We recently stayed here due to the great reviews. The travel agent we booked through didn't have this hotel in their brochure, but we requested it and they were able to book as part of our package.
We are so glad we made the request - on arrival we were told that we had been upgraded to a pool view, which was a lovely suprise.
Our room was large, very clean and very comfortable. The bathroom and sink areas looked brand new and the decor was superb. We had a view of not only the pool, but some of the rides in the California Adventure Park.
The hotel lobby was 'larger than life' with an enormous fireplace. All of the staff were polite, helpful, friendly and smiled a lot.
We really liked the way you walked straight into Downtown Disney for meals and could get directly into the California Adventure park.
The pools were warm and well staffed - they even bring drinks to your lounger!
We would stay here again and would recommend the Storyteller's Cafe.

We stayed at the Grande Californian for 5 days. This is our 4th visit to Disneyland and this is one of the nicer hotels that I've stayed at in the area. Found the Foyey to be breathtaking and massive. Being right at the California Adventure entrance was definitely a plus and it was a short walk to the Disneyland entrance. I loved being right on the strip of all the neat stores and restaurants that Disneyland has to offer. Beautiful at night. My only complaint would be the price, the room decor. and room size. I would recommend booking the hotel directly as I'm sure it would be way cheaper. It was really neat to see the lead singer for Blink 182 staying there! My teens thought that was really sweet. All in all I would recommend it!

We have stayed at the Grand Californian about 10 times since it opened in 2001. It definitely has it benefits., at a cost of course.

We have a 3 year old who needs a nap everyday. We have stayed offsite and had to use the Anaheim Rapid transit (ART) bus but the 20 minute schedule is not dependable. We have waited over an hour. This doesn't work with a 3 year old.

We have stayed at the Disneyland hotel and the distance from the park entrance or using the monorail can take a while. Also we had serious noise issues everynight at 1am from the DtD foot traffic.

Summary: We will continue staying the GCH and use the AP discounts (when they are available) until my daughter is older and then we might try Embassy suits south..

We stayed three nights at the Grand Californian with our two boys - one is 3 years old, the other is 5 months old. Overall, we were impressed by the hotel; gorgeous lobby, quiet mezzanine areas, great pool area with kiddie pool, kiddie slide, and a big slide. Room was good, and well appointed; two sinks in bathroom, cozy balcony with view of Downtown Disney (DD), beds were comfortable. Downsides are nighttime noise from DD is pretty loud, long walk from elevator, and housekeeping didn't clean out the fridge from prior guest. Key aspect of course is location of hotel, this can't be beat. And the hotel isn't cheap. More details below....

ROOM - Our room had 2 queen beds; I believe this is bigger than the bunk bed rooms, but we kind of wish we had one; I think our 3 year old would have enjoyed it more (he did sleep on the big bed, though). All rooms come with a pack and play (not sure if they provide fitted linens on request). As above, the fridge wasn't cleaned when we got there; room was otherwise clean (except for some dust on the top of the dresser drawer when they were opened). Room Service was prompt and food was good (breakfast). The noise level in the room was quite loud at night - between the music blaring from DD and the fireworks later. While 10p doesn't seem late, it is when you've got 2 kids who are tired and want to sleep. However, we had a good view of the fireworks, so that was nice. Finally, the location was awesome - after a long hot trek around either park, it's pretty easy to get back to the hotel, especially from DCA.

DINING - Be sure to reserve a character breakfast in advance at Storyteller's Cafe. Our sons loved eating with all of the characters - this was a real treat. We ate at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel as we wanted a more traditional steak dinner for our "date night". Bad idea; the food tasted fine, but service was agonizingly slow, and both my wife and I felt slightly queasy after dinner. Don't do this one. Go with Napa Rose. Also, Blue Bayou restaurant actually overlooks part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Food is really good, atmosphere is very cool - it feels like an open air restaurant. Make reservations.

POOL - pool area is great, the service was very prompt and courteous. Dad went on the big slide about 30 times, and 3 year old enjoyed the little slide and the 1 foot deep kiddie pool. Great place to cool off and relax. Wasn't too crowded either.

PARKS - one thing to remember - it's HOT HOT HOT during the summer. We are L.A. residents and took a trip mid week to attempt to avoid weekend summer crowds. Disneyland was absolutely jammed, though, so best bet is to get up early and hit the rides you want to hit. By the afternoon, the lines are unmanageable, and surprising to us, the park was wall to wall people after dark on a Wednesday. Don't forget to use your Magic Morning. Get to ToonTown EARLY, it gets mobbed. We thought the Nemo ride is overrated, actually, although our son seemed to like it well enough. The best time we had was on the Mark Twain steamboat - shady, breezy, easy ride - all four of us loved it. Go to the parades - the Pixar Play Parade and Disney Electrical Parade at DCA are must-sees. We also enjoyed Paradise Pier at DCA. One other item - there's a nice booklet that comes with booking through a Disney authorized travel agent - you get into ToonTown earlier without burning a Magic Morning on it, and you can get priority seating for some of the shows (Aladdin, etc.)

BABYSITTING - we used Sitters Unlimited. They were prompt, and our sitter seemed trustworthy, and hit it off with our older son - but she did seem a bit oblivious to crib safety (i.e. we found a blanket and other stuff in the crib....), and she got both kids to sleep. $15/hr with a 4 hour minimum. So - just be sure to communicate any specific needs or safety issues you think are important. My wife says to remind nursing moms to pump ahead or bring formula, we could have stayed out much later!

Overall - the hotel itself is very nice; it could be worthy of five stars if it just cleaned up a couple of items (dust, don't forget to clean out the fridge, etc.) Service was impeccable and extraordinarily friendly. We would consider saving some money next trip by staying at one of the other hotels when our kids are older and it's relatively easier to transport them around. But if you've got young kids, the comfort and convenience of the Grand Californian is worth the extra money.