Grand Californian
Hotel |
Reviewer's Name: |
Kim |
Reviewer's Email Address: |
kim@disneyzone.net |
Rate / Night (for your stay): |
$269 |
Date(s) of Stay: |
May 6,7,8 |
Accommodation Used: |
Standard Room / Studio |
Accommodations Review: |
This hotel is gorgeous. Resembles the Wilderness Lodge in
ways, but its also got a bit of art deco sort of styling. The
rooms were nice sized, well-equipped rooms. We had a bunk bed
room which really came in handy with kids. There was still
plenty of floor space for the kids to play. The bathroom was
nice, they had dual sinks which is nice. There is a blowdryer,
magnifying mirror, and coffee machine in the bathroom area.
They pocket door between the toilet and tub/ and the vanity
area is nice for privacy. The bathtub was a good normal size
bathtub, and believe it or not the shower actually had some
water pressure! In the closet was a portacrib, pull down
ironing board and an iron, extra blankets and pillows, and 2
white robes for use while at the resort. The location of this
hotel is perfect. You could walk to Downtown Disney, it is
right outside the gates of the resort. Turn a different way
from the lobby area and thru a courtyard into California
Adventure (lets you out right by Soarin' over California and
Grizzly Peak). The walk to Disneyland via Downtown Disney is
very nice and not far at all. We enjoyed the pool area. There
were 2 large pools, one with slides, one without. A smaller
baby pool, and 2 hot tubs (only the one by the pool with the
slides had bubbles on, however). They have poolside service
for drinks, which is nice. They have lifeguards, and a cabana
boy type person who goes around straightening things up,
taking the dirty towels (towels are available at the pool
area), keeping things nice. They have laundry facilities on
the 2nd floor, we didn't use them, but did peek in. Still looks
in perfect shape! The arcade was just a normal hotel arcade,
nothing special. The lobby was gorgeous, large open area with
smaller seating areas throughout. Fireplace going all hours,
with seating around it. Piano music playing most of the
afternoon and evening, too. |
Why Did you Select This Resort for your Stay? |
Wanted to try it, since it was new! |
Room # and Location Description: |
We had room 5133. Located on the 5th floor, facing
Disneyland Drive. Horrible view - it was a view of a large
green slanted roof! I think it was the roof of the conference
center below. If we strained way over to the right we could
see the tops of some of the Downtown Disney buildings. If we
strained way over to the left we could see the Main entrance
to the hotel, valet parking, etc. |
Room Location Pros & Cons: |
Room location was ok. It was a bit of a walk to the
elevator, and our view sucked! But we don't spend much time in
the room, so it didn't matter much. |
Check-In / Check-Out Comments: |
Check-in was smooth as can be. We pulled up to the valet
parking area at 10am. The valet guys came running over to our
car. One for each side of the car, opened our doors for us and
helped us out (even the kids). They unloaded our luggage,
tagged it and we were on our way inside. They also explained
that it was a $10 a day for valet, that would be added to our
hotel bill. Got in line to check in (many people were checking
out). There were 3 CMs helping people check-out and one person
for checking in. I think we were one of the only ones checking
in, the wait was less than 5 minutes. We didn't expect a room
to be ready that early, but there was one. She saw our kids
and asked if we wanted a bunk bed room. We did! She gave us
our keys, maps, and that was that! Check out was equally
smooth. We checked out early our last day, and had them hold
our luggage, so we could go play at the parks some more! No
problem. We came back, stopped at the bell desk, then stopped
at the valet booth, and within a couple minutes they had
loaded our luggage into our car and we were off! |
WDW Transportation Comments: |
We did not use any of the transportation. We might have if
the monorail stopped at the GC, might have been nice for trips
to Disneyland. The walk through Downtown Disney was not bad,
but I think if the monorail was available, we would have used
it. |
Restaurant / Lounge Review: |
We only ate at one of the hotel's restaurants, the
Storytellers Cafe. We had a late lunch and it was perfect! Our
waiter was very attentive and pleasant. The food was really
quite good. I had a 4 cheese ravioli with artichoke hearts -
it was delicious! They don't include salads with your meals,
and to order one is $7.50 - which seemed high. We did get one,
and it was a good salad, but I was shocked at the price they
were charging. The food itself was not cheap, but didn't seem
to be too overly priced (after all this is Disney!). We
enjoyed the meal, and would definitely eat there again. The
atmosphere and decor of the restaurant was really neat, too.
Fireplaces with copper tops, California-ish artwork, they
spent a lot of money on this restaurant! |
Pool Description / Comments: |
We did enjoy the pools a little bit each day. My kids
liked the pool with the slides, of course. There were tons of
kids in that pool, while the other pool was pretty empty. It
was just a plain pool. There was also a baby pool, with only
one or two people in it. They had 2 hot tubs, one by the plain
pool didn't have bubbles, so no one was in that one. The one
back by the pool with the slides had the crowds and bubbles!
You could see California Adventure from the pool area, which
was fun! |
What Suggestions Would you Give Anyone that is Considering
This Resort? |
I say to give it a try, at least once! We really enjoyed
our stay. The service, amenities, and location cannot be beat!
It is expensive, compared to the other Disney resorts, but in
our opinion was worth it! |
Other Comments: |
Photos and trip report are posted at www.go2mickey.com
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