Late Checkout at Grand Californian

[Mazzy]

The day after our last night a GC we will be staying at the parks until early evening to make the most of our passes, before heading off to our next hotel in Hollywood.

Has anyone ever asked for late checkout at the GC, and more importantly, did you get it and 'til what time?

Thanks!

 

[VegasMike21]

The day after our last night a GC we will be staying at the parks until early evening to make the most of our passes, before heading off to our next hotel in Hollywood.

Has anyone ever asked for late checkout at the GC, and more importantly, did you get it and 'til what time?

Thanks!

I believe they will accomodate you on a late check in BUT I believe you only have up to a certain amount of hours, or else they will charge you for a half day meaning you will pay half the cost of what the room costs for that night.

 

[dizzyami]

I have never done late checkout - so I can't answer that question. I do know though that they will hold your bags for you so that you can go back to the park.

 

[Mazzy]

VegasMike - hope you are right. We definitely don't want to pay anymore - it is costing us a fortune as it is - but if we got a few hours that might be helpful.

dizzyami - thanks, that's good news.

 

[TribeFan]

Just an FYI ... The hotel is sold out almost all the time. Because of this, it is almost impossible for the hotel to grant late check outs. The reason being is that every room that is checking out that day has someone checking in. Just like you wanted your room as soon as possible, so does the person checking in behind you. If they can ever grant a late check out, the latest it is ever extended is 2 PM. Most of the time, guests are given an extra hour until noon. Anthing after 2 PM will have a 1/2 day fee added and the guest will need to be out by 6 PM. As I mentioned, this is only if the hotel has rooms to offer, but this is very rare, and in the off season. My best piece of advise is pack your things, call the Bell Staff and ask them to store your luggage. It is fine there until midnight. The hotel can cut you a key to use the pool on your day of departure. Pack one of your bags with just the swimsuits and you can get it from Bell Services whenever you want. You can change in the restrooms out near the pool.

 

[Mazzy]

Tribefan - thanks for the headsup - as we are going in August doesn't look like there is much change of a late checkout then. Thanks for the advice re using the pool.

 

[TribeFan]

It's my pleasure ... can you guess where I work? Any other GCH questions?

 

[LLS]

I have a question for you, TribeFan...

Is GC worth the extra $ over DLH? I simply cannot decide. Myself, DH, DS14, DS12 & DS 10 will be making our first ever trip to DL in August (never been to WDW, either). We always go somewhere new for our vacations so it's highly unlikely we will ever return as a family -- therefore I guess you could call it a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We are willing to pay the extra $, but please tell me what you think are the benefits of GC over DLH. I like the closer proximity to parks, the room balcony, the gorgeous lobby. Is the pool nicer -- the one at DLH looks quite nice. Anything else? I need someone to help me decide!

Thanks so much

 

[BlueBayou]

They would not give us even an extra hour during our 4 night stay this past October. The were polite but firm with the no. We were eating a 9:30am character breakfast at storytellers and I was worried about getting everything out of the room by 11am.

The hotel was totally booked. The did offer to store our bags. We ended up just making it and we got out of the room around 10:55am.

 

[Mazzy]

BlueBayou - sorry you didn't get the late checkout.

Tribefan - OOoohh, you work at the GC Hotel? Cool!

We're very excited about staying there, it's our first ever visit to California from the UK - we've been to WDW 7 times, so really looking forward to a 'new' park, even though Disneyland is older!

We have only 2 nights (3 days) there, so want to make the most of every minute.

Can I ask you about the pool? I have two teens age 13 and 17, will they be able to use the slide or is there an age limit? Also, is there a hot tub? And what time does the pool close in the evening?

Thanks!

 

[TribeFan]

You will find the Disneyland Resort to be very intimate. It takes about 5 minutes of walking to get anywhere on the property. Plan on dining at the other hotels, if you want, as it all very close.

One thing that I would recommend is to call Vacation Planning. It's a free service to hotel guests. Sort of the Concierge before you arrive. They can set up your dining, arrange transpostation (if necessary), room service amenities, themed baskets and personal shopping, arrange massage appointments, answer theme park questions, and assist in quite a few more magical ways. Their number is 714-300-PLAN or you can e-mail them at vacationplanning@disneyonline.com

The pool at the Grand is great. There are 2 slides. One for the bigger kids (adults) and one for the littler ones. Your group will have a lot of fun. There is a hot tub and also a quiet pool that does not have a slide, incase someone wanted to do laps.

