My first stay at the Grand.....hmmmmn

[nana50]

Well I finally got to stay at the Grand! My daughter, son-in-law and 3 grandkids (ages 3 year old twin boys and 8 year old girl) arrived Sunday at 1:00p.m. We were hoping for an early check-in. No way! It was packed at the hotel. I had to wait in quite a long line to check-in. The guy was friendly but seemed very distracted. Since our rooms weren't ready he did find another 2 rooms that were connected and were ready, (actually only one was but that was fine) We went up to our room, walked for 4 or 5 miles to get to it, and changed for the pool. After another 4 or 5 mile walk to the pool we tried to find some empty lounge chairs. Pool was packed. I started to get a little nervous about DL on Monday. Was it going to be crowded? There are lots of pools and 2 spas. They were crowded but there was room. The twins used the "little" slide over and over and over. The 8 year old girl used the big slide over, and over, and over. I used the jacuzzi and went down the slide a couple of times. We had a good time and had no complaints at all. We hiked back to our room around four p.m. and thought about dinner. Since this was a once in a lifetime stay due to expense we decided on White Water snacks for dinner. BIG mistake.

Fist the choice is limited but O.K. My son-in-law who is Vegan ordered the veggie burger with fries. We ordered the pizza for the kids, they had NO child's menu pizza. We asked for a fruit side and all they gave us was red grapes, soft, old grapes. We wish they would have told us this was there only choice. I got a burger, frozen patty type and not cooked all the way. None of us were too happy.

We went t our room and I insisted we do room service for breakfast. Breakfast was perfect. Everything fresh and well done. Sometimes it is more than worth it to pay for it. We could have gone to the buffet, but that was quite over our budget.

Now to Disneyland. We got there at rope drop and never were able to do Peter Pan. It was busy, not REAL busy but there was a 20 minutes wait for Pirates! We didn't even try autopia because they didn't have fastpass up. The kids had fun because they don't really know any different.

My visit was fine, but I won't stay at the Grand again. The rooms are small and nothing special. I've stayed in the reno rooms at DLH and loved them. We stayed at the Grand because of the pools. DLH were not all up and running. Yes the lobby is fantastic, yes the beauty is great, but you don't really get to enjoy when you do such a quickie visit. I also think the little ones would enjoy PP or DLH better. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[CrazyDuck]

You can order off the menu at Storytellers Cafe, you don have to do the buffet. Also I'd never recommend GCH for a 1 or 2 night stay, the hotel is like the theme parks. You need to take your time to enjoy it, rather than just rushing through the motions because you are short on time! Did ya do the storytelling by the fireplace or sit and listen to the piano player?

 

[nana50]

I agree, one night is too quick to enjoy the hotel. I know you can order off the menu I do it all the time. It is nice however, to have everything brought to your room and not worry about waiting and having to keep 3 year olds sitting still while waiting for their meal.

 

[Dobie]

Sorry your visit was not as magical as you had wished! I, too, have often found seating by the GCH pool to be challenging to find. And a LOT of the rooms are far, far, away! The last time the Dobies stayed there, after hiking all day to my room, I called the desk and they found me one closer to the elevator.

 

[TravelingJen24]

I'm glad that you had fun at the pools. It is true that the rooms are small. I think the Grand is only good for a trip where you plan on being there a few days. It is nice to relax at the different areas. Otherwise it really isn't worth the cost. We checked out on Sunday and the lobby was a zoo. It is normally not like that from our previous trips. Probably had a lot to do with the premiere.

 

[lapdwife]

Wow, I can't imagine having anything negative to say about the Grand or WWS. Love, love, love both! The pool chair situation can be hairy. People tend to 'save' chairs by putting towels on them. This isn't allowed and I've flagged down CM's and they've removed the towels. Early check-in can be hit or miss at any hotel, but not likely at one that's almost always at such a high capacity as GCH. We generally will check in early, leave our bags with them and then we get a text with our room # after check-in time.

 

[minjo]

sorry to hear that your trip wasn't as magical as it could have been.

on another note....what is considered early check-in? We will be arriving on June 11th at around at Orange County airport at 1:30pm. Probably arrive at the hotel around 2:15-2:30 or so.

 

[sonnyjane]

sorry to hear that your trip wasn't as magical as it could have been.

on another note....what is considered early check-in? We will be arriving on June 11th at around at Orange County airport at 1:30pm. Probably arrive at the hotel around 2:15-2:30 or so.

Check-in is at 3:00 PM, so in all likelihood if you arrive at 2:30 a room will likely be ready. If not, however, as a PP said, you can just leave your luggage and head straight to the parks if you're in a rush.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

After all of our visits to the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian, we have found that our room is never ready when we first check in. We typically arrive around noon or so, and they tell us they will text us when our room is ready. This is usually around 3:30 or so. They always hold our luggage for us so we can go into the parks, of course.

 

[minjo]

thanks for all the info.

 

[TravelingJen24]

When we checked in on the 5th our room was ready at 8:30 in the morning. I think it is just a capacity issue. Wednesday night is probably not that crowded unless there is a convention or event.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I'll be interested to see the pics of DLH when the reno is finished. We stayed there two years ago and really weren't impressed. We love the GCH, but always stay off season, definitely not the weekend of a big movie premiere.

 

[twopeasonepod]

Sorry about your experience. We arrived the same day but at 6:30 so we were good to go. I don't like WWS either, but it seems popular. I can't believe you went swimming -- I thought I saw an iceberg floating in the pool! (haha I'm from Hawaii)

I agree that to truly appreciate GCH you have to be able to reap the benefits for several days. The standard rooms are really no big deal, but the convenience is awesome and the overall experience is fabulous.

