Tracie Wallace
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2001
Cast of Characters:
DH : 41
DD: 5 (almost 6!)
Me: 45
I have been a southern California resident for almost 30 years and have probably visited Disneyland at least twice a year. I've been going to Disneyworld the last 2 years so haven't been visting DL as much lately.
Anyway, since it was my daughter's fall break last week, I decided to do a mini vacation to Disneyland for 2 nights/3 days starting on 10/11/02.
I wanted to stay at the Grand California, but the only room they had available was on the concierge level. By the time you got through paying for the room, taxes, resort fee and valet, the room was around $400 a night. Ouch. I decided to bite the bullet and do it - though there were a lot more reasonably priced rooms and package deals in the area.
I had previously stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the Concierge level (at a much better price!), so I couldn't help comparing the different experiences. At the AKL you are met at the entrance to the hotel and escorted to your room. You check in later at the Concierge desk. At the GC you are met at the entrance and escorted to the registration desk, where you wait for the next available CM. My room at the AKL had a view of the savannah where I could watch the animals. My view at the GC was of a courtyard where I could occassionally watch the monorail go by. Both rooms were nicely themed and full of the normal amenities. (As a note, I had asked the concierge a few weeks prior to my arrival if I could upgrade to a park view. I was told that I could for an additional $20 per night and that I would be on the 5th floor (not the 6th where the concierge lounge is located) and my room would not have a DVD player. I agreed to this. Upon my arrival, there was no note of this and was told there were no view rooms available.).
The concierge lounge was around the corner from our room. Breakfast offerings were cold cereal, bagels, muffins, fruit, orange juice, coffee; normal continental breakfast stuff. Breakfast at the AKL consisted of the same things with the addition of a cappuccino/espresso machine and some hot dishes and more fruit juices. Both resorts offered wine in the late afternoon with snacks. Again, I think the offerings at the AKL were more varied. The GC did offer bottled water to take into the parks, which the AKL did not.
The concierge did make some P/S for me. I had dinner at the Napa Rose (good food and service) while my DD (age 5) stayed at Pinnochio's Workshop. My DD loved the Pinnochi's, in fact, she kept asking to go back! We also had lunch at Goofy's Kitchen and saw a few characters we hadn't yet met (Genie, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter), as well as many old favorites, Donald Duck, Rafiki (who played tic-tac-toe with my DD), and Pluto (and I think a few others). However, DL does not have the plethera of dining and entertainment choices that DW has, and having a concierge making reservations for me was not that big a deal - after all I was only there 2 nights!
The concierge did get us tickets for the Fantasmic premium seats (not balcony) for Saturday. The price for 2 adults and 1 child was $125 (yes, this was becoming a very expensive weekend!). Children get the same box dessert that adults get (I heard in the past the children got ice cream). The servers also will provide you with with soft drinks, coffee and hot chocolate. While it was nice to get decent seats (and to be able to sit in a real chair) without waiting for 3 hours, I think the price is a bit on the high side. I know I wouldn't do it for every visit!
Even though we arrived at opening time on both Saturday and Sunday, it seemed that the parks were pretty crowded by 10:30 am. It seems in the past we had until at least noon before we encountered much of a wait. Anyway, we saw most of what we wanted to see. We visited the Haunted Mansion 3 times (once each day), rode Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Autopia (twice), Runaway Mine Train (twice), Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Tiki Room (DD's choice - twice!), Tarzan's Treehouse (DD's choice - twice), Tom Sawyer's Island (what have they done to the island!!!! - you can't go on the bridges, the fort is closed off, only 1 cave to visit!), saw the Buzz Lightyear show (cute), Its a Small World, Alice in Wonderland, Storyland boat ride, Soaring over California, Flick's Fun Fair, etc. etc.
Flick's Fun Fair is cutely themed, and my DD enjoyed it, but I thought the rides were rather lame - plus even on Friday we had to wait 30 minutes to ride the train and Flick's flyers. My daughter really enjoyed Dot's puddles? (the water portion). she got SOAKED and she was wearing long pants, sweater and boots. We had to walk back to GC (the proximity to the park is Great!) and change her clothes.
We did take advantage of the pool in the afternoon to go swimming (it would have been nicer if they pool was warmer - it was FREEZING, especially since the air temperature was rather cool).
I love the proximity of the GC to Downtown Disney and the parks. Its fun to just walk out your resort and be in the midst of everything. In this respect, I like DL better than DW. At DW almost everything is a car/bus/monorail/boat ride away.
Overall, we had a great time. I do like the GC, I just don't think it was a good value for the money. I did enjoy being able to visit the concierge lounge for a quick snack or drink. I would have enjoyed my room a lot more if I had some kind of view. I had dreams of sitting on the balcony drinking a glass of wine and watching the world go by. The proximity of the hotel to the parks and Downtown Disney was great.
Our room at the GC had a queen bed and bunks. My DD thought that was totally cool and HAD to sleep on the top bunk. She said sleeping on the bottom would be boring.
Even though we were were 3 days, I could have stayed longer. We still didn't see everything - we didn't even get to Toontown! Will we go back - of course! However, I am planning a trip to DW next year - Beach Club Resort and AKL here we come!!!
