Which on property hotel

[kikismom]

Hello. I have scoured the threads and researched which on property hotel to stay at. We have the Marriot down the street booked but now are planning on staying onsite.

I've stayed at GC and DH but not PP. I loved the rooms at DH, thought the rooms were okay at GC. Both pool areas are fun to us but it will be December. Is one are better than the other during winter? Are they heated?

How bad is the construction at DH? We will be at the parks most of the day with a break for the pools if the weather is nice?

We will be eating our first night at Goofy's Kitchen and not doing any parks. We get to the hotel about 4. We'll be doing either the Princess breakfast at GC or Storytellers for breakfast one of the days. We will have parkhoppers for four days and are doing a half day with a late flight our last day.

We'll need to store luggage that last day. Do either have a better service for it or basically the same? The price difference is $200 a night between GC and DH. So $800 plus tax for the total stay. PP is $300 a night difference but I am leaning more towards GC or DH. It's been 6 years since we've stayed on property and it's time to splurge. My daughter turns 10 on this trip and I know she'd be happy just being there but I want to surprise her with on property.

I appreciate any help you guys can give!

 

[Malcon10t]

*I* prefer DLH. Most will say GCH. You need to go with what you like. As for holding luggage, both are the same.

 

[Becca1007]

GCH

 

[dieumeye]

In your case it sounds like a toss up leaning toward DLH. You’ve stayed in both and prefer the rooms at DLH so you should book DLH.

 

[kikismom]

Has there been any renovations to rooms at GC in the past 6 years? The rooms looked a bit different on the photos than what I remember.

It's so hard because to me the pool area at one is better but the rooms at the other are better. Either one will be amazing since it's been so long so at least I have that going for me.

 

[Pluto468]

Disneyland Hotel . We stayed there a couple of weeks ago and the construction didn't bother us at all. I had a pretty good view of it from my room, but in the pool area it was not noticeable somehow. They may even be focused on indoor construction by December (that's just a guess.)
They held our luggage on the last day and it was no problem at all. Just dropped it at Bell services and when it was time to leave they brought it out to us in about 10 minutes.

We love:
The light up headboards
Ambience of the hotel
Pools
Goofy's
Tangoroa Terrace
The beds are very comfortable
Club level
Taking the Monorail into the park
Teacups in the lobby

Paradise Pier- Nothing is really open there yet. No restaurants but that my change by December. They will be getting their own special entrance into DCA, which is a pretty good perk, but I don't know when it will be open.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I would avoid Paradise Pier for now because it does not have any food available in the hotel.

 

[Steven G]

Out of the 3, I always choose DLH. I always visit the GCH lobby anyway, which I feel is the best part of that hotel, and the restaurants are of course open to everyone.

Until PPH is back to normal, I wouldn't even consider it, I only stayed there once many years ago, and it was fine, but I still feel it was too much.

I just don't like the rooms at GCH, and I don't like water rides, so the nearness to Grizzly Peaks doesn't factor in for me.

Don't get me wrong, after a long day at DCA, it is nice to be able to have that short walk to the GCH.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Staying in December - even if you don't stay there, be sure and walk through GCH. IMHO, the best Christmas decorations on property. We've taken our family Christmas photo there more than once. Check for an entertainment calendar too. DWs assistant (outside Disney) was a seasonal CM caroler and would regularly perform in the GCH lobby.

 

[kikismom]

Thanks! I do love those light up headboards. My fingers are crossed she gets to bring her best friend and I know they both would love that feature.

 

[KPeterso]

I have stayed at all the Disneyland hotels. Definitely skip Paradise Pier --- so much of it is still closed and it really needs a refurb. I prefer VGC (GCH DVC side), but I also love DLH (looking forward to DVC there too). VGC/GCH lobby is absolutely gorgeous in December as mentioned above. It would always be my #1 pick, but more so during the holidays.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

If cost is not an issue, I will always choose GCH because of location. So if it’s in your budget I say go for it. DH is also nice but I haven’t stayed there since the construction started so I can’t speak to that. It always feels soooo much farther than GCH at the end of the night to us though.

