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Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa boasts a prime location favored by guests for its convenience to theme parks and Downtown Disney. The hotel's Craftsman-style ambiance and stunning lobby are a hit, although some guests find the rooms to be on the smaller side and somewhat dated.
While the cleanliness of the hotel earns praise, opinions on service and amenities are mixed; the staff's friendliness is noted, but so are service inconsistencies and crowded pools. Despite its many attributes, some travelers question the value, given its high costs.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Meticulous
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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I recently spent one night with my wife at the Grand Californian, when we just had one day to spend at Disneyland and California Adventure and wanted to stay somewhere that would provide both great convenience for a short visit, but also a nice, more luxurious option than many of the chain hotels in the surrounding area in Anaheim. After staying here, I would absolutely return. It’s a really lovely themed Disney resort, with a convenience factor that cannot be overstated. Being able to go from our room to the Disneyland entrance in five minutes, or even quicker when going directly into California Adventure, was amazing.
As background, we travel to Walt Disney World about once a year, and it’s a favorite and familiar spot for our family trips. We had not been to Disneyland in many years, but are very familiar with what Disney offers in accommodations generally and were interested to compare their offerings in California and Florida. When traveling elsewhere, including other portions of this same trip, we usually stay at true luxury hotels, and we recognize that Disney resorts are overpriced for what they actually offer. You’re paying for a luxury resort room, but getting a room that is probably mid-tier at best. We paid almost $800 for the night at the Grand Californian, which is objectively overpriced, but we still ultimately found it to be worth it.
Trip Planning & Arrival Experience:
Prior to our stay, I completed online check-in on the hotel website, which is available starting five days before check-in. This is different from Disney World, where you can do it a couple months in advance. Online check-in was easy to complete, and allows you to skip the front desk at check-in, since you’ll get a text message once your room is ready and can use a mobile key feature in the Disneyland app to go there directly.
I also separately called to request a room with one king bed, since you can’t specifically book a set bed type in advance. The cast member I spoke with on the phone was very friendly and helpful with the request, but as is typical at Disney resorts, she noted that there are only a few king bedded rooms, so we may not get one. The request was ultimately not met, and we had a room with two queens, but we were able to check-in to the room so early in the day that we didn’t mind at all.
We arrived at the hotel very early in the morning, around 6:15 am. We wanted to have a full day in the theme parks and take advantage of the extra half hour in the parks in the beginning at 7:30 am on our arrival day. When we pulled up, it was unsurprisingly not busy at all, and the valet staff was friendly and helpful (although they didn’t really offer to help with luggage, which surprised me a little bit). Once I said I was going to do self-parking instead of valet parking, they suggested that I park in short-term parking spots that are near the lobby, handle check-in/drop off our luggage at the front desk, and then move the car to the self-parking lot after.
Entering the hotel, we were immediately impressed with what we saw. One of our favorite resorts at Disney World is Wilderness Lodge, and this hotel is the closest you can have to that in California. The hotel is lodge-style and designed by the same architect as Wilderness Lodge, so it has a similarly impressive soaring lobby with cozy seating and a fire. I’ve read that the themes of the two hotels are the same, but the Grand Californian is more of a craftsman, California-themed lodge that isn’t as focused on wilderness and a general “western” feel like the Wilderness Lodge. They look really similar, but there is some difference and nuance, so they’re not carbon copies of one another. It’s also nice that since Grand Californian is the flagship Disney hotel in Anaheim, it gets slightly elevated features, similar to what you’d get at the Grand Floridian in Orlando, such as fresh flower displays in the lobby, a pianist in the lobby at night, and little extras in the room, such as robes and turndown service at night. If you are more familiar with Disney World, this hotel is physically very similar to Wilderness Lodge, but service and amenity-wise, more similar to Grand Floridian.
