sleepydog25
Been here awhile
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 8,407
Though VWL is our home, my wife and I enjoy checking out other DVC resorts; thus, seven months out we easily booked a lake view studio at VGF. In short, we immensely enjoyed our stay there and will likely do so again at some point in the future. Still, there were some minor issues that prove no resort is perfect.
PRO
- Gorgeous. No doubt about this aspect. The details in the lobby, especially the penguin fountain--never got tiring. In the rooms, the inviting bed, granite countertops, antiqued glass, and other attentions to detail were superb.
- Main shower. Large, has a ledge to sit or place shampoos, etc., and has dual shower heads--one conventional and one overhead rainforest type. Ventilation in bathroom is excellent and is run by motion detection system.
- View. As advertised. Better really. We had a sunrise view over the water with the Poly off to our far right, the Wedding Pavilion a stone's throw away, the CR off to the left, boats, boat horns, and even the monorail in the distance. If there was anything to do at the Poly (even the coffee shop is closed) other than eat, the walk is a quick 7-8 minutes.
- Balcony. Large and open.
- Elevators. There are three and we never waited more than 30 seconds for one to open.
- Staff friendliness was topnotch. If anything, a few CMs tried too hard, but that's hardly fair to criticize.
- Parking. Easy and close by, relatively speaking. Same goes for the pools as you can be at the closest pool in mere moments.
- Senses Spa and Health Club. Can you say "30-second walk?"
- Serenity. Peace and quiet abounded save for the occasional joyous child.
CON
- Room layout not entirely logical. Though there are sleeping spaces for five, I'd not want to try it due to storage. The logical area for drawers (under the TV) is, of course, where the new trundle bed is located. The sprawling main bed has two large, pull-out drawers--but only one can be used since the bedside table blocks the second one. The only other storage area are three small cubes in the closet. Due to there being an ironing board, iron, vacuum cleaner, the safe, and two robes (nice ones, though), there is very little hanging space in the closet, as well.
- Bathroom. While nicely appointed, the split concept has drawbacks, mainly that the second shower (which doubles as a tub) takes away potential storage. Lighting for the mirror--at least my wife informs me--is even worse here than, say, at VWL.
- TV in bathroom. While a unique feature, it doesn't seem to run on the same menu as the primary TV. The picture quality is lacking, and our particular remote had difficulty turning on/off/changing channels. I never planned to use that TV (and didn't other than to check it out a couple of times), but it has been touted as a cool feature, even when we checked in. Not so much.
- Trash cans. Like many hotels, there are only three very tiny trash cans with ill-fitting liners. They weren't big enough for two of us, much less five.
- Service. When we first checked in, it took longer than our experience at other resorts and our CM seemed a bit lost, neither of which is a big deal. It happens. When we went to unlock our room, neither MagicBand worked. I trudged back downstairs where it took another 20 minutes to get straightened. Again, by itself, not a huge issue. That day in Epcot and that night at our dinner at AP, the bands wouldn't allow us to charge--an annoyance but not insurmountable. When we got back to the resort, all CMs were gone for the evening. Not a soul could be found unless we wanted to go over to the main building. Well, that's just not very good customer service--not awful but not compensatory for what many call the flagship resort. We did get the bands fully functioning the next morning, but we had to wait until 7:30 for the first CM to show.
Overall, we loved our stay there as we felt the pros far outweighed the cons. As is the potential with any resort stay, there were also a few minor Mousekeeping gaffes: hair in the shower, cheese puff in the closet, and the requisite scuffs and gouges on the furniture. None of these were so serious as to bother us, but I mention it for those to whom it does deflate the experience. In sum, the extra point costs won't make this a "must do" resort for us, but if we do wind up with some extra points for a short stay in the future, VGF would make a fine choice.
PRO
- Gorgeous. No doubt about this aspect. The details in the lobby, especially the penguin fountain--never got tiring. In the rooms, the inviting bed, granite countertops, antiqued glass, and other attentions to detail were superb.
- Main shower. Large, has a ledge to sit or place shampoos, etc., and has dual shower heads--one conventional and one overhead rainforest type. Ventilation in bathroom is excellent and is run by motion detection system.
- View. As advertised. Better really. We had a sunrise view over the water with the Poly off to our far right, the Wedding Pavilion a stone's throw away, the CR off to the left, boats, boat horns, and even the monorail in the distance. If there was anything to do at the Poly (even the coffee shop is closed) other than eat, the walk is a quick 7-8 minutes.
- Balcony. Large and open.
- Elevators. There are three and we never waited more than 30 seconds for one to open.
- Staff friendliness was topnotch. If anything, a few CMs tried too hard, but that's hardly fair to criticize.
- Parking. Easy and close by, relatively speaking. Same goes for the pools as you can be at the closest pool in mere moments.
- Senses Spa and Health Club. Can you say "30-second walk?"
- Serenity. Peace and quiet abounded save for the occasional joyous child.
CON
- Room layout not entirely logical. Though there are sleeping spaces for five, I'd not want to try it due to storage. The logical area for drawers (under the TV) is, of course, where the new trundle bed is located. The sprawling main bed has two large, pull-out drawers--but only one can be used since the bedside table blocks the second one. The only other storage area are three small cubes in the closet. Due to there being an ironing board, iron, vacuum cleaner, the safe, and two robes (nice ones, though), there is very little hanging space in the closet, as well.
- Bathroom. While nicely appointed, the split concept has drawbacks, mainly that the second shower (which doubles as a tub) takes away potential storage. Lighting for the mirror--at least my wife informs me--is even worse here than, say, at VWL.
- TV in bathroom. While a unique feature, it doesn't seem to run on the same menu as the primary TV. The picture quality is lacking, and our particular remote had difficulty turning on/off/changing channels. I never planned to use that TV (and didn't other than to check it out a couple of times), but it has been touted as a cool feature, even when we checked in. Not so much.
- Trash cans. Like many hotels, there are only three very tiny trash cans with ill-fitting liners. They weren't big enough for two of us, much less five.
- Service. When we first checked in, it took longer than our experience at other resorts and our CM seemed a bit lost, neither of which is a big deal. It happens. When we went to unlock our room, neither MagicBand worked. I trudged back downstairs where it took another 20 minutes to get straightened. Again, by itself, not a huge issue. That day in Epcot and that night at our dinner at AP, the bands wouldn't allow us to charge--an annoyance but not insurmountable. When we got back to the resort, all CMs were gone for the evening. Not a soul could be found unless we wanted to go over to the main building. Well, that's just not very good customer service--not awful but not compensatory for what many call the flagship resort. We did get the bands fully functioning the next morning, but we had to wait until 7:30 for the first CM to show.
Overall, we loved our stay there as we felt the pros far outweighed the cons. As is the potential with any resort stay, there were also a few minor Mousekeeping gaffes: hair in the shower, cheese puff in the closet, and the requisite scuffs and gouges on the furniture. None of these were so serious as to bother us, but I mention it for those to whom it does deflate the experience. In sum, the extra point costs won't make this a "must do" resort for us, but if we do wind up with some extra points for a short stay in the future, VGF would make a fine choice.
The monorail is very convenient and was one of the things we liked about our stay, so add that to the PRO side. 
Bill 
