Help... booked at Grand Floridian this fall... renovations to extensive

[dipastor]

I am so bummed. We have stayed at Grand Floridian for 2 years in a row. We love the resort. After viewing the pictures of current renovations, there is no way we will be happy for our vacation at end of October. We are supposed to stay for 9 nights.

Any recommendations from the more seasoned WDW travellers or those who have had a positive experience at similar type resort?? We don't have much time to change reservations. Any comments on Beach Club, Boardwalk or Yacht Club??? We would've loved to stay on monorail but polynesian is not an option and Contemporary rooms availl are the noisy area ones. We have 3 kids and need convenience of being near either MK or Epcot and Hollywood.

help!!!!!

 

[mariamouse]

I am so bummed. We have stayed at Grand Floridian for 2 years in a row. We love the resort. After viewing the pictures of current renovations, there is no way we will be happy for our vacation at end of October. We are supposed to stay for 9 nights.

Any recommendations from the more seasoned WDW travellers or those who have had a positive experience at similar type resort?? We don't have much time to change reservations. Any comments on Beach Club, Boardwalk or Yacht Club??? We would've loved to stay on monorail but polynesian is not an option and Contemporary rooms availl are the noisy area ones. We have 3 kids and need convenience of being near either MK or Epcot and Hollywood.

help!!!!!

I am sorry to hear that you will not be able to try the GF, but completely understand why you would not want to pay premium amidst that construction.

Given that you are not considering the Poly nor CR, I would opt for either the YC or BC depending on which theme you prefer (YC=yacht/mahogany, BC=beach/wicker). We prefer the laid back theme of the BC, which tends to be more popular with kids. The YC feels a bit more upscale and peaceful.

I actually think the BWI decor is more similar to the GF than that of the YC/BC, but still give the YC/BC the edge due to its superior pool area-- your kids would love it since it is essentially a mini water park! The BC is also slightly closer to Epcot than the BWI, although the BWI is a bit closer to the DHS, so it just depends on where you will spend more time.

Good luck with your decision! You truly cannot go wrong with any Epcot resort.

 

[baler31]

GF RPC is our favorite resort, if not available or if we are staying for F&W or Star Wars Weekends we would choose the following:

BWI CL
WL CL
Dolphin
Swan.

We do not care for the service level at BC or YC. Used to love the Poly but cleanliness issues have precluded staying there. We have enjoyed CR, but the service is below our other favorites. Swan/Dolphin are a relative bargain when compared to our others. We can often get two rooms for the price of a single standard at the monorail resorts.

 

[pixie08]

Boardwalk Inn (my choice...just came back from an amazing stay with amazing service) or Yacht Club for theming/pool but realize those are EPCOT resorts and will not have monorail access, they have boats or walking paths to HS and EPCOT.

If you need to be on the monorail then stick to GF, or maybe the Wilderness Lodge which has the boat to MK.

The construction is no where near the rooms. It is waaaay off by the pavilion/spa. It doesn't really effect the resort from what I could tell?Can you see/hear it at the pool? Ask to stay in a room by the marina if you are set on the GF. You will have a further walk to the main building but be very far from the construction. You can watch the fireworks in the evening down there.

Did you have a theme park view booked?

 

[dipastor]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. We usually stay in the Big Pine Key building at Grand Floridian. I guess the construction pictures on line are more frightening than what you actually see in person??

I love walking through the main pool area in the morning on our way to GF Cafe for breakfast. We have never stayed in the Marina area..

We are booked for a Lagoon view. Maybe it won't be so bad if I can get my Travel Agent to put us on other side of property. Not sure if that will be guaranteed. I'm sure everyone wants to be away from construction.

Anyone know if it will be a little farther along and less invasive by end of October????

 

[baler31]

The QS Gasparilla's is scheduled to close Sept. 4th. The courtyard pool will close mid Sept. Beach pool will remain open. QS items will be served at the grill in the newly renovated Beach pool. The rest of the schedule is vague at this point. The kid's club and spa have been closed for quite some time.

You can ask to be placed away from construction. I personally would downgrade to garden view as that allows for more options away from construction. We have stayed in the main building twice since the construction began with little to no impact on our trip. Do keep in mind that location requests are not guaranteed. The GF thread has constant updates on construction from people who have recently visited, you may want to follow that.

We will be back at GF over Labor Day Weekend and I don't anticipate being impacted in any significant way. The most annoying aspect was the monorail delays (very few) due to the crane moving something across the beam.

 

[mariamouse]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. We usually stay in the Big Pine Key building at Grand Floridian. I guess the construction pictures on line are more frightening than what you actually see in person??

I love walking through the main pool area in the morning on our way to GF Cafe for breakfast. We have never stayed in the Marina area..

