LuvTigger
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2000
I just spent 4 glorious nights at the Grand Californian, and I don't think I can stay anywhere else!! The next trip I plan to do concierge there.
A little background (you can find more in my pre-trip report):
Who:
me, Kendra, 30
boyfriend, Aaron, 37
Where:
Grand Californian Hotel, theme-park view
When:
Monday, October 8, 2001 Friday, October 12, 2001
A little background on the two of us...we are both avid Disney fans. Every year we do something Disney. If we can't make it to Disney World, we go to Disneyland (a lot cheaper for us, being from Hawaii). Last year was the first year we did NOT do anything Disney (went to Vegas for a few days), so we're suffering major withdrawals! To make up for it I booked us at the Grand Californian!!! We have only stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once, the rest of our trips have been offsite (Howard Johnson, Best Western Park Place Inn, Best Western Stovall's Inn, Carousel Inn).
If you look at the itinerary on my pre-trip report, I did not stick to it at all! We just went with the flow, and it worked well for us, especially since we have been to Disneyland so many times.
This report will be on the events of Monday, October 8, 2001:
We drove from Las Vegas, and left about 6:30 a.m. We made a couple of stops along the way and arrived at the Grand Californian at about 10:45 a.m. The driveway was lined with pine trees. We pulled up at the security gate and gave them our name, telling them we were checking in. They put a little slip of paper on our windshield, identifying us as guests. They asked us both for I.D.'s, and looked in our trunk. We pulled up to the valet area and unloaded our luggage. They gave us a slip to claim our baggage later, and we self-parked the car across the street. The self-parking lot was very convenient, right across the street in an open lot. Maybe a 5 minute walk.
I've seen pictures of GC, but seeing it in person was just awe-inspiring. We walked through the stained glass doors and into the open atrium lobby, with the large fireplace to the right. I can just imagine how beautiful it will be during the holidays with a huge Christmas tree. The registration desk was to the right. The attention to detail to this hotel is just amazing.
I checked in, and the registration clerk was very nice. I gave him our hotel voucher, an I.D., and a credit card for incidentals. Check-in was less than 5 minutes. He gave me a paper to use for charging privileges/monorail pass, a parking pass, and some hotel and park information. Our room wasn't ready yet though, even though I had requested early check-in. But that was okay, we were planning on heading out to DL anyway. We didn't want to carry our backpacks though, so we checked them in with bell services, and they added it on to our other stuff.
We got to Disneyland between 11-11:30. We walked onto Star Tours, then Honey I Shrunk the Audience, then had a very short wait for Space Mountain. We were disappointed that the sound wasn't working. Then we headed to Toon Town for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. I got irritated with the women in front of us who were letting their babies run loose and kept having to get out of line by climbing under a rope to catch their kids, only to let them go again and having to catch them again. The wait for this was a little longer, maybe 10-15 minutes.
We walked through Fantasyland and ended up in Frontierland where we had lunch at the Rancho del Zocalo. I think there was a 10% coupon with our funbook that came with the package, but I forgot to use it. This looked like a sit-down restaurant, but was actually buffeteria style. There was a woman inside the entrance directing people. One counter was for the barbeque items, the other counter for Mexican, with one line being for certain items, I think burritos and nachos, and the other line for other stuff. The Mexican looked really good, but Aaron wanted barbeque, so I went along. Aaron ordered the chicken fried steak sandwich with gravy and lettuce and tomato on the side ($9.99), and I ordered the BBQ Combo which had a big piece of chicken and 2 ribs with beans and something like cornbread with peppers and cinnamon (really good!)($11.99). Both plates came with lots of cole slaw and fries. We shared a drink ($2.19). I liked Aaron's sandwich, but mine was just "okay." I was looking at everyone else eating Mexican and decided that we should do that next time. Our total here ws $25.98.
After lunch, we walked onto Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. I have to say that I thought they did an excellent job with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme! I thought they were just going to slap some things here and there, but it was almost like a whole new ride! Very impressive!