Even though we had done online check-in, I decided to stop at the front desk anyway since I had a couple questions. The front desk cast member I worked with was extremely friendly and helpful, and apologized that she did not have a room ready for us, but gave me a good overview of the resort and suggested that we leave our bags with the adjacent bell services desk. The cast member there was very nice as well, and said that once our room was ready, the luggage would be automatically sent up, so we didn’t have to waste time later in the day coming back down and waiting at the front desk to retrieve it. Just as we were about to tag the bags, however, the front desk cast member came over and excitedly let me know that she found a room we could have immediately, which was a huge and pleasant surprise at 6:30 am. I’ve never had something like that happen in the past at a Disney resort.
After that, I moved our car to the self-parking lot, which is located just across the street from the hotel. It does require crossing a crosswalk on busy Disneyland Drive to get back, but the designated parking for the Grand Californian is the first lot you encounter after going through the parking gate, and it was an easy walk, no further than self-parking in some of the larger hotel lots at Disney World. Self-parking was $40 per night, while valet was $70 per night. Although valet would certainly be more convenient, I like having more control with self-parking and the cost savings was worth it.
Hotel Room:
We had booked a woods-courtyard view room, since it was the cheapest room type available at the time we booked, and overall, the room was nice. The room was probably the part of our stay that contributed the least to our enjoyment of the resort overall, but it served its purpose.
The hotel is a bit large with maze-like hallways, so it was helpful that the front desk cast member had given us a hotel map and pointed out the closest elevator to our room, which required walking outside to an elevator bank next to the Napa Rose restaurant. Although I know the weather is usually great in Southern California, and everything was covered, I was a little surprised at how many of the hotel facilities were accessed from outside, including basically all of the restaurants and the best path to our room. When we were there in early November, the mornings and evenings were quite chilly, so I would have not preferred so many brisk outdoor walks to get around the hotel. I believe we could have used a different elevator and walked through longer hallways to get to our room. We’re just used to staying inside for most things at Disney’s deluxe resorts in Florida, so the more indoor/outdoor California style here was a little different.
The room itself was in good condition, but not great condition, and had a little bit of a dated and worn feel. It certainly had a California craftsman style, which I liked, but the light green carpet felt tired, as did the fabrics and furnishings as a whole. It was nice enough, but I wouldn’t exactly call it luxurious, and the newer renovated rooms at Disney World in Florida run circles around the rooms here. I was also surprised to read that these rooms had been renovated within the past five years, since they absolutely felt older than that, as did the room hallways, which had a similar style and tired feel. I liked the room, and it conveyed a consistent theme throughout the hotel, which I appreciate, but I think very few guests would find the rooms alone worth the price tag here.
The room was also on the small side, and a little dark, but perfectly functional with a good number of drawers and luggage storage space underneath the beds. There were plenty of outlets with both USB and standard plugs, and a mini-fridge that’s helpful to have.
I’m not a fan of the bedding in any Disney resort, where there’s not much more than a sheet on the bed and pretty low-quality pillows. The mattresses aren’t the plushest either. For the price point, more substantial and upscale bedding should be offered, although I can’t really complain because I slept wonderfully here after a very busy day.
The bathroom featured an open vanity area with double sinks and decent storage with extra shelves below, and then a separate room with the toilet and walk-in shower, which was a tight space. I thought the tilework was all nice, and I liked having a walk-in shower in lieu of a tub (although I know many families with kids wouldn’t like this). The shower also had good water pressure and we found the bathroom to be perfectly functional, if a little small like the rest of the room.
There was also a small balcony with a little table and two chairs, and we had a view of trees that met the expected “woods-courtyard view”. It was pleasant, but would be an unexciting view, except for the fact that it was directly above the monorail track that runs from Disneyland right past the hotel, and it was a lot of fun to be able to watch the monorail come directly below. We were also right by the edge of California Adventure, so we could see the building containing Soarin’ in the distance. This location within the hotel was incredibly close to the entrance directly into California Adventure, which was a great benefit.