We are actually staying at PP for our July trip. That hotel gets a lot of hate but we think it is perfectly fine. It feels the same distance as DH to us but is a lot less $$ for our dates. I don’t care if there’s no food since we do all of our dining in the parks or downtown Disney. Everyone always says other hotels are closer and cheaper, but it is $100/night less than the cheapest Courtyard Marriott room, and I don’t like to stay in motels, so the price seems reasonable for this trip (also hoping Disney will release a summer discount).

However, since it sounds like you aren’t that concerned about cost I would go with 1) GCH or 2) DH.

 

[kikismom]

I do love the Grand lobby, both at Halloween and Christmas. We always used to go the first week of December until we went Halloween one year instead. Now I am obsessed with Halloween time. This will be our first Christmas trip back since 2013.

If we choose the DH which tower is best? We stayed in the Fantasy (I think that was the name) last time and it was fine. Is there a difference?

 

[gelatoni fan]

The Grand Californian is for the location and Disneyland Hotel for the theming. I don't think the Grand California is worth the price premium so I'd almost always suggest the Disneyland Hotel over it.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

I do love the Grand lobby, both at Halloween and Christmas. We always used to go the first week of December until we went Halloween one year instead. Now I am obsessed with Halloween time. This will be our first Christmas trip back since 2013.

If we choose the DH which tower is best? We stayed in the Fantasy (I think that was the name) last time and it was fine. Is there a difference?

How is it decorated at Halloween? I have only been at Christmas, but may stop by.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

The Grand Californian is for the location and Disneyland Hotel for the theming. I don't think the Grand California is worth the price premium so I'd almost always suggest the Disneyland Hotel over it.

This is what I am struggling with. I am considering spending the money to stay onsite during Halloween and I want the theming (especially those headboards) and pool of the DLH, but the closer location of the GC. I have only stayed at DLH once, around 10 years ago.

 

[pharmama]

If we choose the DH which tower is best? We stayed in the Fantasy (I think that was the name) last time and it was fine. Is there a difference?

Personally, my favorite is Adventure tower, then probably Fantasy. Frontier comes last for me mainly because it's farther away but also we've had some weird room layouts in that tower (like one where the bathroom/closet area was cramped with a sink outside the toilet/tub and the small closet right across but it was very tight and another that had a huge dressing and closet area but weirdly low ceilings that made the room feel smaller than it was). The model of BTMRR in the Frontier tower lobby is pretty cool and worth wandering through to look at if you're not in that tower though.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

We stayed at DLH last August, then PP in October. Lots of stays at the GCH as well. Can't justify the cost of the GCH since youngest in party is now 14. We enjoyed the DLH very much. PP desperately needs that refurb. Very outdated furnishings, small holes in the drapes as well, probably from moths. No food options. DLH is a great middle ground.

 

[gelatoni fan]

This is what I am struggling with. I am considering spending the money to stay onsite during Halloween and I want the theming (especially those headboards) and pool of the DLH, but the closer location of the GC. I have only stayed at DLH once, around 10 years ago.

If your room at the Grand Californian is far from the Downtown Disney entrance, it can take almost as long to get to Disneyland as it would if you were staying at the Adventure or Fantasy towers at the Disneyland Hotel. I find the layout of the Grand Californian often forces me to walk all the way around the pool which is not the most direct linear path. And if you try to walk through California Adventure to get to Disneyland, you may get held up at the gate because the system will block your ticket from getting scanned in to Disneyland if you scanned in to California Adventure less than 20 minutes before.

I also don't advise using the Grand Californian entrance if you want to rope drop rides like Web Slingers, Radiator Springs Racers and Guardians of the Galaxy. So in my opinion, the location mostly matters for returning to your hotel in the evening and if you want to go back in the afternoon.

 

[kikismom]

Grrr! I went to book today and it's $80 more a night. I wanted to pay with gift cards from Target to save 5% and totally screwed myself. I was planning on picking DH. Still $110ish a night cheaper than GC. If I book and the price goes down do they honor a new price?