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

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MickeyNut As I mentioned..I am with you on the checking in in person..like that human touch :hyper2:

~ Renovated RPC lounge.... I was hoping that perhaps there would be a toned down carpet..but I see that the carpet is the same as in SL and all of the outer buldings too...:eek: All I can think of when I see that is LOUD...lol...Still the wall paper looks nice..like the pattern..not sure how wise it was to make the children's chairs completely covered in fabric...:confused:

Yes, talking to a CM upon arrival makes for a more personal touch, IMO :goodvibes.

Totally with you on the carpet. I also agree with you about the kids chairs.....not sure who thought fabric covered chairs was a good idea for kids :confused:. It will be interesting to see how those work out.

k&a&c'smom, Garada3 & trishadono :worship: Thanks so much for posting the beautiful pictures... OMG :faint: Beautiful :flower3:

Your time is winding down.....it won't be long before you're checking in at the GF :yay:.

WOW, can't wait to get to VGF for 2 nights after a split stay of 2 nights at Animal Kingdom Jambo! :cheer2::cheer2:

Looks SO BEAUTIFUL! Bet that during our stay beginning of December it will be SO GORGEOUS for the Holidays!!!:santa::santa:

What a great split you have planned :goodvibes.

Both the GF and AKL are beautifully decorated during the holidays :santa:......I'm sure VGF will be just as beautiful!!!

13 more sleeps until we are on our way:banana: - and the recent pics are only adding to the excitement:cloud9:
I just wanted to say thank you to all for the warm reception & amazing information I have received from everyone on this board:disrocks:
Let the packing begin:goodvibes

Have fun packing :dance3:.

I agree, everyone here is very friendly and is always willing to help with any questions :flower3:. I'm glad you have gotten a lot of good information about the GF for your upcoming stay. I hope you enjoy the GF and have a magical stay :wizard:.

Yes - thank you for posting those pics. We plan on using the showers on our check-out day. Can anyone confirm that the soap/shampoo dispensers are filled? We'll only have our carry-ons with us at that point, but will bring toiletries if needed...
Thank you all for the helpful advice and info.

I can't answer your question, but I'm sure someone else will be able to help with that :flower3:.
 
Yes - thank you for posting those pics. We plan on using the showers on our check-out day. Can anyone confirm that the soap/shampoo dispensers are filled? We'll only have our carry-ons with us at that point, but will bring toiletries if needed...
Thank you all for the helpful advice and info.

The last I checked they did but it's been a while.

Grab the provided stuff from the room and put in your carryon. ???

I think I will to be safe myself.

If need extra just ask Mousekeeping :thumbsup2

When is your trip? I will be there 8/13 and will check it out. If you before me let me know?

Thanks!
 
What's the process with shipped luggage pick up? Is the pick up location separate from the check in area? How far away is it? etc. etc.

Example: When we stayed at YC we had to walk from the check in desk to another building, to a business center quite far away. We then had to wait for someone to come help us - about 20 minutes. We paid a fee ($20? $25?) before getting our luggage. The whole process took about an hour.

I'm trying to decide if we should ship our trunk or go with DME luggage transport. We arrive on a Saturday around 10.
 

Thank you very much for the RPC photos, Granada3 and trishadono! I'm so glad that I took photos of the old RPC decor during our May trip. I really don't know what to make of that new carpet. :eek: We'll see for ourselves in December.

Speaking of December...

Would a December cabana day be too silly?
 
Thanks again for the quick and very helpful advice! Great thread here and I know I'll be checking in frequently to soak up all things GF!:thumbsup2
 
Thanks to trishadono for posting the (very poor) photos I snapped today. My photography skills are not the best and I do not think the iPhone camera is helping any ;)

RPC staff at check in and in the lounge were wonderful as always :). I was told that the main building opened back up yesterday. We are the first guests in our room post rehab- a theme park view room, 4406 to be exact. Our room looks identical to the outer building rooms. We still have a heat lamp in the bathroom. It is a connecting room so we do not have the extra chair but we do have a nesting table as part of the desk.

I had a chance to chat with a few cast members during evening refreshments and they do not care for the carpeting either! Vivid and Loud are good adjectives to use and I am not sure it coordinates well with the beautiful tile work that was completed a few years ago. The adults get blue vinyl chairs. The kids chairs are covered in beige fabric :confused3 and are a bit top heavy so they topple over when the kids try to scoot them back on the carpeting. The comfy sofas near the tv are gone and replaced with a smaller settee style piece, flanked by two chairs.

