A Grand Vacation: The 2012 Grand Floridian FAQ!

[psac]

Thanks. There should be a Guest Services at AK, right? I don't want to make a special trip to MK if I don't have to. But wish I could get them at the GF since we are trying to make RD at AK on our first morning!

Yes, they definitely have guest services at AK (and all the parks). Unfortunately, things like that (or getting annual passes for instance) can only be done at guest services and not through any of the resorts staff.

 

[Sue M]

Thanks. There should be a Guest Services at AK, right? I don't want to make a special trip to MK if I don't have to. But wish I could get them at the GF since we are trying to make RD at AK on our first morning!

All parks have guest services. I'd just plan on getting to AK earlier to get your APs, guest services are on the left side. Or if your getting in the evening before, and MK is still open, maybe you could do it then? Don't forget to bring photo ID. You need to show it to get APs.

 

[MommyGina]

Thanks for checking on the mugs. I was hoping for something new this year!

 

[BayGirl22]

All parks have guest services. I'd just plan on getting to AK earlier to get your APs, guest services are on the left side. Or if your getting in the evening before, and MK is still open, maybe you could do it then? Don't forget to bring photo ID. You need to show it to get APs.

Thanks.
We'll be doing EMH at AK the first morning, and given that we're coming from the west coast I think it will be hard enough to make it there that early.
I like the idea of a quick Monorail trip on Sunday night when we arrive to visit the MK gates and pick up our tickets. (They aren't AP's, just 6 day PH's.) My DS will be so excited to ride the monorail I'm sure he'll want to go along. We may be the only family who wants a room in the back of Sago with a monorail view.
Its just kind of surprising to me that the conference tickets can't be picked up at the conference site. You'd think Disney would make that easy for attendees. I would have just paid the $5 to have them shipped I think had I known.

 

[Dr Ken]

There's been a lot of talk on this thread about the noise from the new VGF. We've been here three days and haven't heard any noise in our room from VGF.

We're staying at Sugarloaf (CL) facing the new VGF but we're pretty far from VGF. We did hear a lot of noise in our room from the pool area when they were showing an outdoor movie.

I did once hear a saw running at VGF while I was walking near the pool. But, the pool noise was MUCH louder than the saw.

The outer walls and the roof of VGF are on. So, most of the noise at VGF will be indoors hence not as loud outdoors. I think!

 

[MommyGina]

Does anyone know if the new fence around the CY pool has been put up? If I missed this in a previous post, forgive me.

 

[Disneyandphilliesfan]

To answer an earlier question yes you can get an ap discount if one comes out.

 

[Tink rules]

Does anyone know if the new fence around the CY pool has been put up? If I missed this in a previous post, forgive me.

Yes... about a week ago...

 

[WDW1970]

There's been a lot of talk on this thread about the noise from the new VGF. We've been here three days and haven't heard any noise in our room from VGF.

We're staying at Sugarloaf (CL) facing the new VGF but we're pretty far from VGF. We did hear a lot of noise in our room from the pool area when they were showing an outdoor movie.

I did once hear a saw running at VGF while I was walking near the pool. But, the pool noise was MUCH louder than the saw.

The outer walls and the roof of VGF are on. So, most of the noise at VGF will be indoors hence not as loud outdoors. I think!

Thanks for posting. We will be at GF in the near future and that is reassuring.

 

[WDW1970]

I may have missed it but does anyone know when the beach pool waterfall will be operational again? Are they refurbishing it or is there another reason it is not operating right now?

Thanks!

Does anyone that has been to the GF recently know anything about this?

Thanks

 

[CammelleandBre]

omigosh, pas, you are so sweet. i turn 40 on 8/23. we will be there, seriously, the EXACT same dates as you. although we are at BC from 8/18-8/21, checking in at GF 8/21. i will totally meet up with you. let me tell you... i have always been totally against meeting anyone from the boards. it makes me nervous that they will end up being a creepy stalker or something! then JC passed without my getting to meet her- even though we were at GF at the same time last year. i regret not meeting her so much and i am going to loosen my rule now! that is... if you ACTUALLY do stick with your GF ressie... ha ha! you RC'er, you!

when in august is your bday?

