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

[BC1836]

Greetings to All!

We have arrived for stay #27 at the Grand Floridian Resort. Although most rooms have had stylistic upgrades, the suites have not (we are in a two-bedroom suite on the fifth floor). Of course, it's good to see the framed Grand Floridian ca. 1890 on the walls and the Mickey lamps on the desk, but compared to the new looks of the refurbished rooms the suites need a "facelift," particularly the carpeting and the furniture. No major complaints from us, however. After all, we are here!

RPC food offerings seemed to have suffered from the upgrades, i.e., something must "pay" for the refurbishments. For example, no longer are fruit and cupcakes being offered at Twilight Refreshers. And while the cold items have always numbered a few more than Sugar Loaf, the hot items are similar.

Also...someone forgot to order enough enough tables for the RPC dining area!

All the best.

 

[grannyminnie]

I also do CL and non CL. It is hard to describe. Sometimes you need it for location, sometimes weather is bad(jan/Feb) and you know you won't be at pool, sometimes it's as blue says"all about the food".

You need to think about your trip and plans. Is it worth it if you go to park all day and don't come back? Or have ADR's each night?

You can stay deluxe and buy what YOU want with the money. Get your own chocolate covered strawberries at The Confectionery at MK or get drinks at Mizners.

It's nice but not necessarily a deal breaker.

Happy planning!

What do you mean, sometimes...I thought it was always about the food!!! (at least, that's our mantra!! )

BC1836, thanks for the update about the RPC lounge, tho it is sad to hear that you feel the offerings are lacking (for the exorbitant rates charged!).

 

[BC1836]

BC1836, thanks for the update about the RPC lounge, tho it is sad to hear that you feel the offerings are lacking (for the exorbitant rates charged!).

At least Mumm Napa is still being served!

All the best.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Hi All ~

We are getting SO excited for our first GF stay in 62 days!!

Question - is it really necessary to do online check-in at 60 days? What are the benefits of 'checking in' so early?

TIA!
Debbie

 

[followthatmouse]

RPC food offerings seemed to have suffered from the upgrades, i.e., something must "pay" for the refurbishments. For example, no longer are fruit and cupcakes being offered at Twilight Refreshers.

Well, that's a reason to cancel, right there!!!

 

[jhaig]

Could someone explain to me how the Garden Grocer service works at GF? I have a delivery time of between 7 PM and 9 PM on the evening we arrive. Will I receive a text to let me know my delivery has arrived, and will that delivery come via Garden Grocer or will GF Bell services bring it to our room?

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi Mickeynut!!! Looks like we are doing the"post at the same time".

You do that a lot with people

Hope to hear more about your family trip next year too.

Hey there

I sometimes have a lot to catch up on, so while I'm composing my mega multiquote posts, others post before I do

Thanks about the trip. The consensus seems to be the Poly right now, but I think the GF is second runner up ....it will be interesting to see where we end up...lol.

mickeynut1 - I thought I quoted you, but it's missing, lol.

Hi there .

I've done that before.....I will think I hit the quote marks, but find out after I've posted that I missed one .

I also do CL and non CL. It is hard to describe. Sometimes you need it for location, sometimes weather is bad(jan/Feb) and you know you won't be at pool, sometimes it's as blue says"all about the food".

I agree, the food has alot to do with it .

Thanks everyone. I was kinda dreading the long walk if that one was the only one. I'm really excited about staying there. It's our home and our first visit home.

I hope you have a great visit "home" .

Greetings to All!

We have arrived for stay #27 at the Grand Floridian Resort. Although most rooms have had stylistic upgrades, the suites have not (we are in a two-bedroom suite on the fifth floor). Of course, it's good to see the framed Grand Floridian ca. 1890 on the walls and the Mickey lamps on the desk, but compared to the new looks of the refurbished rooms the suites need a "facelift," particularly the carpeting and the furniture. No major complaints from us, however. After all, we are here!

RPC food offerings seemed to have suffered from the upgrades, i.e., something must "pay" for the refurbishments. For example, no longer are fruit and cupcakes being offered at Twilight Refreshers. And while the cold items have always numbered a few more than Sugar Loaf, the hot items are similar.

Also...someone forgot to order enough enough tables for the RPC dining area!

All the best.

Thanks for checking in, I hope you're having a great time .

What do you mean, sometimes...I thought it was always about the food!!! (at least, that's our mantra!! )

Hi All ~

We are getting SO excited for our first GF stay in 62 days!!

Question - is it really necessary to do online check-in at 60 days? What are the benefits of 'checking in' so early?

TIA!
Debbie

How exciting.....your trip isn't that far away .

