Resort Thread Disney's GRAND FLORIDIAN Resort & Spa + Construction Updates!!

[leannak]

If I may ask of anyone who is currently at GF ... regarding self-serve drinks: is the iced tea still "Gold Peak" dispensed from it's own dispenser or is it in the big "Freestyle" machine?
Odd question I know, but I love the Gold Peak on it's own, not as much from the Freestyle.
Thank you for any info!

At the pool, at least, the iced tea is from a separate machine. There were 3 options: sweetened, unsweetened and green iced tea. I believe it was Gold Peak brand.

 

[castlecat]

At the pool, at least, the iced tea is from a separate machine. There were 3 options: sweetened, unsweetened and green iced tea. I believe it was Gold Peak brand.

Thank you so much, leannak! That's the news I wanted to hear!

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

If I may ask of anyone who is currently at GF ... regarding self-serve drinks: is the iced tea still "Gold Peak" dispensed from it's own dispenser or is it in the big "Freestyle" machine?
Odd question I know, but I love the Gold Peak on it's own, not as much from the Freestyle.
Thank you for any info!

It was still in its own container at Gaspirilla’s. Love this iced tea!

 

[castlecat]

It was still in its own container at Gaspirilla’s. Love this iced tea!

Thank you, OhioWDWDuo! I love that tea so much! I tried buying it in a bottle at home and it wasn't quite the same ... guess it needs a little pixie dust added to it!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Pretty cool that they appeared to have played the resort audio for last night’s test, or someone had a speaker and timed it right. Nice treat for guests who stayed up late.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1408996235332173831

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Pretty cool that they appeared to have played the resort audio for last night’s test, or someone had a speaker and timed it right. Nice treat for guests who stayed up late.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1408996235332173831

OMG, I can't believe I missed this I didn't think last night was one of the test nights? Was it scheduled?

ETA: My family just reminded me that we weren't there last night, we left Saturday morning, so I'm still crying but I knew we were supposed to miss it by a day, lol...

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OMG, I can't believe I missed this I didn't think last night was one of the test nights? Was it scheduled?

I haven’t followed it specifically, but I thought it had been announced to the surrounding residential areas (not 100% sure about that) so the blogs and such picked up on it.

Guess you were sound asleep!

 

[mrsap]

Pretty cool that they appeared to have played the resort audio for last night’s test, or someone had a speaker and timed it right. Nice treat for guests who stayed up late.

OMG, I can't believe I missed this I didn't think last night was one of the test nights? Was it scheduled?

Our friend is staying there (he booked too late and couldn’t get our resort)… I reminded him last night after dinner to look for the fireworks. I wrote him this morning and asked if he saw the fireworks and if so, did they pump the music in at The Grand… and he said ‘I didn’t even hear them!’ (He’s hard of hearing.) So… yeah. No help there. I tried.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

So, just back and nursing my post-Disney blues - especially missing fireworks, lol - so, lots of pictures to post...our first stay at GF and we really loved it! My DH and I tend to be early risers so our last few mornings we had our coffee at the boat launch (before the boats started for the morning).

I can confirm that self-service coffee started back up at Gasparilla's!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I haven’t followed it specifically, but I thought it had been announced to the surrounding residential areas (not 100% sure about that) so the blogs and such picked up on it.

Guess you were sound asleep!

Our friend is staying there (he booked too late and couldn’t get our resort)… I reminded him last night after dinner to look for the fireworks. I wrote him this morning and asked if he saw the fireworks and if so, did they pump the music in at The Grand… and he said ‘I didn’t even hear them!’ (He’s hard of hearing.) So… yeah. No help there. I tried.

Not sure if you saw my edit, but my family reminded me that we traveled yesterday and weren't there last night! I knew before we left that we were missing the testing by a day, but it was too late for us to change anything, so I had already done my fireworks grieving before we left, lol! I just thought for a second that I missed something that was unscheduled! I'm a very light sleeper, it's unlikely that I would have slept through anything! Seeing the video and knowing I was there drinking coffee yesterday morning, I'm still sad that I missed it, however at least I wasn't there and sleeping through it, lol!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Pretty cool that they appeared to have played the resort audio for last night’s test, or someone had a speaker and timed it right. Nice treat for guests who stayed up late.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1408996235332173831

My DD and I are staying at VGF right now. We heard the fireworks at MK and the audio right outside our room late last night! We went out on the balcony to see if we could see the fireworks but of course not. We briefly considered going outside to watch but decided we were too tired and didn’t want to change out of our pajamas, lol. We’re usually morning people but the time change threw us off (we arrived yesterday) and we couldn’t fall asleep so we were awake late enough to hear the fireworks. We’ll be here on the 1st and can’t wait for the official return of fireworks when we don’t have to stay up until almost-midnight to see them!