I know this is an older post, but me, and my dd will also be at the GF 8/18-8/25. Our first time there. My b-day is also Aug. 23 I will be turning 29. This is a great thread by the way.

 

[Sue M]

Thanks.
We'll be doing EMH at AK the first morning, and given that we're coming from the west coast I think it will be hard enough to make it there that early.
I like the idea of a quick Monorail trip on Sunday night when we arrive to visit the MK gates and pick up our tickets. (They aren't AP's, just 6 day PH's.) My DS will be so excited to ride the monorail I'm sure he'll want to go along. We may be the only family who wants a room in the back of Sago with a monorail view.
Its just kind of surprising to me that the conference tickets can't be picked up at the conference site. You'd think Disney would make that easy for attendees. I would have just paid the $5 to have them shipped I think had I known.

Well, lesson learned but it will add a layer of excitement your arrival night to hop on the monorail to MK!
We are on the west coast too, and you are very ambitious doing morning EMH your first day!! it takes me 3 days to adjust to eastern time!! The first few mornings are killers!

 

[Sue M]

DVC news posted a few pictures of the interior of the new villas: http://dvcnews.com/index.php/component/content/article/94-villas-at-grand-floridian/2254-new-vgf-model-room-photos

Nice!!!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Hello, GF lovers! I've been trying to post for a couple days, but have had computer issues. I have more photos to post, I'll try to get those on soon.

I need to read the pages I've missed, but thought I'd try to answer WDW1970's question about the Beach Pool waterfall. I was told the waterfall is off due to the DVC construction - and the rumor is the Beach Pool will be connected to a DVC pool or at least will be made larger. This isn't official by any means, just something I was told while at the resort. I hope it is true, as the lack of a DVC pool has been a concern.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Welcome back!! Glad to hear they are indeed putting up a new fence around the CY pool.

Thanks for the welcome back! We had a great time, the resort was beautiful as usual and RPC fantastic.

Hi everyone!!!! Apologies if this has been answered but I did not find it in a quick search. We are not staying @ the Grand Floridian we will be at POR (due to the price & it's myself & boys). But, I had booked ADR @ the Floridian Cafe! I wanted to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the hotel. My question is: will construction be going on the end of May & is it in the front or back of the hotel? Just curious.... Thanks all!

I know you posted your question has been answered, but wanted to acknowledge you and provide info for anyone else reading.

The construction of the DVC is supposed to continue through 2013, unfortunately. The main construction site is to the right of the main building as you enter from the front - behind the Beach Pool. I don't think it will affect your dinner, or walking the GF grounds.

So glad I decided to let the IPO make my ADRs this morning! Got everything I wanted within 20 minutes and confirmation was in my inbox by the time I woke up this morning. Which worked great, because DS decided to sleep in and so did I! Now...what to plan next...

Its typical in the US to get a shampoo before cut and styling too. But I've always been told that Up-Do's stay better and are easier to create if your hair is "one day dirty". So I think that's what was referred to above. If you are looking for a true up-do then they won't wash it. For a regular blow out or curls type styling I would expect a wash. (Some lower end salons may not include blow dry but I'd expect someplace nice like GF to dry)

This is exactly what I was trying to say, thank you. However, I had a regular style without updo on my first visit to Ivy Trellis, and they did not shampoo/blow dry my hair - just the style. Not sure if this is the norm or is still the case, as it was a few years ago.

Hope you have a great time. What do the refillable mugs look like at Gasparilla's? Hoping that they have changed since last year. I already have two sets of them and would like a new set for this summer.

