Grand Californian Rooms: do they overlook World of Color?

[CADisneyFam]

what rooms if any have a view of WOC? I need room #'s if possible. Also are all the bunkbed rooms located in a specific wing? 3 years ago we stayed in a bunkbed room which overlooked downtown disney and gave us a nice view of fireworks shoe BUT the walk to to find an elevator was like being a rat in a maze.

We might want to stay here in Nov but want a room not far from elevator and possibly with a fireworks or WOC view. I have a map of the room numbers still but I am confused.

Janel

[jsilkey]

I found several maps of the resort w/ room numbers on Google Images, but none of them contained the new DVC wing, which has most of the theme park views. Use your map and pull up the Google Earth image where you can see the new wing. It is easier to guess the views with the actual overheard picture

[CADisneyFam]

thanks for that tip. We are not DVC members so that option is out, well unless we want to try with David's Disney rentals but the price might be a tad too much considering we need atleast 3 beds. But I looked at my map and it looks like rooms 312 and 318 (suites I assume?) and rooms 320,322 and maybe 324 might have a somewhat of a view of WOC?

Anyone care to share?

[CADisneyFam]

I found several maps of the resort w/ room numbers on Google Images, but none of them contained the new DVC wing, which has most of the theme park views. Use your map and pull up the Google Earth image where you can see the new wing. It is easier to guess the views with the actual overheard picture

hey since you are a dvc member.....Can one rent the studio but get a trundlebed or a rollout bed for an extra fee?

[jsilkey]

No idea, sorry. We rented a studio last year, but only had the 3 of us. We thought the room was pretty tight...my son didn't pull out the hide-a-bed from the sofa, just slept on the sofa so there was a little more room. We have 6 people this year and are renting a 2 bedroom. Hopefully, there is more room

[SigalTchelet]

thanks for that tip. We are not DVC members so that option is out, well unless we want to try with David's Disney rentals but the price might be a tad too much considering we need atleast 3 beds. But I looked at my map and it looks like rooms 312 and 318 (suites I assume?) and rooms 320,322 and maybe 324 might have a somewhat of a view of WOC?

Anyone care to share?

Even if you are not a DVC member, guests of the GCH can go to the 6th floor terrace overlooking WoC and have a great view, with audio as well. My BFF and I did this last year.

[CADisneyFam]

Even if you are not a DVC member, guests of the GCH can go to the 6th floor terrace overlooking WoC and have a great view, with audio as well. My BFF and I did this last year.

thank you so much, my son can't handle the crowds of people for too long so we often watch some of the shows from our room. But'd love to know if someone in a studio can get a rollaway? My 17yr girl & 9 yr boy are really too big to sleep together anymore which is why we need atleast 3 beds or sleeping spots

[CADisneyFam]

I just called and boy did I get a rude person. All she kept saying if we can't have a room that sleeps 5 unless we have 5 in our party. SHe also mentioned that it could be a possibility that a party of 5 would get 2 queens and a sleeping bag, seriously?? I should have stayed on the phone to take the survey.

So should I make up a person and book for a party of 5 so I can be assured I will get a room with atleast 3 sleeping spots?

Oh I also asked if any of the rooms have an obscured view of WOC or atleast that area to see the water and she said no. She also tried to tell me that there might not be any discounts on rooms for visa members???? Man this lady was just horrible and didn't seem helpful at all. I know they can not guarantee a specific room or view but one can atleast tell me it is an option depending on availability.

[mrsdisney68]

I just called and boy did I get a rude person. All she kept saying if we can't have a room that sleeps 5 unless we have 5 in our party. SHe also mentioned that it could be a possibility that a party of 5 would get 2 queens and a sleeping bag, seriously?? I should have stayed on the phone to take the survey.

So should I make up a person and book for a party of 5 so I can be assured I will get a room with atleast 3 sleeping spots?

We are kind of having the same issue. We are booked for five nights is Dec into a 2 queen with daybed room. My kids are too big now for the bunkbeds. They also suggested he sleeping bag option but I said I would hope for over $500 a night everyone could have a bed. So we will see what happens when we check in!

