Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho. It's off to the Grand Floridian We Go! June 2014 (Update: Video)

[disnemimi]

Great photos Marble Bob. So glad Princess got to surf on your trip. Looks like she is a natural. Anxious to read about the trip to Disney and see all your photos. We sure had some fun moments.

 

[MarbleBob]

Enjoying the TR! Great pics!

Thanks LindseyLou

Really enjoying your trip report!

And it's a very small world! We're in the Lou too. I have a good friend who works at the Winghaven library and my sister lives right around the corner. Oh, and my MIL was a teacher in Mt. Vernon!

I think you're brave for making that drive from here! Maybe if dd didn't get sick after 1/2hr in the car, I think it would take us a week to get there with all of our constant stops.

Hello neighbor!!! Small world indeed! We've been making that drive around once a year on average, so we have our routines pretty well worked out and we're all used to it by now.... But, I can imaging it would be very different with someone who is prone to car sickness!

Joining in! Loving your report and pictures so far- can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Thanks Jordansmama!!

It looks like everyone had a great time at the skatepark and finding the great lunch and dinner.

Yes indeed. I'm already wondering when we'll be able to go back next

Can't beat fresh seafood - just don't mess with it, and it tastes great! ... or you can get chicken fingers

Truer words have never been spoken...

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews. What an awesome start to your vacation.

Thanks Nohal

Joining in. So sorry you hurt your wrist so close to your vacation. I hope you weren't in pain the entire trip. At least you are in Disney, right?

Thanks for joining in. My wrist hurt pretty bad the first couple of days (sort of throbbed from all the walking), but all in all, it wasn't too bad and it certainly didn't keep me from enjoying Walt Disney World

Kona looks pretty neat, awesome that it is still around after so many decades!

I don't actually eat/like seafood but even I find all your pictures and descriptions mouth watering!!!

Yeah, Kona was really cool. I'm glad we went, it was totally worth it.

I took tons of food photos, so I'm sure that more than once in this trip report, there'll be something that you'd be interested in actually trying

This looks like an amazing day! So cool that she got to do the surf lessons. I would have loved to be out there with her!
And Kona! Amazing!! I'm pretty sure I would be majorly injured if I tried any of that after all these years of not boarding but I was dying looking at those pictures. I want to go! Snake run looks like so much fun.
I bet it was hard not to be able to get out there yourself.

Yeah, I had to restrain myself from thinking, "maybe if I'm really careful, I could take a couple of runs without falling and further injuring myself." Common sense prevailed for once and I decided to leave the skateboarding to the girls

The surfing and skatepark look like a lot of fun. The surfing I would go for but snake run I would fall for sure

I hear you. Surfing certainly seems like the less dangerous of the two.

What a great family! Looks as if you more than got your $80 worth at the surf lesson. Anxious to hear what happens next!

Thanks SusieBea! Yeah, we compared rates from other surf lessons and this was very reasonable. And I really liked that they had women instructors. Not that a guy would have been bad, but I loved that we had a female instructor. At least with skateboarding, girls have a little bit different mindset and level of conservativeness.... Lesley could relate to Princess and she was never too pushy.

Great photos Marble Bob. So glad Princess got to surf on your trip. Looks like she is a natural. Anxious to read about the trip to Disney and see all your photos. We sure had some fun moments.

Thanks Mom! Looking forward to going through and sharing all the wonderful memories that we made together. Hoping that you want be too shy to fill in any gaps or share additional perspectives!



Next up, we arrive in Orland and hit one of the Disney outlets before arriving at the Grand Floridian. Stay tuned, I plan to have the first part of day 4 up a little later today




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[MarbleBob]

Day 4 - Friday the 6th - Heading to Walt Disney World!

So, the plan for the day was to get up early and head straight to Orlando, shop at the outlet mall for a while, meet everyone at the Grand Floridian in the early afternoon, enjoy the pool, and then spend the evening in the Magic Kingdom.

We got up early for breakfast. Based on my experience with the previous morning, I didn't even bother. Thanks, but no thanks! The rest of the team decided that they were willing to give it another try. They came back a little while later and said that it was much better today.

So we got packed up and were on the road to Orlando with no issues. We passed through downtown Orlando around 10:30am.



Our plan was to first stop at the Orlando Premium Outlets on International Drive.

We thought we'd hit the outlet mall first, have a quick lunch, and then either hit the outlet mall closer to WDW (on Vineland) or go to Downtown Disney.

Back to that herd of turtles business... It took us a little longer to get going, and we arrived at the outlet mall area closer to 11am. We decided to just eat at Burger King first, and then shop. We normally aren't big shoppers, but we love visiting the Disney outlets in Orlando. They aren't like the typical outlets for mall-based Disney stores, instead they have have mostly WDW parks merchandise. Sometimes they even have some of the same stuff that's currently in the parks at a discount. (Noting that they have a Disney outlet at both malls.)

