Thanks, hard choice it is also between a standard room with King size bed club level on the 14th floor at the CR. Any help with this ? I looked at the floor plan the King size bed is MK view but not sure. Everyone I talk to say stay away. Any help anyone?
It is very hard to choose with so many great choices. With that said, I'm not sure why some would suggest staying away from CR Tower CL. As
k&a&c'smom said, CR CL has been getting great reviews lately. We are hoping to try CR CL next spring (Atrium Club, rather than Tower Club), but I would go for it if I were you, especially if you are getting a great discount and would be paying rack rate for the GF
.
Choosing your resort is one of the toughest choices for planning vacation. For me, anyway, I debate and waffle, waffle and debate. Finally make a choice and immediately second guess myself.
You are so right!! We have had great stays at all of the resorts we've tried (and have even had more than 1 stay at some of them), but it's always hard choosing. I start looking at other resorts that we haven't tried as well as start wondering if we should go back to one of our favorites......it's a never ending cycle and sometimes I drive myself crazy trying to make a final decision and stick with it
.
Yes I was told this by some on CR Forum. I got a better discount for that room and I would have to pay rack rack for the GF room. I have looked at the map of the 14th & the have only 2 rooms with King beds in them (all others are 2 queens) rest of floor is made up of suites etc. The rooms that has the king size bed is facing the MK. I think I will stick with CR for now
I think you are making a good choice sticking with the CR
.
I will be in the World in a few days and plan a GF afternoon/evening - I'll try to remember to take a photo.
Have a great trip and enjoy your GF visit
.
I don't know why the Disney Resorts don't do the pools the way they do at the Universal Resorts. We stayed at Portofino last year, and you had to run your room card through the gate to gain entrance. No inconvenience whatsoever, and it made sure that the Resort guests were the only ones using the pool. Surely it can't be that expensive to add a MagicBand reader to the pools. After the tragedy last year (the little boy drowning in the pool), all Disney Resorts are going to be fenced in anyway. It sure would cut down on a lot of aggravation!
I agree
.
We have stayed at the G F before, but never in a regular GV room. Mom is elderly and I want to minimize the walking for her as well as accomodate her desire to have a nice view overlooking the courtyard with the quiet pool.
I wanted to stay in sugar loaf, but mom can't eat the food, so she didn't want to spend the extra money. Understandable, I guess.
Any suggestions as to what we should rrequest?
Thanks!
I agree with
BlueSkies that Boca Chica has beautiful views of the courtyard pool and while it's not as close to the main building as Big Pine Key, it's not that much farther. With that said, I also agree that if you want a more quiet location that's closer to transportation, Sago Cay would be a good choice
.
Note: We arrived home at 1:45 a.m. this morning. I doubt that we will ever do another straight-drive home. Ugh.
Glad you made it home safely
. Thanks for all of your live reviews.
MickeyNut Take the plunge girl....book that queen deluxe..you know that you will all enjoy being in RPC....
And..you need a vacation...lol..
The last few days have been so busy for me that I haven't even had time to think about a trip.....but you're not helping with this
. I guess I'm not rushing to book as I would be booking at rack rate, but it is fun to think about which resort (even if the trip isn't 100% definite....LOL).
We are standing pat with BOG lunch and Jiko dinner, so far anyway. mickeynut and KOOK may sway us into trying YSH again, but I'll leave that until we are there to decide.
I hope you can squeeze Yachtsman into your dining. We love it and think it's hard to beat.....food is awesome (as is the waitstaff) and if you get a window table, the view of SAB at night is beautiful
.
I wanted to thank you all for your help! We moved our dates to (hopefully) avoid the WL construction...had to pay some nasty air change fees but we will be at WL in December
Happy WL planning. I'm sure you will have a great time as Disney in December is amazing, but the WL is just gorgeous all decorated for the holidays
.
We are going there for our 10th anniversary and have our two young daughters (5.5 and 2.5 years old) with us. We have booked a Garden Deluxe for the extra space ... If we were to request an upgrade (obviously realizing this would be unlikely, but it can't hurt to ask), what would we be asking to upgrade TO? Maybe one of the Deluxe Queens pictured
As
k&a&c'smom posted, upgrades are rare, but going from an outer building deluxe room, the next step up would probably be TPV
.
We returned home last night from our wonderful vacation. We had not been back to the GF since 2010 as our last few trips have been to the YC. Please allow me to say that the Grand is still indeed grand! I had posted a few days ago (along with my failed attempt at posting pics lol) about a few issues we had upon checkin, so I'll not repeat myself here. But once we got beyond those issues, things improved & we had a great time.
We were in Boca Chica, second floor with a garden view. I had requested Boca Chica or Conch Key, so we were happy with our room assignment. We actually liked the new decor, although I agree with others that it could use a few more Disney touches in addition to the Mickeys on the sheers.
