Grand Floridian shouldn’t allow non hotel guests

[Genie+]

We don't own at GFV. We are 2042'ers down at the old BWV.

Years ago we ventured out of our shelter for a trip to see how the higher-class folks live at the Grand Floridian. We knew that we didn't belong.

We sheepishly entered the GF lobby, and everyone that we passed by offered a smile or a kind comment. We knew that they weren't sincere though...and that all of those GF people could see through us and that we were a fraud!

So we skedaddled out of there faster than a Blue jay swallows a June bug!

We made it back to our Crescent Lake hideaway and swore that we common folk would never go back to the Grand Floridian palace.

But after reading 40 pages of comments in this here thread, we are now going back to the highfalutin Grand Floridian on purpose: to sit in their lobby with their clean chairs and to let them see us country folk. We may even talk to the fancy piano player and ask him to play a lowlander tune for us.

We know that we don't belong with you high-class cultured folk at the GF, but we are coming out of spite!

I can’t contain the battle within!

BWV/VGF owner

 

[Sandisw]

I just pulled into GF parking lot and not 1 parking spot available. I parked in the service vehicle parking spot… we’ll see if I get towed. You should be OK because you don’t drive… correct?

I’m not sure your point here They do not let people park there unless they are guests..or dining reservations. Even then, I have heard they direct those eating across the street

They don’t even let Uber drop you off there most times.

Maybe there are no spots because there are more GF guests who drove this year?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's my understanding that boats to Fort Wilderness were restricted to guests only due to people wanting to look at the decorations there. They scanned magic bands at the dock.

We're talking about the monorail line which has the traffic of the ttc, epcot, mk and the other resorts on the monorail line. Some people thought "oh it'll be simple just add some more CMs and a separate line", "it'll just be a bit more on the DVC dues" and more. It's not considering how it is built and the number of guests who go through it as well as their purpose.

Fort Wilderness is in no way the same situation at all (not being rude here just isn't the same). Although Fort Wilderness has also taken lengths to prohibit golf carts without insurance and more and it has its own problems to deal with including past guest behaviors of throwaway rooms (which isn't something to go into). But it's one resort compared to a resort on the monorail line that is right next to (and I mean next to) the main theme park of Disney getting millions of guests per year.

 

[eandt]

I just pulled into GF parking lot and not 1 parking spot available. I parked in the service vehicle parking spot… we’ll see if I get towed. You should be OK because you don’t drive… correct?

Are you intimating that this is the fault of the gingerbread cult? Also I believe there to be some taradiddle afoot here …

 

[eandt]

Wonder how many DVC owners/ Resort guests would have to complain to get some sort of peak season restrictions put in. Probably wouldn't make a difference but they showed with the Poly that they are open to some restrictions for the benefit of resort guests.

One option would be for all the washed folks to buy up all the gingerbread each morning so there is nothing left for the unwashed to loiter and gaze upon …

 

[eandt]

Ah, you’re heading back to the Grand Floridian? Good luck finding a chair! The lobby’s full of non-resort guests who’ve claimed every inch of space like it’s a game of Monopoly and they’re out to win. They’ll be sprawled across chairs and couches, while you’re over there trying to figure out if it’s even legal to sit on the floor.

And about that piano player—you’re going to ask him to play a lowland tune, and he’ll probably look at you like you just asked him to play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" on a harp.

But hey, when you finally snag a chair, just remember: you’re not a guest, you’re a spectator in a live-action Disney movie where everyone’s pretending to belong. Enjoy the show, and make sure you sit up straight—those chairs are so fancy, they might just report you to management if you slouch.

Word on the street is that Disney will be holding a ‘hands on the gingerbread house’ contest starting on Christmas Eve … last pleb standing takes the whole thing home via monorail

 

[eandt]

It's my understanding that boats to Fort Wilderness were restricted to guests only due to people wanting to look at the decorations there. They scanned magic bands at the dock.

