Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel? About This Page:

[Joy J]

I would definitely opt for the Disneyland Hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and found the staff to be friendly and courteous at all times. A little known fact (that we didn't learn until the very end of our stay) is that guests at all three of the Disney resorts are allowed to use the Grand Californian's entrance into the California Adventure theme park. There is so much stuff at the Disneyland hotel for the kids to enjoy from the theming to the pool to the frequent presence of one of the Disney characters in the lobby meeting and greeting guests. Our room was classified as a standard view room but we still had a fantastic view of the fireworks. Much as the Grand Californian is a lovely hotel, it is very reminiscent of the Wilderness Lodge at WDW whereas there is nothing anything like the Disneyland Hotel at WDW making it a unique Disney resort experience. Personally, my favourite thing about this resort is its plethora of Disney memorabilia peppered all over the hotel. Coming in a close second are the gorgeous grounds, complete with koi pond and waterfall.

Joy

[TLisi]

I think it just depends on what you're looking for...if you want a Disney theme, the Disneyland hotel cannot be beat...right down to the glowing pixie dust wall paper boarders. If you like a woodsy/classic look then it's definately the Grand Californian...it's really just a matter of taste.

Now, my boys are 13 and 17, we've stayed at all of the DLR hotels, and they both say, if given the choice, they'd stay at the Grand Californian. They love the pool there too...no pirate theme...but there are some slides!

[E(ticket)lizabeth]

We stayed at the DLH on a trip 2 years ago and were very disappointed. The theming is okay, but not as extensive as resorts at WDW (a much more common vacation for us), and it's very expensive for the room and theming you get. The pool is lovely, true, but if you can use any pool with a GC stay, that's the way to go!

When we were at the DLH, we also had a bad experience. Our last morning, we were awakened at 6 am by horrendous banging. My husband called the front desk, and they were clueless. He put his jeans on and went huntin--one floor down from us, they were replacing the carpeting in the hallway and the crew had started work that early. He called the front desk again to complain, and they said they didn't know the crew was going to be there in the morning. That was it. When we checked out, we complained again, and their best offer was a $50 credit on the bill for a 4-night stay. That wasn't much, I can tell you!

We've decided, if we can't afford the GC on our next trip to DLR, we're staying offsite at the HoJo or something else across the street from the parks. They would be cheaper and closer to the parks than the DLH! With TripAdvisor and other such ways of reading other travelers' opinions & seeing pictures, we feel pretty comfortable with staying offsite.

Good luck!

[olendl01]

We have stayed at all 3 resorts and all 3 have their good and bad points. Between your two choices, DLH would be the vote. For the Disney Magic...my kids love the theme over CG. We love the CG for other reasons, the pampering and coziness of it and most of all the fact it's right at park entrance to DCA...Even if you end up staying at DLH, still cut through CG from DCA back to your hotel, way faster and nicer on your sore feet!

Enjoy your trip!