POLL: Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian?

[l4dyj8]

I’ve had mixed experiences that are dependent on the room. This has always felt random. I’ve been disappointed by our first stays at both hotels. But then loved othet stays. (So our deciding factor has always been budget)

I’d vote GCH. But not for the room. The convenient location. The beautiful lobby. 99% of the time the service has been great. (We had one disgruntled CM on our most recent stay.) We have never used the pools but have hung out in the lobby or lounge.

DLH had more of a Resort, away from it all, feel. The lobby is separate and feels very spread out. For that classic disney feel, you can always visit it.

 

[GrrArrgh]

My husband and I prefer the GCH (you cannot beat the convenience) but our daughter (who is 6) loves the DL hotel. We finally stayed there on our last trip and I had serious problems getting her out of the lobby and into Disneyland. We even had to come back early just so that she could play the games in the lobby and visit the characters. And then the pool is much more entertaining for kids at the DLH. They love those monorail slides.

 

[cruisehopeful]

My whole family prefers staying at GCH. We do enjoy walking over to the DLH for coffee, Trader Sam's and the gift shop. I have never had a room that I liked at DLH.

 

[Indiana Scott]

To me, the GC is nicer and more importantly, your room is likely to be a lot shorter walk to the park.

 

[Malcon10t]

My preference is DLH. I kept repeating stays at GCH because everyone says how great GCH is and I was bound and determined to like it, when my daughter said to give it up because we just like DLH better. Our rooms at the DLH have always been larger, love having characters roaming, love the touches in the room (light up head board, Mickey heads all thru room, etc...) and for us it is home away from home.

 

[Malcon10t]

To me, the GC is nicer and more importantly, your room is likely to be a lot shorter walk to the park.

Only if you get a room close to the elevator. We have had rooms that were quite a ways away, down many hallways.

 

[blue888]

We haven't stayed at GCH yet. Maybe when my kids are older. I agree that DLH is better for younger kids: the pools/ slides are much better, my kids loved the tea cup chairs in the lobby, and the hidden mickeys. They also loved loved loved the light up headboard. Definitely the coolest feature. My favorite is the rum dole whips by the pool The walk is farther, which feels longer at the end of the day, but overall we really liked it and had no complaints. We stayed in a suite (family of 6) and added concierge for cheaper than a suite at GCH, so that was the deciding factor for us. Concierge was fabulous and it was cool to see fireworks from the lounge.

 

[mom2rtk]

We haven't stayed at GCH yet. Maybe when my kids are older. I agree that DLH is better for younger kids: the pools/ slides are much better, my kids loved the tea cup chairs in the lobby, and the hidden mickeys. They also loved loved loved the light up headboard. Definitely the coolest feature. My favorite is the rum dole whips by the pool The walk is farther, which feels longer at the end of the day, but overall we really liked it and had no complaints. We stayed in a suite (family of 6) and added concierge for cheaper than a suite at GCH, so that was the deciding factor for us. Concierge was fabulous and it was cool to see fireworks from the lounge.

The walk is farther. But if you can manage to leave before park close (which is when the monorail stops operating) you can just monorail out and exit very close to DLH.

 

[Version 6]

We are currently deciding between DH and GCH as well.

If we stay at GCH, it will be in a DVC Villa.

I've heard that staying in a DVC Villa can somewhat increase walk times. Would staying in a DVC Villa at GCH still be a shorter walk to the parks as compared to staying at DLH?

 

[blue888]

The walk is farther. But if you can manage to leave before park close (which is when the monorail stops operating) you can just monorail out and exit very close to DLH.

Agreed. We actually used the monorail at park opening as well and found it was super quick. Some people said it was slow getting into parks, but we caught one of the first trains during EMH and it was wonderful.

 

[mom2rtk]

Agreed. We actually used the monorail at park opening as well and found it was super quick. Some people said it was slow getting into parks, but we caught one of the first trains during EMH and it was wonderful.

We tried that one morning many years ago when it was delayed opening. We ended up having to race through the Esplanade and lost about 20 minutes of our EMH. Ever since, we never try it for rope drop.

 

[JenSinMA]

In the GCH they often have a live piano player playing Disney songs. The ones I've heard sound like a semi-classical interpretation of the songs. Its really pleasant to hear the music reverberating through the huge interior lobby (5 stories). Although it does not impact the sound in the rooms at all.

I disagree about the sound in the rooms. Last October we had an accessible room right off the elevator on the 4th floor and we could REALLY hear the piano music from the lobby. And even before the music began, the general hubbub of the busy lobby was very audible. The music was lovely, but we were in the room to nap that day, in preparation for a long night at Mickey's Halloween Party. The music was too loud to be background napping music (for me,) and worse was the applause that erupted after each piece. Two of the 4 of us couldn't nap at all because of it. I'm not knocking the GCH or the very talented pianist--it really is a charming atmosphere. I just learned that I wouldn't want that particular location next time if I were planning any midday naps.

But really, my next on site stay will probably be at the Disneyland Hotel. I love the classic Disneyland aspect of it and appreciate the lower rates.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I've heard that staying in a DVC Villa can somewhat increase walk times. Would staying in a DVC Villa at GCH still be a shorter walk to the parks as compared to staying at DLH?

It adds some walk time, but doesn't make it longer than going to DLH.

disagree about the sound in the rooms. Last October we had an accessible room right off the elevator on the 4th floor and we could REALLY hear the piano music from the lobby.

I had a room on the second floor overlooking the lobby once. The lobby music, some of it piano, some piped music and the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the lobby made it impossible to sleep before 10pm. Perhaps if we brought a white noise machine, we could have napped, but there was no way it was going to happen without one.

 

[JohnR5101]

I disagree about the sound in the rooms. Last October we had an accessible room right off the elevator on the 4th floor and we could REALLY hear the piano music from the lobby.

Yes, I could see how that would be the case. I've never had a room right on the lobby so I didn't experience that. So probably it would be good to ask for a room farther away down one of the halls.

 

[blue888]

We tried that one morning many years ago when it was delayed opening. We ended up having to race through the Esplanade and lost about 20 minutes of our EMH. Ever since, we never try it for rope drop.

Oh that's too bad. We used it at Christmas 2 years ago several days and it was lovely. We literally were in the park by 7:10, plus my kids were excited to ride the monorail...

 

[Runnergal]

I haven’t stayed at the DLH. It was my first choice for our spring break trip, but we switched to the GCH because of the pool construction.

Location was amazing, but I was really disappointed in the room size and overall feel of the room. Just did not feel luxurious to me at all. The concierge lounge was nice, but again not really all that “special”. Pool also was kind of boring. I kept comparing it to the Beach Club, which is where we stayed on our most recent visit to WDW, and it was coming up short.

Again, though, the location cannot be beat, and the entrance to DCA makes it entirely possible we will stay there again anyway!!

 

[azdisneylover]

If you will be ending each day riding Grizzly Rapids over and over until you are completely soaked, then stay at GCH. You can't go wrong with either hotel. Have fun!