I can't believe we've been back 5 days and I am just now getting around to posting about our trip! Yikes!
Well, let's see....
We stayed at the GF 8/15-23. Yup, that's right. We were there for good 'ol Fay! Needless to say it was a VERY wet week, and that was a bummer, but we still had a great time. This was our family's first time at the GF, though I have stayed there before for a weekend stay in the late 90's. I stayed there with a dear friend who was the nanny for Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgewick - we stayed (along with Kevin and kids) in a 2 BR suite in RPC. Needless to say we had the royal treatment that weekend. This visit would not be as lavish, but we were very much looking forward to it nonetheless!
We checked in early on Friday the 15th (flight got in around 9:30, we were at the GF about an hour later) where I was told "we're sorry...we won't be able to accomodate your request for a Garden View room....so we're going to put you in a MK view room!!"
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Yay! I was practically in tears. SOOOO excited at our good fortune! Room was not ready as the resort was at full capacity due to a HUGE convention that would be ending Sunday (well, Saturday actually, and they would all be leaving Sunday). NO PROBLEMO! I'll just wait for my MK view room! So we had lunch at Gaspy's, wandered around the resort, walked back and forth between the GF & Poly a few times (kids napped in the stroller so we just kept walking and walking), then settled into the lobby until our room was ready.
We got into our room around 3:30 - I *think* it was Boca Chica...2nd floor, last room on the hallway. We loved the room. Great decor, nice and bright with the airy feel that I kept reading about.
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Really VERY pretty. We quickly went to the balcony to see our beautiful MK view. Well....Hmmmm. How about that. We see the CR, I think a little of SM, a BIG pine tree right in front of us, and oh wait! Step to the end of the balcony and lean faaaar to the left - THERE IT IS! The Castle! Ok, not what we were expecting, but that's OK. We paid for a garden view room, so this is still a nice surprise. Then we saw it....down to our right....right below our balcony. A lovely little walled off construction area. With equipment, workers, supplies, mud, filth, etc. Hmm. Well THAT'S not very pretty. At all. Now we understand the upgrade. We sat on this for a while and decided to go down for dinner at the GF Cafe (lovely).
That evening I decided that I'd rather have our GV room with no construction than the MK view (sort-of) with construction, so I traipsed to the front desk to inquire about moving the next day. I had originally requested a GV room in Sago Cay, marina side, so this is what I asked about moving to. I was told that they could move us, if we moved RIGHT THEN (not sure why it had to be right then, but I didn't question, I just accepted). Well, oh dear. It was about 8:30 at night, my kids (3 and almost 5) had just fallen asleep after a very long travel day and a very early morning. Oh man. DH wanted to kill me when I called to tell him we were moving. Not the best decision on my part - had to go back to the room and completely pack up again, move all our bags, groceries, sleeping kiddos, etc. Bad mommy. BUT - once we settled in to our new Sago Cay room, got the kiddos back to sleep, and looked out our balcony we were more than pleased. We LOVED Sago Cay - great location! Right by Gasparilla's, bus stop, and easy walk to the main building. Perfect! It was a bit of a fiasco to get there, but I'm soooooo happy we 'downgraded' and moved to Sago with our beautiful marina view and NO CONSTRUCTION!
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Seriously, this was NOT a downgrade IMO.
My feelings on the GF, for anyone who would like to hear them:
1. Loved Sago, as I said before.
2. Love the GF decor - rooms, lobby, grounds, etc. Beautiful. Fresh, gorgeous floral arrangements everywhere...what a treat!
3. Loved having a character meal in our resort - we did both the dinner and breakfast at 1900PF. Kiddos LOVED being able to walk by the doorway by the GFCafe and see the characters in 1900PF. I tried my best to keep them from gawking while people were sitting there eating, but it was not easy. Sorry if my kids were staring at you while you ate!
4. Loved the beach pool/slide/cabanas - even though we were only able to use them 2 days thanks to Fay. Kids loved the slide and mom loved relaxing in the cabana for the short amount of time I was there. Loved that they never got excessively busy or crowded, unlike our pool at the Poly last year.
5. CM's were fine. Polite, but certainly not over-the-top. As expected I'd say.
6. Gasparillas....hm. Honestly, I think there could be some improvement here. The menu was just not that great. I liked the offerings at the WL and Poly much more. Not terrible, but it could be better.
7. Fireworks and EWP - WOW! And I mean
WOW!! Were they loud! I couldn't believe it. We stayed at the Poly last year and there was no comparison to what we heard each night at the GF. I thought something was falling through the ceiling above on my first night!
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This was not a problem per-se, just an observation. I did get a huge kick out of the fact the my best friend, first timer at Disney, called the front desk when the EWP started on our first night to ask "what the HELL is that?!" I was cracking up when she told me that the next morning.
5. Loved being on the monorail - of course.
6. Busy. Busy. The resort was busy! Not always, but there was much more traffic milling about the resort than I expected. This is one thing that I really didn't like about staying at the Poly last year, and for some reason I didn't expect it at the GF. (silly I know, it's on the monorail so why wouldn't it be busy?!) It didn't seem as bad as the Poly, probably because of the size, but I definitely noticed it. I will say that I loved the quietness of the marina area - it always seemed to be much more serene than the rest of the resort. I'd request Sago again in a heartbeat.
7. Dislikes....well, none really. I mentioned the noise and the traffic, but they definitely wouldn't stop me from staying there again. I can't say I disliked anything really. It's a beautiful resort.
We have decided to buy in at the DVC, so I'm not sure we'll stay at the GF again. However, there's nothing that would keep me away from doing so. It's a very pretty resort and we had a lovely stay (aside from the crummy weather). Thanks to all for the help you gave before our trip! This thread was a great resource.
Erin
CRUM! Just realized I posted this on the chat thread! Sorry guys!! I'm copying and pasting to the other thread now. oops.