Got up earlier than folks I was staying with. Didn't want to disturb everyone sleeping. Went to the lobby for coffee, well you have to buy it. Even motel 6 has free coffee in the lobby. The tv the kids watch in the main lobby is a whopping 32 inches. Restaurants are not good and expensive. Wish we would have stayed down the street at a motel. Could have had better food and free coffee in the morning. Disney in general is a giant rip off. Havnt been here for some 20 plus years and boy did it lose its splendor. Very sad.

Absolutely spectacular in almost every way? I could not rate this property higher. We stayed at the Grand Californian Villas in a studio room using rented points from a Disney Vacation Club member. This wing of the hotel seemed much quieter than the main hotel areas with a lot fewer people around.

"Welcome Home!" the front desk cast member said, smiling as we checked in. (That's a nice greeting for DVC members... wish I was one!)

At 8am we were checked in at Grand Californian and given our room keys to use for early entry at California Adventure. The front desk staff told us that they would text my cell phone when the room was ready, we left our bags with the bell staff and reminded them that we had ordered groceries from Von's (free delivery!) - Since we don't drink, they could sign for it on our behalf. They told us to just call when we got to our hotel room and they would bring everything up.

California Adventure has a private entrance from the GCR, but there is only one turnstile there, so advise walking to the main entrance if you are lining up for park opening. The private entrance gets extremely crowded.

We got a text around 3pm that our room was ready. We went back, called the bell desk, and within 5 minutes all of our luggage and groceries were delivered. Our room, 5504 had a spectacular view of California Adventure (Paradise Pier area) and we could easily watch World of Color from our balcony (and did, three times!)

The studio villa was like an ordinary hotel room, but slightly larger. Ours had a king bed, a fold out couch, and a balcony. Bed was very comfortable. The bathroom was split with the sink in the hallway, but recessed so the light from the sink didn't quite make it around the corner to the bedroom where it could wake up the little guy. The toilet and shower were obviously separate, a pocket door installed to make everything more spacious. There was a large closet, with two bathrobes, vacuum cleaner and plenty if linens. The kitchenette had a dorm-sized fridge, microwave, toaster, and plenty if paper plates, napkins, paper bowls, and plastic cutlery. The studio was not equipped with washer and dryer, but there was one in the first floor that was free for villa guests.

I guess if I had one complaint, it was that the WiFi didn't quite reach our suite so it was flaky. Also, you needed to move the bedside table to gain access to a power outlet and only one side of the bed had a bedside table.

Overall the ease and convenience of this property, the early-magic hours (which make seeing Radiator Springs a possibility), and the elegance and "Disney Magic" that exists everywhere makes this property worth the money and then some. Hopefully we will be back!

After a wonderful day at Disneyland Park with four friends, they went home, and I walked around Downtown Disney and then went to dinner at Napa Rose for dinner.

Prior to being seated, I stopped at the concierge desk, and asked the young lady working there if I could get an escort back to my vehicle after dinner.
I was a woman alone, parked at the end of a 1/4 mile long parking garage, and it was night. I explained that I would feel safer if I was walked to my vehicle by security.

Alphonso (?) from security asked to speak with me, and despite the concierge explaining it to him, wanted to know why I asked for someone to walk me to my car. I explained again - night-time, alone, at the end of a very long parking lot, i would feel safer.

He dodged my request, and told me there were cameras everywhere, and that the parking lot was filled with people.

Cameras are NOT proactive, they are reactive. They cannot stop something bad from happening, they can only record what has taken place after the fact.

I was not happy, but it was clear he wasn't going to help me. he didn't want to bother. Having me watched on the cameras did nothing to make me feel safe.

I took the tram and entered the parking lot. Only ONE car and ONE person passed me on that quarter mile walk to my vehicle in that echoing, empty and enormous garage. It was not 'filled with people" as Alphonso (?) claimed.

Yes, I got to my car safely, no thanks to him. I was very disappointed in the lack of service from security. It would have taken someone maybe ten minutes total to make sure I was walked to my car from the hotel lobby at night.

This is not my idea of customer service from security, nor should it be. Protecting a guest at night should be a given. I am a paying customer of the park, and wanting to feel safe when alone at night on their premises is a reasonable request.

I can imagine the negative publicity that would have occurred had something bad happened, and the fact that I'd called and asked for help and been blown off came to light.

My entire visit to Disneyland, the Hotel and Napa Rose all had great customer service with the notable exception of security. Laziness and apathy isn't impressive, and is unprofessional to boot.

We liked the "Yosemite lodge-like atmosphere of the craftsmen style hotel, but it's interior was "tired" and in need of renovation; the rooms, at the prevailing price, were small, dark, and claustrophobic. The staff was very friendly and service oriented and the hotel is efficiently run. We had two rooms on the 4th floor near the elevators with a good view of the pool, but the hotel is huge, so expect to walk a lot if you get a room in the wings. The food venues, a cafeteria and an upscale dinning room were not good values - high prices with very medium food quality. Maybe we expected too much for over $300/nite.