Grand Californian Super Thread

[Malcon10t]

Congrats. After first GCH stay, if you end up in love, it can be hard to walk past that entrance on your way to DLH. There is that feeling "If you lived here, you'd be home by now".

But every trip was different. The prices & value proposition changes all the time depending on what's happening at the resort (construction) and with your group/family. If choosing DLH or PPH over GCH was the difference in going or not going, then it's a no brainer. You can always drop into the GCH on a future trip for a stroll (And to plan your next stay)

And not everyone is going to find that love. I tried so many times to find the love of the Grand, and finally just figured out we love DLH too much to keep trying.

 

[AndrewC]

Anyone get a depressed feeling after they book their stay?

It’s killing me a little this year that I paid $727/night (before tax) for the Grand and DLH (split stay) was $705 on two nights and over $600 on the other two! Seven nights between DLH and Grand absolutely kicked me in the gut this year, I can’t tell if it’s inflation or just very strong demand, or both but ouch…

I seriously debated staying off site this year but I want the Grand for the two Halloween party nights I’m doing so I can use their entrance to beats the main gate line and I absolutely love the classic historical feeling of DLH so I had to stay there a couple nights (start and end of my trip).

Prices for everything certainly are higher this year that’s for sure!

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Anyone get a depressed feeling after they book their stay?

It’s killing me a little this year that I paid $727/night (before tax) for the Grand and DLH (split stay) was $705 on two nights and over $600 on the other two! Seven nights between DLH and Grand absolutely kicked me in the gut this year, I can’t tell if it’s inflation or just very strong demand, or both but ouch…

I seriously debated staying off site this year but I want the Grand for the two Halloween party nights I’m doing so I can use their entrance to beats the main gate line and I absolutely love the classic historical feeling of DLH so I had to stay there a couple nights (start and end of my trip).

Prices for everything certainly are higher this year that’s for sure!

You are not alone. It is my first time taking the leap to stay there, and the price has been a tough pill to swallow.

 

[RoseColored97]

Congrats. After first GCH stay, if you end up in love, it can be hard to walk past that entrance on your way to DLH. There is that feeling "If you lived here, you'd be home by now".

But every trip was different. The prices & value proposition changes all the time depending on what's happening at the resort (construction) and with your group/family. If choosing DLH or PPH over GCH was the difference in going or not going, then it's a no brainer. You can always drop into the GCH on a future trip for a stroll (And to plan your next stay)

One of the reasons we love the DLH is for the light up headboards! We've only stayed CL facing Downtown Disney, which that view can't be beat. Agreed - we may look at the entrance and regret our decision in later trips. Those few steps really make a difference late at night, even though we just got done walking 20,000+ steps during the day lol

 

[McSmooth]

Does the GC do any kind of Halloween decor in October?

 

[Tigger's ally]

Anyone get a depressed feeling after they book their stay?

It’s killing me a little this year that I paid $727/night (before tax) for the Grand and DLH (split stay) was $705 on two nights and over $600 on the other two! Seven nights between DLH and Grand absolutely kicked me in the gut this year, I can’t tell if it’s inflation or just very strong demand, or both but ouch…

I seriously debated staying off site this year but I want the Grand for the two Halloween party nights I’m doing so I can use their entrance to beats the main gate line and I absolutely love the classic historical feeling of DLH so I had to stay there a couple nights (start and end of my trip).

Prices for everything certainly are higher this year that’s for sure!

I travel for work, mostly through the midwest and south, and here is what I have seen before and during Covid, then after.

1. Prices at normal Hilton (Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn, etc.) were about $110-$125 before, $100 during, and that same hotel room now is around $140-!$170 now.
2. Hotels were rarely full beore, totally empty during and back to full now.
3. Service was great before and during, terrible now.
4. Breakfast was good before, in a bag during, and about half as good now.

Restaurants follow same trend. Fast food though has terrible service across the board, all brands except for 2 (Chickfila & Culvers).

