Trip Report -- Grand Californian July 16-18

[happyrebster]

We were at DL July 16, 17 and 18. It was amazing. On the 16th, a Sunday in July, we walked on many major rides. It was nuts! No and/or very short lines for Pirates, Haunted House, Big Thunder, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain and Soarin. We were so lucky with short lines the whole trip! We could only imagine that the extreme heat was keeping people away. The heat was rather hard on our little one, so we could only go to the parks in the early morning and early evening, but we were still able to see everything!

Stayed at the Grand Californian on points -- lovely as always. Our second time getting the Downtown Disney view, which is very fairly priced given that you can see the DL fireworks quite clearly from those rooms! We have a toddler who just can't stay awake long enough to see the fireworks -- so great to be able to see them from the room instead. And given that the DD view is fewer points than the park view, I highly recommend it. Had the Chip and Dale Breakfast down in the Storyteller Cafe. Went at 7:30 am and, again, NO crowds. Our little one got lots of character time with Chip and Dale, as well as Brother Bear and a few others.

Ate at the Vineyard Room in DCA, which I also strongly recommend -- lovely service, great food, awesome wine selection.

My first time seeing Turtle Talk with Crush, which is very enjoyable. Also my first time seeing Monsters, Inc. (very simple, but very cute. The scene with the doors is great!) and my first time seeing the “new” Space Mountain (hard to believe, but they actually made it better!!) and the “new” Pirates (other than the Davy Jones effect, which was quite cool, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the changes – seems strange to look around this classic ride and see Johnny Depp!) I also really liked the Bedtime Stories on the TV at the hotel – a great touch which really relaxed our little one at the end of the day. But we were surprised to learn that DL still doesn’t have PhotoPass and doesn’t have character wake up calls at the Grand Californian. These both seem like poor choices by Disney management as they are much beloved at the parks in Florida.

 

[disgirl]

Thanks for your post. So glad you had a good time. We stayed at the GC two summers ago on points and LOVED it. We did do the park view so it was a lot of points, but we only stayed 4 nights and it was our first use of our points so we were excited. I would love to go back to the GC someday.
Thanks again for your report and so happy you had fun!

 

[Mahusky]

Thanks for the trip report! Sounds fun!!

 

[MinnieFan]

Thanks for the report! We will be staying at the GC next month and your report made me look forward to it even more!

 

[Fitswimmer]

Thanks for the report! I'm considering a trip next summer and definately will try to get the GC!

 

[BCV23]

Have you ever stayed in the standard view at the GC? We have that booked although not on points.

What WDW resort compares in room size do you think. The lobby is beautiful and I love the fireplaces but the rooms don't look very in pictures.

 

[happyrebster]

I have not yet stayed in the standard view rooms. We booked one, but were "bumped" up to accomodate an overflow crowd. I believe that most of the standard views overlook the courtyard where you can see the monorail running by/through . . . seems fun!

The rooms really vary. The rooms with the bunk beds are actually very cute and reasonably roomy. This time, we had two queen beds and no bunk beds, which didn't look quite as cute, but still seemed reasonably roomy. The balcony really helps in terms of extra space. I would say that it is comparable to staying at any of the other deluxe properties at WDW. It really is quite similar to Wilderness Lodge -- if you like staying there, you will be pleased.

 

[HUFF590]

Happyrebster How did you like the TOT compared to WDWs TOT.

 

[happyrebster]

Wow -- the two Tots are really different! I love them both, of course. I don't think that either one will disappoint. At first, I was skeptical of the DL one because it isn't random in drop sequence and because it doesnt' do the same sort of horizontal movement down the hallway (at least not in the same way). But it has a couple of cool additional features that the WDW version doesn't have. For example, early on, there is a crazy effect that "reflects back" the movements of those riding in the elevator. It's tough to describe, but quite cool -- I'd never seen anything like it. So, I really really enjoyed the DL version. And I'll add that I'm even a bit scared of ToT, but I rode it twice this trip because I found the DL version so enjoyable. Also, it's a nice add in to the mix of rides at DCA. I really like the fact that, at DL, all of the major rides are within walking distance from each other (e.g. in Florida, if you start out the morning at the Magic Kingdom, it's a fair amount of work to get all the way over to MGM to ride ToT -- not so in DL).

 

[byoung]

Thanks for reporting.

 

[BCV23]

Thanks, happy. Do you know if any rooms at the GC have a king/daybed combo?

We were at DL in March and enjoyed the Monsters ride too but it was so short! One am, the line was an hour for it!!! We went back later and the line was much better. The Aladdin show was wonderful including the theater. Wouldn't it be nice if WDW had a comparable theater? I didn't go on SM but my DH raved about it too.

 

[castleri]

Have you ever stayed in the standard view at the GC? We have that booked although not on points.

What WDW resort compares in room size do you think. The lobby is beautiful and I love the fireplaces but the rooms don't look very in pictures.

We had a standard view room in 2001 and it overlooked the entry portico so no balcony or even view worth looking out unless you like the parking lot across the street. I found the room to be small given the "deluxe" nature of the hotel. It was about the size of a woods view room we had at WL one year or maybe a little smaller. At the time we had 2 teens with us so needed extra sleeping arrangements as they were opposite sexes. There was no option for a rollaway and I think it is because one would not have fit in that room and still have room to get to the other beds. They did provide a sleeping bag and thin floor mat that we fit between one bed and the wall at the end of the room. I would never waste my points there again. The rooms we had at the DLH were spacious and had a day bed as well as the 2 other beds. They also had rollaways that fit in the room and you could still walk around in it. We were upgraded there to pool view also. The GC is a beautiful hotel as far as the common areas and the decorating but I was not impressed with our room. I am certain there must be some better ones as some people rave about the place.

 

[slp87]

We stayed at the GCH last November and DLH last month. We had a standard room on the concierge level at GC and our view was of the front entrance/parking lot. Not a great view and very sunny in the afternoons. We had a full balcony. Our room had 2 queen beds and a daybed. We were 4 adults and 1 child, plus we were storing 2 ECVs and still had plenty of room. Our room at the DLH was another story. We were in the Bonita Tower overlooking the parking lot. Our room had 2 queens and not much more room. There were just 3 of us, plus my mom's ECV and it was tight. Won't complain too much, we were in DL!!!

I kept commenting on our June trip that I wish they had photopass as well! There were many times that our pictures were taken and we either forgot to go back or didn't have time. My DD is a huge ToT fan and she thinks the DL version is the best. I might not agree, but I do think SM totally blows the WDW version out of the water!!

We also ate at the Storytellers. Our ressies were for 7:00 both times (with the 2 hour time difference, it didn't seem early to us!) and thought the food was fabulous and the character interaction was great! We'll continue to go there on future trips.

I love being able to walk between the 2 parks and not having to mess with the buses. If I had to choose, I would still take WDW first, but would never pass up a trip to DL!!