Which room would you choose?

[ninafeliz]

You made a great choice! The Grand is wonderful. If you check every day there's a good chance the partial view room will become available.

I know I have a lot of time to keep checking, but since I first booked it every time I choose change my reservation it says no availability for any disney resort hotels - which I know is not true. At the very least all rooms are available at rack rate, but it says no availability. It's aggravating, I want to be able to just check online and make the switch if a room I would prefer becomes available. I don't know if it's a glitch or if there's something I can't do with DL that I'm used to doing with DL. Like you can't change if you have a discounted rate, or something like that.

 

[ninafeliz]

ninafeliz, when is your trip? Keep your eyes open for the fall/winter discount. It should be coming along soon. There is usually a Disney Visa hotel discount that comes slightly before the resort itself announces a sale. You should be able to call and have them adjust your rate if/when the usual winter discount comes out. They may have you rebook--I don't know as I always wait until the fall discount is announced before I book for Dec.

This year, my sister (partner-in-crime) is going to Leavenworth (Christmas town, not the prison ) in Dec with her dh, so I was really bummed we'd not get to do our annual sister Disneyland Christmas trip. BUT--Dapper Day is later in Nov this year and we're going then instead and using their GCH hotel discount! It's $549/night as opposed to the $754 rate through Disney with my MK discount. We'll still get to meet Santa and things will be decorated for Christmas, and we love being dapper so it's a nice alternative. The discount is a big plus as my DD (who gets me a 50% discount as an entertainment CM) is currently on hiatus while she's in NYC.

We are going Dec 11-15. We actually have a discount, that's why I chose pool view at the GC instead of a less expensive view. With the discount it's less than the standard or partial view rooms. The DLH has a discount for some of the views as well (currently just premium and the CL rooms, plus some DVC rooms) none of the rooms at Pixar Pier are discounted. I will watch to see if any other, better discounts happen to pop up. It's just called Hotel Room Savings offer, and it saves a decent amount but some of that is because the rooms are so much to start with lol.

 

[ninafeliz]

How many days are you staying? Have you thought about a splitting your stay or is that too much of a hassle?

Only 4 nights. after you wrote this I did think about it, but for 2 and 2, plus leaving early the final morning, it doesn't seem worth it. I don't want to have to waste time packing up and being homeless one of our full days. I'm not a big split stay person, but if we were staying even a night longer i might have considered that!

 

[ninafeliz]

We have stayed at all 3 hotels, and CL at GCH as well.

I think you made the right choice!! We just love the GCH, the lobby, the “vibe,” all of it! We love Deluxe at WDW, and if you like WL there, you will love how GCH reminds you of it, but is also wonderful in its own way. Soak in all of the wonderful architectural details (try to take the free Art of the Craft tour of the resort), notice the stained glass sliding entry doors (yes, I will stand back and wait for them to close so I can see them when I enter the resort for check in!).

The balconies are so great at GCH! I am always sad when we are at DLH or PPH and there is no balcony. I also love the proximity to the parks! So great for a break if needed, and the walk to DLH (to me) always seems so much longer. I also think the DLH rooms are dated and some are really small. Some folks think GCH rooms are “dark” but I don’t feel that way at all. I love the craftsman style, and we have that same style in our house with a lot of Stickley furniture etc.

We were just at GCH this past weekend, and the construction didn’t bother me. There was a pass through area to get to Hearthstone that was blocked by a temporary wall, but other than that, I didn’t notice much at all. We didn’t do CL this time, so I don’t have any insight on that construction. We don’t do CL now unless my parents were joining, since we are in the parks a lot and can’t seem to time it to get the value from it. Plus, we have so many treats and eats in the parks that we love that I don’t think we would really want to be too full from CL offerings to enjoy our park favorites!

As for the view, we have had everything from theme park/DTD view to Woods/Courtyard to Pool. My favorite is Woods/Courtyard because it is peaceful and usually a lot of trees. The DTD view overlooked WOD, and that created some noise all day long and into the night. Most of the theme park views are not great now due to the growth of the trees, so I just save some money and get the Woods view either way!

Have a MAGICAL trip!!! And fair warning, you may become addicted to DLR and to the GCH! We started as WDW people when our girls were little, but once we came to DLR, it is our go-to now. We do go to WDW from time to time, but it is probably 10:1 DL:WDW trips in recent years! The fact that the weather is more predictable, there are no buses or other needed means of transportation other than our feet, and park hopping takes 3 minutes… priceless!

I'm glad to hear the construction didn't really affect your stay, and hope it remains that way in December. I actually hate staying at resorts with a lot of obvious construction that affects the public areas. I know plenty of people don't mind, but I hate it when you find out you have to use an alternate lobby entrance, or the quick service is closed with a temporary location set up, or things along those lines. For the prices I;m looking at I would choose one of the other resorts if the construction was bad!