We are booked for a Lagoon view. Maybe it won't be so bad if I can get my Travel Agent to put us on other side of property. Not sure if that will be guaranteed. I'm sure everyone wants to be away from construction.

Anyone know if it will be a little farther along and less invasive by end of October????

Unfortuantely, the construction will still be very much alive in October both at the DVC site and the courtyard pool in the center of the resort. It used to be the case that you could avoid the construction just by avoiding any room facing the Poly, but this courtyard pool work will be unavoidable. A garden view room in Conch Key (facing the marina) or Sago Cay would not face either construction site, nor would a MK view or non-Big Pine Key lagoon view. But, as you are well aware due to your self-professed love of walking along the main pool area, the construction will definitely have an impact whenever you walk through the grounds to/from the main building or boat dock. See the most recent refurbishment schedule below:

Refurbishments*
In an ongoing effort to improve the quality of our offerings, the following amenities at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will be closed for refurbishments:

Beach Pool Bar: April 2 to September 4, 2012
Sandy Cove Merchandise: August 21 to November 18, 2012
Ivy Trellis Salon: October 20 to December 3, 2012
Courtyard Pool: Mid September to Mid December, 2012
Gasparilla Grill & Games: September 4 to December 17, 2012
The Spa: September 19, 2011 to December 5, 2012
These locations are being refreshed for your future enjoyment. In the meantime, you will have access to alternate options during your stay, so you can anticipate a truly grand vacation experience.

* Please note, refurbishment dates are subject to change.

It sounds like you really want to be at the GF, so maybe you can look past these refurbishments and make the best of the situation. The lobby will, of course, be unaffected by construction and the areas of the resort not undergoing refurbishment will be just as beautiful as always! But it definitely will not be quite as peaceful as it was during your past stays.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[tinkerbell313]

Unfortunately, you may be very limited in other deluxe hotels due to the F & W festival as well as the Gartner Symposium (a huge IT conference). Here is a link for the Gartner Symposium website http://www.gartner.com/technology/symposium/orlando/hotel.jsp. As you can see, they have sold out of many of the Epcot/MK resorts.

Good luck with your decision on which hotel to stay at and have a great vacation.

 

[Pakey]

I'm not sure of your dates but there is a huge convention going on at the Epcot resorts from Oct 21-25. All 5 Epcot resorts are sold out during that time.

I stayed GF RPC in July and I didn't think it was terrible. However, Gasparilla's and the courtyard pool were open. I don't think I'd enjoy stayng there now; I chose Boardwalk for my October trip.

If you are going to stay in the Epcot area, I would probably pick Yacht Club. That gets you access to Storm Along Bay pool for your children. Yacht Club rooms have balconies (Beach Club only has balconies on 50% of their rooms).

 

[Tara]

I highly recommend BWI. I've stayed both there and GF (and all the other deluxe resorts except Poly) several times and I think BWI compares pretty nicely to GF except for the scale of the lobby. It feels luxurious but also whimsical and there's so much to do in that resort area.

 

[Mary T in PA]

The QS Gasparilla's is scheduled to close Sept. 4th. The courtyard pool will close mid Sept. Beach pool will remain open. QS items will be served at the grill in the newly renovated Beach pool. The rest of the schedule is vague at this point. The kid's club and spa have been closed for quite some time.

You can ask to be placed away from construction. I personally would downgrade to garden view as that allows for more options away from construction. We have stayed in the main building twice since the construction began with little to no impact on our trip. Do keep in mind that location requests are not guaranteed. The GF thread has constant updates on construction from people who have recently visited, you may want to follow that.

We will be back at GF over Labor Day Weekend and I don't anticipate being impacted in any significant way. The most annoying aspect was the monorail delays (very few) due to the crane moving something across the beam.

This is good to hear as we are booked for GF RPC in late Nov, and we did indeed see all the construction in person a few weeks ago when we were down...we actually switched away from the Poly and over to GF because our stay at the Poly was good, but the remodeled room didn't suit me.

 

[Waltgirl]

I don't know if you frequent the QS at the GF but keep in mind that the counter service at YC/BC and BW is very limited. There is also the convention and Food and Wine going so the Epcot resorts are going to be packed. We will be down there for a wedding and had a chance to stay over there and we delined because of those reasons. We chose POR but would upgrade to WL in a heartbeat if Disney released some discounts. Would you consider the WL?

Also not sure what you mean by the noisy rooms at the Contemporary? Tower rooms as opposed to South Wing?

I would never stay at a resort under construction. Others may feel differently, but we spend alot of time relaxing at our resort and feel it detracts from the "Magic."

 

[baler31]

This is good to hear as we are booked for GF RPC in late Nov, and we did indeed see all the construction in person a few weeks ago when we were down...we actually switched away from the Poly and over to GF because our stay at the Poly was good, but the remodeled room didn't suit me.

