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View Full Version : GCH a little too expensive



jmorgan
04-19-2021, 10:47 AM
Being that I have not used any of my vacation budget for the last year, I thought I would check the GCH for prices and maybe splurge this year. However, the rooms start at $806 a night for a little box that overlooks the parking lot. Maybe I have been away from Disneyland for too long and am totally out of touch, but that seems really high to me. I want to say the last time I checked, rooms started about $470. Did the rooms really start at $800 before the pandemic?

Berry Princess
04-19-2021, 03:43 PM
I don't know what it was before covid for peak days but seeing as how the ticket prices are for just 1 day 1 park, I am betting they plucked from the cost of peak days for the hotel as well. Obviously there are plenty willing to pay it. I am one of those that can't see spending on a hotel room like that for 1 night no matter what it is or where.

olegc
04-19-2021, 05:20 PM
I don't know what it was before covid for peak days but seeing as how the ticket prices are for just 1 day 1 park, I am betting they plucked from the cost of peak days for the hotel as well. Obviously there are plenty willing to pay it. I am one of those that can't see spending on a hotel room like that for 1 night no matter what it is or where.

this is what I think as well. And - since its obvious that only weekends are sold out right now for Dland - and many days are available for both parks - at 25% capacity - I wonder if the hotels will be even be at 10% (beyond opening weekend).

june1st1997
04-19-2021, 05:58 PM
$800 for GCH! That is insane. Absolutely insane. That is grossly over priced.

Berry Princess
04-19-2021, 07:11 PM
$800 for GCH! That is insane. Absolutely insane. That is grossly over priced.

It is. Yet many will happily pay it and more just because its Disney.

GrumpyGoofyGuy
04-20-2021, 09:49 AM
We're middle class people, and we can never justify spending anywhere close to what they charge for a hotel room that in itself is not the destination. We sleep and shower in a hotel when we go to Disneyland. We're at the park pretty much the whole day. All we want is a clean safe place that's within walking distance. It just blows us away that there are enough people who are willing to spend that much, but there apparently is.

jsuperk
04-20-2021, 12:54 PM
Think about it. It's like having a suite in Vegas aside from sleeping in it how much time do you spend in the room. Not much. Unless you entertaining. You don't need much. A suggestion wait for a promotion to come along. There gonna come just be patent.

10-97
06-23-2021, 08:35 AM
The GCH is expensive, but I still like staying there because of the location. To me, a hotel isn't just a place to sleep. I look at a GCH room as a base-of-operations for the day. I always get up early for Magic Morning, then return to the hotel several times during the day. On a typical day, I return for an afternoon break, to use the weight room, the hot tub, and to relax by the pool. I also take a "raft riding" outfit, and switch to that just before GRR, then back to dry clothes after I'm soaked. So for me, the GCH is part of the vacation experience. I even like their restaurants.

olegc
06-23-2021, 09:12 AM
Its always going to depend on your style of park experience. 10-97 looks like they incorporate lots of breaks in their visits. Similar to what folks do at WDW. I think if you are visiting multiple days, or multiple times a year you can get the most of your stay like that. For others who love to get the most value out of their park visit - the room is just a place to crash at the end of the day - so spending on amenities is not the greatest idea.

I guess what I dislike is that the pricing of Disney Hotels drives the rest of the market. So many newer properties are tied to 5 star or near 5 star levels in order to compete for the most dollars. At some point you've priced out many visitors - who will stay in alternate cities and then maybe not spend as much time in Anaheim. this has been stated many times over the years but the resort area keeps pushing - because there's always new dollars that have not been yet to the resort area and want to visit. So until the rooms sit vacant for quite a while there wont be a change. Folks who say they get a lot of the hotels and still pay the prices as they go up will continue to drive the market higher.

GrumpyGoofyGuy
06-25-2021, 08:41 AM
When we went to Disney World in 2018, we left our hotel to eat breakfast on site, and then returned to our room to grab our backpacks for the day. We took buses and park hopped several days. Not even once did we return to our hotel until we were done at the parks for the day. Maybe it's just us, but returning to your hotel room several times a day is just crazy and a waste of valuable park time.

Berry Princess
06-25-2021, 09:21 AM
When we went to Disney World in 2018, we left our hotel to eat breakfast on site, and then returned to our room to grab our backpacks for the day. We took buses and park hopped several days. Not even once did we return to our hotel until we were done at the parks for the day. Maybe it's just us, but returning to your hotel room several times a day is just crazy and a waste of valuable park time.

