BlueSkies
~Disney Gal.....
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2008
- Messages
- 2,935
Is there any benefit to the online check-in? Or should we just wait to check-in at our arrival? Thanks
Wishes I consider you a seasoned GF veteran....with many stays under your belt...and am sorry to hear that your CL stays were less than stellar...but I know that you are a GF Gal tried and true..and that it is your Disney "home" resort...
I have always..fortunately..had the same experiences that Sue recently had...in that I have enjoyed the level of service that the CL CMs have offered..and the (lovely) extra space that the lounges have to offer...I always say that unlike many..who are devoted RPC fans...I am an equal fan of both CLs....and mostly just a Grand fan!!
MagPixdust We have never done OLCI..so I really don't have any experiences to compare..I do know that some posters here prefer it..I think Trish might be able to jump in with some info...and others like MickeyNut have posted that they prefer the check in desk so that they can review right then and there where their room is located...
grannyminnie Almost trip time for you!!!!
Liz Congrats on your DS being able to join you...and on getting BOG on your party night too!!! That is what I call pixie dust!!!!
CaliD Thanks for the VGF review also
..you and Candy keep all of us inquiring minds up to speed! As for the parks...I agree...that all of us repeaters enjoy seeing new things...
...lately we tend to spend more time enjoying all that the resort has to offer....That's all that I can remember from my skimming
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No suitcase out yet tho....
Oh ya doing the happy dance for you!!!!!
so I figured I would just write few things as they come to me, and if I think of more later I'll write again. So this won't really be in any order, just different things, good and bad, about our stay and the GF. We were in a deluxe king room in the main building from September 13-21. Overall we had a wonderful trip, we loved our room and view, and really enjoyed staying at the GF. So please don't think my comments mean we didn't like it, there was a lot more good than not so good, but of course, as tends to happen, we remember the things to complain about 
1. Check in. It was a disjointed disappointment. We took the ME, and only got off with one other family. There was no one waiting there with tablets, as we had expected. So we made our way in to the main building, and I asked the first CM that I saw who looked like he belonged in that area where we checked in for CL. He did say that they should take us there to check in, and that he would find someone. So he led us over to the bell services area and told someone that we needed to check in to CL. They all seemed a little confused, like they knew we should be taken upstairs but none of them were the ones to do it. A woman there who was at the front desk said she would find someone, and for us to wait. So we stood in the lobby kind of between the bell services area and the regular check in for over 5 minutes just waiting awkwardly. Someone had asked our name at some point, so after a while another CM came with a check in packet, pulled out 2 buttons, and said "I see we have some kids here celebrating birthdays!" Well, it wasn't us. When we told her that she got a confused look on her face, put the buttons back, and said I'll be back. After another few minutes standing there someone else came, who was very nice, and took us upstairs to the third floor CL desks. One desk was free, so the first CM took us there and said we needed to check in. Then the 2 of them proceeded to try to figure out who should check us in. The CL CM said we should be taken directly to our room, and the original CM said she didn't know how to do that and didn't have access or anything. It was just odd, it felt like no one wanted to do it. Finally the CL CM got us a packet (we had not done Online check in), activated my band, and made sure we were set up for charging. Then the original CM took us to our room on the second floor. We didn't get any info about the building, club level, our room, the lounge, or anything. If I hadn't known a lot from here and prior CL stays at the Poly I would have been clueless. We also had a room on the second floor, which I knew from asking here had to be accessed from a different elevator that didn't connect to the lobby. I think they should have gone over things like that when walking us to our room. Again, if I hadn't known it, I would not have realized we needed to take 2 elevators to get to the monorail. It all just felt super disjointed, and was kind of a let down start to what we had expected to be a super luxurious stay. I mean, we used the ME, so they should be able to know what bus we are on as soon as we scan in the airport. How hard would it be to somehow connect that, so they have someone waiting for CL check ins? I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure that's not the way it is supposed to go. We did see other people throughout the week being taken up the elevator by a CM with a tablet, and I assume they were getting the normal check in. We've stayed CL 3x at the Poly and now once at the GF, and have only been met by someone and taken to CL without having to find someone ourselves once, and it was when we rented a car and drove. It's just a nice touch that seems like it should be easily doable. The check in sets the stage for the stay, and when it isn't smooth it takes some recovery time for the vacation. At least I've found it to feel that way. It doesn't ruin it, obviously, but it's disappointing. 2. Our room. We had a deluxe king in the main building, and were in 4207. It was great, we loved it! I had requested MK view, not room 4201, and got our request. The view to the castle was great, and we could see wishes and hallowishes from our balcony every night. we never had any noise on our floor (except from our kids, which I hope wasn't too bad 
