Grand Cali vs Good Neighbor Disneyland

[JasonMak2000]

I really, really want to try to get out to Disneyland for a quick trip at the end of the summer. I've never been and I want to get out there before Star Wars GE opens and things get crazy and even more expensive. Are the perks and experience of staying at a Disneyland resort hotel worth the extra cost? It would be @ $250+ / night more to stay at the Grand Californian than the other hotel I'm currently looking at. Would love to hear some perspectives from those that have been there.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm going to move this to our Disneyland board; the focus of this board is the Disney-owned resorts at WDW in FL.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

Hi! The CG is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, has it's own entrance to California Adventure Park, and is steps away from Downtown Disney. It has lovely restaurants, a pretty pool, and all in all just exudes Disney class Luxury....

But we have never stayed there. Lol.

We always pick Good Neighbour hotels (Usually Tropicana or Howard Johnson) for a few reasons:

1) The Tropicana (and other good Neighbour Hotels) are right across the street from Disneyland, so pretty much closer to the front gates than even the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier. Can't beat them for proximity.

2) We don't care about how gorgeous our hotel is because we are never in it. Even with two kids, we leave the room to get the park for opening, and don't come back until around 10-12 pm at night. Yep. We are those people. If you are the type of family who loves pool breaks in the afternoons, or likes to go back to the room for a nap, than maybe you care about how pretty it is... we don't think it's worth the extra $$$$ just for looks, but that's just us.

3) The $$$ we save on sleeping arrangement can go to fun stuff we are actually awake for, like desserts, or character breakfasts, or extra churros, lol.

 

[ParkHopper1]

All depends on what you value in a room and stay. If you just need a bed and shower, no...not worth it. If you want a resort feel and Disney bubble experience in your whole vacation...totally worth it.

 

[BuzzlightHead]

Hi! The CG is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, has it's own entrance to California Adventure Park, and is steps away from Downtown Disney. It has lovely restaurants, a pretty pool, and all in all just exudes Disney class Luxury....

But we have never stayed there. Lol.

We always pick Good Neighbour hotels (Usually Tropicana or Howard Johnson) for a few reasons:

1) The Tropicana (and other good Neighbour Hotels) are right across the street from Disneyland, so pretty much closer to the front gates than even the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier. Can't beat them for proximity.

2) We don't care about how gorgeous our hotel is because we are never in it. Even with two kids, we leave the room to get the park for opening, and don't come back until around 10-12 pm at night. Yep. We are those people. If you are the type of family who loves pool breaks in the afternoons, or likes to go back to the room for a nap, than maybe you care about how pretty it is... we don't think it's worth the extra $$$$ just for looks, but that's just us.

3) The $$$ we save on sleeping arrangement can go to fun stuff we are actually awake for, like desserts, or character breakfasts, or extra churros, lol.

I agree that spending the extra money just doesn't seem worth it. Some day I'd like to stay in the Grand Californian once just to say I did it, but otherwise I'll stick to offsite.

Our room is just a place to sleep, so spending more on it than necessary feels like we lose out on something else we could have done. In October, we're actually staying in an Airbnb and we'll have to Uber, but the cost of the room + uber was still less than any hotel I could find within 2 miles to the park, (we're paying $85/night).

 

[gottalovepluto]

It’s very dependent on you. What else would you do with $250/day? Will you utilize EMH & be at the parks for 7am openings? Do you take breaks during the day? Do you like a nicer feeling hotel? The remodel did make GCH rooms nicer, rain shower was a great upgrade.

Imho it’s a nice splurge to try it once for yourself but it’s not a necessary splurge. It doesn’t even rank at “omg, you have to try it at least once” just “it’s nice to try once”. If you’re the type to commando the parks over a couple days & not really take breaks it will be really hard to get $250/day in “value” out of the experience. I like it because I like EMH and take breaks and enjoy the bubble.