 

[mrsap]

My DD and I are staying at VGF right now. We heard the fireworks at MK and the audio right outside our room late last night! We went out on the balcony to see if we could see the fireworks but of course not. We briefly considered going outside to watch but decided we were too tired and didn’t want to change out of our pajamas, lol. We’re usually morning people but the time change threw us off (we arrived yesterday) and we couldn’t fall asleep so we were awake late enough to hear the fireworks. We’ll be here on the 1st and can’t wait for the official return of fireworks when we don’t have to stay up until almost-midnight to see them!

It’s such an exciting time to be here!!! I’ll definitely be wearing waterproof mascara that night!!!!!!!

I’m standing on a 70 minute MMRR line right now. Yay.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

So, just thinking about probably the only piece of "advice" I have from our stay last week that might be handy over the next few week until longer hours resume (our week, HS was 9am - 8pm all week)...

If you're trying to rope drop HS and taking the bus, make sure you get there early...we roped dropped HS twice - on Tuesday and Thursday - both days the first bus scheduled for HS from the resort was 8:09 am, which seemed a little late to me for an 9am opening but we did confirm with CMs it was the first and not sure of what's considered "normal."

The bus scene in the morning was not consistent in terms of staffing. On Tuesday, there were two CMs managing the buses. They asked where you were going and queued you up in lines on the walk way behind the bus stop. There were only a few people seated in the bus stop area. On other days, there wasn't a CM or there was one but he was splitting time between the bus stop and stuff going on at the convention center.

Anyway, the first day we arrived at 7:30 and had a bit of a wait but were second in line. Thursday, since we knew it wouldn't leave until a little later, we got there a bit later but still fairly early, probably by 7:50ish. We were second in line again behind another family, however there were two large family groups in the depot area that didn't queue up. When we first arrived, there was only one or two from each family, but as time went on, as one might expect both groups swelled up in numbers.

In any case, on both days, people in the HS queue did not make the first HS bus. Normally, this wouldn't be a huge deal, but I feel like right now with the truncated hours and all the big attractions, HS is tough to maneuver. Both days we were there, rides opened at 8:30 for an 9am opening, and being there before 8:30 to queue for a ride made a difference in the rest of the day. On Tuesday, we did TOT and RNRC before 9am and on Thursday, we did RNRC before we went to our 9am Olga's reservation.

In contrast, when we took the first bus to AK on Wednesday, there seemed to be a lot of people in line, however everyone seemed to make the bus. Hopefully as hours expand, things will be easier, but HS seems tough right now!

 

[Berta]

Just returned from the most MAGICAL stay at the GF. We had 4 nights, bookended by a night each at POP and CSR. This was our first stay at the GF, or any deluxe for that matter, so we were thrilled to just have the experience, but let me tell you, it was more than we could have ever imagined! We spent the entirety of check in day at EPCOT, so we didn't actually get into our room until around 10 PM - this was the plan all along. We booked an outer building lagoon view at a decent rate. My travel agent called in a room request for Boca Chica, upper level, 100% prepared to "get what we get and not get upset," because a request is not a guarantee.

When I got the room ready text around 9, I saw that we were indeed in Boca Chica and on the 4th floor! I was already excited, and then when we arrived and walked in. HOLY MOLY. All of the youtube videos and pictures online could not have prepared me. First, I wasn't aware that any lagoon view rooms had king beds, so I didn't even bother requesting one (even though, having one at home, it's really hard to squeeze me and DH into anything smaller with "breathing room"). KING BED! I marveled at the beauty of the room for about 10 seconds before heading straight to the balcony. Being on the 4th floor, it's one of the smaller balconies, but it was more than enough for DH, DD, and I to enjoy every morning sunrise and relax in the evening, too. And THE VIEW. I have no idea how this is considered a lagoon view (according to touring plans), or if I just got pixie dusted. I died. We also had a cabana on Saturday that was absolutely worth the price. The walking path to the MK was nice on our first morning, but we utilized boats/monorail for other MK days. These feet just couldn't handle any more steps. As of Tuesday, the walking path to the Poly is still closed, and I guess boats no longer do a loop around the resorts, but just go directly from each resort to the MK? One day, we decided to order QS lunch from the Poly and sent DH to go retrieve it - we knew the walking path was closed, but found out the hard way that the boats no longer loop. The monorail was also experiencing some sort of issue at that precise time, so service from TTC to GF was down. The poor guy wound up boating to MK, boating to Poly, picking up food, boating back to MK, and taking the MK walking path back to GF. When I was on my morning walk "scoping things out," on Tuesday morning, I was told by a CM that we could just walk around the back of the walking path construction, though, so that's an option if you're all about the Poly/GF walk. All in all, a PHENOMENAL trip. I'm not sure if I can ever go back to staying at a moderate resort.

ETA: I can't quite seem to figure out the picture thing, but would be happy to add if I can

 

[Berta]

We just booked GF for the first time, and I'm getting so excited just be reading your report! Did the room have a coffee maker, and, if so, do you recall the type? Was a frig in the room as well?
TIA!
Berta

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Pretty cool that they appeared to have played the resort audio for last night’s test, or someone had a speaker and timed it right. Nice treat for guests who stayed up late.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1408996235332173831

This Tuesday evening there is another “dress rehearsal” of the Fireworks

Not sure of the time.. it is an event for Cast Members. I’m sure that the usual bloggers/websites will have someone live on either Facebook or YouTube, they never miss an opportunity!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

This Tuesday evening there is another “dress rehearsal” of the Fireworks

Not sure of the time.. it is an event for Cast Members. I’m sure that the usual bloggers/websites will have someone live on either Facebook or YouTube, they never miss an opportunity!