Still not a fan of the room rehab, but the lounge carpeting is making me like the rooms more :rolleyes1.

But, it is still the Grand! Even if I don't personally care for the new look, I have been told 'Welcome Home' and I am in my happy place!
 
Under 3 months now until our first GF stay and getting excited :goodvibes We normally stay at the Poly and one of the things we love that really ads to the atmosphere of the resort is the music playing in the background around the grounds of the resort. Just curious, is there any "mood" music like that playing at the GF?
 
garada3 :wave2:

Thanks sooo much for the pictures ::yes:: they are just fine :thumbsup2 gives us a glimpse of how things look since the refurb :goodvibes

Have a great vacation pixiedust:

trishadono :wave2:

Thank you for posting the pictures :hug:


Thanks to trishadono for posting the (very poor) photos I snapped today. My photography skills are not the best and I do not think the iPhone camera is helping any ;)

RPC staff at check in and in the lounge were wonderful as always :). I was told that the main building opened back up yesterday. We are the first guests in our room post rehab- a theme park view room, 4406 to be exact. Our room looks identical to the outer building rooms. We still have a heat lamp in the bathroom. It is a connecting room so we do not have the extra chair but we do have a nesting table as part of the desk.

I had a chance to chat with a few cast members during evening refreshments and they do not care for the carpeting either! Vivid and Loud are good adjectives to use and I am not sure it coordinates well with the beautiful tile work that was completed a few years ago. The adults get blue vinyl chairs. The kids chairs are covered in beige fabric :confused3 and are a bit top heavy so they topple over when the kids try to scoot them back on the carpeting. The comfy sofas near the tv are gone and replaced with a smaller settee style piece, flanked by two chairs.

Still not a fan of the room rehab, but the lounge carpeting is making me like the rooms more :rolleyes1.

But, it is still the Grand! Even if I don't personally care for the new look, I have been told 'Welcome Home' and I am in my happy place!
 
....
:hug: I've been enjoying your beautiful photos.

Thanks to everyone for the positive comments about the video. I thought for sure I'd seem like one of those posters who doesn't keep up with a thread and then pops in with "news" that's, well, stale.

I can totally commiserate with your massive multi-quoting:faint:. The Resort threads have been on fire this summer and with the impending WL pool work starting after Labor Day, we've had many move reservations over to your fine resort - sorry if it gets kind of crowded. I do hope that some who have stayed at WL, but switched to GF will report back on how they liked GF. We have not stayed at two Deluxes, GF being one of them. I really prefer the style of the newly rehabbed rooms and we'd love to try RPC someday.

I've lost touch with you and I'm wondering when was your last trip to WDW and when is your next? Where did you stay?

Oh, I know it - this summer has been crazy busy on the thread, with all the construction going on in the World! I know you've been a busy bee, with all your threads.:faint:

Your posts are never old news, I don't know how you keep up! I feel like we've lost touch, too, and have often meant to PM.:hug: Time gets away, doesn't it?!:eek: Our last trip was *gasp!* a year ago this past April, can you believe it?! I can't. We are due back in just a few weeks, but will be over at the YC. We really enjoy SAB in the summer, and to be honest, we were hoping to snag a room before another scary refurb starts.

When is your next trip? I hope you are able to try out RPC eventually.

Taking a deep breath...let the monster multi-quote begin, lol.

....

Liz

PS: I will take 20 to 30 photos of the same thing (YAH for digital age of photography instead of film) then delete all but the best. Of those I'll enlarge (16 x 20 or larger) and frame my favorites. It's a slower process of decorating our home but I am loving it!

What a great idea!

....
k&a&c love your photo tour. Making me excited for upcoming stay!
But hope I don't get that room in SL with the Palm tree right smack in the middle of balcony!! Seriously though, I don't think there's a bad location at GF. Which makes it so had to choose!! I do prefer being close to pools!

I agree, there just really aren't any bad locations. A few "less desirable" but even those are not bad, IMO.

We had a pool view in SL once that had a tree blocking the balcony - at first, I was sorely disappointed, but we found we could see through and it was a nice screen for sitting out without everyone seeing us as they passed by.:thumbsup2

That was one of my responses about the carpet when I first saw the pics. I am sad that the warm colors are gone :(. That carpet is too bright/bold, IMO. I thought the same thing about the kids chairs, that they don't match anything else . I also noticed they took out the (more) comfy chairs and replaced them with the same arm-less chairs that are in SL......and they're blue/turquoise instead of the soft color tones that they were before. I still love RPC as the lounge overall is great and the CMs are amazing, but it will take a lot for me to get used to the new decor.
....

