We just came back from a wonderful stay at GF. The resort was wonderful and I can't imagine staying a different resort. Our room was in Big Pine Key. I had requested an upper floor near the pools.
We were in a top floor dormer room. Here are some pictures of our view from our balcony.
The room was very nice....
and we could see the fireworks from our balcony.
The staff was excellent and very accommodating. The pools were very nice and not crowded, we were able to get a chair every time. I preferred the Beach pool to the Courtyard pool. I liked the zero entry, my daughter could play in the shallow end without us in the pool, and it was nice to be on the beach. My one complaint would be that the pool bars closed at 8pm. It would have been nice if they had been open until 10pm especially on Friday or Saturday.
We used valet parking, it was very convenient. We were on the deluxe dining plan so we valeted at the other resorts, and it was great that you could call ahead and have your car waiting for you.
We had tea in the tea room and that was nice. We also ordered room service from Narcoossee a couple nights at the end of the trip. The food was excellent. On our first day we had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and it was also good.
I had also thought that staying at a monorail wouldn't be that much more convenient than a non monorail resort, but it was great to get to MK and to dine at the Contemporary and Poly. We took the boat back from MK and over to Poly once. One morning we had a breakfast reservation at Kona so we walked over to Poly and then caught the monorail over to Epcot from the TTC. It was nice to have so many travel options.
Last year we stayed at POFQ it was nice but I doubt I would stay at a moderate resort again. Our plane arrived late in the day so we spent our first night at POP and the difference between it and POFQ were minimal. They rooms were nearly the same, the main difference was that POP was much more crowded. The difference between POFQ and GF were much more significant and I think if you are doing a vacation where you plan on spending time at the resort it is worth it to upgrade to deluxe. I am a GF convert