Location, location, location! The Grand Californian Hotel is in the best possible location, straddling the Downtown Disney shopping district and Disney California Adventure park (with direct entrances to both). This is Disneyland’s most luxurious (and expensive) hotel. As such, it's likely to be appreciated more by adults than by kids.

AMBIENCE

To enter Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel is to take a step back in time to the spirit and splendor of early, turn-of-the-century California. Built as a living tribute to the Arts and Crafts movement, the soaring, six-story Great Hall lobby blends the simplicity of California’s redwood forests with the romance of rustic yet elegant charm. A great hearth warms the travelers who linger about the fire for storytelling or sink into the comfortable arms of an oversized chair. Built by Peter Dominick in 2001, this grand hotel pays special attention to architecture, art, landscape, and the decorative arts of the Craftsman movement. Display cabinets throughout the Great Hall are filled with authentic period and reproduction art. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel is the only Disneyland hotel to be built by Disney from the ground up, and the attention to detail and theme is awe-inspiring. Those familiar with Walt Disney World will recognize this hotel as a cross between the Wilderness Lodge Resort and the Grand Floridian Resort. In 2009, the hotel expanded to nearly 1000 guest rooms, and is now one of the largest hotels in Southern California.

GRAND CALIFORNIAN LAYOUT AND ROOMS

This resort hotel offers deluxe accommodations with standard rooms and the new Disney Vacation Club Villas (see page 44). Many guest rooms offer views of Downtown Disney District or Disney California Adventure. The hotel is technically located within Disney California Adventure park, affording stunning panoramas of the Grizzly Peak and Paradise Pier districts. The back-to-nature Arts and Crafts theme continues to the renovated guest rooms, with wood inlay headboards made of quarter-sawn oak and a blossoming orange tree mural overhead (complete with Chip and Dale frolicking in the branches). Disney touches are evident in the Bambi artwork on the walls. The 998 standard guest rooms are 353 sq. ft. (see floor plans below) and come with two queen beds (some with a queen sleeper sofa), though about 80 rooms have one king bed with queen sleeper sofa, and 160 rooms have one queen and a bunk bed with a trundle bed underneath it to sleep up to five guests! Note: The bunk bed isn’t very long and is really intended for kids under 48”. All guest rooms come equipped with an armoire with a 55” Smart TV, Keurig coffeemakers, built-in USB chargers, large in-room safe, desk with chairs and two-line phone, lighted wardrobe, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, coffee maker, makeup mirror, iron/ironing board, and crib. You can request an air mattress for no additional charge. Luxurious features include comfy robes to wear during your stay, dimmer-controlled lighting, Italian marble double vanities, signature toiletries, and evening turn-down service for all guest rooms. Concierge rooms are available, offering upgraded amenities and access to the concierge lounge. 38 suites are available, including 34 one-bedroom suites. Fifty Disney Vacation Club villas are also available (see page 44).