Resort Thread Disney's GRAND FLORIDIAN Resort & Spa - **LOBBY REFURB HAS BEGUN 4/14**

[trishadono]

Heading the GF next Monday and super excited!!!

It’s s pretty this time of year and looking like a warm week!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This was last year at Poly, but we entered a room for a few minutes but then when back to the lobby to ask for a change. They did need to know if I had been in the room since they said it would need to be re-inspected (or so they said). It didn’t seem like too big a deal, just the coordination needed with a housekeeping supervisor, etc. Probably not their favorite thing to add to what is already a tight timeline getting rooms ready for occupancy each day, but not the end of the world.

 

[stranger706]

Just had a wonderful 3 night stay at the GF. Switched from WL because of the bigger rooms and 5th sleeper/daybed. We did not want to cram into 2 queen beds with 3 growing boys.

Arrived around 330 and as the car was being unloaded we got the room ready text. 5th floor, hmm, that may be a dormer room. I stopped by the front desk and asked if any full balconies were available so our 2 little ones could enjoy the view. No problem, we got switched to 3rd floor in Boca Chica. Had a perfect view of the courtyard and main building.

We loved the atmosphere of this resort. Our house is also victorian styled so we felt right at home. The entire resort was quiet and relaxed. The main building had more traffic with the restaurants and holiday displays, but nothing bad at all and it was always easy to walk around and enjoy everything. The pools were never crowded and there was never a wait to get food at the quick service restaurant.

We've now stayed at all of the MK resorts. They are all really nice and we enjoyed staying at every one of them.

WL used to be our favorite but with no 5th sleeper/daybed in the rooms its not really an option for us anymore with 3 boys. CR is always fun to visit but it always feels like we're at the mall. Very busy and industrial. We stayed at the Poly pre covid and while the resort and rooms were really nice, the pools were insanely packed every day and we did not have a great experience with the dining options at the resort.

So now having stayed at the GF I feel its the perfect combination of a true vacation resort. Its quiet and relaxing, with wonderful transportation options, every kind of dining experience you could ask for, and customer service that is the best we've ever seen. Wife fell in love with the soap shop. I love being on the monorail, and relaxing in the courtyard or on the balcony. I'm pretty sure we'll be back again in the summer.

 

[stranger706]

Room Views from Boca Chica 8308

 

[mrsap]

Room Views from Boca Chica 8308

View attachment 632870View attachment 632871

Thank you for sharing your pictures! I’ll post this on Page 1. Happy you had a great trip!

 

[mrsap]

 

[followthatmouse]

Merry Christmas, to my dear GFers! We have not long finished our Christmas dinner and are now resting ... this resting will go on for some time to come!

Anyway, here are scenes from our tree this year. Hmm, there seems to be a familiar theme or two!.

 

[vincep]

I see these resorts like the Poly, GF, AK, and WL and wonder how the Riviera could ever compare to them. Disney luxury on their current budget drive that has been going on for years. Sean on Disunplugged said it looked like a jail. And he was right!
Stranger706's pictures are wonderful.
The lobby at Riviera looks like a joke in comparison.
And the view from the resort is Caribbean Beach! Can you imagine?
I still want to see the Asian, the Venetian and the Persian built as actually designed and not as the cheapskate bean counter would have them built.

 

[Minnie368]

Can anyone who is there or has been recently report on current room service availability? Particularly interested in breakfast hours/options and what level of service- ie just delivering the food or actually entering the room and setting up? Thanks in advance!

 

[sdk1231]

And.... I'm back to the GF for NYE, arriving Wednesday! Family is really looking forward to it. I'd originally booked a VGF 1B, but gave it up for the Contemporary with my CM daughter's discount. Have switched back as her discount suddenly became available for the GF garden view room. Whoot! I'd have been fine giving the Contemporary at try, but I'm very happy to be back at the Grand, especially over a busy New Years weekend.

 

[stranger706]

Can anyone who is there or has been recently report on current room service availability? Particularly interested in breakfast hours/options and what level of service- ie just delivering the food or actually entering the room and setting up? Thanks in advance!

Don't know if they will enter the room or not but last week saw lots of food carts going to rooms and parked outside of rooms. All meals are being served.

 

[mrsap]

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Can anyone who is there or has been recently report on current room service availability? Particularly interested in breakfast hours/options and what level of service- ie just delivering the food or actually entering the room and setting up? Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure about the entering the room part, but FYI, you can see the hours in the app:

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Enjoyed a couple of great meals at Citricos this past week. I used to give most of my monorail fine dining love to California Grill, but Citricos has really won me over since reopening. The kids really love the menu there too.

Sat in the bar/lounge area both times with no wait - that and the walk-up wait list option are really helpful for last minute planners like me.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Walked by the early setup for the NYE "Glow Party" the other night. Looked like it would be fun!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Have they been doing the nighttime movies here for awhile? I could have sworn we've watched on the little grass area between the Courtyard Pool and Narcoossee's, but maybe I'm mis-remembering?

 

[mrsap]

Have they been doing the nighttime movies here for awhile? I could have sworn we've watched on the little grass area between the Courtyard Pool and Narcoossee's, but maybe I'm mis-remembering?

View attachment 635293

You are definitely correct, that is where it used to be, but I noticed in November they moved it to the Summerhouse building patio. (picture from our room one evening.)

 

[blabadie]

I have a question about transportation to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Which transportation method will allow us to arrive at the earliest time? Is there any arrival time advantage being on the monorail over non-monorail resorts like WL? (Early arrival for rope drop is important to us.)

The reason I ask is....we have an upcoming AKL/GF split-stay (with 8 nights in a regular GF room that sleeps 5). We love GF, but we've always been interested in WL too, and I've begun wondering if we would be better off staying in a 2-bedroom Boulder Ridge Villa at WL for the additional space. We are a family of 5 with 3 daughters ages 7, 9, & 11.

Thank you!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have a question about transportation to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Which transportation method will allow us to arrive at the earliest time? Is there any arrival time advantage being on the monorail over non-monorail resorts like WL? (Early arrival for rope drop is important to us.)

Both GF and WL have great transportation to MK. You have the advantage of walking to MK from GF, plus a boat or monorail option. The return trip from MK to GF using the monorail is not very fast, though. WL has a very nice and dependable boat plus a very quick bus ride.

It is the trip to Epcot that is much better from WL than from GF. There is a bus to Epcot that only takes about 14 minutes. The only way to get to Epcot from GF is to take two different monorails. It is a tedious trip in my opinion with really long lines for the night time return to GF. The trip to Epcot from GF is the main disadvantage to staying at this resort, imo.

 

[stranger706]

Staying at the monorail resorts, one thing I was always impressed with is the monorail schedule. Every morning at 7 am sharp the first train would pull up to the resort, no matter what. The buses are always hit or miss with the start times. Same with the boats. But the monorails were ran like a clock.