Hmm, that is a tough one. We are DVC owners at the Grand and usually stay in the villas but have also stayed in the regular rooms plenty of times. I just came back last night from Disneyland doing the StarWars Run Weekend. For this trip we stayed at the DL hotel - I had not stayed there since 1980 There are many cool things about the DL hotel (the pool is beautiful and a cool retro vibe), but I think the Grand is still my preference. You just can't beat the location and convenience of it for one thing and I love the lobby. The DL Hotel is very convenient to the monorail which is fun. In my opinion the finishes and linens etc in the rooms in each are equally nice. The DL hotel has been very nicely updated - light and bright with the cool light up headboards. I think I like the bathroom layout better at the DLH over the Grand. However you can't get around the fact that the DLH is old construction. I found that the noise from other rooms was really loud as well as noise coming from outside. The elevators are tiny and the shower was pretty basic. It always quieted down at an appropriate time, but it was noticeable. Oh there is another plus for the DLH though - Dole Whips with rum in the coffee bar in the afternoon.
We walked through the Grand on Sunday and there is a ton of construction going on. The pool is completely closed and blocked off and it sounded like other construction was going on as well. I don't think the change in hotels would cause me to change the trip, because they are both very nice hotels and the "specialness" of the trip is all the extras and backstage exclusives.
On other construction notes, StarWars Land is really starting to take shape - rock formations are emerging.
Happy to answer any other DL questions.
Thank you for posting this! We were disappointed in the hotel change, but it isn't a deal breaker. There are so many other reasons we are taking this trip and a Hotel change isn't enough to make us cancel. I am very glad to hear from someone who has been to both recently and could give this type of comparison.