Grand Floridian experts please respond

[Cindy y]

I am new to the message boards and have an important question. What is the difference between the Sugar loaf building versus staying in the main building? I have priced out both and to stay in the main building deluxe room level runs about 20% more than sugarloaf. Help!! I have to make up my mind by 1/17.

 

[Janet2k]

Welcome to the Dis!

There is a Grand Floridian Frequently Asked Questions thread here on the Dis website: click here. You'll find lots of wonderful info in there.

From the official WDW GF website:
- - - - - - -
Concierge-level Guests also receive these special amenities:

Staff available prior to and during your visit for reservations and vacation planning

Access to the exclusive Royal Palm Club or Sugar Loaf Concierge Lounge (depending on room location) featuring Continental breakfast, snacks and evening wine and cheese reception (wine not offered at Sugar Loaf location)
- - - - - - -

The only real difference is that if you are a Sugar Loaf resident, you get access to its lounge (found in the lobby of the Sugar Loaf building) and there is no evening wine & cheese offering. If you are a Main Building resident, you get access to its lounge (found on the 4th floor of the Main Building) and there is an evening wine & cheese offering. Both lounges are staffed by concierge Cast Members from early in the morning until late in the evening (in the Sugar Loaf, those Cast Members are found in the lobby; in the Main Building, those Cast Members are found on the 3rd floor).

 

[karenmason]

I stayed in Sugar Loaf last spring as a free upgrade.
We adored the place.
And will probably never stay at that level of luxury again.
You can't go wrong.

 

[Cindy y]

Just reviewed our reservation and we are in a deluxe room, the royal palm club which I am assuming it means conciege level. Which is the best floor to be on and any ideas of what room has the best views if I ended up requesting prior to our visit. (3/5-3/11)
Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Misti]

Just reviewed our reservation and we are in a deluxe room, the royal palm club which I am assuming it means conciege level. Which is the best floor to be on and any ideas of what room has the best views if I ended up requesting prior to our visit. (3/5-3/11)
Thanks for your help so far.

I've always heard 4422 has a great view. I haven't stayed in that room but I noted it from reading the boards. That one is on the 4th floor. Room requests can be noted but Disney won't guarantee anything ahead of time. I think it is even more challenging for them when you request a specific room number. But, it is always worth a try!

 

[Misti]

Just reviewed our reservation and we are in a deluxe room, the royal palm club which I am assuming it means conciege level. Which is the best floor to be on and any ideas of what room has the best views if I ended up requesting prior to our visit. (3/5-3/11)
Thanks for your help so far.

I copied this from the GF FAQ:

What is the Concierge Deluxe Guestroom?
The Concierge Deluxe Guestroom is an oversized room in Royal Palm Club. These rooms are about 700 square feet, and have two different floorplans. All Concierge Deluxe Guestrooms feature two queen size beds, a sofa, TV with VCR, writing desk, wetbar, and balcony. They have all the same features as the regular concierge guestrooms. Some Concierge Deluxe Guestrooms also have a deep soaking tub. Views are of either the quiet pool/courtyard or the Seven Seas Lagoon/theme pool.

 

[Misti]

Janet2K has some great pix of a Deluxe room:

Deluxe Room

 

[TammiMcMan]

For an amazing castle view, those rooms are located on the 3rd & 4th floor and I'm pretty sure the numbers are 4x01-4x09. We were in 4404 and could watch the castle turning colors at night from our bed. Unfortunately, I think these are all standard concierge rooms. Have you spoken to the pre-planning department yet? You can definitely put in a request for a view or a specific floor, it's just not guaranteed. The 4th floor houses the concierge lounge, so you might hear a little more hallway noise in the rooms around it. I loved the 5th floor, because it's really quiet. You can easily access the lounge by walking down one flight of stairs.

There is a fellow DIS'er, CaliforniaDreaming that might have the breakdown of all the rooms and whether they are standard or deluxe. It might be worthwhile sending them a private message.

