Well, this is how I feel about it.
People tout the Grand as being SO close. The closest! But then it's difficult to get into. You either have to be close to the DCA entrance, but that still means a walk around the restaurant, etc to get to the lobby. Or if you happen to be in DTD that's good, you're close, but otherwise you're walking halfway through DTD to get to that entrance, and that doesn't take you smack dab to the lobby or elevators. Or you're just entering, or coming from PPH, and that's the only way to walk right into the lobby.
PPH has long hallways too, but I absolutely lose my bearing in there so it doesn't bug me.
If you look at the map where room 165 is, you know that DTD is along there. We overlooked Naples or whatever that restaurant is called.
If we'd been one wing over, we could have walked *towards* the esplanade in the wing, and found the secret exit. So, it's a long hallway, but we'd be going towards our goal.
As it was, we knew where we were in relation to DTD (knowing we were *so close* to bag check), but we had to walk ALL the way BACK towards the Sephora area of DTD. Then get the elevator. Then walk back the way we came, under our wing, to get to the Sephora area, and then had to walk back along where we would wave to our room, and then at long last to bag check.
It was mentally exhausting. And the one time we left the stroller because DS was raring to go, and then he passed out, and I got to carry his 47 pound, 46 inch sleeping body back to the room (let it be stated that I myself am only 5'3" aka 63" so carrying His Tallness is very awkward!), it was physically exhausting too.
The Grand is also talked about in relation to Grizzly, and how you can just go go go, get soaked and sopping, and jump up to your room easy peasy to change! Well, that's what DH and DS did on our last day, and by the time they got up to the room they were absolutely freezing, and they were feeling really uncomfortable with having dripped all over the hotel. The walk was too far for it to be easy peasy, and they wished they'd just brought a change of clothes to do in the bathrooms up towards the PP area.
I just think it's really important to talk about the faraway rooms, so that someone new, who doesn't see all the reality of actual times and distances, doesn't get one of those rooms and become very disillusioned with the hotel, with Disney, and with US for not talking about the difficult parts. Because, frankly, if I'd had a pedometer or something like that i would bet that our walk to the room, on days we'd been in
Disneyland, rivaled the walk from HoJo, except HoJo's walk is a straight shot, not switchbacks when all you wanted was have a trampoline to jump up to your balcony!