We lunched & grabbed breakfast at Gasparilla's several times and enjoyed our meals. And it was a million times more pleasant without the arcade being in there! We also enjoyed Mizner's for nightcaps one evening. We had never been there but will definitely be going back. It was so nice enjoying a cocktail while listening to the band play.
No complaints with mousekeeping, except for the toilet issue mentioned in my prev post and that was handled to my satisfaction. They kept us well-stocked in supplies and towels. We especially enjoyed the turn-down service each evening.
We had fun at both the beach and courtyard pools, although both were fairly crowded. We had to cruise and stalk for chairs. We enjoyed the bars at both pools too. Drinks were good but we didn't get a chance to try any food. I was eyeing the cabanas and found myself wishing I had booked one!
The only really negative experience we had was with the bus transportation, specifically to AK. We wanted to take advantage of EMH one morning but ended up waiting forty minutes for a bus. We arrived to a packed bus stop at 7:30. The gist of what happened is that the first AK bus of the day didn't arrive until 7:40 and we didn't make it on to that one. The CM working there said another would be there in 5-7 minutes, but that was not the case. Multiple buses for other destinations came and went, but no AK bus. It was a very chaotic, unorganized mess. By the time we got through the turnstiles, it was 8:45, so we basically missed the entire EMH. Later in the week, we took the bus to the Studios for EMH, and fortunately our bus came in a timely manner. But while we were waiting, four AK buses pulled up, one right after the other! Not sure what's up with that; seems their dispatch was having some issues. The boat to the MK, on the other hand, was quick and efficient. It was particularly convenient with our room being in Boca Chica.
Overall, it was a fantastic vacation. For those of you with upcoming trips, enjoy!
Thanks for your review
. Glad you had a great trip and enjoyed the GF, despite the few hiccups.
Can anyone give me some pointers on posting pics via phone; or point me in the direction to find that info? We're arriving at GFV on Friday and I'd love to be able to post some pics of that, + our dinners at Narcoossee's & V&A. Also have reservation for a cabana on our check-out day (assuming it doesn't rain) & would like to share those pics as well.
It will be pay-back time for all I've learned from this great thread.
TIA
I see
k&a&c'smom answered about posting pics from your phone (I couldn't have helped with that anyway...lol), but I wanted to say I hope you have a great trip and I can't wait to hear all about it as well as see all of your great pics
.
Leaving in less than a month and so excited! I posted earlier, but we started out at WL, then moved to POR, and finally switched over to GF. I can't believe we are actually are going to stay at the GF for a week!!
As I was laying in bed last night, going over the trip in my head, I got so excited over checking in!! Is that crazy?! I am so excited about pulling up to the most beautiful resort on earth, walking in and smelling the aroma of the GF and then walking up to the check in desk and saying, "Yes, I'd like to check in please!"
It's a dream come true!!!
Not crazy at all, I get excited when I book a trip, which is usually 6 months to a year out
.....and when it's for the GF, it's even more exciting. Enjoy your pre-trip excitement
.
It is wonderful to pull up to the Grand and know you aren't just visiting, this will be your home for a week.
I agree
.
As for the photos...please don't be kicking yourself...you really do have so many wonderful ones! I am loooking foward to seeing the new ones that you will be taking this trip!
Me too
.
I just love this thread. such nice people!!
I totally agree
.
Hi everyone, I have two questions about my arrival day. My plane lands at 11:57 AM. What time do you think I can get checked in at the GF and be at Hollywood Studios? Do you think I could save time by taking a taxi to the GF rather than the Magical Express? Thanks
If you take a cab, my guess is you might be able to get to DHS by around 3:00
. We either use a car service or rent a car and are usually checking into our resort about 60-90 minutes after arriving at MCO. The drive from MCO to your resort is about 30-45 minutes, so if you land at noon, you could possibly be out of the airport by around 12:30-12:45, arriving at the GF around 1:15-1:30. This, of course, all depends on how busy the airport is and traffic on the way to the resort. We've never used DME, so I can't comment on that, but hopefully others will be able to give some input
.
Hello,
We leave in 2 days for our trip staying at GF. Being a newbie I have mostly lurked on this thread trying to learn from you. I appreciate all the helpful information you have all been sharing. I feel familiar with the GF already. Thanks for everything you do
How exciting for your first GF stay....and in 2 days
. Glad you were able to get some helpful information from this thread. I agree, the posters on this thread are very friendly and helpful
.
First stay for us at the Grand in Dec as well!
You are going to love the GF and being there at Christmas time makes it that much more amazing
.
Glad that you came out of lurkdome... Have a GRAND time!! 
enjoy your trip...and that very nice YC/GF split too! 
Yikes...
. You are going to love the GF and RPC....the resort is beautiful and relaxing and RPC is just amazing 
Enjoy your WL planning!
With the MK resorts, it's a very short cab ride to any other MK resort. With WDW transportation, you could take the monorail to the CR, then the boat to FtW. Or, of course, the boat to MK, then another boat to FtW.
