Question about GrandFloridian Club Level

[Pixiedustuk]

Hello everyone. I am trying to decide whether to upgrade my Garden View room at the Grand Floridian to Club Level (staying October 2023). Can anyone tell me if the Club Level service at the GF is the same as it used to be before COVID? Do they still serve Afternoon Tea? What are the offerings like in the evenings these days? Thanks for your help with this

 

[focusondisney]

Hello everyone. I am trying to decide whether to upgrade my Garden View room at the Grand Floridian to Club Level (staying October 2023). Can anyone tell me if the Club Level service at the GF is the same as it used to be before COVID? Do they still serve Afternoon Tea? What are the offerings like in the evenings these days? Thanks for your help with this

We were there for a few days Labor Day week. Unfortunately we had dinner ADRs & I only peeked in to see what was out. So I didn’t write down the specific offerings. And no, afternoon tea has not returned. I will say, there is more at GF than there was at YC. Afternoon snack time had cookies, the home made chips, veggies & dip plus soup every day. I had the tomato soup which was absolutely delicious. Breakfast is similar to all the other club levels, usually an egg dish, a hot meat & oatmeal or grits. Plus the other usual croissant, fruits, pastries & breads for toasting. Two of the nights we were there, there was a pasta & sauce offered in the kids area. I had some & it was very good. The lounge was a bit more crowded than other times we’ve been there, but not horrible. Just seemed like there were more family groups so tables had more people than normal & chairs were always moved around. Probably best to ask on the dedicated Club level thread. There are several posters there who have stayed at RPC recently & can give more info.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/disneys-club-level-cl-information-questions.3414590/

edit to add: evenings always has 2 hot dishes & at least 3 cold salads, seafood apps, veggies & dip, cheese, crackers plus the kids area has at least 1 hot item also. This is the minimum that’s out, I’m probably undercounting how many different cold options are out.

 

[Her Dotness]

This is quite a bit more substantial than we recall of the RPC's offerings when we used to stay there, last time Christmas 2015.

It was more strictly a continental breakfast then, lavish, but with no hot dishes except oatmeal.

The RPC always used to have much more variety than the other Deluxes' CLs. We were pretty disappointed by WL's CL when we stayed there. None of the beautifully molded butter balls, only a couple ordinary sweet rolls, a bagel or two and a muffin whereas the RPC always had 2-3 varieties of fresh, sliced bread besides plain croissants, various bagels and 3-4 different pastries along with muffins. Nothing like cold cuts and cheese slices with deli salads at WL either.

And the GF CL concierge service is wonderful. We had to leave the MK to get to an Epcot lunch ADR on Christmas Day too quickly to get through the line at MK package pickup. Of course, the MK closed until late afternoon when we were getting ready for dinner. We were leaving next morning so appealed to CL concierge for help in getting the package we'd had to leave in MK. They sent a courier in to retrieve it, who delivered it to our room with a lovely note wishing us a Happy New Year and safe travel home.

THAT'S why an RPC stay is sooooo very worth its cost as the OP likely recalls.

 

[SL6827]

Not sure if Disney has cut back on CL offerings since the pandemic since we have only stayed one time CL. But with the prices of these rooms there is no excuse why anything should be of lesser quality or amount.

 

[Pixiedustuk]

Thanks so much for the information and your help here - it's been really useful to hear about the current offerings in the GF Lounge area. I've decided to take the plunge and upgrade to RPC Club as I really don't think I can stay without it (even though there's no Afternoon Tea which is a luxury I will miss!!). Thanks once again

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks so much for the information and your help here - it's been really useful to hear about the current offerings in the GF Lounge area. I've decided to take the plunge and upgrade to RPC Club as I really don't think I can stay without it (even though there's no Afternoon Tea which is a luxury I will miss!!). Thanks once again

Hi there. One thing to keep an eye on for next year is GF room renovations. In typical Disney fashion they haven't released a schedule or anything to set expectations.....just vague things like "GF is under a multi-year transformation" and similar marketing speak.

