun!

ETA: If you do get theme park side and high enough to see over the trees, your kids WILL love the view. If you can all sleep with white noise, I think it will help.

 

[pineapplepalms]

Oooo now I’m a little worried. We are staying in a DVC 1 bedroom and 2/3 of our trip is grad nights. Do the DVC rooms overlook the park? I was hoping for a park view but now second guessing that with 3 small children…

The DVC rooms overlooking the park can be quite loud late at night, even not during grad nights. We were there last month and they were doing WoC testing one night until 1 or 2am, with fire effects and everything. You can often hear music and other park noises going on for hours after park close. I have 3 young kids too but they sleep through a lot so it didn’t bother us. We still love that view and request it every time, but don’t always get it. The quietest rooms we’ve had are overlooking Redwood Creek.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Okay...more questions from me. We have a standard view, 2-queen room booked. From looking online, I see there are different room configurations. I was thinking I would try to request one that has a daybed when we check in. But if we do the "Direct-to-room" check in on the app, can we still request that or do we need to check-in in person to make a request?

I also watched a youtube video recently where people were "upgraded" to a pool view (I don't think they asked for this) and I definitely do NOT want to end up in a pool view room....if I do the online check-in, will it tell me the view I'm getting?

Just quoting my above post to see if anyone knows about this at all?

 

[RoseColored97]

Just quoting my above post to see if anyone knows about this at all?

We did online check-in, but the room configuration largely depends on how many are in your party. Because the hotel is always so full, if you have 4 or less people you will more than likely be put in a 2 queen room with no daybed. If you have a party of 5, they'll make every effort to place you in a room with one, though. I've even heard a couple times of them placing a party of 3 in a king room, but that is pretty rare as there are so few rooms with kings (luckily!!).

To request this, I would make a call 7-10 days before check-in. This is when they start assigning rooms and you can place a request to have a sofa bed, but make sure to call the hotel directly and not the Walt Disney Travel company.

I'm not so sure about the other question. I know that it won't tell you what view you are getting from the app, it's kind of a see the room assigned and then look on an online map or wait until you get to the room game. You may be able to request to *not* be placed in a certain section of the hotel if you ask at the time you call in to request the daybed.

 

[DLgal]

We did online check-in, but the room configuration largely depends on how many are in your party. Because the hotel is always so full, if you have 4 or less people you will more than likely be put in a 2 queen room with no daybed. If you have a party of 5, they'll make every effort to place you in a room with one, though. I've even heard a couple times of them placing a party of 3 in a king room, but that is pretty rare as there are so few rooms with kings (luckily!!).

To request this, I would make a call 7-10 days before check-in. This is when they start assigning rooms and you can place a request to have a sofa bed, but make sure to call the hotel directly and not the Walt Disney Travel company.

I'm not so sure about the other question. I know that it won't tell you what view you are getting from the app, it's kind of a see the room assigned and then look on an online map or wait until you get to the room game. You may be able to request to *not* be placed in a certain section of the hotel if you ask at the time you call in to request the daybed.

Calling the hotel vs making requests through the general travel company has the same result.

@ClaraOswald

We are a party of 4 with teens who do not share a bed well. We always request a daybed at GCH and always get it. I can always see the request on our reservation confirmation, and I always just make the request when I book the room.

If you want to make sure you got the daybed, don't do online check in. Wait in line and ask at that point. If they haven't assigned you a daybed room, they can almost always reassign you to a room that has one. Be willing to switch room view types as well, and pay the difference. This is also where you tell them you do NOT want a pool view room.

Your other option is to call and add a couple kids to your reservation so that you are a party of 5. You will be guaranteed a daybed room then. They don't need to know those kids don't exist.

 

[OlliePop27]

The DVC rooms overlooking the park can be quite loud late at night, even not during grad nights. We were there last month and they were doing WoC testing one night until 1 or 2am, with fire effects and everything. You can often hear music and other park noises going on for hours after park close. I have 3 young kids too but they sleep through a lot so it didn’t bother us. We still love that view and request it every time, but don’t always get it. The quietest rooms we’ve had are overlooking Redwood Creek.

We just stayed at GC Partial View overlooking Goofy's Sky School. The rides were not too loud, but WOC was loud. On Monday night they were testing the new WOC at 11:30 pm and it was VERY loud with the door closed. We turned the "fan" setting to medium at night and it helped a lot.

Even with the noise, it was not so loud as to impact our ability to sleep, and I would be willing to stay in the same room again - it would not be my first preference though. The location of the rooms overlooking Goofy's Sky School is perfect to use the new PPH entrance to DCA - what an incredible convenience. We left WOC and were back in our room in less than 5 minutes. We also used this entrance to rope drop one day when we had a late start. Made it to Webslingers with no problem.

 

[RoseColored97]

Calling the hotel vs making requests through the general travel company has the same result.

We were told differently by the hotel, but if both works for some that's great!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Sorry I am asking a million questions here. But traveling with an autistic kiddo means lots of extra things to consider.

For example - do all rooms have a balcony? If so, what's the lock on the door like? Trying to figure out if my son will be able to get it open on his own or not.

Thanks!

 

[OneThree]

Sorry I am asking a million questions here. But traveling with an autistic kiddo means lots of extra things to consider.