Me, too.:upsidedow

k&a&c'smom Glad to see you back! Hope that you had a nice visit with your DS..and that your mom is doing well...

Thank you for all of the wonderful pics..felt kind of like I was walking around the GF grounds... And I am sure that between the pics and the descriptions folks will have a really good feel of where things are all around the property...
....

TWO WEEKS!!! Room service is a nice option for early morning coffee...Think they start delivering at about 6:30am?? And the coffee is good..Not to mention great presentation..cups and saucers..a table cloth ..milk cream..sugar and substitutes too...
....

~ Renovated RPC lounge.... I was hoping that perhaps there would be a toned down carpet..but I see that the carpet is the same as in SL and all of the outer buldings too... All I can think of when I see that is LOUD...lol...Still the wall paper looks nice..like the pattern..not sure how wise it was to make the children's chairs completely covered in fabric... I am curious about the seating in front of the televsion area...looks like the sofa was replaced with a chair??? Hope that they just changed the placement..and that there will still be two sofas and two chairs...HINT HINT garada...lol...Inquiring mind here...

Loud is right! I am not lovin' that carpet by any means. The wallpaper is nice, a little bland, but I'll take it with that wild carpet going on!

You must be as disgusted as I am with the new TV seating area.:mad: Not much seating to be had.

Thanks for the PD coffee info, I wasn't sure when they started serving. I believe PD is 24 hours? But I think there is a limited menu for a few hours overnight, right?

Don't those photos make you feel like you're right there! Love to be, for sure.

Totally with you on the carpet. I also agree with you about the kids chairs.....not sure who thought fabric covered chairs was a good idea for kids. It will be interesting to see how those work out.

Yeah, what gives with those kids' chairs? Kinda crazy, putting fabric on the chairs used by the little ones.

k&a&c'smom, Garada3 & trishadono Thanks so much for posting the beautiful pictures... OMG Beautiful

Glad you enjoyed them! I'm enjoying all the RPC photos, too.

WOW, can't wait to get to VGF for 2 nights after a split stay of 2 nights at Animal Kingdom Jambo!

Looks SO BEAUTIFUL! Bet that during our stay beginning of December it will be SO GORGEOUS for the Holidays!!!:santa:

THANK YOU ESPECIALLY for posting the pic of the women's shower and changing room...Depending on the weather, who knows though

Yes, the Grand is beautiful during the holidays! Glad you are enjoying the photos, they really bring the resort alive, don't they?!

13 more sleeps until we are on our way - and the recent pics are only adding to the excitement
I just wanted to say thank you to all for the warm reception & amazing information I have received from everyone on this board
Let the packing begin:goodvibes

We have a great group here.:grouphug: Less than two weeks to go, woohoo!!:dance3: Let the packing begin, indeed.

Yep! Finally started.

Summer is hard to pack for when you still need your clothes!

So agree, we have the worst time packing things we still need at home.

Yes - thank you for posting those pics. We plan on using the showers on our check-out day. Can anyone confirm that the soap/shampoo dispensers are filled? We'll only have our carry-ons with us at that point, but will bring toiletries if needed...
Thank you all for the helpful advice and info.

Most of the dispensers had at least some of the products in them - I have a close up somewhere, I'll try to find it and post tomorrow. Agree with trishadono, snag some extras from the room and keep with your swim things, just in case.:thumbsup2

Thank you so much for posting the beautiful pictures.
It's getting me so excited.

We are at the YC August 16-20 and then GF August 20-27.
Last year we had a beautiful TPV room in Boca Chica. Sadly this year we are only able to book a gv room with the "magical" discount. Requested Conch Key or Sago Cay (my two favorite gv rooms) marina view.

Wish us luck with our request! Can't wait!!!!!!

Great split! Good luck, hope you get your requests! Shouldn't have any trouble with Sago, I would think.:)

What's the process with shipped luggage pick up? Is the pick up location separate from the check in area? How far away is it? etc. etc.

Example: When we stayed at YC we had to walk from the check in desk to another building, to a business center quite far away. We then had to wait for someone to come help us - about 20 minutes. We paid a fee ($20? $25?) before getting our luggage. The whole process took about an hour.

I'm trying to decide if we should ship our trunk or go with DME luggage transport. We arrive on a Saturday around 10.