Have taken the boat to WL numerous times to gawk around the lobby and grounds and never had to show MB ..

 

[eandt]

Easy! No Lily Pulitzer colors, no Hokas, or have a skinny crossbody bag instead of thick D&B to carry around that wheelbarrow of moolah.

Yinz should feel fortunate some of us don’t just move into the Gingerbread house lock stock and barrel …

 

[proudmomof4]

Have taken the boat to WL numerous times to gawk around the lobby and grounds and never had to show MB ..

But you went to WL not FW. FW goes into "lockdown" several times a year due to the crowds that want to see the FW guests' decorations.

 

[eandt]

But you went to WL not FW. FW goes into "lockdown" several times a year due to the crowds that want to see the FW guests' decorations.

Oh yes correct

 

[Sandisw]

But you went to WL not FW. FW goes into "lockdown" several times a year due to the crowds that want to see the FW guests' decorations.

I have been told that part of this is also due to campsites and woods and it being a security concern with random people walking in and out of people’s “spaces” which is like their resort room

 

[proudmomof4]

I have been told that part of this is also due to campsites and woods and it being a security concern with random people walking in and out of people’s “spaces” which is like their resort room

This is also true.

 

[FastPasser.]

I keep asking how does anyone know that these folks don’t ‘belong’? Their look, their smell, their demeanor?

Good question. Having been a GF Front Desk CM as well as a Concierge CM, I checked in dozens of Guests every day and I learned early on not to judge a prospective GF Guest by any of those traits.

 

[Genie+]

But you went to WL not FW. FW goes into "lockdown" several times a year due to the crowds that want to see the FW guests' decorations.

Excellent point. From https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/planning-visiting-wdw-halloween-wondering-cabins-564259/

“The Cabins and Campsites are known for their elaborate holiday decorations, and Halloween is no exception. You can typically expect to find various holiday themed inflatables and even homages to iconic Disney attractions throughout the Campground. Because the decorations are provided by Guests, they vary each holiday season and are not guaranteed by Walt Disney World Resort, but with multiple contests and parades of golf carts and pets available to Guests of the Resort, the tradition continues to be popular year after year. I did a bit of research and discovered that due to the increasing popularity of the decorations and celebrations in recent years, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground has restricted access to resort Guests and those with advance dining reservations on Halloween and the dates surrounding it. While I have never personally experienced it, my planDisney pal Alison raves about Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, the dinner show offered at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. A Halloween reservation here would provide an excellent (and fun-filled) way to ensure your family is able to enjoy the decorations.”

Also see 2023:

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground will be closed to day guests from October 26 to November 2, 2023

Only guests with Resort or Dining reservations will be admitted to Fort Wilderness during that time.

Registered guests who will be staying at the resort will be unable to add "Day Guests" to their reservation.

And this has been going on for at least the last decade-
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...ilderness-campgrounds-friends-staying-306984/

The lobby isn’t my concern really; it’s the idea of booking GF for what appears to be convenient access to MK/EP and then actually it being way under average (even for that time of year) because it only has 2 modes of transpo which get overwhelmed peak GBH season. We like to 2 smaller blocks of park time a day and enjoy the resort in between. With hoppers and staying monorail we’d be doing a roundtrip to either EP or MK everyday, sometimes both. The more often you need to rely on that resort monorail and resort boat, especially for evenings, the more of a blister it will be.

But how come the Ft W thinks they’re so special and not letting the plebs gawk around?

 

[Swaggerwagon]

As a DVC owner of GFV and CFW I’m now very confused about which of my homes is most Deluxe. Is it the one that is wide open to the public with the overcrowded lobby or is it the Gated community with the equestrian facility and nightly character meet and greets. Hmmmm

 

[eandt]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/resort-entry.3958395/

Oh look out now ‘they’ are beginning to organize!

 

[Smugpugmug]

Easy! No Lily Pulitzer colors, no Hokas, or have a skinny crossbody bag instead of thick D&B to carry around that wheelbarrow of moolah.

