Grand Floridian pros and cons please

[momto2]

We just got a great deal on the GF. Has anyone every stayed in a garden view room? How is the pool and self-serve food? Do they have the refillable mugs? Lastly, what did you like or dislike if you have stayed there. TIA

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by momto2
We just got a great deal on the GF. Has anyone every stayed in a garden view room? How is the pool and self-serve food? Do they have the refillable mugs? Lastly, what did you like or dislike if you have stayed there. TIA

The new pool is great fun. Very nice. Zero entry with a waterfall and I think it had a slide. Then there's the quite pool which nice enough.

Self serve was fine. Nothing too special; it was small compared to some places and it had some video games. It served it purpse.

Yes, they have refillable mugs. You can buy it at the food court or in your room through the mini-bar but I think it's a $1 more that way??

There was NOTHING I didn't like about it. It is such a beautiful resort. There's boats to rent, nice restaurants and even 2 character meals. There's the Wonderland Tea party. There's the new pool. There's the monorail. There's the wonderful views.

The monorail first stop is MK but it's the last stop when returning home.

It's just a luxurious and beautiful yet not stuffy resort. If I could stay there forever, I would!

I'd stay there in a heartbeat for a great rate!!!!!

We had a garden view booked but were upgraded to a lagoon view!

The rooms are wonderfully decorated with each building having a different theme. My favorite resort room so far! I love the Mickey shaped lamp and character wallpaper in the bathroom! I love the balcony. We even had a fridge for some reason which came in handy!

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[momto2]

Wow! Thanks for a lot of great info. Of course, I must ask - how did you upgrade to the lagoon view? Was there an additional charge? We are going in October - when was your visit?

 

[beattyfamily]

Ours was back in Dec 2001 and it was a surprise.

 

[momto2]

Now that was definitely Disney Magic****

 

[jel0511]

The new pool is really nice, very similiar to the Poly's Volcano pool. Zero entry and a nice slide. This pool usually closes around 8PM, so if your family enjoys late night swimming, you'll be at the quiet pool. The quick food place is Gasparella's. They do offer refillable mugs there, and it's good for a quick bite. Someone recently said here on the boards, that this isn't a food court, but a snack bar. So, use the snack bar interperetation, and you'll get an idea about the limited availability.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

We stayed there in 2000 and our favorite thing about staying there was the ferry to the MK. What a great way to start the day. There was never a wait there or back either. The restaurants are excellent Narcoosees and Citrocos especially. We did not have the garden view, we stayed at Sago Cay and had the lagoon view. An excellent choice but honestly anywhere at GF is excellent. If you like Mango, they have an excellent Mango Bash smoothie at Gasparilla that is out of this world! I am going to get one every day when we are there in October. I am not kidding either.

Have a great trip!

Wishing everyone a "magical" day!

 

[jahexom]

What is your great deal if it is something you can share. Don't mean to be nosy, but I'd love to find a great deal so we could stay there.

Jen

 

[eek40]

I couldnt find anything wrong with GF...its my favorite resort by far! The lotion they give you in the room is the best hand lotion ever, and when I went I asked for extra, it was that good. Food in my opinion was fine, never had a complaint.

On a side note could someone tell me what a zero entry pool is? I have seen this several times but have no clue what it means.
Aimee

 

[Rebecca12345]

http://www.hotel-online.com/Neo/News/PR2001_4th/Dec01_DisneyPools.html

Here is an article that explains the zero entry pools

 

[hookedup]

We stayed there last summer with our 3 yr old ds (well he was 2.5 then) We loved it. We had a garden view room and enjoyed ourselves a lot. ds loved the monorail & we swam each night at the quiet pool.
We are staying there again this summer too. I tried to book something else (CR or Polynesian) but when it came time to paying for the trip I switched it to GF - I just kept thinking how I would be looking over at it wishing we were there again - it is so magical!

 

[momto2]

We booked through the fairytale package. Our price was less than what we paid 3 years ago at the CR. When we checked the price without the FTP it was over $1,600 more! HTH

 

[eek40]

Thanks for the info on the zero entry pools
Aimee

 

[JonHM]

First, let me start off by saying this: The resort is *beautiful* - the main building, the grounds, the architecture, the pools - all wonderful. The views of the Magic Kingdom, the convenience of the monorail, terrific. The restaurants are great, the theming is great, it's really a wonderful place.

When my DW and I stayed there a few years ago, we were going sight unseen. We had never been to GF, just heard how wonderful it was. It was back when the economy was good, so there were no readily available discounts at the time. We paid 'rack rate' for a lagoon view room, which was a *heck* of a lot of money per night.

