Advice About GF

[Starrin]

Hi,

This is my first post

I have been coming to this site for about a month and reading everything. But there is a ton of info here and much of the context I do not understand.

Anyway, just spoke with my wife (is that DM?) and we are looking at a trip to WDW in the last week of Sept.

Here is the deal ... we are crazy ... we have my daughter who will be 4 and my son who will be 4 months! But we all love it there and really want to go (some would think we should wait till my son is older - i disagree) ... we go about every 6 months since she was 2. Last Jan. we stayed at GF and really enjoyed it, got an upgrade to what I believe is called a Lagoon View ... very nice. My wife was very pregnant at the time and she did not slow down for a second, opened and closed the parks every night for 5 nights while we were there .... she is a real trooper.

Now our expectations are different with such a young one. I would like to stay at GF again. What is the deal with Sugar Loaf ... what is this? Also, what about staying in the main building .... outside of being in the main building do you get something in addition? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

My wife thinks I am a freak, I tell her about this forum and how there is the "double digit dance" and the like. But the good news is that she never turns down or even considers a different location when I talk about WDW. The only thing is that we like to avoid the crowds.

Also, what is the pirate cruise at GF ... as well as is the tea party with Mary Poppins and Alice in GF (where is it located?), are parents invited?

Thank you all in advance,

Jason

 

[Sammie]

Rooms in Sugar Loaf building and the main building are Conceirge only. Here is some info about what Concierge offers.
Concierge Info


Here is a link to info on the Pirate Cruise and the Tea party.
Children's Info

I would also suggest reading the Grand Floridian Info here on this site.

 

[triplefigs]

Welcome to the DIS! BTW, it's DW for Dear Wife.

The GF FAQ thread is very good. Here's a GF Map.

Sugar Loaf and Main building are both full service concierge with pre-planning available. They offer food, beverage, dessert, and cordials during the day/night and the buildings/floor are secure. We are staying in Sugar Loaf for our Christmas trip. SL Concierge food pictures.

The GF has lots of kids activities. The Pirate Cruise, Grand Adventure's in Cooking, Alice in Wonderland Tea, and a My Perfectly Princess Tea with Sleeping Beauty.

Have a great time planning!

 

[Starrin]

Thank you both for the wonderful info....I came home from work about an hour ago and my house is full of talk of WDW

We are looking at staying at one of the lodge tower rooms at GF.

After talking about it the only hitch we have run into that we would like to bring our 4 month old's "bouncy seat" .... I assume most parents know what I am talking about ... some place to set him down and has a vibration setting.... I do not believe it will fit in a suit case. Any suggestions would be great.

Tripleflgs .... I know you will love this (or maybe not) ... my 4 month year old is sitting here with me wearing one of his favorite outfits ... it is orange and white....... Go Vols! But I think we can both agree that the SEC is where the action is

 

[triplefigs]

Thank you both for the wonderful info....I came home from work about an hour ago and my house is full of talk of WDW

We are looking at staying at one of the lodge tower rooms at GF.

After talking about it the only hitch we have run into that we would like to bring our 4 month old's "bouncy seat" .... I assume most parents know what I am talking about ... some place to set him down and has a vibration setting.... I do not believe it will fit in a suit case. Any suggestions would be great.

Tripleflgs .... I know you will love this (or maybe not) ... my 4 month year old is sitting here with me wearing one of his favorite outfits ... it is orange and white....... Go Vols! But I think we can both agree that the SEC is where the action is

Sounds like you're going to have a great trip! As far as the bouncy seat, you could ship it down to the resort before hand. You could also post on the family board for suggestions.

And, you're right... the SEC rules! Can't wait for football season! Roll Tide!

 

[safetymom]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/abbreviations.htm

Here are some of the abbreviations used on the DIS. Welcome to the DIS!!!

 

[Starrin]

This is great and thank you all for the info.

I have a concierge question:

What time in the morning is the breakfast served? We are early risers and like to have breakfast real early .... around 6:30 am.

 

[triplefigs]

This is great and thank you all for the info.

I have a concierge question:

What time in the morning is the breakfast served? We are early risers and like to have breakfast real early .... around 6:30 am.

I think it's 7am.

 

[TammiMcMan]

We are looking at staying at one of the lodge tower rooms at GF.

Just wanted to comment on this as I saw you asked about concierge also. Guaranteed lodge tower rooms do not come with concierge service. They'd be located in one of the outer buildings, Sago Cay ~ Boca Chica ~ Big Pine Key ~ Conch Key. All have garden views and the tower rooms on the top floor do not have a balcony due to the pitch of the roof line. An option you have if you want to try both (concierge & tower room) is to book what's called Lodge Concierge. This is located in the Sugar Loaf building as Triplefigs and Sammie described. They do have 6 tower rooms in this particular building, but they are by request only and not guaranteed. Triplefigs has actually asked for this room type with her concierge pre-planner, so she can probably fill you in more on how that all worked.

For 2005, there is only about a $40 per night difference between a lodge tower room and lodge concierge (with a tower room request). For all the benefits you receive with concierge, that's not a bad price for an upgrade.