After this, we went back to the hotel to pick up our keys and check out our room on the 4th floor (I requested an upper floor). Our room number was 4214, 2 Queen beds. The first thing I did was open the curtains to see what kind of view we had since it was supposed to be a theme park view. At first, I flipped-out. All I saw was the pool and rooms on the wing across the pool. I called downstairs and they said I should have a view of Paradise Pier. The bellman was at the door, so I said I would call back if I had a problem. The bellman was very nice, and even offered to refill our ice chest with ice. I stepped outside and realized that I was having a fit for nothing. I wouldn't really consider it a Paradise Pier view, but we actually had a view of a lot of things. If I had only looked UP, instead of down, I would've realized that Grizzly Peak was right there behind the other rooms! The Challenge thing was right in front of us, and Paradise Pier was to the right. The pool was right in front of us too. I ended up loving our view because we could see Grizzly Peak and PP, and the pool area. There is only one set of rooms which I think would've offered a little better view because they would've faced PP directly, yet still had a view of Grizzly Peak and the pool to the side, and those on our floor were numbered 4006-4013.
Really though, I think almost any room in the hotel would've offered a decent view. The couryards were very beautiful, and even the Downtown Disney rooms would've been fun, if you don't mind people looking up at you when you're on the balcony. We took a nap then headed to Universal City to meet friends for dinner.
We ate at Karl Strauss Brewery Restaurant. I picked up a souvenir menu from here. We really enjoyed it. The service was excellent, as was the food. We shared a fried calamari appetizer ($8.95?) which came with 2 sauces. One was like a tartar sauce, the other a mustard type sauce. I had a side salad ($2.95?) which was really good. It had the fancy baby mixed greens with feta cheese, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, and a vinaigaratte dressing. My entree was a spicy shrimp linguine with LOTS of shrimp in a marinara sauce with mushrooms, portabello mushrooms, and artichoke. It was excellent. I can't remember the price (my friend paid), but it was less than $15. Aaron had "the Works" burger which was HUGE, I think 1/2 pound, with bacon and fries. My friends boyfriend had the burger and ate the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Aaron only ate half, and just thought it was "okay." Dessert was excellent, I forget the name, but it was brownies, caramel, and ice cream with almond slices ($5.95).
After that we drove down the Sunset Strip where my friends boyfriend gave us a narration of the sights. The drive to and from the Universal area was only about 45 minutes each way.
A great day, and it's just the beginning!
A little background (you can find more in my pre-trip report):
Who:
me, Kendra, 30
boyfriend, Aaron, 37
Where:
Grand Californian Hotel, theme-park view
When:
Monday, October 8, 2001 Friday, October 12, 2001
A little background on the two of us...we are both avid Disney fans. Every year we do something Disney. If we can't make it to Disney World, we go to Disneyland (a lot cheaper for us, being from Hawaii). Last year was the first year we did NOT do anything Disney (went to Vegas for a few days), so we're suffering major withdrawals! To make up for it I booked us at the Grand Californian!!! We have only stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once, the rest of our trips have been offsite (Howard Johnson, Best Western Park Place Inn, Best Western Stovall's Inn, Carousel Inn).
If you look at the itinerary on my pre-trip report, I did not stick to it at all! We just went with the flow, and it worked well for us, especially since we have been to Disneyland so many times.
This report will be on the events of Monday, October 8, 2001:
We drove from Las Vegas, and left about 6:30 a.m. We made a couple of stops along the way and arrived at the Grand Californian at about 10:45 a.m. The driveway was lined with pine trees. We pulled up at the security gate and gave them our name, telling them we were checking in. They put a little slip of paper on our windshield, identifying us as guests. They asked us both for I.D.'s, and looked in our trunk. We pulled up to the valet area and unloaded our luggage. They gave us a slip to claim our baggage later, and we self-parked the car across the street. The self-parking lot was very convenient, right across the street in an open lot. Maybe a 5 minute walk.
I've seen pictures of GC, but seeing it in person was just awe-inspiring. We walked through the stained glass doors and into the open atrium lobby, with the large fireplace to the right. I can just imagine how beautiful it will be during the holidays with a huge Christmas tree. The registration desk was to the right. The attention to detail to this hotel is just amazing.
