Grand Floridian Club Level cutbacks

[magical4us4]

I am reading that there are many cutbacks on lounge food and wine selections. Has anyone experienced this? Prices are getting higher to stay at the Grand Floridian RPC and SL...what are they thinking?!

 

[Nancyg56]

I have stayed SL CL twice, and I can honestly say that I never noticed any stinginess. My family always found plenty of choices in the morning for breakfast, with plentiful fresh fruit, some sort of protein ( I confess I avoided that for the pastries) pastry, cereals both hot and cold, and two types of yogurt.

I never stopped in for a snack until Tea in the afternoon, which was lovely.

Appetizers and beverages were generous at the cocktail hour as were the desserts and cordials in the evening. There was a little wine bar set up and a CM was pouring, but I thought that was nice. I think with the number of folks in and out the CM monitoring the alcohol made sense, especially when you consider liability.

The lounge is large,but it seems a little tight at the height of breakfast and cocktail hours. I say Kidos to the CM's charged with clearing off tables, those folks are wicked busy!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

They are thinking $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

[TJA]

We were just at RPC over Easter week and didn't notice a single cutback regarding the food. I'm not a huge wine drinker, but I had a glass or 2 here and there....it was fine but not outstanding. I did opt for champagne a few nights with the appetizers, and that was pretty fun. Something we loved was all the wonderful snacks in the afternoon...there was never a lull without food it seemed. We are not used to that at the other CL's we normally stay at (BC and Poly) where once breakfast ends, there isn't really much until evening appetizers. But at RPC, there was a steady flow of scones, banana bread, plus all the normal "snack" things, veggie plate, and always in a corner they had a bowl of grapes, goldfish, cupcakes (assumed this was sort of a kiddie section). I posted a bunch of pictures last month when we got back.

Disclaimer: let me say, though, that this was our first RPC stay. So I'm only comparing it to the other CL's we normally stay at. In that regard, RPC was outstanding. However, all of you RPC veterans are the ones who notice a difference in food offerings, I believe, and that's very unfortunate. Here's to hoping it can get back to where it was because it really adds to the experience of staying at GF.

Also in my review when we returned, I mentioned the cutbacks I noticed were in the amount of CM's working. The bartender often left his/her post to tend to the food, which was fine with us cause we just took whatever drink we wanted. Also, we noticed many dirty dishes/glasses spread throughout the whole area, really. On the way to our room, we always saw dirty dishes on the tables located near the games. I think they were lacking in help in that area. It's nothing that bothered us, but it was somewhat glaring.

 

[johnsonet]

I haven't stayed at RPC in probably 8 years but what I'm reading all over the boards is that cutbacks are definitely being noticed by guests who've been staying CL at Disney for many years.
If you haven't experienced the "good old days" you probably won't notice (unless you've read a lot of older reports).
I used to stay CL all the time but don't anymore. I might if I found a good deal, (LOL) but in general I book standard or water views at the Deluxes.

 

[mickeynut1]

I haven't stayed at RPC in probably 8 years but what I'm reading all over the boards is that cutbacks are definitely being noticed by guests who've been staying CL at Disney for many years.
If you haven't experienced the "good old days" you probably won't notice (unless you've read a lot of older reports).

I agree. It's been a couple of years since I've stayed RPC and while I found the offerings to be great/plentiful, I have been reading quite a few reports of how things have been declining. With that said, it doesn't seem to be just RPC, but all across the board at all CLs .

 

[Babsy]

I agree. It's been a couple of years since I've stayed RPC and while I found the offerings to be great/plentiful, I have been reading quite a few reports of how things have been declining. With that said, it doesn't seem to be just RPC, but all across the board at all CLs .

YES!
The biggest change that we have noticed has been at the YC CL. The food that you used to get there was amazing! Lobster, real chunks of claw and tail meat, was served at least twice a week. Other seafood like shrimp and scallops were also on the menu. It was truly impressive and that was just a few years ago. Nowadays you get these 'mystery meat' fried things that, quite frankly, I find very unpalatable. So the food there has gone from high quality and delicious to unappealing, skewers of meat and fried spring rolls and the like. Bottled water to take with you and/or to the room now has to be requested, at best. On our last CL visit to the Poly, we were simply told that bottled water was not available.

