A Grand Vacation: The 2012 Grand Floridian FAQ!

[dipastor]

I just wanted to thank all of you dedicated GF lovers for posting. This will be our third visit to Disney and the GF. We went back and forth on staying at GF versus Beach Club. We couldn't stand not being at the GF (plus needed convenience of monorail with 3 small children).

Bummer Courtyard pool will be closed. We will be there Oct. 25th through NOv. 3rd. I love walking from hotel room to GF Cafe in the morning with the view of the pool, beautiful lawns and flowers. Hope the Courtyard Pool construction won't be too disruptive.

Thanks for all your updates. I guess no chance they will also put off construction of courtyard pool?? Any mention of that??? Heard about possible Gasparilla's push back.

thanks.
di

[tobin04]

Thanks for the pics!

When us the splash pad supposed to be done (open)? We will be there 3 weeks from yesterday! My girls would love to play on that!

[JoBird]

Welcome Home k&a&c'smom!!! Hope you had a wonderful trip in spite of the rain. Thanks for the pictures- looks like it's all coming together.

Butterflygirl35-- Hope you have a GRAND vacation!! And I agree with runskimom- arriving and walking thru the doors is the best part of vacation!! Enjoy!!

[meredith1]

Originally Posted by Sfmarine

Hello everyone. I see we have a fresh new thread which is nice. I am back from my trip and I already miss being at the GF. I thought I'd give a few updates. The Pool is no longer 24 hours. It closes at 11 so I'd advise the OP to change that info in the main post. I first read about it on Trip Advisor last week before I went and it is definitely confirmed. There's a new piece of wood overlapping the old times. It's definitely a bummer but what can you do. You would figure with Extra Magic hours that they would keep it open since many do not get back to the resort until midnight.

I was in Sago Cay so the construction did not bother me too much. I had a view of the marina and Gasparillas.

So I'm contemplating a trip around Christmas. I've never been to the World during the holidays and I'd really enjoy seeing everything lit up. This time, however, I will need two rooms. Is it cheaper to go with a 2 bedroom suite instead? The website does not give you an option except to book two separate reservations and ask for adjoining rooms.

I just booked this weekend for Dec, 2013. I originally booked a two bedroom suite and then, called back to compare the price of that to two deluxe queens (with a request for them to be next to each other) and the price difference between the two bedroom suite and the two deluxe queen rooms is right at 3000.00 for a 5 night stay. The cheaper option being the two deluxe queen rooms. The deluxe rooms are 448 sq ft as compared to the suite being around 1100 sq ft. HTH-

[meredith1]

duplicate post-sorry.

[Butterflygirl35]

Hello everyone! Checking in.. We got conch key with view of the monorail which my son LOVES!!!

Everything is gorgeous and we are having an amazing time!!

Dont feel the construction but then again courtyard pool is open

Only negative is no pool activities for kiddies

[BCV23]

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl35

Hello everyone! Checking in.. We got conch key with view of the monorail which my son LOVES!!!

Everything is gorgeous and we are having an amazing time!!

Dont feel the construction but then again courtyard pool is open

Only negative is no pool activities for kiddies

Glad you are having such a Grand time. Thanks for checking in with us.

k&a&c'smom, thanks for the photos. Love that there will now be a refill station by the beach pool.

[Butterflygirl35]

Hello everyone.. Although there is no official pool party / games they did play games with kiddies by the pool... It was nice having the kids kept busy without the loudness.. The new kiddie area looks awesome but I was told it would only open mid September...

Having an amazing time.. When I get home I will try to figure out how to post pics

[mtnmomma3]

Loving all the fab info as usual

We are staying at the GF in RPC next September with our three girls ( will be 7 and 4 year old twins at the time).... super excited! I am planning to do the Bippity Boppity Boutique with them at the Magic Kingdom during our stay. We will be bringing custom princess dresses from home with us.. I am one of those crazy moms that dresses their kids in custom themed Disney outfits for every part of the trip I sew and have some great designer friends that help me out! Anyway- I am worried about dragging 3 nice dresses with us into the parks but want the girls to have the experience of changing at the BBB... if you have never done it, they make it very magical... they hang up the dresses and lay out all the accessories in a beautiful velvet curtained dressing room and the FGT has the girls close their eyes and make a wish and they open the curtain to reveal their gowns... very fun!!