[carolinakid]

I can't understand how they can't guarantee a certain room. If you request, say, a theme park view and are charged accordingly, how can you NOT be guaranteed a room with a theme park view. I could understand if the rates were all the same and it was a first come, first served type of deal regarding the view. But standard views, DD views and DCA views are all priced differently. If I'm not getting something, could someone please explain it to me as if I were a 5th grader? Thanks!

[SigalTchelet]

thank you so much, my son can't handle the crowds of people for too long so we often watch some of the shows from our room. But'd love to know if someone in a studio can get a rollaway? My 17yr girl & 9 yr boy are really too big to sleep together anymore which is why we need atleast 3 beds or sleeping spots

Actually-there was just a handful of people there when we went.

[kbushue]

Even if you are not a DVC member, guests of the GCH can go to the 6th floor terrace overlooking WoC and have a great view, with audio as well. My BFF and I did this last year.

That's amazing information! We are staying at the GCH for our first anniversary at the end of September, and paid extra for a 'partial' park view, but now I know where we'll be hiding on on Saturday night!

[SigalTchelet]

That's amazing information! We are staying at the GCH for our first anniversary at the end of September, and paid extra for a 'partial' park view, but now I know where we'll be hiding on on Saturday night!

Yay! Enjoy the view!

[Teddi]

There is no dedicated wing for bunk beds. All the basic room types (king, q/q, q/b, q/q/sofa) are scattered throughout based on my research and also visual from walking around. I agree with you it is very frustrating and a sticking spot that you may be offered a sleeping bad. Really? Grand, really? They seriously need to fix this. I can't believe they've gone and added DLH into the "bag" mix. I don't believe that any of the standard or even "view" rooms have a good view of WOC since the addition of the villas. The villas most certainly do have many rooms with fabulous views.

[jsilkey]

Currently listening to and watching WOC from 3rd floor villa. The projections are not very visable from 3rd floor, but it is still an amazing view!!

[Gilesmt]

I know that this is not the exact same but it is a suggestion. When we needed three beds we had to move from gc to either dlh or PPH, because you are not guaranteed, we where paying over $500 and we thought that yes, very nice but just to much to pay for a bigger room, and yes the bunks got to small and the sleeping bag just don't cut it at $500 a night. So we went to both dlh and PPH, PPH does have views of the woc from the top floors, the rooms are a lot bigger, we found it very crowded with three adults and a baby at the gc, at both of the others we thought we had more than enough room to spread out and not step on each other. We liked PPH way better than dlh, except for the rude staff, or drunk staff they had but that is another story. At the gc when we asked for a park view and paid, we did not receive it, when we asked for the two queens and daybed which they only have about 15 rooms of, we did not get it, we never got an upgrade, even though we paid the same price for a room we did not ask for that was not an upgrade. At dlh we were upgraded every time, actually the last time we stayed there they had a power problem and right before check in while sitting in the lobby of the gh they called and told us they had to change us to different rooms (ex and me like to stay in different towers so we have our space when we just can't deal with each other anymore) anyway while talking I jokingly said you can change us to the gc, and he said that will be fine, I said no no, we don't want that I was joking, he said we wont charge you the difference, I said no, we stayed there we just can't be that squished anymore. We took an upgrade to the higher floor at dlh dream tower.but on different floors. Another time at PPH we were upgraded to dlh for some reason, never could tell why, and we only paid $100 a night, great deal. Anyway it is not the same. I like the gc for the grandness but for practicality the other two hotels are more family friendly for our family anyway.

[carolinakid]

Again my question....how can they CHARGE you for a certain view and then NOT GIVE IT to you when you check in. If that's the case, if I say, pay for a premium (DCA) view at the GCH and am given a standard view do I get the $$$ difference back?????

