Hi — I’m Tabiiku. I travel around Japan with my daughter on the principle that experience is the best thing you can give a child. We spent four days and three nights at Disneyland Resort in California, and stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. This is the hotel half of the trip.
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Why this hotel
There are dozens of hotels around the resort. Three things decided it for us.
First, early park entry. Guests get in thirty minutes before general admission, and as of August 2025 only three hotels qualify: Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place Hotel.
Second, proximity. The Grand Californian has its own entrance directly into Disney California Adventure and is a few minutes’ walk from Disneyland — the closest of the three.
Third, I fell for the lobby the moment I saw a photo of it: the fireplace, the heavy timber, the whole Craftsman feel of it. It was the most expensive of the three, but this is not somewhere we can go often, so we decided to stretch.
The room
We booked the lowest room category. It has two beds plus a two-seater sofa and an armchair, and there is plenty of space. The wood throughout gives it a genuinely upmarket feel.
The bathroom is shower only, with no bathtub. For a Japanese family that likes a soak this is a small disappointment, though it is entirely normal by international hotel standards.
The lobby is a six-storey atrium, with a piano playing — sometimes automated, sometimes live — all day, and people settled on the sofas around the fireplace.
The pool
There are three pools, a water slide and two hot tubs, open from 8am to 10pm. They are for hotel guests only: you tap your key at the entrance, check in with your room number and are given a wristband. There are always staff watching, which made me feel very comfortable.
It is described as heated, but by Japanese standards the water is cool, and I spent most of my time warming up in the hot tub.
My daughter adored the water slide. I would estimate she swam for two to three hours on day one before check-in and again on day four after check-out.
You can order food and drinks poolside and plenty of people do.
The restaurants
There are three restaurants in the hotel; we used two.
Storytellers Cafe. A buffet serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The price is the same at every service, so dinner is the best value. The food is good and characters come round constantly for photos and autographs. Tables go quickly, so book at the same time you book the room.
GCH Craftsman Grill. Poolside, and recently opened. We walked in without a reservation and were seated immediately.
My daughter asked for extra chocolate sauce on her Mickey waffle. The server not only said yes with a smile, she added the extra chocolate sauce and then presented my daughter with a pin badge she had decorated herself. It was such warm, generous service (we tipped 22%). Everything on the menu was good.
Getting to the parks
There is a dedicated entrance straight into Disney California Adventure, and another into Downtown Disney. Disneyland itself is a few minutes away.
Both entrances have their own security gates, and thanks to them we got into the park with essentially no wait, which I was very grateful for.
It also unlocks a much more civilised way to do a Disney day: play until midday, go back to the room and rest, return for your Lightning Lane slot, eat dinner in the park and go back to the room.
If you want to make the most of the parks, being this close is priceless. If you are considering a trip to Disneyland Resort in California, I would recommend the Grand Californian without hesitation.
Book Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
Check rates and availability on Agoda
Check rates and availability on Booking.com
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