Opening in 2001 as apart of a major Disneyland Resort expansion, with the opening of Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, Disney's California Adventure and Downtown Disney, Disney's Grand Californian Resort and Spa has the distinction of being the only Disney built, owned and operated hotel/resort in Disneyland Resort, as both PPH and DLH were built by other companies and originally ran by other companies as well. Also, this resort has its own entrance into Disney's California Adventure, as guests enter into and exit out of the Golden State area of the park. 
Many of the hotel's rooms and features are tributes to various Craftsman-era architects and designers. For instance, two of the Guest Suites, as well as the California Boardroom, pay homage to Frank Lloyd Wright; the Napa Rose restaurant features a rose motif in the glass design which was inspired by Charles Rennie MacKintosh. The Storytellers Cafe features a large tile mural that is a reproduction of an original design by the Gladding McBean Company for a Robin Hood Room in the Wilmington, Calif. public library
Designed by architect Peter Dominick of Urban Design Group Inc., it is based on the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s. Despite the large scale of the hotel, the architecture still captures the key elements of the Craftsman style: wide sweeping roofs, projecting beams, exaggerated braces and colors that blend with nature. The exterior evokes the feel of National Park Service lodges of the Western United States. The interior design of the hotel also features the Craftsman motif, albeit on a larger scale. Many Craftsman homes have a garden theme. For the Grand Californian, the theme was taken from a garden idea and scaled up so that the garden became a forest. The reception hall is based on the interior of the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco, increased in scale to accommodate the large reception desk. The central lobby is a living room done in immense scale with a massive fireplace and vast arching beams overhead, and furnished with comfortable chairs and sofas arranged around small coffee tables. The glowing nook in front of the fireplace features rocking chairs in which to enjoy the fire.
In response to a growing demand for guest accommodations in Anaheim, the Disneyland Resort announced on September 18 2007 an expansion of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that will increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and will include the first Disney Vacation Club villas in Anaheim. The 2.5-acre expansion on the hotel's south side will add more than 200 new hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent vacation villas. Those vacation villas, planned to include kitchens, living and dining areas and other home-like amenities, will mark the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club. The new expansion is known as The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which opened last week on September 23, 2009. Other elements planned for the project include a rooftop deck for viewing fireworks, a new swimming pool and about 300 underground parking spaces. Peter Dominick, architect for Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa as well as Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is designed this ambitious expansion. There havent been many pins released for the Grand Californian, but the ones that have been released seem basically the same, the logo with the pine tree... Take a look for yourself...
That is it for today... Stay tuned for tomorrow, the beginning of Pin Trading Month, for the 10th Anniversary of Pin Trading... I promise even if you arent a pin trader, which i know many of you arent, you will like this... Stay tuned... And sorry for the delay of this post
Pics from Wikipedia.org and PinPics.com
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