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

[k&a&c'smom]

I'm worried about getting stuck behind the pool house! We have two rooms reserved and I put in my request for BPK, middle floor (my mom doesn't like to be up too high, but doesn't want ground floor). Should I add 'unobstructed view if possible' to my requests? We also are requesting that our rooms be nearby- is that too many requests? We love to sit on the balcony and relax, so I really don't want a bad view!

As grannyminnie said, don't sweat it too much. The back of the pool house isn't a great view, it's true - but it's not a parking lot! Still, I would do as you suggested and request "upper floor, unobstructed view" to your requests. It's not necessarily too many, as you are simply defining what you want, to my mind.

I'll post a photo of the view over the pool house, so you can get an idea of what it looks like from the higher rooms. This is 4th floor, we were in a 3rd floor room once and it still looked into the back of the pool house - I'll see if I have a photo of the outside of the building, to give an idea.

Getting connecting rooms shouldn't be too hard - we have asked NOT to have a connecting door many times and ended up with one anyway, so they have plenty of them. I know you said "near" but just sayin'.

OK - so, here is a 4th floor room, right over the pool house. As you can see, the rooms below this would look directly into the back of it.

BRB with a couple more photos!

This is the front of the pool house, with BPK in the background. See how it blocks some of those rooms right up to the 3rd floor?

Close up, same view

 

[BlueSkies]

Morning fellow GF fans!

k&a&c'smom I think that you are just going to have to slow down a bit..being too busy to pop in more often is just not a good idea!

grannyminnie Have a good visit with your Dad.. Safe travels..

MickeyNut and WishesQueen Hi!!

bama belle I would list the most important request first..maybe upper floor...If your reservations are connected I think the room assigner will generally try and put you together..if you have a particular request..like connecting as opposed to adjoining rooms you might want to add that...as for room numbers..and some one more familiar with BPK like MickeyNut or WishesQueen might want to jump in here...

Usually as you enter each building..the rooms to left start with a 14..for example in BPK the first room to the left on the first floor should be 9114 (9114 and 9112 are right in the lobby area)...the first room right inside the hallway would be 9110...these are GV rooms... Just saw k&a&c's pics and see that these room numbers would put you probably right behind the pool house... So I think that asking for a higher number room might be the way to go..like 22 or 24..or 26...(20 is the room with the bump out..the lodge tower..or deluxe tower..lol..room) Hope that that isnt confusing...lol.. I am sure that you will have a terrific room! Because there really are so many...

So did everyone remember to turn their clocks ahead... Looking foward to the longer days of sunlight

 

[BlueSkies]

Hey there k&a&c'smom Looks like we might be back in sync after all!

Thanks for sharing more of your wonderful pics..You really are a wealth of information!!

 

[mickeynut1]

OK - so, here is a 4th floor room, right over the pool house. As you can see, the rooms below this would look directly into the back of it.

This is the front of the pool house, with BPK in the background.

As always, love the pics .

MickeyNut and WishesQueen Hi!!

bama belle I would list the most important request first..maybe upper floor...If your reservations are connected I think the room assigner will generally try and put you together..if you have a particular request..like connecting as opposed to adjoining rooms you might want to add that...as for room numbers..and some one more familiar with BPK like MickeyNut or WishesQueen might want to jump in here...

Looking foward to the longer days of sunlight

Hi Blue

I can't help with room numbers, but I do agree about room requests to put them in order of preference, with the most important one first. The CMs will do everything possible to grant them and if, by chance, your first room doesn't meet what you want, you can always ask for a different room and if something is available, they will be more than happy to put you there .

I wasn't happy about losing an hour of sleep last night, but I am thrilled that the days are longer .

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Morning fellow GF fans!

k&a&c'smom I think that you are just going to have to slow down a bit..being too busy to pop in more often is just not a good idea!


bama belle I would list the most important request first..maybe upper floor...If your reservations are connected I think the room assigner will generally try and put you together..if you have a particular request..like connecting as opposed to adjoining rooms you might want to add that...as for room numbers..and some one more familiar with BPK like MickeyNut or WishesQueen might want to jump in here...

