back from GF RPC with trip update!

[lrab1126]

WOW what a vaca ! We had such an amazing time. The GF gets an A++++ from us. We may never stay anywhere else again. The service and the people there were phenomenal, the concierge was fantastic, the ammenities and accomodations were just wonderful. I did a few hours at the spa which were also wonderful, I had a facial and a mani/pedi. We did rent a cabana on our down day and it was well worth it. loved, loved both the pools. The grounds there are so beautiful and the place is immaculate. I just cannot rave about it enough. We really took advantage of the lounge for breakfast and afternoon snacking the most but also enjoyed some evenings for the appetizers and also some of the later evening snacking. Private Dining we did on our last night when we got back very late after PPP and it was quick and very good food. Our room was 4402 which looked right out to the castle, so we watched Wishes from our balcony most nights while we enjoyed a drink and the kids were comfy in their jammies. Also saw the electric water parade which I love to see....I love that it has been such a long running attraction at WDW I remember seeing it as a kid when we stayed often at the cabins at FW.

The weather was gorgeous, not a drop of rain...most days we had a very nice refreshing breeze. A couple of nights it was actually cool, which was nice after a hot day at the parks.

The parks were very manageable, the longest we waited for a ride was 10min. PPP was awesome as always, i really really hope they continue to offer it. The fireworks show at PPP just blows me away and the parade is also awesome. My fav parade though is still Spectro, it is so fun to watch and main street prior to the parade was so fun for the kids. The CM's who are out with the hoola hoops and balls interact with the kids a lot. My girls loved playing out there with them.

Every single CM we encountered were so so pleasant. I have stayed at many places at WDW and I will say that by far the CM's at the GF have been the most personable that I have encountered. They are genuinely nice and go out of their way to socialize with you. They all seem to really enjoy working there. I talked to many CM's about their jobs there, many have been there a very long time and love what they do....this really shows.

I will say that what we saw a lot of at the parks were people who basically let their kids run wild and cause havoc. It amazed me that so many people instill no discipline in their kids, some kids had some pretty foul mouths to with their bad behavior too. Some of the things we saw and heard were shocking, we looked at it as cheap entertainment though. We did encounter a fair amount of downright rude people, which I have little tolerance for. It seems many people think that when they are WDW that they are the only people there and everyone else should basically to them.

We went to BBB in DTD, not the happiest of CM's there...pretty crabby actually. Now I know its crazy there, so can see why they may get a bit on the cranky side....but it really bummed me out how non-magical it was and they seemed to have little interest in making the girls feel special. oh well, lessoned learned.

We ate at chef mickey's, 1900 park fare (dinner and bkfst), le cellier, CRT, Crystal P, Play and Dine at H&V, GF Cafe. All were very good except for le cellier...which was a dissapointment b/c we loved it there before. The menu had changed and the food was horrible. The steaks were like reheated pieces of rubber We also did several counter services which were all very good for quick meals.

Feel free to ask any questions !! I am happy to answer anything.

We plan to head back again next may

 

[vbarry]

I am so glad you had such a great time. I just upgraded to RPC today for our Xmas trip and I cannot wait. It makes me feel much better about the price when I hear all the wonderful reviews.

I have not been hearing good things about BBB so I am scratching it off my list for this trip and I am just going to take the girls to the spa instead.

Glad you had a nice trip!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Lisa - thanks for the great review! I am sitting here planning and replanning my own July GF RPC stay & really looking forward to it. We've had 4402 before! Great room.

I agree with everything you said. I love the GF CMs....they have been nothing short of wonderful every time we've stayed there. I've found them the best WDW has.

We don't even bother with BBB anymore. It has gone down hill since it first opened. They used to take more time with the girls and do a nicer job and they DID make the girls feel special. It's become a princess factory and I see a big difference in attitudes and quality.

Oh ya...we've sure seen our share of rude and nasty people of all ages at WDW. The crowd has really changed from what it used to be 20 yrs ago.

