DISNEY'S GRAND CALIFORNIAN HOTEL & SPA

Prior to booking our trip to Disneyland in California, we got most of our advice about where to stay from co-workers and friends.  There are three Disneyland hotels on the property to choose from; Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Hotel, and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel.  Most people we spoke to said the nicest Disneyland property hotel to stay at is the Grand California Hotel & Spa.  In terms of price, it was the most expensive, so we figured it probably was the nicest.  I have to say when you enter the main lobby, you are almost blown away by the grandeur and how nice it looks.  (We peeked into the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel which looks like it is in major need of an update, and we never got a chance to see the Paradise Pier Hotel so I can't comment on it.)

But, my impression of the hotel and how "grand" it is quickly changed upon entering the room.  It's OLD and looks like it hasn't been updated in years.  Everything was clean, but the bathroom and the room itself had old fixtures and furniture.  After coming from the Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort & Spa in San Diego which was so new and modern, needless to say, I was very disappointed.  

Fortunately, most of our time was spent at the parks so we were hardly in the room, but it was not the place I was looking forward to lay my head on the pillow at the end of an exhausting day.  Now this review about the hotel isn't all bad.  Again, the lobby is nice, the hotel has three outdoor pools, a beautiful spa, and it also has an incredible restaurant, Napa Rose, which has won all sort of awards.  The service was excellent, and we also enjoyed a fun character breakfast one morning at Storyteller's Cafe.  But, I'm not sure I would stay there again because my three biggest disappointments were (1) the old room (2) all the pools are outdoor so if it's raining (like it was for part of the time we were three) you cannot enjoy them, and (3) the hotel doesn't plan enough activities for the kids in the event of inclement weather (as I mentioned in a previous post). 

 For the most part Disney does everything great, I just think they are a little behind on the hotels.  

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa would only get a 3.5 out of 5 rating from me.

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- DAY 3

Our last day at the parks was probably our best day!  Yes, part of us was sad this would be it at Disney, but really we weren't even supposed to be at the parks for a third day, so it was special.  The story is that we only bought a 2-day park hopper pass, figuring the first day we would be checking into our hotel and enjoying the pools and Downtown Disney, and then doing the parks for two days.  However, while we were out there, the forecast kept on predicting all of these crazy storms for the two days we were going to be at the parks and not for our first day checking in, so we figured we might as well use the park pass for the first two days, and just play the third day by ear.  Well, the first two days were bright and sunny (it only rained overnight on the second day), so we used the park pass then.  The third day we woke up to a rainy and cloudy day and figured we would hang out at the hotel and do whatever activities they had planned for inclement weather.  Well, they didn't have any!  Yes, Disneyland which is considered one of the "Happiest Places on Earth," and a Disneyland property hotel, apparently hasn't yet figured out what to do in the event of rain.  The Grand Californian Hotel has three magnificent pools (all outside), and their one thing planned for a rainy day was some hour-long Pinocchio activity...what were we to do?  I decided to speak to a Hotel Manager who at first offered to send free dvd's up to our room.  When I explained my kids were three and one, and that that probably wouldn't work, he offered us a free park hopper pass for the day for all of us (I'm talking four adults and one child- Brody was free)!!!  I thought they might do something nice for us, but I truly never expected that sort of kindness and generosity.  But, the other thing I haven't mentioned yet is that a lot of the major rides were closed for renovation during our visit, which no one told us when we booked our trip, so that was also part of their consideration into giving us the free passes.  Either way, it was really nice and we had an amazing time.  Rich and I even went back late night, just the two of us, and rode some fun rides we couldn't do with the kids like Indiana Jones and Space Mountain.  I will tell you, our experience really made us feel like we did visit the "Happiest Place on Earth!"  We can't wait to go again!

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- DAY 2

Our second day at Disney, we had breakfast with the characters which was so much fun!  We bought a little autograph book and tried to get as many signatures and pictures with them as we could (although Richie was not into taking the pictures, so usually it was just us posing with them).  From there we spent the day checking out California Adventure and all of the rides.  The park is really amazing with so much to see and do!  We capped off the day with dinner at the park and watching their water light show which was so cool.  After such a great first day, we didn't think it was possible to have such an incredible second day, but we did.  We now know why it's called the "Happiest Place on Earth!"

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- DAY 1

No matter how old or young you are, there is nothing not to love about Disneyland in California.  We had an amazing three days visiting both Disneyland Park and California Adventure Theme Park.  I will tell you more about our hotel stay at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (coming soon!), but in the meantime, I think these pictures can tell you more about the fun we had in a way my words couldn't do!

UN-WELCOME WELCOME HOME!

Hey everyone!  We are back from a week-long vacation to California!  We went to San Diego and to Disneyland in Anaheim, and boy did we have fun!  We checked out the San Diego Botanic Garden, The San Diego Zoo, Legoland, and of course Disneyland and California Adventure.  I am working on plenty of posts about the trip which I'll have coming up next week.  I'm still unpacking, re-settling in, doing laundry...you know, all the not-so-fun parts of coming back from vacation.    In the meantime, I just wanted to tell you a quick little unpleasant story that happened to us when we got home.  After a long flight with two kids 3 and under (which turned out to be better than I thought), we got home late Saturday night to a house that was only 40 degrees!  Yup, our heat wasn't working, so we had to check into a hotel close to home.  It was the worst, after a week of sleeping in hotels all you want to do is sleep in your own bed, but nope!  Thankfully, we got our heat working on Sunday and were able to return home, and then boom- we were hit with another snow storm on Monday.  Talk about un-welcome welcome home!  Take us back to sunny, California!!!