Is the Grand Floridian "worth it"

[bethclayton]

i am surprised to see a few other people feel the same way that i do... that the GF main building is a great place to stay, but the outer buildings, less so. i can't really explain it other than to say i felt cast off in the outer buildings or something. i have wondered if the problem is that we stayed in RPC on our first visit, and an outer building the next time. all i know is that i just did not like staying in the outer building at all. dh and i both agree that any time we can swing main building, that is our first choice in all of disney. but if not, then we would prefer not to stay at the GF at all.

 

[blackacex2]

I've decided against purchasing DVC, too much of a cash outlay for us and we don't have a significant amount of savings to begin with. As for bonnet creek, we've done it 3 years in a row and we just need to try something new.

It's a bit of a splurge, but this will be a great chance to see some of the best DVC has to offer and decide if it's worth the extra money vs bonnet creek etc.

We're currently contemplating 5 nights in a 1 bedroom preferred view at BWV Sat-Thurs for $2,101 ($11 a point) and then a quick night stay at the Swan to cap everything off ($250 for one night and one night free with starwood points)

I think that will make for a pretty incredible trip. No, it's not staying at bonnet creek for $580 for six nights, but if all we ever look at is cost we will never do anything else because it's always going to be way cheaper than just about any other option

 

[Cadyrose]

I maybe going against the grain but we loved it.

We went in December for a short 3 night/4 day trip to celebrate the holidays. We were in Conch Key-garden view on the first floor (ended up being a marina view).

I understand the stuffy feeling cause I thought we didn't belong there when we did 1900 park in August of 2011. But GF is the epitome of a holiday hotel in WDW so when we got a room discount, we couldn't pass it down.

First my husband and I are far from rich. We both work in schools (I'm a SpEd aide and he's a custodian). We work overtime and extra jobs just to afford our splurges to Disney. That being said, not once did we feel treated any different and in fact we thought the GF staff went above and beyond for our trip.

We were celebrating our daughter's 9th birthday as well and we got an in room surprise with each child receiving a stuffed animal, balloons, a signed card plus coloring books and crayons. The next day we came back to a special delivery of a heart shaped chocolate box that said Happy Birthday in gold lettering and was filled with M&M type chocolates....but better!

We were close to the boat dock and it was so great just jumping on to either head to MK or coming back. Honestly the coming back was better after a long day in the parks cause we were in our room in under 10 minutes of arriving at the dock to leave MK.

And since it was a short trip we did MK on our last day (flight was at 8pm) and got to make the most of our park time rather than factor in time waiting for a bus than the travel. We easily got an extra 30-40 minutes on the park before heading back for ME.

Would we do it everytime? No and definitely not without a decent room discount. But we would without hesitation go back and thought it was fabulous. We just need to finish trying out other resorts like my much awaited Poly!

 

[dana278]

I stayed at the GF a few times when I was younger and I remember loving it. However, when I started researching for my upcoming trip (first in about 15 years) I started with the GF and wrote them off almost immediately simply based on their room decor. Everything just looks so outdated. I would have no problem splurging and paying to stay there again if the rooms were remodeled and refreshed.

 

[2belles'mom]

We just returned from a terribly disappointing stay at the GF. We had wanted to stay there for many years, and finally did this trip. I soooo wish we had stayed the entire time at AKL!

The biggest problem is the construction of the villas, and other contstruction. The Garden pool was gutted, so no access, no hot tubs. Worse, the beach pool was a little concrete patch surrounded by construction panelling and construction--no view of the beach, the lagoon, etc. Just noise and mess. Terrible beyond description! The spa was also closed.

Beyond that, the service was horrible, the worst I have ever had at a Disney Resort!

If you really want to go, save it for a different trip, when construction is finished. You will at least have a pretty property.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We just stayed there one night and we were not impressed. The room decor was old victorian. The phone in the bathroom was from the 1970's. We stayed using DVC points and glad we did not pay cash.

What you to remember is it worth paying the high price to have some place to sleep since most of the time you will be out and about.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

If we are talking worth.....we did not find it worth it when we stayed at YC(not the BWV but within the same area). Swan and Dolphin are right next door with the same bus service, more eateries, same location within walking/boating to Epcot and DHS and for much less money.

