Grand Californian

[evilmommie]

At least for opening...dining at GCH will be hotel guests only. Makes sense, very limited options.

 

[707MickeyGirl]

At least for opening...dining at GCH will be hotel guests only. Makes sense, very limited options.

Oof! I would not want to be the cast member that has to check for room keys and turn people away.

 

[StarlitNight05]

One possible option would be to book a room through Dapper Day, which is scheduled in November https://dapperday.com/pages/fall-2021-california. It's fully refundable with the same cancel-within-5-days-of-arrival stipulation as if you booked through Disney directly. Your reservation has to include at least one night of the Dapper Day event (Nov 13 & 14) so the latest you could start your booking would be Nov 14. The rate is $434 plus tax for a standard room. In the past I've been able to upgrade by calling, but who knows right now. They also usually sell park tickets, but again, these aren't normal times so I'm not sure if that option will be given this year. I honestly don't know how it works if you want to link tickets and so on. It's also subject to cancelation if covid remains an issue.
Here's what I found when I plugged in some dates. Notice they also have Disneyland Hotel, which may or may not be open in Nov. View attachment 568772:

Thank you for the heads up! We usually go for Dapper Day, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me that they would have an in-person event this year (but as you said, it could still be subject to COVID if there is an uptick).

 

[evilmommie]

Oof! I would not want to be the cast member that has to check for room keys and turn people away.

My guess is that they aren’t going to allow people into GCH unless they have a hotel reservation, at least in the opening weeks. That’s what I’ve seen in other tourist locations that I’ve been to that had phased openings.

 

[Disney0010]

At least for opening...dining at GCH will be hotel guests only. Makes sense, very limited options.

I like that.....

 

[coaches24]

My guess is that they aren’t going to allow people into GCH unless they have a hotel reservation, at least in the opening weeks. That’s what I’ve seen in other tourist locations that I’ve been to that had phased openings.

They stopped letting people without GCH room keys go through the GCH lobby even before covid. We tried walking that way a couple years ago on a trip and they had someone at the corner checking room keys and turning everyone without a GCH room key away to walk through DTD. We were staying at a motel on that side of the parks and it was the fastest route for us to walk through GCH but they said they stopped letting people do that.

 

[starry_solo]

They stopped letting people without GCH room keys go through the GCH lobby even before covid. We tried walking that way a couple years ago on a trip and they had someone at the corner checking room keys and turning everyone without a GCH room key away to walk through DTD. We were staying at a motel on that side of the parks and it was the fastest route for us to walk through GCH but they said they stopped letting people do that.

Right, from the street side across from PPH. But what about from the DTD side? Are they going to check room keys?

 

[JWelch62]

I tried to find this on the website, but doing anything with the hotels takes you to the queue...

Does anyone know if they are allowing guests to check bags for the day?

 

[coaches24]

Right, from the street side across from PPH. But what about from the DTD side? Are they going to check room keys?

I wasnt thinking of that side. I dont know that one.

 

[amyg1975]

I tried to find this on the website, but doing anything with the hotels takes you to the queue...

Does anyone know if they are allowing guests to check bags for the day?

I am wondering the same and could not find anything on their website. I finally sent an email.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

They stopped letting people without GCH room keys go through the GCH lobby even before covid. We tried walking that way a couple years ago on a trip and they had someone at the corner checking room keys and turning everyone without a GCH room key away to walk through DTD. We were staying at a motel on that side of the parks and it was the fastest route for us to walk through GCH but they said they stopped letting people do that.

They stopped allowing people to cut through the lobby to get to the parks or DTD, but you could still enter the hotel from DTD (and cut through on your way out) and most of the time from DCA, as well. You could also enter GCH from the street side with a dining reservation.

 

[brightlined]

They stopped letting people without GCH room keys go through the GCH lobby even before covid. We tried walking that way a couple years ago on a trip and they had someone at the corner checking room keys and turning everyone without a GCH room key away to walk through DTD. We were staying at a motel on that side of the parks and it was the fastest route for us to walk through GCH but they said they stopped letting people do that.

Not that it matters: I was at DLR March 8-10 last year, and frequently went from DCA, through the GCH lobby, and out the front door. I kept expecting somebody to say something, but the folks out front simply wished me a good day. (I can't remember if I ever tried going other way - there's a key card reader on the pedestrian gate, and I don't think I felt great about walking around it.)

 

[upritbass]

Right, from the street side across from PPH. But what about from the DTD side? Are they going to check room keys?

We’ll find out on the 29th; however, that is a security area so it would be easy to check for room keys. The same goes for the DCA exit...

 

[707MickeyGirl]

I think that stopping non-hotel guests from going through the GCH to get into DTD or DCA had something to do with the fact that there are bag checks at the GCH-to-DTD entry and at the GCH-to-DCA entry, and those bag checks were being inundated by non-hotel guests trying to get around the longer lines.

 

[DisSurfer878]

I think that stopping non-hotel guests from going through the GCH to get into DTD or DCA had something to do with the fact that there are bag checks at the GCH-to-DTD entry and at the GCH-to-DCA entry, and those bag checks were being inundated by non-hotel guests trying to get around the longer lines.

Yep, plus it reduced the safety feature if some nutty person wanted to try to come into the GCH from the street side trying to cause mayhem. I mean, don't get me wrong, it has a ton of issues still, but that was part of the idea.

 

[DLgal]

Oof! I would not want to be the cast member that has to check for room keys and turn people away.

This seems to imply that non guests won't even be permitted entry.

 

[707MickeyGirl]

This seems to imply that non guests won't even be permitted entry.

I guess that makes sense. If they let non-hotel guests in, then they would have to check room keys at all 3 of the dining venues.

 

[nicole88s]

Here's an interesting fact I just noticed. I've had a VGC reservation for awhile now and linked it to my Disneyland account as soon as we were able to. I check it every now and again to make sure it's still there. Today I checked it and they added when I can make park reservations. My reservation starts November 29th and it says I can make theme park reservations September 4th. It also says I will be able to do online check in on November 24th. Just thought that was interesting.

 

[CO2CA]

Here's an interesting fact I just noticed. I've had a VGC reservation for awhile now and linked it to my Disneyland account as soon as we were able to. I check it every now and again to make sure it's still there. Today I checked it and they added when I can make park reservations. My reservation starts November 29th and it says I can make theme park reservations September 4th. It also says I will be able to do online check in on November 24th. Just thought that was interesting.

That is interesting! If I'm doing my math correctly, that would be 86 days before? I wonder if they're planning on expanding when we can make theme park reservations.

 

[nicole88s]

That is interesting! If I'm doing my math correctly, that would be 86 days before? I wonder if they're planning on expanding when we can make theme park reservations.

Right? What a random number of days. You would think it would be 60 or 90. This is the exact wording, "Make a Park Reservation will be available after Sat, Sep 4, 2021".