May 9th -15th with Photos :) Day one

[flagen]

We Left from the Philadelphia Airport and Arrived at LAX around 12:30.

We arrived at the Grand Californian at about 2:30, Met by the Valet people and Ushered inside to our room on the concierge level with the Park View

The Front Desk was very good and the concierge also met us. Here is photo from the room

A little about the rooms...somethings were better then WDW (comparing to AKL there) and somethings were not....The cabinets to store clothes are bigger at WDW. The lighting in the rooms is DARK (just as dark as AKL)

After setting in we headed down to California Adventure...We ate at the Taste Pilots' Grill and use our Vacation Club Discount there also

We then went on Soaring...If you are first time rider on this remember to ask for FIRST ROW...that way you have no feet in your view..We then were going to get a fast pass for Griz Run but the ride was temp broken so we skipped for now.

We headed over to Paradise Pier....Rode California Screamin' (no fast pass needed), Sun Wheel, Golden Zephyr, Mulholland Madness

Before long it was time for the Block Party Bash...This was a GREAT parade lots of fun!!

WE had a dinner reservation at Napa Rose so we headed back to the room to wash up and found this waiting for us....

The meal at Napa Rose was FANTASTIC and better then Spago (more on that later) We had a 1972 bottle of wine that was very good. The Waiter was the best we have had anywhere in years. When we go back next year we are going again for sure!!!

After the great meal we headed back up to the room to enjoy Disneyland the next day....

More comming later

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Cool photos! I feel like I'm coming in on the middle of a story, though. Why the beautiful flower petal heart on your bed? Was it a wedding anniversary? Wedding? Or is this kind of thing typical of concierge level? Really nice!

More please...

 

[flagen]

The Flowers were just something they did on the concierge level for us. Alot of WDW people seem to like to knock the Grand. We were are the Animal Kingdom Lodge a few months ago also on the concierge level. The service and treatment at the Grand was about 50 times better. (and we LIKED the AKL too)

Best thing about the Disneyland resort everything is all right there, no buses to wait for, no need to drive to DTD, then to MGM, then to WDW. We were laughing at guy we heard on a cell phone saying "Downtown Disney Is not as big here as it in Florida"....Again to us DTD in Calif was BETTER everything was right there. Sure no Cirque, or long long walk from one end to the other. But it sure was nice to be able to come out of the parks, goto World of Disney then back to the hotel with the need a bus

 

[krismom]

Great pics- thanks for sharing! We are headed to the GC next month for a short trip (3 days).... I made ressies at Storytellers and the Fantasmic balcony thing- is there anything else I should know about?

 

[flagen]

Storytellers food was so good we ate there 3 times....If you have young kids it has the things little kids like on the Buffet, Mac and Cheese, Mickey Nuggets and some other things. The adult food is YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUm!!

The deserts are also yum

We did not do Fantasmic only because we did it at WDW. If you see the fireworks at DL make sure you get your spot EARLY. Like 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. If you are a little late of you are back a little bit look for the pole holes and sit on the left side of them. This is were the Cast members keep a clear path to cross the street and NO ONE can sit there, so no one blocks your view.

IF you see the block party at DCA, go any day but Fri, sat or sunday. A lot less people and more fun and easy to move up and down the parade.

For DL Parade of Dreams go near the opera house about 1 1/2 hours before it starts...they pull the benches out to near the street and you can sit front row (better then standing) and no one is in front of you.

Anything else you might wish to know be more then glad to answer

 

[Alex2kMommy]

The Flowers were just something they did on the concierge level for us.

Seriously?! That's awesome!

Moving on to Day Two...

 

[grimley1968]

Hey, great photos! I appreciate you sharing these and your trip report. We'll be at GCH in late June, so this is good research for me! Thanks again.

 

[GailT]

Thnaks for all those great pictures. One question, was concierge worth it, I am going Dec 22-26, it is q lot more then a regulare room with a theme park view, will I be wasting my money?

 

[flagen]

If it is your first time yes do it....to us it WAS worth it

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for sharing.