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

[FutureMayor]

I've been a Poly 'guy' for a while but the combination of Poly construction uncertainty and the enthusiasm all of you share for the GF has swayed me to change my plans. It also didn't hurt that we were able to take advantage of the summer discount offered today... We'll be spending 10 days in July at the GF (Lagoon View) and I welcome any suggestions you guys might have. Thanks in advance!

 

[trishadono]

Good evening to all of my fellow GF fans...



~ Just and FYI with regards to CL food offerings...they have changed things some very recently..there are not pecan sticky buns in the morning any longer

Oh no!!!!

( I know..these are going to be sorely missed by many of us!! LOL..)..and they do not offer chocolate covered strawberries as an eveing dessert either.

I just had them in January! Guess I am glad I caught them before they were gone!

.but the current chefs have added some very nice new desserts ( like the pistachio cake..yum!) ..and have been adding some new and delicious hot evening appetizers too ... Its always about the food...even in Disney..lol..

Hope that everyone had a nice weekend...

My girl home from college and her 19th birthday so yep, had a great weekend!

Try to keep warm NE ers! It will eventually be spring.

 

[grannyminnie]

I am quite annoyed that they have removed the sticky buns from the lounge menu!! Those and the trifle are two of my favorite lounge items, along with the coffee machine!

 

[Tylerandhayleysmom]

Hey all! I have the pleasure of staying at GF this year, which is our second visit to WDW. Our first stay was at the Poly and my kids ( 3 and 7 yrs old) loved the Poly, but with all the renov we decided to stay at GF for the week of Thanksgiving this year. I was lucky enough to book a Standard Deluxe room in the RPC. I think there's only like 4 or 6 of those rooms. Any particular room number I should ask for? Hoping to be closer to the lounge. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

~ Gina

 

[ahcupcake]

Good Evening

The lounge is on the first floor. You can see Wishes if you go out the back door by the marina. You can also see wishes from some, but not all of the rooms on the marina side of SL. You can't see the castle but you have a good view of the fireworks. You can get the music and view of the castle in front of Gaspies. The boat dock is another good spot for wishes, but I prefer Gaspies because there is a lot of places to sit.

Hi Maxie Glad you could pop in to say hello and give some fab advice

Good evening to all of my fellow GF fans...

Lots to catch up on ..but I mostly skimmed... lol...


Hello ahcupcake...Looking foward to that new season of DWTS...

~ Just and FYI with regards to CL food offerings...they have changed things some very recently..there are not pecan sticky buns in the morning any longer ( I know..these are going to be sorely missed by many of us!! LOL..)..and they do not offer chocolate covered strawberries as an evening dessert either..but the current chefs have added some very nice new desserts ( like the pistachio cake..yum!) ..and have been adding some new and delicious hot evening appetizers too ... Its always about the food...even in Disney..lol..

Hope that everyone had a nice weekend...

Hey Blue Hope you had a nice getaway........Yep so am I, go Maks!.......Oh no on the pecan sticky buns, you know my mother loves them she will be crushed to learn they're not being served anymore.Ugh no strawberries either, but I can see why they're not, I personally saw a woman take the plate of them when she knew others were waiting for one..Oh that cake sounds delish

 

[Lisann]

Needing a little Grand love. Some of the other threads on the boards today..whew! People get so worked up they scare me! I ran back over here as fast as I could. :

Here are a couple of photos to warm your hearts with nostalgia. I take my Grand lunchbag and my Grand tea cup to work every day. Yes, I am a dork. I own up to it.

My lunchbag (got this back in '07 and it's still going strong)



My wonderful GF tea cup. Tea tastes so much better in this cup.

 

[Candy Orlando]

I love the Grand it's just so Grand!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Needing a little Grand love. Some of the other threads on the boards today..whew! People get so worked up they scare me! I ran back over here as fast as I could. :

Here are a couple of photos to warm your hearts with nostalgia. I take my Grand lunchbag and my Grand tea cup to work every day. Yes, I am a dork. I own up to it.

