For our Disney visit this year my family (we have 2 kids 6/8) decided to stay inside the parks. In Disneyworld we were staying outside, but this time we wanted to try the experience, and it worked well, especially since we could leave the park at noon, take a swim and rest, to go back fresh after 5pm and we could see Fantasmic at the second show.
GC or PP?- The hotel is located behind the GC, in a much quieter place. GC is undergoing some expansion, they have construction undergoing on one side and noisy Downtown Disney on the other. PP is smaller, which made it more interesting for us, I hate huge hotels. It has a nice pool on the 3rd fl, kids loved the waterslide; our room was over the pool on 6th floor but it was not noisy at all. GC is really 'grand' indeed, but it also had grand prices. Going back, I'd stay at the PP again.
The room was big enough to swing a light saber, if you know what I am talking about. It was clean, had a large closet, and a fridge. It had a rope over the tub to hang your laundry - no bathing suits dripping around!
Food: Breakfast was pricey but nice, but the restaurant closes at 11am and reopen after 5pm. We arrived at noon and we had chicken fingers and sandwiches at the bar which carries a limited option of dishes.
Check in and out was painfully slow, and so elevators (yes, use the glass one) at rush hours.
The resort fee gives you the privilege of self parking. Do drive upfront to unload luggage before checking in or you'll drag bags quite a bit.
Disney parks are a maximum 10 min. walk, you cross the GC hotel and you are in Downtown Disney or directly at CA. Come on, it is so short!! If that seems long, don't leave your home.
I recommend to everyone the Unofficial Guide to DL for great tips on hotel/ food/ attractions.

We stayed here for a medical conference while the family visited Disneyland. We had a great time and the service was excellent. The rooms were nice a big and had the fold out couch. There were two restaurants on the property and both were good. I have read reports that the elevators were slow, but we never had a problem with them.

The pool area was nice and the children loved the water slide. We also appreciated the tot pool.

I was much more impressed by this hotel that the Candy Cane Inn that we have stayed in several times. The rooms were much larger and brighter. The whole atmosphere was more luxurious. Also, the walk to the parks was not bad at all. Plus you could take a short ride on the Monorail and get right into Disneyland from nearby.

The room was great, the view was great, the service was great, the staff was great, but breakfast was $30 per person...WOW!. I would stay at the hotel again, I would even suggest it as a place for family reunions (I have pretty small family). But I would not recommend eating in the hotel. Seriously, we paid $30 for our 3 yr old to eat 1/2 a pancake and some orange juice. There are lots of other options in the parks and in Downtown Disney.

We stayed in the hotel for 5 nights. The hotel is clean and the staff is great. One day my mother took care of my 3 kids so that my husband and i could go to California Adventure. She went to the bathroom to clean my son and when she came out she thought she lost my middle child. Within seconds of her calling the front desk, ecurity was knocking on the door and the entire hallway was full of cast members. Since the hotel was close I was able to get there from the park in about 3 minutes. While I was running to the hotel I lost my park ticket. When I got to the room there were cast members comforting my mother and my children. My daughter was playing hide and go seek with my mother (without her knowing) and ended up falling asleep under the bed. The hotel gave me another park hopper ticket to replace the one i lost and room service brought little mickey cakes to my kids. The cast members were awesome. You would not get this from one of the good neighbor hotels. If we were staying off property and my daughter was truly lost, my mother would have to call the police and wait for them, I would have had to get out of the park go through downtown disney get on the tram find my car wait to get out of the parking garage drive through the traffic surrouding disneyland and the hotels park my car and then run to the room and the police would still not be there. I would rather pay more than have to go through that. After you add all of the cost to stay off property (hotel, resort fee, parking fee for disneyland, GAS, safety and proximity to the parks) you might as well pay up front and stay on property.