Usually as you enter each building..the rooms to left start with a 14..for example in BPK the first room to the left on the first floor should be 9114 (9114 and 9112 are right in the lobby area)...the first room right inside the hallway would be 9110...these are GV rooms... Just saw k&a&c's pics and see that these room numbers would put you probably right behind the pool house... So I think that asking for a higher number room might be the way to go..like 22 or 24..or 26...(20 is the room with the bump out..the lodge tower..or deluxe tower..lol..room) Hope that that isnt confusing...lol.. I am sure that you will have a terrific room! Because there really are so many...

So did everyone remember to turn their clocks ahead... Looking foward to the longer days of sunlight

Hey there k&a&c'smom Looks like we might be back in sync after all!

Thanks for sharing more of your wonderful pics..You really are a wealth of information!!

Hey! We're back on track! Yes, I did turn my clocks back, thank you for the reminder. We have been known to forget about it until late in the day.

Glad you liked the photos, I've posted those a few times over the years but the BPK views are sometimes hard to describe. Thanks for the compliment - right back atcha!!

I wanted to point out that the rooms from about XX18 through XX22 are going to have about the worst pool house view, as you said, and then from 24 to about 32 it will still have a partial view but there is enough distance between the balcony and pool house for guests to see something other than the walls, lol. Probably the best room views on the garden side would be XX02-XX12, as someone else pointed out, these will have a decent view of the pool. All of this, again, for floors 1-3; floors 4 & 5 have beautiful views, even over the pool house. The rooms in the 30s up to 40 will probably see a lot of Boca and maybe even side views of the lagoon, if anyone finds that desirable over the pool view.

Thanks to the poster who mentioned the room calculator on touring plans - it helps situate guests to the areas and even gives some room views. (you have to be careful, though, there are many room views that aren't of the actual room number but from a "nearby" room - "nearby" is sometimes several doors down the hall and the view is completely off, lol) Everybody has been asking for something like this for years, it is very helpful.

As always, love the pics .



Hi Blue

I can't help with room numbers, but I do agree about room requests to put them in order of preference, with the most important one first. The CMs will do everything possible to grant them and if, by chance, your first room doesn't meet what you want, you can always ask for a different room and if something is available, they will be more than happy to put you there .

I wasn't happy about losing an hour of sleep last night, but I am thrilled that the days are longer .

Thanks, glad you liked the photos! I lucked out on the time change, I've woken up earlier than usual the last couple days, anyway.

Good point about asking for a different room if the first assigned doesn't meet your requests. Doing it at the front desk is the best and easiest, but even calling from the room or walking back to the front desk, you can ask for and receive another assignment (if, as you say, there is availability) and the CMs are always happy to oblige. They do ask that guests try not to use anything in the undesired room, so the mousekeepers do not have to clean it again.

 

[bama belle]

As grannyminnie said, don't sweat it too much. The back of the pool house isn't a great view, it's true - but it's not a parking lot! Still, I would do as you suggested and request "upper floor, unobstructed view" to your requests. It's not necessarily too many, as you are simply defining what you want, to my mind.

I'll post a photo of the view over the pool house, so you can get an idea of what it looks like from the higher rooms. This is 4th floor, we were in a 3rd floor room once and it still looked into the back of the pool house - I'll see if I have a photo of the outside of the building, to give an idea.

Getting connecting rooms shouldn't be too hard - we have asked NOT to have a connecting door many times and ended up with one anyway, so they have plenty of them. I know you said "near" but just sayin'.

OK - so, here is a 4th floor room, right over the pool house. As you can see, the rooms below this would look directly into the back of it.

BRB with a couple more photos!

This is the front of the pool house, with BPK in the background. See how it blocks some of those rooms right up to the 3rd floor?

Close up, same view

Morning fellow GF fans!

k&a&c'smom I think that you are just going to have to slow down a bit..being too busy to pop in more often is just not a good idea!

grannyminnie Have a good visit with your Dad.. Safe travels..