We arrived and got our bearings for the various shops that we wanted to visit. (Quiksilver, Vans, Forever 21, Tilly's, Children's Place, etc... and of course Disney.)



After we stopped at a couple stores on the way, we went into the Disney store.



Yahoo! Our first real taste of Disney on the vacation.





They had some Seven Dwarfs Mine Train related props around the store. We'll be seeing more of this later tonight!



It turned out that while we were tempted by a lot of stuff, we didn't really buy much. We went back and forth on some really great Shag prints from last year's Enchanted Tiki Room anniversary, but ultimately decided to pass on them. (Shag is a cool mid-century modern style artist, if you've never heard of him or if you were thinking they sell carpet at Disney now ) Pickle got a princess lollipop that took her like two hours to eat, and buddy got a Mickey hat.

We split up after that... I took Princess to a couple shops and then Steph and the others went to a few different shops and then we met up later.

Stephanie got a great selfie while they were waiting for us



And then we headed back towards the car.

Pickle was getting sick of me taking so many photos. (Only a small fraction of the photos I took will end up in the trip report. Everyone was giving me a hard time about taking so many photos by the end of the trip. They'll thank me later. ) I felt like the paparazzi trying to get a clean shot around the lollipop.



Princess humored me with a smile.



It was now about 1:45pm and we had to decide where to go next. Downtown Disney or the other outlet mall. Out of pure coincidence, I got a text from my mom saying that they were about 25 minutes out from the Grand Floridian.

At that point, the kids had no interest in doing anything but meeting up with their cousins at the resort. (My sister and her three boys travelled with my parents. Randy (brother-in-law) flew from Milwaukee and wouldn't arrive until early evening.)

So we decided to skip any more shopping and just head straight to the resort too. Thinking if we left now, we might be able to actually check in together.

A few minutes later, WE. HAVE. ARRIVED!!!!!



Stay tuned for our arrival at the Grand Floridian



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[chocolateMinnie]

Can't beat driving under that sign. We travel for about 24 hours but I never believe we've arrived until we go through the sign - I figure at that point I could get my case off DME and walk the rest of the way if necessary

Looking forward to hearing about your next hours arriving at GF

 

[MarbleBob]

Hi chocolateMinnie. Glad to have you along. I hear you. There is something magical about going through the Magic Kingdom sign as well as the giant "Walt Disney World" sign that spans the highway as you enter Disney property.

 

[KelleyK75]

We wanted to try out those Outlet malls last trip and never made it over there. Wanting to be in Disney definitely takes the priority. I love driving under that sign and knowing you've finally arrived.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Yay, I love seeing the Disney signs!! They always make me so excited! I have never been to the Disney Outlet, but I have been to both of those Outlet Malls, I guess we will need to make sure we go in one next time we are over there!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

You do realize Matt that if you had in fact gone to breakfast with the rest of them it would not have been any better than the previous day, right?

That looks like a pretty nice Disney Outlet Store - actually I really like that blue and Yellow Disney World shirt - I love all the vintage looking stuff

In reality Pickles doesn't even like lollipops - she just needed something to shield her from her adoring public/huddled masses

Ah, getting to go right through the MK gates on arrival is definitely another perk of staying at a MK area resort!

 

[annegirl]

Cool shops. We haven't tried the outlets. And this time we won't either because we won't have a car with us. But someday I want to go and check them out.

 

[jedijill]

You have arrived!

Jill in CO

 

[MarbleBob]

We wanted to try out those Outlet malls last trip and never made it over there. Wanting to be in Disney definitely takes the priority. I love driving under that sign and knowing you've finally arrived.

Yes, the outlet malls are fun, but Disney takes priority

Yay, I love seeing the Disney signs!! They always make me so excited! I have never been to the Disney Outlet, but I have been to both of those Outlet Malls, I guess we will need to make sure we go in one next time we are over there!

If you like to shop, the Disney outlets are worth checking out. Especially if you are already there for other stores

You do realize Matt that if you had in fact gone to breakfast with the rest of them it would not have been any better than the previous day, right?

That looks like a pretty nice Disney Outlet Store - actually I really like that blue and Yellow Disney World shirt - I love all the vintage looking stuff

In reality Pickles doesn't even like lollipops - she just needed something to shield her from her adoring public/huddled masses

Ah, getting to go right through the MK gates on arrival is definitely another perk of staying at a MK area resort!

You are right about the breakfast Phil. I didn't buy it either

Cool shops. We haven't tried the outlets. And this time we won't either because we won't have a car with us. But someday I want to go and check them out.

Yeah, they certainly aren't worth renting a car or taking a cab for, but if you ever have a car with you, I think it makes for a nice side trip

You have arrived!

Jill in CO

Yahoo!!!