You know, I didn't even realize shipping luggage was a thing until this morning when I saw a travel clip by Peter Greenberg! Funny you should ask about it today.

I'm guessing, if the luggage is shipped to the convention center, you will get a charge. It is right down past the bus stop from the Main Bldg. front entrance - or, turn right instead of left if using the back path. Not far at all, check it out on the map on the first page.

I think you can ship to the main GF address, and save the CC fee. There's a thread about shipping on the first page, I'll find it and post a link. ETA: here is the shipping thread, I hope it helps - read through that first post, they explain the way to ship to the resort rather than the CC.

Thank you very much for the RPC photos, Granada3 and trishadono! I'm so glad that I took photos of the old RPC decor during our May trip. I really don't know what to make of that new carpet. We'll see for ourselves in December.

Speaking of December...

Would a December cabana day be too silly?

I'm glad I have so many lounge photos, too, yikes.

The few times we've been in December, it has not been good weather for swimming. And, we've found the Beach Pool to be colder temps than the courtyard pool, so there is that...:)

Thanks again for the quick and very helpful advice! Great thread here and I know I'll be checking in frequently to soak up all things GF!

:goodvibes

Thanks to trishadono for posting the (very poor) photos I snapped today. My photography skills are not the best and I do not think the iPhone camera is helping any ;)

RPC staff at check in and in the lounge were wonderful as always. I was told that the main building opened back up yesterday. We are the first guests in our room post rehab- a theme park view room, 4406 to be exact. Our room looks identical to the outer building rooms. We still have a heat lamp in the bathroom. It is a connecting room so we do not have the extra chair but we do have a nesting table as part of the desk.

I had a chance to chat with a few cast members during evening refreshments and they do not care for the carpeting either! Vivid and Loud are good adjectives to use and I am not sure it coordinates well with the beautiful tile work that was completed a few years ago. The adults get blue vinyl chairs. The kids chairs are covered in beige fabric and are a bit top heavy so they topple over when the kids try to scoot them back on the carpeting. The comfy sofas near the tv are gone and replaced with a smaller settee style piece, flanked by two chairs.

Still not a fan of the room rehab, but the lounge carpeting is making me like the rooms more :rolleyes1.

But, it is still the Grand! Even if I don't personally care for the new look, I have been told 'Welcome Home' and I am in my happy place!

Great point! It is still a great resort, even if I detest some of the changes.:headache: LOL about the lounge carpet making you appreciate the rooms more.

Your photos are fine, we all enjoyed them and they are the first posted of the new RPC lounge!:thumbsup2

Thanks for the extra details. Sorry to hear the kids are having trouble with the chairs, I hope they decide to scrap them and start over. Good to know about the nesting table and heat lamp.

Under 3 months now until our first GF stay and getting excited :goodvibes We normally stay at the Poly and one of the things we love that really ads to the atmosphere of the resort is the music playing in the background around the grounds of the resort. Just curious, is there any "mood" music like that playing at the GF?

Under 3 months, yay!:banana: Some have posted they heard Christmas music around the resort, but I don't recall...as far as I know, they don't play any themed music throughout the grounds the rest of the year. But then, we never hear the Wishes music, either!:laughing:
 
Thanks for the RPC pics. I was really hoping for a different rug instead do the hideous one seen in other buildings. The more I see it the less I like it. Yikes!!! I haven't told my DH about the refurb as a surprise. Hmmmm....wondering if I should give him a heads up. I don't think the surprise will be a pleasent one. Ughh!!!
 
Thanks for the RPC pics. I was really hoping for a different rug instead do the hideous one seen in other buildings. The more I see it the less I like it. Yikes!!! I haven't told my DH about the refurb as a surprise. Hmmmm....wondering if I should give him a heads up. I don't think the surprise will be a pleasent one. Ughh!!!

I know, right?! You may want to soften the blow, rather than that carpet jumping up and hitting him in the face at check in.:faint:
 
Thanks for the RPC pics. I was really hoping for a different rug instead do the hideous one seen in other buildings. The more I see it the less I like it. Yikes!!! I haven't told my DH about the refurb as a surprise. Hmmmm....wondering if I should give him a heads up. I don't think the surprise will be a pleasent one. Ughh!!!

Yeah I'd for sure give him the heads up on the carpet if he is the type to notice ... My husband wouldn't look twice at the carpet lol just the way he is and it may be a good thing since the carpet is very " Finding Nemo ish " in color with Asian inspiration. Not a fan either.
 
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