question about Grand Californian

[dumbo ears]

We are going to disneyland next year at the end of march. We are planning on staying at the Grand californian. I am just wondering when should we book it by? And any tips or stuff about the resort that I should know would be really helpful too.

[NotaGeek]

We are going to disneyland next year at the end of march. We are planning on staying at the Grand californian. I am just wondering when should we book it by? And any tips or stuff about the resort that I should know would be really helpful too.

I suppose you should book as soon as you can -- March can be busy as its Spring Break month, so if you get a booking at least you are guaranteed a spot. Can I suggest contacting Magical Journeys? They are a great INTERCOT sponsor and our preferred travel agency. MJ can help you out with your booking and once booked they will make you aware of any specials that come along to save you money!

The Grand Californian is an awesome property and it's HUGE ... you can get park view rooms (DCA is under construction, so it might not be worth the extra money!), pool view rooms and resort view rooms. Some of the resort view rooms have 2 queen beds and a day bed, and the rooms are MUCH bigger. I stayed in a room just off the main lobby and it was very centrally located to the entrance to both DLR and the private hotel entrance to DCA. You'll love the resort.

[Magic Smiles]

We are currently at the Grand Californian in a standard view room. It has 2 queen beds and is plenty big enough for the 3 of us. We are on the 6th floor overlooking the front entrance way just to the right, but it is fine for us as it is nice and quiet and close to the elevators. Personally I wouldn't want to be overlooking the pool or the Downtown Disney area as both are very noisy. We can actually see part of Downtown Disney, but without the noise. The monorail passes near by, but again with no noise.
We find the food situation a pain, but then again we are used to staying at the POFQ when in WDW and not the big resorts.
There are 2 pools, but the kids seem to take over both pools. It is too bad that one of the pools is not designated adults only or at least a quiet pool.
Location of the hotel is great.

[NewDVCowner]

The layout of the hotel isn't the best. There's one set of elevators and then the corrodors themselves just seem to go on forever. It took us quiet a while to get from the elevators to our room when we stayed there in July.

The resort itself is beautiful. It's a great location. We never made it to the pool but it looked very nice.

[robnadina]

This is a great resort and is my fav. We are DVC owners and jumped at the chance to buy into this property. As other have said, the layout is not the best. The last time we stayed there (March), we were upgraded to a one bedroom suite DTD view. The room itself was awesome. Noise level was not that bad.
Now ask me about the hike to our room. Boy, did it seem like forever. BUt the location of the hotel and entrance to DCA totally make up for it. You cant go wrong with this hotel.

[Magic Smiles]

There are 2 pools, but the kids seem to take over both pools. It is too bad that one of the pools is not designated adults only or at least a quiet pool.
Location of the hotel is great.

Noticed tonight while looking at the resort map that there are 3 pools. Will have to check out the third pool.
The location to both parks is just great. A short distance to both, with an entrance right into California Adventures. Makes it easy to go back to your room to either rest or to change after getting soaked on the water rides.

[Magic Smiles]

Noticed tonight while looking at the resort map that there are 3 pools. Will have to check out the third pool.

Apparently there are only 2 pools, the 3rd being a hot tub.

[Chescat]

Over the years on long weekends down there, we've stayed at a lot of the hotels.

My favorite now is the Grand Californian and wouldn't even consider the others unless we were trying to cut costs.

We always try for the Downtown Disney view. When you close the sliding doors you can't hear the noise from there. By midnight it quiets down from the musicians and such. What's nice is you can see the Disneyland fireworks shows and a little bit of Fantasmic from the upper floors. We just sit outside and watch from there. In the morning we get up and have our breakfast on the balcony and at night sit out there and listen to the musicians and people watch.

Its the most convient hotel as far as if you are tired you can go back to it with the least walking. You have your own entrance into DCA by the River Rapids so avoid some of the early morning long lines.

I like the cafetaria downstairs. We go get food and bring it up to our place. Or sit in there and eat when we meet friends.

As far as tips, if its around easter break it might be busy. But one thing we've learned is, get up first thing in the morning and go into Disneyland. You can probably ride most of the big rides (Space Mountain, Indy, Pirates, Thunder Mountain, etc) before the rush of people come around 11:00am or so. If you have kids and want to hit Fantasyland first. Its probably the busiest area in the park since the lines go very slow.

As far as DCA, they are doing major construction. I'm not sure if it will be open when you are there, but spring of 2010, they are suppose to open the nightime show in the lagoon. That looks awesome.

Hope this helps!

[delphinidae308]

I stayed in a room just off the main lobby and it was very centrally located to the entrance to both DLR and the private hotel entrance to DCA.

I got to do that recently and loved it as well. I could hear the piano when it was being played from my room, but none of the people noise from the lobby.