For example - do all rooms have a balcony? If so, what's the lock on the door like? Trying to figure out if my son will be able to get it open on his own or not.

Thanks!

Yes, I believe all rooms have balconies of varying sizes.

There is a lock for the balcony door by the handle and also a security lock higher up the door.

 

[RoseColored97]

Sorry I am asking a million questions here. But traveling with an autistic kiddo means lots of extra things to consider.

For example - do all rooms have a balcony? If so, what's the lock on the door like? Trying to figure out if my son will be able to get it open on his own or not.

Thanks!

There are a few rooms that don't have balconies, but these should be considered Woods/Courtyard because of the monorail running through (*very small number of rooms without a balcony). The lock to the doors have a latch that is about eye level to an adult.

Video here showing it:

I spent many a nights researching the hotel and watching videos of the room prior to our October trip, so remember specific things from Youtube videos. I was shocked to not like the hotel/our room after watching all of the videos and doing so much research on the hotel, but I'm obviously in the minority lol

 

[SeaDis]

Sorry I am asking a million questions here. But traveling with an autistic kiddo means lots of extra things to consider.

For example - do all rooms have a balcony? If so, what's the lock on the door like? Trying to figure out if my son will be able to get it open on his own or not.

Thanks!

We need to page Professor @Nonsuch for the location and total count of rooms without balconies.

Yes there are some-- I think they were the original "daybed" rooms before the last room remodel. They have a little more square footage, since the balcony space is captured in the room.

Good call on the video above. There is a twist deadbolt on the door. Above that is a heavy duty pin/bolt lock that needs to be lifted and rotated. I think any growing child, who is tall enough, could figure both out with enough time. You could add a third measure by bringing an extendable bar to put in the slider track. Maybe you can find one that goes along the top of the slider as opposed to the floor track, so it's out of reach.

Check out Amazon for those (and maybe other ideas).

 

[ClaraOswald]

Thanks! This really helps. That high up latch doesn't seem like something my son will mess with so I think we should be good. Phew!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Is there a luggage cart in the lobby to bring our stuff up to the room? Or do we need to utilize bell services? We normally stay at budget hotels so I'm not sure what it's like here. And if we have to use bell services, what is a normal tip for that? We'll have a few suitcases and then we plan to get a case of bottled water at Target before checking in.

 

[Wakey]

I don't think it's a DVC entrance. It's the entrance for people staying at Pixar/Paradise Pier but it's close enough to the DVC wing that it may be faster for some people vs the traditional GC entrance.

We were in a DVC room literally 10 feet from this directly opposite it.

 

[DLgal]

Is there a luggage cart in the lobby to bring our stuff up to the room? Or do we need to utilize bell services? We normally stay at budget hotels so I'm not sure what it's like here. And if we have to use bell services, what is a normal tip for that? We'll have a few suitcases and then we plan to get a case of bottled water at Target before checking in.

They won't let guests handle the luggage carts. You have to use bell services or haul your bags up yourself. A reasonable tip is $2/bag, given ONLY at the point of delivery if the same person handles your bags at collection and delivery OR $1/bag handed out at both ends. You will have 2 different people handling your bags at GCH. So plan to tip both people.

 

[OlliePop27]

We were in a DVC room literally 10 feet from this directly opposite it.

Correct, it's the entrance for PPH guests, but this entrance is closer for GCH guests staying in the DVC portion of the building. The best way in/out to the new entrance pathway is on the first floor double doors by the patio/grilling area for DVC.

As an aside, there was a previous question about open laundry facilities. I can confirm from my trip last week that GCH does in fact have open laundry facilities on the first floor, immediately adjacent to the DVC patio double doors. I walked past the laundry room numerous times in/out of DCA at the PPH entrance.

 

[RoseColored97]

Is there a luggage cart in the lobby to bring our stuff up to the room? Or do we need to utilize bell services? We normally stay at budget hotels so I'm not sure what it's like here. And if we have to use bell services, what is a normal tip for that? We'll have a few suitcases and then we plan to get a case of bottled water at Target before checking in.

They won't allow guests to use the luggage carts themselves, unfortunately. We tipped when they unloaded them from the SUV and placed them on the luggage cart, $5. We then also tipped $10 to the bellhop who brought up the luggage, he also brought up our grocery order from Walmart and brought everything into the room. We then also tipped the bellhop who picked up our luggage $10 to bring them back down upon checkout.

Another thing to consider is housekeeping. We normally do housekeeping daily while staying on-site, so leave $10 daily in an envelope marked "Mousekeeping" on the end of the bed. If you decide to do turndown service, we also leave $5 each night for that as well (this may only apply to concierge, though).

 

[SeaDis]

We usually have groceries delivered before arrival (as long as no alcohol). So they come up with our luggage and we tip accordingly.

But if we do meet the grocery delivery at the curb or have another delivery mid-stay, we bring our empty roller bags down and load them up to take back to the room. Not to save on tip, just to save on time. The bellhops can get really delayed at peak time.

 

[austinalexander]

Does anyone know where self parking is? We use to do valet all the time but the new $65 a night is quite ridiculous.

 

[Nonsuch]

Does anyone know where self parking is?

Across the street (Disneyland Drive).