bumbershoot
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
I said I'd talk about the Grand Cal, so here it is!
I'm so glad I've finally spent time in it withOUT the big xmas tree in it. That tree might be pretty, for those who can see it, but for my eyes, it just sucks up all the light in that lobby. I have light/dark oddities with my post-Lasik vision, and xmastime GCH lobby does not do it for me.
But without the tree, it's quite lovely!
They have a cute little section with small chairs in front of a TV with classic Disney cartoons. It's amazing how even the most jaded Sprout/Noggin/Nickelodeon/DisneyChannel/CartoonNetwork watching kids can just sit and watch with peals of laughter, at the silly antics of Donald Duck, etc, in black and white. Even when an adult can tell that there are some current-for-the-time references that a 5 year old just can't know about, it's all just funny to them...
The bummer of that area was that, and this is speculation based on a couple things E said and how his mood/attitude changed, we think a kid or two teased E for his red chapped mouth. And of course realizing now what might have been going on at that time (who knows when the strep started), I have to say I'm glad that those kids instinctively did not want him near them (self-protection), though I feel bad that it hurt E's feelings.
The room was nice, the tub wasn't tremendously deep, but it was very comfy for a soak. The water could get super-hot, which was nice on the muscles.
I wish Housekeeping (and this goes for DLH and PPH too) could follow their own signs. If towels are in the basket, please replace those. If towels are hanging, don't replace those. The signs make it clear, I wish they'd read them or remember them or figure out that we are reading them.
Housekeeping did, however, set up really cute stuffed animal/character situations with E's Mickey and Mushu, and later the "won" stuffies from the Midway games. We really enjoyed that. I will tell you that I took the plushes out of the pile they were in, and tossed them on the bed, in HOPES that they would do something with them...but R and E didn't know that I did that for that purpose. Little surprise for them each day.
I was so glad our room had a DVD player in it, though we only used it twice. Somehow it let us decompress, just to watch a little bit of Pirates, or half of Nemo.
The balcony was lovely and I wish it had been a longer visit so I didn't feel so frantic to be in the parks. There was no view other than the signs of the stores in DTD and their rooves (is that the word???), but it was nice just sitting outside. Hearing the DTD music was nice, too. And I think we all know that I don't really enjoy DTD much, so it's nice that I was able to enjoy it in *some* way!
The water in Anaheim just doesn't work for me. It smells and it doesn't clean my hair. My hair just looks awful when I'm there. The conditioner doesn't condition, I have tangles, etc etc.
So I had to wait until I got home to see how I liked their toiletries. The verdict? LOVE THEM! I hear they are made by the company H2O? Something like that? The shampoo is kind of strange with my hair, I have to use far more than I do of other shampoos, but the conditioner is perfect. I would likely pay big bucks for that conditioner.
The only thing I didn't "get" was the soap bar with the nubbies on it. I mean...you can't really feel any massage while soaping up with it, and the nubbies get blunted as soon as you take your first shower, so really, it's just for looks. Silly. We didn't take any soap, even while we (and I mean me, which is odd, because usually it's Robert who is the toiletry-thief) stashed each day's bottles away so they'd provide more.
The hotel is really really big. I'm not really used to that, I guess. Back in chiro school I went to seminars at big hotels in Atlanta, and I guess I was used to corridors that never ended then, but wow did it get OLD at the Grand.
I could have asked someone if there was any shortcut, but the map didn't show any other elevator that would take us to our room, and I didn't think that many stairs would be happy for the feet, I just dealt with it. It's funny, I'll ask for directions anywhere else, but at Disney I just don't like to. Strange little quirk.
The beds were hard, but not uncomfortable. We all slept very soundly. The sheets were nice and soft.
The pillows were massive, which I do not like.
I did NOT like how long things were left in the hallways. I don't know if those who ordered Room Service were calling to have their items taken, but we saw things there at 5pm still there at 7am. Things out in the hall ALL day. Now, why those people couldn't just leave their items in their room, I don't know, but maybe they had gone out and just assumed things were gone...it's possible.
