Hilton vs DLH vs GCH

[nancy drew]

The walk from the DLH was really easy for us. We also had the option of taking the monorail to and/or from Tomorrowland. Yes, you have to wait for the monorail, and time-wise it might even out. But you can sit while you ride the monorail, and sitting is less tiring than walking, so there's that.

We would ride back to the hotel at mid-day to swim, if we were at DLR and we happened to be at Fantasyland or Tomorrowland when we wanted to head back. If we were at DCA, we used the GCH entrance/exit and cut through there to the Downtown Disney exit, or just left through the gates and walked. There were so many places to stop in, if we wanted. Even though it means more actual walking time, somehow browsing in the Lego Store or Build a Bear made the walk easier for my kids.

When we returned to the parks after swimming, sometimes after dark, the walk through Downtown Disney energized us! The people, the music, it all just created this energy that was almost tangible. We brought glow sticks, and my kids would walk around handing them out to random kids we saw.

Staying onsite once was enough to create a hotel snob out of me. This time we are staying at Paradise Pier, because the DLH is too expensive. We've stayed there before, and love it just as much. We can walk through the Grand Californian and enjoy the vibe there. We can eat at Storytellers or White Water, we can use the "Secret" entrance to DTD or DCA. But we don't have to pay GCH prices. I'm hoping we get a room with a view of DCA. But even if we don't, I know we will love our stay there.

I think you can't go wrong on site. I don't know that any one hotel is "better" than the other when you are paying full price. I'd only stay at GCH if there were an amazing discount that priced it within what I was willing to pay. Otherwise, I will always choose the least expensive rack rate hotel, which is the Paradise Pier.

 

[LisaT91403]

Me: total hotel snob with a 4 year old son. So my situation is not much different from yours. I enjoy Four Seasons, St. Regis (we seriously had a butler named Max on one of our stays), etc. I have not stayed at DLH, but have stayed at GCH twice. Here are my thoughts:

The GCH is NOT like a Four Seasons or other luxury property. The public areas are beautiful. But in my opinion, the rooms were nothing special. It was clean and the beds were comfortable, and it doesn't feel like a yucky motel. It's nice, but it's a "nice Westin" kind of nice, not a Four Seasons kind of nice. And as a hotel snob, I was fine at GCH.

But we stayed at GCH for 3 reasons: location, location, location. When my son was still napping, the GCH was fantastic. And now that he's not napping, I still love the walk back to GCH after a long day in the parks. It's sooo close! My feet thanked me. We went in the Winter, so the pools weren't a consideration. I felt that the DLH was too far away for us; we do enough walking inside the parks, and if we are paying a premium to be on site, then I want to be as close as humanly possible to the parks. Plus, if we are in CA Adventure and want to grab something from our hotel room, we are right there. Would I go back to the DLH to get a clean shirt? Nah. Too far.

And if I can offer a bit of unsolicited advice while I'm here, I'd suggest you forget about Fess Parker's in Santa Barbara. I'm guessing you are going because of your Hilton status, right? Well, as one hotel snob to another, I'm going to tell you that you won't like this property. It's old and outdated, smelly and mildewy, they allow pets and you get those smells too. Dark rooms. Gross carpeting. The location is excellent, but that's it. Otherwise, yuk.

 

[coopersmom]

BTW, wanted to add that I have nothing against Hampton Inn's and the like ... When I'm paying Hampton Inn prices. What's "good" or even "really nice" at $79/night doesn't feel so likable when you're paying $400 and up.

So, I guess I'm only a snob in the sense of wanting to get at least reasonable value for my money.

That being said, I think we're doing the Disneyland Hotel, but I'm open to people talking me into the Grand Californian. Lobby/grounds do look tremendous, and that theme park entrance is enticing, but I'm still balking on rooms. From photos I've seen look hugely underwhelming. And I'm still tempted by the lower price point and potential World of Color nightly view at Paradise Pier even when the hotel itself looks very blah.

Yeah, I'll totally change my mind a dozen times before we go in two months.

 

[lana772]

In my experiences the DLH and PPH rooms are almost identical except for decorations. (I like the beach look). The PPH is MUCH quieter and our view was MUCH better. With PPH you get a true theme park view if that's what you pay for. At DLH a "theme park view may be partially obstructed by other towers, so be careful where they put you. Once at DLH we were given a theme park view that I had to stand in the far corner of the window and stretch to see a corner of the fireworks... all at a larger price tag. The walking distance is about the same depending on which tower you stay in. The cut through GCH makes PPH's walk a little shorter in some cases. Also remember PPH guest can use the special entrance and pools at GCH.

With all that said I am still sold 100% on GCH. The peacefulness wins me over every time. BUT if I need to budget more PPH wins.

here is a pic of our "theme park view" at DLH
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097434289_778966355_n.jpg

Don't let people tell you that the pool at GCH isn't good enough for little children. Here is a pic of my then 4yr old at GCH mini slide
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126370451668_3183324_n.jpg

 

[Nikefutbolero]

Will be stayin at the Hilton in august. I hope it's decent..

