Which Disneyland Hotel -First Time Trip with Kids

[abwilliams22]

I am planning a trip to Disneyland for Sept 1 - 5th for my 30th birthday. I will be doing the Disneyland Half Marathon & traveling with DH, DD 6 & DD 3.

I'm considering the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Floridian Hotel & Spa. I can get them near the same price with the disc.

It looks like the Disneyland Hotel is more 'kid-friendly' with the pool, but I need someone else's opinion.

Any opinions are appreciated - Thanks

 

[HydroGuy]

I am planning a trip to Disneyland for Sept 1 - 5th for my 30th birthday. I will be doing the Disneyland Half Marathon & traveling with DH, DD 6 & DD 3.

I'm considering the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Floridian Hotel & Spa. I can get them near the same price with the disc.

It looks like the Disneyland Hotel is more 'kid-friendly' with the pool, but I need someone else's opinion.

Any opinions are appreciated - Thanks

Is the Grand Floridian a new hotel at DLR?

 

[CableKC]

You must mean DL Hotel or the Grand California Hotel.

I'd suggest DL Hotel as this has much more of a classic Disneyland feel and experience to it. The Grand California Hotel is more like a major resort that you'd find in Yosemite. There is an overall feel of "All things Disney" but it's less subtle and not as obvious as the feeling and decore that you get when you walk around the Disneyland Hotel. Besides...the Pool in the DL Hotel is much better and has a Peter Pan theme.

If you want that "grand Resort" feeling that has subtle hints of Disney...then go with the Grand California Disney Hotel. If you want to feel like you're at a Disney hotel, then go with the DL hotel itself. One thing to note....if location is important....the California Hotel is much closer to either entrance. You can take the Monorail after walking about 5 minutes from the DL Hotel...but you still to wait in line to get onto the monorail.

 

[abwilliams22]

I meant to say Grand Californian - I was doing too many things at once.

 

[thmar]

We've stayed at both and love both for different reasons. However, for a first time visit for the kids...I'd say DLH. The Neverland pool is awesome. In fact, the entire garden complex at the DLH is a must see...from the Koi pool to the scenic waterfalls to the Safari Adventure Remote-Controlled Jungle Cruise Boats. Another added plus is Goofy's Kitchen is located there. The GCH is wonderful and has Storytellers Cafe, but I'd still recommend DLH for your children's 1st visit.

 

[23bw]

We've stayed at both and love both for different reasons. However, for a first time visit for the kids...I'd say DLH. The Neverland pool is awesome. In fact, the entire garden complex at the DLH is a must see...from the Koi pool to the scenic waterfalls to the Safari Adventure Remote-Controlled Jungle Cruise Boats. Another added plus is Goofy's Kitchen is located there. The GCH is wonderful and has Storytellers Cafe, but I'd still recommend DLH for your children's 1st visit.

I have to agree that for the sake of the "KIDS", they would have much more fun at DL hotel. The GC would be more appreciated by mom and dad.
That said, we are staying for the first time ever at the GC this summer because of the great rates.

 

[pixarmom]

I'm in absolutely no position to give advice here on the DL boards, so I'm just sharing our recent decision.

We're WDW vets with 3 boys. For our most recent WDW trip (last month), we decided that there is so much for the kids at both DL and WDW that we started throwing in a few things that we (the parents) really enjoy, too (lunch at Brown Derby at WDW, for example.) As a result, we booked GCH for our kids' first visit to DL this summer. Our older boys (pre-teens) are very excited about the proximity to DCA and the bunk beds (if we get them). They are so used to WDW, I think they will be amazed at how close GCH will be to everything. And our youngest will be happy with anything that is as close as possible to Toy Story Mania (which he talks about every day.)

Good luck with your decision - we are really excited to bring our kids to DL for the first time, too!