HAVING A GRAND OLD TIME! The 2013 Grand Floridian Resort & Villas FAQ

[k&a&c'smom]

Does anyone know how pricing a room upgrade works once you are checking in?

A little background: We have two lagoon rooms booked and we have them linked with a note that we would like the rooms to be near each other/same floor. What we would really liked booked is one TPV room and one lagoon or garden room, but we are worried that the rooms won't be anywhere near each other.

Should we ask if there is availability when we get there... or is our request too hard to accommodate?

Also, how does upgrade pricing work. We booked the rooms with a 30% discount, so upgrading to a rack rate TPV room would be about 1800.... or do rooms work like tickets and there is price bridging involved and then it would only be around 500 (Lagoon rack --> TPV rack)

We don't mind paying for the upgrade, we just want to make sure DD7 can easily get from our room to my parents room.

Hello! In my experience, upgrading prior to your visit is the best way to go, as you can look for and book the best discount. They do NOT price bridge like with the tix - you may be able to get your discount at check in, but often not, as there are limited rooms offered at the discounted rate and they could be fully booked. And, the CM at check in has to go to the back room manager to ask about the discount. I have had them tell me no, but I then called CRO and asked and was given the discount. Kind of a hassle to do at check in, if you get me.

There is a possibility of getting a lagoon view/TPV connecting rooms combo. It will be very difficult if not impossible to get a garden view/TPV combo, as those rooms are across the hallway from each other. I'm not saying one or two sets do not exist, like on a corner or something, but you would be narrowing your options by a lot!

Having the reservations linked is the best thing, and putting a request for connecting rooms will help. When you check in, ask the CM if you DID get connecting rooms, and if not, try to find you two good rooms together.

Good luck, if you have any follow up questions, don't hesitate to ask.

That aerial shot is great! It's helping me to choose what to request. We booked an outer building garden view. I'll have my older parents with me, so I know we want to be somewhat close to gasparilla and the cafe and the main building. Right now, I'm thinking of requesting the end of Pine close to the main building or Sago Cay near the main building.

I love the aerial maps of the World, so helpful and fun! I have a link to the Bing maps on the first page, the one I linked above was modified by Robo (he does a lot of great maps) and posted on the FAQ by our friend WDWKOOK.

 

[MommyGina]

Grace&Caroline'smom - I tried to book RPC for July, 2014, and couldn't do it either. Called Disney directly and my TA and it was and is still unavailable for the entire month of July.

Not to be left out in the cold, already put deposit on July, 15 to July 23, 2014, for SL. Maybe I'll see you there. I'll be the mother clinging to her son for my last few days with him before he heads away to college for the first time!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Grace&Caroline'smom - I tried to book RPC for July, 2014, and couldn't do it either. Called Disney directly and my TA and it was and is still unavailable for the entire month of July.

Not to be left out in the cold, already put deposit on July, 15 to July 23, 2014, for SL. Maybe I'll see you there. I'll be the mother clinging to her son for my last few days with him before he heads away to college for the first time!

I was playing around with the dates and originally trying to book a Sat-Sat stay but it was not coming up available. I was able to do a Sun-Sun which may turn out better anyway. We are planning a 13 day trip with 7 nts GF and then 6 nts at PBH. That will work great so we can come home on a Sat and have an extra day to do laundry and run errands before work and reality slaps us in the face on Monday. Coming home on a Friday would probably be a higher airfare anyhoo.

I am thinking of pulling the trigger and putting down a deposit within the next 2 weeks. I do not want to be shut out just in case Poly construction gets broadcast to the public(outside the online forums) and they switch over to GF in masses, a convention/conference takes up any or all of the existing GV inventory, OR a room refurb takes a large chunk of rooms out of inventory. Not to sound paranoid or anything.....I just like to cover my bases

 

[TX Momof2]

I love this new thread! I've never thought about staying at the GF b/c I figured it was WAY out of the price range...however, we're taking my MIL with us in Jan and it might be the wonderful solution! Was thinking of Poly, but with the construction just not sure now. Also, my DD would LOVE it! And, it's her bday trip after all!

Thanks for the new info!

 

[bethclayton]

we are finally settling into our routine of being back home but i am still so dreamy-eyed about my stay there. what an amazing and truly magical vacation. this will surely be the best birthday i have ever had and i am still in awe of how incredible everything was.

i hope maybe someone can tell me if this link works. i uploaded a bunch of pics to flickr. i have never used them before but uploading to photo bucket was getting tedious. it is my understanding that hopefully you can just click this link and it will take you to my pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100911698@N05/

i also have some video that i took of the resort that i was thinking maybe i could upload to you tube and link that to here, as well? i have never used youtube but if people would be interested i will certainly try.

 

[MommyGina]

BethClayton - pictures are amazing!! Thank you for sharing your magical trip with us. I was living vicariously through you!

