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Through Heather's Looking Glass

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Disney’s Grand Californian

September 7, 2013 | Disney, runDisney, Travel

Whew! Yesterday was an insane day of playing catch up at home. I did 5 loads of laundry in between answering emails and chatting with clients. SO glad today is Saturday though and I get a slight break to catch up. Also glad it’s football time! You can bet I will be parked in front of the TV for the better part of the weekend…after my workout of course. Smile

Next week is going to be loaded with fun runDisney posts, I can’t wait to share everything from the meet up to the races, but I thought today I would start with the hotel.

We were lucky enough to stay at Disney’s Grand Californian. It is a beautiful resort steps from the parks (my favorite perk!) with a rustic theming. We had a gorgeous view of the pool and part of California Adventure park (Grizzly peak is so cool looking!)

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We were on the fifth floor and had two queen beds.

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Yummy fruit for us that was replenished daily (note: this was a special gift from the hotel.)

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We also got to hang out in the concierge lounge on the 6th floor where they had food and drinks for us.

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It was nice after a hot day in the parks to relax, look at the mountains and have a snack.

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I may have even bumped into a buddy in the lounge.

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The balcony of our room was nice to relax on, and I enjoyed people watching from it.

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The convenience of the hotel cannot be beat, especially when you are used to Walt Disney World like me where you have to drive everywhere. The resort also has two great restaurants that we ate at, Storyteller’s on the first night and Napa Rose (much more formal) on the last night.

Both were great for different reasons I have outlined in this post.

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I plan to stay here in January for Tinkerbell and cannot wait to go back.

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QOTD: What is your favorite Disneyland hotel? Or Walt Disney World Hotel?

*Don’t forget to enter my Raw Threads giveaway! 

I would love to book your Disney trip for you at no extra cost to you. Email me at heather@travelwiththemagic.com for details!

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  1. Meranda@Fairytalesandfitness says

    September 7, 2013 at 8:37 am

    The Grand Floridian Resort and Port Orleans Riverside are my favorite Disney World Resorts ( for 2 different reasons of course). The Grand Californian looks nice. Kind of reminds me of the Wilderness Lodge. Curious to see how that resort compares to the other Disneyland resorts. Have you stayed at any of the others?
    Thanks for sharing! You take great pictures. Love the details!

    • Heather says

      September 7, 2013 at 10:23 am

      no but planning to try to stay at DL hotel for a night during tink!

  2. Kristina @ Blog About Running says

    September 7, 2013 at 9:19 am

    The Grand Floridian is definitely my favorite of the Disney hotels. I’ve never been to the Grand Californian and I’m a little surprised by how it looks compared to the Floridian, but I do love that they brought you fresh fruit every a.m.! I guess it must be older than the Floridian?

    • Heather says

      September 7, 2013 at 10:22 am

      I’m not sure when it was built. it’s a mix of GF and wilderness lodge. it’s nice!

  3. Lesley says

    September 7, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    Looks very nice! We’ve only stayed at all of the Values at WDW but our favorite is POP. We are staying in our first moderate, CarIbbean Beach Resort in October for the ToT 10-Miler…cannot wait! Looking forward to your race recaps and pictures!

  4. Frank@The Fat Runner says

    September 9, 2013 at 10:22 am

    Well, now I know where I’m staying at when I decide to visit Disneyland. Pretty cool!

  5. Pamela says

    September 10, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    It looks very nice! I am leaning towards staying there for DL half weekend next year. I need reviews of all 3 from you. Hello DIsney please bring Heather back to stay in the other 2 so I can make my decision. 🙂

    • Heather says

      September 10, 2013 at 7:09 pm

      haha! I may stay a night at DL hotel for tink

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  1. runningwithsass says:
    September 7, 2013 at 1:46 am

    Disney’s Grand Californian

    Whew! Yesterday was an insane day of playing catch up at home. I did 5 loads of laundry in between answering

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I am Heather Montgomery, a 30 something southern girl living in Knoxville, Tennessee with my husband Bobby, 10-year-old daughter Emma Kate, and our goldendoodles Dolly and Luna. I’m just a regular girl who likes to workout, travel, hang with my family, text, and eat chips and queso. Be sure to check out my “about me” page for more info!
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