DH : 41
DD: 5 (almost 6!)
Me: 45
I have been a southern California resident for almost 30 years and have probably visited Disneyland at least twice a year. I've been going to Disneyworld the last 2 years so haven't been visting DL as much lately.
Anyway, since it was my daughter's fall break last week, I decided to do a mini vacation to Disneyland for 2 nights/3 days starting on 10/11/02.
I wanted to stay at the Grand California, but the only room they had available was on the concierge level. By the time you got through paying for the room, taxes, resort fee and valet, the room was around $400 a night. Ouch. I decided to bite the bullet and do it - though there were a lot more reasonably priced rooms and package deals in the area.
I had previously stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the Concierge level (at a much better price!), so I couldn't help comparing the different experiences. At the AKL you are met at the entrance to the hotel and escorted to your room. You check in later at the Concierge desk. At the GC you are met at the entrance and escorted to the registration desk, where you wait for the next available CM. My room at the AKL had a view of the savannah where I could watch the animals. My view at the GC was of a courtyard where I could occassionally watch the monorail go by. Both rooms were nicely themed and full of the normal amenities. (As a note, I had asked the concierge a few weeks prior to my arrival if I could upgrade to a park view. I was told that I could for an additional $20 per night and that I would be on the 5th floor (not the 6th where the concierge lounge is located) and my room would not have a DVD player. I agreed to this. Upon my arrival, there was no note of this and was told there were no view rooms available.).
The concierge lounge was around the corner from our room. Breakfast offerings were cold cereal, bagels, muffins, fruit, orange juice, coffee; normal continental breakfast stuff. Breakfast at the AKL consisted of the same things with the addition of a cappuccino/espresso machine and some hot dishes and more fruit juices. Both resorts offered wine in the late afternoon with snacks. Again, I think the offerings at the AKL were more varied. The GC did offer bottled water to take into the parks, which the AKL did not.
The concierge did make some P/S for me. I had dinner at the Napa Rose (good food and service) while my DD (age 5) stayed at Pinnochio's Workshop. My DD loved the Pinnochi's, in fact, she kept asking to go back! We also had lunch at Goofy's Kitchen and saw a few characters we hadn't yet met (Genie, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter), as well as many old favorites, Donald Duck, Rafiki (who played tic-tac-toe with my DD), and Pluto (and I think a few others). However, DL does not have the plethera of dining and entertainment choices that DW has, and having a concierge making reservations for me was not that big a deal - after all I was only there 2 nights!
The concierge did get us tickets for the Fantasmic premium seats (not balcony) for Saturday. The price for 2 adults and 1 child was $125 (yes, this was becoming a very expensive weekend!). Children get the same box dessert that adults get (I heard in the past the children got ice cream). The servers also will provide you with with soft drinks, coffee and hot chocolate. While it was nice to get decent seats (and to be able to sit in a real chair) without waiting for 3 hours, I think the price is a bit on the high side. I know I wouldn't do it for every visit!
Even though we arrived at opening time on both Saturday and Sunday, it seemed that the parks were pretty crowded by 10:30 am. It seems in the past we had until at least noon before we encountered much of a wait. Anyway, we saw most of what we wanted to see. We visited the Haunted Mansion 3 times (once each day), rode Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Autopia (twice), Runaway Mine Train (twice), Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Tiki Room (DD's choice - twice!), Tarzan's Treehouse (DD's choice - twice), Tom Sawyer's Island (what have they done to the island!!!! - you can't go on the bridges, the fort is closed off, only 1 cave to visit!), saw the Buzz Lightyear show (cute), Its a Small World, Alice in Wonderland, Storyland boat ride, Soaring over California, Flick's Fun Fair, etc. etc.
Flick's Fun Fair is cutely themed, and my DD enjoyed it, but I thought the rides were rather lame - plus even on Friday we had to wait 30 minutes to ride the train and Flick's flyers. My daughter really enjoyed Dot's puddles? (the water portion). she got SOAKED and she was wearing long pants, sweater and boots. We had to walk back to GC (the proximity to the park is Great!) and change her clothes.
We did take advantage of the pool in the afternoon to go swimming (it would have been nicer if they pool was warmer - it was FREEZING, especially since the air temperature was rather cool).
I love the proximity of the GC to Downtown Disney and the parks. Its fun to just walk out your resort and be in the midst of everything. In this respect, I like DL better than DW. At DW almost everything is a car/bus/monorail/boat ride away.
Overall, we had a great time. I do like the GC, I just don't think it was a good value for the money. I did enjoy being able to visit the concierge lounge for a quick snack or drink. I would have enjoyed my room a lot more if I had some kind of view. I had dreams of sitting on the balcony drinking a glass of wine and watching the world go by. The proximity of the hotel to the parks and Downtown Disney was great.
Our room at the GC had a queen bed and bunks. My DD thought that was totally cool and HAD to sleep on the top bunk. She said sleeping on the bottom would be boring.
Even though we were were 3 days, I could have stayed longer. We still didn't see everything - we didn't even get to Toontown! Will we go back - of course! However, I am planning a trip to DW next year - Beach Club Resort and AKL here we come!!!
