Grand Floridian Advice Please

[ANNFMUR]

We are hoping to stay at the Grand Floridian in 06. I am looking for advice on the best options there. We have 3 girls 8-5-2. I know it is expensive but I have wanted to stay there ever since I visited in 96. Thanks

 

[grimley1968]

I have never stayed there myself, but here is some general advice on getting the best possible rates at any WDW resort.

1) Try to go during value season, which is of course the same as off season. Rack rates for value season are a TON less than rack rates during regular or peak seasons.

2) If you're going enough days, consider getting an annual pass (AP) instead of the usual MYW tickets. I'm not sure how many park days you'd have to go to break even or come out ahead with AP's vs. MYW tickets. But once you have an AP you can get pretty significant discounts off the rack rates, even in value season, so in some cases it may be worth it to get AP's for park days you might not ever use, just to get the room discount.

3) Use a travel agent, instead of going directly through Disney's website or phone operation to book your trip. For instance, I used Magical Journeys, and once the free dining package discount came out, they automatically applied this discount to my existing reservation with no work on my part. They would similarly apply whatever other discounts came out. However, discounts like this usually cannot be combined with AP rates. It's usually one or the other. Also, they would have applied my AAA discount to my ressie, but of course AAA discounts can't be combined with the free dining package. But anyway, an agent like Magical Journeys can go out and find whatever discount, or combo of discounts saves you the most money.

4) Read up on DIS! There are tons of threads in here where people number-crunch the benefits of this discount or that one, or AP's, or just about any other way of saving here and there.

Good luck and welcome to the DIS!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Definitely go in value season. Book a garden view room and ask for a marina view (they are the same price). It's almost like having a lagoon view. There are lots of things for kids to do at the GF - my kids always loved it there.