I would add away from construction as a request if you booked standard view RPC. Theme Park view automatically will be away.

On our June trip we had a Deluxe room booked and knew from prior experience that most of the few queen deluxes overlooked the beach pool and construction. We asked IPO to note away from construction and we received the room right off the lounge 7420? Sorry, I am terrible with room numbers. I don't think it would have bothered us looking down on it anyway. We really don't use the QS so that is a non event for us. I do think the closing of the courtyard pool could be more intrusive but will just wait and see.

 

[dipastor]

Hmmmmm, thanks for the update folks. I totally forgot to take into account the Epcot F&W festival. I am hoping the delay in the courtyard pool will happen again and maybe they will put it off. I talked to a representative about the construction. She couldn't guarantee any more delays. I am waiting to have my reservations transferred to a different travel agent. AAA was not helpful and didn't have much knowledge about anything Disney (at least my phila. office didn't). Once I get my new agent, we can start working on a plan.

We don't use Gasparilla's. We always go to GF cafe so that's not an issue. If we have no other choices, I will miss the beautiful grounds and pool in the morning. If only my AAA travel agent told me ahead of time about construction, I would have put off my trip. At the time of booking, I didn't see the notes on construction. By the time I found out it was too late and I will lose too much money by canceling. Thanks for all your input. I will follow the GF thread on this board. This website is great!!!

 

[AimeeMichele]

Hmmmmm, thanks for the update folks. I totally forgot to take into account the Epcot F&W festival. I am hoping the delay in the courtyard pool will happen again and maybe they will put it off. I talked to a representative about the construction. She couldn't guarantee any more delays. I am waiting to have my reservations transferred to a different travel agent. AAA was not helpful and didn't have much knowledge about anything Disney (at least my phila. office didn't). Once I get my new agent, we can start working on a plan.

We don't use Gasparilla's. We always go to GF cafe so that's not an issue. If we have no other choices, I will miss the beautiful grounds and pool in the morning. If only my AAA travel agent told me ahead of time about construction, I would have put off my trip. At the time of booking, I didn't see the notes on construction. By the time I found out it was too late and I will lose too much money by canceling. Thanks for all your input. I will follow the GF thread on this board. This website is great!!!

If your vacation is at the end of October you should be able to make changes to the dates or cancel with either only your deposit not being refunded (if no insurance) or less the deposit. (At least that's what I've been told in the past.) I moved us from the GF to the BC for our trip in October because of the construction....hopefully the conference has vacant rooms that get released and you can snag one somewhere.

You do know that you can take over your own reservation instead of having a travel agent, right? It's way easier to make changes instead of waiting to hear back from the TA. Just wanted to throw that out there for you. Good luck!

 

[dipastor]

If I have to switch... I'm thinking Beach Club also. What does RPV abbrev. stand for? I saw it on one of the answers to my post.

I was going to take the res. myself and handle it but my sister's TA is so knowledgeable about Disney. She is there many times a year... and... has a little info. on when some deals may come out (still waiting/hoping for the %off deal on hotel). Because of the number of kids we have and we need two bathrooms (2 of kids have GI issues) we had to book two connecting rooms. That is my only concern with changing the GF res now... trying to find a desirable location with connecting.

thanks for your input.
I can't wait to finally get there (hopefully with great rooms) and go to my happy places (small world, toy story mania and Peter Pan)

thanks again!

 

[elaw]

... I would opt for either the YC or BC depending on which theme you prefer (YC=yacht/mahogany, BC=beach/wicker). We prefer the laid back theme of the BC, which tends to be more popular with kids. The YC feels a bit more upscale and peaceful.

I actually think the BWI decor is more similar to the GF than that of the YC/BC, but still give the YC/BC the edge due to its superior pool area-- your kids would love it since it is essentially a mini water park! The BC is also slightly closer to Epcot than the BWI, although the BWI is a bit closer to the DHS, so it just depends on where you will spend more time.

Good luck with your decision! You truly cannot go wrong with any Epcot resort.

I agree complteley

 

[dsanner106]

I would choose BWI first, followed by yacht, beach, then swan and dolphin. Love the service and location of BWI. Yacht and Beach for the pools with the edge going to Yacht for the service and balconies and restaurants on site.
I am sure you will have a great trip anyway, try not to get too stressed over this before you even get there. Have fun!
Drew in Ga

 

[dipastor]

whooops.. meant:
What does RPC stand for? I know it's probably so obvious and I'm being a big space.
thanks

 

[LukenDC]

I don't blame you for wanting to switch from GF due to the extensive construction. I've stayed at GF and believe that BWI is the most similar in terms of room decor. BWI also shares with GF a quaint turn of the century atmosphere. I would also not hesitate to stay at the YC again. I have not stayed at BC, but would certainly be willing to try. The Epcot resort area has a lot to offer and is very convenient.