I forgot to write about the alarm clock in the room. We noticed that the time was about an hour and twenty minutes off. We could not figure out how to change the time setting on the clock. We even tried googling "Setting clock at Grand Californian Hotel" and we got instructions on setting the time on the Grandfather Clock in the lobby, but not on the one in our room! We intended to stop by the front desk to ask, but we never ended up doing that.
Funny thing- we had the same exact clock in one of our rooms in Hawaii, but fortunately, that clock displayed the correct time.
Great pictures! I love that you can see the fireworks.
The Grand Californian is gorgeous. Have you ever been in the Wilderness Lodge? Some of the features are similar, but different, too. How does the resort compare to one of WDW's deluxe resorts? How do the room rates compare and is it hard to get a room there?
Thank you! I was so happy that we were able to see the fireworks. That actually was useful more than once for us.
I have not been in the Wilderness Lodge. Mark and I would like to check it out, but the boys have not been interested. The only Disney resorts I have stayed at have been the Beach Club and a couple of the All Stars. The GC was definitely deluxe! The amount of room in the room. The amenities.
The room rate was $$$. We did a package through AAA, and if I get a chance, I'll take out the estimated price of the park tickets and figure out the nightly rate. Not sure if rooms are hard to get or not, but discounts certainly are.
The Grand Floridian reminds me of the Wilderness Lodge but yet it's different. I am sure that there are a whole lot of folks out there who are super happy to see your informative type pictures. Someone can describe the heck out of something but actually seeing it helps me make a final decision.
Talk about a view from your room! I love the views during both the daytime and the nighttime.
The GC is definitely a sister resort to the WL. As we have discussed, Lisa, I am compelled to take pictures of all sorts of aspects of a resort for informational purposes. So you'll be seeing more resort spreads like this for the 3 other places we stayed on this trip.
The views were so interesting. It was fun just sitting out there and staring the scenery any time of day!
Great Resort pictures and view of the fireworks!! I would like to call and request a certain view/room, but still a bit confused on where to request? We are staying at GC Thurs to Sun. Leave for Hawaii Sun. We are planning on buying 3day hopper passes.
Will you be giving reviews of the restaurants in the GC? I'm thinking about eating at the Story Teller Cafe for lunch or dinner buffet.
How did you and your family do with the time change?
Carla
Are you in the resort or the villas? What room category?
The GC Superthread has some info on suggested room requests if you are able to wade through the pages.
Carla, I have some good news and some bad news for you.
I am a big fan of food porn, so I will have lots of pictures and reviews of our meals. The bad news is, I think we only ate at two table service restaurants (Blue Bayou and Carthay Circle). We looked at the menu for Story Teller Café and it looks awesome, but we were never able to fit it in.
I was pretty impressed with how well we did with the time change. I was really scared before hand that I would be waking up at 1:30 every day, since I wake up between 4:30 and 5 am every single day of the year when I am home. We had to wake the boys at 6 most mornings so that we could get to the parks by the 7 am opening, and it was never a problem. Then, once we hit Hawaii, we continued to adjust well.
I'm here! And I'm actually going to keep up with this one (well, for the next two months of course).
The Grand is stunning, stunning, stunning and I'm so envious that you were able to stay there. Those nachos look DELICIOUS! The Grand is definitely on the bucket list for our next trip to DL for sure. You got a fantastic view to boot!
United switched the flights out on us too when we went to DL - only they canceled our nonstop and booked us on a connection instead (through Newark)
Still not as bad as Delta though!
I totally agree about the Grand Californian. We loved it! It is beautiful and SO CLOSE to the parks!!! We LOVED our view!
Jenseib is the one who suggested the nachos in her trip report- I don't think I would have considered them if she hadn't mentioned how good they were.
YUM!
AirTran once changed us from a direct flight to a connection through Atlanta- GRRRRR!!!!
WOW! Just WOW! What a beautiful resort and what a fabulous room location! The pool looks spectacular and I love that the chairs have cushions on them!
Great firework pictures from your balcony your first night. Despite being tired, you are a great DISer staying up to get those shots!
The Grand Californian is spectacular. Our room location was great. I forgot to add that we were close to the elevator that took us to pool and quick service location, and was also pretty close to the California Adventure entrance.
ALL GOOD!
Yes, I was indeed tired. I was sitting out on the balcony and I believe I may have drifted off once or twice while trying to read and wait to see if there would be fireworks.
Great pictures of GC. The lobby is so dark so it is difficult to take good pictures, did you notice the carpeting and flooring around it continues the flower pattern? It is in the details with Disney, isn't it?
What a great view of DL, and the fireworks. I'm sure you were elated with that room location. I just loved how both parks were so close, with DTD right there too. Did you find entering the main gate to CA to be easier or quicker than thru the GC? I'm sure your TR will cover it, but it will be interesting to see what you went to first.
Those cushions on the pool chairs were so comfortable, we enjoyed a short amount of pool time each day.
Yes the lobby is a real bear to photograph. Like you said, it is dark, but then there are the windows that let the light stream through.
I guess I didn't pay much attention to the floor. We weren't in the lobby very much, just for checkin and checkout. We were able to bypass the lobby on our way to parks based on our location.
We used the CA entrance if we were going in the afternoon or evening, but we used the regular front entrance on the two early morning days. The line didn't look too bad when we went by, though, so I think it would have been a wash the days we were there.
We visited the pool a lot more than we usually do on a Disney trip. We were always able to find a lounger or two.
Isn't that hotel beautiful??? I only saw it passing through it daily, but it is so lovely. And you cannot beat the location. Better than anything in WDW.
It's nice to see all of the areas I didn't see as a non guest. But one thing I just do not understand is the thin-ness of the room safes. You did get some stuff in there though.
Wow, great room location too. Being able to see the fireworks... yeah I'd give up the day bed.
Yup, loved the GC! I don't think I am able to say that it is better than anything at WDW *cough* Beach Club *cough* but it is definitely our resort of choice at DL!
The safe was fine for our purposes, but wouldn't have fit a laptop.
No question, the location trumped a daybed (at least for all of us but Nate). He did fine though.
