DL's Grand Californian

[teacherlady19]

We are toying with an idea for next summer (late June or late July) -- spending 4 nights at DL's Grand Californian, while doing DLR and DCA. We usually stay at one of the hotels outside the park, but hubby was interested in the GC for several reasons. He'd like to be able to watch World of Color from the hotel (possible?), go in/out of DCA from the hotel, and possibly riding the monorail into DL. We would go MID WEEK, not on a weekend, nor during DL's actual anniversary. Here are some questions I have, for those that HAVE stayed at GC:

1) The monorail does not actually stop in the hotel, right? You still have to walk somewhere to get to the monorail station? Do you have to go through Bag Check to get on the monorail in DD?

2) I know rooms are expensive. One idea we had was to get a suite and share it with my husband's sister, her husband and her daughter. Is that a better deal than just getting two rooms? What do you think about availability in late July, due to the 60th anniversary on the 17th? Problem or not? (If they don't come out, we will go in late June.)

3) Is it possible to watch World of Color and/or the Fireworks from the hotel? What rooms do you have to request, in order to do that, if it IS possible?

This may not be something anyone possibly has the answer to, but,
4) When we went to FL, we got a steal of a deal on our hotel room on property because my husband is retired military. Does CA offer any military discounts on the rooms? We usually go to the parks on a military ticket -- currently, $129 for a 3-day park-hopper. (This is good through 9/30/15, so we're counting on this. We will probably buy two of them for each of us, eventually.)

5) You all have always spoken highly of restaurants outside of the park. Other than some that have naught to do with Disney (like the IHOP, some pizza place, and Tilly's), we haven't tried eating out of the parks recently. Saw Napa Rose on the GC map, and I guess Steakhouse 55 is at the DH. What are the prices like at these two? We ordinarily like to have one meal at the BB at Pirates, so you can use that as a comparison.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Donna

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Well, all I know about the Grand Californian is that it has a great bar with an outdoor fireplace, one heck of a breakfast buffet and a "secret" DCA entrance/exit. There is no Monorail service. You could walk to the Monorail station in downtown Disney, but it's honestly pointless when the hotel is closer to the esplanade. Heck, it's quicker to just take the hotel entrance to DCA (which is between Grizzly River and Soarin', close to DCA's entrance) and just walk to Disneyland.

 

[westie]

^^^What he said. You can't see WoC from DC but you can from Paradise Pier Hotel. Last trip we were on the 10th floor and had a great view of all of DCA. Although the elevator situaion was so bad my wife asked to never stay there again. It was really cool to watch the Disney crew work on the park and WoC pretty much all night. DCA does book up quick so plan ahead.

Do yourself a favor and don't skip Steakhouse 55. We're going next week and I made reservations two months ago and keep checking the menu almost daily for changes! It blows away Blue Bayou. Its priced about the same but isn't as crowded and they don't make you feel rushed. The prime rib is to die for and the root beer baked Alaska tastes better than it sounds!

Like Endor Sightseer said everything is within a short walking distance. The monorail has a station in Disneyland's version of downtown Disney. And bag checks are at every entrance. Sorry I have no idea about military discounts but there's an operator ready to tell you I bet! Enjoy your trip!

 

[TP2000]

There's a rooftop patio at the Grand Californian where you can watch World of Color. Your room doesn't have to face Paradise Pier (I think it's mainly the DVC wing that gets that view), but you'll need to go up to the rooftop patio to see it. It's not really the most optimum view, but it's a view. To be honest, World of Color was designed to be seen from the actual viewing area in Paradise Pier, not from the Grand Californian Hotel and its rooftop patio.

We're movin' on up, to the Eastside! To a de-luxe apartment in the sky! (A free churro for anyone who gets that 1970's reference.)

I'm also retired military, but I don't think there's a room discount available on Disney hotel rooms. Disney does offer very good ticket discounts for active duty military through your on-base MWR Office, but not sure about retired military who may not have access to an active base.

Napa Rose is the best restaurant in the Disney Empire, bar none. It edges out Victoria & Albert's at WDW's Grand Floridian, and is truly a wondrous meal experience. But it's not cheap. Expect to pay about $100 to $150 per diner when you consider three courses and wine. But the service is top-notch, the food is some of the best in SoCal, and it's truly a marvelous dining experience. It's a bonus that it's also a Disney experience very conveniently located on Disneyland Resort property. If you are looking for one fancy meal, or a date night, the Napa Rose can not be beat.

California Hip, sleek yet comfortable, the Napa Rose dining room. With killer views.

Here's a typical dinner menu for Napa Rose, that changes seasonally.

 

[teacherlady19]

Thanks so much for all this information! That restaurant sounds similar to the prices we found in a place in Epcot, in the France area, that we enjoyed in 2012. We'll keep that in mind.

Active and retired military who have access to a base with an MWR ticket office, can purchase the 3-day park hoppers. These have been offered for a number of years in a row. The price keeps climbing by a couple of dollars every year, but it's always been cheaper than buying a three day park hopper AT the parks. Of course they have their pros and cons. They have two black out periods (between Christmas and 1/4/15, and over the last week of March into early April), you can only buy 6 of them, and the military member HAS to be with the party on the first day that the tickets were used. They occasionally stretch it to 7 or 8 tickets, particularly if a family is large, but the base ticket office always cautions you that DLR may not accept the extras on the same day. (We had no problem when we bought 7.) Of course, the tickets do have an expiration date - this year, it was 9/30/14, but next year, it's 10/3/15. At $129.75 per ticket (adult or child) it's a bargain.

I win a churro -- that's The Jeffersons theme song. "....we finally got a piece of the pie...."


Donna

 

[KeithVH]

Just got back from 4 days there. It costs a little more but pay for anything other than a DD view room. It can get really noisy. Then again, our park view room was noisy at times too but a type of noise we could live with. Those rooms CAN be in different wings so you might either be close to the DCA entrance or the DD exit. May not seem like much but after 8-10 miles of walking in a day, it sure seems far.

Naples is very handy for a decent pizza. And I'd suggest the UVA bar if you get a hankering for a burger. We won't mention how dangerous it is to have the Haagen Daas right outside the DD exit. These are all close to the GC since you can't do Napa Rose every day (get the mac and cheese whatever you order).

Don't forget on EMH days for DL, walking away from the park to the DD mono entrance (yes, a bag check there) puts you in the back of the park while everyone else is trying to get in the front gate. You can put away 3-4 rides before regular opening that way.