This site has a nice diagram showing the deluxe room layout: http://www.the-grahams.net/gf/rooms.html

Tammi

 

[lindeyspol]

We were in room 4422 this past December and it has to be my favorite room we have stayed in (next to our honeymoon concierge also at GF). It is on the same floor as the lounge and off the hallway by the lobby overlook. The balcony was HUGE and the extra space was so wonderful. No, you cannot see the castle, but you see the lagoon, poly, monorail, main pool, wedding chapel. I have an ofoto album if you'd like to see. Sorry some of the pix were a little dark because I took them later in the day in December. The room itself was very bright and cheery. Renee our preplanner was excellent and this time Joey has helped her and he has been great too. We loved it so much we are spending the last two nights of our "last minute" trip there in two weeks. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather spend Valentine's Day! Gotta squeeze in one last trip before our little "princess" arrives in May!

Tammi, thank you so much, you are one of the main reasons we decided to give the Grand another try in December and now we are hooked again!

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=7nu12oax.7ztf2a4d&x=0&y=-wv5k7g

 

[TammiMcMan]

Lisa, those are beautiful pictures. The Christmas tree seems to be getting skinnier each year though. I'm so glad you had a wonderful vacation. Hopefully you'll be able to get a few more stays in a deluxe room before your family outgrows the maximum occupancy. We're a family of 5 and I'd love to have all that extra room, can't quite understand why they limit it to 4 though.

Hope your upcoming stay is just as lovely.

Tammi

 

[Misti]

Thanks for the wonderful pix!

 

[Misti]

We were in room 4422 this past December and it has to be my favorite room we have stayed in (next to our honeymoon concierge also at GF).

Lisa,

I booked a Honeymoon Concierge room for 12/05. What type did you have--turret room or jacuzzi room? I'd love to have a turret room but I know they are a popular request. So, I'm not sure how good my chances are going to be!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Misti, we had 4021 last January. It's up on the 5th floor and had incredible panoramic views from the wedding chapel, right around to the castle. The octagonal rooms are much, much bigger than the standard honeymoon rooms, but you don't get a balcony. We had a huge walk in closet, the bathtub was big enough for 2, but I don't remember it being a jacuzzi tub. The bed was a big four poster king bed, plus we had a huge sitting area and a wet bar. It was like our own suite. I believe our friend suite disney has pictures of this type of room on her website.

Tammi

 

[Misti]

Misti, we had 4021 last January. It's up on the 5th floor and had incredible panoramic views from the wedding chapel, right around to the castle. The octagonal rooms are much, much bigger than the standard honeymoon rooms, but you don't get a balcony. We had a huge walk in closet, the bathtub was big enough for 2, but I don't remember it being a jacuzzi tub. The bed was a big four poster king bed, plus we had a huge sitting area and a wet bar. It was like our own suite. I believe our friend suite disney has pictures of this type of room on her website.

Tammi

Thanks, Tammi! I didn't have the greatest visit to the RPC back in 2/03 but I want to give it another shot. I just love the GF during the holidays. Plus, I've always wanted to book that room type but it never seemed to be available.

Did you request that particular room or did you just get assigned it at random? I've heard that the other section of turret rooms face the front of the resort and have less-than-desirable views. That is my other worry about requesting a turret room.

Thanks!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Misti, we were lucky enough to get upgraded to that room. It was only DH and I, plus we were there at a very quiet time (a few days after New Year). There are only 6 turret rooms I believe and yes 3 of them would have a view of the monorail around to the beach and theme pool. I would request one just for the size alone, although I did miss the balcony alittle bit. It's honestly twice as big as the regular honeymoon rooms and I just opened the window and arranged the chairs so I could sit by it and look out. Plus you have the concierge balcony down on the 3rd floor to use.

It's nice that you are giving the GF another chance. We didn't stay concierge, but back in May we added a night there after our cruise. It was disappointing. Not entirely their fault, but enough that I decided to try out a different resort when we went back in December. We stayed at the YC concierge and I really, really missed being at the GF. We don't have another trip planned until 2006, but we are definitely going back to the GF ourselves.