I checked in, and the registration clerk was very nice. I gave him our hotel voucher, an I.D., and a credit card for incidentals. Check-in was less than 5 minutes. He gave me a paper to use for charging privileges/monorail pass, a parking pass, and some hotel and park information. Our room wasn't ready yet though, even though I had requested early check-in. But that was okay, we were planning on heading out to DL anyway. We didn't want to carry our backpacks though, so we checked them in with bell services, and they added it on to our other stuff.
We got to Disneyland between 11-11:30. We walked onto Star Tours, then Honey I Shrunk the Audience, then had a very short wait for Space Mountain. We were disappointed that the sound wasn't working. Then we headed to Toon Town for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. I got irritated with the women in front of us who were letting their babies run loose and kept having to get out of line by climbing under a rope to catch their kids, only to let them go again and having to catch them again. The wait for this was a little longer, maybe 10-15 minutes.
We walked through Fantasyland and ended up in Frontierland where we had lunch at the Rancho del Zocalo. I think there was a 10% coupon with our funbook that came with the package, but I forgot to use it. This looked like a sit-down restaurant, but was actually buffeteria style. There was a woman inside the entrance directing people. One counter was for the barbeque items, the other counter for Mexican, with one line being for certain items, I think burritos and nachos, and the other line for other stuff. The Mexican looked really good, but Aaron wanted barbeque, so I went along. Aaron ordered the chicken fried steak sandwich with gravy and lettuce and tomato on the side ($9.99), and I ordered the BBQ Combo which had a big piece of chicken and 2 ribs with beans and something like cornbread with peppers and cinnamon (really good!)($11.99). Both plates came with lots of cole slaw and fries. We shared a drink ($2.19). I liked Aaron's sandwich, but mine was just "okay." I was looking at everyone else eating Mexican and decided that we should do that next time. Our total here ws $25.98.
After lunch, we walked onto Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. I have to say that I thought they did an excellent job with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme! I thought they were just going to slap some things here and there, but it was almost like a whole new ride! Very impressive!
After this, we went back to the hotel to pick up our keys and check out our room on the 4th floor (I requested an upper floor). Our room number was 4214, 2 Queen beds. The first thing I did was open the curtains to see what kind of view we had since it was supposed to be a theme park view. At first, I flipped-out. All I saw was the pool and rooms on the wing across the pool. I called downstairs and they said I should have a view of Paradise Pier. The bellman was at the door, so I said I would call back if I had a problem. The bellman was very nice, and even offered to refill our ice chest with ice. I stepped outside and realized that I was having a fit for nothing. I wouldn't really consider it a Paradise Pier view, but we actually had a view of a lot of things. If I had only looked UP, instead of down, I would've realized that Grizzly Peak was right there behind the other rooms! The Challenge thing was right in front of us, and Paradise Pier was to the right. The pool was right in front of us too. I ended up loving our view because we could see Grizzly Peak and PP, and the pool area. There is only one set of rooms which I think would've offered a little better view because they would've faced PP directly, yet still had a view of Grizzly Peak and the pool to the side, and those on our floor were numbered 4006-4013.
Really though, I think almost any room in the hotel would've offered a decent view. The couryards were very beautiful, and even the Downtown Disney rooms would've been fun, if you don't mind people looking up at you when you're on the balcony. We took a nap then headed to Universal City to meet friends for dinner.
We ate at Karl Strauss Brewery Restaurant. I picked up a souvenir menu from here. We really enjoyed it. The service was excellent, as was the food. We shared a fried calamari appetizer ($8.95?) which came with 2 sauces. One was like a tartar sauce, the other a mustard type sauce. I had a side salad ($2.95?) which was really good. It had the fancy baby mixed greens with feta cheese, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, and a vinaigaratte dressing. My entree was a spicy shrimp linguine with LOTS of shrimp in a marinara sauce with mushrooms, portabello mushrooms, and artichoke. It was excellent. I can't remember the price (my friend paid), but it was less than $15. Aaron had "the Works" burger which was HUGE, I think 1/2 pound, with bacon and fries. My friends boyfriend had the burger and ate the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Aaron only ate half, and just thought it was "okay." Dessert was excellent, I forget the name, but it was brownies, caramel, and ice cream with almond slices ($5.95).
After that we drove down the Sunset Strip where my friends boyfriend gave us a narration of the sights. The drive to and from the Universal area was only about 45 minutes each way.
A great day, and it's just the beginning!