This has been answered, but thought I'd say - I took a photo of the mugs in Gasparilla's, I'll post when I have them all uploaded. Same mugs as the past couple years, sorry to say. We were hoping for new designs, too.

Just got back from a quick weekend trip and wanted to report a room to avoid at all costs. If you are assigned room 5213 (Sago), consider requesting a different room. The room has a very bad view - directly over the roof of the entrance and laundry staging area. However the worst issue is noise from utility areas on either side of the room. We were awakened at 3:00 AM by loud banging which turned out to be a piece of machinery that had gone haywire. It took about an hour to fix and we were exhausted the next day. Had we been staying longer I definitely would have accepted the offer to move to another room but since was just a weekend trip we stayed put. We were so tired on night two I doubt anything could have woken us up anyway! Beware this room!

Thanks for the info, so sorry to hear you had such a rough night. Very disappointing!

I have a question....
I booked a room in the main building for August 2014. The price per night is crazy (which I expected) but what I'd like to know is IF AP or general public codes/rates are released, are they applicable to the main building rooms?

THANK YOU!

They do sometimes include RPC and SL in the discounts, but lately the 20% general public codes have not included club level at GF (or, I think, Poly). I hope you are able to snag a good discount for next year, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Oh my goodness.

Just checked into GF Sugarloaf Key (CL).

We're on the. 3rd floor with a pool view. With effort we can see CR and the top of Space Mountain from our porch. The fence around the pool blends in nicely. Quite a distance to VGF.

Had diner at GF Cafe.

I hope you had a good dinner, we love GF Cafe. Enjoy your stay!

There's been a lot of talk on this thread about the noise from the new VGF. We've been here three days and haven't heard any noise in our room from VGF.

We're staying at Sugarloaf (CL) facing the new VGF but we're pretty far from VGF. We did hear a lot of noise in our room from the pool area when they were showing an outdoor movie.

I did once hear a saw running at VGF while I was walking near the pool. But, the pool noise was MUCH louder than the saw.

The outer walls and the roof of VGF are on. So, most of the noise at VGF will be indoors hence not as loud outdoors. I think!

Thanks for the update, good to know you haven't heard anything in your room. Can you hear it from your balcony? We had no issues within the room, but once out on the balcony it was easily heard - hammers, machines, etc. And the Beach Pool was pretty noisy while were were there, but we only swam one day.

Yes... about a week ago...

I was watching the workers from our balcony when I took that photo on April 25!

 

[baler31]

Hello, GF lovers! I've been trying to post for a couple days, but have had computer issues. I have more photos to post, I'll try to get those on soon.

I need to read the pages I've missed, but thought I'd try to answer WDW1970's question about the Beach Pool waterfall. I was told the waterfall is off due to the DVC construction - and the rumor is the Beach Pool will be connected to a DVC pool or at least will be made larger. This isn't official by any means, just something I was told while at the resort. I hope it is true, as the lack of a DVC pool has been a concern.

I was told this as well on our visit the 1st week in April. I am looking for a photo I took of that area from the monorail where you can clearly see a water feature connected to the beach pool waterfall (with a scrim/wall in between) there was an area cleared that was very appropriate for a smaller pool.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

I was told this as well on our visit the 1st week in April. I am looking for a photo I took of that area from the monorail where you can clearly see a water feature connected to the beach pool waterfall (with a scrim/wall in between) there was an area cleared that was very appropriate for a smaller pool.

Ooh, I'd love to see the photo if you find it. This is exactly what I was told, i.e. you can see an area roughed in for the new pool feature. I meant to take some photos from the monorail but forgot each time.

ETA: I see your next trip is nearly here, woohoo!!

 

[Tink rules]

I was watching the workers from our balcony when I took that photo on April 25!

Well... there ya go... I only steal from the best!!!!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Well... there ya go... I only steal from the best!!!!

 

[Lulu'sMom]

I should know this but I don't. Does the GF have the keurigs in all their rooms?