Our recent update to a previous article on Disneyland Resort’s concierge service (link), written by staff writers Andrew and Jennifer Rich, generated a lot of response.
First, some corrections to the article:
- There appear to be some concierge pricing discrepancies between “package” rates, “upgrade” rates, and “suite” rates. We still haven’t been able to get a clear answer, so we suggest that readers call their travel agent and/or Disney Reservations at least a couple of times to get the best rate.
- The Grand Californian Hotel’s spa has undergone a renovation, and has a new name: Mandara Spa.
- Paradise Pier Hotel concierge rooms now include a DVD player instead of a VCR.
Now the letters.
Kwai Yen K. writes:
I really want to thank you for posting this information. I’m traveling back to Disneyland to stay at the Grand Californian during Christmas 2006 with my family of 12. We will be staying in a 3-bedroom suite and I added the Concierge Service because I thought about all that water and soft drinks throughout the day. Plus the other perks. I requested a room close to the elevator… we’ll see. Thanks Again.
Thanks for writing. I hope you have a great trip!
Suzanne points out another perk of staying concierge:
We stayed at the Grand Californian on the concierge level in November ’05 and we did not have to wait in the regular check in line. We were met outside at the shuttle van and escorted upstairs to the concierge floor where we were checked in.
Thanks for writing. I’m glad to know that concierge guests at the GCH don’t have to wait in the regular line! We’ll make sure to update our information.
Elizabeth writes:
In October of 2003 my husband, son, sister, and I did the concierge level at the Grand Californian for 5 nights. I had read your article and was so excited! As much as we loved the Grand, the concierge level, in our opinion, was a waste of money! What a disappointment.
Yes, our beds were turned down when we arrived back in our room for the evening. And yes, we each had a coin size chocolate waiting on the nightstand for us at night. But that was it. There were no rose petals, or special Mickey cookies waiting for us. There was nothing that made us feel extra special or pampered. And as for the lounge, we weren’t impressed with that either. One of the major things we didn’t like about the lounge was that the soda they have are all in glass bottles, which translates into not being able to take them into the parks. Why would they not use plastic soda containers?
We also didn’t like the hours the lounge kept. We would come back from the park, feeling chilly from the October weather, and we could never get in to the lounge so we could get some hot chocolate… it was closed (October hours at Disneyland had the park closing at 8). And the food wasn’t really worthy of all that money we were paying.
In our opinion, the concierge level was a total rip off. I have stayed at the Grand in a “non concierge room”. And let me say that the experience was the same as staying in a concierge room… I still got the little coin sized chocolate every night.
Thanks for writing. It does seem odd that the Concierge lounge would offer beverages in bottles that couldn’t be brought into the park, and that you didn’t receive any (or many) of the perks we reported as standard for Concierge-level service. Did you comment to the hotel manager?
Elizabeth responds back:
No, we did not say anything to management because it was our first time doing concierge; we were unsure of what we should (realistically) be expecting. I even called the hotel before hand, and let them know again after we arrived, that we were there celebrating my husband’s 40th birthday (although he got the birthday badge, they didn’t even give him any type of autographed picture). But I can honestly say that after reading your second article on this topic, I was even more bummed. What fun it would have been if we had received all those little perks. I did go back to my travel agent (I don’t use one anymore) and told her what a rip off it all was. But she didn’t seem to really care… she made it quite clear to me that she doesn’t like Disneyland or any type of amusement park.
Oleg Chaikovsky writes:
Nice article. One little extra that I did not see was that the Disneyland Hotel’s service also includes nightly viewing of Remember in the concierge lounge at the top of the tower – with music piped in timed correctly to the fireworks. Kind of like seeing it from the parking lot, but with food and drink, and no street noise. It’s a little more comfortable than the hordes in front of the castle, and I know my brother who used it last summer thought it was a great benefit since they have a 4 yr old and an 18 month old – difficult to navigate in a heavy crowd.
Thanks for writing and for providing this extra tidbit. It sounds like DLH Concierge guests who want to see “Remember…” really have it made.
Tony writes:
So… who decked out the room for the romantic vacation in the photos? If it was the hotel, what kind of price did that fetch? Thanks!
Thanks for writing. The “extras” in the room were courtesy of the hotel, and were complimentary when the guest mentioned that they were visiting for an anniversary. It’s the sort of extra kindness you shouldn’t really expect but would be grateful to see when it does happen.
Sandra writes:
First off , I wanted to thank you for using our photos in your article. It really made our day ! Regarding the flowers, we did not pay extra , this was done for our “turn down” service .They did this twice for us, the first night we were there and again for our actual anniversary day. All we did was mention that we were there for our anniversary and wanted to make it special by treating ourselves to the concierge service. Flowers and the chocolate dipped strawberries were such a treat… especially when we did not expect it !
On the contrary, thank you so much for sending the photos, and also thank you for the information about how your Concierge room was decorated so nicely.
TribeFan writes:
It looks as if you spent quite a bit of time on the Concierge Report for this Web site. Just wanted to advise you that quite a bit of the information is incorrect. The pricing you have for Concierge Services is the upgrade fee for suites, it is not the regular rate (rate between a standard room and a Concierge room can vary at different times of the year). Other items are incorrect but I do not have the time right now to detail them out for you. I am a Concierge cast member at the Disneyland Resort hotels and have been for 5 years. Just thought that you would want the correct information to go out to your readers. I check out this site a bit and bite my lip and most of the posters that do not know what they are talking about but you folks are usually right on, but unfortunately, not this time.
Thanks for writing. We compiled the information for this article through conversations with Disney Reservations booking agents, who also mentioned that some Concierge agents were under the impression that the Concierge fee varied with the season. The Reservations agent assured us that this was not the case, and double-checked by confirming it with the Concierge manager. I would be very interested in knowing if you have different information, as well as its source. Please also let me know what else you think needs to be corrected; we want to provide the most accurate information possible to our readers.
John Gassman writes:
Your concierge nightly rates apply only to suites at the Disneyland Resort. Rooms have the concierge rates built into the cost and are frequently more than the $100, $125 and $150 you mention in your article. I am a Disneyland Resort sales reservation agent and deal with these situations on a daily basis.
Also, when Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel was remodeled in 2005, all rooms were equipped with DVD players. You stated in your article that this hotel had players that would play video tapes. While this was true before the remodeling, it is no longer accurate.
Thanks for writing. You are not the first to mention the pricing discrepancy, but it is at odds with information we received through conversation with Disney Reservations booking agents. Thank you for the additional correction on the DVD players. I do appreciate your assistance in getting the correct information to our readers.
