The *New* Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Frequently Asked Questions (FEB2004) Part 2

[Lives4Disney]

If we're staying in RPC, can we get the wireless from the lobby or is the connection bad?

DH brought his own little wireless router with so we had wireless everywhere we wanted for $9.95/24 hrs. Worked great in the lounge and our room.

Enjoy,

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyNotes]

DH brought his own little wireless router with so we had wireless everywhere we wanted for $9.95/24 hrs. Worked great in the lounge and our room.

Enjoy,

Lives4Disney

That's funny. I set up a network on my computer so that my sons could use their computers, too. Worked like a charm.

 

[triplefigs]

I think you can get it just fine. I opted for the wired in our room, but on occasion, I took my computer to the lounge to look at my pictures while I listened to the band and a pop-up would ask if I wanted to join the wireless network. So, my computer was picking it up. I didn't join because that would have been my second $9.95/day since they charge separately for the wired and wireless services.

Thanks for the info!

 

[triplefigs]

DH brought his own little wireless router with so we had wireless everywhere we wanted for $9.95/24 hrs. Worked great in the lounge and our room.

Enjoy,

Lives4Disney

That's a good idea. He just plugged the wireless router into the outlet in the room? Might have to pack ours. I hate being tied down to one location with the laptop.

 

[Lives4Disney]

That's a good idea. He just plugged the wireless router into the outlet in the room? Might have to pack ours. I hate being tied down to one location with the laptop.

Yes plugged it in in the room. It's gotta be a strong wireless router, though, to make it all the way to the lounge.


Lives4Disney

 

[triplefigs]

Thanks, Channing. Do you know what strength router you have?

And, remember, when you get rid of the dress in the picture, I want first dibs! DD is going as "Samantha" for Halloween. I got her the original meet and greet dress off ebay last week. She's so excited. She is completely hooked on AG. BTW, the brunch was really fun at the new store here in Atlanta.

Now back to the GF chatter!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Thanks, Channing. Do you know what strength router you have?

And, remember, when you get rid of the dress in the picture, I want first dibs! DD is going as "Samantha" for Halloween. I got her the original meet and greet dress off ebay last week. She's so excited. She is completely hooked on AG. BTW, the brunch was really fun at the new store here in Atlanta.

Now back to the GF chatter!

Hey, I will have to get DH to check. He is the man. I have been sitting here & with him in the other room hollaring b/f, lol. He says to leave him alone. He is trying to watch some Discovery Channel thing. B o R i N g. I will get back to ya on that.

PS>...that is so cool about the AG store & DD's Samantha costume! How cute. Forgot about that chocolate cherry dress! It is hanging in a closet around here.

Lives4Disney

 

[OCLover]

Okay -

So, here it goes. The room was not renovated. It was the yellow/blue theme, but we did get the room we requested, #5431. When we arrived, we were greeted by a picture from Minnie and Mickey, a rose, bottle of champagne, and a white chocolate Mickey with white chocolate strawberries. They were all wonderful!

We did still get nightly turn down service, which was nice after a long day at the park. The new chocolates,

The room was clean, and we liked having the taller ceilings. It made the room feel larger. I can say, however, the GV rooms are smaller than the standard RPC rooms. /QUOTE

****

We stayed at Sago Cay from 9/29 through 10/3, in room #5421. We must have missed you. I'm glad you had a good clean room because we sure didn't. Our room wasn't cleaned for the first two days we were there and had to complain with the manager. We didn't get a single towel animal either which was disappointing for my two children who got used to looking forward to them on the cruise we took prior to coming to WDW. Plus being stuck by the elevator was terrible. It shaded our view of the GF which was a shame because everything else there was great. We especially enjoyed taking the Grand I out for our last night.

 

[Cinderella Fan]

****

We stayed at Sago Cay from 9/29 through 10/3, in room #5421. We must have missed you. I'm glad you had a good clean room because we sure didn't. Our room wasn't cleaned for the first two days we were there and had to complain with the manager. We didn't get a single towel animal either which was disappointing for my two children who got used to looking forward to them on the cruise we took prior to coming to WDW. Plus being stuck by the elevator was terrible. It shaded our view of the GF which was a shame because everything else there was great. We especially enjoyed taking the Grand I out for our last night.

