The All New Grand Floridian FAQ - MAY 2009

[ahcupcake]

Why does it say under Afternoon tea (Royal Palm & SUgarloaf ONLY) and under Evening say (Champagen at Royal Palm & Sugarloaf)? What else is there?

Not sure but,MAYBE, guests thought it was available in all the buildings.

 

[minniesota]

Not sure but,MAYBE, guests thought it was available in all the buildings.

I agree. I think information about the lounge gets printed and picked up by different websites and many times it is confusing. To the OP, rest assured RPC and SL have the same offerings - no worries.

ahcupcake - love your Eyeore!

 

[Princess.Neve]

Hey Guys,

We'll be staying at the GF for the first time in December and I was just curious, what sort of beverages are served at the Royal Palm and Sugar Loaf? Any cold coffee drinks or just sodas?

Thanks!

 

[ahcupcake]

I agree. I think information about the lounge gets printed and picked up by different websites and many times it is confusing. To the OP, rest assured RPC and SL have the same offerings - no worries.

ahcupcake - love your Eyeore!

Thanks Minniesota.

Hey Guys,

We'll be staying at the GF for the first time in December and I was just curious, what sort of beverages are served at the Royal Palm and Sugar Loaf? Any cold coffee drinks or just sodas?

Thanks!

I'm not a coffe drinker but I do know they have the stuff to make your own hot/iced regular coffee, latte/capuccino they also have flavored syrups.........I hope this helps

 

[Princess.Neve]

I'm not a coffe drinker but I do know they have the stuff to make your own hot/iced regular coffee, latte/capuccino they also have flavored syrups.........I hope this helps

Thank you! I'm not a huge fan of just straight up coffee, I much prefer it as a latte with flavoring and whatnot, so this answer is perfect.

 

[woodkins]

Just got back from a very disappointing stay at the GF. I found the renovations to be much more major than minor and the lobby was a disaster zone in my opinion. We had to walk between huge screens to get to the monorail and there were many more screens/barriers in the lobby on the side by the RPC elevators. It was extremely noisy as well.

We originally were assigned to a dormer room in Conch Key on the 5th floor. The room was fine, although next to the elevator shaft the constant motor humming was a bit annoying to me but did not bother my family and was tolerable. The first morning we woke up to loud sawing and banging and upon opening our drapes saw a huge man lift/crane right outside our balcony. I literally could touch it. I ended up going down to the desk and asking for a room change. The clerk wordlessly changed our room with no apology, comment etc. She literally did not talk to me, did not tell me where we were moving to until she handed me our new keys. I then had to repack and wait for bell services to move all of our stuff: a huge waste of almost 2 hours and not a great way to spend my birthday. We were moved to Sago Kay and never received an apology, comment or even an inquiry as to if the new room was satisfactory.

There was construction all over the resort at all buildings and the paint fumes outside of Gasparillas were horrible when trying to eat outside the building.

Overall I think my biggest issue was that the true state of the resort and impending construction was not communicated to me when I was booking our trip. For the price I paid I could have stayed at another deluxe resort and had a quiet, peaceful and construction free vacation. I felt that they way my issues were handled was not the level of customer service that should be offered from a resort the caliber of the GF (and it was not the type of treatment I had received there in the past either).
-Krysta

 

[haleofafamily]

Just got back from a very disappointing stay at the GF. I found the renovations to be much more major than minor and the lobby was a disaster zone in my opinion. We had to walk between huge screens to get to the monorail and there were many more screens/barriers in the lobby on the side by the RPC elevators. It was extremely noisy as well.

We originally were assigned to a dormer room in Conch Key on the 5th floor. The room was fine, although next to the elevator shaft the constant motor humming was a bit annoying to me but did not bother my family and was tolerable. The first morning we woke up to loud sawing and banging and upon opening our drapes saw a huge man lift/crane right outside our balcony. I literally could touch it. I ended up going down to the desk and asking for a room change. The clerk wordlessly changed our room with no apology, comment etc. She literally did not talk to me, did not tell me where we were moving to until she handed me our new keys. I then had to repack and wait for bell services to move all of our stuff: a huge waste of almost 2 hours and not a great way to spend my birthday. We were moved to Sago Kay and never received an apology, comment or even an inquiry as to if the new room was satisfactory.

