Hi Andrea,
Welcome to planDisney! You are going to love staying in the magic, especially at the beautiful
Grand Californian with its sweeping lobby ceiling and proximity to the parks. There is nothing better than strolling back to your Disneyland Resort hotel after a long park day and knowing you will still be in the pixie-dusted bubble when you wake up.
When it comes to early check-in or late check-out, Guests are welcome to request both, but neither is guaranteed as it depends on the capacity of the hotel the night before arrival and the night of departure. Traditional check-in is 3:00 pm while check-out is 11:00 am. As you can imagine, Mousekeeping works to turn rooms over as quickly as possible! I would recommend giving the hotel a call directly ahead of your visit to log your requests.
To make sure you have all your plans in place, I recommend
checking into your hotel reservation in the
Disneyland Mobile App ahead of time. You will have access to check-in within 5 days of your arrival. On your arrival day, once your room is ready, you can head straight there and use the digital key in the app to magically open your door! If you have notifications turned on, you will usually get an alert as soon as your room is ready. I'll wish upon a star that it's ready early for you that day!
As a Guest of the Disneyland Resort Hotels, you will have access to
Early Entry - 30 minutes in the parks before opening. The best part of this perk is that you can use it on both your check-in and check-out day to add a little extra magic to your visit! Be sure to check the
Park Hours ahead of time to see which park is opening early on which day and ensure your theme park reservations align.
Andrea, I sure hope this was helpful! While you are at the Grand Californian, definitely enjoy a meal at the
GCH Craftsman Grill out by the pool My planDisney pals and I love going here - it feels like a bit of an oasis and a break from the park hustle and bustle.
Feel free to reach back out if you have any more questions!
Magic awaits!
Tara