(2014-2020) Disney's GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA + VILLAS Information & Questions

[BlueSkies]

Hey Dispro1! I'm resurrecting one of your older posts as I can't sleep and I'm going back through all the posts on the turret rooms!

I was going to call tomorrow to update my room request and specifically ask for 4021 or 4421 - it sounds like they both have castle views? Is there a stairwell near 4021 from the 5th floor to the lounge or just an elevator? Is it a long walk? I like the idea of quiet but also like the idea of staying on the same floor as the lounge. But if it's just up and down a few stairs and not like a long set of halls and elevators I think I'll ask for 4021 as my first choice, then 4421, then any king deluxe turret on the 4th or 5th floor - haha pretty specific right!

loveshak I have only stayed in the deluxe kings that over look the courtyard area...and while they are all lovely...4021 is the nicest...because its on the top floor those windows that surround the room also have a large extended top on the windows..they are rounded..and let in extra light..and add a very nice visual to the room... and there is also that nice higher ceiling ...that said..I would be happy in any 4321, 4421 or 4021..lol..I truly would.. as Dispro said that group of rooms also all have a castle view .....I am sure you have this on your ressie by now...just be sure to contact IPO about 1 week prior to your stay to reiterate your request.. Hope that you get exactly what you request!

Hi Everyone! Just back from our second stay at the beautiful GF! This time we stayed in the Villas. This was the first time staying there since we bought points. It was well worth the wait!!! DH declared that we can no longer stay anywhere but VGF - . I think he was hooked when DS5 woke up early and he was able to take him into MK for an hour or 2 during EMH and come back for a 9 am breakfast. SO, I am anxiously awaiting my 11 month window so that I can book next Easter week! We were there for 10 days (4 at VGF, and 7 off-site)...You cannot go from VGF to off-site, I don't care how big the condo is So next year we will only be there for 6 days, but to be honest, we were dragging by day 6, then dd8 got sick and her and I spent a whole day in the room (off site). We are very excited for our next trip!!

One question. Does anyone know if the coffee pots in a VGF studio turn off automatically? DH and I have this inside joke about not turning off the coffee pot (quick version: he remembers as a kid his family went on a road trip, 45 minutes away his Mom freaked out about the coffee pot being on, they got in a fight, turned around to turn it off, when they got home, it was off). So, we are sitting at O'Hana for breakfast and suddenly I realized - I didn't turn off the stinkin coffee pot!! We were going to Epcot for the day and wouldn't be back until LATE. I couldn't leave it alone...I could not be the one to possibly burn down the VGF!!! I knew it wouldn't start a fire, but it would be a mess when we got back, and you just never know! So, that dear sweet man called VGF for me and had mousekeeping unplug it Actually, he was just calling to ask if they did or did not turn off (we had a bet which we never figured out because it doesn't say it on the pot whether it does or not), but instead they sent someone to unplug it. So can anyone help me win my bet? HAHA!!!

No help on the coffee pot from me sorry...loved your sstory though! .Just wanted to say so happy that you enjoyed your VGF stay so much ....

Does anyone know or have experience with having a garden view in an outer building on the first floor but that can still view/catch glimpses of wishes from balcony (patio?) ?

I definitely want first floor but would love to be able to see wishes even if it's just a little piece of them.

Not sure if there are any GV rooms that will give you a view of Wishes..but you could simply request ground floor..fireworks view....this might be possible...not sure..in Conch Key in a GV room closest to the lagoon end of the building with a marina (which is considered GV) view room...There are some very nice viewing spots right around the GF grounds also...there is the marina area right in front of Gasparilla's and also right at the boat dock...Have a great trip!

AngiTN With a one night stay I really wouldn't make any requests...there are so many nice buildings to try..there is a map on page one of the thread that will give you a good idea of where everything is located....GF and CR are the perfect split IMO! Enjoy! BTW great tickers..I am going to have to check out that site next time I need a new one...

Dispro What a grand way to celebrate your anniversay!

Hope that all of my fellow GF fans had a wonderful Wednesday! preppy GF gal....

 

[Andyman33]

Mad hatter splash pad is down for a few weeks the lifeguard said. That's all I know

 

[trishadono]

Mad hatter splash pad is down for a few weeks the lifeguard said. That's all I know

Thanks for letting people know. It helps with planning. I checked the disney site and it wasn't posted there.

Hope you and your family have some fun in spite of the change in schedule.

 

[loveshak22]

Thanks BlueSkies!! I did add the request but wouldn't even have thought to remind the IPO! I just added that to my to-do checklist!!

