A Grand Vacation: The 2012 Grand Floridian FAQ!

[lala3291]

Hello fellow GF fans!

We will be in Disney one week from tomorrow! We JUST switched our resort from the Poly to the GF- Sugarloaf! We stayed in SL last year during this same week. We are SO excited! We can't wait to see all of the Christmas decorations!

I am so sorry if I missed this (I don't have time to read this whole thread), but is there somewhere to get a quick service meal with Gasparilla's being closed? I think I heard you can get something at Mizner's...

Thanks for any information! I also will try to give some live reports once at the GF, as I will have my laptop with me.

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Originally Posted by lala3291

Hello fellow GF fans!

We will be in Disney one week from tomorrow! We JUST switched our resort from the Poly to the GF- Sugarloaf! We stayed in SL last year during this same week. We are SO excited! We can't wait to see all of the Christmas decorations!

I am so sorry if I missed this (I don't have time to read this whole thread), but is there somewhere to get a quick service meal with Gasparilla's being closed? I think I heard you can get something at Mizner's...

Thanks for any information! I also will try to give some live reports once at the GF, as I will have my laptop with me.

Hey Lauren!

I think you can get quick service at Mizners and at the beach pool bar now....

Live reports would be awesome!!

[lala3291]

Originally Posted by Momof2Disneyboys

Hey Lauren!

I think you can get quick service at Mizners and at the beach pool bar now....

Live reports would be awesome!!

Hey Shelly!

Thank you! Good to know.

I am definitely going to try to report live from the GF. I always intend to do live reports, but sometimes we are too busy to even think about the computer! But I am sure I will be able to report at least a few times!

[Butterflygirl35]

Originally Posted by autumnpalm

Yes I did! Honestly it is a dream come true for us. We were planning on staying at a mod and doing one night at the GF at the end of the trip and now we are doing a 4 night GF/3 night BC split stay. Talk about some Disney magic!!

It definitely is magical. That is a great split.. Best of both worlds!! Epcot area and MK area.

I found out here last year about the Labor Day exclusive for 2012 and had an amazing time... I still can't believe it! Needless to say I am ECSTATIC that they are doing it again for 2013!! Love GF and feel so lucky to be able to stay there again!

I am completely booked for my 2013 Disney Vacations!!

Jan - Boardwalk
May - Bay Lake Towers
August - Grand Floridian (My favorite)
October - Wilderness Lodge

Now comes the hard part.... waiting.......

[followthatmouse]

Originally Posted by lala3291

Hello fellow GF fans!

We will be in Disney one week from tomorrow! We JUST switched our resort from the Poly to the GF- Sugarloaf! We stayed in SL last year during this same week. We are SO excited! We can't wait to see all of the Christmas decorations!

I also will try to give some live reports once at the GF, as I will have my laptop with me.

Have a wonderful stay! It promises to be a magical time of year. We are not far from our own trip to the GF. It would be very kind of you to take the time to provide live reports. Any news would be both fun and helpful!

[autumnpalm]

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl35

It definitely is magical. That is a great split.. Best of both worlds!! Epcot area and MK area.

I found out here last year about the Labor Day exclusive for 2012 and had an amazing time... I still can't believe it! Needless to say I am ECSTATIC that they are doing it again for 2013!! Love GF and feel so lucky to be able to stay there again!

I am completely booked for my 2013 Disney Vacations!!

Jan - Boardwalk
May - Bay Lake Towers
August - Grand Floridian (My favorite)
October - Wilderness Lodge

Now comes the hard part.... waiting.......

Yes, we have stayed at the Yacht Club a few times before and just love the Epcot resort area so we didn't want to miss out on that.

Luckily you will have your January and May trips to help with the wait!

Even though it is still quite a ways away, I am reminding myself that the wait will be worth it to see the GF with all of its renovations and rehabs. I can't wait to see the new pools, Gasparilla's and (hopefully?) the new DVC building.

Is there a timeline yet for completion of the DVC building? Or at least completion of the exterior?

