Questions for you Disneyland fans

[callistotoni]

Cut for those of you not into the whole Disney-thing.
Question for those of you who have been to Disneyland recently.

As I mentioned previously, for my birthday this year (Dec. 22) I want to go to Disneyland. Now, when I was a kid accomodations were no problem because my relatives all lived nearby. This is not the case now, however, so I have to figure out where to stay and transportation. What I thought I'd do is fly down Friday Dec 21 in the late morning so that I could have some time to play by myself that evening in the Park. Then meet up with the folks who decide to joing me on Saturday, and fly back late-ish Sunday so that I could spend some time at the Park on Sunday morning.

However, there is the problem of hotel check-in times and having some place to stow luggage. Ideas? In addition, I had originally thought I'd splurge and stay at the Grand Californian. But online reviews of that hotel are mixed, which is very disturbing considering the price. One repeated complaint is long waiting times to check in (like rooms not being available until 6 PM(!), and staff saying that check-in at 3 PM means that the time is anytime *after* that). Since I want to fit in as much play time as possible I do not want to waste time waiting for check-in.

I know some of you have stayed at the Grand Californian -- opinions? Have any of you stayed at hotels that were within walking distance from Disneyland that you were happy with? Note that I'm not that interested in the California theme park because, well, I live here. ;-) So my main interest is in Disneyland itself.

Oh, and is it still true that you can only make reservations to eat at the Blue Bayou the same day/morning? Eating lunch at the BB was something I always got to do, so it's important to me that I get to relive that childhood joy on my B-day. (If it is closed I will be sooooo bitter...)

Comments

[aastg.livejournal.com]

At the Disneyland Hotel, the concierge will stow your baggage safely until check-in time. That way you can stow the baggage, go shopping, eating or even go to the park until your check-in time.

Personally, the Grand Californian does not have the pure Disney cachet that the Disneyland Hotel does. True, the DH rooms are not as glitzy but you can't beat it for convenience.

Yes, you can make reservations for Blue Bayou in the morning. You can go to the Disney website to check to see what attractions may be closed while you're there.

And for sheer Disney geekery, there's http://yesterland.com/ , which is all about the attractions that are no longer there. House of the Future by Monsanto, anyone...?

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

December? yay! Stay up until midnight and they make it snow on mainstreet, very cool.

I also built some of the rides there... but I'm still willing to ride them

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

It would be cool to do that. So far we've usually gone in the spring or in the fall before the Nightmare stuff was done. Some day we'll have to do the 'winter' version of D-Land ...

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

I haven't stayed at the Grand Californian, but I took a nap in my friend's bed when she stayed there and it was NICE. The bed was super comfy, the room was cozy (ie. small but still very very nice) and the hotel was beautiful. Other than that, I can't really comment, except to say that if I could afford it, I'd definitely stay there. :)

Oh, and it's no further from the main park than anywhere else seemed to be, so I'd say proximity really isn't an issue.

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

I *loved* the Grand Californian (including the old-school Bambi's hiding in the print on the shower curtain, and the Mickey Mouse head silhouettes hiding in the bar chandeliers.

At christmastime they have a *huge* tree in the lobby, that you can look at from all of the floors, because the lobby is open all of the way to the top. They also have Victorian carolers who come to sing by the tree. We did not have any problems when we stayed there, and I really loved it. I would stay there again. I'm pretty sure they'll stow your luggage for you pre-check-in, if that needs to be.

[ldyanna.livejournal.com]

We just stayed at the Grand Californian in April. We checked out all the other hotels while we were there and I liked it the best by far. We got there at 2:30 (on Thursday) and only had to wait a few minutes to get checked in. But they offered to store our luggage if we wanted to wait to check in also. The rooms were nice and the service was excellent. We were splurging because we hadn't been to Disneyland for about 12 years and who knows when we will go again. But it was expensive and there are other non-disney hotels pretty close.

[mad-duchess.livejournal.com]

I've never stayed at the GC and would love to check it out sometime. I have a hard time justifying the price tag though, because while the park is open, I'm in the park--when I'm in my room I'm unconcious. That said, the best hotel within easy walking distance is the Howard Johnson on Harbor Blvd. The rooms are nice, clean, large and the price is right. Much nicer/cleaner than the hotels directly across from the main gate like the Tropicana and the Best Westerns. Plus it is next door to a Mimi's cafe which is great for breakfast!

They've changed the rservation policy for the BB--you can now book long in advance (can't remember if it is 30 or 60 days ahead). Check out disney.com under "disney dining" There you will find a central reservation phone number where you can book not only for the BB, but also for other Disney restaurants and several of the places in downtown disney as well (though not Catal, which imho is the best of the downtown disney eateries--you have to call them directly, but disney dining should be able to give you their number.) Given the time of year you'll be in the park, I'd highly recommend the advanced dining reservations ESPECIALLY for the BB.

OK, geek mode off (for now), but if you have any other questions, just hit me up at any event--I can talk about DLand for hours... :-)

[broider-barones.livejournal.com]

We stayed at the Park View Inn - directly accross from Disneyland a couple years ago. Pleasant and clean with good breakfast included. Book your ticket online - flex pass with early entry. Book your restraurants online/phone. BB was lovely. Catal was very good. You also want tickets for Fantasmic - you want to sit and enjoy!

We were up early and there when the park opened. Headed straight for our first 2 ride choices and usually managed to do both easily. They have timed tickets now for the busier rides. Ran around for a couple hours. Lunch and then out of the park for a nap. Back around 4:30 - hit another ride before dinner.

HauntedM becomes Nightmare and Small World becomes X-mas around the world with the appropriate songs. The lightshow on Small World is also lots of fun -- at night. The California park was fun for a day. The Vineyard Restraurant was a nice place to dine and see the Electric Light Parade.

Fireworks and snow - Main St fills up early but you want to be within viewing distance of the Castle.

Have a great time!