 

[coopersmom]

In my experiences the DLH and PPH rooms are almost identical except for decorations. (I like the beach look). The PPH is MUCH quieter and our view was MUCH better. With PPH you get a true theme park view if that's what you pay for. At DLH a "theme park view may be partially obstructed by other towers, so be careful where they put you. Once at DLH we were given a theme park view that I had to stand in the far corner of the window and stretch to see a corner of the fireworks... all at a larger price tag. The walking distance is about the same depending on which tower you stay in. The cut through GCH makes PPH's walk a little shorter in some cases. Also remember PPH guest can use the special entrance and pools at GCH.

With all that said I am still sold 100% on GCH. The peacefulness wins me over every time. BUT if I need to budget more PPH wins.

here is a pic of our "theme park view" at DLH
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097434289_778966355_n.jpg

Don't let people tell you that the pool at GCH isn't good enough for little children. Here is a pic of my then 4yr old at GCH mini slide
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126370451668_3183324_n.jpg

Hmm, thanks for the pics and all the info. I didn't know Paradise Pier guests could use the GCH pools. Is that official? (I'm a rule follower.)

Also, what makes you 100% sold on the Grand? Any room photos by chance?

My son is total daredevil. When he saw the monorail watersides he said he wanted to, "go on the big one first thing."

Clearly, I'm still torn.

 

[lana772]

Yes it is offical! They even say it on the DL website under PPH.
Let me look for more photos. Has he seen the PPH slide? It is taller than the monorail slides, just doesn't twist as much.

 

[lana772]

Ok photos
DLH Pool was crowded with pushy, unsupervised children. The bar is behind the tall palm and got very noisy in the evenings. Also felt like there were a lot of adults drinking too much around the kids. i wouldn't let my girls go in the hot tubs (just 2 small ones at DLH) because of the adults there.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097314286_61649084_n.jpg

The DLH room decor was nice, but of all the DLResort hotel rooms we have had, it was the smallest.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097074280_1207720903_n.jpg

 

[coopersmom]

Yes it is offical! They even say it on the DL website under PPH.
Let me look for more photos. Has he seen the PPH slide? It is taller than the monorail slides, just doesn't twist as much.

Interesting, and tempting, since you can get a suite at the PPH for the cost of a regular theme park view at the GCH. Of course, we probably wouldn't get a suite as that's well past my "ouch" point cost-wise, but a regular theme park room there is very reasonable ... At least in Disney terms.

BUT getting club-level service there in a theme park room is comparable to a regular room at either Disneyland Hotel (just a little more/night) and cheaper than a regular room at GCH.

 

[lana772]

Now PPH
Our favorite breakfast place is PCH Grill. The Surfs Up breakfast is SOOOO fun!
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/183255_1540696289555_1216351_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/181934_1540700649664_7519386_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/181574_1540700329656_3972400_n.jpg

The room seemed bigger and the beds nicer than DLH
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/184359_1540696929571_2984622_n.jpg

Sorry no good shots of the pool. Last time we were there it rained and the pool was closed quite a bit. another reason I prefer GCH... they don't close the pool.

 

[lana772]

The theme park view room is worth the price at PPH. In our experience that was the only hotel worth that upgrade. CL is pretty much the same at PPH and DLH (keep in mind that the CL lounge at PPH is on the 2nd floor). At CGH Cl is a huge upgrade, although the price increase is huge, too.

 

[nancy drew]

In my experiences the DLH and PPH rooms are almost identical except for decorations. (I like the beach look). The PPH is MUCH quieter and our view was MUCH better. With PPH you get a true theme park view if that's what you pay for. At DLH a "theme park view may be partially obstructed by other towers, so be careful where they put you. Once at DLH we were given a theme park view that I had to stand in the far corner of the window and stretch to see a corner of the fireworks... all at a larger price tag. The walking distance is about the same depending on which tower you stay in. The cut through GCH makes PPH's walk a little shorter in some cases. Also remember PPH guest can use the special entrance and pools at GCH.

With all that said I am still sold 100% on GCH. The peacefulness wins me over every time. BUT if I need to budget more PPH wins.

here is a pic of our "theme park view" at DLH
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097434289_778966355_n.jpg

Don't let people tell you that the pool at GCH isn't good enough for little children. Here is a pic of my then 4yr old at GCH mini slide
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126370451668_3183324_n.jpg

Yes it is offical! They even say it on the DL website under PPH.
Let me look for more photos. Has he seen the PPH slide? It is taller than the monorail slides, just doesn't twist as much.