Well, hello neighbor! I am sorry that your room wasn't clean. That is unacceptable, for any resort, not just the GF. I hope this doesn't sway your opinion of the GF. I am fortunate that I have never had that problem at that resort. (Now, the others are another story. I will never stay anywhere other than Deluxe again)

That is great that you got to take the Grand I. I was so jealous when Lives4Disney took it out last year for her birthday. I have always wanted to do that....

I hope you had a great time! We probably passed in the hall somewhere and didn't even know it!

 

[grannyminnie]

Bumping...because I like to keep this thread on the first page!!
Let's hear some more GF news from anyone who has just returned...

 

[safetymom]

No need to bump. It is always in the sticky at the top of the resorts board.

 

[grannyminnie]

No need to bump. It is always in the sticky at the top of the resorts board.

It is? I have never noticed...thanks!

 

[brandt79]

Hi all - I'm a frequent lurker on this thread since our stay at the GF for our honeymoon two years ago - when we fell in love with the resort. We just got back from a 5-night stay at the Poly, and were supposed to switch to AKL for 2 more nights. Decided at the last minute to check availability at the GF, and got lagoon view AAA rate for our last 2 nights.

We were in Big Pine Key which had JUST been refurbished. (Even though it was completely refurbished, I was very concerned about any smoking smell, since I knew this had been the smoking building - my fears were alleviated - absolutely no hint of a smell in the room or anywhere else in the building).

The front desk CM seemed to think we were the first ones to stay in our room. We had 9221, as you get off the elevators the first room you see to your left. It was directly over the doorway on the lagoon side, so we had one of the wall balconies instead of one you could see through, which was a bit of a bummer, but that's OK because with the giant trees in front of our balcony it wasn't much of a lagoon view anyway - but we were absolutely thrilled to have any room at the GF. It just feels more like home for us than the Poly - the GF is just so light, bright, and airy.

I have to say after seeing the renovation in person, I do like the color changes better than in pictures. But not as well as the old designs. And they're obviously exactly the same in every building now, unfortunately. I also missed the table and chairs, as we tend to eat room service fairly often. Instead, the CM set up the pull-out table right in front of the desk so one of us could use the desk chair to sit at the table, and the other sat on the padded bench at the end of the first queen bed. It worked OK.

I haven't read back, so I don't know if this has been shared already, but they were working on SLC when we were there (Oct 3-5). Looked like the whole building was empty of guests. It was not disruptive in the slightest to any other part of the resort, though. I'll post some pics of our room below.

Oh, and Lives4Disney, I wanted to let you know, we ate at Narcoossee's, and I'm not a seafood eater so I had the filet, and it was FANTASTIC. And we live in the Midwest, so I can be picky about steak. And my DH loved the Filet and Lobster Tail combo. So I hope you love it when you eat there in November!

ETA: Another plus was the mini fridge - the one at the Poly kept shutting itself off - so much so that we quit using it at all. No problems whatsoever with the fridge at the GF.

Room 9221, Big Pine Key (lagoon view)

 

[tete01830]

Thank you so much for your report! It sure is getting me excited! We are suppose to stay in SL but who knows Did you happen to know where guest were relocated too? My DH and I are HUGE fans of Narcossee!!! This time we are going to attempt to take the kids. Lets hope they are well behaved..again, thanks for the report!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Brandt - WOW!! What fabulous pictures. I think the decor is growing on me, but it would have been nice if they kept the diff themes going. Last I heard a while ago Big Pine was being worked on - now we know it's done. Do you know about Boca Chica??? I requested Sago, but now I am not sure I don't want a "new" room. I think DS17 would appreciate the more modern gadgets (TV, IPOD dock etc)....that may soften the fact that we're dragging him along w/us. I think I would have been kinda bummed with that "lagoon view".....You're a good sport! For some reason I just never considered Big Pine as a good location....not even sure why I have that impression....others say it's so close to the mian building....how did you find the lodge's location?? How was your housekeeping??? Did you have robes??? Did they automatically do turndown??? I think I need to take a lodge request off my CRO ressie & just let the magic work for me.