Big Pine Key was offline March-June for the DVC conversion, which then moved on to Boca Chica for regular hotel room renovations, call it July-Oct (estimating there), then presumably on to the next building, etc. Most of us are assuming they'll make their way to the main building last and/or eventually... but when that will be is TBD.

You could be in the clear next Oct but just keep an eye on the GF and Club Level threads around here just in case so you can manage expectations. RPC is great and I have a pretty high tolerance for Disney construction... but that would be a tough $ pill for me to swallow if the RPC experience were in any way impacted during your stay. Again, I could be chasing ghosts here - just want you to be eyes wide open.

On the plus side the rooms and frankly the CL lounge really do need a renovation (in my opinion) so that's good... but the downside is the timeline is unknown.

All of that aside, enjoy your GF RPC stay!

 

[Pixiedustuk]

Hi,
Thanks for alerting me to the renovations and what's happening with the construction at the moment. Its definitely something to bear in mind - good idea to keep my eye on the GF and Club Level threads here - I can then see how things are going, just in case I think there's going to be an impact. You're right - it's not a cheap stay and especially with the £ to $ dollar conversion at the moment it'll certainly eat up my hard earned money!! I'm loving the fresh new room decor at the moment though and think they've brought some nice unique touches in. Thanks once again; I appreciate your help very much indeed.

 

[Spirea]

I personally wouldn’t recommend upgrading to Club Level ESPECIALLY if you have done club level prior to Covid. We just left GF CL and it was a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, we had a great week but so many things have been eliminated that it really doesn’t justify the $1200 a night for a standard concierge room.
I think if it’s your first time ever doing CL at GF, you would be fine/happy but for someone that has stayed there a handful of times including my honeymoon, it’s just not the same level of service or offerings. And the most disappointing thing of all is that tea time is gone! I’m not writing this to bash on Disney and I know staffing is a issue and Covid did a number on everyone but I just can’t justify the cost to the experience. Shout out to Irv. He’s a rockstar and reminded me of old Disney!

 

[FSU Girl]

I enjoyed the club offering and have been before and after Covid. Thought it was a great stay, but my room was in desperate need of renovating. So I’ll probably not stay there again until they’ve finished the main building. For the price point it just doesn’t seem worth it right now. But if your main concern is the food it was excellent

 

[PalmettoPath]

We were just there two weeks ago. No afternoon tea, but very good breakfast (hot dishes as well). Okay lunch. Pretty good dinner hour items and nice late night snacks. Almost back to where it used to be for us, we were quite happy with the current state of the lounge offerings.

 

[Pixiedustuk]

Thanks very much to everyone for your thoughts on this. Despite me saying that I was going to take the plunge to upgrade to RPC Club Level in my previous post I actually never did as I was worried that the RPC room upgrades might not be finished by then, which might mean that our booking would be transferred to another hotel. We arrive on 14 October 2023, so I'm wondering if there a risk that the timescales for Disney's upgrade project on RPC might overrun (I've heard that RPC will be refurbished between June and end Sept 23? Not sure how accurate that is though). While I love the other monorail hotels I really do want to stay in the GF this time. I'll just have to book another stay once the new RPC opens and lobby refurbishment has finished! (any excuse!!)
Thanks for the latest information about RPC and their offerings - we've stayed in RPC only 4 times since 2007 (wish it was more!!) and I think each time we've noticed a change (the RPC Cast Members have always been brilliant though). It's probably too much to hope that Disney will take the opportunity to bring back tea time after the refurbishment, but I will keep my fingers crossed!

 

[Disturbia]

Note on the buses to the parks with wheelchairs: guests from the Poly get picked up first so it took us 1 hour to get to HS 12/29. We were at the bus stop at 4:05 and didn’t get into HS until 5 pm. At the GF stop there were people in wheelchairs who were waiting 2 hours because the first bus had no room at all and the second one had standing room only and we were the third bus.

Oct should be fine unless you’re going close to Jersey week (first week of Nov).

 

[Pixiedustuk]

That's worth thinking about - thanks. When we go as a family our granddaughter uses a wheelchair and sometimes it can be hard going getting around - particularly when the crowd levels are high. This time, in October, its just the 2 of us. Can't wait to be at the GF again!