The Murphys are LIVE from the BC and GF!!! July 25-August 3, 2015

MinnieTink said:

Oy! Flight delays are the worst. Also so sad to see this TR end! I've enjoyed reading of your travels and good eats! I look forward to the next one!

On an unrelated note, I remember you from that special...was it Disney on a budget or something....is that on YouTube or hulu or anything?

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I did not know that -how do we see it ?

MinnieTink said:

Oy! Flight delays are the worst. Also so sad to see this TR end! I've enjoyed reading of your travels and good eats! I look forward to the next one!

On an unrelated note, I remember you from that special...was it Disney on a budget or something....is that on YouTube or hulu or anything?

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dvc at last ! said:

I did not know that -how do we see it ?

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I didn't know about this either. I need to know more. My interest is piqued.

Sorry about your flight delay. Hopefully you'll receive some great compensation.

TigrLvsPooh said:

We are stranded here at the airport.
Flight delayed due to the crew being stuck in another city with a maintenance issue. Our plane is just sitting here with nobody to fly it. They are saying 11:30 pm before we will leave!!!!

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Oh boo! We had a flight delay like that last year. We sat in the airport for hours and our departure (scheduled for around 6pm, I think) was delayed until after 11pm. And I had just run the princess half marathon that morning, so I was a little tired and not-so-happy about the delay. Good luck!!!

TigrLvsPooh said:

View attachment 113481 View attachment 113482 View attachment 113483 We spent the afternoon at Epcot and now we are here hanging at the poly before our flight. Which is of course delayed!!!

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I can't wait to try those nachos! And have a dole whip float at the Poly-- one more month!!

I hope you made it home and are sleeping. Thanks for taking us along. I looked forward to your daily updates especially since we just returned and I'm in a Disney depression.

Hey do you have any other pics of the Four Seasons, especially the pool areas, on any of your other trip reports?

I was out of town last week so I just caught up with your trip...WOW! Thanks for all of the pics, I loved every moment! I almost booked at the Four Seasons this trip, but chose a CL stay instead. I love staying on Disney property, but next year might be the year I change my mind after hearing about your stay!!

Happy Birthday to your son, I'm glad your family had a wonderful trip!!

MinnieTink said:

Oy! Flight delays are the worst. Also so sad to see this TR end! I've enjoyed reading of your travels and good eats! I look forward to the next one!

On an unrelated note, I remember you from that special...was it Disney on a budget or something....is that on YouTube or hulu or anything?

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Lol, I PM'd Erika last week because I remembered the same thing! I knew she looked familiar, and then it dawned on me!

dvc at last ! said:

Hopefully you will get some credit toward another trip to Orlando !
That would be a good thing !
What time was your flight ?
Delayed to 11:30 ?

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We were supposed to leave at 8:00 PM, ended up leaving around midnight! By the time we got our luggage and drove home we pulled in the garage at 3:45 AM this morning! I feel like a zombie for sure!

dvc at last ! said:

I did not know that -how do we see it ?

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disny_luvr said:

I didn't know about this either. I need to know more. My interest is piqued.

Sorry about your flight delay. Hopefully you'll receive some great compensation.

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Corinne said:

Lol, I PM'd Erika last week because I remembered the same thing! I knew she looked familiar, and then it dawned on me!

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The only way I know to still watch it online is on YouTube: The guy who has it on there posted it in 6 parts to cover the whole hour. Hard to believe it was 10 years ago!!

JohnDaleswife said:

Hey do you have any other pics of the Four Seasons, especially the pool areas, on any of your other trip reports?

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I have almost 2,000 photos to sort through from the trip! I'm going to write full trip reports on the BC CL, GF CL, and the Four Seasons as soon as I can get my life back in order here. If you see the link on page 1 in the first post it will take you to my entire album of photos that are uploaded so far.

TigrLvsPooh said:

The only way I know to still watch it online is on YouTube:

The guy who has it on there posted it in 6 parts to cover the whole hour. Hard to believe it was 10 years ago!!

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Oh my goodness I just watched all 6 parts and I'm exhausted just thinking about it - Magic Kingdom, Hoop Dee Doo, fireworks cruise, and Pleasure Island. Did you really do all of that in one day?