I don’t have a great sense of the various room views at the hotel, but I get the sense that few rooms have a particularly exciting view of anything. I believe standard view probably looks out at the hotel front entrance and driveway, which I wouldn’t mind. I know you can opt for a Downtown Disney view (which I don’t see the appeal of) or a pool view as well (probably the nicest view overall), but I think most rooms just look at some sort of landscaping, with maybe a glimpse of something else in the distance. There isn’t the space in California that there is at the Florida resorts, so the hotel, despite being large and lovely, is more squeezed into the land and wasn’t designed with the goal of giving many of the rooms sweeping views.
One other note was that the heat in the room wasn’t working all that well during our stay. Despite the temperatures getting quite cold during overnight, the room was freezing and set at 65 degrees when we arrived. We increased it to 70, and found that after returning many hours later, it still had not quite reached the desired temperature.
Finally, I would note that housekeeping did a good job, and the room felt very clean when we arrived. They also did turndown service in the evening, which was nice, but seemed to be missing something. They left a note on the bed about having sweet dreams or something along those lines, which seemed like it was meant to be accompanied by a piece of chocolate, but there was nothing there. Not a big deal by any means, but I think that was a small detail that was missed.
Hotel Pools:
We didn’t have a chance to spend any time at the pools, but I thought the large pool area with three separate pools and a waterslide looked very nice. I was impressed to also see that the lounge chairs by the pool here seemed to be decently spaced out and had nice, thick cushions on them, which is not the case at the Disney resorts in Florida, where the chairs are pretty bare bones and more on top of each other.
Dining:
We unfortunately did not have time to try any of the restaurants at the hotel, but there are several. Napa Rose is the flagship fine dining restaurant, which looked very nice and we’ve heard great things about it. There is also a princess character breakfast at Napa Rose. Storytellers Café is the more casual restaurant, which is a buffet, with characters in the morning only. Hearthstone Lounge is the main bar of the hotel, which is located off of the lobby, and GCH Craftsman Bar and Grill are the final two options. The Craftsman Grill is the classic quick-service cafeteria-style option that most Disney resorts offer, while the Craftsman Bar is an outdoor restaurant/lounge with a nice view overlooking the pool that also serves full meals.
Service:
One of the key things that I often struggle with at Disney resorts is the staff service. Disney cast members at the resorts are generally friendly and perky, and want to be helpful. However, they aren’t trained to provide service anywhere near the level of what you’d get at a true luxury hotel. However, we really had no issues here, and the people we encountered here outperformed staff at other luxury hotels on this trip. Our most significant interaction was at check-in, but everyone was great, friendly, and helpful and getting us into a room quickly was huge. When we were sitting in the lobby later that night, I also appreciated that cast members were going around cleaning things up and making sure the lobby looked nice and clean throughout the busy evening.
Park Experience:
As I mentioned previously, the proximity to both theme parks was a huge draw of this hotel. We were only there for one full day and wanted a quick and easy experience, on which the Grand Californian absolutely delivered. I know a huge benefit of Disneyland over Disney World is that many non-Disney hotels are in walking distance to the parks. You could objectively stay at a nice hotel like the JW Marriott or the Westin with a relatively easy walk into the parks, a nicer room, and a better price (making it much easier to justify staying offsite in California versus Florida), but there’s no hotel quite as convenient as the Grand Californian or with the same Disney theming.
When entering the parks or Downtown Disney, you do security screening right in the hotel. There are two separate spots for this, one being in a courtyard close to the lobby for the entrance into Downtown Disney and Disneyland, and the second being right next to Napa Rose where you can enter directly into California Adventure. We were a little surprised to see a very long line at the security checkpoint into Downtown Disney the morning we were there. The line was already snaking around the courtyard before 7:00 am for a 7:30 am early entry into the park, but once the security checkpoint actually opened a few minutes later, the line moved and we were through quickly, still easily making it into Disneyland for opening. At later times of day, there were no lines at all for security in the hotel to get to the parks. We ultimately found it painless and easy to get from the hotel to Disneyland for opening, although you should expect it to be busy first thing in the morning.