 

[AngiTN]

AngiTN With a one night stay I really wouldn't make any requests...there are so many nice buildings to try..there is a map on page one of the thread that will give you a good idea of where everything is located....GF and CR are the perfect split IMO! Enjoy! BTW great tickers..I am going to have to check out that site next time I need a new one...

Thanks! My stay gets even more split. After 2 nights at CR (for the 24 hour day) we switch to YC for SWW

 

[bethclayton]

**I was able to edit this post on the computer so that it hopefully makes more sense now!

Hi friends! I returned Monday night from a stay at BC and have been waiting to post until I had a little more time but the more time never happens! I thought I could upload my V&A photos for the time being. Somehow V&A sent me home with the wrong menu; I had been hoping to post what each course was with the pic but I an not 100% sure that I have the correct info for all of them. I went with what I think each course was based on the info I have.

Interior of V&A:


Alaskan King Salmon and Crab with asparagus and bearnaise:


Not positive, but I believe this was bison with black radish slaw and kumquats:


Amuse- Bouche, but I don't remember what it actually was:


Quail with cardamom and sun chokes and a quail egg:


Veal with black truffles and sweetbreads; the top right is a "lasagne" with mushroom and mushroom froth:


Cheese course, the long dark item was almost like a fruit leather:


dessert- it was Tanzanian Chocolate Timbale:


me, by the time I got to that 7th glass of wine of the pairing- oy! It was a tawny port, by the way:


Sorry- it seems these pics ended up all out of order. This is my first time posting pics from my phone.

The night was amazing. I treated my friend for her bday and she was almost in tears. The service was amazing and the food was unlike anything anywhere. This was my second time there and I absolutely recommend it to anyone even remotely considering it. It is truly an experience to remember forever- and we eat at upscale restaurants all the time. It was nice and quiet during our meal and the harpist was playing. I took some video of that , here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdIXGUseYz9rzCXx2we6KaA

We spent some time shopping at each of the stores and my friend bought herself a beautiful Lilly Pulitzer dress. Then of course we had to hit Mizner's before we left. My friend had champagne and I had to have the patron platinum margarita at my dh's urging. I am a wine girl but that margarita was amazing.

The lobby and shops were fantastic as always and the band was very gracious when I requested their rendition of the muppet show.

One more thing- they do enforce jackets for men. An older gentleman arriving wasn't wearing one and they provided him with one. Lena did a great job of not making him feel awkward about it.

Hope you are all doing great! I have pool guys opening my pool and hot tub right now as I type- has spring actually arrived?!?!

 

[trishadono]

The one pic is me by the time I got to that 7th glass of wine of the pairing- oy! It was a tawny port, by the way.

Hope you are all doing great! I have pool guys opening my pool and hot tub right now as I type- has spring actually arrived?!?!

Good for YOU! Glad you remained upright in your seat after 7

Sounds like you girls had a good time.

C U in August

 

[PAAriel]

Thanks for letting people know. It helps with planning. I checked the disney site and it wasn't posted there.

Hope you and your family have some fun in spite of the change in schedule.

Mad hatter splash pad is down for a few weeks the lifeguard said. That's all I know

This is very disappointing!! The splash pad is all my grandchildren have been talking about since we told them about our upcoming trip!! They are going to be broken hearted.

 

[HikingFam]

Hello, new here. Does anyone know if a crib or pack n play will fit in the bathroom of a standard room at GF (traveling on a group rate, so assuming it would be the cheapest tier room)? We are traveling with a little one, and trying to determine if there is a place for her to nap/sleep that would allow us to stay up and watch tv, etc. or if we would be better suited in a suite at an off-site hotel. Thank you!

 

[got15]

Hello, new here. Does anyone know if a crib or pack n play will fit in the bathroom of a standard room at GF (traveling on a group rate, so assuming it would be the cheapest tier room)? We are traveling with a little one, and trying to determine if there is a place for her to nap/sleep that would allow us to stay up and watch tv, etc. or if we would be better suited in a suite at an off-site hotel. Thank you!

We had a crib during our last stay. It would be quite awkward in the bathroom and I don't think it would fit. We kept it between the desk and one of the queen beds and it worked out just fine without having to be a nuisance.

 

[HikingFam]

Hmmm. Thank you! I watched some room tour videos, and I think we might try setting up the pack n play in the sink area of the bathroom. This has been a hard decision, but I think we will go for it -- the group rate makes it hard to pass up.

 

[Dispro1]

Hello, new here. Does anyone know if a crib or pack n play will fit in the bathroom of a standard room at GF (traveling on a group rate, so assuming it would be the cheapest tier room)? We are traveling with a little one, and trying to determine if there is a place for her to nap/sleep that would allow us to stay up and watch tv, etc. or if we would be better suited in a suite at an off-site hotel. Thank you!

