As a frequent Walt Disney World visitor, I always struggle with selecting a resort when I’m going to Disneyland.  I always start by looking at Disney’s Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel, I’ve even looked at offsite options too, but the Grand Californian always seems to be screaming my name.   While I have yet to try the others, I’m comfortable sharing why I think you should stay at Disney’s Grand Californian.

My top 5 reasons you should stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa

1.  The Rooms

These rooms are a fair size, plenty big for 4 adults to share if needed.  On my recent trip there were 3 of us and we had lots of room.  There was even plenty of space for 3 women to have all their toiletries at the vanity! 

The vanity area – we had no problem storing all of our stuff!

The beds are queens and we couldn’t even use all the drawer space we had.  Your luggage can be stored under the bed – leaving space for other things (like shoes and purchases) in the hall.   The decor and artwork was fun, and not over the top, there was a classy elegance with Disney inspiration.

Room under the bed to store your luggage!

And the sofa bed?  How CUTE is it?

The sofa bed was so cute – and could sleep an adult in a pinch if they weren’t too tall.

2.  The Arrival

There is something about pulling up to this resort, walking through that big entrance and seeing that magnificent lobby, the grandeur of it all is breathtaking.  Lots of seating to relax in the lobby and you can get food and drinks there too! 

The piano music was a great touch in the lobby

If you’re there in the evenings and the piano player is there, you’re in for a treat!  With those ceilings and open space, the acoustics are amazing!

3.  The Amenities

Granted, I have not swam in the pool or taken advantage of the gym (who DOES that on vacation??) – but the amenities are great for those who want them!  The pool, the gym, the spa (why have I not done that?) Valet parking and the laundry rooms are all there to make your stay more magical.  WiFi is available throughout the hotel, I never had an issue connecting.

The carpet in the hall – it’s so FUN! Can you spot the characters?

4.  California Adventure Park Special Entrance 

A special entrance to Disney’s California Adventure Park is a nice touch.  As a Walt Disney World guest, you can’t get anywhere NEAR that close to a park from your resort.  Even with the Beach Club or Bay Lake Tower – it’s still quite a walk to a park.  With this entrance – you are 30 steps from security to the inside of the park.  It’s amazing and unbelievably convenient.

This is the security entrance and the hotel – taken from INSIDE of California Adventure Park

5.  Location, location, location

Aside from the entrance to California Adventure Park, you are right IN Downtown Disney.  All of that shopping and food is right at your doorstep!  We walked out one night for cupcakes at Sprinkles and another night for a pretzel to take back to the room, the pretzel was still hot!

Shopping was a bit TOO easy at Downtown Disney!

It was a 15-20 minute (or so) walk to Walgreens to grab a few cases of water and a $7 Lyft ride back.  It was a leisurely walk and we saw all the other offsite properties that we had looked at staying at.

The walk to Walgreens, all these palm trees – you KNOW you’re on vacation then!

The walk through Downtown Disney to the park entrances is quick, you’re really right there.  If you wanted to pop back to your room for an hour to rest, you could do it so easily!  Where else can you walk to a castle and back to your room without breaking a sweat?  You could just walk in to get a churro and back to the pool if you wanted!

It’s all about location!

There you have it – my top 5 reasons for staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.  Have you stayed here?  

Check out my room tour here 

I was travelling to Disneyland with my mom and aunt, and since I was away for Mother’s day I thought I’d schedule a belated mother’s day date with afternoon tea at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel.  After I made the reservation, it was announced that the afternoon tea was going to be re-themed to a Pixar Fest tea for the duration of the summer.

When we arrived for our 12:25 pm reservation, only a few tables were seated so we were able to take a good look around the restaurant.

They have pictures of Walt Disney as you walk down the hallway to the restaurant and the booths around the restaurant all have large photos hanging above them of classic movie and music stars.

They had a subtle nod to Pixar Fest on each table to not take away from the beautiful décor.  Our table had a tiny Cars arrangement with succulents. Other tables had Finding Nemo, Up! and Toy Story centerpieces with flowers.

There are two types of tea:  The Classic Tea Party ($52 per adult) and the Premium Tea Party ($65 per adult).  We opted for the Premium Tea Party, which in addition to the classic tea fare include sparkling wine, a salad and an irresistible Remy straw to take home!

We didn’t expect such a large list of tea so that took a bit of deciding, but that was the only choice we had to make. I chose the Organic Lychee Green, my aunt picked Tangerine tea, and my mom decided to keep it traditional with an English Breakfast tea. We were each brought a teapot that held quite a bit of tea – about three cups.  We are not big alcoholic beverage drinkers so we sipped our sparkling wine leaving quite a bit left at the end of our tea.  It think we all felt the sparkling wine was quite tasty and we really enjoyed our tea choices too.

After our drinks were delivered our salads arrived. It was a large portion and thought the edible glitter on the berries was a fun touch.

The tea fare is served on a three tiered stand with the scones on the top level, then the savoury  canapes on tier two, followed by the sweet treats at the bottom.

We really liked the scones, mostly because of the Devonshire cream, raspberry jam and lemon curd  that accompanied them. I had never eaten Devonshire cream before. Wow! The colourful scone was to represent the abstract thoughts from Inside Out. It had chocolate chips so we wondered why they chose such a sweet scone since there were so many desserts to enjoy. But it didn’t stop us from smothering the scones in jam and creams!

I think the three of us all enjoyed the savoury plate the most, with the winner being the Sweet Ginger Avocado Toast. The canapes were also themed to Pixar characters. The avocado toast was to represent the Little Green Men, the roasted vegetables was a ratatouille, the bright blue deviled egg was Dory, but the server noted most felt it looked like the Pixar ball, and the carrot cream cheese was Merida (with the crispy carrot strings as her hair). All were great flavours and combinations. This received two thumbs up from around our table.

For the dessert plate our two favourites were the cheese cake and the dipped strawberry. The cheesecake was made to look like a quarter of a ring of cheese and if you look closely at the strawberry there was an image of Mr. Fredrickson’s house and all the little sprinkles were to be the balloons. The Up! inspired éclair had a jelly filling as did the Sully cupcake. We left a few of the desserts untouched.  They were good, but not a great as the savory plate (well except the cheese cake — it was great)

This was my first time going for tea so I do not really have any prior experience for comparison. I was glad that I had planned this special reservation to enjoy with my aunt and mom. I think it is great for a special occasion and now that I have been to tea, I may be interested to see how other Afternoon Tea’s fare!

The Pixar Fest tea takes place Fridays thru Sundays until September 2, 2018. Tea reservations can be booked between 12 noon and 3:00 p.m.

This review was written by Carrie Leblanc

Find her on Instagram @MuppetCrazy