Back from Florida and settled back into our home routine, so time for a quick trip report.
Room: My husband had his work conference there, so we stayed in a great club level suite - we had 3 rooms adjoining. One side had a king bed, the middle had a living room with pullout couch, wet bar area, tv, and the other side had 2 queen beds. It was in the main building and on the 5th floor. Each room had a balcony, that were 'dormer' type I think? The rooms were AMAZING, and I loved the awesome welcome plate we got, and the bathroom products were amazing (especially the mint foot cream!). We had fresh flowers in every room, and the turn-down service with the chocolates was awesome. My only criticism was only because I have an 8-month old baby...the tub was IMPOSSIBLE to bath him in. I had brought a small inflatable tub to put in the tub to help, but because the tub is so deep and the edge is so wide (nearly 10 inches!), the only way I could bath him was by being practically IN the tub! I wonder if people find it difficult getting in and out of these tubs?
Club Conceirge: We ate breakfast here every morning and enjoyed oatmeal with all the toppings, fruit, bagels and cream cheese, danishes, cheese, muffins, and cinnamon buns. We sat overlooking the Lagoon, and fed the baby in his stroller before heading out to the parks. In the afternoon we returned for nap around 3 or 4 and would pop by for some cookies, or scones (YUM!). I didn't get a chance to get there for the evening treats, but my husband brought a platefull of snacks up one night and they were delish! We didn't see anyone being piggy at all, most of the times we were the only ones there!
General Hotel: This was our first time staying in a Deluxe, so of course now I am spoiled and never want to stay anywhere else
We LOVED the monorail access, especially handy with our baby in the stroller. Collapsing the stroller and managing the baby/rainshield/diaper bag/etc. is a disaster for the buses. I also was surprised that the buses (to/from HS or AK) made multiple stops at the Poly and the Contemporary. It made the ride back (with a cranky baby) very LONG. I really liked the music played in the lobby, and the hotel was beautiful! We had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare one day and the selection was awesome (Lobster Eggs Benedict!!!!), and the character meeting was fun too. We mostly got take-out from Gasparillas...I had the quesadillas one night, which were delicious. One thing I found creepy though, was that old lady by the club elevators that sat there ALL THE TIME with the basket of stuffed animals? What's up with that??
Conference Perks: During the conference, I was able to tag along to a couple of events. One night they had an outdoor snacks and fireworks viewing around the boat docks (it was billed as finger foods and fireworks...but there was hand-carved roast beef, pasta, veg, cheeses...). The food was amazing! Another night I was able to go to the company Gala which was held in the big conference centre and was beautifully lit, big dance floor, a company logo'd ice luge for drinks, and REALLY awesome food! We also got a personal Mickey Mouse meet n' greet, where all the attendees got to get a souvenier pic with Mickey, printed on the spot and in a little frame! We got there early as DH was setting up and DS got to meet Mickey all by himself! He crawled all the way across the room to meet him, and Mickey went down on his knee and stretched his hands out to catch him. SOOO adorable. Another night his work arranged to shuttle all the attendees (not me...it was $150 to add family members and it was at 7pm - too close to bedtime) to Hollywood Studios for a private event at Indiana Jones - they had dinner right on the stage and everything. It was amazing from what I heard from DH!
All in all we had a great visit! We moved from there to the new Art of Animation resort (Cars wing) for 5 days. AoA was....different! I mean it was great, the theming was very cute and the restaurant had some cool selection. But now I'm spoiled with my GF stay!!
Thanks for all your tips/advice/pics in our preparation for our trip! If anyone ever has any baby-specific questions, questions about the suites in the main building, or questions about the conference facilities at GF, I am more than happy to fill you in! I have lots of pics, but not sure how to share them effectively. I have a video walk-through of the suite too, maybe I will figure out how to youtube it and will post a link later.