I'll look for the video on YouTube.

 

[BlueSkies]

bethclayton Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing them! I would love to see the video too...

k&a&c'smom I sure hope that you are right and the blocks of rooms that are not currently available will open up closer to the dates we are looking for... checked once again today...nothing has changed... maybe I'll wait a few days before I check...again!!?? LOL.... I do remember that happening last year and maybe even the year before as well...??

phyliss1966 Thanks for sharing our pics and your wonderful story... I hope that your dream does come true.. What magical memories!

 

[grannyminnie]

we are finally settling into our routine of being back home but i am still so dreamy-eyed about my stay there. what an amazing and truly magical vacation. this will surely be the best birthday i have ever had and i am still in awe of how incredible everything was.

i hope maybe someone can tell me if this link works. i uploaded a bunch of pics to flickr. i have never used them before but uploading to photo bucket was getting tedious. it is my understanding that hopefully you can just click this link and it will take you to my pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100911698@N05/

i also have some video that i took of the resort that i was thinking maybe i could upload to you tube and link that to here, as well? i have never used youtube but if people would be interested i will certainly try.

Bethclayton, welcome home! You surely had a fabulous trip, given that wonderful birthday pixie dust you received!!

Your pictures were lovely~ Gives those of not lucky enough to have stayed there a taste of luxury!
Your biggest problem next trip might be staying in a standard room!

 

[grannyminnie]

Are these only in Sago and Conch Key? Someone earlier posted pictures of what maybe were called TPV rooms in Boca Chica, but these were sideways views. It seems quite unfair to pay for a TPV and it not be dead-on.

 

[TX Momof2]

bethclayton..Happy Belated Birthday! Thank you for sharing all the fabulous pics!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

I was playing around with the dates and originally trying to book a Sat-Sat stay but it was not coming up available. I was able to do a Sun-Sun which may turn out better anyway. We are planning a 13 day trip with 7 nts GF and then 6 nts at PBH. That will work great so we can come home on a Sat and have an extra day to do laundry and run errands before work and reality slaps us in the face on Monday. Coming home on a Friday would probably be a higher airfare anyhoo.

I am thinking of pulling the trigger and putting down a deposit within the next 2 weeks. I do not want to be shut out just in case Poly construction gets broadcast to the public(outside the online forums) and they switch over to GF in masses, a convention/conference takes up any or all of the existing GV inventory, OR a room refurb takes a large chunk of rooms out of inventory. Not to sound paranoid or anything.....I just like to cover my bases

LOL - paranoid, I don't think so! The way things have gone the last couple years, you are smart to get something now. Enjoy your planning.

Have you been in the PBH rooms since the renovation? Very pretty, though DD liked the colors of the old rooms. I like the powder blues in the suites, but the regular and deluxe rooms are quite nice, too. Very soothing palette.

I love this new thread! I've never thought about staying at the GF b/c I figured it was WAY out of the price range...however, we're taking my MIL with us in Jan and it might be the wonderful solution! Was thinking of Poly, but with the construction just not sure now. Also, my DD would LOVE it! And, it's her bday trip after all!

Thanks for the new info!

Thanks! Everyone here is great, aren't they?!

A birthday certainly sounds like a good excuse to me.

Grace&Caroline'smom - I tried to book RPC for July, 2014, and couldn't do it either. Called Disney directly and my TA and it was and is still unavailable for the entire month of July.

Not to be left out in the cold, already put deposit on July, 15 to July 23, 2014, for SL. Maybe I'll see you there. I'll be the mother clinging to her son for my last few days with him before he heads away to college for the first time!

Aww. It is hard, isn't it? Enjoy this last year of HS.

Good idea, booking SL now. Hopefully, more rooms/dates will open up in a few weeks.

we are finally settling into our routine of being back home but i am still so dreamy-eyed about my stay there. what an amazing and truly magical vacation. this will surely be the best birthday i have ever had and i am still in awe of how incredible everything was.

i hope maybe someone can tell me if this link works. i uploaded a bunch of pics to flickr. i have never used them before but uploading to photo bucket was getting tedious. it is my understanding that hopefully you can just click this link and it will take you to my pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100911698@N05/

i also have some video that i took of the resort that i was thinking maybe i could upload to you tube and link that to here, as well? i have never used youtube but if people would be interested i will certainly try.

What a magical vacation. Love the photos, do you mind if I put the link on the first page, with the rest of the suite photos? You take a beautiful photo, what type camera are you using?

Looking forward to the video, if you choose to do so...no pressure.

....

k&a&c'smom I sure hope that you are right and the blocks of rooms that are not currently available will open up closer to the dates we are looking for... checked once again today...nothing has changed... maybe I'll wait a few days before I check...again!!?? LOL.... I do remember that happening last year and maybe even the year before as well...??

....

