Grand Californian Super Thread

[Huskerpaul]

So all the reservations for all 11 are under 1 Disney account (mom/grandma) so everyone has reservations for the park together, but are not all staying on property.

They look at the hotel reservation section of the aps to verify, not the park reservations.

 

[Malcon10t]

So all the reservations for all 11 are under 1 Disney account (mom/grandma) so everyone has reservations for the park together, but are not all staying on property.

If your GCH reservation is for 5 people, 5 will be allowed thru. So no, you can't have 1 hotel reservation and have 11 people use EE. Defeats the purpose of the perk.

 

[mouschievous]

Man, I wish we had magic bands. At WDW they just scan your MB and that tells them if you get in or not. So much easier!

 

[Mr. Mike]

Man, I wish we had magic bands.

Magic bands are coming to DLR soon. (I love magic bands.)

 

[mouschievous]

Magic bands are coming to DLR soon. (I love magic bands.)

It'll be interesting to see when they finally get here. They said this year but they're running out of year!

 

[tink89]

And not everyone is going to find that love. I tried so many times to find the love of the Grand, and finally just figured out we love DLH too much to keep trying.

I agree. We have stayed at DLH many times but never at the GCH because of the cost and it just didn't feel Disney enough. We finally stayed last month and I was worried we were all gonna love it and have to save more for every DL vacation but it was not the case. We did love the hotel, the proximity is 100% its best feature, DD loved the pool, but we missed DLH. We missed the coffee shop, the shops are better at DLH, the rooms are bigger, and there are fewer guests walking in and out or out and about. We might do split stays with GCH but DLH will continue to be our first choice unless it is 100 degrees like last month then we will choose GCH for the proximity.

 

[Malcon10t]

When my DIL did early entry on Sunday, they asked for keys for all 3 (boys are 7 and 9) and the reservation on her phone.

 

[DizFan13]

DH and I just booked our first on-site stay at the Grand Californian for Nov. 18-23. We're so excited! We used to visit DLR often, but haven't been since 2018 (many trips to WDW in the meantime).

I'll be working my way through this thread, but if anyone wants to share their favorite tips or tricks about this hotel, I'd love that!

 

[whoever]

When my DIL did early entry on Sunday, they asked for keys for all 3 (boys are 7 and 9) and the reservation on her phone.

Good to know. We didn't normally carry the hotel keys for all of our party historically, just needed one for the group.

 

[camille4750]

When my DIL did early entry on Sunday, they asked for keys for all 3 (boys are 7 and 9) and the reservation on her phone.

Weird. We just did 4 days of EE and they only asked one of us (5 total) for a key. They didn’t seem overly vigilant about it. I’m guessing it depends on the cm a bit.

 

[Malcon10t]

Weird. We just did 4 days of EE and they only asked one of us (5 total) for a key. They didn’t seem overly vigilant about it. I’m guessing it depends on the cm a bit.

It really does, and if it is busy, they are more vigilant.

 

[RoseColored97]

Great to know about the keys. Does anyone know what happens if you don't have a reservation handy? My mom doesn't use a cell phone (I know, I know...) and so won't have the reservation handy on the phone. I guess we could print off the reservation, but we would need to be extra sure not to drop it because I would hate for that info to be out there if lost.

 

[Mr. Mike]

I guess we could print off the reservation, but we would need to be extra sure not to drop it because I would hate for that info to be out there if lost.

Suggestion: Get a lanyard for your mom to wear. Fold up the printed reservation and tuck into the lanyard pocket. Problem solved.

 

[StarlitNight05]

Suggestion: Get a lanyard for your mom to wear. Fold up the printed reservation and tuck into the lanyard pocket. Problem solved.

This is a great idea! Make sure it's a closable lanyard pouch just to be extra safe.

 

[DnA2010]

When my DIL did early entry on Sunday, they asked for keys for all 3 (boys are 7 and 9) and the reservation on her phone.

Weird. We just did 4 days of EE and they only asked one of us (5 total) for a key. They didn’t seem overly vigilant about it. I’m guessing it depends on the cm a bit.

We stayed at the GC last week and did EE for Wed/Thurs/Fri (Dl/DCA/DL) and just showed 1 key for our group of 8, no actual showing of our reservation on the app- no one seemed to care very much.

 

[Chereya]

For those of you that are there this week, is there still NO separate entrance gate for EE entry as stated in the first post?

 

[DnA2010]

For those of you that are there this week, is there still NO separate entrance gate for EE entry as stated in the first post?

I was in the parks last Wed/Thurs/Fri, Wed and Fri and DL and no separate line.

 

[Chereya]

I was in the parks last Wed/Thurs/Fri, Wed and Fri and DL and no separate line.

Thanks for re-confirming! How does that all work with EE guests mixed in with non EE guests? Does everyone just wait in line and all go in at 7:30? Is the benefit that EE can get past the rope at the end of main street once inside the park at 7:30?

 

[jordan13402]

Thanks for re-confirming! How does that all work with EE guests mixed in with non EE guests? Does everyone just wait in line and all go in at 7:30? Is the benefit that EE can get past the rope at the end of main street once inside the park at 7:30?

yep, everyone is let in at once but then at the rope drop area hotel guests can keep going

 

[Chereya]

Thanks for clarifying that for me! It helps a lot wrapping my head around the new changes

yep, everyone is let in at once but then at the rope drop area hotel guests can keep going