2014 Grand Floridian Resort & Villas FAQ: Vacationing in Grand Style!

[KonaKaiTom]

Hello all! 32 days & counting. I am hoping all of your expertise can help me out with my situation below!

Sooo, which property would you recommend?? We would not be going to the parks on this day, so proximity to entertainment and a good pool will be important.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

I would recommend POR or POFQ as they are beautiful hotels and have boat access to DTD.

Tom

 

[k&a&c'smom]

trishadono - very exciting! Those scones are hard to put down, aren't they?!

BlueSkies - You know, I always forget about that 3rd floor balcony, probably because they have made it a smoking area. I never take the chance someone will be out there smoking, or will want to smoke. I'm glad they have the indoors smoke free, and I know smokers need somewhere to go - but it always seems to be my favorite spots! (e.g., RPC balcony, GF Cafe balcony, that little path between Adventureland & Liberty Square!)

pixarmom - sounds like a plan!

Hi Everyone!

We are staying at the GF 12/11-12/17. We leave late on 12/17, so we have a full park day on checkout day. I want to build in a day off from the parks. Any ideas centered on the resort? We can always do downtown Disney as well. I'd normally say the pool, but one never knows what the weather will be like in December! The trips consists of myself, my husband, and our 3.5 year old daughter. Thanks!

Our favorite resort activities are sitting in the lobby, listening to the music in the afternoon/evening, wandering the shops, having a drink in Mizner's, grabbing a snack at Gasparilla Grill and watching Wishes at the marina, renting Sea Raycers, hopping the boat to the Poly for shopping/dining, taking the monorail to the CR for shopping/dining, hanging at the pool, afternoon tea, a spa treatment, or simply strolling the grounds.

HTH!

I'm a big fan of the GF and of the BWI.
For what it's worth, I think the best view anywhere on Disney property is a BW view at BWI or BWV, and a deluxe room promises that view. You won't regret it, and BWI CL has so far been my favorite CL (out of RPC, BWI, BC, AKL).

We have only stayed BWI CL once, but we had a BW view and enjoyed it very much!

Hello all! 32 days & counting. I am hoping all of your expertise can help me out with my situation below!

When we booked our flights for this coming trip it was much cheaper to fly down the night before our GF reservations start & stay at the airport hotel for the night (getting in after 8pm). We would then grab the DME the next morning & head out to GF.

Well, Jet Blue changed our flight time so that we wouldn't be getting in until about 10:30 pm. As we are traveling with a 5yo, I called JB and they graciously (at at no charge!) changed us to a morning flight that now has us getting into Orlando at 1pm in the afternoon. This good fortune calls for much more than spending the day at the airport hotel (at least I think so, lol)!

My thought is to book a room only for 1 night at a moderate or value- keeping it a pretty cost neutral swap for the airport hotel. It will also be a surprise for my husband & son.

Sooo, which property would you recommend?? We would not be going to the parks on this day, so proximity to entertainment and a good pool will be important.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Welcome! Getting in earlier than planned is always a good thing, right?!

We have only stayed at the Port Orleans moderate properties, but we liked them, especially POFQ. Very pretty resorts with cute pool areas - and the FQ is smaller than most moderate resorts, so you don't feel overwhelmed.

Good luck! It won't be long now.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

I would recommend POR or POFQ as they are beautiful hotels and have boat access to DTD.

Tom

Welcome back!

Great minds think alike! Good point about the boat to DTD, that's a great activity for a non-park day.

 

[trishadono]

Sooo, which property would you recommend?? We would not be going to the parks on this day, so proximity to entertainment and a good pool will be important.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

For value I like POP because they have a lake and you can walk across the bridge to visit AOA. Downsides are: no hot tub or pool slide.

For mods I like CSR. Great large pool with large hot tub and fun slide.

Although I have tried all the mods and enjoyed them all. POR and POFQ have boat to DTD , which is nice. I like the beachiness of CBR but not sure if room remodel complete by then. They are changing fulls to queens but DANSDAD would have updated info.

Having some extra time sure will be nice for you and your family what ever you choose

 

[Aurora0427]

Definitely like POR or POFQ!

 

[pixarmom]

I would recommend POR or POFQ as they are beautiful hotels and have boat access to DTD.