In the concierge lounge, they usually have coffee out at 6:30am and you might see a few breakfast items out, but they typically do the complete setup at 7am.

Tammi

 

[triplefigs]

Triplefigs has actually asked for this room type with her concierge pre-planner, so she can probably fill you in more on how that all worked. Tammi

Come on Room 6320!!!!!!!!!

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

You can try to rent a bouncy seat or something similar from www.abbf.com

hth

Julie

 

[Starrin]

This is great! Thank you for the info.

Tammi I read so many of your posts, you are like a star in my household as my wife and I have been referring to your comments quite often.

I am starting to gain a good context of everything (takes a while ... a lot of info and the vocab stumps me sometimes) ... we stayed at GF last Jan. and really liked it hence going back (we will probably be staying for several years to come, we go down to WDW about every 6 months). For us the main thing is ease of transportation to MK (we do not mind taking a bit longer to get to Epcot or AK but MK is where the action is for us).

In all likelihood we will book this trip some time in the next 48 hours.

Looks like we will book it as a Lodge Tower Room with Concierge.

Now, just so I am straight ... I am booking this through the Disney website ... so I will select a "Room Type" of "Lodge Concierge Room"


Once this is booked, I should follow-up and request a "Tower Room" as they are limited. Perhaps even get specific like Room 6320?

Is this right?


I was looking at the site to rent a bouncy seat ... my wife put the no-go on it ... she wants to try and take apart the seat we have and fit it in a suit case ... once we figure out that it will not work (I can tell it most likely will not come apart like we hope) ... we will move to shipping it down.

Thank you all for your help

--Jason

 

[TammiMcMan]

Now, just so I am straight ... I am booking this through the Disney website ... so I will select a "Room Type" of "Lodge Concierge Room"

Once this is booked, I should follow-up and request a "Tower Room" as they are limited. Perhaps even get specific like Room 6320?

Is this right? --Jason

You're exactly right. Once your reservation is in the system, you can contact the concierge pre-planners at wdwgfplanning@disney.com . They're the ones that you to notify about the specific room type request (tower room). They will also assist you with any dining reservations, tickets, advance gift purchasing and if you need to ship something ahead of time, you can send it to their attention and it should get placed right in your room.

Have fun planning and we're always here to help.

Tammi

 

[Wendi]

Is Sugarloaf now a "Full" Conceige now? It use to NOT have the evening cordials. If so what are the hours for the services at Sugarloaf now?
Thanks, You guys are the BEST!
Wendi

 

[Brina]

After talking about it the only hitch we have run into that we would like to bring our 4 month old's "bouncy seat" .... I assume most parents know what I am talking about ... some place to set him down and has a vibration setting.... I do not believe it will fit in a suit case. Any suggestions would be great.

There is a pad that you can buy that has a vibration mode - you can put it into a carseat and it then acts like a vibrating seat. It packs flat. I forget where I found it.

 

[triplefigs]

Is Sugarloaf now a "Full" Conceige now? It use to NOT have the evening cordials. If so what are the hours for the services at Sugarloaf now?
Thanks, You guys are the BEST!
Wendi

Yes, as of July 1 Sugar Loaf is now full concierge! It mirrors the food and beverage offerings in the main building EXACTLY. Look at the SL food link in my 2nd post. Janet2K took a bunch of pictures of the food they have now on her recent trip.

 

[Huey Dewey&LouiesMom]

Is Sugarloaf now a "Full" Conceige now? It use to NOT have the evening cordials. If so what are the hours for the services at Sugarloaf now?
Thanks, You guys are the BEST!
Wendi

Was the Sugarloaf always a conceige building? I think I remember staying in that building as a kid but I don't remember it being conceige (this was in like 1990 or 1991).

 

[TammiMcMan]

Was the Sugarloaf always a conceige building? I think I remember staying in that building as a kid but I don't remember it being conceige (this was in like 1990 or 1991).

You have a good memory. Sugar Loaf has been concierge for only the past 5 or 6 years.

Tammi

 

[kelscross]

Check into the pirates cruise for your 4 yo. I don't know if there will be availability but call right away. My girls 4/5 did it this July and absolutely loved it!! You drop them off and they give you a pager in case they need to reach you. The kids (about 20 I would say) get on a boat with a pirate flag (wearing life jackets) they get mickey mouse pirate ears and they drive the boat around the lagoon singing pirate songs and they dock (kids didn't know where but they said they saw horses so I'm assuming Fort Wilderness) and get out and look for treasure. They have a bag lunch for them. I believe they were gone 2 hours or so. They were supervised by the children's program at the GF. The cost was 26 bucks and some change...really reasonable in my opinion for what all they got to do.

I would recommend it to anyone. Heck...I might call for our trip in December if they want to go again!

 

[Jen D]

Don't know how much renting a bouncy seat costs... but you might want to weigh it against the cost of just buying one off Amazon and shipping it to the resort and leaving it. The Fisher Price ones are what, about $35?