And I have to say, that while the resort itself was absolutely fantastic, we did have one major disappointment: the room itself. For such an expensive room, I guess I expected something more than a normal hotel room.

Now don't get me wrong, it was a very nice hotel room. Along the lines of a hilton or hyatt, I suppose. But we had just expected more. The rooms were no larger than any normal hotel room, the bathroom was nothing special, there was nothing approximating a mini-kitchen of any sort.

After that trip, we discovered the 'home away from home' resorts. A one bedroom 'villa' at the Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge or Old Key West just *blows away* the lagoon view room that we had at GF. Features of a one-bedroom:

- TONS of space for a family to spread out.
- separate master bedroom, separate living room with pull out sofa, each with their own TVs. VCR in the living room.
- FULL kitchen, including dishes, pots and pans, stove, microwave, dishwasher. We save a TON of money just by eating breakfast in the rooms, and if you go to a wonderful Disney restaurant that serves large portions, you can actually take a doggy bag 'home' and have another meal out of it later.
- Washer and dryer in the room. Can pack less and do a wash half way through the trip.
- Fantastic jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom

Again, please don't get me wrong. The GF is a *lovely* resort, with lots of wonderful amenities. We just felt very very limited by the room itself, especially now that it is more than just DW and myself.

I just thought that it was important to chime in with the one negative that we did find, wanted you to have as much info as possible.

I'm fully expecting to be flamed now...

 

[Rebecca12345]

JonHM
I don't think your post was neg at all - just informative!
How is the disney transportation from the places you mentioned?
Do you need a car?
thanks!

 

[dg39]

JonHM, don't expect to get flamed. You didn't say anything negative about the GF in your post & even if you did this is your opinion & everyones entitled to one. We're going to the GF RPC in 4 days. I heard MANY MANY negative reports about it, but we're going for it anyway. We always stay at the CR & I hear many bad things about that place, but we love it to death. We're trying the GF for the first time & while I don't expect anything diff. concerning the rooms, comparing them to other resorts, there all more or less the same. Although the CR's rooms are the largest on property. I always knew that the regular resorts don't have mini-kitchens, just a regular room, bed, bathroom & sitting areas. What I'm alittle concerned about is how awful I hear the concierge staff & offerings are. But, we're going with no expectations, because like I stated, we were never there before so I wouldn't know what to expect from them anyway. If concierge doesn't stand up to specific standards, I'll know better for next time. I do know that the concierge at the CR is wonderful being there so many times. We just booked the BC concierge for October, I heard alot of good things about them, but who knows. We'll see when the time comes.

 

[crisi]

It really is a beautiful resort. But there are a few negatives.

Its themeing is Grand Hotel. Which is nice and romantic. But its not as exotic or heavily themed as the Poly, AKL or WL.

Its a little sedated for kids. I wouldn't really feel comfortable having my banshees running through the hallways - like I might at one of the less sedated hotels. There are more people here without children than possibly any other Disney resort - lots of honeymooners, adults getting away from their own kids. Not that it isn't kid friendly or you shouldn't take your kids here. Just that a person sensitive to their kids behavior who may not have kids as perfect as they like, may not be completely comfortable.

It has lovely restaurants, but no more than a big snack bar for fast food. If you are used to the Values or Moderates, this will be a real change.

This could be a pro or a con, but the clientele here is a little more upscale than what you find at most of the other Disney resorts. Lots of women with diamond tennis bracelets and men with expensive golf clubs and kids in matching Tommy. I have friends who eat this sort of atmosphere up, and friends who are a little too "biker" to appreciate it.

Finally, it is expensive. Only you know whether the price difference (even with the great deal) is worth it.

 

[JonHM]

The only one of them that I would *really* recommend a car is at Old Key West. From there you need to take busses to get to anywhere (except Downtown Disney). From Boardwalk and Beach Club, the back entrance of Epcot is a five minute walk, and there is a boat to MGM. They have busses for everything else, OR you can walk through Epcot, go out the front and get on the monorail...
From Wilderness Lodge, you can catch a boat to the Magic Kingdom or the Contemporary to pick up the Monorail - neither the waits or the boat trip itself are very long. They have busses out front for everything else.

 

[Rebecca12345]

JonHM thanks for that info. !
It's always good to know abt that
from someone who has actually stayed
at the certain hotel & how they handled
the transportation system.
They also sound like a good place
to stay with larger group/family!!

 

[spacemountain]

we're goin 2 the grand floridian 4 the 1st time 2- i'm sure it'll b fun

ps.... i know u momto2- u should know me 2