sgrap
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2012
- Messages
- 2,128
We had a fabulous trip May 5-10th. The Ebates/Orbitz deal on tickets and character dining was a steal and the vouchers were very easily exchanged. The Orbitz reservation on our PPH stay was in the system with no problems. The weather was absolutely perfect for PNWers, in the 70's. Loved it!
This was the first time we had stayed at PPH. Previously, we stayed at GCH but wanted to save some $ this trip. Our kids are older (the ones with us were 12 and 11), so we basically only slept in the room and spent all the day non-stop in the parks. We had 2 queens and the daybed, which was fine. I have to say, though, that I didn't think the rooms were any bigger than our rooms at GCH and I definitely now understand why people say that PPH just doesn't feel like a "resort hotel" in the way that GCH was. It is just across the street, but by the time you get all the way through the GCH, across the street (waiting for the light), and battle the elevators, it can be quite a bit longer. The wait after WOC for the elevators was the worst. The hotel wasn't bad, but it just wasn't what we have become used to (and definitely spoiled with) at GCH. So in the future, if we can swing it, we will stay at GCH. We love the bunkbed rooms, and having 2 sinks outside of the toilet/shower room makes things much easier.
Our only bad experience of the trip was at PCH grill. We had 10:30 reservations, and we were in line to check in before 10:30. It was 11:10 before we were called in at all. Breakfast ran until 12, but by 11:15 when we were getting food, they were already out of multiple things: all the muffins, cinnamon rolls and smoothies, to name a few. After I asked our server a couple of times, he found someone to get me a muffin and cinnamon from the bar. He also got a few cups of smoothies for my husband even though the big containers were empty and not being refilled. We thought it was pretty poor service to be out of food for people who had paid the same price as those who came earlier. We weren't very happy with the quality of the food either. The character interaction was fine--I think we had 5 characters: Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, Stitch to our table and Mickey at the front.
We were also there for the epic Disneyland ride failure on 5/6/14. Every major ride in the park was out of operation. There was a 2+ hour line at City Hall with some very angry people wanting refunds. We just wanted the Choice ticket my daughter had from the ride she chose with her DAS pass changed so she could use it the next day. She had gone to several rides and had them close, and there was nothing left that she even wanted to ride, so they had given this to us. We were finally put in the system for 4 Choice fastpasses the next day.
My daughter's DAS worked great--kept her from having to stand in long lines (spina bifida) and wearing out. The CM at City Hall did suggest other options, such as a wheelchair (my daughter is mobile and very active, so that wasn't a good option for us) and using FP's (which we did), but finally gave us the DAS pass. It made a huge difference in my daughter being able to enjoy the rides without being in pain after standing in long lines, so I was very grateful. She could rest or do other things that didn't hurt her back while waiting for her time to return.
I'll try to do a full trip report later, but those are the big lessons from our trip. We had a magical time, and appreciate all those who helped me with our plans and get in on the deals offered this spring.
This was the first time we had stayed at PPH. Previously, we stayed at GCH but wanted to save some $ this trip. Our kids are older (the ones with us were 12 and 11), so we basically only slept in the room and spent all the day non-stop in the parks. We had 2 queens and the daybed, which was fine. I have to say, though, that I didn't think the rooms were any bigger than our rooms at GCH and I definitely now understand why people say that PPH just doesn't feel like a "resort hotel" in the way that GCH was. It is just across the street, but by the time you get all the way through the GCH, across the street (waiting for the light), and battle the elevators, it can be quite a bit longer. The wait after WOC for the elevators was the worst. The hotel wasn't bad, but it just wasn't what we have become used to (and definitely spoiled with) at GCH. So in the future, if we can swing it, we will stay at GCH. We love the bunkbed rooms, and having 2 sinks outside of the toilet/shower room makes things much easier.
Our only bad experience of the trip was at PCH grill. We had 10:30 reservations, and we were in line to check in before 10:30. It was 11:10 before we were called in at all. Breakfast ran until 12, but by 11:15 when we were getting food, they were already out of multiple things: all the muffins, cinnamon rolls and smoothies, to name a few. After I asked our server a couple of times, he found someone to get me a muffin and cinnamon from the bar. He also got a few cups of smoothies for my husband even though the big containers were empty and not being refilled. We thought it was pretty poor service to be out of food for people who had paid the same price as those who came earlier. We weren't very happy with the quality of the food either. The character interaction was fine--I think we had 5 characters: Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, Stitch to our table and Mickey at the front.
We were also there for the epic Disneyland ride failure on 5/6/14. Every major ride in the park was out of operation. There was a 2+ hour line at City Hall with some very angry people wanting refunds. We just wanted the Choice ticket my daughter had from the ride she chose with her DAS pass changed so she could use it the next day. She had gone to several rides and had them close, and there was nothing left that she even wanted to ride, so they had given this to us. We were finally put in the system for 4 Choice fastpasses the next day.
My daughter's DAS worked great--kept her from having to stand in long lines (spina bifida) and wearing out. The CM at City Hall did suggest other options, such as a wheelchair (my daughter is mobile and very active, so that wasn't a good option for us) and using FP's (which we did), but finally gave us the DAS pass. It made a huge difference in my daughter being able to enjoy the rides without being in pain after standing in long lines, so I was very grateful. She could rest or do other things that didn't hurt her back while waiting for her time to return.
I'll try to do a full trip report later, but those are the big lessons from our trip. We had a magical time, and appreciate all those who helped me with our plans and get in on the deals offered this spring.
