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

[trishadono]

Yep you read it right my oldest daughter had boy twins in 2000, girl twins in 2001 ( 15 months and a day apart ... Crazy town ) and then that wasn't enough she had a singleton boy 14 months after the twin girls were born. ( he was a twin Pregnancy early on as well ) that's 5 kiddos in 29 months so she had a nanny full time and my husband and I were always available to help and loved it. My younger daughter had a daughter a few months after her sisters twin girls were born ... So I went from no grandchildren to 6 grandchildren in 29 months and of course I was and am thrilled. Then happily the babies continued with my younger daughter having boy/girl twins in 2010, they are 4 years old now. ( sorry so long but with you having twins I know you can appreciate how crazy it was and how incredibly wonderful it was and still is )
I've booked bounce backs a few times so it seems to still be the same. I'm hoping the poly so put back together if so we may stay there. Of course CR and my beloved GF are on my radar but the two girls have been to GF multiple times so I'm open on what looks fun for them. We've never stayed at WL of all the deluxe so maybe there?

Wow you are very lucky indeed! Thanks for filling us in.

 

[abk96]

Hello everyone! We arrived home early Sunday morning and I finally have some free time to write a little review.

We arrived on Thursday, July 24th via the ME. As soon as we stepped off the bus Denny greeted us and took us back to Sugar Loaf. He was so nice and introduced us to many workers along the way. It was definitely a great start to our vacation. When we got to SL we went in and took a seat at a table and Denny completed the check in process for us. It was about 10 AM so we were able to grab some breakfast before heading to the pool since our room wasn't ready. I really enjoyed the breakfasts everyday especially when they had the cheese danish....my favorite!

The first room we received was a dormer room facing the pool. We noticed that the room felt small to us because of the slopped walls so we asked to be moved. They were able to get us another room but that one wasn't ready until 3PM. No problem. We went to the pool and waited. When the second room was ready it was nice. We had 6206 which faced the pool and had a nice size balcony. I requested a marina view but I guess that wasn't available. Oh well...the view was still beautiful.

We enjoyed all the offerings in the lounge. I especially loved the afternoon tea service. It was very relaxing to take a break in the afternoon everyday. The apps were good but the crowds were crazy. If we went around 5PM we would have to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get to the food. And forget about getting a table at that time. After that we went down around 6PM and it was a little better but still felt crowded to me. We only enjoyed desserts one night and they were delicious.

Housekeeping was great. Always had a clean room by noon.

Overall we enjoyed our trip to the Grand and hope to return in the future.

I have some pictures of the grounds, our view, and the room but I don't have any of the lounge or the offerings. Since it was so crowded most of the time I didn't bother taking any photos there.

I'll try to post them tomorrow. If anyone has any questions just ask.

 

[BlueSkies]

Hello everyone! We arrived home early Sunday morning and I finally have some free time to write a little review.

We arrived on Thursday, July 24th via the ME. As soon as we stepped off the bus Denny greeted us and took us back to Sugar Loaf. He was so nice and introduced us to many workers along the way. It was definitely a great start to our vacation. When we got to SL we went in and took a seat at a table and Denny completed the check in process for us. It was about 10 AM so we were able to grab some breakfast before heading to the pool since our room wasn't ready. I really enjoyed the breakfasts everyday especially when they had the cheese danish....my favorite!

The first room we received was a dormer room facing the pool. We noticed that the room felt small to us because of the slopped walls so we asked to be moved. They were able to get us another room but that one wasn't ready until 3PM. No problem. We went to the pool and waited. When the second room was ready it was nice. We had 6206 which faced the pool and had a nice size balcony. I requested a marina view but I guess that wasn't available. Oh well...the view was still beautiful.

We enjoyed all the offerings in the lounge. I especially loved the afternoon tea service. It was very relaxing to take a break in the afternoon everyday. The apps were good but the crowds were crazy. If we went around 5PM we would have to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get to the food. And forget about getting a table at that time. After that we went down around 6PM and it was a little better but still felt crowded to me. We only enjoyed desserts one night and they were delicious.

Housekeeping was great. Always had a clean room by noon.

Overall we enjoyed our trip to the Grand and hope to return in the future.

I have some pictures of the grounds, our view, and the room but I don't have any of the lounge or the offerings. Since it was so crowded most of the time I didn't bother taking any photos there.

I'll try to post them tomorrow. If anyone has any questions just ask.

Welcome back abk!! glad that yo had a grand vacation..Denny has checked us in from time to time too..he is awesome!

