I hope it is ok that I am cross posting this from the GF thread.
I thought I’d add my very subjective thoughts on our recent stay at the GF RPC in case it helps anyone who hasn’t stayed there in some time. The TL; DR on this one is that I was worried that it would not come close to the way it was “back in the day,” but I was worried for nothing, because it was every bit as wonderful as I’d remembered.
We had stayed 3 times between 2010-2015 and it was always hands down my absolute favorite. For a few years after that we were mostly taking non-Disney vacays for a variety of reasons, then it seemed like RPC prices were getting a bit out of reach. And since covid, I have read so many negative things about all the cuts that have been made, and it was just really not sounding all that magical to me for the $$. But, I just couldn’t stop craving a stay there and so finally on a pretty decent Disney Visa discount, we got to check it out from June 23-28. And I am SO GLAD that we did!
The new lounge decor is gorgeous and I love the seating options. The majority of CL CM’s were wonderful; special shout outs to Beth and Irv. Breakfast was fantastic. Dh and I don’t really do carbs so for us, having the bacon and eggs every morning was a dream and much better for us than the breakfasts they had years ago. Mid-day offerings were pretty underwhelming and I definitely miss the Tea. Evening offerings were fabulous and while I believe I have read on here that they don’t offer as much variety as they used to, to my (admittedly rusty) recollection they seemed just as plentiful as always and very tasty. I’ll be forever sad about the loss of the orchestra, but I must admit I still really felt the same old wonderful vibe in the lounge even though we only have the pianist now.
Overall, for anyone who may be hesitating that things are very “watered down” compared to the offerings and service from years ago, I want to reassure you that our personal overall experience felt as relaxing and indulgent as ever. Yes, on paper, I realize there have been cuts, and of course I wish there hadn’t been. But for us, we experienced it just like we always had. It “felt” the same. It was an amazing vacation and we loved it so much that we snagged a BB for RPC Feb. This time it will be just myself and dh for the first time ever and we are already super excited. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!