This is how we have always been about hotels as well no matter where we go.

currence
06-25-2021, 10:15 AM
When we went to Disney World in 2018, we left our hotel to eat breakfast on site, and then returned to our room to grab our backpacks for the day. We took buses and park hopped several days. Not even once did we return to our hotel until we were done at the parks for the day. Maybe it's just us, but returning to your hotel room several times a day is just crazy and a waste of valuable park time.

This is normally us, but our most recent trip I was not in theme park shape and did not have the stamina to park-storm all day. And it was hotter than I would have preferred, which further drains energy. So being able to take a break in the middle of the day for a few hours was really nice. I don't think that I would want to do that every trip, but I feel like I at least understand the people who have breaks scheduled into their days a little bit more than I did before.

Karin
06-25-2021, 03:52 PM
When we went to Disney World in 2018, we left our hotel to eat breakfast on site, and then returned to our room to grab our backpacks for the day. We took buses and park hopped several days. Not even once did we return to our hotel until we were done at the parks for the day.

At WDW maybe, but at DL, with the Grand *right there*, it totally makes sense to me. One person's crazy is another person's normal.

Let's not judge, please. Saying "in my opinion" can go a long way in helping avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

GrumpyGoofyGuy
06-25-2021, 07:26 PM
OK-In my opinion it's crazy to pay $800 plus taxes and fees for 1 night at a hotel, no matter where it is.

wdwchuck
06-26-2021, 05:45 AM
Being that I have not used any of my vacation budget for the last year, I thought I would check the GCH for prices and maybe splurge this year. However, the rooms start at $806 a night for a little box that overlooks the parking lot. Maybe I have been away from Disneyland for too long and am totally out of touch, but that seems really high to me. I want to say the last time I checked, rooms started about $470. Did the rooms really start at $800 before the pandemic?

I have been making the same complaints about WDW hotel pricing. Even with a 25% discount many of the resorts are out of our price range now. We used to love to stay around Crescent Lake and walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios (we no longer storm the parks and hate the bus system) but our latest trip might be our last for quite awhile. I am envious of those who can afford to pay these prices and there must be a lot of them otherwise Disney wouldn't be doing it. For their most recent 25% off deal you can't even book most of the rooms at the inflated prices. In my opinion I should have chosen a different career or played a different lottery so I could afford these crazy prices.

Berry Princess
06-26-2021, 08:42 AM
I have been making the same complaints about WDW hotel pricing. Even with a 25% discount many of the resorts are out of our price range now. We used to love to stay around Crescent Lake and walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios (we no longer storm the parks and hate the bus system) but our latest trip might be our last for quite awhile. I am envious of those who can afford to pay these prices and there must be a lot of them otherwise Disney wouldn't be doing it. For their most recent 25% off deal you can't even book most of the rooms at the inflated prices. In my opinion I should have chosen a different career or played a different lottery so I could afford these crazy prices.

I've seen so many on other boards talk about how many times they have gone to WDW since it reopened and stayed on property....with some of those not holding APs. With Disneyland's reopening, I've seen a few as well that have gone a handful of times or more and stayed at the Grand each time. I know for myself, I wouldn't waste money on GCH. When someone stayed there I knew and we had gone up to their room to meet up for breakfast, I wasn't impressed with the rooms. There wasn't really anything Disney about it either. I get its close to the parks and is a lure for many in that aspect but I'm like most where I'm not going to be spending time in a hotel room. I'm not a pool person at all so that doesn't lure me to go back to a hotel for like some do. In the case of now, where I'm paying for my tickets and not going on APs, then I want to spend my time getting my money worth in the parks not from a hotel room. I do understand that everyone does things differently though and looks at money differently as well. Myself, I am just one of those that even if I have the money, I just can't bring myself to spend it willy-nilly like and rather get the most out of it that I can if I spend it. For the cost of one night at GCH, I could find another nice hotel that I could turn into a week stay.

