I know the Disneyland Board is NOT used to seeing this little face...

luvdsny

Homeschool Mom Extraordinaire Go Broncos!
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
...the little sad face that is. :(

My mom and sister just got back from Disneyland (they cut their trip short by 3 days due to the kids ((ages almost 5 and 6)) feeling homesick), and after their initial high rating of The Grand Californian and DCA, they have decided that it is just too non-Disney for their tastes. :( :( :(

This is their take on the GC and DCA: The hotel is gorgeous, very fancy, but they must have spent all the money on the hotel's lobby because the rooms were waaaaaaaaaay too cramped. 2 adults and 2 children were stepping on eachother. The bathrooms have no doors so privacy was an issue. Housekeeping didn't refill their soaps/shampoos and left dead flowers in the little vase for the whole stay. And housekeeping was unable to clean their room until 5:00 and 6:00pm...which made nap time a bit unpleasant. Room service was waaaaaaaaaay too slow and waaaaaaaay OVER PRICED! (and that coming from MY mom is someting, because money is not an issue for her). They felt that the hotel was not meant for children. The shops were all upscale and pricey. The restaurants were good, but very expensive (again this worries me coming from MY mom...LOL). The doorways were narrow and extremely heavy--noticeable to those who are pushing strollers. Which BTW, when you rent a stroller it is for your whole stay, so you take it back to your hotel with you...and since they are new jogger-style strollers they take up a lot of space in an already crowded room.

About DCA--nice but just too 'something' (they can't quite put a word with it) I think they are leaning towards too 'fancy' and not enough 'Disney' (which may be exactly what the developers were hoping for) atmosphere. Nice park, but not necessarily for young kids. The lights at night from the park were pretty. Very expensive (again...MY mom).

Disneyland--they LOVED it! :)

The Disneyland Hotel--they LOVED it! (they walked around and did Goofy's Kitchen, which they said was wonderful!) :)

Downtown Disney--will take your breath away...but not geared towards children (we already knew that!)

And most of the CM's that they encountered were bending over backwards to assist them. They had nothing but positive experiences with the CM's--which is very, very important to me and my family. :) :) :)

Anyhow, with that said, my mom is now trying to talk me and my family into staying at The Disneyland Hotel (which is our main stay normally) because it's a bit less, bigger rooms, and more Disney atmosphere.

I haven't decided yet. ;) Mayve we could stay at the GC for a night or two, then move to TDH...I'll have to think on this one for a bit. ;)

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<font color=navy size=3>M-I-C...see you at The DIS Convention, K-E-Y...why? Because we LOVE Disney, M-O-U-S-Eeee...</font>
 
Tia, I'm sorry to hear that. :(

I just have to make one comment about the bathroom doors at the GC -- they DO have doors, they are just "pocket doors"...the kind that slide into the wall and have a little metal handle you pull to close. The GC did that so that you wouldn't have to worry about the door being in the way! I guess that was easy to miss and that's why your mom and sister didn't notice them, but I wanted to assure everyone that the GC bathrooms do indeed have doors. :)

The poor housekeeping has no excuses, though! I certainly would have said something to the hotel about that.

I agree that only one restaurant there is kid-friendly, the Storytellers Cafe (which we love) and it didn't seem to be any higher-priced than a regular Disney restaurant. :)

The Disneyland Hotel rooms ARE definitely bigger (for the most part) and we were very pleased with the room we had a couple of weeks ago...with two queen beds and a daybed and plenty of space.

I definitely think you should give the GC a try for at least part of your stay, just to experience it for yourself. You can't go wrong with either hotel, so perhaps a split stay may be just what you need! :)

Michelle
Assistant Webmaster
Cruise & Inspiration Board Co-Host
Disneyland Board Co-Host
 
Oh Michelle..I'm LOL about the pocket doors. I thought my mom said NO doors...but she said it had a pocket door to the toilet and shower area, but not the whole bathroom...which SHE found to be very 'motel-ish'....I think she's getting a little particular ;) (I have to be careful, because she frequents THIS board :eek: )

And she did keep saying that the prices were not really more than what you would normally pay for any Disney vacation, but the lack of "Disney atmostphere" made it harder to part with her dollar. ;)

And yes, my sister did like the Story Teller's Cafe too. :)

((whispering so my mom doesn't hear...))I think that my sister and her boys are not as 'Disney happy' as my mother, me and my family...so they were more easily distracted/disappointed than the 'average Disney fanatic' :D ;) :D ;)

I think I should experience this 'horrible' place for myself before making any drastic decisions...LOL :D :) :D :)

Going in May....ready or not. :D

<font color=red size=4>HAVE A DISNEY DAY</font>

<font color=navy size=3>M-I-C...see you at The DIS Convention, K-E-Y...why? Because we LOVE Disney, M-O-U-S-Eeee...</font>
 
We are a bit apprehensive to stay at GC in the first place as we are DVC members and used to large rooms at OKW in WDW. We decided to try points at GC to experience the "new" in California. We will be spending our first week in a two bedroom villa by Marriott at Newport Beach and then moving into hotel. I was hoping location would make up for the space. I actually called GC and asked if we could pay for a upgrade and told to check at check in. As this is Easter week, I do not have much hope for this! Maybe I should also trade to a DL hotel room or suite off site. We lucked out and got two park AP's so can go into parks at opening and to another park late at nite. We stayed last visit in FL at WLV and they didn't do much for me. Dark and small. Any suggestions?
 


Niagara.....it really depends on how big your party is and whether or not any in the party use strollers. My mother prefers open and sunny and all of the dark wood in the GC just made her feel like it was rather 'dark'. Beautiful=YES, Child-Friendly=Not Really. :( Romantic=YES, Child-Friendly=Not Really.

I do like the size of the Disneyland Hotel rooms, and they are supposed to be 'updated' (perhaps Michelle or someone else could vouch for this ;) ), and very open and sunny. :)

Also, if you think you're going to spend a lot of your time at DCA, then having that private and exclusive gate right into the park is a definite PLUS. :D

Good Luck deciding. :) And Welcome to The DIS !!! :) :) :)

<font color=red size=4>HAVE A DISNEY DAY</font>

<font color=navy size=3>M-I-C...see you at The DIS Convention, K-E-Y...why? Because we LOVE Disney, M-O-U-S-Eeee...</font>
 
HHHmmmm....if you all ready have the park hopping priviledge, you could sure pick up a suite on harbor blvd very cheaply. Heck, you could get 2 connecting rooms for much less money than on-site.

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My two cents: stick with the Grand Californian! If space is REALLY a concern then perhaps switch to the Disneyland Hotel, but I really think the GC is a prettier hotel overall with it's majestic lobby and architecture. It is somewhat dark, because of the color schemes, but not oppresively so. You are also SO convenient to both parks from the GC.

Just to give you an idea on room size comparison, the standard (non-suite) rooms at the GC are 353 square feet. There are TWO types of standard rooms available at the DL Hotel, one is 415 square feet (this is the size of the one I've stayed in, it has two queens and a daybed), and one is 364 square feet, with just two queen or double beds, no daybed.

Good luck deciding! :)

Michelle
Assistant Webmaster
Cruise & Inspiration Board Co-Host
Disneyland Board Co-Host
 



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