ChandraM said:

Oh my goodness I just watched all 6 parts and I'm exhausted just thinking about it - Magic Kingdom, Hoop Dee Doo, fireworks cruise, and Pleasure Island. Did you really do all of that in one day?

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Needless to say I had very little input on the plans. The magic of television!

ChandraM said:

Oh my goodness I just watched all 6 parts and I'm exhausted just thinking about it - Magic Kingdom, Hoop Dee Doo, fireworks cruise, and Pleasure Island. Did you really do all of that in one day?

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I just watched it, too. You guys sure did have a jammed packed day. It's funny how a lot of the tips featured on the show are now outdated.

disny_luvr said:

I just watched it, too. You guys sure did have a jammed packed day. It's funny how a lot of the tips featured on the show are now outdated.

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Yes, I loved how they walked up to a person and arranged for priority seating just hours before a meal. If only...

ChandraM said:

Yes, I loved how they walked up to a person and arranged for priority seating just hours before a meal. If only...

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Lol! I know. I had to chuckle to myself when they talked about pulling a FP for a big attraction, going to ride another attraction, and then coming back and using their FP. And, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire; we loved that attraction.

It's a blast from the past for sure! Those were the good old days before technology took over.

TigrLvsPooh said:

The only way I know to still watch it online is on YouTube:

The guy who has it on there posted it in 6 parts to cover the whole hour. Hard to believe it was 10 years ago!!

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YES....Oh my gosh! I totally remember seeing this on TV!!!!!!! I knew you looked so familiar! The boys are so grown up now -- wow -- time flies.

Now that I'm home I can get my thoughts together about the Four Seasons. It was such a last minute addition to the end of our trip, and then we had such an awful time getting home yesterday, totally crazy!

I received an email from the Four Seasons a couple of days before we arrived letting me know I should download their app, which I did right away. About 24 hours before arrival I got another email letting me know I could now check-in on the app. Cool! So I checked us in and requested an early arrival (since I knew we'd have to be out of the GF by 11:00 AM). The app also allows you to make special requests if you have anything to note. The morning we checked out of the Grand I got a message from the Four Seasons app letting me know our room was ready and we could stop at the front desk to get our keys. This was AWESOME because we wouldn't be homeless in between resorts.
Driving through the entrance to Golden Oak gives me the chills!!! Oh how I wish I had 10 million extra dollars laying around so I could build a house right there in the middle of the magic. A girl can dream, right?? The road winds back through the housing areas until you get to the very back where the Four Seasons is. It's a HUGE building so you can't miss it.



As soon as we pulled up the valet was smiling and ready to assist. A bellman also came over right away. It didn't take long before our luggage was loaded onto a cart and the car was taken off. Very quick and easy! Another bellman came over and escorted us inside to the registration desk. (be sure to have plenty of cash on hand because I was tipping these guys left and right)
The lady who took care of us at check-in was amazing, really all of the employees we encountered were top notch. She gave us our keys and escorted us to the elevators. Once we were up on the 10th floor we encountered the first bellman already at our suite door waiting for us. He not only unloaded the luggage but put it in the closet area on racks while also showing us how to use all the technology in our room.





This iPad was really awesome. You could use it to see your folio/room charging, you can contact housekeeping, you can request housekeeping and/or turndown at certain times and also make notes to the housekeeper. You can order food, make dining reservations, look at the restaurant menus, setup spa appointments, golf info, recreation, really anything you might possibly need during your stay all in this one handy location. The welcome screen greeted me by name, gave local weather, hotel info, etc. Super cool!



We also had a Bose sound system with bluetooth so the kids were instantly excited to play their own music off their iPhones:



Water and coffee are complimentary and can be requested anytime we ran out:



Also with turndown service at night they would place a bottle of water next to both sides of each bed along with slippers. The kids thought that was the coolest thing ever. Boy I wish Disney would give water bottles as freely. It always feels like mission impossible to get your hands on some water to drink!

Nespresso machine with 3 types of coffee




It was easy to use and the coffee tasted really good I thought. Normally I don't make coffee in my room but I wanted to try this out to see how it worked.