Tammi

 

[Misti]

Misti, we were lucky enough to get upgraded to that room. It was only DH and I, plus we were there at a very quiet time (a few days after New Year). There are only 6 turret rooms I believe and yes 3 of them would have a view of the monorail around to the beach and theme pool. I would request one just for the size alone, although I did miss the balcony alittle bit. It's honestly twice as big as the regular honeymoon rooms and I just opened the window and arranged the chairs so I could sit by it and look out. Plus you have the concierge balcony down on the 3rd floor to use.

It's nice that you are giving the GF another chance. We didn't stay concierge, but back in May we added a night there after our cruise. It was disappointing. Not entirely their fault, but enough that I decided to try out a different resort when we went back in December. We stayed at the YC concierge and I really, really missed being at the GF. We don't have another trip planned until 2006, but we are definitely going back to the GF ourselves.

Tammi

Thanks, Tammi! What a nice upgrade. That is one of the great things about traveling during Value Season.

We are going for a short trip in early December so maybe occupancy won't be too high. I'll note the request for the turret room and see what happens. Hopefully, this stay will be a bit more memorable. We've always liked our regular rooms at the GF, just not the RPC. We'll be at the BC over Valentine's Day so I'll see how much I miss the GF during that trip.

 

[lindeyspol]

Misti--

We had that honeymoon almost 8 years ago, so let me refresh myself. We were on the Clarendon level. I believe this was the third level (think we had to go up for the lounge) down the hall from the "kiddie area" of the lounge. We had a jacuzzi tub and a balcony that looked straight down the marina to the Magic Kingdom. We could see the castle from bed--it was magic! We were absolutely treated like gold (pre-cutback days!). As you can tell though, we didnt' miss the castle too much this trip due to the size of the deluxe room and especially the huge balcony and loved the GF. Can't believe we are going back so soon. Can't wait to see if they have any "surprises" for Valentine's day! I hope you have a wonderful experience too.
Lisa

 

[Misti]

Misti--

We had that honeymoon almost 8 years ago, so let me refresh myself. We were on the Clarendon level. I believe this was the third level (think we had to go up for the lounge) down the hall from the "kiddie area" of the lounge. We had a jacuzzi tub and a balcony that looked straight down the marina to the Magic Kingdom. We could see the castle from bed--it was magic! We were absolutely treated like gold (pre-cutback days!). As you can tell though, we didnt' miss the castle too much this trip due to the size of the deluxe room and especially the huge balcony and loved the GF. Can't believe we are going back so soon. Can't wait to see if they have any "surprises" for Valentine's day! I hope you have a wonderful experience too.
Lisa

Thanks for the info, Lisa!

The last time we were at the RPC was over Valentine's Day in 2003 and they left little chocolates and special heart-shaped towel animals. We had a regular room and it was right above Gasparilla. Sounds like we had a similar view as you! I'm anxious to try the Honeymoon room. I'll have a while to wait, December seems SOOO far off now.

This Valentine's Day, we are trying a concierge room at the BC. Only a few weeks away now and I can't wait.

 

[TammiMcMan]

The standard honeymoon rooms are all located down that wing on the 2nd floor. Above them are the regular concierge rooms for the 3rd and 4th floor. No 5th floor in that area. All those rooms have incredible views of the castle.

Misti, have you spoken to the girls in pre-planning at the BC? They are by far, the best that I've ever worked with. I had the pleasure of dealing with Alana, Amy and Angie. Very warm, friendly and helpful. We stayed at the YC, but I think they are both very similar with their lounge. They didn't offer as much as RPC and what they did offer, was very limited. I also didn't like the fact that they closed the doors to the lounge between servings and also at night. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it though.

 

[Misti]

Misti, have you spoken to the girls in pre-planning at the BC? They are by far, the best that I've ever worked with. I had the pleasure of dealing with Alana, Amy and Angie. Very warm, friendly and helpful.

Yes, I've been in contact with Alana. I agree, they are very friendly and helpful! I didn't send in my pre-planning sheet right away and they actually called me at home to check-in with me. Very good follow-up! I'm anxious to see the lounge. I haven't been to the BC since they finished the room renovations so I'm sure the decor will look a little different. During our last visit to the BC, we were never around for the evening appetizers or desserts/cordials. So, this time we want to enjoy the lounge more.