The benefit of having an extra half hour in the park for resort guests on the morning we arrived was a great timesaver for us. Once the Disneyland gates had opened, things were well organized for resort guests to get their room keys/reservations checked at a spot near the Plaza Inn, with a spot to wait past that near the entrance to Tomorrowland, while all other park guests were queued separately. We were allowed into the park right at 7:30 am that day, and made our way to Fantasyland, which is where the bulk of the early entry attractions are located, other than Space Mountain and Star Tours. Although the line for Peter Pan in particular got a bit long immediately, we did that ride quickly enough to avoid the line, and all of the other Fantasyland rides had no real wait at all during the early entry period. We got a lot done with a calm and enjoyable park experience. Especially since there are only three resorts in California, as compared to many more in Florida, we found the early entry in Disneyland to be more beneficial than it is in Florida, as the parks feel more crowded and the lines get longer more quickly at Disney World.
Later in the day, when we had hopped to California Adventure and were just ready for a break for a couple hours, having the hotel basically right in the park was amazing. The entrance is across from Grizzly River Run, and it was great to go from a really crowded park to the quiet serenity of the hotel so quickly. Later that night, we went to see World of Color, and I was so happy that leaving the park after the nighttime show was an amazingly smooth experience unlike what I’m used to at Disney World when trying to get back to the resorts in the room. We were back in the hotel within 5 minutes after the show had ended. You can’t beat convenience like that, which is what I loved about this hotel. The other Disney resorts in California (the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise/Pixar Pier) just aren’t as close to the parks (while still convenient), and they don’t look as themed or luxurious, so I don’t know that I’d see the same benefit from staying at those.
One minor other benefit is that you do have room charging privileges in the parks when staying at any of the Disney resorts. A barcode will show up in the Disneyland app on the same page as your hotel reservation, but it’s a little weird that it won’t show up until your room is ready if you’re going into the parks on your arrival day. However, I did find that it was a little bit of a pain to use in the parks. A lot of cast members didn’t seem very familiar with room charging or had to ask a colleague to help with it, so it ended up taking longer and more effort than expected to make simple purchases. In the future, I’d probably just use Apple Pay in the parks to save time.
Overall:
Overall, our one night at the Grand Californian was very nice, and I was happy we splurged on the night here to make a short trip to Disneyland as convenient and fun as possible. I think staying here over other much cheaper hotels in the area is ultimately a judgment call based on your budget and needs, since the Grand Californian is objectively very expensive and the rooms feel a bit small and dated. However, if you want a full Disney experience and maximum convenience, I think it’s a great option and we’d be happy to return on a future trip to Disneyland.
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:It doesn't seem like room views are all that important here, and most aren't spectacular, so I'd...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
On our first trip to Disneyland to celebrate our daughter’s birthday, we splurged on 3 nights at Disney’s Grand Californian (GC). We chose Club Level accommodations, and were NOT disappointed. Because it was our first trip, we also ended up spending 2 additional nights at a Good Neighbor hotel across the street, and while that hotel was nice, the Grand Californian offers that extra Disney magic touch which we missed when we left.
At $700+/night (during the off season), Club Level at GC is expensive. Rooms are not guaranteed to be available until 4 pm. The trim itself was a nice size, 2 queen beds & a sofa “daybed” which, when opened, had an enchanting Bambi fresco painted on the wood. Our family of 3 fit easily & comfortably in the space. The room had thoughtfully arranged storage spaces: shelving in the bathrooms above & below the sink & beds high enough to slide suitcases under them. The shower had both a rain shower style head & a wall mounted hand held wand, making it easy to shower & thoroughly rinse our little one.