 

[JasonMak2000]

What do you think about a split stay? 2 days at GC and 2 at a good neighbor? That way we could enjoy the convenience and emh for at least 2 days. I guess I need to know how much you can get accomplished in that extra hour in the morning. With only 3 resort hotels it seems like the emh would be pretty empty compared to emh at WDW.

 

[mel2014]

What do you think about a split stay? 2 days at GC and 2 at a good neighbor? That way we could enjoy the convenience and emh for at least 2 days. I guess I need to know how much you can get accomplished in that extra hour in the morning. With only 3 resort hotels it seems like the emh would be pretty empty compared to emh at WDW.

I think you can get a lot accomplished at DCA in the hour because it's a small number of hotel guest. At Disneyland, you have to consider that you are sharing EMH with the "Magic Morning" crowd (everyone who has a 3+ day ticket). In my experience, EMH/Magic Morning is pretty crowded on any day with a regular park opening on 9 am or later. If park opening is at 8 and EMH/Magic Hour starts at 7, it's a lot less crowded. My philosophy has always been that it's a better value to just add another day to my vacation than stay on-site to get an extra hour, but if your vacation time is limited, that calculus may not work.

 

[BuzzlightHead]

What do you think about a split stay? 2 days at GC and 2 at a good neighbor? That way we could enjoy the convenience and emh for at least 2 days. I guess I need to know how much you can get accomplished in that extra hour in the morning. With only 3 resort hotels it seems like the emh would be pretty empty compared to emh at WDW.

Are the extra 2-Nights at GCH going to stretch your budget thin and prevent you from doing other things? If not, I think that's a great option, especially if you're okay with transferring hotels in the middle of your stay! You can get a bunch accomplished in that extra hour and ride some of the most popular rides even a few times before the park opens.

If staying at the GCH doesn't impact your vacation budget, it would always be the "ideal" option. I've never stayed there, but from all accounts, it's a nice hotel and having early access to the park is a huge benefit if you take advantage of it.

 

[JasonMak2000]

Thanks everyone for all the advice and different perspectives. Its definitely given me a lot to think about. I think I also wrestle with the fact that I'm an east coaster and dont know when or if I'll get back to Disneyland. WDW will always be my "home" resort/park because it's so much easier and cheaper to get to. It's not meant to be a trip of a lifetime kind of thing but I still want to have a good experience while I'm there.

 

[Summer2018]

We are visiting Arizona and California to see family and scout locations for a future move to California. We are planning a two day side trip to Disneyland. Because it’s only two nights and probably won’t be staying in a hotel the next time we visit, we plan to stay at the Grand Californian. I don’t know if we would pay for 7 nights there, but for two nights, it’s worth it for the experience. Also, we only do the parks in the morning. We are resort people and take advantage of all the amenities.

Perhaps a split stay would be perfect for you. Otherwise, you will always wonder...

 

[Maus79]

We had a brief trip, 5 nights, to California two years ago, en route to an Alaskan cruise. The Grand Californian has hands down been our favorite deluxe resort, and this was prior to their refurbishment last year. The location is ideal, and one of our favorite features. As previously stated, it is adjacent to California Adventure and we were able to hit 3 attractions during that first hour with a disabled party member. It was directly in front of Grizzly Run, perfect location to walk back from if soaked. My favorite morning activity was to grab items from Starbucks, 2 minute leisure walk, at opening under fairy lights in the downtown area. We were able to get to Cars Land for our fast pass within 5 minutes from our room. We absolutely loved the 5 minute walk back to the room at the end of a long day. The food in QS and TS is a notch above most of the restaurants at Disney World. The pool was decent, but doesn't compare to the Beach Club. The spa was small, but staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. We even noticed an improvement in the cleaning service during our stay, and appreciated a better grade of toilet paper than found in Florida. Needless to say, this is our favorite resort.