Tom

I agree! Of the mods, we've stayed at POR, POFQ, CSR and CBR. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with POFQ (especially now that they have the triple sheeting.) We like the small size of the resort and the theming is great. It's quaint and in our experience, the CMs are always fabulous. I'm not a fan of food courts, but POFQ has the most contained and non-chaotic food court I've seen at Disney. In our experience, the bus to/fro MK and and back home from Epcot has been quick and efficient for us. (The bus to Epcot, not so much, but you can't have everything!) I also love the ability to walk over to POR and the boat to DTD is a nice option, especially for a non-park day.

 

[A Pirates Mom]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question regarding choosing a moderate resort above! If I knew how to multi-quote, I would thank you all personally, but as I am technologically challenged, this will have to do

I think I am leaning towards POR- the big draw is the boat to DTD. We were not planning on going there during the "original" portion of our trip, so this would be a nice treat. Bonus is that a garden view room is the exact same price as the airport hotel, so it would be a wash

One more silly question for you Disney guru's...How difficult is it to transfer resorts? Options? Is it easiest to call a taxi? Thank you all so much for your input- I truly appreciate it!!

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you. Glad we're at the tail end of our Disney days as our new appreciation for the Deluxe Resorts are getting rather painful esp. considering we started our plans at the Pop Century.

The time will fly and you will be on your way before you know it .

k&a&c'smom, Scott, blueskies, and mickeynut, thank you!!!! These are all really helpful comments.

Our youngest is very high energy, so that's why the sitting peacefully enjoying the view may not be in the cards for me! But that's an excellent point about lounge time, so I looked back over our plans to really analyze that more carefully. Based on our current plans, I'm counting three breakfasts, two afternoon breaks and two evening appetizers (one brief, the other more lengthy.) No desserts (late Hoop Dee Doo one night and Wishes Dessert Party the other.) And of course, all three boys vote to stick with RPC, as they are not responsible for the cost. So it's staying put for now, I think!

You're welcome. I don't think you'd regret RPC as it really is great .

Hello all! 32 days & counting. I am hoping all of your expertise can help me out with my situation below!

When we booked our flights for this coming trip it was much cheaper to fly down the night before our GF reservations start & stay at the airport hotel for the night (getting in after 8pm). We would then grab the DME the next morning & head out to GF.

Well, Jet Blue changed our flight time so that we wouldn't be getting in until about 10:30 pm. As we are traveling with a 5yo, I called JB and they graciously (at at no charge!) changed us to a morning flight that now has us getting into Orlando at 1pm in the afternoon. This good fortune calls for much more than spending the day at the airport hotel (at least I think so, lol)!

My thought is to book a room only for 1 night at a moderate or value- keeping it a pretty cost neutral swap for the airport hotel. It will also be a surprise for my husband & son.

Sooo, which property would you recommend?? We would not be going to the parks on this day, so proximity to entertainment and a good pool will be important.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Out of the mods we've only stayed at CBR and we loved it. The grounds were beautiful, the food court was good with a lot of variety, the buses were quick and efficient, and the pool was great with a fun pirate theme (which I think your DS would love). With that said, POR looks nice and would be my second choice after CBR. Good luck with your decision .

 

[A Pirates Mom]

Out of the mods we've only stayed at CBR and we loved it. The grounds were beautiful, the food court was good with a lot of variety, the buses were quick and efficient, and the pool was great with a fun pirate theme (which I think your DS would love). With that said, POR looks nice and would be my second choice after CBR. Good luck with your decision .

CBR is the other resort I am considering. I think my son would love the pool! Is there only a food court, or is there a "sit down" place to eat? Thank you for your feedback!

 

[mickeynut1]

CBR is the other resort I am considering. I think my son would love the pool! Is there only a food court, or is there a "sit down" place to eat? Thank you for your feedback!

You're welcome .

Our boys were 7 & 9 on our CBR stay and they loved the pool!!! CBR does have a sit down, Shutters at Old Port Royale. Here are 2 links from All Ears. The first is the adult dinner menu and the second is the children's dinner menu:

http://allears.net/dining/menu/shutters/dinner

http://allears.net/dining/menu/shutters/child-dinner

HTH

 

[trishadono]

One more silly question for you Disney guru's...How difficult is it to transfer resorts? Options? Is it easiest to call a taxi? Thank you all so much for your input- I truly appreciate it!!

I have done this many times and our preferred way is this.

On check out morning take your stuff to bell hop and have them transfer to your next hotel. You will not see your stuff until 1-5pm. We usually put our swim suits or a change of clothes(seasonal) in a bag/pack and keep with us. The lighter the better!

