Fancy Shmancy Hotel?

So for my birthday we splurged and went to the Happiest Place on Earth and stayed at the only hotel I've been dying to stay at but haven't since it was just too outrageously expensive. But it WAS my birthday so I thought 'just one time and one time only'. So we bit the bullet and booked it.

It was the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the newest and fanciest Disney hotel at Disneyland.

Actually, the rooms were just regular. Two queen beds, mini fridge, sink, and bathroom. Nothing really super special. You get chocolates at turn-down service.

But the view was great! All the rooms have a balcony. These were the fireworks from Disneyland that we can see right from our room! Not bad!

We felt that since we were spending all this money we need to get our monies worth so we used the pool. Normally all our spare time would be at the Parks but since we were here and it's hot.. why not? So right after we checked in, we met our friends, the Y. family, in the lobby, changed in our room and immediately headed down to the pool. Hey, since we were paying for it why not share it with good friends?

They had three pool areas and two water slides: a tall windy one and a short little one. The kids loved the little one. The water was warm, very clear and clean. And they had the most luxurious lounge chairs. All plush and cushioned (not those vinyl lined ones) and surprisingly, very available throughout the pool areas. It's not like Vegas where you have to get up at 8am to save your chairs. I guess being at Disneyland is to your advantage..most hotel guests are at the Parks.

My husband's water camera sure came in handy.. doesn't even look like Nathan is swimming .. he's just floating on top of the water.

The kids had a great time and swimming was a great time of bonding before dinner. They don't get to see each other very often. Probably once or twice a year: whenever we go down to LA and when they come up for Thanksgiving. Hannah and Amanda were two peas in a pod!

All the kids loved the jacuzzi!

We ventured to ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney for dinner and window shopped at the BuildABear and Lego stores.. very popular with the kids!

On Day Two, we invited the W. family and again hit the pool after a long day at the Park. They loved it and the pool looked so cool at night. You can actually see them swimming underwater. Plus we were the only ones at the pool. We stayed until closing .. 10:00pm! We heard the fireworks but couldn't see them since the hotel surrounds the pools and we weren't high enough to see.

Two little acrobats!

Overall, the hotel was not much different from any of the other hotels we stayed at BUT the benefit was LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!! The Grand Californian was located right in Downtown Disney and CA Adventure Park. We did not have to walk far to any of the Parks. And THAT was worth the money we paid for.