Room 5119 - Sago Cay Grand Floridian- Don't Stay There....

[Toby]

Ground floor right next to entrance/exit and elevators....sounds ideal, right?? Wrong, trust me!! People in and out all day and night, talking loudly, running across loud tile floors to the elevators. Kids shrieking coming off the elevator at 7:00am on..in the morning - yelling, screaming, crying....Cast Members parking their golf carts with luggage right outside our patio doors all hours. Air Conditioning compressor unit right outside the building turning off and on all night long.....paper thin walls - thank God, we got a huge discount on this room (now I can see why)...Don't get me wrong - the place is gorgeous, but too many little kids being allowed to have temper tantrums any time, any place they wanted to, and everyone else had to be part of a captive audience. And I have two kids..........I thought Grand Floridian was themed for adults and maybe older kids.......

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I'm so sorry about that! Our room in Sago Cay was very quiet (we were down at the end). I do agree, there are way too many little kids at the GF...

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

that just reminder me. This past June I was at the YC concierge level. It was fathers day and this one mother was walking down the hall with 2 screaming kids. She stopped dead in her tracks stopped the kids and said something in reference to it is fathers day and it has to be wuiet so all fathers can have a relaxing day. she said it in such a tone the 2 little ones stopped crying loud and held her hand and walked to the elevator. I guess the kids screamming is what kids do best. it is up to the parents to control them. I hope I didn;t offend anyone saying that, I just feel my son was always well behaved and if he wasn't he knew that there was a price to pay, time out, it worked for me.

 

[CuteKatCar]

Sorry, but when I booked the GF in '98 (with 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 yr old) and in '00 (then 4 1/2 and 6 1/2) no one told me they couldn't stay. And, don't forget, CRO does ask how old everyone in your party is.

So, no, the GF is not just for adults. It happens to be a great place to stay if you want easy access to MK!! It happens to have a Tea Party, Pirate's Cruise, now a pool slide, etc......for kids!!

Anna

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I'm no expert, but, in my opinion, people need to control their children - whether at the Grand Floridian, the parks, the All-Stars, whatever. I hate when little brats ruin a day/evening/stay - it almost seems unfair. But, of course, that is just my opinion - I guess some people don't mind rude children (especially parents who don't correct their kids).

 

[LisaR]

Originally posted by CaliforniaDreaming
I hate when little brats ruin a day/evening/stay - it almost seems unfair.

I like to go with the theory that MOST children are NOT little brats. There are MANY, MANY people that don't have a clue how to parent their children, which is ashame. However, to call the child a "brat" is a bit much. That child learned that behavior from an ADULT. Blame the adult, not the child.

Lisa

 

[lookingforward]

"Way too many little kids" is a much different thing than "way too many little brats". Not all little children are "brats" but all children do tend to make more noise than the average adult. But without the children (brats or not) there would be no Grand Floridian, no Disneyworld...period. So as much as they can annoy some people, the money their parents drop at Disneyworld allows Disney to build and maintain the Grand Floridian and all the other things we love there. If one wants to get away from children or is annoyed by them, they should find somewhere else to vacation.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Originally posted by LisaR


I like to go with the theory that MOST children are NOT little brats. There are MANY, MANY people that don't have a clue how to parent their children, which is ashame. However, to call the child a "brat" is a bit much. That child learned that behavior from an ADULT. Blame the adult, not the child.

Lisa

While I can say that most kids are not brats, I wouldn't ever say that there are no children that are brats. And, yes, the fault and blame belong to to adult, who should control the child. And, some children should know better (not always possible depending on what their parents are like).

Still, anywhere you go, there are children who behave wonderfully, and then there are children who behave not-so-well. Sometimes worse than children are obnoxious adults - but I won't even get into that, since all DIS'ers are polite and kind people.

 

[Ethelina]

Wow!!
I will speak on behalf of my rowdy bunch. It's not easy being little people! Yes, PEOPLE. We are little blessings and we are not little for very long. Sometimes I get hungry, tired, bored or stressed out that makes me fussy! I hope not all folks feel this way about children. I really thought Disney was for the kids. I think every child should be able to experience Disney! Maybe try an adult only resort on an island somewhere far away from us pesty children.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Well, all this was just a teenager's point of view, so of course I cannot speak for "adults". Maybe my opinion is invalid, and maybe I shouldn't even help people out with their questions reguarding different aspects of Disney. Maybe I should delete my GF FAQ. Well, that all is just my opinion, just like there are some (but not all) children in this (real) world who cannot behave, most likely due to the way they observed adults in their lives.

 

[lookingforward]

No need to get mad or offended! Noone knows the ages of people on this board. They are just expressing counter opinions on children who stay at the Grand Floridian and the dollars and cents reality that requires them to be there! Some people would say that they don't want to be around teen-agers because they are loud and rude. Yet we know many teenagers who are articulate, smart, accomplished, well behaved and helpful! Bottom line is we all love Disney and some people would love to be without the loud crazy kids that come with it. But since children are the main focus of Disneyworld (although not the ONLY focus) it will never happen. I have three children who are wonderful (okay, I am not objective) but they do sometimes talk too loud and my three year old will "melt down" after a long day, but I agree that it is the parents responsibilty to keep it under control as much as humanly possible.

California Dreaming we really do appreciate your kindness and help on these boards!
Sorry if I offended. All of our opinions count, even when we disagree!

