Here is a review of our stay Sep 20-28. My parents took us 3 girls and our families to WDW. It was our first time at the GF and first time at WDW since we were kids. We had requested 2 sets of connecting rooms, GV outer building, upper floor, non dormer. Note that we all 4 did online checkin but my mom called central reservations about 10 days before arrival to make sure they had all of our requests down.
Arrival and checkin - My family drove from Missouri (DH, myself, DS4, DS3, DD1) and arrived at 12:30pm. The bellman greeted us and then opened the tailgate of our expedition and all our groceries came tumbling out (we stopped at
Walmart on the way into town). A bit of a rough start but it got better from there. What looked like a manager walked myself and the 3 kids into the lobby while DH parked the car. He took me to the check in counter and got things rolling. All of our rooms were ready and they told me we got our connecting rooms, so that's what we really cared about. We were assigned Boca Chica, 3rd floor with a wonderful view of the courtyard pool. We had rooms 8328, 8330, 8332, 8334 (we stayed in 8334). I would assume 8336 would have a beautiful view as well. DH returned from parking and the bellman helped take our luggage to the room (we had to take 2 rolling carts b/c we had too much for the big golf cart!). As we were unloading our luggage in our room housekeeping came and delivered the pack n play. At this time I asked for a small step stool for the bathroom so the kids could reach the sink and they brought one right away. We got settled and changed into our swimsuits to wait on the rest of the party to arrive. Overall, very smooth check in. They definitely took their time explaining how everything worked (Magic Bands, dining plan, etc). Make sure you have your MB ready when you check in because you will need it to get in your door...don't bury it in your luggage!
Pools - We swam several days and while the pools were busy, I never had a hard time finding a lounge chair. DS's enjoyed the slide at the beach pool but I enjoyed the quiet at the courtyard pool. This is where we would go when the 2 littles were napping. DH could watch us from our balcony. My sister rented a cabana one day and it was definitely worth it. All 4 were booked what seemed like every day and this was supposed to be the slow time! At first I didn't think we would use the cabana since the kids would be in the water most of the time. But it was wonderful having someone bring us lunch and I didn't have to stand in a quick service line and try to carry it all by myself like I did at the parks! It was also a great place to keep our stuff dry when the Florida rain showers hit. DD1 napped for 3 hours on the little sofa and at first they charged us extra b/c there is a limit of 6 people and we had 7. But we called and explained to them that she slept the whole time and didn't use any of their services (we brought her own food and drinks) so they gave us a credit.
Concierge - All were very helpful although a couple went above and beyond to help us. DS4 got sick one night and we had to reschedule a breakfast at Crystal Palace the next morning. One girl helped us do a split reservation with overlapping times in order to get in (a group of 2 and group of 3). it worked perfectly and we were all seated together at the same time. She also informed me that while it says you have to cancel 1 day in advance to avoid ADR charges, it really means 11:59 pm the day before, even if it is for 8am the next day. I cancelled at 11pm and did not get charged (although they would have waived it anyways for being sick). Another concierge helped me when Chef Mickey's went crazy on our dining bill. We had a party of 13 that night and they took too many table service credits from us. So Shaun helped us out, getting the credits back. He could also tell that I was frazzled, having just returned from Hollywood Studios on a very busy Friday (due to all the Frozen activities), so he gave us extra fastpasses for that night. Turned out to be one of our best nights there.
Transportation - Monorail was great for us. Unfortunately we had a hard time making rope drop (1 hour time change makes it hard when you have little ones that usually sleep until 7 or 8 central), so we never had to deal with early morning transportation. One day we took a boat around 7:45 to make our 8:30 ADR at CP, but it was an EMH morning so the park was already open and boats were running. We arrived around 8 or 8:10. We chose to take the monorail back from MK most nights so we didn't have to fold up the double stroller. One night when we stayed until after fireworks and decided to take the boat. We had to wait on 2 or 3 boats before we could get on (they were running the small ones), but it was a good choice because that was the night the monorail stopped working for a while. We took a bus to Downtown Disney one night and it was ok, I think we waited about 5 or 10 minutes, and same on the return. However, on our DHS day (Friday of Frozen events) we arrived at the bus stop around 8:15 and waited about 10 mins for a bus and it was jam packed already. So the next bus came right after and it was packed but somehow we squeezed on. It kind of made for a rough start for the day. We didn't enjoy the return that afternoon b/c it was the last stop (shared with CR and Poly). That evening we decided to drive back to DHS and it was wonderful! We had a
AAA Diamond Parking pass so that put us pretty close and we were able to get out after the Frozen Fireworks and didn't have to deal with the bus lines and people. It was nice to fold the double stroller at our own pace. The next day we drove to AK and decided that we will probably drive from now on to those 2 parks. We just like to be in control, especially with the 3 little ones. If it was just us 2 adults it might be different.