MickeyNut and WishesQueen Hi!!

bama belle I would list the most important request first..maybe upper floor...If your reservations are connected I think the room assigner will generally try and put you together..if you have a particular request..like connecting as opposed to adjoining rooms you might want to add that...as for room numbers..and some one more familiar with BPK like MickeyNut or WishesQueen might want to jump in here...

Usually as you enter each building..the rooms to left start with a 14..for example in BPK the first room to the left on the first floor should be 9114 (9114 and 9112 are right in the lobby area)...the first room right inside the hallway would be 9110...these are GV rooms... Just saw k&a&c's pics and see that these room numbers would put you probably right behind the pool house... So I think that asking for a higher number room might be the way to go..like 22 or 24..or 26...(20 is the room with the bump out..the lodge tower..or deluxe tower..lol..room) Hope that that isnt confusing...lol.. I am sure that you will have a terrific room! Because there really are so many...

So did everyone remember to turn their clocks ahead... Looking foward to the longer days of sunlight

Thank you so much for the advice and pictures- they really help! I am going to call and have 'unobstructed view' added to my requests and hope for the best

 

[mag73]

During our two last stays at Boca Chica we stayed in a GV room.


This was the view from our room in 2012 before they changed the pool.


This was taken from our room last September. At night we could see fireworks over Narcoosies.

 

[bama belle]

During our two last stays at Boca Chica we stayed in a GV room. http://s748.photobucket.com/user/mag560/media/photo_zps5327c473.jpg.html This was the view from our room in 2012 before they changed the pool. http://s748.photobucket.com/user/mag560/media/photo1_zps9ef7247f.jpg.html This was taken from our room last September. At night we could see fireworks over Narcoosies.

Wow, those are gorgeous views! Makes me want to stay in Boca Chica....decisions, decisions

 

[k&a&c'smom]

bama belle - good luck!

mag73 - thanks for the photos, lovely view. We love the courtyard views in Boca, so pretty.

 

[Ry42013]

Is there a bad view/room in the Main Building? I have a room reserved through a work convention and it just says Main Building Club Level. Wondering if I need to specify a room request or not bother since there isn't a bad view...

 

[Lisann]

I'm worried about getting stuck behind the pool house! We have two rooms reserved and I put in my request for BPK, middle floor (my mom doesn't like to be up too high, but doesn't want ground floor). Should I add 'unobstructed view if possible' to my requests? We also are requesting that our rooms be nearby- is that too many requests? We love to sit on the balcony and relax, so I really don't want a bad view!

My first stay at GF was with a view of the back of the pool house. I didn't necessarily mind because we had requested ground floor. The plus with this room was the fact that the pool house blocked out all the noise from the pool. I had no complaints....heck, I was at WDW and GF !!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Garden View rooms can be located in any one of outer buildings except for Sugar Loaf which is concierge only.

Thank you!

 

[BlueSkies]

Is there a bad view/room in the Main Building? I have a room reserved through a work convention and it just says Main Building Club Level. Wondering if I need to specify a room request or not bother since there isn't a bad view...

There isn't a bad view from any room in the main building aka RPC...

There are two room categories for "regular" rooms..standard room and TPV..The TPV rooms have a distant but very nice view of the castle... The "standard" views are either of the courtyard pool area..or off of the the atrium area..with a view towards the VGF and the Poly...(these rooms while in the standard category are larger than the rooms with a courtyard view..and have a small entrance hallway and a wet bar as well)

What a nice room category to be able to reserve for a work event!

My first stay at GF was with a view of the back of the pool house. I didn't necessarily mind because we had requested ground floor. The plus with this room was the fact that the pool house blocked out all the noise from the pool. I had no complaints....heck, I was at WDW and GF !!!

mag73 Beautiful pics... I always say that Boca Chica has such nice views...in any direction....as for that pic of the "original" courtyard pool view..

bama belle Good luck with your decisions...so many nice choices!

Hi to all of my GF pals...