The bellman asked if we wanted any other beverages other than water and coffee. They offer in-room bar setup, soft drinks, etc, anything we would want to have brought up. (for a charge of course)

All of the light switches were fancy and the lamps all had dimmers. The front door had buttons for "privacy" and for "make up room"




Bedroom and living room had separate thermostats



There were TONS of outlets everywhere. Several on both sides of the bed, around the desk, near the couch, and by each end table. No problem whatsoever charging all of our electronics simultaniously. The in-room Wifi was great!! Super fast! I uploaded some videos to photobucket that usually take forever and they zipped right along in a few minutes. Very nice.


Everywhere you looked there were special details and thought given to a guest's needs. I've stayed in Four Seasons hotels before but the amenities here in Orlando were the best I've seen anywhere. Even in the bathroom with special containers with q-tips and makeup remover pads, shower cap, drinking mug, the housekeeper even put bamboo mats under my toiletries for me!

We had two TVs and they were both huge and very high quality. The highest quality refresh rate I've seen in a hotel that's for sure. Even better than our own TVs at home!


You could even DVR shows if you wanted, or order PPV movies.

Once we started to settle in to our room we received a parade of visitors! First came welcome gifts from the hotel. Chocolate truffles for me and popcorn and root beer for the kids with a token to go downstairs for free ice cream. Then another visitor with a birthday cake and card for Nic.



These were DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!





Really above and beyond when it comes to feeling welcome.

Shortly after these two deliveries the afternoon housekeeper came to see if we needed any towels. So I guess you could say 3 visits per day for housekeeping needs. At this point we started to feel almost too well taken care of so we put the privacy light on and enjoyed the view from our balcony before hitting the pool.



I've already posted but I'll tell you again, the view is spectacular!



We really enjoyed the pool area, it is HUGE and best of all, no crowds! You could easily come down and find chairs or even a cabana if you wanted one. We hung out mostly over by the lazy river, but also did some swimming in the infinity pool. And I think I already told you guys about the over 21 pool as well. After being chairless at SAB all week it was nice to feel we could sit down and relax. As soon as we approached chairs an employee came with large plush towels and "made up" chairs for us to lounge in. He offered us a pitcher of ice water as well. The staff is so attentive you don't even have time to think about something you might need or want because they'll think of it first.

We had dinner that night downstairs in Ravello. It was fantastic! I had the white truffle risotto, the boys had pizzas. The meal and the service were incredible!






The turndown service in the evening is actually a second cleaning. They cleaned the room top to bottom as well as both bathrooms, refreshed towels and toiletries, turned down the beds, made up the sleeper sofa, left extra bottles of water at our bedsides, slippers, lights dimmed, etc.

We decided to order room service for dessert. Warm chocolate chip cookies and milk (Connor's favorite) and chocolate cake. A perfect treat for watching all the fireworks shows from our balcony.

You've probably already seen all my photos , if not check my photobucket album





I really enjoyed our stay immensely! I think this hotel is perfect for people looking for a high luxury experience with a lot of pampering, top notch service, and a broad range of amenities. The spa I toured was beautiful, the pools are beautiful, the restaurants are beautiful, the whole dang place is just stunning! Our suite was over the top and something I would never be able to afford, so I think that's what made it even more amazing. It was like being queen for a day.
My 16 year old said he'd never been somewhere before where so many people cared. And I think that really sums it up. I genuinely felt like every single person we encountered wanted to make sure we were happy and had everything we needed. And not in a kiss your behind type of way, but in a real genuine way. I would guess that anything you needed or wanted could be done at this resort... it would be perfect for a honeymoon, anniversary, special occasion, plus they have convention, meeting, and wedding space. Also I think it's a great spot for adults-only, or for a family looking for more down time away from the parks. Or perhaps as a split stay with a Disney resort to add a few days of pampering onto your trip after going commando through the parks.

If anyone has any questions about the Four Seasons just let me know. I'm going to get some thoughts together about the BC and GF as well.

This is my first comment (ever!) but I was following along all last week (and was at WDW-AKL Saturday to Monday) but I have loved your report! Thank you for all the details and time you took to put this together and Happy Belated Birthday to your son!