TulaBelle
06-26-2021, 10:04 AM
I agree with Berry Princess and WDWChuck. I'm an average middle class person with average middle class income. I can't see spending that kind of money for one night no matter the circumstances. But hey! More power to those of you who can! You work just as hard for your money as I do, if that feels right to you, you do you! That makes one less person looking at the hotels in my price range😉. Everybody wins °○°

Karin
06-28-2021, 09:07 AM
I wouldn't spend $800/night to stay anywhere either. We are usually only able to stay at the Grand 1x a year and we use our DVC points. It's too tough to get in at the 7 month mark since the amount of DVC units is so low. We also use DVC to stay at WDW. Agreed that otherwise it's cost prohibitive. I think we're done paying for DVC next Spring. We also use our points for DCL. Truly one of the best investments we've made.

olegc
06-28-2021, 03:56 PM
i have noticed as well the plethora of folks talking up how many times they've visited the parks already (not just Disneyland either). I know of one fellow who has gone to Disneyland and DCA a total of 10 days since April 30th. Thats already 1500 if you take into account these were mostly weekends. I can only assume their ability to pay and their love of Disney parks is a convenient intersection - or its just where they choose to spend most of their money. More power to them - but I do feel like sometimes they force the FOMO talk out there on the rest of us. Thats the nature of the Internet I guess.

I do have it in my mind to go back to WDW and just do a greatest hits with lots of resort tours. I know you cant do it all in a week - but maybe only 1 day in each park and then the rest would be lots of other places. As I get older its more about taking it all in instead of storming the parks (as posed earlier). No grandchildren yet so Im OK for now. :-D

Berry Princess
06-28-2021, 04:39 PM
See I just can't see spending that much to go to any theme park as much as they are on tickets. Its not worth it at all IMO. We did our day and that was good enough for now. I've already started seeing many people from DL and WDW already talking about picking up sickness from the parks. All I can think is if they had worn a mask they wouldn't be sick and if the sick would stay home it wouldn't spread either. Obviously nothing was learned from COVID when it comes to sickness. SMH With so much so fast changed and now single rider back in the mix, I just wouldn't feel comfortable there right now. My husband's band has played in a couple bars (1 before June 15th and 1 after) and both times I opted out of going knowing how people are in my area. So for me there is no FOMO. Yet I see many that you can tell its there. They watch the vloggers and see others say how they have gone as well so many times since and how it effects them for sure. Its a bit crazy with how over the top a few have been. I figured that if we go again this year it will be when its closer to the holidays. Otherwise waiting to see what the "membership" thing is they will give us as an option.

olegc, my friend and I have discussed WDW but for when we have a big birthday in a few years. Neither of us have ever gone so figured by that point it would be a good time and for her to save for it as she can. Otherwise at this point I'm more thinking about when I can travel overseas and not worry about a chance of being stuck over there. I told my son that wants to go to Japan that we are doing that once the DisneySea expansion is done so I can visit Arendelle. :p

olegc
06-28-2021, 04:57 PM
olegc, my friend and I have discussed WDW but for when we have a big birthday in a few years. Neither of us have ever gone so figured by that point it would be a good time and for her to save for it as she can. Otherwise at this point I'm more thinking about when I can travel overseas and not worry about a chance of being stuck over there. I told my son that wants to go to Japan that we are doing that once the DisneySea expansion is done so I can visit Arendelle. :p

now THAT'S a plan. Can I copy that?

currence
06-28-2021, 05:03 PM
We booked 2 nights at the Grand Cal before we even knew that the parks would be open. But we booked using our DVC points staying in a DVC room. We did splurge to a larger room than we normally book in California, because we didn't take a trip to WDW that had been scheduled for Oct 20 and had excess points to use. We planned on going whether or not the theme park was an option, and would have done Disney's "Touch of [whatever they renamed the promotion to get people to buy more tickets and return]" if that's all that was available. When they announced that the parks would be open, I planned on getting a 2-day, 1-park per day ticket for $220 per person, spending our first day at the pool and then doing one day per park. Then they announced Avengers Campus and we upgraded to the 5-day, park hoppers for $395. I'm glad that we did. We were able to go at a much slower pace because we knew that we could come back later, and we had more opportunities to try for Rise of the Resistance and Webslingers.

I do wish that we had more than 14 days to use our tickets, as I would have preferred to spread out our visits longer than that. One of my friends also bought 5-day tickets starting with Memorial Day's Monday and was able to get (effectively) 3 weekends worth of visits.

I'm currently torn between wanting to go back while the crowds are still low and not wanting to spend money on tickets until I know what the membership plans look like. I think that we will probably visit a few other So Cal theme parks before we return to Disney.

Berry Princess
06-28-2021, 05:08 PM
now THAT'S a plan. Can I copy that?

LOL sure go for it.