Then we take bus/mono/boat to rope drop park of our choice. We usually are done by 11(but you can stay later of course) at that park. We then take bus/mono/boat to the resort we want to check in to.

We check in and hang out at pool, lobby, grounds or CL lounge depending on resort and time of year.

Room will either be ready or you will get a text when it is.

Choice 2 take a taxi in the morning from resort a to resort b and leave your luggage there so you have access to it as needed. Sometimes a room is ready that early and you could get lucky.

Using a taxi felt non disney so dd wants us to use 1st choice for this upcoming trip.

Hope this helps. There actually many variations to consider but that should give you some ideas.

 

[misskerri]

We just decided to bail from WL to GF, since a Lagoon View room was offered to us for the same price as our bunk bed room at WL, due to the WL pool being closed. I know nothing about GF! I will be watching this thread carefully.

For now, though, I'm wondering: what is the easiest way to get to FW from GF? We have an ADR at HDDR our first night. It's at 8:30pm. I'm almost thinking it would be easiest to go to a park for a couple hours and then take the boat to FW?? Do we need to take internal busses from there to get to Pioneer Hall? If we decide to go direct from the GF, how would we get there?

 

[trishadono]

We just decided to bail from WL to GF, since a Lagoon View room was offered to us for the same price as our bunk bed room at WL, due to the WL pool being closed. I know nothing about GF! I will be watching this thread carefully.

For now, though, I'm wondering: what is the easiest way to get to FW from GF? We have an ADR at HDDR our first night. It's at 8:30pm. I'm almost thinking it would be easiest to go to a park for a couple hours and then take the boat to FW?? Do we need to take internal busses from there to get to Pioneer Hall? If we decide to go direct from the GF, how would we get there?

Actually your plan is a good one.

You can take boat or monorail from gf to MK then stay at park or just grab boat to FW.

You are gonna love GF

 

[MaggiesMomNJ]

121 days!

Can you get the glass slipper via room service?

 

[kids1617]

We are only 22 days away! Just a few things to finish planning. Does the grand floridian do marshmallow and s'more by a campfire in the evening? Is this every evening and around what time is it usually at in the summer? Thank you

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I'm with Scott on the BWI view - it's my favorite so far! I'm going to see what happens when Disney releases discounts for our stay and then decide on deluxe. In our family of five, I'm the boardwalk view fan, my husband is the garden view fan and our three boys don't have a preference. (Actually, they have a preference for the 2-bedroom suite we received as an upgrade last time, but that's not in the

The BW view seems fantastic and would be a great place to people watch from a higher roost That would be my preference if traveling just with DH but as long as we are with DD13, it is a no-go for us because of food allergies and the lack of Disney-owned counter service in that area. Sigh..... Too funny about your boys preferring the 2BR suite. I would prefer that too if it was being squeezed from someone else's wallet!!

Hello all! 32 days & counting. I am hoping all of your expertise can help me out with my situation below!

When we booked our flights for this coming trip it was much cheaper to fly down the night before our GF reservations start & stay at the airport hotel for the night (getting in after 8pm). We would then grab the DME the next morning & head out to GF.

Well, Jet Blue changed our flight time so that we wouldn't be getting in until about 10:30 pm. As we are traveling with a 5yo, I called JB and they graciously (at at no charge!) changed us to a morning flight that now has us getting into Orlando at 1pm in the afternoon. This good fortune calls for much more than spending the day at the airport hotel (at least I think so, lol)!

My thought is to book a room only for 1 night at a moderate or value- keeping it a pretty cost neutral swap for the airport hotel. It will also be a surprise for my husband & son.

Sooo, which property would you recommend?? We would not be going to the parks on this day, so proximity to entertainment and a good pool will be important.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

One night at a moderate to rest and have a pool day before hitting the parks is a great plan I would suggest CBR since your little one will be all about the pool. Between the large pirate themed pool, the water play area AND all of the quiet pools at the resort, you will have no trouble keeping him occupied. You can then decide if you want to just hit the food court for a quick dinner near the pool or stroll in to Shutters for a more service oriented relaxing meal Enjoy!

 

[BlueSkies]

We just decided to bail from WL to GF, since a Lagoon View room was offered to us for the same price as our bunk bed room at WL, due to the WL pool being closed. I know nothing about GF! I will be watching this thread carefully.

