Yes, god forbid people enjoy the beautiful sitting area they built, with a fireplace, piano music, and, oh yeah, a bar at which many APers happily pay exhorbitant prices for beverages. Sounds terrible for business.

I didn't say it was a good decision.

Assuming it were to just discourage people from hanging out there, it's a poor way of doing so. Why should the actual hotel guests not get a comfortable couch to sit on just because non-hotel guests can sit on them as well ?

From another point of view, it's a bad idea cause it's only going to discourage guests (like us) from spending money in that vicinity. Quite often, when we've lounged inside the lobby we've also bought cocktails from the bar, shopped inside the souvenir store, and had dinner at Storyteller's Cafe.

If it has an intended purpose (and isn't just some manager saying, "hey, I like it better this way!") it may be to counter the increasing number of people using the hotel lobby as an internet cafe.

I personally avoid doing this unless absolutely necessary (there are plenty of less prominent places within range of the WiFi) but when I was camping out in the lobby a couple months ago trying to think through a MouseAdventure quest in there I noticed about half of the seats were in use by people on computers.

Now, if these are all hotel guests then I don't see why it would be discouraged. But if management has found that a lot of them are not then maybe they're trying it make it less comfortable for that.

I know that I tend to not use hotels the way others do, but in all my times staying at nice hotels I've never, ever, just sat in the lobby. So I wonder how many actual hotel guests are inconvenienced (could be a lot, my sample size is small and skewed).

As an APer, I've sat in the lobby. When I was a guest, I found I spent time in the room, or doing other things.

We generally sit in the lobby when we're waiting for the shuttle to pick us up and take us to the airport. You have to hang around close in case they're early, and I'd much rather sit in a comfy chair than on an uncomfortable bench. We also sit if we're waiting for other members of our party to join us (when travelling in a group). Or if I'm napping, BT might sit and read a book and people watch. (Because when I'm trying to sleep the noise of page turning, minute as it is, drives me bonkers.)

So lots of sitting. In fact, in January we sat in the lobby for quite awhile at some point, just BT and I. Might have been before dinner when there wasn't enough time to actually go do anything and we didn't want to be holed up in our room. GC was already feeling a little BTDT to me anyhow, and this is just another mark against it.

It's true that one of the reasons I would avoid staying at the Grand Cal (other than the teeny tiny rooms) is that the facilities are really there for Disney Resort tourists rather than actual guests of the hotel. One of the prime perks - - proximity to the Parks - - sees to that.

Yes, actual guests have better places to spend their time at the hotel ... namely, their guest rooms that they've paid a pretty penny for.

But whether the Great Hall with its piano and fireplace was designed to entertain paying guests or paying tourists, the result was the same. People lounging in that hall tend to spend money on the premises. Discourage one and you've discouraged the other.


It's interesting to see how long it will take any hotel to go from a class joint to a seedy has-been. The five years mark is when - mark my words - the Grand Californian will be seen to have done the hotel equivalent of jump the shark.

(And the sofa removal is not the main culprit in my eyes ... it's the complete tackiness of not replacing the Great Hall custom carpet via the insurance proceeds they undoubtedly received for precisely that damage.)

Hmmm - perhaps the furniture is being reupholstered? Does the bar still have comfy seating?

When I travel, I often will spend time in the lobby, especially if there's a swanky bar attached and wifi is always a plus as well.

iSm is not going to believe this.

This is a picture of the current couch, that we took yesterday.


Here is a picture of the old couch, that we took back when we were photoshopping it into our MA shirts.


Hmm. They look.....how do I put this?.....exactly the fcking same.

We know for a fact that they are comfortable.

the carpet is indeed in the process of being created.