There was construction all over the resort at all buildings and the paint fumes outside of Gasparillas were horrible when trying to eat outside the building.

Overall I think my biggest issue was that the true state of the resort and impending construction was not communicated to me when I was booking our trip. For the price I paid I could have stayed at another deluxe resort and had a quiet, peaceful and construction free vacation. I felt that they way my issues were handled was not the level of customer service that should be offered from a resort the caliber of the GF (and it was not the type of treatment I had received there in the past either).
-Krysta

I understand your feelings and agree!

My DH and I took a Wishes Cruise from the GF boat dock and I too was shocked at the amount of construction in the Lobby. We had considered staying here for part of our vacation, but when I learned of the construction we switched resorts. After reading peoples initial reports of not much work being done I thought we had made a mistake. But after seeing it I am so glad we weren't staying there. GF is a once in a lifetime stay for us and I would have been very upset if that was how the Lobby looked for our stay.

Also I have read reports of the 'snobbish' staff and took it with a grain of salt, but while we were there we went in to a store and asked for directions to the CS restaurant and the looks and attitude we received was hilarious. My DH even walked away commenting on the way the CM's acted. It didn't ruin our night or anything, but it was interesting.

All that said we still hope to try it out one day.

 

[dinatwin]

OMG I'm sooo nervous now. I leave in about 33 days. I pray it will done by then. Does anyone have any info about the completion date? As far as the snobby CM's What in the heck are they snobby about? They are working there not living there. Sheesh That really blows my mind. I was nervous about the rich snobby types but to get it from and employee is just silly. Well I'm going to go with an open mind and pray it all goes well.


Maybe that's why the GF was cheaper for me than the poly because of all the construction going on. The Poly was actually 300 dollars more.

 

[Scott MC]

The pricing is no reflection of the amount of construction. The prices are fixed.

As for the construction, when we were there last month, it was minimal. I'm truly sorry that it seems to have put quite a damper on your vacation. Perhaps you could contact guest services and (politely) discuss your issues. I don't know what would come of it, but you'll undoubtedly feel better having vented.
I admit that I was terrified and obsessing about this work before our trip, but it ended up not being a big deal. I really do think that Disney's flagship resort should have thought this out more clearly and only worked on tiny sections of the resort at a time, so as to affect the paying guests as little as possible.
Again, I'm sorry for your experience and hope that when the work is done, you'll give the GF another shot.

 

[LMO429]

when is the construction going to be done by. We are going the beginning of dec

I would think they are trying to get done for the holiday decorations but that is just an assumption on my part

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

woodkins - I'm sorry to hear about the problems with your stay.

This makes me a little nervous, just having booked our first stay at GF for January.

When is the construction to be completed?

 

[minniesota]

It seems like we've heard a lot of different experiences as far as how the updating has impacted guests. For some, it has been barely noticed and at other times (as woodkins has reported), it has really been a problem. (Sorry for your experience, woodkin.) In any event, I've heard everything should hopefully be finished by the end of November. Let's hope so!

 

[Desnik]

OMG this is not what I want to hear! I am very concerned about the construction going on. We will be there soon for our vow renewal with other family members for a week. I was told the construction will be ongoing through November. I was also told that the lobby construction was done, but I guess not!

 

[minniebeth]