Can you link to the page that says PPH guests can use the GCH pool? This is the first I've heard of this and I cannot find this information on the DL site. All reports on this board have consistently said there is no pool hopping allowed in DL, so I'd love to know whether that has changed recently.

 

[coopersmom]

here is a pic of our "theme park view" at DLH
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097434289_778966355_n.jpg

If I paid the theme park view up charge for that I'd be disappointed too.

 

[lana772]

Even though I DO NOT recomend the Hilton, here are a few pics
our theme park view
fireworks were hidden by the left side of the building
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/224190_1646581456618_1558590_n.jpg

the pool
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/216086_1646540455593_5417012_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/222652_1645220942606_4716950_n.jpg
We were so upset with the Hilton (over all dirtiness, noise and park transportation) that we left a day early and stayed down by Huntington Beach.

Sorry I didn't take any pics of the room... at the time I just didn't see a reason to.

 

[lana772]

Sorry... I just called the PPH. You CAN NOT pool hop anymore.

 

[lana772]

My reasoning to stay at GCH is strickly the peacefulness of it. We are early birds and typically get up about 5a.m. even on vacation. In order to see a lot of the shows we need to rest in the middle of the day. We have found that GCH is the easiest to do this because of ease of getting back to the room and the quiet of the hotel. (PPH is also very quiet).
I guess it's just a personal thing. We love sitting by the GCH pool and relaxing. The PPH is just not as nice and the DLH was (in our opinion) terrible.

Like I said before... GCH absolute favorite, but when $ is an issue PPH is the ONLY other hotel in the area that we will stay at.

 

[lana772]

This is GCH standard view taken in 2009. ... sorry most of my pics are of my kids, not the room.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126371891704_7930472_n.jpg
White Water Snacks was great for quicky meals
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126370251663_8023012_n.jpg
My kids LOVED the bunk beds.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126371011682_2997090_n.jpg
Sorry, Our room got a little messy, but this pic did remind me how great the GCH room service is.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/10934_1126371771701_963182_n.jpg

Again.. not much for pics of the room... mostly my kids.

 

[Virgoinab]

Ok photos
DLH Pool was crowded with pushy, unsupervised children. The bar is behind the tall palm and got very noisy in the evenings. Also felt like there were a lot of adults drinking too much around the kids. i wouldn't let my girls go in the hot tubs (just 2 small ones at DLH) because of the adults there.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097314286_61649084_n.jpg

The DLH room decor was nice, but of all the DLResort hotel rooms we have had, it was the smallest.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/296274_2012097074280_1207720903_n.jpg

The behaviour of the children has really nothing to do with the comfort of the rooms, or style of the hotel, that could happen anywhere. I have stayed at the DLH several times, just two weeks ago with the pools full of children, and have never seen what you are describing, maybe you just encountered some bad luck.

Same thing with adults drinking, all three hotels sell adult drinks, and I have seen at the GCH more then a few drunks over our Chirstmas vac, last year being "guided" to their rooms. Again, can happen anywhere, at any hotel, no matter how many stars the hotel has.

I prefer the DLH, for a variety of reasons, the remodel worked in my opinion, and to me at least, it has more of a Disney feel, and the rooms are well appointed, clean, and very comfortable.

The PPH while nice, is just that, nice, with for me, very few enticements to stay there.

The GCH, could care less about. I live less then 3 hrs from the Canadian rockies, and have stayed at the Fairmont chain Fairmont Lake louise, in addition to the Banff Springs hotel, and the GCH while trying to evoke that kind of mountian feel falls fair short in my opinion. The lobby is nice, but the rooms are small in my opinion.

But again those are my opinions, the DLH is where I and my family prefer to stay, other's have their preferances as well.

 

[cgh]

That theme park view from Frontier posted above was similar to what we had. We also had a view of the pool, which I thought was pretty at night all lit up. We saw the fireworks from there. I'd be happy with that again this year, though requested Adventure. For me, I thought we got the best of both worlds in the sense that what I wanted to see was fireworks and we got the bonus pool view.

Now, I've see photos of the PPH theme park view and know that you see *theme park* Ie. roller coaster etc. (for DCA)

But again, its what your priorities are. FWIW, when we were at the DLH pool (late afternoon) it was pretty quiet and the kids were well behaved. I do think it really is who is there at that time.

 

[lana772]

I agree that it is all a matter of individual perspective. Each visit at a hotel will be different depending on the other guests there and hotel staff on duty. I can only base my opinion on the visits and rooms that I have had.

If I leave out variables that can change and solely base my opinion on the room, the view, and value for $ we spent I will have to say that PPH would be the winner. Take away the $ issue and it's still GCH.
As far as DLH goes... the walk was similar to PPH, the room at PPH was identical except in decor and the view was better at PPH, so I see no reason we would ever pay the higher price tag again for DLH. ...again just my opinion based on my experience.
AND back to the original "hotel snob" question... none of them are the Ritz.