Grand Californian Holiday

Welcome to the Grand Californian at the Disneyland Resort, where Holiday decor greets you at the entrance. I'd never noticed these before, so not sure if they are something new or not. The gingerbread house inside the lobby was impressive.



The Christmas Tree towers over the lobby:



A nighttime view of the pool, with the lights behind the Castle visible in the background:



The rooms at the Grand Californian are spectacular, with Craftsman-style furnishings throughout.



For dinner on this particular visit back in November, we ate at the Napa Rose, being fortunate enough to get the Chef's Table.





What a good looking bunch.



Executive Chef Andrew Sutton was front and center:



It was a joy to watch him work with his team; rather than create a loud and raucous reality show yelling match, he quietly showed them how to create what he envisioned.



Each mouth watering course was a work of art.



Digging the copper pot that the Truffled "Mac & Cheese" Orecchiette Pasta is served in.



The rose for which the restaurant is named.



More grand-ness awaits at my main website.

Dinner at Napa Rose, Pt. 1

Before seeing Cher at the Anaheim Honda Stadium, we stopped at the Disneyland Resort's Grand Californian Hotel for dinner at the Napa Rose.





Although the Grand Californian is a huge facility, because of its Arts & Crafts design, the space seems very warm and approachable.



The knick-knacks throughout the lobby and in the display cases are worth a second look.



And there are the windows for Club 33 members.



Merchandise, merchandise, merchandise. I guess they are attempting to clear house of items with the old logo before the ones with the new (gasp) logo are introduced.



Here is the new logo. Ta-da! Looking like a melting door knocker, the designer needs a serious lesson in Art Nouveau.



Have you put in your order for a Club 33 paperweight yet?



We'll get back to the Napa Rose for tomorrow's post.

See more Daveland Napa Rose photos at my main website.

Trip Report, Pt. 1

Just a warning...this could be a long one. I'm still editing the 1,000 photos I took this weekend. Yikes! My trio of friends (aka the Gaggle of Gals) shacked up at the Grand California. I am still blown away by the beauty of this place whenever I see it. Just seeing the stained glass entry doors is enough to make me happy! There are so many cool things to view, that you can easily understand why I blew threw 1,000 photos. Did I mention that I took 1,000 photos?



As a great admirer of the Arts & Crafts style, this hotel is like dessert for me.



And the light fixtures...like manna from heaven.





Many hotels will spend a bundle on the lobby and common areas, but the rooms themselves are shortchanged; not so with the Grand Californian. The Arts & Crafts theme is tastefully done throughout the entire hotel.





One photo of the Gaggle of Gals and I was on my way!



As always, the Main Street Train Station was a welcoming site.



All aboard!



First up, I had to check out the revamped Penny Arcade & Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. The Gibson Girl has been given more of an Art Nouveau styling. Looking lavishly detailed, I am sure many guests will love it.



Full of details (once again, the light fixtures!) that make the long waits much easier to take.



The charm of Disneyland's Main Street vs. its Orlando counterpart is that its vision of Main Street had a 1950's flair, vs. Orlando's 1970's gaudy version. With each remodel, Anaheim's Main Street seems to go more for the ornate and farther from the quaint. Just a matter of preference.





Some of the Penny Arcade machines can still be found, but with each remodel, there are more items to buy, and less items to marvel at.



This beautiful vintage Welte Band Organ is now a popcorn stand. Honestly, just how much money does Disney need? The Candy Palace's remodel has successfully crammed as much retail space as possible into what was once an attraction all by itself. The Penny Arcade has gotten the fuzzy end of the lollipop on this one. The worst part was the loss of seating at the Coke Corner. Just another semi-quiet spot that his bit the dust at the expense of squeezing out a few more dollars.

Before:



After:



Here are two 1960's photos of this very cool piece:





Mercifully, Esmeralda has survived.



I loved that they used the original Marc Davis Haunted Mansion stretching portrait images for the cards:



Strangely enough, I'd never noticed this detailing on the front of the machine.



Not so lucky was the Green Elephant. Sayonara—the pencil pushers need more money! Here is a shot from a few years back. So sorry that they chose to remove this great conversation-piece.



Next up: a trip to the Caribbean!

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my Disneyland website.