My lunchbag (got this back in '07 and it's still going strong)



My wonderful GF tea cup. Tea tastes so much better in this cup.

That teacup is adorable! I want one!!

 

[mickeynut1]

With the new discounts out, we just switched from BC to the GF ....beyond excited! We will be there 7/26-8/5. Thank you for all this great information!!!

Congrats on the discount. We've stayed at the BC and while we loved the resort and had a great stay, nothing seems to beat the GF . Have a great trip.

Thanks so much! I'm so excited for our first stay at GF - I have always wanted to try it out! I figure SL is a pretty good first time!

You're going to love the Grand .

Whoa! We're almost relegated to the second page! Can't let that happen....

Thanks for rescuing us . On another note, I hope you are doing ok .

Somebody tell me to get a grip

We've just booked a 10 night stay in May at the RPC which has always been a dream of mine.

But now I read of the refurb I'm starting to doubt myself. Maybe we should wait to treat ourselves until they are completed and stay in the newer Contemporary rooms.

When booking hotels I always look for the newer rooms (wherever we go) and now in the back of my mind I'm thinking how well used they must be!

RPC is amazing, but I agree with BlueSKies and k&a&c'smom to maybe wait to stay there until after the refurbs are done if you really want a new room .

MickeyNut You are undoubtedly the best multiquoter on the boards.. Not to mention your post helped me to catch up ..lol...

Awww, you're so sweet, thank you . I can multi-quote now, but when I first started posting here I couldn't figure it out for anything .

My parents are staying at the GF last week in May in a Lagoon view room. Does anyone have any favorite locations I could request for them? They definiately would like an upper floor with full balcony. They are celebrating 50 years! Thanks!!

Congratulations to your parents on 50 years .

When would be a good time to call and put in a building request? My stay is the first week of June.

As dansdad said, you can add requests at any time .

Yeah, I miss a day and the thread runs away and leaves me behind.

For years I've wondered why they do not update their rooms more frequently - it shouldn't take much to add updated photos. Way back, when the only images were on the VCR tapes or even DVDs, they had such old photos of the resort rooms it was ridiculous.

I'm having a hard time lately keeping up as each day seems to run into the next and I don't know where the time is going .

I agree.....especially with today's technology, it shouldn't take much at all to add new photos......it's just very disappointing that you can't see current rooms on the website .

I've been a Poly 'guy' for a while but the combination of Poly construction uncertainty and the enthusiasm all of you share for the GF has swayed me to change my plans. It also didn't hurt that we were able to take advantage of the summer discount offered today... We'll be spending 10 days in July at the GF (Lagoon View) and I welcome any suggestions you guys might have. Thanks in advance!

Congrats on the discount . The GF is a great resort and I'm sure you'll have a great time. The Poly is our favorite resort, but I do love the GF .

I am quite annoyed that they have removed the sticky buns from the lounge menu!!

Me too .....those were my favorite.

Hey all! I have the pleasure of staying at GF this year, which is our second visit to WDW. Our first stay was at the Poly and my kids ( 3 and 7 yrs old) loved the Poly, but with all the renov we decided to stay at GF for the week of Thanksgiving this year. I was lucky enough to book a Standard Deluxe room in the RPC. I think there's only like 4 or 6 of those rooms. Any particular room number I should ask for? Hoping to be closer to the lounge. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

~ Gina

You are going to love the GF and RPC . We've never stayed in a deluxe room, but they look amazing .

Good Evening

Needing a little Grand love. Some of the other threads on the boards today..whew! People get so worked up they scare me! I ran back over here as fast as I could. :

I'm with you on some of the other threads as sometimes they get down right nasty . BTW, love the tea cup .

 

[GoingtoWDWagain]

Hi, I haven't been able to read through the thread. What discount for what travel dates aside of the one till June 15 are available for GF?

We will be staying at the Villa's at GF and would like to add some days with a stay at GF Resort in July.

Thanks a bunch for any information

 

[Tink rules]

I did a little bit of sleuthing last night and found a couple of more pics from one of the other sites...

 

[DisneyDreamingInMI]

I did a little bit of sleuthing last night and found a couple of more pics from one of the other sites...