So, yes, the decline is definitely across the board at all CLs. And yet, the price has really increased. We do CL more for the location of the rooms than for the 'perks' these days. The food is nothing to get excited about. We take advantage of the breakfast and only check out the other offerings if it happens to fit into our schedule.

It is a minor thing, but I do miss the bottled water. We just buy a case for ~ $6.00 to keep in the room - it isn't the money but the small inconvenience. It is the sort of thing that I thought we paid for at the CL. *sigh*

 

[magical4us4]

Thank you for all the responses! I love to sit and have a glass of champagne in the lounge, and hope that it is still available! I read on the boards that they took the Mumms away, which is my favorite. Also, the deli meats in the morning is also important, as we loved making croissant sandwiches.

Also wanted to add that this will be over 25 stays at GF CL and our last visit was 2 years ago.

 

[Hisgirl]

We stayed at GF club level last week. It was our second stay there. The time before was spring of 2015. The only other CL I have to compare to is AKL and quite honestly, it was hardly more than a continental breakfast and a few hot appetizers. We enjoyed the table space for card games at night but I wouldn't pay for it another time (at AKL).

But the Grand....our last visit, we gushed over how much we loved the perks! When we ran out of fast passes, no need to stand in line at the kiosk, just text concierge and POOF! a magical anything goes fast pass was loaded into our accounts. The food was fantastic and filling and actually so rich, my healthy eating tummy almost couldn't handle it. We felt we got our money's worth.

This time though. We noticed some changes. We stayed in Sugar Loaf, since the food is the same and we prefer the quiet of the side building. Breakfast was plenty of carby bread items. The pastries were actually a bit unimpressive. The only protein I could find (and I was desperately looking) was a plate of plain hard boiled eggs cut in half. And those were gone quickly and not replaced while I was eating. During the day it was goldfish, gummie bears, pretzels and always some wrapped apples, pears and bananas available. We liked having bottled of water too.

At night the offerings were okay, some little dishes here and there, some herbed cheese and tomatoes, some corn dogs, but again, not near as nice as last year. The desserts were little bites of key lime pie, tiny round cheesecakes, little round chocolate things. Nothing very different from all the other places. It just wasn't 'all that'.

And no need for the concierge to load additional fast passes, now that we can do it. Yes, the ones they gave us were magical and could go onto even sold out rides, but not sure if that was a special one time deal or not.

I think, for the money, we will get a regular room and order nicer food while out and about. (also hubby saw some things undone maintenance wise and yes, the greet at the door check in was gone)

 

[mickeynut1]

So, yes, the decline is definitely across the board at all CLs. And yet, the price has really increased. We do CL more for the location of the rooms than for the 'perks' these days. The food is nothing to get excited about. We take advantage of the breakfast and only check out the other offerings if it happens to fit into our schedule.

I agree, the perks of CL keep declining (as do discounts), but the rates keep increasing .

We also stay CL for the lounge/location of rooms rather than the food offerings. The food is a nice perk, but having the lounge for another place to sit and relax rather than in the room or around the resort is more important to us than the offerings .

 

[jlx2]

We also just returned from the Grand Floridian Sugarloaf Club level. We noticed the cutbacks. Not a big deal to us but we weren't greeted at all upon arrival. No one was at the entrance with the ipads. You could tell they were really understaffed at check in. We waited in a line about 5 people deep. No offer to walk us over to Sugarloaf at all. Also the lobby concierge is gone now. They no longer have cordials in the evening either. The breakfast was all carbs (pastries, bagels, oatmeal)except the hard boiled eggs cut in half which went very quickly and weren't replaced often. Same afternoon snacks and they alternated with 2 adult hot appetizers each night and one kid friendly one. The concierge staff was great however. From what I understand there is a new GM at the Grand that is implementing all these changes. One cast member I spoke with said the new GM is really into Trip Advisor and reads it daily. They said the best way to make our voices heard if we are unhappy with the changes is to post on Trip Advisor. The new GM wants to get the hotel into the top 10 on Trip Advisor and apparently the ranking are increasing. Therefore she thinks her "changes" are a good thing, she saves money on cutting things and the resort rankings keep going up. Personally I really don't think we can justify the cost to stay club level with all the cut backs. We can save the money and put it toward other things while on vacation.