Thanks for your review...looking forward to your pics!

meema Thats quite a brood! What a blessing... We too went on and added to our family just a few years later too..singleton..thankfully...lol...and she is my Disney buddy...

 

[mickeynut1]

MickeyNut Get your sunglasses ready... Cause you know that next trip you will need them...lol...

I think you're right.....that carpet is pretty bright .

Thank you so much - I dont know why, but we thought the pics that are in post #4 were of a deluxe or club room? Those are the standard room beds/decor? If so I may never check-out!!

Yes, those particular pics are of a standard room, but all of the rooms (including CL and deluxe rooms) have the same decor .

Hello everyone! We arrived home early Sunday morning and I finally have some free time to write a little review.

We arrived on Thursday, July 24th via the ME. As soon as we stepped off the bus Denny greeted us and took us back to Sugar Loaf. He was so nice and introduced us to many workers along the way. It was definitely a great start to our vacation. When we got to SL we went in and took a seat at a table and Denny completed the check in process for us. It was about 10 AM so we were able to grab some breakfast before heading to the pool since our room wasn't ready. I really enjoyed the breakfasts everyday especially when they had the cheese danish....my favorite!

The first room we received was a dormer room facing the pool. We noticed that the room felt small to us because of the slopped walls so we asked to be moved. They were able to get us another room but that one wasn't ready until 3PM. No problem. We went to the pool and waited. When the second room was ready it was nice. We had 6206 which faced the pool and had a nice size balcony. I requested a marina view but I guess that wasn't available. Oh well...the view was still beautiful.

We enjoyed all the offerings in the lounge. I especially loved the afternoon tea service. It was very relaxing to take a break in the afternoon everyday. The apps were good but the crowds were crazy. If we went around 5PM we would have to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get to the food. And forget about getting a table at that time. After that we went down around 6PM and it was a little better but still felt crowded to me. We only enjoyed desserts one night and they were delicious.

Housekeeping was great. Always had a clean room by noon.

Overall we enjoyed our trip to the Grand and hope to return in the future.

I have some pictures of the grounds, our view, and the room but I don't have any of the lounge or the offerings. Since it was so crowded most of the time I didn't bother taking any photos there.

I'll try to post them tomorrow. If anyone has any questions just ask.

Welcome back .

Thanks for your review, glad you had a great time and enjoyed the GF. Looking forward to your pics .

 

[baler31]

Welcome back abk!! glad that yo had a grand vacation..Denny has checked us in from time to time too..he is awesome!

Thanks for your review...looking forward to your pics!

meema Thats quite a brood! What a blessing... We too went on and added to our family just a few years later too..singleton..thankfully...lol...and she is my Disney buddy...

I miss Denny in IPO. I am glad we get to see him out front now but he was the most friendly and helpful person at any IPO that I have ever dealt with.

 

[disney meema]

Hello everyone! We arrived home early Sunday morning and I finally have some free time to write a little review. We arrived on Thursday, July 24th via the ME. As soon as we stepped off the bus Denny greeted us and took us back to Sugar Loaf. He was so nice and introduced us to many workers along the way. It was definitely a great start to our vacation. When we got to SL we went in and took a seat at a table and Denny completed the check in process for us. It was about 10 AM so we were able to grab some breakfast before heading to the pool since our room wasn't ready. I really enjoyed the breakfasts everyday especially when they had the cheese danish....my favorite! The first room we received was a dormer room facing the pool. We noticed that the room felt small to us because of the slopped walls so we asked to be moved. They were able to get us another room but that one wasn't ready until 3PM. No problem. We went to the pool and waited. When the second room was ready it was nice. We had 6206 which faced the pool and had a nice size balcony. I requested a marina view but I guess that wasn't available. Oh well...the view was still beautiful. We enjoyed all the offerings in the lounge. I especially loved the afternoon tea service. It was very relaxing to take a break in the afternoon everyday. The apps were good but the crowds were crazy. If we went around 5PM we would have to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get to the food. And forget about getting a table at that time. After that we went down around 6PM and it was a little better but still felt crowded to me. We only enjoyed desserts one night and they were delicious. Housekeeping was great. Always had a clean room by noon. Overall we enjoyed our trip to the Grand and hope to return in the future. I have some pictures of the grounds, our view, and the room but I don't have any of the lounge or the offerings. Since it was so crowded most of the time I didn't bother taking any photos there. I'll try to post them tomorrow. If anyone has any questions just ask.

