***OFFICIAL Grand Floridian Construction Thread (new info!)***

[Dream Big Live Grand]

Hey DreamBigLiveGrand
Nice name. Great minds think alike

 

[itisamymc]

There are pics / reviews of the new pool bar food, where?

 

[chinhk]

Does anyone knows when will all these refurbishments will be finished? Are they just upgrading the public areas/restaurants or do they have plans to refurbish the rooms too??

 

[Tink rules]

there are plans to do the rooms over also.. No date as of yet.. but it should be in the next year. They will close off a building at a time. You should not notice anything really about those rehabs unless they are doing any outside work (painting, etc. )

 

[chinhk]

We have just booked to stay at the GF from Sept 8th - 15th 2013. Have always wanted to stay at this amazing looking resort so I seriously hope our stay will not be affected by the refurbishments if there's any at that time.

By the look of it, I guess all the public areas and restaurants would have been fully refurbished by then?

 

[Tink rules]

The main refurb will probably be done by then. The pool should be done by spring, Sandy Cove is already open... Gaspies is supposed to open this week... You really shouldn't know about the indoor renovations and if it is.. it will be minor.

The DVC building will probably be enclosed by then and they will be working on the inside.

 

[chinhk]

Thanks for the info. Really good to know everything should be back to normal or near normal by then.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Just got back from the GF. Still LOTS of construction. Working on loading the pics...

Gasparilla's was still closed when we were there. The courtyard pool is still closed as I'm sure everyone already knows, but they weren't even working on it at all. Nothing. Not a peep coming from behind those walls. And I talked to another DISer in the elevator of the SL building and she had a view right into it from her room (we were on the other side of the building) and she said there wasn't anyone doing anything in there. Weird!

Definitely lots of work going on at the new DVC building. Lots of work and lots of noise. You can definitely hear and see it from the beach pool.

And still no beach access - all walled off.

 

[jcondrad]

Checking out this morning, GG is supposed to open today but as of right now the construction walls are still up.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[minmick93]

Just got back from GF this afternoon. Staff in Mizner's said that Gasparilla's is opening on 22 Dec...as others have said, there is a LOT going on at the Grand, but it would not deter me from staying there. We had an awesome time, stayed in a garden room in Sago Cay (thanks for the advice on requesting that!) and the decorations are amazing! Despite many trips to WDW, we had never been to see the Christmas decorations and they were beautiful...already planning next year's trip! Don't miss the Candlelight Processional or the Very Merry Christmas party--so much fun!

 

[Tink rules]

they forgot to install the lights in the main pool... that's why the delay...

there are pics on wdw magic - the roof supports are being installed


Good news on Gaspies!!!

 

[chinhk]

We have also booked two garden view rooms. Can we request a specific building? Considering conch key due to its close proximity to the boat stop but it is quite far away from the main building. Any other suggestions?

 

[Tink rules]

Conch isn't all that far.. it's really a comfortable resort to get around in.


Come join us over on this thread... more info on the GF...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46949169#post46949169

 

[ktlm]

We have also booked two garden view rooms. Can we request a specific building? Considering conch key due to its close proximity to the boat stop but it is quite far away from the main building. Any other suggestions?

We really liked the view from our Garden View in Conch Key last year. We also loved being near the boat dock as it seems like hardly anyone takes the boat over to MK in the mornings. We were the only ones on the boat one morning, it was great.

 

[bdklein]

We really liked the view from our Garden View in Conch Key last year. We also loved being near the boat dock as it seems like hardly anyone takes the boat over to MK in the mornings. We were the only ones on the boat one morning, it was great.

For us it's monorail to the MK and boat back. One stop each way. Just makes sense to us.

 

[ktlm]

For us it's monorail to the MK and boat back. One stop each way. Just makes sense to us.

They actually tell you at the front desk when you check in to take the Monorail there and boat back. We are rebels.

As for us, we much prefer just the 3 of us, or I think the most we have ever had was 2 other families with us, on a nice laid back ride on the boat -which sometimes stops at the Poly in the morning and sometimes just goes direct to MK in our experience, over standing in line for the monorail, sometimes getting on and sometimes not because of the crowds, and when you do get on in the mornings by the time the monorail gets to the GF, in our experience it is usually standing room only and being packed in like sardines, and sometimes being hit with strollers. We took the monorail to MK on check out day since we were already in the main building after checking our bags, and my DD (6) looked at me and said "Why are we on this crowded thing instead of the boat?"

 

[bdklein]

They actually tell you at the front desk when you check in to take the Monorail there and boat back. We are rebels.

As for us, we much prefer just the 3 of us, or I think the most we have ever had was 2 other families with us, on a nice laid back ride on the boat -which sometimes stops at the Poly in the morning and sometimes just goes direct to MK in our experience, over standing in line for the monorail, sometimes getting on and sometimes not because of the crowds, and when you do get on in the mornings by the time the monorail gets to the GF, in our experience it is usually standing room only and being packed in like sardines, and sometimes being hit with strollers. We took the monorail to MK on check out day since we were already in the main building after checking our bags, and my DD (6) looked at me and said "Why are we on this crowded thing instead of the boat?"

In all my years I have never seen the boat go straight to the Mk from the GF and bypass the Poly. I wonder why/how that happened.

 

[ktlm]

In all my years I have never seen the boat go straight to the Mk from the GF and bypass the Poly. I wonder why/how that happened.

Don't know, but we went to MK 2 mornings and 1 evening by boat, on our trip the week after Thanksgiving this yearand one morning we went straight to MK and the other morning we pulled up to the Poly dock and we didn't even dock the boat because there was no one waiting or even walking toward the boat from afar. The evening trip, I think we picked up one family or maybe two at the Poly, but it was still a really quick stop. We had pretty much the exact same experience the year before (same week). That trip we also had one of the mornings that we bypassed the Poly and went straight to the MK. I have no clue why it happened either time, and we didn't expect it, but we're certainly not complaining!