We always saw housekeepers in the hallways, but they seemed very focused on their exact job, and didn't seem interested in doing things that might not be their job (or even calling the room service pick-up people).
One morning as we left, I saw a fork right in the middle of the hallway. I was about to pick it up, and I saw a housekeeper walking towards me. I thought I noticed her see it, so I decided that she would take care of it. We got back ages later on, well into the later afternoon, and I didn't see it, thought it was taken care of. Got ready in the room, went out for dinner or something like that, and on the way back down the hall, noticed that it had been placed on a table at the turning of the hallway. So...not taken care of after all.
For a place as fancy as it's supposed to be, I just have a problem with that. And that's always been what I've suspected of the place. They charge a lot so you think they are a premium hotel. But ultimately, unless you've got some mojo that causes people to treat you very specially (and we are NOT those people, we generally get the most neutral treatment no matter where we are, and we don't know why...hubby's a good tipper, we smile and say hello to those who work there, etc etc), it's just a moderate hotel, treatment-wise. Pretty surroundings, but IMO it's the treatment of guests that really puts a hotel up in the super fancy realm.
And because of our room placement, honestly it would have been hardly longer of a walk from PPH.
Editing to add the following...
At PPH they had a posted sign listing the fun things you could do, like the buildabear thing, the Sephora makeover, etc etc.
At the Grand, they told you to call a certain number to find out about those things. I *hate* calling places and people. I think I used up all my phone time as a teenager, when once I actually fell asleep in the middle of the night talking to my best friend (she fell asleep too) on the phone. I didn't want to call (I don't wannaaaaa!) and so I did NOTHING from the special things. No Sephora makeover, no buildabear, no learning to draw Mickey, no tours, no scavenger hunt, NOTHING. I think I'm more disappointed in that than anything else (especially because overall it was a really good trip). It's not their fault that I didn't want to call. But if PPH can *post* the schedule, and they are a "lesser" hotel, then the Grand is just being ridiculous.
End of edited in thought.
So I'm kind of back and forth on the whole Grand experience!
I'm so glad I've finally spent time in it withOUT the big xmas tree in it. That tree might be pretty, for those who can see it, but for my eyes, it just sucks up all the light in that lobby. I have light/dark oddities with my post-Lasik vision, and xmastime GCH lobby does not do it for me.
But without the tree, it's quite lovely!
They have a cute little section with small chairs in front of a TV with classic Disney cartoons. It's amazing how even the most jaded Sprout/Noggin/Nickelodeon/DisneyChannel/CartoonNetwork watching kids can just sit and watch with peals of laughter, at the silly antics of Donald Duck, etc, in black and white. Even when an adult can tell that there are some current-for-the-time references that a 5 year old just can't know about, it's all just funny to them...
The bummer of that area was that, and this is speculation based on a couple things E said and how his mood/attitude changed, we think a kid or two teased E for his red chapped mouth. And of course realizing now what might have been going on at that time (who knows when the strep started), I have to say I'm glad that those kids instinctively did not want him near them (self-protection), though I feel bad that it hurt E's feelings.
The room was nice, the tub wasn't tremendously deep, but it was very comfy for a soak. The water could get super-hot, which was nice on the muscles.
I wish Housekeeping (and this goes for DLH and PPH too) could follow their own signs. If towels are in the basket, please replace those. If towels are hanging, don't replace those. The signs make it clear, I wish they'd read them or remember them or figure out that we are reading them.
Housekeeping did, however, set up really cute stuffed animal/character situations with E's Mickey and Mushu, and later the "won" stuffies from the Midway games. We really enjoyed that. I will tell you that I took the plushes out of the pile they were in, and tossed them on the bed, in HOPES that they would do something with them...but R and E didn't know that I did that for that purpose. Little surprise for them each day.
I was so glad our room had a DVD player in it, though we only used it twice. Somehow it let us decompress, just to watch a little bit of Pirates, or half of Nemo.