 

[Brier Rose]

Please tell me I am not the only parent in the world who can't just snap their fingers, and stop a temper tantrum on the spot I guess I'm just one of those bad adults that must be to blame everytime my 3 year old has a melt down in public. I'm sorry if seeing that must just ruin someone else's good time. I wish some people would realize that despite the parents best efforts some times children sometimes act like well, children!! It embaress me to no end when my DS throws a fit in front of people. Sometimes I just want to sit down on the floor and cry with him. I've come to take notice of the things that set him off, and I try to head off a tantrum before it starts,but sometimes you just can't.You don't like, I don't like, but hey it happens sometimes. Just try and take it easy on some of us parents that are trying to do the best we can.

 

[lookingforward]

I can totally relate to wanting to sit down and cry with your child. When my daughter has a tantrum I want to cry too!! Sometimes I actually do, lol. At first I thought "how could she actually cry at Disneyworld", but there is so much stimulation and it is so exhausting for a little kid and then while adults can voice thier concerns "my feet hurt" or "I have such a headache"...little ones can't tell us how they are feeling through words.

 

[lizzie64]

Frankly, I'm a little insulted by some of the comments on this thread. Having 4 children with age ranges of 15-2 years, we deal with all kinds of kids behavior. Teenagers as well as little ones (how can you call a child a brat) can be troublesome. Temper trantrums and late night pool noise by teenagers are at all the resorts.

If I'm paying for my family to stay at the GF, that includes my children. I don't remember reading anywhere on the Disney site that the GF is reserved for Adults only, or perfectly mannered children whose behavior and manners will be checked upon check in.

Disney World can be very tiring and stressfull for the youngsters. An occasional tantrum is absolutely normal, and not an indication of poor parenting as was previously mentioned. Most of these kids are up at the crack of dawn with parents who must be at the park for the rope drop.

Well, enough preaching, just had to get my opinion out. I always thought Disney World was for the kids as much as adults. If I have to pay for my kids then they are just as entitled to stay at the GF as you are.

 

[TZMOM]

What amazes me are parents & other family members taking really small kids into the parks. So many times, I've seen kids who are just exhausted, but the parents want to stay, so - they stay - with no thought to how the kids feel. Then the kid starts to cry/whine/scream because he/she is soooo exhausted & the grown up starts yelling/screaming/slapping at them. What a nice vacation for both - ah? If you want to go to a park, that's great - but if you're taking a small or even older kid, you have to go by what they can do, not the other way around. Either that or you wait till they're older & can handle being at a park all day. Just my 2 cents.

 

[LisaR]

I still stand by a few comments I made:

1. Calling a child a "brat" is NOT appropriate. You are stereotyping. As a teenager, I would think you would not want anyone lumping you into a category of "all teenagers act this way....."

2. I also think the vast majority of time a child misbehaves is the fault of the parent. Yes, I am a parent to two children. I am not saying every time a child has a melt down that it is the parents fault. I am talking about misbehaving. When a child is running down the hallway of a hotel "joyfully" screaming, it IS the parents fault. When a child is running around the table at a restaurant, it IS the parents fault. To classify that child as a brat is WRONG! For the parent not to take responsibility for the child is also WRONG. I can't stand the "kids will be kids" excuse many parents use. I think children should be welcome anywhere - especially at WDW, and that includes the GF. However, I think as a parent, I have a responsibility to teach my kids what is appropriate behaviour and not laugh it off when they disrupt other guests.

Lisa

 

[Zelda]

From what I have seen at WDW the number of children who are happy far outnumber the ones who are throwing tantrums. I think being tired has a lot to do with it too- grownups and kids get cranky then. Get lots of rest, be flexible enough to miss a couple of things in order to go to a quiet corner and chill.

 

[Toby]

Okay, maybe my original post sounded very cranky - you'd be too if you did the parks all day, and then got 5 hours (maybe) of uninterrupted sleep because of the location of the room. And then paid almost $800 for three nights... All I am saying is parents should be more aware that there are rooms on the ground floor, and maybe, just maybe, people are sleeping at 7:30am, and maybe I should tell "Johnny" or "Susie" to be a little more quiet!! It's only common courtesy - kids are too young to know better, but the parents certainly do........

 

[Disneydenise]

Maybe when they assign rooms they should put all the older children on the upper floors and the folks with younger children on the bottom floor. It makes sense to me. Little kids are up and happy and noisy in the AM they are tired and sleeping in the PM so the adults coming in at 1 or 2 AM would need to be aware and considerate.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

As a mother of a 1 year old and a 3 year old I feel like an expert on this subject!

What I have observed on my many trips to WDW is that *SOME* parents tend to push their kids too hard. Examples... getting them up too early in the morning, keeping them in the parks too long, not letting them nap in the afternoon, allowing them to get TOO excited, etc. Children who are overly tired should not be in public. All it does is ruin everyone's enjoyment.

About noise in your resort room, I am guilty of having a crying baby in the room next door. We took our youngest to WDW for the first time when he was 5 months old and on the second day he got sick with a bad cold. He cried a lot at night, despite all our efforts to calm him. I felt terrible for our "neighbors" but there was nothing I could do. Luckily he'd usually fall asleep by 9:00-10:00pm... so it didn't disturb people too much.

As far as "brats" go. Children are mirror images of their parents. Don't blame the little ones.