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jrad32
06-01-2005, 10:23 AM
My wife is a Disney fan and we are going to stay at the Grand Californian for three nights in October. We've been to DL many times, and WDW once, but this is the first time my wife will ever be staying on property at DL.

I want to make the stay as special as possible, and have heard that you can request a gift basket or special Disney items to be in your room on arrival. Anyone know how this works? What kinds of items or special disney magic is offered? What experiences have you had with this?

MouseWife
06-01-2005, 10:27 AM
I haven't experienced any special treats. Always a basic traveler.

But, heck, just staying on property is pretty darn awesome. Entry right into DCA {which I do enjoy, btw}, so close to Disneyland. The beds are so comfortable and walking around whenever you want, ah. But, be aware, some rooms are pretty far from stairs, elevators.

Not really answering your question but I just had to pipe in~staying at this hotel is just fun, period. :0)

Have a great trip!

yellowrosedtxn
06-01-2005, 10:43 AM
You can contact the Disneyland Resort Vacation Planning at vacationplanning@disneyonline.com They can help you with gift baskets. I am working with John Walsh (John.L.Walsh@disney.com) regarding a custom gift basket. He has been really helpful. What you would do is e-mail him, tell him the price range you are looking to spend (plus 30.00 to have one custom done) and he can help you. You can also request a free autographed picture of some characters - they will let you know if it is possible or not for whatever character you are asking about. Hopefully this helps.

SeansMom
06-01-2005, 11:01 AM
One nice thing is the turn down service, which you don't have to request...it just happens. Also, we requested in writing the view we wanted, as well as bunk beds, etc. Just wrote up our requests and faxed them, and got just what we wanted :).
Hope you have a wonderful time!

My2kidsrule
06-01-2005, 11:03 AM
The post above about vacation planning is right on. Last year, we were at GCH for five days, and I had xmas stockings arranged to be in the room for the kids when we got there. it was great, and they loved it. It's available to people staying at all three DLR hotels. it was a great little thing to be able to do.

jrad32
06-01-2005, 11:05 AM
what kinds of items can they provide?

Jewels
06-01-2005, 11:07 AM
You can contact the Disneyland Resort Vacation Planning at vacationplanning@disneyonline.com They can help you with gift baskets. I am working with John Walsh (John.L.Walsh@disney.com) .


I just wanted to add that John is amazing. He has always been so helpful with our vacation planning goodies. I know others have raved about his service too.

Have fun staying onsite.

yellowrosedtxn
06-01-2005, 11:22 AM
There is a general gift basket list that you can get from the Vacation Planners - they have "standard" things, and also they have the prices. But if you talk to John, you can give him ideas of things you might want - like t-shirts, ears and a number of different things. I read somewhere that someone got a snowglobe, the husband a t-shirt and the kids some little stuffed animals (or something) in their basket. So, it is really up to you on what kinds of things you want. Just talk to John, he'll help you out and he won't buy anything unless he clears it with you first (if you want him too and don't want it to be a surprise for you also.)

wabby1
06-01-2005, 12:56 PM
I don't remember any gift baskets when we stayed there in 2002. I do remember that the rooms were very nice with a wonderful view of DCA. The lobby is quite overwhelming too. The guy at the piano was awesome. Just sit back in one of those easy chairs there and take a few minutes to listen to that piano. Its very relaxing, and I definitely looked at that as a perk.

CarlieB
06-01-2005, 01:48 PM
I agree with the poster above - the lobby is beautiful. Try and spend some time in the evening in one of the armchairs, or a rocking chair by the fire, with a drink from the hearthstone lounge - very nice. Also, the pools are really nice in the evening - especially the hot tub. You can relax for a while, and it's only a short stroll back to your room afterwards to change for dinner.

splash
06-01-2005, 03:15 PM
We stayed at the DLH and on the night before my sons birthday, there was a knock on the door and a waiter appeared with a Happy Birthday balloon, 3 mickey head shaped rice krispie square dipped in chocolate and 3 mickey mouse cookies, plus 3 cartons of milk for all of us. It turns out that my mom called ahead and asked if they could do anything and they made suggestions to her. I don't know the cost, but whatever it was, it was worth it for the surprise!

pisces
06-01-2005, 06:43 PM
For whatever it's worth, they are wonderful on NYE. In addition to the charming Chip-n-Dale chocolates they leave at turndown, on NYE, they added a special washcloth folded in the shape of a party hat and glued on glitter that read "Happy 2005".