[Gilesmt]

Again my question....how can they CHARGE you for a certain view and then NOT GIVE IT to you when you check in. If that's the case, if I say, pay for a premium (DCA) view at the GCH and am given a standard view do I get the $$$ difference back?????

I can only speak for me and no one else, I asked for my money back but was not granted my money back, when I asked for the 2beds and a sleeper and not giving one, I was told they are not guaranteed and I was out of luck, when we asked specifically to overlook the bear in DCA and got a view of the court yard we where told the same thing, rooms are not guaranteed. That time I did notice in the bill that although we used valet parking everyday they did not charge us so I figured we broke even that time. And as a say,to us the other two hotels work better with lots more room and we have done okay with upgrades. But I think that is the problem, everyone asks for upgrades, me I have gotten them but have not asked. And although the sell rooms as with views they do not guarantee them so therefore when someone comes in at 10 and asks for an upgrade and is granted it, and you come in at 4 you end up with the lower rate room and that is unfair, but I had no luck getting my money back when we did not get what we wanted, and I also had no luck asking the next day or the next day to go to a room like i wanted, so I quit asking the third day.but I did save a lot on valet parking.

[currence]

I can't understand how they can't guarantee a certain room. If you request, say, a theme park view and are charged accordingly, how can you NOT be guaranteed a room with a theme park view. I could understand if the rates were all the same and it was a first come, first served type of deal regarding the view. But standard views, DD views and DCA views are all priced differently. If I'm not getting something, could someone please explain it to me as if I were a 5th grader? Thanks!

The original question was about a World of Color view. That is a specific sub-set of "park view" and is not guaranteed. The last time I was in a room (not mine) that had a park view, it was more of the grizzly river rapids area if I recall. It was a very pretty view, and a park view, but not a WOc view.

[Drince88]

I just looked at the different room types in the GCH - and none of htem is related to the type of beds in the rooms - they're all view related (plus then concierge). I was looking at 4 nights in the middle of November, to get a comparison.
-Standard
-Woods/Garden/Courtyard ($75 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Partial Deluxe DTD ($215 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Deluxe ($215 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Theme Park ($525 more than standard for 4 nights)*
-Resort/Pool ($525 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Premium DTD ($530 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Concierge Standard ($1310 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Concierge Theme Park ($1610 more than standard for 4 nights)*

What type of view did you pay for gilesmt, and what type of view did you actually get?
And only the 2 starred ones would have A CHANCE of having a WOC view -- as currence stated, they could be complying with what you booked and you'd have a Grizzly River Rapids area view.

[tea4two]

I can't understand how they can't guarantee a certain room. If you request, say, a theme park view and are charged accordingly, how can you NOT be guaranteed a room with a theme park view. I could understand if the rates were all the same and it was a first come, first served type of deal regarding the view. But standard views, DD views and DCA views are all priced differently. If I'm not getting something, could someone please explain it to me as if I were a 5th grader? Thanks!

Most, if not all hotels, have some clause in the resevation confirmation page that says that requests will be noted, but cannot be guaranteed. Part of this is because the hotel cannot know what will happen ahead of time. There may be damage to a certain part of the hotel that would prevent anyone from using those rooms -- if the damaged rooms are the ones you requested, well, sorry. There's not much that the hotel can do, other than move you to another part of the hotel (even if you don't like the view or lack thereof.) Other times, as noted by a pp, everyone requests an upgrade. But there can't possibly be upgrades available for everyone on any given day. So the hotel will determine who gets priority and who doesn't. Your upgraded room is therefore not guaranteed. We've checked in to nice hotels, only to be told that the previous guests have decided not to vacate the room, therefore the hotel decided to put us in a lower level room. (That has happened twice, and both times we were able to work out some sort of discount and free amenities to compensate for the loss of view.) On the positive side, most of the time when we request a certain type room with a certain type view, we do get it.
I don't work in the hotel industry, so I'm sure there are countless other scenarios to explain the non-guaranteed room choice. But I hope that this has helped clarify some of the confusion.

