Location

The main reason the Grand Californian is a better hotel than the others at Disneyland is because of its location. Surprisingly, the Disneyland Hotel is quite far from the entrance to the park, and is even a bit of a walk to get to the monorail to Tomorrowland. Paradise Pier and the other off-property hotels are further still from the entrances.

The Grand Californian, on the other hand, has an entrance directly into California Adventure. Furthermore, the walk from the hotel to both the entrance plaza for Disneyland and California Adventure, as well as to the monorail, is about the same as the walk from Disneyland Hotel to the monorail.

Now, to be fair, the DVC rooms are in a particular area of the hotel. That wing is about as far as you can get from the entrances to the park, but you're still in the hotel property. Still, location is a huge plus for staying here.

Rooms

We've stayed in the studios, 1BR, 2BR, and even the Grand Villa. The Grand Villa is amazing. There are two of them on the property. They each have the same floorplan. One overlooks the pool, and the other overlooks the lake in California Adventure with the giant Mickey Ferris Wheel in the distance. The Villa is two stories, with a 20-foot picture window and a pool table on the landing on the second floor. It is truly a magical experience.

The 1BR and 2BR units are my favorite. They each have just so much space. My favorite aspects are the big kitchens and an extra bathroom in the main living area so people don't need to go into the bedrooms to use the facilities. There is ample seating for when you're staying with multiple families, and the jacuzzi tubs in the master bedrooms are a nice touch.

The Studios are less exciting. Small and no kitchen. I think they have a fridge and a microwave, which is more than you can say for the regular hotel rooms last I checked.

Experiences

The lobby of the Grand Californian is worth checking out. There's often a live piano player there. Santa visits the kids there. There's often screenings of Disney movies in the evenings. You're going to spend most of your time in the parks, but its worth checking it out for 15 minutes or so every day to see what's up.

But since the parks are where the action is, the main benefit of staying on-property is still available to DVC guests. Namely, the Extra Magic Hour. One thing to note: During busy times, the line to get into the parks early starts forming an hour earlier than the early time when they start letting people in. This can be a surprise, and if the line is long, your Extra Magic Hour can end up being an Extra Magic 15 minutes. They do allow one person to hold a spot while the rest of the family gets ready.

Overall

Love the Grand Californian. Love Disneyland in California. Definitely my favorite Disney Park and my favorite DVC experience.