Next time stay for at least a week!

 

[Teki]

Im confused are you complaining or did you have a good time seems like both Disneyland is crowded thats a fact of life you either work with it or you go off season. I have to say though IMHO the children didnt enjoy it because "they dont know better" they enjoyed it because they were haveing fun regardless of crowds etc. Im sorry you had a bummer experience at the grand Californian Ive never been to into fancy hotel the way I see it no matter how you slice it its still just a room with a bed

 

[farmfresh]

I do sympathise with you... it can be along walk, and the pool area can be very crowded. Just takes a little bit of gloss off, because you are expecting to have such an extra good time there.

Still, it may have been a very busy time - we (just mum and the girls...Dh arrives later....) are heading back in high season and I'm just trying to tone it down a notch expectations wise! Might look for some things we haven't done before.

But no matter how crowded, the proximity is always great. And there some really friendly CM's at the special entrance.

 

[HydroGuy]

After hearing about all the long hallways at the GCH that make the walk from your room to the park actually longer than from some of hotels out on Harbor, we chose to stay in the east wing - all the way to the right in this map from the GCH Superthread:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36355632&postcount=450

We were on the 5th floor and it worked our great for us.

1. Going to DCA - we walked 1 minute to the elevator, took the elevator down to ground floor, and were right next to the special DCA entrance - about three minutes from our room the the park gate

2. Going to DL - we walked east towards the far right and took the stairs down to ground floor, exited through the door out to DTD and then to DL - about 2 minutes from our room to the security point and another minute or two to the DL gate

3. Going from DCA back to our room - same as #1 just in reverse

4. Going from DL to GCH - this was harder on foot and required walking all the way to the GCH lobby and backtracking - maybe 10 minutes. However, on several occasions we took the monorail from Tomorrowland all the way to DTD and then did the walk from there to the GCH and our room - 15 minutes once we got on the monorail until we were in our room.

On our final night I caught the 11:15PM showing of WOC. When WOC ended I checked my watch (it was 11:41) and walked with purpose from the viewing area to GCH and took the elevator to my room. I got to my room at 11:46 and was in bed by 11:47. I thought that was cool.

We hardly used the pool that week in late July because it was too cool out! So we missed the poolside issues everyone talks about.

 

[nunzia]

Wow..I'm sorry you had a not as good of experience as you would have liked..still, only one night? You barely get in and have to leave. Maybe you built the idea up so much it was hard to meet that excitement. I have had a rough time or two at WWS although usually just love them, but sorry it was an off night there. The rooms are not giant, but I don't see them as small either..just fine for us.
I'm always surprised when people make a big deal about how far away the rooms can be..it's a BIG hotel, so I expect to have to hike sometimes. At least I am hiking inside in nice surroundings.. I stayed at the Beach Club in WDW and that was a HUGE hike, first through the parking lot and then through the hotel, but what do I expect when I stay at a HUGE place. I used to work at the MGM Grand Las Vegas..now THAT place makes you hike...
I stayed at the DLH last September and really enjoyed it. The pool area and redone restaurant area will be great and I'm already planning on a drink or two at Trader Sam's. The theming there will be much more kid friendly and looks like alot of fun.

 

[nemofans]

Hydroguy - So I booked a DTD view at GCH. What do I tell them to request that section? Do I say east wing DTD view or give room #s (like 419-447)?

 

[HydroGuy]

Hydroguy - So I booked a DTD view at GCH. What do I tell them to request that section? Do I say east wing DTD view or give room #s (like 419-447)?

That is exactly what I did. I requested fifth floor to have a better view (we had theme park view). When I checked in I had a hotel map and desired room numbers and requested that again at check-in. It seems that most people do not want to be on that wing and room requests are easier to get.

 

[nana50]

We had a good time, don't get me wrong, I just didn't expect it to be sooo crowded. I specifically picked Monday for DL because the hotel prices were cheap. They told me at the hotel that if I arrived earlier it was a real nightmare with all the check-outs. I would love to stay 2 nights and I may next time, but since I needed 2 rooms one night was all I could afford. I know I would enjoy it if I had come at a less rushed time. The pools were warm, albeit crowded but not really a problem. The jacuzzi were a little hard to squeeze into. I think some of my disapointment was the last few times I've gone, thinking I picked a good time, it turned out to be crowded anyway. Next time for sure I will go on a Wednesday. I am not putting the Grand down, it is a beautiful hotel, it was just so jammed compared to when I have usually walked through, that it wasn't as relaxing. Storyteller cafe was packed at breakfast so I wouldn't have eaten there anyway. This will not keep me away from DL or CA at all. I'm already planning my next visit. I will be with my 2 grandaughters. Also when I say the grandsons enjoyed DL since they didn't know better, I meant if they had been before when it wasn't crowded and couldn't get on their favorite rides they would not have been happy. As it was they didn't get to see Mickey Mouse (45 minute wait) or go on Peter Pan, (45 minute wait) or even the jungle cruise. Granted they could have gone on these rides but standing in line this long with little ones is too hard. So they didn't go on these. Thank goodness they saw Goofy one of their favorites and were thrilled. My 8 year old grandaughter was sorry to miss a lot of favorite rides.

Things that did go well were lunch at Redd Rocket pizza. Line was quick and smooth, food O.K. The pathways were not too crowded, room service was superlative, and all the CM at DL were, as always, great. It didn't spoil our trip, just wasn't as magical as I'd hoped.