Everything excluding the crowds during appetizers sounds fabulous : ) SL tends to be very quiet or very packed I've found ... But it seems everyone comes back for the evening appetizers. Was there any cheeses, meats or hard boiled eggs during breakfast? How was your turn down service? Any cute towel animals? How about the monorail service and boat to MK ect? Looking forward to your pictures and thanks in advance for answering my questions about your wonderful vacation

 

[MommyGina]

Where is the TV in RPC? Is it in the same place?

 

[abk96]

Welcome back abk!! glad that yo had a grand vacation..Denny has checked us in from time to time too..he is awesome!

Thanks for your review...looking forward to your pics!

Welcome back .

Thanks for your review, glad you had a great time and enjoyed the GF. Looking forward to your pics .

Thanks Blue and mickeynut1 for the warm welcome back. I will upload my pics soon to share with everyone.

Everything excluding the crowds during appetizers sounds fabulous : ) SL tends to be very quiet or very packed I've found ... But it seems everyone comes back for the evening appetizers. Was there any cheeses, meats or hard boiled eggs during breakfast? How was your turn down service? Any cute towel animals? How about the monorail service and boat to MK ect? Looking forward to your pictures and thanks in advance for answering my questions about your wonderful vacation

They did have several cheeses out in the evenings. Some were Brie, goat cheeses, swiss, and cheddar that I can remember. All were delicious.

They also had Sushi, duck, spring rolls, mini corn dogs, scallops wrapped in bacon , rolls, bread, butter spreads, and spinach/artichoke spread. There were others things too that I can't remember. Everything I tried was delicious.

For breakfast they had ham, slices of cheese(not sure what kind), and turkey. No hard boiled eggs. I think they only have them at the Epcot resort clubs.

Turn down was nice to come back to in the evenings. They left 2 chocolates and 1 bedtime card on each bed. I took pictures of the cards and will post them soon. They were really cute. No towel animals, just the Mickey when we checked in along with a Grand Floridian chocolate in a box with a welcome card.

The monorail was fine. It was either there or coming down the track when we arrived on the platform. Our second day we made it to MK while the train show was being performed. We took the boat to MK once but found it to be longer since they stop at Poly first. Took the boat back to GF many times and was very nice and quick.

 

[mrkyyyle]

Hi All!

My wife and I are going to be staying in a RPC King Deluxe room coming up in September. I've done a good deal of reading / research but would like everyone's opinion on best room to request!

From what I gather the King Deluxe rooms come in either the turret / honeymoon types. Are there no turret rooms that give views of the fireworks/ MK?

My wife likes a good view but also really likes the idea of a larger room!

Any insight is appreciated!

TIA

 

[baler31]

Hi All!

My wife and I are going to be staying in a RPC King Deluxe room coming up in September. I've done a good deal of reading / research but would like everyone's opinion on best room to request!

From what I gather the King Deluxe rooms come in either the turret / honeymoon types. Are there no turret rooms that give views of the fireworks/ MK?

My wife likes a good view but also really likes the idea of a larger room!

Any insight is appreciated!

TIA

Sorry, it is either the view or the larger turret room. The standard or honeymoon king deluxe located on the 2nd floor have whirlpool tubs, MK views, and are a standard size. The turret rooms have views overlooking the beach pool area and are much larger, no whirlpool.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Hello, everyone!! I'm running out of time before starting dinner, so I'll have to come back later to read the rest - but wanted to answer a question or two.

Thank you so much - I dont know why, but we thought the pics that are in post #4 were of a deluxe or club room? Those are the standard room beds/decor? If so I may never check-out!!

And that view of the monorail would be so awesome...if we have marina view/top floor request, is there a specific building to see the monorail?

Thanks again!!

If you want to see the marina AND the monorail, request Conch Key, marina side. Did you see the photo of the safe near the bottom of that link?

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Hi All!

My wife and I are going to be staying in a RPC King Deluxe room coming up in September. I've done a good deal of reading / research but would like everyone's opinion on best room to request!

From what I gather the King Deluxe rooms come in either the turret / honeymoon types. Are there no turret rooms that give views of the fireworks/ MK?

My wife likes a good view but also really likes the idea of a larger room!

Any insight is appreciated!

TIA

Sorry, it is either the view or the larger turret room. The standard or honeymoon king deluxe located on the 2nd floor have whirlpool tubs, MK views, and are a standard size. The turret rooms have views overlooking the beach pool area and are much larger, no whirlpool.