We have never stayed Club level at Disney, have at other resorts, but was just wondering if the concierge would be able to arrange the delivery of my girls dresses to the BBB the day we go.... what do you yall think?

[toodycat]

Hi, everyone. We leave for the GF in two weeks. What is the latest info on the Courtyard pool? Will it be closed by then or not? It will be much better for us if it is open. That is our favorite pool. If anyone has heard anything, let me know. Thanks.

[haleofafamily]

My understanding is that the beach near the beach pool is practically closed. Is that correct?

Are there any other beaches where lounge chairs are available to relax?

We loved chilling on the beach at the Poly and hope to have the same possibilities at the Grand!

[Jungle Cruiser]

Originally Posted by toodycat

Hi, everyone. We leave for the GF in two weeks. What is the latest info on the Courtyard pool? Will it be closed by then or not? It will be much better for us if it is open. That is our favorite pool. If anyone has heard anything, let me know. Thanks.

The date for the closure of the courtyard pool is still scheduled for "mid September". In all honesty you aren't going to know until you get there. It may close during your stay, who knows. Fingers crossed you will be able to use the courtyard pool, but it is very unlikely you are going to get a correct exact date of of anyone.

Originally Posted by haleofafamily

My understanding is that the beach near the beach pool is practically closed. Is that correct?

Are there any other beaches where lounge chairs are available to relax?

We loved chilling on the beach at the Poly and hope to have the same possibilities at the Grand!

Most of the beach at the GF has been closed since the spring due to the construction. Until those walls come down (scheduled in the next week or so!) no one is going to know how much beach there will be. Clearly there will be some, but it is really anyone's guess at this point. Let's hope for lots of beach!

k&a&c'smom has been posting updated information of closures and construction dates at the GF on page one of this thread. She does an excellent job of keeping the thread up to date, so I would keep checking there for updates.

[bedogged]

I am considering changing our reservations at WL to GF. We will be staying 12/9 -12/14. I've looked at the Passholder site and for a few hundred more we can make the change. We love WL, but have always thought about staying at GF. Our reservation would be Outer Bldg - Garden View. I have read quite a bit here, but there are so many pages! Could someone please give us some ideas of what to ask for in the way of location? I will be asking for a king bed. I also use an ECV, but I do not require an accessible room. By the way, we are two old fogies who like it quiet. Any help would be appreciated.

[sydneysmom]

Originally Posted by bedogged

I am considering changing our reservations at WL to GF. We will be staying 12/9 -12/14. I've looked at the Passholder site and for a few hundred more we can make the change. We love WL, but have always thought about staying at GF. Our reservation would be Outer Bldg - Garden View. I have read quite a bit here, but there are so many pages! Could someone please give us some ideas of what to ask for in the way of location? I will be asking for a king bed. I also use an ECV, but I do not require an accessible room. By the way, we are two old fogies who like it quiet. Any help would be appreciated.

We had also requested a king room and we got a BEAUTIFUL water view in Big Pine Key.... from the balcony we saw the Electric Water Parade, the fireworks and Cinderella's castle. It was wonderful !! there's nothing more peaceful than sitting on your balcony at night just watching the beauty around this wonderful resort.

When we went, it was September 2010 and they were starting to put up the Christmas lights on the castle. It was incredible, I'd wake up at 3-4 am, while everyone was still sleeping, and peek outside and see the castle all lit up for Christmas. By morning, it was all back to normal. It was like having a REALLY wonderful secret. Sorry, I digressed for a moment there.....

Anyway, we absolutely LOVED Big Pine Key!! Have a really wonderful trip !!

[KonaKaiTom]

Thanks everyone for the constant updates and I'm hoping you had/having a magical time. Not much longer now -- just finished the ADR - Artist Point, Tutto Italiano, Tony's Town Tavern (for MNSSHP) and Shula's Steakhouse. We have a character breakfast set for The Crystal Palace and are now just patiently waiting for Mickey Mail!!!!!