I'm just waiting for the Disneyland hotels dates to open up and we'll be booking for the beginning of August. WDW made us feel like we lost the magic, but DL has restored our faith in the Disney brand.
I prefer Disneyland. I live in New York - Long Island and I prefer DL over WDW any day. I was there from August 9 to August 2023 good time to go low to moderate crowds. Early August is a good time to go. June through August is a good time to visit too.
My best GCH advice is book very early. We are going in October. I just went to book last week, and all rooms were sold out except pool view. I booked it, and then next day, every room was sold out. Now the Acadia 2 bedroom suite is the only thing available at $6600/night!! I book as soon as I think we will be going; if any discounts come out, you can try to add them later. But in 2021, we had a last minute change on our October trip from WDW to DLR. I could not get the GCH despite trying several times per day for 2 weeks. So we had to stay at the DLH. It was very nice, but I really love the GCH! So book early!!!
I ordered room service for 5Am to 5PM delivery. I called the night before.
Agreed. Book early. I booked in late January 2023 for my trip from August 9th to 16th at GCH with Woods Courtyard View. When the summer sale hot in late June, a lot of rooms for August were gone by then and the rest gobbled up because of the sale!
Don't be nervous you'll have a great time. We just had a bad experience last August and my wife and I both said we weren't feeling the same about Disney anymore. I really don't want to go into it, but WDW is great.
Someone reposted the room location map literally one page back.I remember reading somewhere (and now I can’t find it) that woods view rooms at the grand Californian are a good location? I could have sworn I saw a map of the rooms locations but I can’t seem to find it now with a Google search. Can anyone confirm if they are good? Or should i just do a standard view?
We are flying to Kauai and staying at the Grand Hyatt there after our Disneyland stay so I don’t really want to pay more for a view on this leg of the trip with the amount we are paying there
It was like shaded with different colors for different views. Not that one
I nearly always book a standard room. I make the request of being near an elevator, preferably overlooking the lobby. I have never been disappointed--I'm either near the Napa Rose or main elevators or they upgrade me to something that fits my request. The only time I got a room I disliked was when I booked a Woods/Courtyard view and was way, way, way down hallways from the nearest elevator. I learned a lesson from that experience! Honestly, I don't care much about the view, but I don't want to walk a mile to get out of the hotel.
We were there at the end of July and had a standard view room on the 5th floor. We loved the view. We were to the right of the GCH entrance and could see people arriving and leaving, and we could see the Pixar Pier Hotel and the DLH plus we could see the work going on, on the DTD expansion. We loved it.
There are pool view, woods/courtyard, and I think theme park view rooms near the Napa Rose elevators. I'm not sure now what is considered woods/courtyard as opposed to lower level theme park view. It used to be that the rooms on the higher floors in the same wing were theme park while the lower were Woods because of the view being blocked by trees, so you might be in exactly the same spot but the higher floor room would be a higher category than a lower floor.
I can't take any credit for the map's creation, but I have reposted it since it is very helpful for me. Here is the key:
The Napa Rose elevator is the one marked "E" in the corner of the pool view (blue) rooms. So near that elevator there are pool, woods/courtyard and partial view rooms.
Yes, the desk is (center left in picture) is where people can make ressies for Club 33. (In 2019 I saw Mr Baxter walk up to the desk and make ressies.) Saw Dan Reynolds and then wife Aja Volkman the same time, didn't bat an eye, but when I saw Mr Tony Baxter, I snuck a pic and immediately sent it to my Disney friend in WA who would understand my excitement!) LOL This is a nice hideway spot to wait when they are cleaning your room and you need a nap!