It just reminded us, particularly my DH, why we stay on the monorail. which brings me to the next point... 4. The monorail. It's great, and it's why we have been staying at the Poly and the GF since we had 2 kids. But it's only great when it's running. last time we came it was shut down during the daytime, this time it started running late in the mornings. I'm sorry, I know a lot of people on the dis disagree, but I think it's crappy when you pay to stay at a monorail resort and it's not running fully. Yes, they only guarantee you some way to get to the parks but it doesn't have to be the monorail, it's not a right but a benefit, blah, blah. blah. I know things happen, maintenance needs done, yada yada yada. But it's a huge reason we choose these resorts. Yup, we could have changed resorts since they did announce the late starts prior to our stay, but we had already decided and I wanted to try the GF. So we just dealt with it, and it wasn't the end of the world and didn't end up to be bad (b/c the monorail wouldn't help the bus stop issue for HS or AK). The AM we had an early CP reservation we got lucky and just walked onto an empty boat that was a large one and we didn't have to fold the stroller 
Also I loved the RPC lounge. So large and spacious. My sons loved the kids chairs, and my husband and I loved that even though they were kids chairs we could easily sit on them. Everyone's initially thoughts about them getting dirty were correct, though, they were pretty stained up. The lounge was just a place I wanted to hang out, and I particularly loved it during the middle of the day when it was nearly empty. I've never styed at SL, but I think there I would have always gone back to the room wheras at RPC even though our room was great we frequently ate in the lounge. Even at the Poly, with the wall of windows and great view, we usually took stuff to our room. Oh - one more thing. Why is the kids are essentially in a walkway to the rooms? There were frequently kids playing or sitting watching TV when luggage carts, strollers, large groups, etc came through. It isn't anyone's fault, it's both a walkway and kids area. It worked out fine, but just doesn't seem like good use of space. Also, they do have bottled water which I had thought they wouldn't. Just FYI. 8. CL staff. There were a few that were awesome. But overall I had expected them to be, well, better. We ran into a few that kind of gave us attitude, and I didn't think we were asking for anything out of the ordinary. One in particular in the morning was what we decided to call crusty. I avoided asking her for anything, because it seemed like she would try to think of a reason to say no or to act like I shouldn't be asking. Once I just didn't see the nonfat milk, and it seemed to pain her to point it out to me when I asked it they had any. I'm sorry that all I had seen was the whole milk they keep out all day! We also had a few things that we asked at the 3rd floor CMs, and really didn't get as much help as I had expected. It would be long and involved to go into detail, but we weren't asking anything outrageous. Don't get me wrong, they didn't just say no, too bad, but they didn't really seem to want to go out of their way to do anything. It was kind of like do the bare minimum. I did have one personally go to the front desk to get a camera I had left in the lounge and they (thankfully) found, and another was a big help when we had an issue with payment, so it isn't like it was terrible. At the Poly we seemed to have more people go above and beyond, and do little things to help that were unnecessary but really made the stay special. 9. Why, why, why don't they pipe the music for wishes and hallowishes to the area around Gasparillas at night? Tons of people sit there and watch nightly, it would be great and so easy. They do it at the Poly on the beach, and I'm told the music is on the TV at the CR. The fireworks are great, we had a perfect view from our balcony, but without the music it just isn't as impressive to me. we did buy the wishes soundtrack and play it on the TV, but it wasn't the same and we couldn't time it just right. You can't even buy Hallowishes, and the wi-fi didn't work well enough to use you tube. Plus, it would be so much better with good sound. 10. Texting service - awesome, awesome, awesome. I loved it, and we didn't even use it every day. They got us fast passes, answered quick questions, and cancelled dining reservations. They answered quickly,and it was so much faster than using my phone to google a question that had an easy answer or finding a kiosk for our extra FPs or calling the desk or even going to the 3rd floor. I really hope they continue this, and extend it to all CLs. They should make more of a point to tell you during check in about it and how it works, unless they usually do and it was just our lackluster check in. I had forgotten, and when I remembered I went to the 3rd floor to ask and the CM then explained it, and showed me the card and flier they had on it. I hadn't really looked at the card, I just assumed it was the CMs business card or the manager's, or something like that. well. that got long! Ill be amazed if anyone actually read the entire thing. Sorry!! 
Hate it when that happens! Looking foward to reading your review...
We have a garden view room booked for next month. I am so torn between Conch Key and Boca Chica. 
we got to experience the newly refurbished rooms in SL on our last visit in August and I think they did an amazing job. As always our favorite part is the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra. They are so talented and friendly and played the Monsters Inc song for my son every night.
