Reviews of Grand Californian Hotel
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 08/05/2023
Rating: (9) Recommended
My family and I just stayed in a one bedroom villa at the Grand Californian in early July. This was our very first stay here and the resort did not disappoint! We were greeted by the friendly cast members and received an upper floor villa with a view of Disney Adventures Park. Our villa was in great condition and very clean. It was so nice being on property with the ability to quickly return to our room and change clothes/dine. We enjoyed the pool area and ate at the restaurant there. The back entrance to California Adventures was amazing and we used this to change clothes after getting soaked on Grizzly Rapids. Only bad thing was hearing a little bit of beaping from cleaning vehicles in the middle of night. I was the only one bothered by this, everyone else slept through it.
Pros:
Beautiful resort and villa! Loved the close proximity to both parks. Excellent restaurants and cast members as well. Hope to return someday.Cons:
If you're a light sleeper you might hear California Adventure nighttime cleaning if you're facing the back entrance.Reviewed by PattyMayonaise821 Review Date: 11/11/2021
Rating: (10) Recommended
My husband and I stayed at the Grand Californian in August 2021 for 3 nights and 4 days. In my opinion it lived up to the hype as one of the flagship Disney Resorts in the World!
The location can't be beat. We had a park view of Grizzly Peak. We took advantage of the hotel's location by often returning to our room during the long day, and returning to the hotel for it's greatest attribute, it's signature restaurants!
We really enjoyed Napa Rose, and the character dining at Storytellers Cafe was really fun. Equally as important as the meal being delicious, the cast members were top of the line nice.
The hotel lobby is amazing! It's as though the Grand Floridian and the Wilderness Lodge were combined! There was often a pianist playing Disney Classics, and there was always a fire to sit near.
Staying at the Grand Californians makes Disneyland and DCA feel like one giant, amazing park, rather than separate gates so make sure if you stay there you get a park hopper ticket, you won't regret it, and I promise you will use it.
Even though we live in Long Island New York, my husband and I both feel that the best Disney trip for a toddler might actually be to fly the extra 3 hours and stay at the Grand Californian and the Disneyland resort, rather than the Disney World resort, because it is so easy to get back to the room if and when the child gets tired. Not having to rely on any transportation is a dream come true, it allows you to create the day you want to have from start to finish.
The pool is wonderful, there's bars and restaurants everywhere, and the artwork and decor are perfect.
THE ONLY MAJOR negative we can think of is that we wish there was a better spot for a morning or afternoon coffee than the fill-it-yourself option at the GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill. A resort like this could seamlessly add a small coffee kiosk because on some of those Anaheim afternoons you could really use a GOOD iced coffee.
Pros:
Location, dining, décor.Cons:
A little smaller than a normal deluxe room.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/10/2021
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Room was nice but the man at gate was very rude and didn't let us back in gate after we left to our car Because we lost our room key in the park. We had to walk all through downtown Disney which was hard because I'm disabled. I won't be coming back.
Pros:
RoomCons:
Rude manReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 03/28/2021
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Grand disappointment or grand theft or grand disrespect. But please! Grand Californian? Only if it were Grand bullies. God have mercy on the unsuspecting families that end up in that little house of horrors.
Pros:
NoneCons:
Worse housekeeping department and worse maids ever!Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/30/2020
Rating: (9) Recommended
awesome hotel. the lobby has a great cozy feeling. the pool and water slide is awesome. i prefer this over the disneyland hotel becuase it is so close to the parks. you can go straight into california adventure from the hotel, and downtown disney and disneyland are really close bye.
Pros:
really close to the parks. great pool. overall good resortCons:
really expensive. no monorail access yet.Reviewed by abby Review Date: 02/27/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
As a 13 year old and a lover of Disney, this is by far one of my favorite hotels. I’ve gone to Disneyland my whole life and appreciate this hotel so much. The reason I think it is better than the Disneyland Hotel is because you have straight access to California Adventure and there is a shorter walk in Downtwon Disney. My dad is disabled so it really helps him. Though, if you get a room in the Adventure tower facing the park at the Disneyland hotel, you can get a perfect view of the fireworks. The ambiance in the lobby is also so spectacular. I love the giant gingerbread house during Christmas time. The pool is also very cool and I like the slide, but I think the Disneyland Hotel wins for the slides. The restaurants are also very nice and I love when I can meet characters.
Pros:
- access to California Adventure - shorter walk in Downtown Disney - great view of California Adventure if you get good room - character dining - great pool and quiet during not crowded timesCons:
- With all hotels you can always get a bad view. One time my family got a view of the roof!Reviewed by MWS Review Date: 01/25/2019
Rating: (10) Recommended
We spent 4 nights at the Grand Californian over the holidays and the decoration are absolutely gorgeous. The Christmas tree and gingerbread house give the resort a magical feel, there is a small pop up store selling baked goods and chocolate. Our room was clean and had plenty of space for the 2 of us. The entry to California Adventure was one of the biggest perks of staying at the resort. All the Cast Members we encountered were very nice and helpful.
