Which hotel would you choose?

[CharissaOKC]

Looking at 5 nights in the spring. This will be our first trip to DLR and we have a 10 and 5 year old.

Pixar Place Premium View CL or Standard Room at GCH?

Our kids like the theming of Pixar Place and my husband likes the idea of Club Level. I think being close to the parks at GCH will be great! We just can’t make up our minds! Prices are basically the same.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

Its DLR you're close to the parks even if you stay 2 blocks away.

I'd definitely go with the CL

 

[CharissaOKC]

Its DLR you're close to the parks even if you stay 2 blocks away.

I'd definitely go with the CL

Thank you!

 

[Mommb]

Pixar Place is across the street from Grand Californian, so the additional travel time is negligible. If the cost is about the same and the rest of your family is more interested in Pixar Place, then that's what to choose.

 

[LAS2AMS]

I’d go with CL at PP, but note that even with the most recent renovation (and name change), many people don’t feel it’s a natural fit to the Disney Bubble (Disney acquired the property secondhand in the mid-90s). GC most certainly is.

 

[DizMe]

That's a tough one. I *personally* am not a fan of Pixar Pier. It was purchased by Disney and shoe-horned into being a Disney hotel, but it has neither the charm nor the amenities of DLH or GCH. There have not been good reports about their CL, which is sourced out and is not the same as the GCH and DLH club level options, or so I've read on this board. They also, unlike the other 2 clubs, will not allow you to take food out of the lounge, which is a huge bummer IMO.

I think they made the public spaces quite nice, but they have a very meh pool compared to the other 2 hotels and the elevators are just awful (slowwwwwwwwwww).

It also has no grounds whatsoever other than the upstairs pool deck. It's on a traffic street and borders parking lots. It IS right across the street from DCA with a dedicated entrance, which is nice.

And you may get more for your money if you don't particularly care about what the hotel has to offer beyond the sleeping area.

I would always choose GCH myself and my kids loved it (they're adults now). My DH liked the huge lobby where he could hang out early, have coffee, and read the paper.

But if the cost difference is very large, then you have to think about what your family likes and what else you could do with the extra money!

Good luck!

 

[tamitru32]

I'd go with Pixar although I haven't stayed at that property since it was Paradise Pier. However I have stayed at GCH and found the rooms a bit dark and they felt smaller than usual. Club Level would be a hoot and Pixar is still very close indeed.

 

[Minnie1222]

I've only stayed at GCH. The location is excellent.

 

[LKing]

Have you searched for posts about the club level in the Pixar Place Super thread?

You might also look at this thread about Club Level at Pixar Place.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Pixar Place's distance on this forum is so greatly exaggerated, I would've thought the Hojo was closer.

I stayed there in August. Omg it's right.. freakin'.. there. You cross 1 street... and it's not even a big street! DCA entrance was perfection and if you needed to cross into GCH to get to Disneyland, it's right there. Depending on your room location, I think you could actually end up doing more walking staying in GCH and traveling to the parks than PPH.

 

[Pluto468]

The Grand Californian is so nice and it's amazing being that close to the parks. I love the ambience and all the restaurants and shops.

But I can see the draw of Pixar Place, especially with the wonderful view and club level. As DizMe noted, you can't take food away from the club which is kind of a bummer and I haven't heard great reviews about the food.

Will you have hoppers? The DCA entrance next to Pixar Place is super convenient, it's probably only 5 minutes away or less.

Getting to Disneyland through DTD will be more like 20-25 minutes depending on how fast you walk. But you could take the monorail if it's open, which would drop you off inside Tomorrowland in the park. The monorail stop is close to Disneyland hotel, so maybe a 5-10 minute walk from Pixar Place.

 

[Minnie1222]

Which hotel do you want if this were your only trip ever to Disneyland?

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

Go with PPH CL, especially if you are planning to rope drop in the mornings and stay in the parks most of the day. You can use the private entrance in the morning for DCA and it's maybe 5-10 minutes longer walk through the bubble but you can cut through GCH on your way out to save some walking. People have had issues with the PPH elevators during rush hour, but it wasn't something we experienced when staying in a higher floor room.

GCH does have much nicer lobby, grounds, and pool though. However, depending on where your room is you could also end up with a long walk back to your room at GCH, so while the location is nice you are not necessarily guaranteed a short walk.

 

[CharissaOKC]

Thank you all! This was super helpful! We will have hoppers and usually take an afternoon break when we are WDW.

 

[MouseBrief]

People have had issues with the PPH elevators during rush hour, but it wasn't something we experienced when staying in a higher floor room.

Good thing to take into consideration!
Regarding the elevators at Pixar Place Hotel: our experience is that they get jammed up around hotel check-in time rather than hotel opening and closing (granted, we go EARLY and leave late), so keep that in mind if you take an afternoon break. I think it has something to do with all those luggage carts… I’m not sure.
Watching World of Color from park view rooms at Pixar Place Hotel is amazing! Particularly nice if you have young kids who want to see the show but have trouble making it that late. The projections are a little hard to make out, but the music coming through the TV mixed with the lights and water outside the window is somehow enthralling and relaxing at the same time. Great for bedtime

 

[rtravels]

Something to keep in mind...the Pixar Place entrance to DCA is only available in the morning through noon. This is a recent change. You can always exit out that way but can't always enter that way.

 

[DizMe]

Something to keep in mind...the Pixar Place entrance to DCA is only available in the morning through noon. This is a recent change. You can always exit out that way but can't always enter that way.

Thanks for this info! I didn't know that. Why would they do that?

 

[LKing]

Thanks for this info! I didn't know that. Why would they do that?

It isn't used all that much throughout the day.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Wasn’t it shut down for many years?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Grand Cal and it’s not even close.