Honestly, I think Woodkins assessment/description of the resort is spot on as of last week. I agree the fumes of paint or whatever chemicals were being used were quite disagreeable at times and you could smell it well into the evening. I was not happy with the situation, but tried to maintain a postive attitude about it all and not let it ruin a probably once in a lifetime dream about staying at the GF.
I think the CMs are probably used to and expect some complaints. Our orig. room was in Sago Cay, 3rd floor in the back of the building overlooking the monorail. I had requested Boca Chica or Big Pine Key GV. Neither were available so I trusted that our room would be ok. It was close to Gasparillas, which was one plus. When we saw the scaffolding literally next to us with the lights shining bright on the stairs all night, I was less than thrilled but was ok with it (I kept telling myself). Then at 5:30 am there was all kinds of noise...trucks backing up with the beep beep beep, slamming of some kind of equipment, laughing/yelling of workers. It was loud and WAY to early to hear it. The other stuff I could tolerate...this, um no. I went out onto the balcony and it was definately some type of maintainance area and I could see the Sealy mattress trucks. I threw my sweats on, threw my hair in a pony and went to the front desk. I was very polite and explained that in the 10 yrs. I've come to Disney, I've never complained about a room, but this experience was less than magical, and that was all I needed to say. He told me to pack (not fun, I had already done a split stay and stayed with friends this trip already) and call bell services. At least I was changing rooms. We got up early, did what was requested and went off to breakfast and Epcot. When we arrived back early afternoon, we called bell services, got our new keys and went to our new room. We were floored when we saw our room was on the first floor of Conch Key, MK view, smack in front of the castle and in front of the boat dock. Now that was magical! It was incredible and restored my faith in WDW and the GF. We did not get a call to see if our room was "acceptable", but I'm thinking who wouldn't think so....
So, I really do think the people at the GF want to make guests happy and if you talk to someone politely, you can see what they can do for you if you are not happy.

 

[woodkins]

Honestly, I think Woodkins assessment/description of the resort is spot on as of last week. I agree the fumes of paint or whatever chemicals were being used were quite disagreeable at times and you could smell it well into the evening. I was not happy with the situation, but tried to maintain a postive attitude about it all and not let it ruin a probably once in a lifetime dream about staying at the GF.
I think the CMs are probably used to and expect some complaints. Our orig. room was in Sago Cay, 3rd floor in the back of the building overlooking the monorail. I had requested Boca Chica or Big Pine Key GV. Neither were available so I trusted that our room would be ok. It was close to Gasparillas, which was one plus. When we saw the scaffolding literally next to us with the lights shining bright on the stairs all night, I was less than thrilled but was ok with it (I kept telling myself). Then at 5:30 am there was all kinds of noise...trucks backing up with the beep beep beep, slamming of some kind of equipment, laughing/yelling of workers. It was loud and WAY to early to hear it. The other stuff I could tolerate...this, um no. I went out onto the balcony and it was definately some type of maintainance area and I could see the Sealy mattress trucks. I threw my sweats on, threw my hair in a pony and went to the front desk. I was very polite and explained that in the 10 yrs. I've come to Disney, I've never complained about a room, but this experience was less than magical, and that was all I needed to say. He told me to pack (not fun, I had already done a split stay and stayed with friends this trip already) and call bell services. At least I was changing rooms. We got up early, did what was requested and went off to breakfast and Epcot. When we arrived back early afternoon, we called bell services, got our new keys and went to our new room. We were floored when we saw our room was on the first floor of Conch Key, MK view, smack in front of the castle and in front of the boat dock. Now that was magical! It was incredible and restored my faith in WDW and the GF. We did not get a call to see if our room was "acceptable", but I'm thinking who wouldn't think so....
So, I really do think the people at the GF want to make guests happy and if you talk to someone politely, you can see what they can do for you if you are not happy.

I just want to make it clear that when I went down to the front desk I was very calm and polite. I explained that this was my birthday trip and we had planned to spend lots of down time in the room and that is why I was having such issues with the construction surrounding our room. The cm looked up our ressie on the computer and walked away without saying a word. She whispered the situation to a manager and the two of them typed away wordlessly on their computers. I only knew that we were going to be relocated because I could overhear the manager talking on the phone.

The room we were move to was a 2nd floor room in Sago Cay in the back by the monrail (it sounds like the room you were moved from LOL). It was noisy during the day and very early in the morning (just like you experienced), which is why I was put off that there was no follow up from the front desk. Your new room was a seeming magical upgrade while mine was a step up from a crane view, but a lateral move in the noise dept. It actually moved us closer to the fumes near Gaspies but at that point I was not trying to be difficult and was not looking forward to having to pack up and move again.