Club Level includes special concierge service & access to the Veranda, where food is served continuously all day, starting at 6 or 6:30 (depending on when the parks open). We ate breakfast, lunch & dinner there every day, with the only exceptions being dining package reservations for Fantasmic, Frozen, World of Color & Disney Princess Breakfast (which were all worth it). These meals alone easily saved us $200 day in food expenses for a family of 3. The Veranda includes complimentary beer, wine & sparkling wine/mimosas, which we enjoyed, saving us $9-13 per drink. You can take drinks back to your room & sit on your balcony (a small 2 seat space) and enjoy an evening cocktail while you watch the sun set.
As guests at GC, we also enjoyed Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) & Disneyland, a perk where guests of Disneyland Resort hotels get to enter the parks a full hour early. Using this perk & Maxpass, we were easily able to ride every single ride at the two parks multiple times a day (yes, including Radiator Springs Racers & Space Mountain) without EVER waiting in a standby line. Since there is direct access from GC to DCA & Downtown Disney, we were easily able to take midday breaks, returning to the hotel for lunch & a nap so our little one never had a meltdown at the park.
We had impeccable service from the valet, bellhop services, concierge services, room service & at every meal.
While there are certainly Good Neighbor hotels within walking distance of the Disneyland that are more affordable, the Grand Californian offered that intangible something extra that made our stay there feel magical. If we go back to Disneyland, it is definitely where we want to stay.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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There is not 1 single bad thing about this hotel. It is amazing! I work for Hilton and can stay nearby Disneyland for next to nothing but I am willing to pay full price for this hotel.
The convenience to California Adventure, Disneyland, and the Disney City Walk is well worth the price (especially so near to Christmas).
The decorations in the lobby alone are stunning from the tree, to the gingerbread house with a glowing fireplace, to a meet Santa.
The staff is great. They don't nickel and dime you to pay for upgrades or extras like early check in. We were given our room number and keys at about 10:30am. We were able to drip our luggage in our room and leave for the park within an hour after arriving. There is NO Resort Fee either.
The room is normal size. The beds are by far the best bed I've ever slept in. My nephew is about 6 ft.tall and he enjoyed the sofa bed. The amenities in the room are above average too. The soap is imprinted with "DISNEY" for crying out loud. The shampoo bottles are not miniatures they are 2 oz bottles already conveniently placed in the shower for you. Chocolates on your pillow at turn down (the kids got a kick out of that) to end the day.
We did not eat in the hotel as we found it to be overly pricey. We also preferred to go to the park early and eat later. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that as a guest here you get into the park early every day at 7am. Your room key allows you access to the open areas before the Magic Morning people have access. Yes, they will ask for your room key.
All I have to say is our family will be back to this hotel when we visit Disneyland. Thank you to the amazing cast members from the doormen, bellmen, front desk, and housekeepers. You all do an amazing job and I returned to my hospitality job in Hilton's largest hotel in the world (3,998 rooms) with a smile on my face and a better attitude after seeing how your operation runs.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our family came to the reopening of the Disney Grand California on 4-28-21 for 4 nights. This has always been our go to hotel when visiting Disneyland and probably have stayed over 50 times over the years. I must say the staff was very friendly upon arrival and in full Disney excitement for the opening and return of guests but it went downhilll from there. We checked in to a room that had not been occupied for more than a year and found that there was stray hairs all over the bathroom, sinks and counters. We were told that we would receive room service every other day but would be able to request anything we needed any time and they would bring it to us. In the 4 nights that we spend, we never had room service, no one ever came to the room. They never came to collect the garbage and other people were just putting their garbage outside the rooms to have it sit in the hall. On day 2 in the evening around 6:30 pm we called to request towels and garbage pickup and extra blanket as the room did not have any extras. They never showed up. The next morning called again and requested again. Housekeeping came early evening with just towels. I asked if they could collect garbage and maybe bring us back a blanket. She was very short with me and stated "she was very busy with everyone requested so many things, so she would try to get back to us" Well they still never brought blanket or collected garbage by the time we checked out. We finally brought out our own garbage and deposited into the garbage cans on property. Yikes, for over 700 a night a disappointment. The hotel was operating at 30% so it was quiet. The pool service was nice and they were working with smaller staff but did a good job. Food choices were limited. The entrance directly into California Adventure was not open. To enter the either park you have to enter thru the main gates. We were never told the entrance was closed when we check in so when we went to enter the park we were turned around. You are able to come back to hotel thru park which was nice. They also used to give you paperwork with park hours, services of hotel etc., now you receive no paperwork with information about new protocols which would have been helpful and saved some time. There is no Valet or taxi service at this time so you have to use a ride share service. We love disney properties but this is the first time I feel that this visit was not worth the money they charged, we paid for 5 star hotel with no service. I would not suggest the splurge at this time.