 

[MarbleBob]

Day 4 - Friday the 6th - Part 2 - Arriving at the Grand Floridian

OK. After passing through the MK gates, we were on our way over to the Grand Floridian. We were all pretty excited at this point. And a couple minutes later, we pulled into the resort. Great timing, my dad's van was two vehicles ahead of us!!!

I wish I had captured a couple photos of the entry area, but I did manage to capture a monorail passing by as Stephanie checked-in with the parking attendant.



Once we pulled up to the main entrance, we were actually able to park right behind my dad's van. The kids hopped out to greet everyone and then Stephanie and I started process of unloading everything with the bellhop. I didn't get any photos of this part as I was trying to be as helpful as possible despite my wrist. A few minutes later, the luggage cart was loaded and we were ready to head inside the lobby and check in.

We met the greeter on our way in.



And we grabbed a group photo.



Stephanie was parking the car at the time and Randy (brother-in-law) hadn't arrived from Milwaukee yet.

For some reason, my nephew (Dewey) kept on telling me stuff about some video game that he was into as we walked inside. I snapped like 10 photos of him in the process. LOL.



And happy to see my sister too!!!



We headed over to check-in.



My mom had arranged the reservations and hoped to get our rooms in building 9 over by the pool and closer to the main entrance (she has a bad knee and we wanted to minimize the length of the walk.) They ended up having us all in some other building about as far from the monorail/bus area as you could get. She asked nicely and they got to work trying to make it happen for us. It was going to be a challenge, because we had 5 rooms to be all on the same floor, with two of them adjoining (so Denise and Steve could help with Chip, Dale, and Baby.) It took a while, but they were able to pull some strings and make it happen. Cool!

It took a good 30 to 40 minutes to get checked in. Most of that was waiting while the attendants worked their magic.

In the meantime, everyone hung out.

I took a moment to look up. Yikes, this place is cool!



(Stay tuned, I'll have more photos of the lobby later in the TR)

And the kids goofed off in the little kid area. LOL.



Pickle was still working on that lollipop



At least she wasn't hiding behind it anymore

And Buddy was all set!



OK. We got our rooms. Let's grab the bellhop and get moving!



We were in Big Pine Key, which was located directly behind the main building. Good work Disnemimi!!!



Looking back at the main building from the entrance of ours...



Walking into the main entrance of our building, you immediately pass a small seating area before entering the main room.



This is sort of a lousy photo, but you immediately walk into a "main lobby" area which opens all the way up to the top of the building.



Beautiful flowers in the center of the room.



We hopped in the elevator and rode it up to the third floor. And then here's another view of the main room.



Our room was directly to the right, and everyone else's rooms were down the hall (as seen in the right 3rd of the photo above.)

And, we've arrived!



Next up, we'll explore the rooms and then spend some time in the pool before heading to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the evening.



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[TheMaxRebo]

That's great they were able to work things out with the rooms!

Ah, and see the kids found a way to look at their electronics right away and not have to make eye contact or anything

 

[SusieBea]

We were placed in Big Pine the one time we stayed at the GF. Rooms overlooked the Poly. I really like that location! Write on ...

 

[MarbleBob]

That's great they were able to work things out with the rooms!

Ah, and see the kids found a way to look at their electronics right away and not have to make eye contact or anything

Haha!!! I have no idea what they were doing. Possibly trying to make their friends jealous by posting Instagram photos or something.

We were placed in Big Pine the one time we stayed at the GF. Rooms overlooked the Poly. I really like that location! Write on ...

Yeah, it really is a great location!

 

[disney meema]

Great your Mom was able to make it work and get a bit closer. We've stayed once in big pine with a lagoon view, all our other trips in conch key by the boat dock or sugar loaf. Looking forward to seeing your room and how your first day plays out ... Nice looking family group

 

[marryfrmtx]

Great trip report. I am really enjoying reading it. Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[MidnightParade]

Wooohoo! You're there there now! Not just Florida there but Disney there!
Guh! That place just looks so elegant and beautiful! Happy they were able to switch around the rooms and made it work.

Can't wait for more!!

 

[maryj11]

The GF is so beautiful and fancy . I Cant wait to see more photos of it

 

[MarbleBob]

Great your Mom was able to make it work and get a bit closer. We've stayed once in big pine with a lagoon view, all our other trips in conch key by the boat dock or sugar loaf. Looking forward to seeing your room and how your first day plays out ... Nice looking family group

Thanks! That's awesome that you've been able to stay at the Grand Floridian so much.

Great trip report. I am really enjoying reading it. Can't wait for the next installment.

Thanks!

Wooohoo! You're there there now! Not just Florida there but Disney there!
Guh! That place just looks so elegant and beautiful! Happy they were able to switch around the rooms and made it work.

Can't wait for more!!

Yeah, "Florida there" is good, but "Disney there" is better

The GF is so beautiful and fancy . I Cant wait to see more photos of it

I agree! Stay tuned for more photos