Glad you all enjoyed the GF and RPC like we always have. It is the BEST!!! There were so many GF vs Poly threads and GF bashers while you were gone. I just have to watch from afar and laugh. They don't know what they're missing.

Happy planning on your next RPC stay.

Lives4Disney

 

[lrab1126]

definitley do not know what they are missing. we stopped by to check out poly, because we actually were considering giving it a try...but were not at all impressed. in fact during the week we had met 3 different couples who had talked about how they had done poly before and were GF converts basically...what I found interesting was how each had mentioned how poly needed a rehab, and I really noticed that a lot when we were checking it out. I do want to stay at CR someday, just not when there is construction going on. It was SO noisy there last week when we stopped in, I would be very unhappy to be staying there and hear all that chaos and a lot of their beautiful grounds in the front are all blocked off right now, nowhere to roam outside. GF is for us

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

That sounds like a fantastic vacation. I think that hotel is next on our list. I am happy to hear it was a good experience. Thanks for the review!

 

[mmmears]

Thanks for the great review. We love to GF, too, and are considering staying RPC for our next trip! Nice to hear good things. Glad you had a great vacation!

 

[Sammie]

Thanks for sharing a first hand, recent account. I hope all that have upcoming trips will read your report, so they can read firsthand from someone that has been recently what a magical place it truly is.

Sure anyone can have a bad trip and many times that is not the fault of the resort staff, but just bad luck and circumstances, but the Grand Floridian is not the evil step sister some on this forum try very hard to make it out to be.

Vbarry enjoy your Christmas trip there is no resort more beautiful at Christmas, nothing like going to bed every night with the smell of Gingerbread everywhere.

Gingerbread House

Christmas Tree

 

[lovemy2boys]

I LOVED reading your reviews! I want to hear more!

Did you like the Play & Dine @ Hollywood & Vine? We have that scheduled for breakfast one day and I can't decide if we want to keep it or have breakfast in the CL and spend more time at the park. What did you think? (btw, we have two boys almost 3 and 18 mo)

 

[SleepingUgly]

Thanks for the review. We are heading to RPC in late August and cannot wait! Hopefully, we'll have as fantastic of an experience as your family had.

Linda

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Lisa, thank you for the wonderful review of your vacation. We are staying at the GF for the first time in August, and I can hardly wait now!!

 

[sillyguys]

Glad to hear that you had a great trip. We're going to the GF in a couple of weeks with our and we can't wait. Just out of curiosity, what facial did you have at the spa? I'm thinking of surprising my wife with a spa trip and she mentioned that she wanted a facial. How was it and would you recommend it? Did you have to make an appointment well in advance? We're also doing a cabana one day as well. It sounds like you enjoyed that as well which is good to hear since this is the first time that we're trying a cabana. Our DD's are 5 and 2 and I'm wondering does the cabana have snacks and drinks for the kids?

 

[Alicnwondrln]

YEAH!! I am so glad you had a good time.

 

[polyforme]

Is rpc in the main building? I know there are two club levels but do you know if they offer the same things? We are staying at the Poly in August but would love to plan our next trip at the GF club level.
Thanks
Kathy

 

[heatherlynn444]

welcome back! SO glad you loved it!!!!

I hear you on le cellier. we used to love it, but on our hoenymoon were not impressed. way overhyped.

I knew you woldnt want to stay anywhere else after having experienced the GF!

 

[daly7o9]

I was just at the GF over Mother's day weekend (well, actually Saturday night only). I have to say that I never thought I'd stay there. Hubby thinks its too "snooty", and it is a bit above our budget. But I thought I'd splurge and take my 89 year old mom for a birthday/mother's day overnight stay (without DH). My DD20 came with us and we had a great time.

I also made reservations at Narcoosee's for 9:30, since wishes was to be shown that night at 10:00. When I made both reservations I mentioned that it was my mom's 89th (hoping for that magical upgrade). I mentioned it again upon check in. The CM that checked us in did some extra checking and typing and, lo and behold, we were upgraded to a lagoon view from a standard view .