Very special and thoughtful.

MrsG
06-01-2005, 07:22 PM
Don't have any suggestions for you, but I just wanted to say what a great guy you are to want to make your trip extra special for your Disney-loving wife! Lucky gal! :D

kisroo
06-01-2005, 07:46 PM
Not sure if this was a concierge perk or not, but we received a 'special' turn-down when we said it was our honeymoon. We walked in to 2 long stem roses on the bed (one on each pillow), rose pedals scattered on the bed, and those delish chocolate covered strawberries.

Maybe if you mentioned you'd like to surprise your wife with a special turn down??

Ironically, they did this every night (with different treats each night~chocolates, those little trees in a can, notes on GCH notecards...). I thought it was adorable but I have a pic of a tired Mr kisroo scooping up rose pedals for the upteenth time after a long day at the park... :p

Oh, and make sure you enjoy the pool, like others have said. It's really romantic at night. Have a magical time!!

What a lucky lady!!
~kisroo:)

CTX
06-01-2005, 07:50 PM
One nice thing is the turn down service, which you don't have to request...it just happens. Also, we requested in writing the view we wanted, as well as bunk beds, etc. Just wrote up our requests and faxed them, and got just what we wanted :).
Hope you have a wonderful time!

We're staying at the GCH at the beginning of July with theme park view. I've never been inside the GCH and I was wondering the other day if certain areas of the hotel had better views and if you could request a certain view. I know some rooms face Grizzly peak and others face Paradise Pier, but I'm not really sure what is the best view. I was wondering if could provide any of your recommendations on the specific view you found to be the best?

bradk
06-01-2005, 08:02 PM
i don't know about the views in particular and unfortunately i missed all this myself, but paradise pier is absolutely amazing all lit up at night. so it would offer a great view. i'm not sure what goes on around grizzly mountain at night (i'm assuming the brother bear area (whatever it's called) and grr would be before the mountain).

melmel
06-02-2005, 02:06 AM
I stayed recently at the GCH, at a room facing Downtown Disney. It was the cheapest room availiable, but we were on a budget, so we gave up on the view. Besides, who wants to see DCA? So we got a room on the fourth floor just about Mickey and Minnie on the World of Disney store. Not a great view of anything.... EXCEPT THE FIREWORKS. Could hear and see them perfectly... down the Tomorrowland lasers from the balcony. That was really great.

Plus, we got bunk beds and trundle beds and there was a place for everyone to sleep! I got top bunk. :D

pisces
06-02-2005, 06:39 AM
Ask for a view of the Sunwheel and the green meadow. The Sunwheel stays lit at night.

SeansMom
06-02-2005, 08:57 AM
We're staying at the GCH at the beginning of July with theme park view. I've never been inside the GCH and I was wondering the other day if certain areas of the hotel had better views and if you could request a certain view. I know some rooms face Grizzly peak and others face Paradise Pier, but I'm not really sure what is the best view. I was wondering if could provide any of your recommendations on the specific view you found to be the best?

Once we were on the 5th floor, with a view of Grizzly River Run. We had a WONDERFUL view and it was especially pretty at night. It was a little odd, though, when they turned off the water at night and the park shut down :rolleyes: . Anyway, last time we booked off expedia, got a rate of $189.00, and requested a view of the courtyard. Got a great view of it and could see the monorail go by. Very quite at night. I think the worst view would be some of the downtown disney views (the way the building is layed out those would essentially be no view or perhaps fireworks view only rooms) and of course, the parking lot view. But keep in mind, this is DL and you won't be spending too much time in your room!!!

Terri
06-02-2005, 09:09 AM
We just returned - though we stayed at Disneyland Hotel. We also worked with John Walsh - he's the greatest! We had a basket in our room that had gold ears with our names, coffee and chocolate and cookies! All in a mickey shaped basket! Absolutely awesome! My family was thrilled and so was I. We brought our own little gift basket for John from Alaska. It's always nice to do something for those who take special care of you. Use one of the links above and contact him. Tell him Terri says Hi! :D