On a 4 night stay in The Grand Californian, we ate in the parks, in Disney hotel restaurants and in Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney was the best value BY FAR. The restaurants here are independent, so you don't get saddled with the "Disney premium." There is plenty of variety to choose from, so something for everybody. The quality of food and service here at all of the places we ate was every bit as good, if not better, than the Disney locales. We just wish we figured it out sooner.
A wonderful place for all ages but more beneficial if you are at least 8 years old or up. My friends and I are in our 50s and 60s and we had a ball. We had hot weather but if you go later in the afternoon and include the evening it’s cooler and you can see he light parade and fireworks depending on the season. At the moment the Halloween theme is in. You can get an app for fast passes but we found the queues not too bad.
I love going here just to walk around, looking in the shops, have something to eat or drink. A really nice place to be.
We were expecting an experience similar to Orlando Downtown Disney, but instead found mostly restaurants. There is a Lego Store and a World of Disney Store, and a few others, but not the shopping we had hoped for. If you're looking for Disney Souvenirs, you're better off buying them IN one of the Parks, as there is only a fraction of the items in the World of Disney Store.
Having been to Downtown Disney in Orlando, we decided to visit the Anaheim, California version. First, you have to pay for parking where in Orlando its free. However, parking is free if you spend over $20.00 in the Anaheim version and get your parking ticket validated. We did spend over $20.00 as you will easily do that in this over-priced spot.
Be prepared for a 10-20 minute wait going thru security which is a good thing with all the craziness going on. Finally, they did have a nice cover pop band singing music, but overall this place was so-so for us. We won’t be back anytime soon!