[Gilesmt]

I just looked at the different room types in the GCH - and none of htem is related to the type of beds in the rooms - they're all view related (plus then concierge). I was looking at 4 nights in the middle of November, to get a comparison.
-Standard
-Woods/Garden/Courtyard ($75 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Partial Deluxe DTD ($215 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Deluxe ($215 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Theme Park ($525 more than standard for 4 nights)*
-Resort/Pool ($525 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Premium DTD ($530 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Concierge Standard ($1310 more than standard for 4 nights)
-Concierge Theme Park ($1610 more than standard for 4 nights)*

What type of view did you pay for gilesmt, and what type of view did you actually get?
And only the 2 starred ones would have A CHANCE of having a WOC view -- as currence stated, they could be complying with what you booked and you'd have a Grizzly River Rapids area view.

First I was answering if you re guarenteed a room with a view and giving a suggestion of going to PPH since they would have more rooms with a view of woc. Second I answered will they give you money back if you don't get what you asked for.

To answer your questions to me, it was several years ago, before woc, we asked for a theme park room over looking the bear and we paid about $475, 5 years ago for the room. We got a room looking at the court yard. And I have to rough justice here since it has been so long and prices are different, but at the time it seems we paid about $415 more for the room we did get than for the room we ask to have. As to the number of beds in a room, I was stating that if you want that don't go to the grand because it is definately not guaranteed and you most likely will not get it, you have a much better chance at dlh or PPH to get two queens and a sofa so book there if you need it. Actually I think the gc only has about 15 rooms that have 2 queens and a sofa and they over look the parking lot. And the bunks are not a guarantee and my teenagers hated them so we changed hotels so we had a much better change of getting three beds.

[carolinakid]

Thanks for the replies; it still just pisses me off not so much that I could request a park view room and not have it be guaranteed, but that I could be CHARGED for a park view room and be given a standard view room instead and not have the room rate adjusted accordingly. That just seems downright illegal to me.

Next year my boyfriend and I have booked a week at the GCH and have already paid for a theme park view. When we arrive all the way from the east coast we expect to be in a room with a theme park view. If not, we'll be disappointed but we'll deal with it. However, if we are in a standard view room we'd sure as hell expect to have our bill adjusted at the standard view rate which is approximately $1200 cheaper than the theme park view rate for that week which we've already paid for. Are we being unreasonable? I think not....

[currence]

I know for DVC, Disney has adjusted which rooms they consider are the various views. It turns out that being able to see a tiny sliver of something if you crane your neck just right didn't count as a view for many of the guests. It would not surprise me if based on that same feedback they adjusted the hotel categories accordingly. They had to disclose that they were doing this for DVC because of the points chart guarantee but there is no similar disclosure requirement for regular hotel rooms.

I expect if Disney agrees that your are not in a theme park view room, you should have your price adjusted. The dispute could arise if Disney thinks you have a view room and you disagree. Disney tries to keep its guests happy so if you have paid for a theme park view, I expect you will either get one or there will be a reasonable explanation why you cannot. But again, a theme park view does not guarantee a view of World of Color.

[Malcon10t]

Thanks for the replies; it still just pisses me off not so much that I could request a park view room and not have it be guaranteed, but that I could be CHARGED for a park view room and be given a standard view room instead and not have the room rate adjusted accordingly. That just seems downright illegal to me.

Next year my boyfriend and I have booked a week at the GCH and have already paid for a theme park view. When we arrive all the way from the east coast we expect to be in a room with a theme park view. If not, we'll be disappointed but we'll deal with it. However, if we are in a standard view room we'd sure as hell expect to have our bill adjusted at the standard view rate which is approximately $1200 cheaper than the theme park view rate for that week which we've already paid for. Are we being unreasonable? I think not....

I have never heard of it happening like that other than the post here. The incidents I have heard of, where you have a reservation for a theme park view, the rate was adjusted AND they "made it worthwhile" to accept the lower priced room (examples, comping into the concierge lounge). If I am in a standard room after reserving a theme park view, I expect to pay for a standard.