Lanmon
Registered: January 2007
Posts: 30
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Review Date: Mon October 8, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Beds
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Cons:
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Cast members lies
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We have stayed at the Grand California over 15 times and have usually enjoyed the entire time. This time the experience was not very good.
Problem #1 Cast members at Registration told us Early Morning Admission was for Disneyland Resort guests only. The truth is other hotels like the Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton participate in Early Morning admission. The Early Morning Admission line began at the hotel's CA Adventure admission area that went by the pool, through the lobby and out the front door...over 500 people! (It is faster to enter CA Adventure at the the Main Gate!)
Problem #2 We were told at check-in park admission tickets may be purchased anytime at the hotel. We tried at 7:15 AM at Hotel Registration but the Disney computers were down! This was the second visit to this hotel in 2 months when Disney computers were down so I doubt it was the computers. In the future admission tickets will be purchased during operating hours.
Problem #3. My husband had a severe allergic reaction to nuts...thanks to the cast member candy maker who forgot to drizzle the nut pretzel stick. We started to enjoy our goodies in our hotel room and he became very sick. Within minutes a wonderful nurse and security arrived to administer first aide. The next day we returned the partially eaten pretzel stick with nuts and received no apology at Marcelines. The problem was escalated to a young Disney cast member manager who seemed to bored. Indeed we do understand nuts can be in the area during preparation of candies. However, when a nut pretzel stick does not have the drizzle the blame is on the cast member, not guest.
The hotel room was very quiet. The beds were very comfortable and it was easy to sleep. The bathroom mirror was dirty and the bathroom light bulb did not work. A call to maintenance fixed the problem that afternoon.
Disneyland continues to decline because cast members on all levels fail to understand customer satisfaction and Walt's dream. Upper management challenge is to rebuild Walt's dream again.
Would I come back to the Grand California Hotel? Of course! I plan to return during the Christmas holidays. I love Disney.
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MongtheWise
Registered: November 2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Sun November 6, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 0
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For future trips and stays at this resort, you may find it a lot quicker heading left to the Monorail station rather than right to the front gates of Disneyland. :0)
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garrisonjb
Registered: August 2011
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Tue August 9, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Clean, comfortable, convenient location
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Cons:
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My wife and I took our children to Disneyland this year. We stayed in the GCH the first week of Aug/2011. It was our first time staying in that particular hotel. I've been to Disneyland many times in the past. I've stayed at the Disneyland Hotel as well as "Good Neighbor" hotels.
Here are my impressions having now stayed at the GCH:
First of all, I was surprised how far I still had to walk from the GCH to the front gates of Disneyland. I guess I pictured walking out the hotel doors and stepping up to the front gates of the park. As near as I could estimate, it’s somewhere between a 2 or 3 block walk. Having timed it twice, I found that from the front gate of Disneyland to our hotel room, was a ten-minute walk. Our room was only on the second floor located pretty close to the main elevators too.
The room we had was a Queen bed along with a triple bunk bed (top, bottom, and trundle) for the kids. They loved the beds and we all slept very well. The room has a nice HVAC system allowing you to set the exact temp you want your room to be. The closet contained a small wall safe, iron/ironing board, and a Graco brand portable crib that you could fold out for a baby/toddler to sleep in. I can only assume these are in most rooms as we did not request this. The bathroom area was designed nice with the double sink area separate from the toilet/tub/shower room. We had no problem with water temperature or pressure for our showers. The small fridge was big enough to fit a couple gallons of milk (lying on their side), 6 cans of pop in the door, and perhaps a few other small items. There were no hotel food items for sale in the room that your kids could get into and cost you a fortune (thank goodness). The carpeting, bedding, bath, room, and hotel as a whole felt very clean.
We went swimming one day and enjoyed it very much. There are towels provided at the pool so you don’t have to take your room towels. There are also very nice life vests for children to use free of charge which my kids (age 8, 6, & 3) liked very much. It gave the two oldest the confidence to go down the water slide by themselves.
Addressing some concerns I read in other reviews, let me express my opinion. This is not a Mickey theme hotel. The hotel is designed to feel like a California mountain lodge. If you want wall to wall mouse ears and characters skipping down the halls, stay at the Disneyland Hotel.
To those of you wanting to get away from it all and enjoy a quiet stay somewhere, I would recommend you look elsewhere. Remember, this hotel is full of people going to Disneyland. We never had an issue with noise because we got up early (between 6 and 8 a.m.) and got home late (between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.) Any hotel primarily catering to a theme park location is going to have an elevated level of noise in its hallways at early/late hours. You don’t have to like that but you do have to accept it.
The room rate is what it is. If you think the price is too high, stay elsewhere. There are many hotels to choose from. Find a hotel that gives you what you want and go there.
Would I recommend the GCH? If you want a nice, clean, upscale hotel room surrounded in warm atmosphere, great service, and the ability to arrive at the park without relying on any transportation, I would recommend the GCH. Personally, I liked the hotel, however, I think I will try an off-location hotel next time. For less money than the GCH, I can probably still get a nicer than average room and afford to order room service every morning for breakfast.
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Donald98
Registered: June 2011
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Wed June 15, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Quick, easy check-in from car to room.
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Cons:
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Access to Disney California Adventure Park, Star Tours Grand Opening on June 3rd.
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Having been to Disneyland/Disney World 50+ times, I didn't think I'd ever say this, but "Disneyland was the least favorite experience we had on our recent trip to California." (May 29 - June8, 2011) The Grand Californian Hotel is truly a 3-star hotel with a 5-star price. What a disappointing experience! Cast members were fine, it's the actual hotel ambiance that is a failure.
Add to that, the "Media Event" Disney put on for Star Tours on June 3rd, when "guests" waited 3 1/2 hours to enter that ride, so Disney could entertain the press, and it brought the total experience down to around a 1+ star. Disney REALLY missed the point on who their CUSTOMER really is.
Disney World is still a great place to visit, and the Wilderness Lodge is easily 2-stars better than the Grand Californian.
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slotzkin
Registered: December 2010
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Sun March 20, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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location location location!
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Cons:
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none!
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Stayed at GCH March 7-10 during spring savings promotion. The service was beyond outstanding and the location was fantastic! Perk of FP's for WOC was an definite bonus as well ( : Highly recommended to anyone!
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