I am really looking forward to having a balcony, i also miss it when I am in rooms that don't have them. I also like good views - would you say a pool view or partial view would be better? I have pool view booked now, but thought partial view sounded better if it pops back up with a discount.

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

I'm glad to hear the construction didn't really affect your stay, and hope it remains that way in December. I actually hate staying at resorts with a lot of obvious construction that affects the public areas. I know plenty of people don't mind, but I hate it when you find out you have to use an alternate lobby entrance, or the quick service is closed with a temporary location set up, or things along those lines. For the prices I;m looking at I would choose one of the other resorts if the construction was bad!

I am really looking forward to having a balcony, i also miss it when I am in rooms that don't have them. I also like good views - would you say a pool view or partial view would be better? I have pool view booked now, but thought partial view sounded better if it pops back up with a discount.

It really depends on what you would like to prioritize in your room view. Partial view at GCH could mean a lot of different locations. You could end up with a lower level room facing Grizzly Peak or a room facing Goofy's Sky School, with trees blocking your view. The pool view rooms will be more predictable location-wise and might end up being quieter than a partial view room in December. I'd recommend booking the view that you actually want, make a room request about 10 days out, and hope for the best.

 

[Littlebitofsunshine]

Only 4 nights. after you wrote this I did think about it, but for 2 and 2, plus leaving early the final morning, it doesn't seem worth it. I don't want to have to waste time packing up and being homeless one of our full days. I'm not a big split stay person, but if we were staying even a night longer i might have considered that!

I see! I think having the lobby at GCH is great. Especially during the ‘colder’ time of year. DLH is lovely too, albeit for other reasons. But if you’re not hanging out at the pool or Trader Sams it sort of limits you to your room. You’ll have a great trip

 

[maleficent55]

You made the right choice! The GCH at Christmas Time is so so magical!
The big gingerbread house, the amazing tall tree, the treats, the carolers! It’s incredible!

Have a wonderful trip!

Also, we have only ever stayed standard view or woods/courtyard view
I’ve loved the views from woods/courtyard: once overlooking Grizzly River Run in DCA. Watching people coming in and out of that park entrance was fun, and another time is was of Brisa Courtyard and the monorail passing through.
But ultimately, and much like @DizMe I’ve come to appreciate where my room is physically vs the view.
I very much prefer a room to be above the main lobby. Especially at Christmas time! Walking out of your room and being swooned immediately by the holiday music being played on the piano below is a core memory now!

 

[DizMe]

I can't wait to see all the Christmas decor and meet Santa

Same!! This year we're going to meet Santa in DCA, which we've never done. We always meet him in the hotel, but Santa doesn't arrive at the hotels until later. Maybe we'll try to catch him in DL, too!

 

[DizMe]

But ultimately, and much like @DizMe I’ve come to appreciate where my room is physically vs the view.
I very much prefer a room to be above the main lobby. Especially at Christmas time! Walking out of your room and being swooned immediately by the holiday music being played on the piano below is a core memory now!

Because I've been there often, I really don't care what my view is (and I'm honestly not in the room enough to look at the view that much anyway). But as maleficent55 explained, I find that the location within the hotel is more valuable to me. I prefer to be near an elevator and close to the main lobby or the Napa Rose elevators ( which take you down near Storyteller's and the entrance to DCA, in case you're unfamiliar with them). I also prefer the 3rd floor as it has its own little lobby on a balcony above the grand lobby. My ideal room is right off that 3rd-floor lobby. Here's a pic of our room number last Dec and my sister in the 3rd floor lobby.

 

[DizMe]

Also, here are a couple of views from the 3rd floor lobby:





and a PP picture of us meeting Santa at GCH last year

 

[Pluto468]

Same!! This year we're going to meet Santa in DCA, which we've never done. We always meet him in the hotel, but Santa doesn't arrive at the hotels until later. Maybe we'll try to catch him in DL, too!

Hopefully I can find him in Disneyland! I'm not bothering with hoppers this time. If I only have 2 days at the park I'm spending every minute at Disneyland

 

[maleficent55]

Same!! This year we're going to meet Santa in DCA, which we've never done. We always meet him in the hotel, but Santa doesn't arrive at the hotels until later. Maybe we'll try to catch him in DL, too!

we've seen him in DCA, he was at Elias & Co. and he was dressed in a very Dapper-ish Christmas look. The whole set up was so
nice

 

[DizMe]

we've seen him in DCA, he was at Elias & Co. and he was dressed in a very Dapper-ish Christmas look. The whole set up was so
nice

Oh! I didn't know you could see Santa there! I only heard about the Redwood Trail meet-up. Was he strolling through, doing a casual greet, or could you get in line to meet him?