We've never done OCI, but the biggest difference I can see by doing it is that a packet is waiting for you upon arrival without having to stand in line at the front desk. With that said, I have read reports that sometimes the line for OCI guests to get that packet can be longer than the regular check in line, so I guess it depends on how busy the resort is at the time . I prefer to check in at the resort, but others enjoy doing OCI .

Well, that's a reason to cancel, right there!!!

Could someone explain to me how the Garden Grocer service works at GF? I have a delivery time of between 7 PM and 9 PM on the evening we arrive. Will I receive a text to let me know my delivery has arrived, and will that delivery come via Garden Grocer or will GF Bell services bring it to our room?

We've never ordered anything for delivery, but hopefully someone else who has experience with Garden Grocer will be able to help .

 

[azarine]

We are booked for June at the VGF (renting points) and couldn't be more excited!!!!

Wondering about breakfast. Coffee especially How far is it from the VGF to Gasparilla Grill? Is the Poly a close enough walk for coffee? Any idea when the Beach Pool cafe opens in the morning in June?

Loving this thread!

 

[mike m]

I am sorry if this is already been asked but they have a character dining at the grand Fradian I forgot what they call that thank you

 

[Circusgirl]

Greetings to All!

RPC food offerings seemed to have suffered from the upgrades, i.e., something must "pay" for the refurbishments. For example, no longer are fruit and cupcakes being offered at Twilight Refreshers. And while the cold items have always numbered a few more than Sugar Loaf, the hot items are similar.

Also...someone forgot to order enough enough tables for the RPC dining area!

All the best.

Not the cupcakes!!
A small thing in the big picture, but in my top five of things I looked forward to at the lounge. Does anyone know if a similar cupcake is offered for sale at any of the bakeries?
Thanks for the update - it is definitely better to know before arrival. An adult guest having a tantrum in the lounge upon discovery of the missing cupcakes would not be a pretty sight. I hope that they will make a reappearance, like the turndown cards.

I am looking forward to my upcoming trip despite the cupcake news. I am starting with 2 nights at the BCV to enjoy walking to the Epcot side of things, then 7 nights GF SL followed by 2 nights RPC in a king deluxe room. I'd originally booked 9 nights in SL on a bounceback, but I moved my dates so I could meet up with some friends who are doing the ToT race, and wound up outside the bounceback for the last two nights. I've been hoping for an AP discount, but the only discount available at any of the hotels for those nights was for RPC which came in about $90.00 less per night than SL at rack, so I decided to deal with the hassle of a room change to experience RPC at a savings.

I appreciate all the up to date pictures and accounts. Trisha's picture of the non-view from her King Deluxe room lead me to change my room request from theme park to resort view. Noise is an issue for me, so I appreciated the heads-up very much!

Of course I will take lots of pictures. With the paucity of discounts, increased costs and vanishing amenities, my Disney trips are going to be fewer and farther between, so I plan on making the most of this trip.

Thanks again to everyone for all the great info and reports. It's always a Grand day around here!

 

[coopersmom]

We have arrived for stay #27 at the Grand Floridian Resort. Although most rooms have had stylistic upgrades, the suites have not (we are in a two-bedroom suite on the fifth floor). Of course, it's good to see the framed Grand Floridian ca. 1890 on the walls and the Mickey lamps on the desk, but compared to the new looks of the refurbished rooms the suites need a "facelift," particularly the carpeting and the furniture. No major complaints from us, however. After all, we are here!

You mean, they didn't refurbish the suites, their most expensive offerings, when they closed the main building? That's just ... Weird. And wrong. And disappointing.

We, personally, could never afford to stay in one, but if we could and did, I would NOT be happy to discover this. Yikes!

 

[Jennygt]

In the end it worked out fine. Our plan had been to enjoy the view of the park and castle from our room since our annual passes expired on the 13th and we checked out late on the 14th.

Since we couldn't see the castle they gave us park tickets for the day and dd and I had a few more hours at her favorite place :

As the family"s FHP ( family happiness planner ) since dd accepted the outcome than that's good enough for me . However, if I had been with a first timer this would not have been acceptable.

I am glad you were able to come to a resolution. I am wondering do they really consider this a TPV or did they put you in the wrong catagory by accident? Thanks for all the great info and enjoy!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Could someone explain to me how the Garden Grocer service works at GF? I have a delivery time of between 7 PM and 9 PM on the evening we arrive. Will I receive a text to let me know my delivery has arrived, and will that delivery come via Garden Grocer or will GF Bell services bring it to our room?