Even if you could squeeze it into the bathroom, it would be awkward (like ig like got15 said). Plus, there is no door separating the sink area from the room, just a door separating the potty/bath area from the sink area. Although it has been years since my girls took naps (16 and 11 now), when they did, we would always stay in a monorail resort because we spent so much time at MK. We would monorail back for a nap, or the younger daughter would nap in one of the double wide Disney rental strollers. Personally, I would try to make GF work because staying off-site would be VERY inconvenient. My parents took my sister's family with them a year ago (my nephews were about 3 1/2 and 1 then), and they chose to stay offsite (ignoring my advice), and it was a huge pain! Plenty of people stay off site all the time, so I'm sure you could make it work, but we stayed off site once, and we will never do it again. It is just not as "magical" as being able to see the castle in the distance and even hearing the whistle of the MK train! Even when my kids were young (6 and 11 months old the first time), they stayed up much later than their normal bedtimes, and when they crashed, we were ready to crash with them. Of course, our trips are quite different now!

 

[BlueSkies]

Hello, new here. Does anyone know if a crib or pack n play will fit in the bathroom of a standard room at GF (traveling on a group rate, so assuming it would be the cheapest tier room)? We are traveling with a little one, and trying to determine if there is a place for her to nap/sleep that would allow us to stay up and watch tv, etc. or if we would be better suited in a suite at an off-site hotel. Thank you!

Hello HikingFam ! and

Hmmm. Thank you! I watched some room tour videos, and I think we might try setting up the pack n play in the sink area of the bathroom. This has been a hard decision, but I think we will go for it -- the group rate makes it hard to pass up.

When our kids were younger we used to always set up our pack and play in the sink/dressing area...No problem....and due to the fact that the dressing/and bathroom area is right off of the entrance hallway..and a bit away from the main area of the room..it stayed relatively quiet...and our kids were always able to nap there..even while an older sibling or two were playing or watching tv in that main area of the room.. As dispro said..you really can't beat the convenience of getting back to your room for a mid day break.. Enjoy!!

ETA...Beth Wonderful pictrues!!! Its always about the food..and maybe the drink too..lol....So glad that you enjoyed V&A again....Thanks for sharing all the pics..the one of you too..

Hope that all of my fellow GF fans are having a fab Friday.... preppy GF gal..who happily made all of my FPPs...

 

[HikingFam]

Hello HikingFam ! and



When our kids were younger we used to always set up our pack and play in the sink/dressing area...No problem....and due to the fact that the dressing/and bathroom area is right off of the entrance hallway..and a bit away from the main area of the room..it stayed relatively quiet...and our kids were always able to nap there..even while an older sibling or two were playing or watching tv in that main area of the room.. As dispro said..you really can't beat the convenience of getting back to your room for a mid day break.. Enjoy!!

ETA...Beth Wonderful pictrues!!! Its always about the food..and maybe the drink too..lol....So glad that you enjoyed V&A again....Thanks for sharing all the pics..the one of you too..

Hope that all of my fellow GF fans are having a fab Friday.... preppy GF gal..who happily made all of my FPPs...

Thank you so very much! We will give it a try. Looking forward to staying at GF for the first time!

 

[BlueSkies]

Page THREE rescue!??? ...

Hello fellow GF fans!! Hope that everyone is having a fun weekend!

 

[mickeynut1]

Page THREE rescue!??? ...

Hello fellow GF fans!! Hope that everyone is having a fun weekend!

Hi Blue and all other GF fans

I've been mia for a long time as things have been very busy around here, but wanted to pop in and say hi. Hope everyone is having fun planning their Grand vacations .

 

[loveshak22]

Hi everyone and Happy Sunday!

I just wanted to share that tomorrow marks 4 weeks until our ADR window opens! I know you all were just waiting for that announcement - hahaha!

But, what is actually neat about that is, I looked at my calendar and realized the day my ADR window opens is the exact 1/2 way point from when I started my new healthy lifestyle to my birthday in November!

I think I mentioned on here that I decided on my last birthday that I wanted to lose 100 pounds by my next birthday. My husband agreed that if I hit my goal we could splurge on this trip to WDW in celebration of my birthday (we usually go at the end of January when it's his birthday) and hitting my goal. Plus, I hate to admit this, he's about Disney'ed out so getting him to agree was a great way to get a trip this year! The agreement is that if I'm not on track to hit the 100 pounds by the time the 45 day mark comes around for final payment then I'll have to cancel - so it's been a huge motivator!