[Butterflygirl35]

Originally Posted by autumnpalm

Yes, we have stayed at the Yacht Club a few times before and just love the Epcot resort area so we didn't want to miss out on that.

Luckily you will have your January and May trips to help with the wait!

Even though it is still quite a ways away, I am reminding myself that the wait will be worth it to see the GF with all of its renovations and rehabs. I can't wait to see the new pools, Gasparilla's and (hopefully?) the new DVC building.

Is there a timeline yet for completion of the DVC building? Or at least completion of the exterior?

It is definitely worth the wait !! I am not sure about the DVC but I am hoping... It would be nice to have the beach pool walls come down and actually see the beach

[lala3291]

Originally Posted by followthatmouse

Have a wonderful stay! It promises to be a magical time of year. We are not far from our own trip to the GF. It would be very kind of you to take the time to provide live reports. Any news would be both fun and helpful!

I will definitely do my best to provide live reports as often as I can! We are so excited...only 8 more days! I hope you have a wonderful trip as well.

[nonzerosum]

Thank you to the person who updated us that the pool construction is going more slowly than anticipated and that it may not be completed on time. Disappointing, but helpful info.

Any updates on the progress of Gasparilla's?

[Butterflygirl35]

To everyone going right now... I am jealous but HAVE A MAGICAL TRIP!!!

[pas130]

Originally Posted by k&a&c'smom

I get you...it's hard to read and post about your favorite resort without running to the phone (website)to book!

baler How cool! Can't wait for the pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big hello to all my Grand buddies Hoping the Gingerbread house is up next week!!!!

[k&a&c'smom]

Originally Posted by baler31

We just returned from at few days at WL OFC but we did visit GF. I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Grand Suite and Walt Disney suite, will post a few photos but I only had my phone and the photos are very low quality.

I was also told that the Courtyard pool construction is quite behind and they do not know if it will be finished on schedule. I am sure it has been reported but will mention that they had the RFID reader for the concierge elevator, seemed to work much better than the cards. This was especially nice at WL as they only have the one floor for CL it just automatically selects the floor for you.

Will get my pictures downloaded and post later. We also were lucky enough to eat lunch and dinner at BOG during our Fantasyland Passholder preview and have some photos of that. I have never done a trip report but may give it a try.

Welcome back, glad you had a great trip. How did you like WL CL? We love WL, so pretty.

Thanks for the info on the courtyard pool - disappointing but not surprising, more than one DISer has reported the work was stopped during the week prior to Sandy.

Originally Posted by Tinks

Hey there! Just checking on the Disney reservation center and I'm wondering if something is up with the RPC MK view rooms for Jan-Mar time frame. I checked quite a few dates and even did single night checks in a variety of weeks, but RPC MK view rooms never came up. At.all. Very unusual. Anyone know if they are rehabbing these rooms in the new year?

I noticed this as well, I tried several dates between now and next spring but nothing came up for main bldg. TPV. I have to assume it is the same problem as andyman's issue with garden view next August - simply not in the system. Weird.

On a side note, I was checking for someone else, not me - phooey.

Originally Posted by autumnpalm

Yes I did! Honestly it is a dream come true for us. We were planning on staying at a mod and doing one night at the GF at the end of the trip and now we are doing a 4 night GF/3 night BC split stay. Talk about some Disney magic!!

Magic indeed!

Originally Posted by lala3291

Hello fellow GF fans!

We will be in Disney one week from tomorrow! We JUST switched our resort from the Poly to the GF- Sugarloaf! We stayed in SL last year during this same week. We are SO excited! We can't wait to see all of the Christmas decorations!

I am so sorry if I missed this (I don't have time to read this whole thread), but is there somewhere to get a quick service meal with Gasparilla's being closed? I think I heard you can get something at Mizner's...

Thanks for any information! I also will try to give some live reports once at the GF, as I will have my laptop with me.

One week to go, woohoo! As Momof2DisneyBoys posted, quick service options at Mizner's until midnight, beach pool bar & grill until 11 pm. With Sandy Cove closed for refurb, you can get snacks and sundries at M. Mouse Mercantile, on the second floor near the monorail exit.