Also, be sure to utilize the hotel staff. 24 hours a day if you pick up your house phone and dial "0", you will always get a Concierge. No operators at this hotel. They are full of great information and assistance.

From what I have heard from our WDW veterans, they really love the park where Walt actually walked. Pirates is better, Fantasmic! is better. It truly is where the magic began.

Have a great stay!

TribeFan

 

[LLS]

Is it true that if you are a guest at the GCH you may use the pools at DLH and PPH? That big yellow slide looks like fun!

Thanks!

 

[Mazzy]

Tribefan - thanks for so much great information, especially the vacation planning, and also for the email contact, I am partially deaf, so the email wll make it so much easier for me to contact them than using the phone.

The pools sound fantastic, might even have a go on the slide myself!

We definitely want to have a look at the Disneyland Hotel, as I believe it has a wall with memorabilia on it? We may book a meal for while we are over there, I will look into the restaurants.

We are certainly looking forward to seeing 'Walt's Park', I imagine it will feel kind of special. We are also looking forward to all the different rides, especially Indiana Jones which sounds great!

Thanks again for so much great info, you've been fantastic!

 

[mlggator]

Tribefan - We are going to Disneyland on June 26 through 28 and are booked at the GC (can't wait, we have never stayed there). This may be our last time at DL since we are likely moving back east and we are considering it our fairwell to DLR trip. We currently live about an hour south of DL.
So I have a few questions for you about our stay. First, how early can we get into our room. We stayed at DLH a few years ago and were very dissppointed that they couldn't get us into our room until 5pm, even though we checked in by 9am. I had a one year old and brought him back at 3pm (when we were told to return) for his nap and sat in the lobby for 2 hours to get our room.
Is this typical? Can we request an early check in and if so, would that help? Also, we have a pool view and I was wondering if there was any floor or area of the hotel that we should request.

Thanks for all your help.

Michele

 

[Danauk]

Tribesfan, could you help with this question please.
On the GCH concierge info it says that guests have access to the lounge on the 6th floor and a 5th floor patio, only I can't seem to find where the patio is located on any maps of the GCH. So do you know where it is and what the view is like from there? Thanks.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Is it true that if you are a guest at the GCH you may use the pools at DLH and PPH? That big yellow slide looks like fun!

Thanks!

No unfortunately, there is no pool hopping at the DLR hotels. Too bad, they all have cool pools worth checking out!

 

[BlueBayou]

DanaUK -


Hello there. I may be wrong - but I believe there is a patio instead of rooms 019 - 015 on this Map.

During our October trip we stayed in 5128 - I recall walking past some sort of patio. One day we went out on it. Nobody was there.

Sher

 

[Danauk]

Hey Sher,
Thanks for the info, a nice quiet patio overlooking the pool area looks great. I really should pop by the tag thread to check in again. Bad girl I know!!

 

[TribeFan]

WOW ... so many questions. Let's see what I can do here??

1. LLS: So sorry, but I really can't be the judge of what works for your budget. Most folks like that the Grand is closer to DL, but other people like that the DLH is more "Disney-ish". The Grand is more subtle with it's Disney theme and keeps more true to the Art and Crafts/Bungalow style. You will have to make this decision on your own. With regard to the pool... no, the pools are exclusive to each hotel. If you were to go to the GS Desk and ask nicely, they might be able to help you out. Generally, each hotel can only go to their pool and workout facility.

2. MLGGATOR: With regard to rooms being available early, it's much the same as a late check out. If the hotel is sold out, then every room that someone is checking in to, someone has to check out first. Unfortunately, not everyone sticks to the 11:00 check out time. Rooms are generally available after 3 pm. You can request an early check in, but again, it's subject to availability and if there are no rooms the night before (or no rooms of the type you have booked), then you will probably get into the room after 3 pm. I see folks all the time with kids sleeping on the sofa's in the Great Hall. Most kids are pretty flexible and would sleep standing up if they are tired enough (I know that I can). If the little one needs a nap and the room is not ready then let them rest in a quiet area near the firepalce and let the rest of your group go an enjoy DL. All of the pool rooms are great and most of them you can see DCA in the background, so it's a dual view.

3. Danauk: Correct, the Parkview Terrace is located on the 5th floor, near where you woul see the 5019 to 5016 rooms. On the other side of the rooms map is the meeting space map and it shows the Parkview Terrance. If the Craftsmans Club is full, you can always grab breakfast for snack and escape to a nice pool view terrace and get some sunshine.

Have a good day all and let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

 

[mlggator]

Thanks Tribefan. Your information has been very helpful on many levels.

Michele