Paradise Pier instead of GC....

[CapnJacksGirl]

Yesterday was our 7-month booking mark for the rooms we wanted at Grand Californian for our first ever trip to Disneyland in October. All the DVC folks that have GC as their home resort must snap up all the studios because there was no availability for three of the five nights we'll be there. We ended up with standard rooms at Paradise Pier instead. I know it's totally comparing apples and oranges and PP is nowhere near as nice as GC, but can any of you give me the positives of PP? I know we could have saved money by staying at a Good Neighbor hotel, but we really wanted to stay at a Disney property and have the Extra Magic Hours each day. This is probably our one and only trip to DLR so we want the best experience possible.....while staying at PP instead of GC that is!

Any fans of PP out there that want to make me feel good about our choice?

 

[pirate_smiles]

Why not a regular room at the Grand?

Personally I would pick Disneyland hotel over PP. If this is going to be a once and only trip to DL I would stay at DLH. As there are no Disney hotels like DLH, even at the World. It is truly one of a kind.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I have stayed at PP and loved it! You said you had a standard room, which I had as well, but when I arrived I found that we had a room with an awesome view of DCA. If possible, I would call and request a room with a view, or see if they can upgrade you when you get there. The lights on the pier were beautiful at night, and we could even watch World of Color from our room (this was before it was playing for the public, so we got a little sneak peak!). And of course you will have the wonderful Disney touches like the little treats and helpful staff. The theme is less obviously Disney, more beachy, but I got plenty of Mickey in the parks, and GC isn't exactly Mickey themed either. You will still get to walk through GC every day to get to the parks, and you can always hang out in their beautiful lobby if you really love the decor. You can also use the pools at the other hotels. You will have such an awesome trip, how exciting!!

 

[lorijohnhill]

The entrances to the pools are controlled by your room key. How do you use the pools at other hotels?

 

[PatMcDuck]

My favorite at DL is Paradise Pier upper level theme park view rooms. I like these as much as the rooms at VGC, because the view is spectacular and guaranteed. It's a crap shoot at VGC. Last time I got a first floor room, with a horrible "view", I would not even call it a view. I know, people say who cares about the view, we are never in the room. WELL, watching Carsland all night, lit up, is amazing, and seeing a (side view) of World of Color is cool too.

The walk from PP is easy, cross the street to the GC and cut though there to either DD (for DL) or use the GC entrance to DCA. (although if you are going EE to DCA, it is better to use the regular front entrance, esp. if you are dashing to RSR first).

You cannot use the pools at the other hotels, unless your pool is closed for maintenance.

I have booked rooms at 7 months at VGC several times, usually a 1 BR though. It is not easy though.

 

[Drusilla99]

I am an odd that I don't care for GC. PP will not be as crowded with looky-loos as GC gets. The pool & slide at PP is awesome. We also really like the lobby bar. I've had trouble at GC with DTD noise keeping us up at night, but that has never been an issue at PP, or DLH.

 

[Malcon10t]

I'm another who doesnt care for the GCH rooms. I prefer DLH then PPH. And to clarify, you cannot pool hop.

 

[bumbershoot]

PP is nowhere near as nice as GC

That's in the eye of the beholder.

I prefer PP FAR over the Grand. I have toured the villas there and they are OK, but IMO dark. The standard rooms are small and dark. Our room was almost the same distance from the center of the esplanade as it would have been to leave the parking lot of Howard Johnson and get to the same spot. It was not convenient or easy to get back to. The heavy, dark wood is oppressive to me.


Anyway, PPH is bright and cheery with the biggest rooms. Everything is colorful and happy. I've liked the CMs there better than DLH or the Grand. The character meal there is the only one I will go to anymore. It's super-easy to get to the parks via the Grand, either using the DCA entrance near Grizzly or going out into DTD and to the esplanade if you want to go to Disneyland or more towards the front of DCA (highly recommend if hitting Carsland at rope drop, do NOT use the Grand's entrance into DCA).

Elevators CAN be a beast. When going to your room, use the glass elevator! When leaving your room, sometimes you have to go up to go down. Try not to bring an SUV stroller. If you must, consider folding it for the elevator time. Pack your patience.

You can also use the pools at the other hotels.

You cannot do that unless your pool is closed for maintenance, and they will tell you what pool you can use if that is so. Pool hopping hasn't been allowed at DLR since before we started staying there, and our first onsite stay was in '07.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

Thanks, everyone, for the reassurance! We have a standard view room booked, which was already significantly more DVC points than a villa at VGC was going to be so I don't see a view change in the cards (budget). It would be a nice surprise if the pixie dust rained down on us DLR rookies and we got a nice view anyway. If not, we'll enjoy the views the pool and call that enough.

One question.....I think I read that there are mini-fridges in the rooms. Correct? Is that it or are there, by chance, microwaves too? We always eat breakfast in the room when we visit WDW on any days that we aren't doing a character breakfast. We were hoping to do the same here at DLR. We still can without a microwave, it just means a slight change in food choices. No biggie....I'm at Disney!! Worst case scenario......Mickey bars for breakfast!!