So, anyway, tomorrow marks 4 weeks to the 1/2 way point to 100 pounds lost as well as my 180 mark to leave for Disney so I need to be down at least 50 pounds to be on track. Right now I'm down 41 so am going to hit it hard over the next 4 weeks!! Wish me luck!

 

[bethclayton]

Hi everyone and Happy Sunday!

I just wanted to share that tomorrow marks 4 weeks until our ADR window opens! I know you all were just waiting for that announcement - hahaha!

But, what is actually neat about that is, I looked at my calendar and realized the day my ADR window opens is the exact 1/2 way point from when I started my new healthy lifestyle to my birthday in November!

I think I mentioned on here that I decided on my last birthday that I wanted to lose 100 pounds by my next birthday. My husband agreed that if I hit my goal we could splurge on this trip to WDW in celebration of my birthday (we usually go at the end of January when it's his birthday) and hitting my goal. Plus, I hate to admit this, he's about Disney'ed out so getting him to agree was a great way to get a trip this year! The agreement is that if I'm not on track to hit the 100 pounds by the time the 45 day mark comes around for final payment then I'll have to cancel - so it's been a huge motivator!

So, anyway, tomorrow marks 4 weeks to the 1/2 way point to 100 pounds lost as well as my 180 mark to leave for Disney so I need to be down at least 50 pounds to be on track. Right now I'm down 41 so am going to hit it hard over the next 4 weeks!! Wish me luck!

just want to tell you good luck on your weight loss and congratulations on your loss so far! way to go!! i lost about 60 pounds, and it took me over a year, but i have kept it off. i, too, promised myself a disney-related reward- in 2013 i had promised myself that if i were a certain weight by my disney trip that we would have a professional family photo session at the GF while we were there. i didn't earn that reward, but that's ok, i stayed motivated and kept losing, which was the more important thing. you will do great! i'm rooting for you! i am so glad i stuck with it, i feel so much better in so many ways and looking better doesn't hurt, either, lol! my biggest advice is, when you have a plateau and you know you've been "behaving," or if you've "cheated" and you're upset with yourself, just tell yourself over and over, "just keep doing what you're doing." it is so easy to get discouraged and quit... don't give up!!

 

[Kelly O]

PM-ing you.

We will be there in two weeks and purely picked GF based on the splash pad. We have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Would LOVE to hear any helpful information from others... dates, other options. Thanks!! We normally stay at the Poly but with the construction the splash pad won us over.

 

[loveshak22]

just want to tell you good luck on your weight loss and congratulations on your loss so far! way to go!! i lost about 60 pounds, and it took me over a year, but i have kept it off. i, too, promised myself a disney-related reward- in 2013 i had promised myself that if i were a certain weight by my disney trip that we would have a professional family photo session at the GF while we were there. i didn't earn that reward, but that's ok, i stayed motivated and kept losing, which was the more important thing. you will do great! i'm rooting for you! i am so glad i stuck with it, i feel so much better in so many ways and looking better doesn't hurt, either, lol! my biggest advice is, when you have a plateau and you know you've been "behaving," or if you've "cheated" and you're upset with yourself, just tell yourself over and over, "just keep doing what you're doing." it is so easy to get discouraged and quit... don't give up!!

Congrats on the 60 pounds!!! That is amazing - great job! And thanks for the well-wishes and sharing your story and advice. I love hearing other people's success stories and hearing what worked for them. I think your advice is actually what gives me the confidence that I'm actually going to be successful this time around. Over the last few years I've told myself "it's not a diet...it's changing habits for the long run" but I never truly believed that and therefore I never was able to succeed. This time that message has sunk in deep. God willing I live another 50 years, then it's not just setting a goal for 1 year and that being all I ever need. It truly is about exercising and making healthier eating choices more often than not over 50 years. One meal didn't make me fat and one meal won't make me skinny - neither will one day, week, or heck - even month! It's about making better choices for the long term knowing that I'm not abandoning pizza or ice cream for salad and fish the rest of my life! LOL! Now I have accepted that if I'm on vacation and eat bad then I need to try to fit in some exercise where I can and when I get back make sure I spend the next couple of weeks back to watching my food and exercising. And it's worked! I think I'll hit my 50 pound goal at the 6 month mark and I have not starved myself. I've taken 3 trips out of town where I've had bad weeks and my husband and I regularly have a pizza night. It really is all about balance - not all or nothing

And I'll tell everyone now (and to get us back on the thread topic ) that when I am at the GF in November, I plan on enjoying several great meals - V&A, Narcoossees, and Konas' Tonga Toast...yum!!!