My wife has wanted to stay at the Grand Californian, but I haven't been as interested for some reason. For years, we stayed at some of the motels across the street (when our kids were little). Then, we splurged and stayed at the Paradise Pier. Now, after several visits, we're spoiled.
I'm glad it will have balconies - yes, closing in the balconies on the Disneyland Hotel was odd, but it wound up making those rooms SO much bigger. And, cut down on the noise from outside, which can get ugly when you're staying there for a RunDisney event. 2am soundcheck, anyone? The things they're losing out of the DTD zone - I've never set foot in ESPN, or Earl of Sandwich. I saw a movie in there once. Most of the folks coming to the resort just don't spend time in DTD much, aside from meals, and shopping. Some of the shopping was due to items that weren't in the parks, to begin with, but are now (Harvey bags, art, etc.). There are still things that only show up in DTD, but they've cut back on it. The hotel space will be nice, it will be horrendous expensive, and will likely be a DVC opportunity. The existing DVC on property in no way meets all the demand. The Grand - I love the design aesthetic, but the actual rooms leave a lot to be desired. I honestly hope they'll reconfigure some in the future. The Pier rooms are smallish, the Disneyland is my favorite for rooms. I don't see any of them getting less expensive with the new hotel coming in. They've billed it as the DE-Luxe new place to be. Gardenwalk = hole in the ground. I honestly think it was designed with the idea that it would wind up being a place to go based on the East side design changes, which are now kinda in limbo. The additional commercial space Disney has talked about putting over there would allow them to change some things on that side of the Esplanade and maybe add more "downtown" where security/transportation is now, but without those changes where the garages are slated to go in, that's not happening. With all the land being underutilized on the east side right now (Carousel Inn property, all the old commercial back behind it, Timon and Pumba lots, then the employee parking and Toy Story lots further south), Disney is going to have to make significant design decisions to move things forward. I'm still VERY found of my idea of moving Cast member parking, etc. to the stuff on the north east, and building another big parking garage / commercial something where Toy Story is, and getting security / transportation handled further out, but that's me. The biggest hang up with those plans right now is how they're latest proposal interfaces with the surrounding properties, and that wasn't working out to the satisfaction of most of the surrounding businesses.
While I tend not to spend much time in DTD, when I do visit DTD it's the places that are being removed for this project. While the Rainforest is no big loss and the movie theater isn't terribly unique, Earl and ESPN Zone both fill roles that are important to DTD and aren't replicated elsewhere. There's been rumors that Earl may be incorporated into the new hotel (or some equivalent actually-quick service restaurant), but I don't think there will be a sports bar (high-capacity or otherwise) While there have been all sorts of changes to DTD in recent memory, it's mostly served to homogenize the area. While it was definitely time for some changes, I'm not sure that the result is particularly compelling. The shopping and dining aren't unique (or good) enough to pull me from the convenience of the places in the parks