Thanks for the heads up! That’s my daughter’s birthday. She would love to see the fireworks! I’m going to try to find out what time we might be able to see them.

 

[kylenne]

We just booked GF for the first time, and I'm getting so excited just be reading your report! Did the room have a coffee maker, and, if so, do you recall the type? Was a frig in the room as well?
TIA!
Berta

They have Keurigs and mini fridges. Mousekeeping will restock coffee supplies when they come for the trash (I’m not a coffee drinker myself but tried the tea one day and instantly regretted it). But if you need more you can always call and they’ll bring what you need.

Enjoy your stay, it really is a magical resort.

 

[lorimay]

Just back from our weekend.
We had a garden view outer building room booked, I didn't make any requests regarding room. Our last stay we had the most amazing view, we were upgraded from Coronado to GF and had an unbelievable view.

This time...... underwhelming unfortunately.
We were in Big Pine Key room 9240. Its an end of the hallway room and our view was a stairwell straight ahead and another one to the right. The left view appeared to be the towel pick up station at the pool. It didn't ruin our trip by any means. The patio was full of quite a few gnats so we didn't go out at all. Honestly, this should not be called a "garden view", it should be listed as standard view.
The room was the same as last time and was fine. Yes, these rooms are ready for some updates, but we are there for the atmosphere and location of the resort.
We had a great half day at the Beach Pool.
We enjoyed Enchanted Rose so much, we sat outside on the patio overlooking The splash pad, the Lagoon and The Polynesian.

But I have to tell you about our treat Saturday night. I saw on Instagram that there was going to be a rehearsal of Happily Ever After this evening after MK closed at 9pm. We went over to Gaspirillas around 9:30 got a perfect table in front of the restaurant with a clear view of the castle, we got a couple snacks and enjoyed our mini cake from Amorette's.
Well at 11:30 us along with maybe 50-60 people got the treat of a lifetime. They even piped the music into the area ( I was surprised they did this because it was so late, but glad they did!)
I will never forget the moment they started the cheers were so loud.
Next to our table was 3 Cast Members, 1 security guard and 2 Gaspirilla's employees. The first firecracker that went off, the security guard threw his arms up and cheered and became so emotional as did the other 2 CM's, well I lost it I cried right along with them.
I didn't realize that about 10 cast members were behind us and when Tinkerbelle flew down the castle they all went nuts.
I'm am telling you I will never forget that feeling for the rest of my life, its beyond words. The feeling that our lives are going back to normal again and the worst is behind us.

I am so happy we were lucky enough to be there sharing that with the others.

 

[WishesQueen]

Just back from our weekend.
We had a garden view outer building room booked, I didn't make any requests regarding room. Our last stay we had the most amazing view, we were upgraded from Coronado to GF and had an unbelievable view.

This time...... underwhelming unfortunately.
We were in Big Pine Key room 9240. Its an end of the hallway room and our view was a stairwell straight ahead and another one to the right. The left view appeared to be the towel pick up station at the pool. It didn't ruin our trip by any means. The patio was full of quite a few gnats so we didn't go out at all. Honestly, this should not be called a "garden view", it should be listed as standard view.
The room was the same as last time and was fine. Yes, these rooms are ready for some updates, but we are there for the atmosphere and location of the resort.
We had a great half day at the Beach Pool.
We enjoyed Enchanted Rose so much, we sat outside on the patio overlooking The splash pad, the Lagoon and The Polynesian.

But I have to tell you about our treat Saturday night. I saw on Instagram that there was going to be a rehearsal of Happily Ever After this evening after MK closed at 9pm. We went over to Gaspirillas around 9:30 got a perfect table in front of the restaurant with a clear view of the castle, we got a couple snacks and enjoyed our mini cake from Amorette's.
Well at 11:30 us along with maybe 50-60 people got the treat of a lifetime. They even piped the music into the area ( I was surprised they did this because it was so late, but glad they did!)
I will never forget the moment they started the cheers were so loud.
Next to our table was 3 Cast Members, 1 security guard and 2 Gaspirilla's employees. The first firecracker that went off, the security guard threw his arms up and cheered and became so emotional as did the other 2 CM's, well I lost it I cried right along with them.
I didn't realize that about 10 cast members were behind us and when Tinkerbelle flew down the castle they all went nuts.
I'm am telling you I will never forget that feeling for the rest of my life, its beyond words. The feeling that our lives are going back to normal again and the worst is behind us.

I am so happy we were lucky enough to be there sharing that with the others.

Crying just reading your trip report!!!!! Thank you so much, I just missed the mask free Disney World and the Fireworks but people reporting back is just so special. I think I need to put another trip on hold