The balcony was lovely and I wish it had been a longer visit so I didn't feel so frantic to be in the parks. There was no view other than the signs of the stores in DTD and their rooves (is that the word???), but it was nice just sitting outside. Hearing the DTD music was nice, too. And I think we all know that I don't really enjoy DTD much, so it's nice that I was able to enjoy it in *some* way!
The water in Anaheim just doesn't work for me. It smells and it doesn't clean my hair. My hair just looks awful when I'm there. The conditioner doesn't condition, I have tangles, etc etc.
So I had to wait until I got home to see how I liked their toiletries. The verdict? LOVE THEM! I hear they are made by the company H2O? Something like that? The shampoo is kind of strange with my hair, I have to use far more than I do of other shampoos, but the conditioner is perfect. I would likely pay big bucks for that conditioner.
The only thing I didn't "get" was the soap bar with the nubbies on it. I mean...you can't really feel any massage while soaping up with it, and the nubbies get blunted as soon as you take your first shower, so really, it's just for looks. Silly. We didn't take any soap, even while we (and I mean me, which is odd, because usually it's Robert who is the toiletry-thief) stashed each day's bottles away so they'd provide more.
The hotel is really really big. I'm not really used to that, I guess. Back in chiro school I went to seminars at big hotels in Atlanta, and I guess I was used to corridors that never ended then, but wow did it get OLD at the Grand.
I could have asked someone if there was any shortcut, but the map didn't show any other elevator that would take us to our room, and I didn't think that many stairs would be happy for the feet, I just dealt with it. It's funny, I'll ask for directions anywhere else, but at Disney I just don't like to. Strange little quirk.
The beds were hard, but not uncomfortable. We all slept very soundly. The sheets were nice and soft.
The pillows were massive, which I do not like.
I did NOT like how long things were left in the hallways. I don't know if those who ordered Room Service were calling to have their items taken, but we saw things there at 5pm still there at 7am. Things out in the hall ALL day. Now, why those people couldn't just leave their items in their room, I don't know, but maybe they had gone out and just assumed things were gone...it's possible.
We always saw housekeepers in the hallways, but they seemed very focused on their exact job, and didn't seem interested in doing things that might not be their job (or even calling the room service pick-up people).
One morning as we left, I saw a fork right in the middle of the hallway. I was about to pick it up, and I saw a housekeeper walking towards me. I thought I noticed her see it, so I decided that she would take care of it. We got back ages later on, well into the later afternoon, and I didn't see it, thought it was taken care of. Got ready in the room, went out for dinner or something like that, and on the way back down the hall, noticed that it had been placed on a table at the turning of the hallway. So...not taken care of after all.
For a place as fancy as it's supposed to be, I just have a problem with that. And that's always been what I've suspected of the place. They charge a lot so you think they are a premium hotel. But ultimately, unless you've got some mojo that causes people to treat you very specially (and we are NOT those people, we generally get the most neutral treatment no matter where we are, and we don't know why...hubby's a good tipper, we smile and say hello to those who work there, etc etc), it's just a moderate hotel, treatment-wise. Pretty surroundings, but IMO it's the treatment of guests that really puts a hotel up in the super fancy realm.
And because of our room placement, honestly it would have been hardly longer of a walk from PPH.
Editing to add the following...
At PPH they had a posted sign listing the fun things you could do, like the buildabear thing, the Sephora makeover, etc etc.
At the Grand, they told you to call a certain number to find out about those things. I *hate* calling places and people. I think I used up all my phone time as a teenager, when once I actually fell asleep in the middle of the night talking to my best friend (she fell asleep too) on the phone. I didn't want to call (I don't wannaaaaa!) and so I did NOTHING from the special things. No Sephora makeover, no buildabear, no learning to draw Mickey, no tours, no scavenger hunt, NOTHING. I think I'm more disappointed in that than anything else (especially because overall it was a really good trip). It's not their fault that I didn't want to call. But if PPH can *post* the schedule, and they are a "lesser" hotel, then the Grand is just being ridiculous.
End of edited in thought.
So I'm kind of back and forth on the whole Grand experience!