 

[minniesota]

I just want to make it clear that when I went down to the front desk I was very calm and polite. I explained that this was my birthday trip and we had planned to spend lots of down time in the room and that is why I was having such issues with the construction surrounding our room. The cm looked up our ressie on the computer and walked away without saying a word. She whispered the situation to a manager and the two of them typed away wordlessly on their computers. I only knew that we were going to be relocated because I could overhear the manager talking on the phone.

The room we were move to was a 2nd floor room in Sago Cay in the back by the monrail (it sounds like the room you were moved from LOL). It was noisy during the day and very early in the morning (just like you experienced), which is why I was put off that there was no follow up from the front desk. Your new room was a seeming magical upgrade while mine was a step up from a crane view, but a lateral move in the noise dept. It actually moved us closer to the fumes near Gaspies but at that point I was not trying to be difficult and was not looking forward to having to pack up and move again.

It sounds like you handled your situation really well. Unfortunately, it also sounds like you ran into a couple of less than stellar CMs. I know that construction has to happen at every resort but one would hope the resorts would go the extra mile to ensure their guests are as satisfied as possible. To treat you as though you were a bother is totally unacceptable no matter where you are staying. Sorry you had a less than magical stay.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Just got back from a very disappointing stay at the GF. I found the renovations to be much more major than minor and the lobby was a disaster zone in my opinion.

I was there last week as we had an ADR at GFC. I totally understand why you were so disappointed- both DBF and I remarked that we would have been annoyed at all the work going on, had we been staying there. It's great that they're renovating but they seem to be doing so much at once and it does infringe upon the beauty of the resort, unfortunately.

Overall I think my biggest issue was that the true state of the resort and impending construction was not communicated to me when I was booking our trip. For the price I paid I could have stayed at another deluxe resort and had a quiet, peaceful and construction free vacation.

Exactly. You should have been told.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

It's great that they're renovating but they seem to be doing so much at once and it does infringe upon the beauty of the resort, unfortunately.

This is the part that's making me -- that there's so much going on at once it's hard to avoid. I wonder if maybe they're stepping up the renos (i.e., doing more all at once instead of in stages) to get it done before the holidays.

 

[BCV23]

Hi we made ressie a couple of weeks ago for garden view (10/30/20), the CM stated the garden view was now Boca Chica, Sago Cay and Big Pine Key, for the life of me I'm trying to remember which building is Big Pine Key, is it the one directly across from Conch Key (other side of the pool), help!!

This is puzzling to me. What is Conch Key, now? Some rooms face the courtyard, some the marina and some have a great view of the MK. Have they reverted to having a marina view? Still that leaves the rooms facing the courtyard....surely those aren't considered TPV now?

woodkins, I'm so sorry to read of your experiences. The behavior of the CM at the front desk would have really bothered me, too.

We were at WDW from 9/11-9/23. We stayed at the GF at the beginning of the trip and at that point, disruption was at a minimum. By the end of the trip, there were larger sections of the lobby under construction and I can understand how that would detract from the atmosphere. It sounds like it may have gotten worse. I wonder if they decided to just get it over with?

Did you notice if the band was still located near the monorail. I was told they were waiting for a new bandstand. I personally hope they leave the band at that location as I loved the new seating area where the band used to be located. Someone told me that some managers like the new locations but others prefer the old one. Curious to see what happens.

 

[minniesota]

This is the part that's making me -- that there's so much going on at once it's hard to avoid. I wonder if maybe they're stepping up the renos (i.e., doing more all at once instead of in stages) to get it done before the holidays.

I think you're right. The GF is absolutely gorgeous for the holidays and the hotel is typically at full capacity. I'm sure Disney wants its flagship resort to look its best. September is usually pretty slow at the resort so perhaps that explains the big push i.e. less guests affected. With the economy, it could be the company is trying to get all its expenditures in before the end of the 4th quarter. I feel bad for those who were negatively impacted.

On the other hand, I'll be back in January and look forward to seeing those gorgeous tile floors in the main building and perhaps sleeping on a new plush mattress.