Pros:
LocationCons:
PriceReviewed by Disneyhenry Review Date: 06/07/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
I stayed at the GC for 2 nights, it was for a work conference
The staff: they were amazing, all very happy and helpful.
I thought it was strange not being able to do an online check in, I was worried about my early arrival and no room request. I arrived at 10am, it was just my 9 year old and me. My work had forgot to request an ADA room ( I have a scooter) but at check in they switched me, I received an ADA room and it was ready! My room was 3208, not to far from the elevator and a pool.
The room was about the size of a deluxe at WDW, the balcony was small but nice, the decor was beautiful with lots of lighting, which was good because it is darker decor.
The bathroom was nice size, good size walk in shower but no pull string to hang bathing suits. Only a slider door for the bathroom, that was ok for son and I but if more people where in the room it may have even awkward.
Plenty of storage for us, a fridge, big flat screen tv and comfy bed.
Food - I was shocked there was no food court! They said because they are in downtown Disney they didn’t need one, however there isn’t much food options at DTD
Pool - my muscles were cramping I needed the hot tub, so off to the pool. They advertise 3 pools, but they are all located in the same area and One was closed, along with one of the two hot tubs. The pools were crowded, so was the hot tub but I was happy the hot tub was hot.
Location- it is great! Love being able to walk to CA
We will on the West Coast, haven’t been to DLR in 3 years, we go to WDW every year, we will return in 3 years I will probably stay at the Grand Californian again, the location and being able to charge my scooter easily it the huge plus! At least I will know what to expect I gave it a 8 because no food court (so eating after 9pm is difficult) the room size is small and no pull string in the bathroom but location and staff helped make up for it
Pros:
LocationCons:
No food court, small sized roomsReviewed by isk8 Review Date: 11/02/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
DCG is my second favorite Disney Hotel. (Aulani is my favorite) It is expensive though. You can't beat the location. It is so convenient to the parks and Downtown Disney.
The room is clean and nicely furnished. It is upscale by Disney standards, but not real world standards. The bathroom is a standard size. There's a small room with the toilet and tub and the double sink is outside of the toilet room. There is no door that blocks the sink area from the room.
The views are nice. Previously, we had a Downtown Disney view which I really liked. I was afraid it would be noisy, but it was not. We could also see DL with this view. On this visit, we had a theme park view. Beware of this because the only part of DCA we could see was the very top of Grizzly Peak. Most of our view was of the pool.
We had a minor issue with our room which was fixed immediately.
I love the theming and architecture of this hotel. In the past, I've taken the tour offered, and I highly recommend it. Make sure you sign up for it because the tour I was on was full. You do not have to be staying at DGC to take the tour.
If it's in our budget, I would always choose to stay here.
Pros:
Location, themingCons:
—Reviewed by belle12877 Review Date: 09/02/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
I absolutely LOVED our stay this past weekend at the Grand Californian Hotel for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. My mom, sister and I arrived on a Friday late morning, had a short wait at registration. The cast member was very courteous at check in. She said they would store our luggage and we would receive a text message when the room was ready - they provide you the keys that are activated once the room is ready. No sooner had we stored our luggage and headed out the door to Downtown Disney, and I already received a text that our room was ready and the room number itself! When we went to our room, we discovered it was a handicap-accessible room - which normally wouldn't be a problem - but for three women needing lots of counter space, lots of bathroom time! (there is no separation in the bathroom for the shower and toilet area in an accessible room) and who brought sun dresses that the closet couldn't accommodate, it didn't work well for us. So we called the front desk, and the cast member was able to switch us to a different room - all we had to do was collect our items and get new keys at the front desk. Our new room was AWESOME! Right along Downtown Disney (directly above World of Color) so the view from our balcony was great -- we could see the monorail passing by, Space Mountain, the Matterhorn and we had a PERFECT view of the fireworks at night! I would also like to note that I was quite worried it would be crazy loud since we were right in the thick of Downtown Disney - but once you close the balcony door, that wasn't the case! It was quiet as can be in the room.
Every cast member we encountered was incredibly helpful and courteous, the rooms are absolutely beautiful and frankly, it will be hard to stay anywhere else in the Disneyland area now that I've stayed at the Grand Californian. The lobby is so beautiful -- after running the Dumbo Challenge (the 10K race + half marathon) and playing in the parks, we all were so tired the day of checkout, we actually sat in the lobby area for over an hour, listened to the piano music and it was SO nice! When we were leaving, we had a slight problem with the Uber car I had ordered to take us to the airport, and the cast members who saw what was happening took care of us right away! It was fantastic. Maybe the only downside I can see about the resort is it can be a bit confusing weaving in and out of the hallways to find your way to the elevators, etc - but that's a very minor thing and we all figured it out after a couple of tries! 🙂 I would highly recommend this resort for anyone wanting to stay on Disney property. The location is fantastic and overall our stay was near perfect.