 

[rentayenta]

We've had to book the Disneyland Hotel with points when the GCV wasn't available. I always book a standard view room. About 10 days before, I send a fax in requesting a specific tower and we've always been blessed with a DTD view. Not sure what the PPH hotel views are but its worth a try. Disclaimer: it's just a request and there are no guarantees. Thought I'd say it before someone else did. LOL!

 

[teacherlisa1978]

Thanks, everyone, for the reassurance! We have a standard view room booked, which was already significantly more DVC points than a villa at VGC was going to be so I don't see a view change in the cards (budget). It would be a nice surprise if the pixie dust rained down on us DLR rookies and we got a nice view anyway. If not, we'll enjoy the views the pool and call that enough.

One question.....I think I read that there are mini-fridges in the rooms. Correct? Is that it or are there, by chance, microwaves too? We always eat breakfast in the room when we visit WDW on any days that we aren't doing a character breakfast. We were hoping to do the same here at DLR. We still can without a microwave, it just means a slight change in food choices. No biggie....I'm at Disney!! Worst case scenario......Mickey bars for breakfast!!

You can use the microwave in the lobby coffee shop and either eat there or bring food to your room after heating. Also the elevators were only a problem for us when early entry was at 9. Which just happened to be our check out day so we had a stroller, car seat, lots if luggage-yuck. The days we were truly going in early it wasn't an issue.

 

[justgot2havefun]

My fam and I are going for our first trip to DLR in May, so I can't speak from experience, but just from the promotional material I would be willing to bet the theming at PPH is something your DS's might be more into than that at GCH. We are also DVC member and PPH was our first choice because we could get a room with a view there for the same number of points as a Standard Room at DLH

 

[carisa81]

We, usually, always stay at the GC. However, our trip coming up in June we are staying at the PP. I would say to get a premium room view. It really is worth the upgrade, and not that more money. You get a fantastic view of the Cal theme park.

 

[quinnc19]

Slightly off topic, but OP I would encourage you to snap up the available studio nights now at GCV and waitlist the other 2. You may also wish to consider a 1 bedroom instead, especially since it sounds like you are paying for your PP stay with points.

 

[hjgaus]

Yesterday was our 7-month booking mark for the rooms we wanted at Grand Californian for our first ever trip to Disneyland in October. All the DVC folks that have GC as their home resort must snap up all the studios because there was no availability for three of the five nights we'll be there. We ended up with standard rooms at Paradise Pier instead. I know it's totally comparing apples and oranges and PP is nowhere near as nice as GC, but can any of you give me the positives of PP? I know we could have saved money by staying at a Good Neighbor hotel, but we really wanted to stay at a Disney property and have the Extra Magic Hours each day. This is probably our one and only trip to DLR so we want the best experience possible.....while staying at PP instead of GC that is!

Any fans of PP out there that want to make me feel good about our choice?

Could you have used your points for the hotel side of the Grand? We are doing this NOW as I write and the standard room is in the same building as the villas so the room it self is a little bit newer. Plus if you request a higher floor (we're on the 5th room 5258) it's a park view..... literally!
Yesterday we were in the 1 bedroom villa #5502 (only room available for this weekend) so just walked our stuff 1 hall over! We have only used points for the Grand hotel side 3 times since the villas were open & ALL have been in the Villa building !! Sorry to stray from York question but the only positives I can think of for Paradise Pier Hotel is the rooms are slightly larger and their Concierge lounge was nice although that was when we did paid reservation.

 

[bumbershoot]

Slightly off topic, but OP I would encourage you to snap up the available studio nights now at GCV and waitlist the other 2. You may also wish to consider a 1 bedroom instead, especially since it sounds like you are paying for your PP stay with points.

Now that they have used the points to book at PPH, the points are not normal DVC points and cannot be used for a DVC stay even if they cancel PPH. So they would still have to use the points they used on PPH in some non-DVC way.

Could you have used your points for the hotel side of the Grand?

I was wondering the same thing, but figured I'd forgotten something. Looking it up now, it's in the Disney Collection, so they could look at that.

BUT, smallest normal hotel rooms on property,. PPH has the biggest normal hotel rooms. Worth pondering.

 

[bumbershoot]

We have only used points for the Grand hotel side 3 times since the villas were open & ALL have been in the Villa building !!

Lucky! We used ours when you first could use them at the Grand. Then they stopped allowing that, then they re-allowed it. Anyway, when we used those points, we were in X165, I believe, so we weren't even in the wing where we could go down the stairs and into DTD. sigh.

 

[nolenbelledavis]

Where can I find info on how many points it takes to stay at the hotels? We have dvc at grand ca, but are interested in potentially more points and it'd be nice to but some with a different home resort.

 

[l4dyj8]

We stay at PP all the time and have stayed at GCH only once (regular rooms.)

I actually like the PP rooms better. I like GCH HOTEL better. But rooms are slightly smaller and darker. PP rooms are bigger and brighter. I've had park facing rooms a few times ( without requesting). It may be on a lower floor but fun to face the park. The walk to CA is easy. We always cut through GCH.

 

[justgot2havefun]

Where can I find info on how many points it takes to stay at the hotels? We have dvc at grand ca, but are interested in potentially more points and it'd be nice to but some with a different home resort.

You can access it at the DVC Members Webpage:
https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/destinations/vacation-club-resorts/vacation-club-resorts-overview