~ My GF thought for today..lol.... wonder if there will be any cabana refurbs..along with all of the others refurbs going on...A friend reserved one not too long ago and was less than thrilled with the condition of the lounge chairs..and the cabana in general..We usually only reserve one during a summer stay...so its been a while...but I do think its a wonderful way to spend a hot summer day at the pool...

Hope that you are all having a magical Monday!

 

[ememtingle]

thank you for this! i love walking around the Grand.

 

[nonzerosum]

BlueSkies: what a great tip about atrium view RPC rooms having a hallway and wet bar. I had no idea and will put this on my room request. Does one just request "atrium view"? Will that make sense to the room assigners?

Does anyone know if RPC can be booked on a bounce back offer? Somehow I doubt it, but you never know. 17 more days to go until we're RPC bound!

 

[Tink rules]

Do they still have wait service near the pool for drinks and food?

 

[mag73]

Yes they do.

 

[mickeynut1]

The back of the pool house isn't a great view, it's true - but it's not a parking lot!

That is one great thing (among many) about the GF....there are no parking lot views and although there are some "less desirable views", none of them are horrible .

Thanks, glad you liked the photos! I lucked out on the time change, I've woken up earlier than usual the last couple days, anyway.

Good point about asking for a different room if the first assigned doesn't meet your requests. Doing it at the front desk is the best and easiest, but even calling from the room or walking back to the front desk, you can ask for and receive another assignment (if, as you say, there is availability) and the CMs are always happy to oblige. They do ask that guests try not to use anything in the undesired room, so the mousekeepers do not have to clean it again.

The time change kind of did me in . But now that I've some what adjusted, it is nice to see it still light out around 7:00 pm .

I've asked for a room change at the front desk as well as once I was in the room . Our first assigned room was on the first floor (think snakes ), which didn't click with me until after I walked away from the front desk. Then once we got up to the 2nd room, I noticed it was a dormer and didn't have a daybed ......so I called down and the CM was very accommodating and found another room with a daybed. And wouldn't ya know, my youngest DS didn't sleep on that darn daybed more than 1 night because he said it was uncomfortable ......so we could have stayed in the dormer room after all (although those rooms are a little smaller and I'm glad we had a little more space ).

During our two last stays at Boca Chica we stayed in a GV room.

This was taken from our room last September. At night we could see fireworks over Narcoosies.

Beautiful pics.....thanks for posting .

Makes me want to stay in Boca Chica....decisions, decisions

I don't think you can go wrong with BPK or BC .

Is there a bad view/room in the Main Building? I have a room reserved through a work convention and it just says Main Building Club Level. Wondering if I need to specify a room request or not bother since there isn't a bad view...

As BlueSkies said, there are no bad room views in the main building. My favorite from a room is looking at the Poly over seven seas lagoon (which is now mostly a view of VGF) and my favorite from the lounge is looking out at the courtyard pool.....very relaxing .

i love walking around the Grand.

Me too......it is such a lovely place to walk the grounds and take everything in .

Does anyone know if RPC can be booked on a bounce back offer? Somehow I doubt it, but you never know. 17 more days to go until we're RPC bound!

Your trip will be here before you know it .

RPC has been offered under bouncebacks and other discounts, it just depends if there are rooms that need to be filled. With that said, if it's not available when you book, you can always keep checking as sometimes things do open up .

 

[RexyGirl]

I thought I may have read this somewhere.... but are GF standard rooms the only standard deluxes that have king beds? And is that true - a standard room can come with a king instead of 2 queens?

Also - are any of those cute dormer rooms standard kings by any chance?? Are they popular?

Husband and I still dreaming of staying here, we might just splurge for our anniversary

 

[phyllis1966]

I thought I may have read this somewhere.... but are GF standard rooms the only standard deluxes that have king beds? And is that true - a standard room can come with a king instead of 2 queens?

Also - are any of those cute dormer rooms standard kings by any chance?? Are they popular?

Husband and I still dreaming of staying here, we might just splurge for our anniversary

Don't know if the GF has the only King bed standard rooms, but they definitely have them. We've stayed in Garden View rooms three times with a King bed. And yes, two of those times were in dormer rooms.