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Date of stay: April 2021
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Very very pricey hotel but worth every penny for us. We needed a hotel for 3 nights that was in close proximity of both parks. Two people in our party have health issues and would need to rest during the day, along with our 3 year old granddaughter. The Grand California was perfect. We could walk back whenever we wanted, no car, no parking, etc. It was so convenient! We had 7 in our party and booked a 3 bedroom suite. It suited our group perfectly. The best part was that each family had their own bathroom which made it easier for early departure to the parks. Rooms were clean and comfortable. We actually were able to access the rooms several hours before check-in time. We also added the "concierge" service to our reservation. Agin, expensive but again, well worth it! 7 of us ended up eating several of our meals plus wine/beer in the concierge suite saving us lots of money. They also have the best place to watch the fireworks from. We utilized the hotel, accessing several restaurants, bars, pools and lobby. Everything was perfect. It's a beautiful themed hotel and like I said . . .worth every penny!
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Date of stay: February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed there for 4 nights for my wife's 50th Birthday using DVC points for the Club Level. The room was nice and spacious. Nice view of the fireworks and it was clean. We never got turn down service at night. My daughter did ask them not to come do it the last night, but the other 3 we were not in the room and it never occurred. The Cast Member's in The Veranda were VERY nice and helpful. Some families w/ smaller children let their children run around like it was a playground and scream, which was a little annoying. Understand they are children and it's ok for them to be excited, but not again and again. The location of the hotel it great with an entrance to California Adventure. They have laundry service and also self serve laundry. We used the self serve and it was clean and the dryers were fast (30 min per load). You use credit cards so quarters aren't needed. We'd stay there again for the location. The beds are VERY comfortable and we rested and slept wonderfully. My family likes this the best of the 3 Disney Hotels for Disneyland.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I (no kids) have visited Disneyland around 30 times and visited Disney World about 35 times. We’ve stayed at our fair share of deluxe resorts so we have quite a few to compare to. If you aren’t concerned at all about room prices, then this a great option. The location can’t be beat but unfortunately, entry to DCA is currently closed due to Covid but this isn’t expressed to guests until check in. You are able to exit to the hotel from DCA entrance. Another downside was the bathroom set up. The sinks are not separated by a door to the bedroom like many Disney hotels, which prohibits someone getting ready while the other sleeps in.
I did app check-in upon arriving due to it being highly encouraged during Covid. This worked great at Disney World resorts and we were able to bypass the front desk and use the app for room entry. Here, I stood in a line for 15 minutes waiting to see someone at the desk to get my keys so it was totally pointless to check in online. Pics are from our standard room and the balcony faced the check in area and parking lot.
We were told that housekeeping would only be every other day. After a full day in the park and showering that night with only one bar of soap for both the sink and the shower that we had to shuttle back and forth, I requested light housekeeping the next day while we were out for the entire day. They never came. With limited housekeeping, I would expect at least a bar of soap for both the sink AND shower and possible extra trash bags since the bins are small and fill quickly.
In summary it’s 5 star prices at a 3 star level of service and rooms. I do recommend splurging on the Poolside Cabana. They did offer 5 star service and it was worth the fee.
