I’m going to miss the construction at Grand Legacy At The Park!
It sounds crazy, I know. No one ever wants to be a part of construction if they can avoid it but to miss it when it’s gone??
Let me explain.
My family and I first stayed at the Grand Legacy At The Park approximately 10 years ago. We chose this location, well mainly because of the location. Within just a few minutes walk, you are in the Disneyland Resort! We also chose it because we knew the Ramada name and felt confident that we would be taken care of.
We were right. The staff made checking-in easy, the room was comfortable and in the morning – a complimentary breakfast. Nice!
Having this “home base” as we spent our days at Disneyland, was ideal for leisurely afternoon naps (a family essential!) and then quick returns to Disneyland.
The following year, we returned again with full certainty that our stay would match our expectations – and it did! Another home run for Grand Legacy At The Park.
Life has a tendency to get in the way sometimes and it wasn’t until August of 2014 that my family and I returned to Grand Legacy At The Park. Had it really been 8 years?
When we arrived, my heart sank.
In front of us was barbed wire fencing, temporary routing signs to enter the parking and construction vehicles, equipment and workers everywhere. Inside my head I screamed, “NOOOOOO!!!!!” This was followed by a brief visual scan of any nearby properties that I’d consider staying at. How could this be happening? Did I miss something when I booked the hotel? But then I resumed breathing, re-grouped my thoughts and proceeded onto the property pretending not to notice the bright orange vests.
We parked and on this exceptionally warm August morning, made our way to the temporary check-in trailer. The site of the trailer, in all its sun absorbing metal-ness, gave me pause. Surely it must be hotter in there and checking in could take awhile. But with excited teenagers in tow, we walked up the metal ramp and I braced for entering the stuffy, hot trailer.
You can imagine my surprise when it was cool! The ultra-friendly check-in host welcomed us and waved us in to partake of the lovely breeze while he finished up with another guest. When it was our turn, the check-in host thanked us for choosing the hotel despite it’s challenges. He was so pleasant that I suspected he must be new and hadn’t noticed he was in the middle of a construction zone! Check-in was fast and our room was ready early. Was it my imagination or had the staff become more friendly in 8 years?
So far, so good. But surely we must now walk in the blazing sun to the outer reaches of the property where jack hammering is the task du jour.
Wrong again! Our room was nearby, comfortable and clean. It was just what we needed. Best of all, we were not aware of the construction. True we were at Disneyland most of the day, but we did come back to relax in the afternoon (since we were so close to the DLR) and noticed no noise.
Even as I walked around the property near the pool, there were no sweeping gusts of dirt or the churning of concrete. It was as if somehow the construction crew dialed down all of the equipment noise and kept dust confined to the work areas. How’d they do that? Was Ramada Management shadowing them making sure noise levels were kept below a certain decibel?
Knowing how great our experience was during construction, it makes me wonder if this will carry through after construction. Maybe the staff will have frayed nerves by then or will have become immersed in daily hotel life and will have forgotten the time when hesitant guests turned up at their desk to check-in. It’s an experience I’m sure they all want to forget.
But will they also forget that through this process, they grew. Grand Legacy At The Park is not only going to be larger but it will be transformed! A stand-out among the many hotels and Inns that line Harbor Blvd. Guests will arrive with new excitement. Previous guests will marvel at the upgrades. Staff will get to see that the growth was all worth it.
Having been kept in the loop of the future plans for Grand Legacy At The Park via email, I am now relaxing again. The temporary trailer does not house some magical potion that brought the best out in their staff – the staff here are for real when it comes to service. With the construction project nearing it’s end, they will be able to serve even better than before.
When that final piece of chain link fence comes down, I will be eager for all of the new experiences awaiting me and my family as guests.
I must confess, though, that there is a small part of me that hopes some future blueprint gives way to more construction down the road sometime. Hey – a girl can dream, right?
Written By: Susan Dion (Grand Legacy At The Park guest)
