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
Tete - I'm sorry, I don't know what they were doing with SL guests. Hopefully you figure out what's going on with your room before you arrive!
Channing - It didn't look like anything was out of place in Boca Chica - guests seemed to be coming and going from there, so I don't think they were renovating it. SLC was blocked off and you could see workers through the windows and taking a break on the balcony, so it was obviously empty of guests.
Since we got the room at such the last minute, and I didn't have time to run to the DIS and ask
I just thought I'll go with the building they give me. Honestly, I didn't care if I was in a redone room or not, and was leery when they gave me a room in what I knew was the smoking building, but I loved having a clean, new room. My DH went nuts over the ipod dock - I have no doubt your son would love it, as well as the flat screen.
You're right, it was a pretty pitiful lagoon view, but since we were only there 2 nights and it was too hot and humid to sit on the balcony anyway, I just left it be
I actually liked the location a lot. We'd only stayed in SLC previously, and the entrance felt about as close as the entrance of SLC to the main bldg - that back entrance by the cafe. Obviously it's the furthest from Gaspy's, but was still less than a 5-minute walk. What I loved was it's proximity to the courtyard pool. Literally walked out the door of the bldg and almost fell into the pool. I'm not sure if you'll use the pool much in November, but it was a great location for that.
Mousekeeping was fine - didn't notice any problems, but also didn't get extra toiletries or towel animals or anything (things I wouldn't even think twice about if it weren't for the DIS
).
We did have robes, which I actually used this trip. They were very nice - they're the same ones they sell in the gift shop in the main bldg. We didn't get turndown, though. I wasn't sure if it was automatic or not and didn't call about it since I wasn't sure if we'd even be out of the room enough. I did call for it at the Poly the first night, and received it the first and second nights, but not the third through the fifth nights
I really was leery of letting the GF just pick out my bldg, but other than the view it turned out great. I know how hard it is to let go of that control, though - believe me!
And I'm a terribly picky eater, though I've gotten a bit better over the last couple of years, and this year we ate at both Narcoossee's and Cali for the first time, and I loved the filets I had at both. I think I might've even liked the Cali filet a little better (because of the sauce), but they were both outstanding. That's probably the only thing that might appeal to a picky eater on either menu, though. Oh, and my next must-try restaurant is Chefs de France - we had an ADR this time that we were too tired to keep. But I definitely want to get there next time!
I hope you have a great time in November - if you don't end up with concierge, you'll love it anyway. We absolutely did, and I'd stay garden view in a heartbeat - as a matter of fact, I think that's what we're going to do next year.
Sometimes it feels good, other times I feel so gloomy to be home after a WDW trip.