Food - Everything was great, I especially enjoyed the Crab Cake Sandwich from Beaches and the chips from there and Gaspy's. We ate lunch at Gaspy's a couple of times...sat outside both times. We tried to order breakfast there on our last morning, but arrived at 10am and it was packed! The order line was long so we grabbed some items that were considered "snacks" instead. I am glad we did...the muffins were great (blueberry and carrot/zuchinni). I also enjoyed the Pina Colada cupcake and some type of Raspberry cupcake from GAspy's. We had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and it was ok. I will be honest, we didn't really enjoy the character breakfasts, because in between grabbing food for 3 kids from the buffet and trying to make sure they didn't mob the characters, it was always chaotic to us. (the kids enjoyed it though). My sister dined at Narcoosee's one night and brought us back leftovers (we were so busy at the parks we rarely stopped to eat) and it was delicious! Filet and lobster...yummy! I wanted to mention the Olaf Carrot Cake cupcake and Cappucino cupcakes at DHS were amazing! We had them at Pizza Planet. We had several left over snack credits and I wanted to try and get some take home souvenirs so I went to Sandy Cove. The CM was very helpful in showing me where all the "snacks" were. I brought home some fall decorated rice krispie treats that were really cute. I was surprised at how good the RKT's were...they really taste homemade! I also got a couple of GF coffee mugs there to bring home. Speaking of coffee...many people ask where to get a cup of coffee in the morning. If you are on the dining plan you can take your mug to fill at Beaches or Gaspy's. The coffee is fine to me...I'm not too picky as long as I have creamer. They have liquid creamer at Gaspy's for sure. I enjoyed a cup each morning while getting ready when the kids were sleeping (I used the pods provided and my own creamer from Walmart). I did find it strange that they always leave 3 pods...I could have asked for more but I never had time to drink more than 1 in the morning!
Room and Mousekeeping - This was a 12 day road trip for us so we had things EVERYWHERE. We used the couch to sit our suitcases on. I found the dresser drawers perfect for storing kids clothes. Before the trip I put each days' worth of kids clothes in 1 gallon size ziploc bag and kept these in the small drawers. The night before I would put it on their bed, along with fresh diapers (for 2 of them). That was all we put in the drawers. We are used to staying in Hampton Inn's so the space was just fine for us. I brought home lots of GF shampoo, lotion, and wonderful foot rub that DH hates...because he is so sweet and rubs my feet every night. Mousekeeping did a great job working around all of our stuff...they even arranged all the kids toys on the bed one night when we came back from DHS. We got 5 turndown cards and there is no chocolate left over thanks to DS3. The only thing I was disappointed in was the hot water wasn't hot enough for me. My dad said the same thing and he was in a different room.
Miscellaneous - DS3 loved finding Peter Pan on the lobby floor as we walked in from near the Beach Pool. Only on the last day did we notice the Fab 5 on the floor in the main entrance! I absolutely LOVED the smell of the lobby. If we didn't see the fireworks at the parks we usually make it back to GF just in time to watch, so DS3 would run to the boat dock to watch them. One thing I really enjoyed about Disney was the overall helpfulness of the CM's. Even when they were busy doing something else they would stop to help. One of them told us that's what they are trained to do...look for people who need help. This is different because the rest of the world doesn't operate this way.
Overall, we had an absolutely grand time...I'm not sure we will be able to return (unless my parents pay for a trip again haha). We also want to try
Disneyland and California Adventure sometime. Wilderness Lodge also appeals to us because we have 2 boys that would enjoy the theme. Y'all have been so helpful to me and I hope I can continue reading to get my Disney fix!
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.
We have a garden view room booked for next month. I am so torn between Conch Key and Boca Chica. 
Happen to be a fan of CMs in both CLs..and found them both to be equally friendly...but everyones experiences do vary...
Another GF Society Orchestra fan here...
The GF is such a beautiful resort and particularly so in December....I do believe that the lobbies in the outer buildings are all decorated with Christmas wreaths...but not any other decorations....most of the decorations can be found in the lobby of the main building...
I finally sent a copy of our itinerary to him and said "Show up at this time if you want to go with us!" 
that your next trip comes before your know it!
Candy and Phyllis Nice to "see" you! 
preppy GF gal who has now added HDDR to the never ending list of ADRs...