We just returned from our trip to GF and we also had a delivery from Gardengrocer--LOVE them BTW

I made our delivery time for the same period and it was already delivered when we checked in around 3pmish? I received a text from Gardengrocer as well as a voicemail that our order had been delivered. Once we had checked in at the front desk, I just called down to bell services to ask for them to deliver our delivery Bell services had everything cold as marked by Gardengrocer and all items were in bags marked with our last name. All went well and of course Bell Services was happy to get the tip for their service Enjoy!

 

[jhaig]

We just returned from our trip to GF and we also had a delivery from Gardengrocer--LOVE them BTW I made our delivery time for the same period and it was already delivered when we checked in around 3pmish? I received a text from Gardengrocer as well as a voicemail that our order had been delivered. Once we had checked in at the front desk, I just called down to bell services to ask for them to deliver our delivery Bell services had everything cold as marked by Gardengrocer and all items were in bags marked with our last name. All went well and of course Bell Services was happy to get the tip for their service Enjoy!

That's good to hear that it worked well. I'll be sure to tip bell services appropriately. Gonna be there three weeks from tomorrow for our first GF stay. Can't stand the wait!!!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

That's good to hear that it worked well. I'll be sure to tip bell services appropriately. Gonna be there three weeks from tomorrow for our first GF stay. Can't stand the wait!!!

Have a great trip!!! FWIW, we also had a delivery from Babycakes and it worked just as well. Babycakes delivered our order to Bell Services the morning of our arrival and Bell Services kept it cold. When they delivered everything to our room, he was extra careful handling the boxes from babycakes....it was so funny. He was handling the boxes like he was afraid it would break...lol.

 

[cattywampus]

Glad to hear good reviews on Garden Grocer! I already placed our order for Nov, knowing I can still change it or cancel. There are discounts for ordering early.

 

[trishadono]

Not the cupcakes!!
A small thing in the big picture, but in my top five of things I looked forward to at the lounge. Does anyone know if a similar cupcake is offered for sale at any of the bakeries?
Thanks for the update - it is definitely better to know before arrival. An adult guest having a tantrum in the lounge upon discovery of the missing cupcakes would not be a pretty sight. I hope that they will make a reappearance, like the turndown cards.

I am looking forward to my upcoming trip despite the cupcake news. I am starting with 2 nights at the BCV to enjoy walking to the Epcot side of things, then 7 nights GF SL followed by 2 nights RPC in a king deluxe room. I'd originally booked 9 nights in SL on a bounceback, but I moved my dates so I could meet up with some friends who are doing the ToT race, and wound up outside the bounceback for the last two nights. I've been hoping for an AP discount, but the only discount available at any of the hotels for those nights was for RPC which came in about $90.00 less per night than SL at rack, so I decided to deal with the hassle of a room change to experience RPC at a savings.

I appreciate all the up to date pictures and accounts. Trisha's picture of the non-view from her King Deluxe room lead me to change my room request from theme park to resort view. Noise is an issue for me, so I appreciated the heads-up very much!

Of course I will take lots of pictures. With the paucity of discounts, increased costs and vanishing amenities, my Disney trips are going to be fewer and farther between, so I plan on making the most of this trip.

Thanks again to everyone for all the great info and reports. It's always a Grand day around here!

jennygt

The cupcakes were out in the afternoons at least!!! Take some and put in room for later?

Also, I had booked Deluxe king which is either the 6 octagon rooms or the 2nd floor row of MKV side. So mkv views (non deluxe) are only floors 3 -5 I don't think would be as noisy. Just my opinion but I would book those floors. The rooms are the same size its just floor 2 are all kings and have jetted tubs and booked as deluxe kings. Hope that clarification helps someone

So row 2 is deluxe king the TPV version and the octogons are the extra space version. My complaint was that there was not any view or extra space.

 

[Lulu'sMom]

You mean, they didn't refurbish the suites, their most expensive offerings, when they closed the main building? That's just ... Weird. And wrong. And disappointing.

We, personally, could never afford to stay in one, but if we could and did, I would NOT be happy to discover this. Yikes!

I agree, coopersmom!

 

[trishadono]

I agree, coopersmom!

Me too.
I was looking forward to pics of the new awesomeness. Guess we will have to wait.

 

[ms tom morrow]

Good afternoon everyone! 41 days until we're checking in at SL! In fact, we're already playing the "guess what we'll be doing 41 days from right now.... eating at Gaspies/riding Splash Mountain/enjoying an adult beverage in World Showcase/etc" game.

I do have a GF question... how late are the pools open? Maybe I'm dreaming, but I seem to remember them being open 24/7?? With the earlier park closings during our trip we're hoping for some late night pool time.