Originally Posted by Momof2Disneyboys

Hey Lauren!

I think you can get quick service at Mizners and at the beach pool bar now....

Live reports would be awesome!!

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl35

It definitely is magical. That is a great split.. Best of both worlds!! Epcot area and MK area.

I found out here last year about the Labor Day exclusive for 2012 and had an amazing time... I still can't believe it! Needless to say I am ECSTATIC that they are doing it again for 2013!! Love GF and feel so lucky to be able to stay there again!

I am completely booked for my 2013 Disney Vacations!!

Jan - Boardwalk
May - Bay Lake Towers
August - Grand Floridian (My favorite)
October - Wilderness Lodge

Now comes the hard part.... waiting.......

Wow - I'm envious of your trip schedule. What a wonderful 2013 you have planned.

Originally Posted by pas130

baler How cool! Can't wait for the pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big hello to all my Grand buddies Hoping the Gingerbread house is up next week!!!!

One more week to go, I'll bet you can hardly sleep. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the gingerbread house and look forward to a report on the progress.

[Jungle Cruiser]

Just stopping in for a quick hello

We got hit hard by Sandy, still no power and they don't expect us to get it back until the middle of next week . We got lucky and we able to get a room at the local hotel starting last night when their power came back.

Sounds like a lot of people are getting ready to go to the Grand Floridian soon. I know that our pas will give us an update next week when she is at the Poly, let's just see if she stays with the Poly

Disappointing to hear that the pool is behind, except there isn't much swimming in January. However, I think we will all be happy just to look at the courtyard pool and not construction!

Just saw the artist renderings of Gaspirillas, amazing. Looking forward to checking it out when we are there in early January!

BVC, did I read you are at WDW now? Hope you are having a wonderful time! Where are you staying?

k&a&c'smom

[baler31]

Originally Posted by k&a&c'smom

Welcome back, glad you had a great trip. How did you like WL CL? We love WL, so pretty.

Thanks for the info on the courtyard pool - disappointing but not surprising, more than one DISer has reported the work was stopped during the week prior to Sandy.

We have stayed at WL a few times but not in several years. I decided to give OFC another try but it is just not for me. I don't enjoy the menu nearly as much as GF and the lounge is just too enclosed.

We requested bunk beds and close to lounge and our room location was perfect. We did have a fairly serious maintenance issue that took two requests to be repaired . The room was very clean and we had excellent mousekeeping.

The most serious issue for me was the constantly empty beverage cooler. I have a fairly serious diet soda addiction that I manage to keep in check at home but when on vacation I tend to have one in my hands at all times. I disliked having to constantly ask for a soda. They always went and got me one but I began to feel like I was a burden after the third or fourth time. I knew that the lounge was locked between service but I had planned on just putting a few in my fridge but that did not work out as they always seemed to be empty. Had the same problem with the Moosehead beer as well.

However, my kids really adored the Lodge, they don't remember it very well as they were much younger the last time we stayed there. They liked the lounge as they felt it was "cozy". They had special activities for Halloween that the kids enjoyed.

The transportation was very good and we actually used the bus system and found it was not as bad as we had thought. The bus to MK was much faster than the boat.

Someone asked about Gasparilla's, I was told it was on schedule

We are staying CL at the Poly after Christmas for NYE. We are going with friends/family and decided to splurge on the Grand 1 for the NYE fireworks. I will try to take plenty of pictures and report back.

[k&a&c'smom]

Jungle Cruiser - Sooo sorry to hear you were hit by Sandy. I'm glad you are in a hotel now, but it must have been a tough week, and the road ahead must seem very long. I've been wondering about you and our other NE GF-lovers.

baler31 - I felt the same way about the food service at WL, but didn't want to say so if you loved it. We adore WL, and will definitely book a courtyard view room again (or even woods) but doubt we'll do CL there again. We enjoyed the lounge around the lobby, though.

Thanks for the info on Gasparilla's, hopefully it opens on schedule.

Your NYE plans sound great! Enjoy the Grand 1, we booked it with a group of friends one year and it was fabulous.