I stayed at a hotel in Ft. Wayne IN during Covid that had 4 stories. When I walked in, the guy asked me which floor I wanted and I said it didn't matter, he said he had a guy staying on the first floor, the other three were totally empty. It was 11 p.m. I took the fourth floor....the whole floor!

 

[DLgal]

Does the GC do any kind of Halloween decor in October?

Yup, they sure do! The lobby will have a large edible showpiece (it was Oogie Boogie last year, I think) and the lobby pop up shop will have themed treats for sale.

 

[truetink]

Hi all! We had our first stay at the Grand Californian and our first visit to Disneyland and it was amazing!!!! - I can’t say enough about how wonderful it was - I’ll have to post at some point in the future in one of those DL vs WDW posts that always crop up. I do have one random question though. We stayed on the villas side and the TVs didn’t have the mickey cartoons channel like they do at the WDW resorts but it was on the TV in the Disneyland cabanas and playing in the GCH lobby. So does the Disneyland resort and Grand Californian hotel side have that, just not the villas? I know, strange question - but it’s a family favorite during down time in the room.

And, yes, I did take the time to write to Disneyland and the Grand Californian to thank the cast members for such an amazing experience that renewed my faith in the Disney customer service model - such a wonderful vacation!

 

[DLgal]

Hi all! We had our first stay at the Grand Californian and our first visit to Disneyland and it was amazing!!!! - I can’t say enough about how wonderful it was - I’ll have to post at some point in the future in one of those DL vs WDW posts that always crop up. I do have one random question though. We stayed on the villas side and the TVs didn’t have the mickey cartoons channel like they do at the WDW resorts but it was on the TV in the Disneyland cabanas and playing in the GCH lobby. So does the Disneyland resort and Grand Californian hotel side have that, just not the villas? I know, strange question - but it’s a family favorite during down time in the room.

And, yes, I did take the time to write to Disneyland and the Grand Californian to thank the cast members for such an amazing experience that renewed my faith in the Disney customer service model - such a wonderful vacation!

We definitely had the Mickey cartoon channel in our hotel side room in July.

 

[truetink]

We definitely had the Mickey cartoon channel in our hotel side room in July.

Thank you! That’s great to know. I know it seems silly, but it’s the little things sometimes that give that extra magic.

 

[DizMe]

We definitely had the Mickey cartoon channel in our hotel side room in July.

We also had it in our standard room at DLH.

 

[truetink]

We also had it in our standard room at DLH.

Thank you! I really appreciate the response!

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Is the Mickey channel what they have on as the main channel by default? Any other cool little touches in the room like this?

 

[DLgal]

Is the Mickey channel what they have on as the main channel by default? Any other cool little touches in the room like this?

No. The default channel is an information channel with Disney music playing on a loop.

 

[truetink]

Is the Mickey channel what they have on as the main channel by default? Any other cool little touches in the room like this?

No, I think it’s called classic cartoons or something like that and it shows cartoon shorts on a loop (like those they are based MMRR on).

 

[DizMe]

Thank you! I really appreciate the response!

You're welcome. My daughter, my grandson and I all had a blast watching those cartoons! We giggled right along with the 5-year-old . Probably would never have seen it if I hadn't been with a kid!

 

[Amber1279]

I have an EE question. We are a large family grouping traveling and part of our group is staying at GCH and others off-site. Does only 1 member of the party need to show their room key or does everyone?

 

[Version 6]

I have an EE question. We are a large family grouping traveling and part of our group is staying at GCH and others off-site. Does only 1 member of the party need to show their room key or does everyone?

You'll need to show room key and reservation and they will do a head count to make sure the number of people trying to get through matches the number of people on the reservation.

 

[Amber1279]

You'll need to show room key and reservation and they will do a head count to make sure the number of people trying to get through matches the number of people on the reservation.

So all the reservations for all 11 are under 1 Disney account (mom/grandma) so everyone has reservations for the park together, but are not all staying on property.

 

[Version 6]

So all the reservations for all 11 are under 1 Disney account (mom/grandma) so everyone has reservations for the park together, but are not all staying on property.

The people who are not staying on property will not be able to access early entry.