Questions re hotel check-in

[ffugitive]

We are coming to the Grand Californian Jan. 17-20. The plan is to arrive early on 1/17 and hit the parks right away, but I am considering tacking on another night on 1/16 so we arrive the prior evening. I have 2 questions:

1. If we arrive early (around 10am) on the morning of 1/17, will we be able to check in and leave our luggage with concierge while we go to the parks?

2. We booked a standard room, but I am hoping we might score a free upgrade. Is there any sense whether this is more likely to happen if you check in early or late in the day?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

1) yes you can
2) I'm not sure

3) if you check in prior to park opening Tuesday the 17th (or monday night) you will be able to head in for magic morning.

 

[01spirit750]

1. Yes, you can leave your bags with the bag check. This is a free service but a tip is expected when you pickup you bags.

2. When you check in they may or may not assign you a room. Many times they will give you a number to call after 3pm. The can also send you a text when your room is ready.

3. When you check in you can request a room upgrade, but I would expect that the hotel will be at capacity and getting a room upgrade would be slim.
I have asked in the past and been told that the hotel is fully booked.

 

[Nonsuch]

We are coming to the Grand Californian Jan. 17-20. The plan is to arrive early on 1/17 and hit the parks right away, but I am considering tacking on another night on 1/16 so we arrive the prior evening.

Arriving late on the 16th is a good idea, since you will be well rested for Magic Morning on the 17th.

You might consider staying at Paradise Pier on the 16th. This will require switching hotels, but there is method to the madness

DLR is giving 2 fastpasses to each member of your party, similar to the promotion from last Summer. Each member of your party (up to the room limit of 5), will receive 2 fastpasses when you check in to PP. You will receive another set of passes when checking into GC
This will also allow you to be a very early check in at the GC, which might improve your chances of an upgrade.
Also, PP is $100 cheaper.

You may check in early at any DLR hotel, I've checked in before 7AM several times. Bell services will hold your bags, however transferring between hotels is not always available.

 

[ffugitive]

Part of the reason for arriving on the 16th would be to get all settled into the hotel room, so we do not need to deal with anything on the 17th, so the PP idea may not be ideal (thanks though). I have a great rate of $240 / night for the GC though. The Morning Hours on Tuesday is definitely a motivating factor though.

Also just learned also that they are having fireworks on 1/16, but probably not for the next 3 nights. I scored a great discount for our passes so unfortunately, in order to upgrade to add a day (for the evening of the 16th to see the fireworks), it would cost about $50 pp, so we won't do that. But at least we could watch them from the area between DL and DCA.

 

[pixiewings71]

Part of the reason for arriving on the 16th would be to get all settled into the hotel room, so we do not need to deal with anything on the 17th, so the PP idea may not be ideal (thanks though). I have a great rate of $240 / night for the GC though. The Morning Hours on Tuesday is definitely a motivating factor though.

Also just learned also that they are having fireworks on 1/16, but probably not for the next 3 nights. I scored a great discount for our passes so unfortunately, in order to upgrade to add a day (for the evening of the 16th to see the fireworks), it would cost about $50 pp, so we won't do that. But at least we could watch them from the area between DL and DCA.

Yes, you can see most of them from the Esplanade, however you cannot hear the music at all. It might be worth asking if you can view them from the PPH pool area, the music is piped in and since you'll be higher up you may see more. We watched them from the GCH when we stayed in our DTD view room, no music and limited view but it was pretty awesome to be able to sit on our balcony and watch them.