Me having to leave the GF lobby due to being a non guest peasant despite wearing my pair of Hoka Arahi 5 shoes.

 

[Sandisw]

Excellent point. From https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/planning-visiting-wdw-halloween-wondering-cabins-564259/

“The Cabins and Campsites are known for their elaborate holiday decorations, and Halloween is no exception. You can typically expect to find various holiday themed inflatables and even homages to iconic Disney attractions throughout the Campground. Because the decorations are provided by Guests, they vary each holiday season and are not guaranteed by Walt Disney World Resort, but with multiple contests and parades of golf carts and pets available to Guests of the Resort, the tradition continues to be popular year after year. I did a bit of research and discovered that due to the increasing popularity of the decorations and celebrations in recent years, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground has restricted access to resort Guests and those with advance dining reservations on Halloween and the dates surrounding it. While I have never personally experienced it, my planDisney pal Alison raves about Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, the dinner show offered at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. A Halloween reservation here would provide an excellent (and fun-filled) way to ensure your family is able to enjoy the decorations.”

Also see 2023:

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground will be closed to day guests from October 26 to November 2, 2023

Only guests with Resort or Dining reservations will be admitted to Fort Wilderness during that time.

Registered guests who will be staying at the resort will be unable to add "Day Guests" to their reservation.

And this has been going on for at least the last decade-
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...ilderness-campgrounds-friends-staying-306984/

The lobby isn’t my concern really; it’s the idea of booking GF for what appears to be convenient access to MK/EP and then actually it being way under average (even for that time of year) because it only has 2 modes of transpo which get overwhelmed peak GBH season. We like to 2 smaller blocks of park time a day and enjoy the resort in between. With hoppers and staying monorail we’d be doing a roundtrip to either EP or MK everyday, sometimes both. The more often you need to rely on that resort monorail and resort boat, especially for evenings, the more of a blister it will be.

But how come the Ft W thinks they’re so special and not letting the plebs gawk around?

Technically, it’s 3 modes since you can walk…but not practical for all.

See my post above about what I have been told as to why they limit the guests there are certain times.

 

[Genie+]

Technically, it’s 3 modes since you can walk…but not practical for all.

See my post above about what I have been told as to why they limit the guests there are certain times.

Just MK at almost a mile each way. No walking to EP for well over a year with Poly path closed, but yeah at 1.5 miles each way not very practical.

All I really know is we tried resort monorail twice last year, once from Poly and once from GF. Both were horrendous and I felt we lucked out with only one night VGF and the rest Poly since at least Poly has so many more options and nowhere near as painful. This year the one time the GF resort boat was used it was the week before Thanksgiving and overall attendance super low, and it still was third boat. They were only running the bigger boats too. Can’t imagine December crowds ramping up and interest increasing. It’s all good though -DVC members booking VGF December might care to repeat less often so more people get a chance without all the walking and stalking. Always a positive somewhere.

 

[proudmomof4]

But how come the Ft W thinks they’re so special and not letting the plebs gawk around?

As Sandisw mentioned, it became a safety concern. There were numerous thefts reported, people were going on to guests' campsites and stealing items like bikes, coolers, golf carts, etc. There were also instances of guests' decorations being vandalized. But worst of all, there have been numerous accidents, because everyone gets so distracted looking at the decorations, they don't look where they are going and people (including children) have been injured so badly that they were taken to the hospital via ambulance.

The holiday decorations at FW are put up by the guests. Trick or treating on and around Halloween, is also a FW guest sponsored event. There are guests who come back year after year and put up elaborate displays for the other guests to enjoy. There is one guy who comes several times a year and sets up about 100 storm troopers and dresses them up for whatever holiday it is at the time.

Not my photo, but here are some of the stormtroopers.


The traffic in the loops can get really bad from all the people who just drive around looking at all the decorations.

There are tons of videos on YouTube for Fort Wilderness decorations. The guests really do amazing set ups.