For now, though, I'm wondering: what is the easiest way to get to FW from GF? We have an ADR at HDDR our first night. It's at 8:30pm. I'm almost thinking it would be easiest to go to a park for a couple hours and then take the boat to FW?? Do we need to take internal busses from there to get to Pioneer Hall? If we decide to go direct from the GF, how would we get there?

The easiest way to travel to FW using Disney transportation is to take the monorail one stop over to the MK..as you come down the ramp from the monorail you will see the the FW boat dock on the right side...I do believe that the boat stops at both the WL and FW...I would suggest an hours travel time just to be on the safe side!

We are only 22 days away! Just a few things to finish planning. Does the grand floridian do marshmallow and s'more by a campfire in the evening? Is this every evening and around what time is it usually at in the summer? Thank you

The campfire on the beach which is just before movies on the beach I think at 7pm in the summer months?? And they do offer the marshmallow and s'mores at the campfire....

Grace&Carolinesmom Just saw your ticker... Six days for you!!! Hope that your feeling a lot better....

MickeyNut Can we really wait that long to back at the GF... ...only time will tell...lol...

k&a&c'smom I always love coming here to catch up and seeing all of your beautiful GF pictures..thanks so much for sharing them!

grannyminnie Whatcha been up to....did someone do yard work and mess with your internet again???? Hope all is well....

~ Luau question...In the spirit of embracing our Poly time... ..lol..we are thinking of adding the luau to our list of ADRs...any thoughts from my fellow GF fans???

Hope that everyone is having a terrific Thursday... preppy GF gal who is warming the idea of being a Poly princess....lol...

 

[mickeynut1]

We just decided to bail from WL to GF, since a Lagoon View room was offered to us for the same price as our bunk bed room at WL, due to the WL pool being closed. I know nothing about GF! I will be watching this thread carefully.

For now, though, I'm wondering: what is the easiest way to get to FW from GF? We have an ADR at HDDR our first night. It's at 8:30pm. I'm almost thinking it would be easiest to go to a park for a couple hours and then take the boat to FW?? Do we need to take internal busses from there to get to Pioneer Hall? If we decide to go direct from the GF, how would we get there?

Welcome to the GF FAQ and congrats on your first GF stay .

I agree with BlueSkies that the easiest way to get to FW from the GF is to take the monorail to the MK and then hop on the boat to FW. I'm not familiar with FW, but I don't think you would have to take an internal bus to get to Pioneer Hall. I'm thinking it will be convenient once getting off the boat from MK, but hopefully someone who is familiar with FW will be able to give a more definite answer .

We are only 22 days away!

You will be on your way before you know it .

MickeyNut Can we really wait that long to back at the GF... ...only time will tell...lol...

~ Luau question...In the spirit of embracing our Poly time... ..lol..we are thinking of adding the luau to our list of ADRs...any thoughts from my fellow GF fans???

Hope that everyone is having a terrific Thursday... preppy GF gal who is warming the idea of being a Poly princess....lol...

It will be hard to wait so long to get back to the Grand, but it will all be worth it in the end .

It's been 7 years since we've done the luau, but we enjoyed it . We thought the food was very good and while the show was a little cheesy in parts, the fire dancers at the end were amazing! It's not something we would do every trip, but I can see us going back again. If you've never been, I think it's worth a try at least once .

You need to keep that Poly ressie . I know the GF is your favorite resort and you miss it when you don't stay there, but the Poly is also amazing. Yes, this is coming from a big Poly fan, as you already know , but the GF runs a very close second for me so the Poly has to be good, right??

 

[Banana22]

We are booked for an Outer Building with a Lagoon View for our November trip. Does anyone have any recommendations as to which building to request? I think we'd prefer something other than a ground floor. It will be myself, my wife and our almost 3 yr old daughter. Any other requests we should make when our online check-in opens up ? Thanks

 

[twoolle]

Hi everyone. This will be our first time to WDW in over 20 years. We have a group of 13 (my parents, my 2 sisters and our families). Like many others, due to the poly pool closure we are staying at the beautiful GF in late September. We have 4 rooms booked...garden view outer building. We have requested 2 sets of connecting rooms so when the littles are napping we can visit in the other room. Anyone know what buildings the connecting rooms are located in? I just spoke with a CM and she said when we do online check in to put the connecting rooms as top priority. Just curious as to what building we might get. Thanks and have a magical day!