What I didn't realize was that she was forwarding info to Narcoosee's. When we got there that night to check in at the podium they said that they were running about 20 minutes behind schedule. No prob. I thought, I'm at Disney! When they finally led us to our table it was a great seat - right in front of the window facing the castle. Definitely worth the wait. It was a bit darkish in the restaurant so when our server initially came by with our menus he said "Here are some special menus for you" and I didn't get the drift thet they were SPECIAL menus. It took my DDs younger eyes to spot the fact that printed on the top of the menu was the heading Happy 89th Birthday L**** . Here I was, trying to surprise my mom and the CMs at the GF surprised ME!

Just after we ordered our food the lights went down and the wishes music started. The show was great as always. My mom was in awe. She said that it was one of the best birthdays she'd ever had.

Yes, the GF is expensive but, if you can ever scrape together enough to stay there (even for one night), DO IT. I'm forunate enough to live close enough to WDW to go a few times a year and this was by far the best night yet. The CMs were so nice and seemed genuinely interested in making our stay a great (make that GRAND) one.

Like a disney reservation CM told me once when I balked at the price of the GF....."That's why they call it Grand".

 

[nevercook]

It's so exciting hearing these great reviews re: first time stays at GF. We will be staying there for our first time in June. We've been to WDW 30+ times and stayed at many of the resorts since our honeymoon in June 1976, but we have never stayed at the GF (I actually still have a receipt from the Poly for $56.00/night.

The anticipation of an upcoming trip is almost as good as the trip itself for me. Thanks for adding to that.

 

[lrab1126]

Glad to hear that you had a great trip. We're going to the GF in a couple of weeks with our and we can't wait. Just out of curiosity, what facial did you have at the spa? I'm thinking of surprising my wife with a spa trip and she mentioned that she wanted a facial. How was it and would you recommend it? Did you have to make an appointment well in advance? We're also doing a cabana one day as well. It sounds like you enjoyed that as well which is good to hear since this is the first time that we're trying a cabana. Our DD's are 5 and 2 and I'm wondering does the cabana have snacks and drinks for the kids?

I had the purifying facial, which came recommended by the estetician as being a great choice for "mom's" who usually need a little extra attention to their skin I LOVED it!! Yes you need to make an appt, but they are very flexible in getting GF guests appts, so you can either book ahead now if you know what day you want to send her or wait til you get there and decide.

The cabana fridge had juice boxes, soda and water and they also had a very nice fruit basket there. The "cabana boy" was very attentive in seeing if we needed any food or drinks as well. you will love it all and the pool for the kids is awesome !!1

 

[vbarry]

Lisa- Did you feel you could keep a good eye on the kiddos while in the cabana. I noticed the cabana looks like it is near the deep end of the pool and across from the zero entry area. I was thinking about renting one but was afraid the girls would want to be over in the zero entry are the entire time and I would have a hard time relaxing.

 

[lrab1126]

I LOVED reading your reviews! I want to hear more!

Did you like the Play & Dine @ Hollywood & Vine? We have that scheduled for breakfast one day and I can't decide if we want to keep it or have breakfast in the CL and spend more time at the park. What did you think? (btw, we have two boys almost 3 and 18 mo)

Do the play and dine, great character interaction and lots of singing and dancing...it was one of my fav diniing experiences last week. We did lunch which was soooo yummy, breakfast I am sure will be just as good...hard to eally screw up breakfast food hahaha. Chef mickey's is my other fav character dining, followed by crystal palace and then 1900 park fare. have a blast !

 

[lrab1126]

Lisa- Did you feel you could keep a good eye on the kiddos while in the cabana. I noticed the cabana looks like it is near the deep end of the pool and across from the zero entry area. I was thinking about renting one but was afraid the girls would want to be over in the zero entry are the entire time and I would have a hard time relaxing.

We had no problems, what you would think is the deep end at that end is actually only 3 1/2 feet deep, the deepest part of the pool is actually in the center of the pool. the zero entry area was nice but it was very congested. We actually preferred sitting on the steps at the other end near the cabana. Also the lifeguards are top notch, they did not miss a thing and had zero tolerence for any rough housing or running etc.