Recently back/Hyatt & GCH - any ??

[NannyPooh]

Hi all -
Just got back last week from a 10-day scared1: ) trip. We stayed at the Hyatt Orange County and the GCH.
We did Legoland, SeaWorld, and of course, multiple days at both DL and CA. We were there during the lovely heatwave (I'm from Seattle, so not complaining, mind you!).
The crowds were great - hardly a wait to ride anything! I'm sold on that time of year! The most crowded time of the trip was during the fireworks! Where did all those people come from? I couldn't believe the masses - I know that there weren't that many people in the parks during the day!
Let me know if anyone has any questions - I would be happy to answer them, if I can!
I have to check my folder, but I may have leftover coupons - one Toontown Madness voucher, preferred seating vouchers, etc. Happy to help if I can!

 

[GailT]

what type of room did you have a GC>Sounds like you had a FUNtastic time.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Sounds like you had a great time. We went last year the last week of August and had a great time. Gkad you did too. I'm pm'ing you about toon town vouchers

 

[NannyPooh]

what type of room did you have a GC>Sounds like you had a FUNtastic time.
We booked the GCH through Costco, and just booked a standard room. They *upgraded* us to a pool view room, but it was on the second floor, and had a gorgeous view of...the trees surrounding the pool!
The room was nice - identical to the ones at Wilderness Lodge that we are used to! Housekeeping kept the room very clean, but no towel animals or special touches with DS's little Disney stuffed animal. Staff at the hotel was very nice and friendly, and didn't have a problem with anything. For us, just do to its' incredible convenience, GCH is the way to go!

 

[52plan4]

I would love any coupons-especially toon town vouchers you may have left over! I think my name was next on the list set up here a while back. Would also love to hear more details of your trip, glad you enjoyed it!

 

[DL4my2kids]

When you were upgraded at GCH, did you just ask the front desk for that?
Can I be bold and ask how much extra it was for that? I have a standard room booked but would love a view of the pool so I was wondering how to go about getting that?

 

[GailT]

I think upgrades are what the availably is like and for how long. I just always pay what I want that way I know when I get there I will get it. Good luck, just adding my 2 cents, I would ask at the front desk, doesn't hurt

 

[godalejunior]

Sent you a pm about preferred seating vouchers, we leave in 10 days!

 

[NannyPooh]

Thanks for the responses everyone!
I'm sorry to say that the vouchers for Toontown and preferred seating were all picked up very early this morning!
52plan4 - I tried to search for the list before I posted last night, and couldn't find it anywhere - I'm truly sorry! I really hope that you get some vouchers.
DL4my2Kids - We checked into the GCH very early on a Friday morning, at9:00 am, as we just came from down the road at the Hyatt! They assigned us our room, but wouldn't give us the room number until after 3:00 that afternoon. The front desk gave us the upgrade without asking - I know that despite the Labor Day weekend, and the 1/2 marathon, the hotel was not full that weekend. I think we just got lucky by being in there early. I'm not sure what the price differences are for the different views.
The pool view would have been nice, had we been able to see the pool! I think if you really want a pool view, you need to request 3rd floor or higher! Our room was #2348 (second floor) - we had to use the elevators back by Storyteller's Cafe. If you want quiet rooms, pool view probably isn't for you - it was very hot that weekend, and the pool was packed, and very loud. We didn't mind at all, but it could be bothersome to those with napping babies, etc.!
We ate at several different restaurants during our stay - Blue Bayou for the first time...great atmosphere and fun for our boys. Next time we will probably only go for dessert, due to the high cost! The food was very good - better than I had expected, but still maybe not worth the cost! We had ressies for 11:30, so easily got a waterside table. Fun experience!
We also ate at House of Blues, Jazz Kitchen Express, Rainforest Cafe (twice!), Storyteller's Cafe character breakfast, Lilo and Stitch breakfast, and a couple of places in the parks. The best deal of the week was at the Cucamonga mexican place in CA. Full chicken taco lunch goes for $9.99. I ordered just the taco (a big soft taco with really good spicy chicken) w/o the rice and beans, and they only charged me $3.75! It was perfect!
We saw the fireworks, DL parade (but I missed the Ratatouille part, darn it!), the Electrical Light Parade, which was great, and it seemed that everytime we walked into CA, we got caught up in the High School Musical 2 celebration! Very cute, but that got old!
All in all, we had a great trip. Our days were fairly short, due to the heat, and we took lots of breaks during the day.
Highlights for DS7 and DS11 were Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and the new Pirates Lair - they LOVED that, and we got some great photos! Very uncrowded and fun to watch - despite the heat! We didn't notice a whole lot of characters walking around - it might have just been to hot to have them out and about in costume. Early mornings seemed to be the best time to find them right outside of the Emporium, and across the entrance plaza.

 

[PeterPansPixie]

Can you tell me about the Hyatt Regency? What type of room did you have? Did you use the pools?

 

[NannyPooh]

Can you tell me about the Hyatt Regency? What type of room did you have? Did you use the pools?

We really enjoyed the Hyatt for our 6-night stay!
We had a one bedroom (2 queen beds) suite - we got a great Entertainment rate of $119.00! The room was clean, the living room was a little barren (no coffee table), and the beds were good. Everything worked well (shower, air conditioning, etc), and the living room had a microwave and fridge.
The Hyatt and Crowne Plaza (across the street) hotels run a dedicated shuttle to DL. Shuttle leaves every half hour, and when crowds are bigger, they run two shuttles! Hyatt guests are first on and first off. Never late, friendly drivers, never too packed! Only problem with shuttle was rude guests! About 15 people very nicely stood in line waiting, and as soon as shuttle pulled up, one extremely rude man ran his family out of the hotel and tried to shove their way onto the bus. Several moms blocked him! Hah!
Shuttle leaves hotel about 1/2 hour prior to park opening, and last run is about 1 hour after park closing.
For early entry we did need to take a taxi to the park - cost about $7.50, plus tip. Not bad.
Both Starbucks and Pizza Hut are located within the lobby of the hotel. I bought a Starbucks card at home, and it was an easy way to *save* a few bucks every day! I'm not a HUGE Starbucks fan, but it is 100% better than the coffee at DL! Pizza Hut was open until 10:00 pm, so convenient after a long day at the parks - good alternative! They also have an ice cream freezer w/in Pizza Hut - so that was a nice treat during afternoon breaks.
We had breakfast one morning at hotel. Very expensive, and I didn't think that the wait staff was all that friendly. The rest of the staff at the hotel was very nice - almost too nice! Got a little grating!
We didn't use the pools at all, and I didn't even see them! Sorry!
Parking is very expensive there - $15.00 per day for self-park and $17.00 for valet. For a measly two dollars, I valeted every day! Parking is conveniently located behind the hotel, though.
We had a nice stay at the hotel, and I would definitely recommend it. It is one of the further hotels away from DL - not walking distance. If you can get a good rate there - go for it!
We ended our trip with a 3 night stay at Grand Californian, and that just couldn't be beat! We will definitely stay there again next time. It was just so convenient and close to the parks! We were there during the heat wave last week, and it would have been nice to be that close for the whole time!
Let me know if you have any more questions!