I really can't decide... [between Disneyland hotels] About This Page:

[rcutlerkramper]

between Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian for a possible surprise July (anniversary) trip for myself, DH and DD (5). Disneyland Hotel seems like it would be so pretty if we got an upper level theme park view, but Grand Californian seems so nice too! Any thoughts on preferences with a 5 year old? Pros and cons of each. How are the concierge clubs at each? Do they both have a kids club type of place? Thanks for your advice!!!

[PixieMichele]

We have stayed at Disneyland Hotel several times, but we haven't stayed at Grand Californian yet. We found the price difference too much to bite the bullet for GC the last few times we were there.
DL Hotel just remodeled and it's so nice. The rooms are big and gorgeous and I love the decor. The headboards are my favorite thing
Grand Californian is like a really really nice version of the Wilderness Lodge (WDW). They are both on property. GC is closer to the parks, but the DL hotel isn't far at all. DL is so small compared to WDW you can walk everywhere and still not do 1/4 of the walking you do at WDW!
The DL Hotel has a beautiful club level lounge and rumor has it you can see the fireworks from up there over the buildings! I got to see it last time we were there and there are floor to ceiling windows it's really pretty and seemed to have a lot to offer.
Haven't seen the GC lounge but i'm sure it's just as gorgeous! Good luck with your decision!

[ilovedisney247]

I just stayed at the VGC and loved it--the staff there was amazing!

[mechurchlady]

I would worry about the adults. GCH is much closer to the parks and has a kid area in the lobby. They also have a kid facility, not checkd that out. Evenings is an entertainer in the fireplace area. GCH is a block for DLH and Paradise Pier Hotel where you can do Goofy's Kitchen and the breakfast at PPH. It is between the monorail and main entrance promenade. Service is excellent, beautifully decorated rooms. I hate the long walk from some wings though. It is the best hotel on site but DLH has a new pool area for kids. If I had the money it would be Grand Californian.

[chezp]

Both are lovely resorts and you can't go wrong with either. We stayed concierge at the Disneyland Hotel many years ago and you have a great view of the fireworks from the concierge lounge. Out of the two, my favourite is the Grand Californian. I just love the theming and the location - it is so cool having your own entrance into the California Adventure park.

[LizCatMom]

On our last trip, we stayed at Disneyland Hotel. As PixieMichele said, it has just been renovated and the rooms are beautiful. We stayed in a standard (view of parking lot) room, so I can't comment on the concierge level or view of the parks, and it was freezing so we didn't get to use the pool, so I can't comment there. But, we enjoyed our stay immensely.

Having said that, if you can swing it, I'd have to say I'd really be tempted to stay at GC. We would walk through it to access their entrance into CA that is a perk for resort guests and it is JUST GORGEOUS. I couldn't help but feel the same way when DH remarked "Why didn't we stay HERE?" Even though I didn't even get a peek at the rooms, I can't imagine they would disappoint. The overall feel of GC is luxury -- I didn't quite get that feeling at DLH. And, with 2 toddlers, I was often envious of the proximity of GC compared to DLH. If you pull up a map of the DL resort, you will see that GC is basically a part of CA and has entrances from DD. While it isn't a bad walk, it will take you about 10 minutes to walk from DLH (we had a room in the Frontier tower) to the main entrance to DL; you can take the monorail later in the day, but if you want to be at rope drop, you have to walk to the main entrance.

[Tink and co.]

While we like the Disneyland Hotel enough, it simply doesn't compare to the Grand in our book. If we can afford it or get a good enough deal, we always choose the Grand. Location, service, decor, and the extra hotel activities seal the deal.

[TuffyCO]

We actually stayed at both during our trip in October. We are DVC members but the GC was unavailable three nights of our trip. I really liked both of them very much.

The kids (DD11, DS8) really liked the Mickey decor at DLH and loved the new magical headboards. We also loved the monorail pool especially the slides. In October there was still a lot of construction around the pool area and in the lobby. The walk to either park is not bad (10 min) it got tiring quickly especially after a long day at DCA.

GC is beautiful, has lots of amenities, including a kids club. We did not use it but walked by daily and it looked really nice. The pools were nice although the kids preferred the monorail slides by far. The proximity to the parks was great. The early entrance to DCA was great for getting WOC FP's and the walk to DL is only about 5 minutes. My one complaint at GC is that we had asked for early check in on the day we switched as we were attending the Halloween party that evening and needed some rest time and time to change. I understand that this cannot always be accommodated but our room was not ready till 4:45 (45 min after check in time). The kids were exhausted and we had to rush to get ready for the party, if the room had at least been ready at 4 we would have had a little down time.

Overall we loved both! I'm glad we had the opportunity to to stay at both, but I do prefer the GC overall mostly for location and design, it's more our style. I don't think you can go wrong at either but for an anniversary trip I would go with GC.

[shnewell]

We've not stayed at DLH, but we stayed concierge level at the GC for DH's birthday last June. The lounge is very nice and the staff is wonderful. Much more so than with our concierge level stays at WDW, we felt like the staff went out of their way to get to know us a bit.

You can see the fireworks from the lounge. There is a balcony, but you can also see from inside). They play the music for the fireworks in the lounge (from the TV).