The refurbishment work continues at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at Disneyland Resort, with themed construction walls appearing in some hallways and a new permanent cookie counter added in the lobby.
Disney’s Grand Californian Construction Update
Work at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa began in early March. The majority of the construction is focused on the hotel’s park entrance, which is expected to get the updated turnstiles already in place at the main Disneyland Park entrance. However, other work is taking place around the resort at the same time.
The facade of the DVC (Disney Vacation Club) side of the resort has been undergoing refurbishment, and tarps have now been added to most of the building that was covered in scaffolding during our last update.
While the resort’s park entrance is closed, a majority of the signage directs guests through the Downtown Disney District to reach Disney California Adventure. A second option to reach the park-goes around the Pixar Place Hotel, past this DVC wing that is under construction.
Most of the scaffolding and tarps in this area remain unchanged since our last update, but the resort has now added arrow signs directing guests through an open hallway around the corner.
The signs are white and point guests to the alternate park entrance route, though they remind visitors that the route is for resort guests only.
Since the hallway is still a construction zone, walls have been erected to let guests pass through without actually getting into the work. The brown door leads into the construction area, and is only used as an emergency exit. Guests use the door on the opposite side.
To maintain the theme of the resort, the walls in this area have been painted and themed to look exactly like the usual hallways, with the tree wallpaper on top and brown boards running across the edges. Despite the appearance in these photos, not all of these walls are usually present.
The construction-crew-only door has various warning signs reminding crew members to always wear the appropriate gear and warn others before pushing the door open.
Moving into the main lobby, another improvement during the refurbishment work is the addition of a permanent snack and cookie counter. Previously, Cast Members would install a temporary table for special events taking place in the resort.
The snack stand at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel is now a largely-permanent offering, as the menu is simply changed to match the current season. At the moment, Disneyland Resort is celebrating Season of the Force 2025 with some “Star Wars”-themed treats and beverages.
The new permanent counter is dark brown wood to match most of the lobby’s other furniture. It has glass display cases for the snacks and a functioning sink, since the previous temporary stand did not have one.
Additional construction work is taking place outside the lobby, so the door near the Hearthstone Lounge have been also marked as “Emergency Exit Only.” The glass windows around this door are usually transparent, but they have been frosted using stickers during the construction.
Moving outside the Grand Californian lobby, this section has been blocked off with more themed construction walls and doors. As with the hallway, these outdoor walls have been painted brown and forest green to match the resort’s theming.
These walls run along the right side of the guest walking path. In addition to the matching color, the walls have been themed with tree art posters.
After the closure of Storytellers Cafe in early March, Napa Rose has now also closed for a temporary refurbishment. The official website for the restaurant has now been updated to say, “Napa Rose is temporarily closed for refurbishment. Guests can look forward to the restaurant’s exquisite new look and menu when it reopens in fall 2025.” During the restaurant closures, modified experiences including Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures will be available in the Trillium Room.
Finally, the original resort park entrance is still blocked by several barricades and signs telling guests to use one of the alternate entrance methods.
The main refurbishment of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa park entrance is expected to last through May 2025, though no exact completion date has been listed yet. Other venues, such as Napa Rose, are expected to take a while longer.
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