Thanks for the review on Narcoosees! That's great! We are midwesterners, too. I love a good steak. I am excited to try a new restaurant....our latest "find" is Chef de France - we LOVE that place and just started (last year) booking it. In all our stays we never did Narcoosees or Cali Grill.....the concierge staff at the CR used to always try and get us up there, but having picky eater kids we steared clear and it seems we should have given it a try back when it was easier to get a table!

Glad you were able to get a room last minute and had a nice time! I know what you mean....as much as we enjoy a few other WDW resorts, the Grand feels so comfortable to us & it remains our favorite.

Thanks for the wonderful pics & info and review!

Lives4Disney

 

[TammiMcMan]

We are suppose to stay in SL but who knows Did you happen to know where guest were relocated too?

Your best bet is to probably send a quick e-mail to IPO. They'll be able to tell you if they've relocated lodge concierge or if guests are being upgraded to the main building. The last big renovation, they relocated it, but that was also the summer time. I'm sure occupancy rates are fairly low right now, so an upgrade may not be out of the question. Let us know if you find out anything.

 

[tete01830]

Your best bet is to probably send a quick e-mail to IPO. They'll be able to tell you if they've relocated lodge concierge or if guests are being upgraded to the main building. The last big renovation, they relocated it, but that was also the summer time. I'm sure occupancy rates are fairly low right now, so an upgrade may not be out of the question. Let us know if you find out anything.

Hello..I did email IPO to inquire what they were doing and they said they didnt book anybody in SL because it was a scheduled rehab and they would reopen the day before I arrive!?! They also said if they are running behind schedule I will be contacted by the office....We shall see soon I guess!

 

[Katesdad]

Channing, I liked your reply on the other thread discussing why people won't be going back to GF after one stay. Maybe if we get enough people to switch to other resorts the GF will free up and upgrades will be more readily available and families with small children that tend to let them run amok will move to other more "family" freindly places (he says with a smile!).

 

[Lives4Disney]

Channing, I liked your reply on the other thread discussing why people won't be going back to GF after one stay. Maybe if we get enough people to switch to other resorts the GF will free up and upgrades will be more readily available and families with small children that tend to let them run amok will move to other more "family" freindly places (he says with a smile!).

Well, ya! What the heck kind of thread is that??!! I am in desperation of snagging a concierge room for Thanksgiving -even just part of our stay, and they are booked SOLID. I'm just thinking "GO thread, GO!" (wish I would have thought of posting a thread like that a month or so ago, haha) People always seem to believe what they read here, so hoping somebody ditches the GF for a more friendly, less stuffy, more themed, cleaner, better serviced, cheaper, etc. resort! LOL.

I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut over there on why I do love the GF. I think the secret is out, though.....it's been tougher and tougher to book a room and discounts have become super slim for the GF.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney

 

[disneyandme]

Brandt - WOW!! What fabulous pictures. I think the decor is growing on me, but it would have been nice if they kept the diff themes going. Last I heard a while ago Big Pine was being worked on - now we know it's done. Do you know about Boca Chica??? I requested Sago, but now I am not sure I don't want a "new" room. I think DS17 would appreciate the more modern gadgets (TV, IPOD dock etc)....that may soften the fact that we're dragging him along w/us. I think I would have been kinda bummed with that "lagoon view".....You're a good sport! For some reason I just never considered Big Pine as a good location....not even sure why I have that impression....others say it's so close to the mian building....how did you find the lodge's location?? How was your housekeeping??? Did you have robes??? Did they automatically do turndown??? I think I need to take a lodge request off my CRO ressie & just let the magic work for me.

Thanks for the review on Narcoosees! That's great! We are midwesterners, too. I love a good steak. I am excited to try a new restaurant....our latest "find" is Chef de France - we LOVE that place and just started (last year) booking it. In all our stays we never did Narcoosees or Cali Grill.....the concierge staff at the CR used to always try and get us up there, but having picky eater kids we steared clear and it seems we should have given it a try back when it was easier to get a table!

Glad you were able to get a room last minute and had a nice time! I know what you mean....as much as we enjoy a few other WDW resorts, the Grand feels so comfortable to us & it remains our favorite.

Thanks for the wonderful pics & info and review!

Lives4Disney

We've been hoping for news on Boca Chica too. This seems to be where they put us every year and we'd love to have a room that is refurbished. Someone out there must know about Boca Chica.