Which would you choose? ( and a few more ?'s)

[cinmell]

We may be heading to CA next month and will stop at Disney Land for 3 days/2nights. It will be 3 or 4 adults and a 2 year old. Which hotel would you recommend, the Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier? I've been to DL in the past but never stayed in a resort on property and California Adventure and Downtown Disney were just being built. Our 2 year old loves pools and we will spend most time at Disney Land and California Adventure.

What are the monorail routes? Do they take you to your hotel? How are the crowds in September? Can you use your Disney Club Discount at the World of Disney Store?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jordanyosh]

Well if the pool is a priority then it has to be the Disneyland Hotel.
The Neverland Themed Pool area is very nice and the nicest at the DLR.

For the best theming, GC is the nicest. We are local and stayed there 2x. It really transports you to a different place.....We prefer the GC over the other 2.

 

[Snurk71]

You don't have to worry about the monorail at DL. You walk from the hotels to the parks through DTD. It isn't a long walk and is neat walking through DTD. My guess is that it isn't even 10 minutes.

And yes, WOD took DC as of May. You'll find that a lot more places take DC at DL than WDW.

 

[mousemom11]

We have fallen in love with the Grand Californian. I agree that the Disneyland Hotel has the better pool, but you absolutely can't beat the location of the Grand. It is centrally located in Downtown Disney. Takes about 5 minutes to walk to the entrance to Disneyland and has its own entrance into DCA. This is important to us because we have 2 young children under 5, and it's nice to be able to get to and from the parks quickly.

Also, the park views can't be beat. We had a view of Grizzly River Rapids/Soarin when we were there last fall. I have specifically requested this view again for our trip on the 25th (hooray!).

DLH is slightly closer to the monorail entrance than GCH. GCH is closer to DLR and DCA entrances than DLH. Also, I like having a balcony, and I don't think that there are balconies in the DLH rooms (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

As for the crowds, I would guess that they shouldn't be too bad. We were there the first week of October last year and could walk onto just about anything, especially first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon. One secret that I learned from a CM is that the park hours reflect prior year attendance. Meaning that if the park opens later and closes earlier, attendance was smaller on that day last year.

Definitely bring your own stroller for your 2 year old. We rented a stroller last time and regretted not having our own. First, when the child is sitting in the stroller it is very difficult to put any size bag in the storage area below them. Second, if you go from one park to the other, you have to turn in your stroller when you leave the first park, carry the child and your bags across to the other park entrance, and then check out another stroller in the 2nd park. You don't have to pay twice, just show your receipt to get another stroller, but it's still a pain. Not only that, but at the end of the day you can't stroller your child back to the hotel since they won't allow you to take rental strollers out of the park.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[daannzzz]

The Grand Californian is a wonderfull Hotel and is beautiful with a location that beats everyone else including those at WDW. The rooms are comfortable and nice and somewhat small, particularly for 4 adults and a kid. The decor is sort of Frank Lloyd Wrigh like with a very small hint of Disney (see the shower curtain).
The Disneyland Hotel is older and has 3 somewhat bland towers but larger rooms, some in particular ( the Sierra Tower) are quite large with a day bed that an adult can sleep on. The decor is bright and full of fun Disneyland references. It is less expensive but not as convenient as The Grand Californian.
The Paradise Pier is a bit newer of a tower and located across the Street from DCA. It is a decent place with not much to the lobby, public area or grounds. The rooms are fine and the less expensive ones look out over the suburbs. The more expensive ones have great views into DCA.
I personally love staying at the Grand Californian or The Disneyland hotel. Both are great but for different reasons.

 

[Cinderella 6972]

I have to agree that The Disneyland Hotel has the coolest pool. That Neverland Pool is really something. Plus it has more of a Disney themed decoration throughout the hotel. In addition, there is a beautiful waterfall and rose garden where they have the disney fairy tale weddings.