There are three of the turret rooms that have a view of the Castle and fireworks, they end in "21" (4021, 4421, 4321); these overlook the courtyard AND the beach pool, they are above Summer Lace and Commander Porter's. The other three turrets are as you describe, above M. Mouse Merc and overlook Beach Pool/monorail.

It's not the same angle as the 2nd floor rooms, but you can see it.

I have a photo, I think it's on the first page in the "Club Level Photos" post, but I'll have to look.

ETA: Here's the photo, it wasn't on the first page of this thread! It must be posted in an older FAQ.

 

[mrkyyyle]

Great, thanks for the info! I will put in a request to see if we are lucky enough to get one of them!

Can't wait for our dinner at Victoria & Albert's!

 

[trishadono]

Hi All!

My wife and I are going to be staying in a RPC King Deluxe room coming up in September. I've done a good deal of reading / research but would like everyone's opinion on best room to request!

From what I gather the King Deluxe rooms come in either the turret / honeymoon types. Are there no turret rooms that give views of the fireworks/ MK?

My wife likes a good view but also really likes the idea of a larger room!

Any insight is appreciated!

TIA

Here are some pics I posted last November.

I loved the walkin closet, the hallway to our room, being so close to lounge and noises from the lobby below, larger garden tub( no jets but bigger than standard). So many windows!!!! You can actually open the window and hear the sounds from outside. I just pulled a chair over

I have the room booked for next week this time wth my dd19. I definitely want the octagon again. So much space!!!

Octagon deluxe king RPC

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=50058845&postcount=1522

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Here are some pics I posted last November.

I loved the walkin closet, the hallway to our room, being so close to lounge and noises from the lobby below, larger garden tub( no jets but bigger than standard). So many windows!!!! You can actually open the window and hear the sounds from outside. I just pulled a chair over

I have the room booked for next week this time wth my dd19. I definitely want the octagon again. So much space!!!

Octagon deluxe king RPC

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=50058845&postcount=1522

oooohh - hope you'll have time to take some pics with the new décor, trishadono -would love to compare & contrast...

 

[trishadono]

oooohh - hope you'll have time to take some pics with the new décor, trishadono -would love to compare & contrast...

I already have been comparing granada3 pics from lounge to mine last year.

Will do what I can with the iPhone camera.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

disney meema - how wonderful to get so many grandkids all at once. It will be nice for them, too, as they grow up.

abk - thanks for posting your review, sounds like a great trip. Sorry about the crowd in the evenings, but glad it was nice overall.

We often have to give up something when we need to be moved from our first location. There aren't as many rooms to pull from, so that's the price you pay, I guess.

I miss Denny in IPO. I am glad we get to see him out front now but he was the most friendly and helpful person at any IPO that I have ever dealt with.

Love Denny - I think he's the one who always mentions to us he is originally from Independence, MO, just an hour away from us.

Great, thanks for the info! I will put in a request to see if we are lucky enough to get one of them!

Can't wait for our dinner at Victoria & Albert's!

If you are not aware, those turret rooms have beautiful wrap around windows, but no balcony. Just wanted to remind you, in case it makes a difference.

ETA: Oops, missed the part about V&A's! Have you been there before? It is incredible, you'll love it.

 

[mrkyyyle]

If you are not aware, those turret rooms have beautiful wrap around windows, but no balcony. Just wanted to remind you, in case it makes a difference.

Yup! My wife was torn when I said well you can either get a balcony but smaller room or a nice big room with wraparound windows!

 

[yolie912]

I would like your advise on something. I'm thinking of adding a night at the beginning of my stay. I'm getting there very late, around 10pm. I'm staying club level so I don't know if it's worth it if I'm getting there so late. What do you guys think? Thx

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Yup! My wife was torn when I said well you can either get a balcony but smaller room or a nice big room with wraparound windows!

Well, it's a nice dilemma to have. Did you see my edit above? I tend to do that, then people miss it. I hope you enjoy V&A's - if you'd like to see some photos, let me know.

I would like your advise on something. I'm thinking of adding a night at the beginning of my stay. I'm getting there very late, around 10pm. I'm staying club level so I don't know if it's worth it if I'm getting there so late. What do you guys think? Thx

We arrived around midnight once, and to me, it is not worth it. We dropped our bags and went straight to bed. If it were me, I would probably book a cheaper resort for that night.

On the other hand, I know many DISers prefer to get there, get a good night's sleep and wake up right in their room. It's all personal preference, and what will work best for your family and trip.