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was my fourth trip staying at a WDW property and I’d say this hotel definitely ranks up there with in terms of quality and service. Check in was quick and easy, despite how busy it was the day we arrived and the bellman delivered our bags pretty quickly. We booked a courtyard view room which wasn’t anything to phone home about except the monorail traveled through the courtyard every once in awhile, something that my kids liked to see. The room was tastefully appointed and comfortable, serviced twice a day. I loved the proximity to the parks, especially the easy access to California Adventures. My only complaints would be that for such a large hotel, there were only two laundry rooms basically at opposite ends of the compound which was not convenient. Also, the security line to get into Disneyland was very long and slow. It was also the morning of extra magic hour, which we couldn’t take advantage of because it took 30 minutes to get through security and then by the time we got through the entrance line at the park, it was already regular opening time. I wish they’d have a separate line for hotel guests who are essentially paying for the early park access as it seemed like anyone could just get in through the hotel. Aside from that, enjoyed my stay and would definitely come again if we make it to Disneyland in the future.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It's wonderful to stay here for the proximity to the parks. As someone else mentioned, never before have we paid this kind of price for a hotel, but it was a special trip and we wanted to make it extra memorable. Check-in takes much longer than it should at such a luxury facility. Lines are long and the actual process is lengthy compared to any other hotel we've visited.
The rooms are fine, on the small side compared to something like HGI. The hotel is very clean; the housekeeping staff is just wonderful and goes the extra mile to provide excellent service.
The restaurants are expensive, but the menu is not appealing to vegetarians. Disney has replace real veggie burgers with the Beyond/Impossible burgers throughout their properties, taking away an option for people who don't want to eat animals or anything that looks like an animal. We didn't find anything appealing about Napa Rose or Storytellers; NR is trying too hard to be over the top and sometimes you don't want a buffet. The pool bar is fine; food is not great but it's fine as long as the live music isn't on. Craftsman Grill seemed to be having lots of issues when we were there. As an example of what is wrong with the food - Avocado Toast is on every menu, but they take a simple and good food and try to make it "gourmet", which actually ruins it. Rather than fresh avocado on fresh bread, there's a thin smear of an avocado paste-like material on dry, white sourdough, with some oily balsamic glaze drizzled on top. It's tasteless.
We ended up surveying all the restaurants and going back into the park for dinner, because there was nothing just simple and good.
The best food we had came from room service. This department went over and beyond expectations.
There isn't anywhere to relax at this hotel, other than the noisy and crowded lobby, or the overly crowded pool area They've crammed too many rooms into this space.
We would stay here again for the park access and we enjoyed our time. There are lovely staff members here; that and the location are what makes this property "luxury".
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Date of stay: February 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Hotel is beautiful inside and around the grounds, walk right to the park from your room, and if you pick the right location to stay you can hear the water falls from your room all night long. Need a little rest walk to your room, want a glass of wine walk to your room it’s cold and you need your jacket walk to your room. Staying so close to the park made our trip that much better and to top it off you get in the park one hour early and no parking your car or waiting for a shuttle ride that you may have just missed. Highly recommended.
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Date of stay: November 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Check in as early as you can to enjoy the park.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Los Angeles, California323 contributions54 helpful votes
If its hot good luck finding a lounger. I have rented the cabanas a Disneyworld and I would say they are defiantly worth it. I know you can rent them for a full day or partial. You defiantly need a day at t he pool to recover from the park. I suggest you do a full day at the pool. On a hot day its amazing! When you make your reservation ask them about renting the cabana. They go fast.
There are more places to choose from in the Anaheim area.
PRICE RANGE
HK$6,083 - HK$9,054 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
grand californian hotel, grand california hotel, disney california hotel, disneys grand californian hotel, disney grand california hotel, disney grand californian hotel, disneyland grand californian hotel, disneys anaheim
LOCATION
United StatesCaliforniaOrange CountyAnaheim
NUMBER OF ROOMS
1,019
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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