Thanks, I thought I remembered that - but could have been crazy. I'm hoping the rooms open up in a few weeks, at least.

Are these only in Sago and Conch Key? Someone earlier posted pictures of what maybe were called TPV rooms in Boca Chica, but these were sideways views. It seems quite unfair to pay for a TPV and it not be dead-on.

There are TPV rooms in Sago, Conch, Boca and Big Pine Key. Yes, the Boca and BPK TPV is an angled view. Some of them are beautiful, a nice, panoramic view of the lagoon, MK, CR, Poly. I think a good many of the water side rooms in Boca and BPK are lagoon view.

 

[bethclayton]

thank you so much for the compliments on the pics and the welcome back wishes and bday wishes!

i am working on the videos now, they are uploading.

k&a&c'smom, i will go look at my camera and let you know! i know it is a canon but the model is escaping me. it's a few years old.

 

[bethclayton]

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdIXGUseYz9rzCXx2we6KaA/videos

if someone could please let me know whether this link works, i would appreciate it greatly! it should take you to "my" page with about 6 or 7 videos, all of the GF. the videos were all taken with my iphone, so they are nothing amazing, but it sure is nice to see and hear the sights and sounds there.

k&a&c'smom, by all means, link whatever you'd like of mine, wherever you'd like. also, my camera... it's a canon rebel xs. it's a dslr but an older model and nothing fancy.

 

[Hisgirl]

Beth, those photos are so stunning! One thing though, I don't see many people at all. Were these taken early in the a.m.? Or was it just not crowded?

This really helps me to get excited about our trip in october! Can't wait to see the videos!

 

[bethclayton]

Beth, those photos are so stunning! One thing though, I don't see many people at all. Were these taken early in the a.m.? Or was it just not crowded?

This really helps me to get excited about our trip in october! Can't wait to see the videos!

Thank you! I know that none of the photos were early in the AM because in the GF portion of our stay we were very lazy and slept late every day , since we had done all of our must-do's and then some at the parks by that time. the resort was never crowded. crowd levels at the MK for those days were about 5's.

and ps, the videos are up now, hopefully, i posted them around the same time you posted.

 

[Candy Orlando]

Beth, thank you for sharing your photos and videos. They are beautiful. I'll be at my new home VGF in a one bedroom for a week in Dec and a week in Jan. My family and I love to relax and listen to the classical music. The piano players at the Grand are superb.

 

[jillmc40]

I can't wait to log on to the real computer and look at all of the pictures!! I will need an escape after this weekend. My office is moving :/. Thank you bethclayton for a virtual vacation

 

[ahcupcake]

we are finally settling into our routine of being back home but i am still so dreamy-eyed about my stay there. what an amazing and truly magical vacation. this will surely be the best birthday i have ever had and i am still in awe of how incredible everything was.

i hope maybe someone can tell me if this link works. i uploaded a bunch of pics to flickr. i have never used them before but uploading to photo bucket was getting tedious. it is my understanding that hopefully you can just click this link and it will take you to my pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100911698@N05/

i also have some video that i took of the resort that i was thinking maybe i could upload to you tube and link that to here, as well? i have never used youtube but if people would be interested i will certainly try.

Hi looooooooooooonnnnnnngggggggggg time lurker. Lovin the new thread

Beth great pics.Congrats on the upgrade & Happy belated Birthday..I too was lucky enough to be pixie dusted with an upgrade to the Grand Suite in early December of 2010.


Hi Blue Skies & Mickeynut

 

[JoBird]

BethClayton!! It's all your fault!! Now I'm wide awake and can't sleep bc you got me all excited over your pictures and video and here I am, leaving in 33-ish hours!!! Tomorrow, when I should be packing and instead I'm yawning walking around looking like a zombie, like I'll blame ya' again. J/K. Thanks so much for sharing them with us! So glad you had an awesome Birthday!!

 

[BlueSkies]

Hi looooooooooooonnnnnnngggggggggg time lurker. Lovin the new thread

Beth great pics.Congrats on the upgrade & Happy belated Birthday..I too was lucky enough to be pixie dusted with an upgrade to the Grand Suite in early December of 2010.


Hi Blue Skies & Mickeynut

Hi there ahcupcake and grannyminnie

ahcupcake I do remember that trip.. I was glad that we were there at the same time..and that we got to visit with you there! What a magnificent suite!

jillmc40 Good luck with the move! Nothing like looking at pics of the GF to brighten the day! Well except for being there...

MickeyNut Hope you are doing ok...

CandyOrlando I agree the pianists at the GF are wonderful...Our fave is Christin Frederick...We purchased his CD I think in Sandy Cove during one visit..and just love listening to it...

bethclayton Thanks for posting the videos too! Pics and videos are truly the next best thing to being at WDW!

ETA..JoBird 33 hours!!! WooHoo!!! Safe travels!