I think I see an armchair in the fourth picture!!! The refurbished room that we were in at Conch Key was the reverse layout of the room in these pictures. Interestingly we did not have an armchair in our room. I double checked our photos and in our room and we had a door connecting to the adjacent room where the armchair would be (right next to the entryway). Was this the case in the rooms prior to the refurbishment? Did rooms with a connecting door not have an armchair??? Now I'm so curious!!!

 

[dansdad]

Hi, I haven't been able to read through the thread. What discount for what travel dates aside of the one till June 15 are available for GF?

We will be staying at the Villa's at GF and would like to add some days with a stay at GF Resort in July.

Thanks a bunch for any information

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/summer-room-and-tickets-discount/

 

[Ferrentinos]

I did a little bit of sleuthing last night and found a couple of more pics from one of the other sites...

Looks so pretty!! I hope that SL is done by the time we get there in mid-july! We would love one of those refurbished rooms!

 

[MommyGina]

Good morning friends! I am trying to get caught up here. TA got back to me yesterday about discount. Unfortunately, SL is not part of the summer discount. Oh well, we are going anyway!

Still no news from DS top college pick. Maybe some pixie dust will be sprinkled today!

Have a Grand Day!

 

[grannyminnie]

SL should be done by mid-July...I think they are still on schedule. I still personally prefer the old rooms.

Good eye, DisneyDreaming, on spotting the armchair in that photo!

 

[FutureMayor]

One quick note about the discounts available on Orbitz...

I have read about discount codes available on Orbitz on top of the WDW promotional rates. If you apply code DISCOVER, you will get a rate that is 20% off the promotional rates.

I booked a GF lagoon view room for 10 nights yesterday through Disney at a total cost of $3,715.66 all-in.

I tried to recreate the same booking on Orbitz. I applied the discount code and arrived at a total of $3,718.65 after taxes and fees.

One other difference I noticed is that you have to pay for the trip in full at the time of booking. While the trip may be cancelled and your money refunded, you still have to lay all of it upfront. I personally prefer to keep my money in my pocket.

If anyone has had a different experience, I'd love to see if they were able to actually save a significant amount of money. My feeling is that the 'discount' is only covering the taxes and fees.

 

[mag73]

I think I see an armchair in the fourth picture!!! The refurbished room that we were in at Conch Key was the reverse layout of the room in these pictures. Interestingly we did not have an armchair in our room. I double checked our photos and in our room and we had a door connecting to the adjacent room where the armchair would be (right next to the entryway). Was this the case in the rooms prior to the refurbishment? Did rooms with a connecting door not have an armchair??? Now I'm so curious!!!

We have always had connecting rooms in the past. They always had armchairs. The armchairs were across from the day bed and next to the glass slyding doors.

 

[davale4]

One quick note about the discounts available on Orbitz...

I have read about discount codes available on Orbitz on top of the WDW promotional rates. If you apply code DISCOVER, you will get a rate that is 20% off the promotional rates.

I booked a GF lagoon view room for 10 nights yesterday through Disney at a total cost of $3,715.66 all-in.

I tried to recreate the same booking on Orbitz. I applied the discount code and arrived at a total of $3,718.65 after taxes and fees.

One other difference I noticed is that you have to pay for the trip in full at the time of booking. While the trip may be cancelled and your money refunded, you still have to lay all of it upfront. I personally prefer to keep my money in my pocket.

If anyone has had a different experience, I'd love to see if they were able to actually save a significant amount of money. My feeling is that the 'discount' is only covering the taxes and fees.

The same thing happened to me when I checked and compared exact dates and categories. Orbitz was actually a couple if dollars more expensive.

 

[mickeynut1]

I still personally prefer the old rooms.

I do too .

The same thing happened to me when I checked and compared exact dates and categories. Orbitz was actually a couple if dollars more expensive.

I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong because I have had the same experience, with Orbitz coming out around $20-30 more (total) than Disney. I have tried different resorts and room types and have not found any savings over Disney no matter what dates, resort, etc. I choose .