 

[calilou]

The simple answer is that YES it’s worth the added expense for a variety of reasons UNLESS you’re the type of theme-parker who likes to stay all day in the parks and just uses the room to sleep and shower. The magic, ambiance and convenience of the Grand are worth the added expense, especially if you’re looking for more of a resort experience and plan to use the pool, restaurants and other amenities. It’s a truly special place.

That being said, I find the EMH when staying at a DL resort hotel somewhat overrated, particularly because the security line to get from GCH into DCA is ridiculously long lately. If you do plan to utilize EMH, go to the main gates.

We are passholders who live nearly four hours from DL and try to visit at least six times a year. We usually stay at a resort hotel about half the trips, but have also been known to stay one night and then switch to a neighboring hotel for the remainder of our time. That’s how worth it is, in my opinion!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’m too cheap to stay there.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Our experience is different from those reported here, so here goes: we've stayed at the GCH (many times) and also at GN hotels (many times) and enjoyed both. The GCH was nice, but for those prices, we can get better service and nicer rooms elsewhere. Some of the rooms are so far away from the front desk and DTD (especially now with the "secret staircase" closed off to the public), that it is quite a hike just to get to the DL front gates. We like staying at the GCH, but knew that when one of our favorite parts of the hotel was the lobby, that it would be better to spend our money somewhere else and on other things. EMH aren't much benefit for us since we rarely use that privilege. We recently had a stay at the Candy Cane Inn that saved us over $600 a night compared to what we would have spent at the GCH. We can think of lots of things to do at DLR with $600 extra per day. We can dine several times at Napa Rose (another favorite part of the GCH), while staying off site. So while I wouldn't turn down a future stay at the GCH, we make our current plans at off site hotels where we have great stays, get great service, and save a lot of money. We're fine with keeping the magic inside the parks. Saving that much money per night is rather magical in its own way, too.
If it's the OP's dream to stay at the GCH, and if it won't break the bank, then go for it! But it isn't necessary to stay on site to have a wonderful trip at DLR.

The OP might find some helpful information in this recent thread: Choosing the Right DLR Area Hotel for You.

 

[MacMama0930]

After staying at the Grand our last several trips, I can’t imagine staying off site. At the risk of sounding obnoxious...I have just spoiled myself with the proximity to the parks. I find more value in that close proximity when I go with my kids. I’ve done adult only trips and distance doesn’t matter as much but it’s still so convenient. I think staying onsite is worth it!

 

[DizneyMommy]

It is absolutely worth it for a short trip splurge. I love LOVE love GCA. We only stay there with no kids for a staycation, so we can really enjoy it. If you just need a hotel to sleep a few hours and the experience is not important to you, the no, the perks are not worth $250. The GCA entrance is often such a long line they send guests around to the main gate.

 

[DizneyMommy]

I think you can get a lot accomplished at DCA in the hour because it's a small number of hotel guest. At Disneyland, you have to consider that you are sharing EMH with the "Magic Morning" crowd (everyone who has a 3+ day ticket). In my experience, EMH/Magic Morning is pretty crowded on any day with a regular park opening on 9 am or later. If park opening is at 8 and EMH/Magic Hour starts at 7, it's a lot less crowded. My philosophy has always been that it's a better value to just add another day to my vacation than stay on-site to get an extra hour, but if your vacation time is limited, that calculus may not work.

It's not that small, it includes all 3 resort hotels. Thats lots and lots and lots of people all going the same direction ;-) But yes, you can get a few extra things in.

 

[smartlabelprint]

After staying at the Grand our last several trips, I can’t imagine staying off site. At the risk of sounding obnoxious...I have just spoiled myself with the proximity to the parks. I find more value in that close proximity when I go with my kids. I’ve done adult only trips and distance doesn’t matter as much but it’s still so convenient. I think staying onsite is worth it!

Where did you stay before? Proximity is really close at many motels in harbor.

 

[MacMama0930]

Where did you stay before? Proximity is really close at many motels in harbor.

I have stayed at Residence Inn, Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel. The Grand is perfect for our touring style and our desire to stay in a Disney bubble while there.