Review GCH & recent trip

[flipflop]

Hi! I asked a question about staying at the Westin v GCH over Veteran's Day weekend to Disneyland with my daughter who is 17. I thought I'd follow-up with my thoughts for others looking for similar info.
Background: We have been once before in 2015 with our whole immediate family (6 of us) and this was just a girl's trip but our second time to the parks. We are DVC owners and normally stay in DVC but my waitlist for GCH didn't come through. The first time we went we stayed at the villas at GC. We are usually a WDW family because we live on the east coast.

We chose to stay at GCH instead of the Westin. We had 3.5 days in the parks and I thought the proximity for breaks would be better and the price difference TO ME wasn't that much for the convenience. (emphasizing to me bc to others it might think it is). Our stay was wonderful. Good customer service, room service - clean, easy park access and most importantly to us - early morning access. This made all the difference at a crowded time to get on rides before it got too busy. Because we were close, we would head back for a rest around 12 when the park got crazy and go back in during the evening. We also utilized Genie+ which worked well for our purposes. We attended the WOC dessert party for the Holiday version - definitely worth it for us. We also saw the holiday fireworks and fantasmic with no special dining - watched from the bridge by pirates. Ate at lamplight, carthay circle, plaza inn minnie breakfast and carnation cafe in addition to black tap and trader sams. Carthay was the best followed by black tap. carnation cafe was underwhelming. Also the beignets -- ahhh yum - we loved those - nice treat to mobile order.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay at GCH if it is within budget.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[DizMe]

Hi! I asked a question about staying at the Westin v GCH over Veteran's Day weekend to Disneyland with my daughter who is 17. I thought I'd follow-up with my thoughts for others looking for similar info.
Background: We have been once before in 2015 with our whole immediate family (6 of us) and this was just a girl's trip but our second time to the parks. We are DVC owners and normally stay in DVC but my waitlist for GCH didn't come through. The first time we went we stayed at the villas at GC. We are usually a WDW family because we live on the east coast.

We chose to stay at GCH instead of the Westin. We had 3.5 days in the parks and I thought the proximity for breaks would be better and the price difference TO ME wasn't that much for the convenience. (emphasizing to me bc to others it might think it is). Our stay was wonderful. Good customer service, room service - clean, easy park access and most importantly to us - early morning access. This made all the difference at a crowded time to get on rides before it got too busy. Because we were close, we would head back for a rest around 12 when the park got crazy and go back in during the evening. We also utilized Genie+ which worked well for our purposes.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay at GCH if it is within budget.

Hope this is helpful.

So glad it worked out for you!! I'm happy you reported back. I'm sure you would have had a wonderful time at the Westin, also, but there's just no beating the convenience and location of GCH. If the cost difference isn't going to be an issue, I'd always choose GCH over an off property hotel.

I agree about how nice it is to be able to easily head back to the hotel for a break. I'm now wavering on whether or not to get Genie+.

 

[flipflop]

So glad it worked out for you!! I'm happy you reported back. I'm sure you would have had a wonderful time at the Westin, also, but there's just no beating the convenience and location of GCH. If the cost difference isn't going to be an issue, I'd always choose GCH over an off property hotel.

I agree about how nice it is to be able to easily head back to the hotel for a break. I'm now wavering on whether or not to get Genie+.

Agree re the Westin. From what I understand it is a gorgeous property (that also would have earned me Marriott points!). I found genie+ to be worth it to stack times for the evening and get on certain rides twice (once in early morning and then once with genie+). I do think it depends on what rides you like and how crowded it will be the day you go.

 

[fly girl]

So happy to read you had a wonderful trip!

GCH is our favorite. Definitely a splurge, but to us it is worth it.

 

[WIll C]

Glad to hear it was a good trip. We're going to try it for our first stay in March. Hoping it's worth the price.

 

[Aurora0427]

Hi! I asked a question about staying at the Westin v GCH over Veteran's Day weekend to Disneyland with my daughter who is 17. I thought I'd follow-up with my thoughts for others looking for similar info.
Background: We have been once before in 2015 with our whole immediate family (6 of us) and this was just a girl's trip but our second time to the parks. We are DVC owners and normally stay in DVC but my waitlist for GCH didn't come through. The first time we went we stayed at the villas at GC. We are usually a WDW family because we live on the east coast.

We chose to stay at GCH instead of the Westin. We had 3.5 days in the parks and I thought the proximity for breaks would be better and the price difference TO ME wasn't that much for the convenience. (emphasizing to me bc to others it might think it is). Our stay was wonderful. Good customer service, room service - clean, easy park access and most importantly to us - early morning access. This made all the difference at a crowded time to get on rides before it got too busy. Because we were close, we would head back for a rest around 12 when the park got crazy and go back in during the evening. We also utilized Genie+ which worked well for our purposes. We attended the WOC dessert party for the Holiday version - definitely worth it for us. We also saw the holiday fireworks and fantasmic with no special dining - watched from the bridge by pirates. Ate at lamplight, carthay circle, plaza inn minnie breakfast and carnation cafe in addition to black tap and trader sams. Carthay was the best followed by black tap. carnation cafe was underwhelming. Also the beignets -- ahhh yum - we loved those - nice treat to mobile order.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay at GCH if it is within budget.

Hope this is helpful.

I’m so glad you had a great stay. We just did our first staycation at the GCH and we loved it. We’ll definitely be back…. The service from the cast members was outstanding. The holiday amenities were lovely, and we also came back after lunch and relaxed. We loved staying in the Disney bubble!

 

[Pluto468]

Thanks for the report, it sounds like a wonderful trip! We've stayed at DLH a few times, but the next time we stay on property I'm going to try GCH. I can't wait

 

[DisneylandFan22]

The GCH definitely spoils you.