 

[eastendlights]

We have absolutely noticed a decline in many aspects of CL. We have only stayed CL for all of our yearly trips-the first was 16 years ago- and the differences between that one and our last in March of this year are significant. The prices have gone up a ridiculous amount as well-much more money for fewer amenities. I am seriously contemplating whether or not to book CL for our next trip.

 

[magical4us4]

That's too bad about the new GM at the GF. Whoever it is, really is pushing their repeat customers away. I feel terrible for the wonderful people that work in CL when they have to deal with all the complaints of the returning guests. I do know that many of their repeat customers are loyal and love it there...all it takes is a bad manager who "thinks" they know what they are doing to ruin a company.

 

[magical4us4]

Also, wanted to ask...do they still serve oatmeal for breakfast or is that gone as well.

 

[Hisgirl]

Oatmeal is still there. You can add raisins, brown sugar, granola, butter...but I never saw any chopped nuts, which would have been great. One thing I would suggest. If you care about protein at your morning meal, run into the gift shop right by GF cafe and purchase, at the start of your trip, a package of sliced meat and sliced cheese in the frig section of the gift shop (who knew?) I wish we had done this. I could have kept some cold cuts in my little room frig and added them to a croissant in the morning instead of that stupid dried plain boiled egg. BLEECHHT!!!!

 

[magical4us4]

Oatmeal is still there. You can add raisins, brown sugar, granola, butter...but I never saw any chopped nuts, which would have been great. One thing I would suggest. If you care about protein at your morning meal, run into the gift shop right by GF cafe and purchase, at the start of your trip, a package of sliced meat and sliced cheese in the frig section of the gift shop (who knew?) I wish we had done this. I could have kept some cold cuts in my little room frig and added them to a croissant in the morning instead of that stupid dried plain boiled egg. BLEECHHT!!!!

Shocked the oatmeal is still there! Good idea for the cold cuts and cheese....makes me mad that it used to be included!

 

[gottalovepluto]

The cold cut plate in the morning and the evening cordials are gone? From RPC & SL? That's almost as surprising as getting rid of the CMs that escorted to the clubs for check-in. This is getting ridiculous.

 

[TJA]

The cold cut plate in the morning and the evening cordials are gone? From RPC & SL? That's almost as surprising as getting rid of the CMs that escorted to the clubs for check-in. This is getting ridiculous.

This is the first I've heard about evening cordials being gone! Is this across the board at all CL's now? We were just at RPC last month and the cold cut platter was still there and also the evening cordials were still there. So this must be something very recent.

I do hope everyone is submitting their concerns/feedback via email to guest relations. Hoping that if they get enough complaints/suggestions that they will take note!

 

[magical4us4]

Cordials are gone from Sugar Loaf. As of now they are still in RPC. I'm sure it will hit RPC soon, if the GM feels her ideas of saving money are working.

 

[mickeynut1]

This is the first I've heard about evening cordials being gone! Is this across the board at all CL's now? We were just at RPC last month and the cold cut platter was still there and also the evening cordials were still there. So this must be something very recent.

I do hope everyone is submitting their concerns/feedback via email to guest relations. Hoping that if they get enough complaints/suggestions that they will take note!

I haven't seen any reports (prior to this) of the evening cordials being gone, either. Someone did report recently (I think on the CL thread) that there weren't any meats at breakfast one morning, but then they appeared the next day. Taking things away and trying to save money is one thing, but taking away perks/services AND increasing rates is so wrong .