I am not a fan of split stays as we prefer to unpack and chill until the sad day of repacking before the plane trip home. IF I were to do a split stay, it would make more sense to split between an Epcot area resort and a MK area resort. That being said, GF is more costly than the Poly. Were you comparing garden views at both resorts or were some categories or discounts not offered for your dates? Poly is by far our favorite resort.

If you do end up doing a BWV/Swalphin split, I would start at the Swalphin and end at BWV because it will be hard to go from a larger space to a smaller space AND you can finish up your laundry at BWV so that you are not taking home dirty clothes.

JMTC

 

[Robbi]

Thanks for the great responses. We are really considering it! Just had a offer to possibly stay at a 1 bedroom at boardwalk villas for 6 nights for a little less money than 4 nights at the GF, so now it's even harder to decide!

Take the offer! Our home resort is BWV and we love it!

The GF, in my opinion, is only worth it if you stay Royal Palm Court in the main building. And really, that's not worth the money either but you're in the main building where the action is, LOL.

 

[blackacex2]

I can't seem to find any poly prices that are not around $500 a night anywhere on the Disney website. It's just too darn expensive for us. We also priced out the 1 bedroom bwv preferred view and decided even at $11 a point $432 a night is too expensive when bonnet creek is across the street and has larger rooms for about $90 a night.

We are right now considering 2 nights at swan and 5 at bonnet creek 1 bedroom. That will save us $1,600 vs bwv 1 bedroom. I love disney a whole lot, but for $1,600 I'll drive to the resorts and hang out and take the 3 minute drive back to bonnet creek. For $1,600 I can buy a pro level dslr camera and lenses to capture our memories.

We considered old key west because renting points there is quite affordable for a studio, but without having visited it we just don't know for sure if we would like it better than wyndham bonnet creek 1 bedroom. Saratoga springs is an option too but I really don't know what to make of SSR, the place seems almost off-site

 

[2belles'mom]

We have stayed at Bonnet Creek twice (for the same reasons you are considering...just couldn't swallow the price difference!) and loved it. It really is quite beautiful. We were there for New Year's 2010, and from the hot tub we saw the fireworks from MK, HS and Epcot! It was amazing.

 

[Robbi]

I can't seem to find any poly prices that are not around $500 a night anywhere on the Disney website. It's just too darn expensive for us. We also priced out the 1 bedroom bwv preferred view and decided even at $11 a point $432 a night is too expensive when bonnet creek is across the street and has larger rooms for about $90 a night.

We are right now considering 2 nights at swan and 5 at bonnet creek 1 bedroom. That will save us $1,600 vs bwv 1 bedroom. I love disney a whole lot, but for $1,600 I'll drive to the resorts and hang out and take the 3 minute drive back to bonnet creek. For $1,600 I can buy a pro level dslr camera and lenses to capture our memories.

We considered old key west because renting points there is quite affordable for a studio, but without having visited it we just don't know for sure if we would like it better than wyndham bonnet creek 1 bedroom. Saratoga springs is an option too but I really don't know what to make of SSR, the place seems almost off-site

My brother and his family stayed at Bonnet Creek last year and loved it. His kids range from 2-12 and they all loved having so much room. He read the We love Bonnet Creek section and booked through one of the companies mentioned in the thread. His price for a 2 bd for the week was about $750.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I know that a lot of people aren't high on the "out buildings" but one perk can be proximity to the MK. When I was a teenager, my family stayed in one of the outermost buildings, right next to the boat dock by Narcoosee's. We had a 3 year old with us, and being able to hop on the boat to/from the MK and not have to haul to the main building and cram into the monorail was priceless.

I think the rooms right next to that boat dock are as close to the MK as one can possibly get. On your way TO the MK the boat stops at Poly as well, but if you are in the MK and decide you want to be home, you can easily be "home" in just a few short, relaxing minutes via boat.

If I ever stay at the GF again, it will because I'm traveling with young kids who want to be primarily at the MK, and I will request a room right by that boat dock.

 

[jojomickey]

I personally like the outside buildings because it is quieter than the main building we usually walk through sometimes we will sit in the lobby before going back to our room in the outer buildings I particularly like to sit on the balcony and listen to the whistle of the train and look at the beauty of the lagoon so I feel staying in the outer building gives us the best of two worlds!!!

 

[elaw]

I have stayed at GF a few times and my take is that it's only worth it to stay in the main building. To pay that much money to walk to an outer building doesn't work for me. I love staying RPC but I would rather stay somewhere else than stay again in an outer building at GF.

I agree 100%