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

[johnsonet]

ooooh triplefigs - GREAT idea I LOVE Biltmore Estate and the Inn is very nice. Biltmore has LOTS to do now, too. I was there a few weeks ago and noticed they've added an all-terrain Segway Tour We love to go horseback riding and you can take a (peaceful) raft ride right there on the estate, rent bikes, and so on...Of course, the Winery looks very nice (I haven't yet been) and the House is gorgeous - there are summer concerts too. Asheville is a really fun little city with great dining!!
hmp2z I just got an email from Biltmore Estate today about their summer promos; I will PM it to you!

More OT , I emailed GF IPO today and heard back from them this evening! They have made a note of my requests I'm so, so excited! I can't wait to be there!

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

I wanted to thank everyone here for your advice. I am booked for 8/15 theme park view (I guess I will have to request Sago or Conch). I read about the cabanas and called the same day to make a reservation....good thing you had mentioned them....we reserved the last one available for our arrival day I am very happy we were able to get one and I have all of you to thank.. I also wanted to say thanks for the link to the map. We have had alot of fun looking around at the GF and the surroundings...it just adds to the excitement. I even tried to find the DCL terminal at Port Canaveral, but am having a hard time locating it. I hope everyone who is at the GF now is having a great trip! Look forward to hearing from them soon!

 

[Katesdad]

Heather W, 5 days in the Smokies at a chalet in the mountains is probably as good as it gets, at least for DW and me for the last 30 years. You can be totaly isolated for five days, spend your time walking in the mountains, or if you miss the crowds of thousands that you get every time at WDW, just go to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, you'll find them there. You can go out to eat at some very nice dining establishments, or just cook out on the grill at your chalet and enjoy your own candle light dinner. If GF and the IPO are getting you down, here's a great way to recharge the romance.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

We have a room in the GF RPC booked for our 5th wedding anniversary, but due to a few huge disappointments from the IPO, we're thinking about changing our anniversary plans. I just really don't feel like Disney (and especially the GF IPO) values our business, and I don't know why we would drop $4K on a short vacation that's going to end up being nothing special, when I want our 5th anniversary to be a big, huge deal. We got married at WDW, and anniversary at the GF every year, so this is a big step for us.

So I'm coming to you all for suggestions. I want a similar quality experience, as far as luxury hotel, great restaurant(s), etc. But in a different locale, preferably East Coast, since my husband's company has a pretty bad vacation package and we only have 5 days to play with.

Any suggestions for other vacations that have rivalled or surpassed the quality of the GF concierge level? We don't want NYC - we used to live there. We don't want anywhere in the Orlando area - that's where we live now. And, as I said, we'd prefer the East Coast, or maybe the East Coast of Canada. Our anniversary is August, so, since it's not to be WDW, we'd prefer, but don't require, something cooler.

Thoughts/ideas/suggestions appreciated!

Cheers!
Heather W

maybe give them another chance. Calvin is amazing and I bet you would be happy with him. He has been getting soem great reviews on here.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Heather, I completely understand how you're feeling. A few years ago, I was planning a 20th Anniversary trip and 40th B-day for DH and myself. Pre-planning was pretty much a bust with suggestions. I wanted to do something really special and after reading some of Janet2K's posts around that same time, I figured I was definitely in the right place. She talked about VIP tours that were offered and other things, but I got absolutely zero from them. Their attitude seemed to be, if you want special, do the research yourself and make the calls yourself. It was frustrating to say the least and I wasn't expecting a whole lot when we arrived. I will say though, that as soon as we checked-in, our experience was completely different. The on site staff made us feel so special and we even got a complimentary upgrade to a turret suite. They delivered champagne and cards to our room. Not sure if you want to take a chance and see if Calvin can make you feel more comfortable again. He seems like "he's the man" over there.

If you want to try something different though, I would suggest the hotel chain of either the Four Seasons or Loews. Both are very high end. I've stayed at the Loews in Philadelphia and I know of another location in Quebec City Canada that looks truly lovely. For the Four Seasons, the ones in the states are very nice, but I'd have to go for something more tropical, like the location in Nevis West Indies. It's east coast

 

[hmp2z]

Thank you for all the suggestions - I will look into them. As far as the GF IPO, I kind of blew my top yesterday when I got their e-mail. We got married at WDW, and now are Orlando locals. When we were married, we had our wedding reception at the private room at V&A's, and then went on a fireworks cruise on the Grand One yacht. It was a fabulous, beautiful experience - we felt like valued guests, and we felt like everyone we worked with went out of their way to plan a beautiful day for us.

Since it's our 5 year anniversary, which is kind of an important one, I wanted to plan something to really recapture the magic. We've done just about everything there is to do at WDW: tours, dinners, various resorts, etc., and so we thought, well, we'll make it close to our wedding day events. We'd wanted the Chef's Table at Victoria & Albert's for that day. IPO really dropped the ball on that one, not even bothering to call for us, so we just go the Chef's Table for the next evening and thought, well, we'll do California Grill for our wedding anniversary day, and then we'll do a fireworks cruise on the Grand One yacht.

I began calling pretty early, calling both IPO and the Grand One reservations line directly. No one would return calls or e-mails. Not Calvin, not the managers, not anyone. Yesterday, we got an e-mail that the Grand One was already booked. Leaving what for our anniversary? A California Grill dinner, which we can do any day of the week, now that we live here. I know, many people can't afford even that, but we work hard, and we save our money, and we really wanted something special. I'm just so disappointed that I was in tears last night.

I feel like Disney has become more like Wal-Mart. They cater to the lowest common denominator, and they don't care whether they get our business or not. When we were planning our wedding, 5 years back, we could tell how much they worked to make it all special. Now even the custom weddings follow these "Wedding In a Box" designs - they are standardizing and lowering the quality of everything. It's more about quantity than quality, and that's not the special place I know & love. We've lamented with Area managers & restaurant managers as the DDP standardized dining menus and lowered food quality. We watched as the drink menus became standardized and we lost our old favorites like the Cape May Colada. When I contacted the Downtown Disney managers back in December about someone dealing DRUGS on their property (we were approached and offered the chance to make a "purchase" while on a nice evening out! ) they didn't respond as if they were in any way interested.

I know this is a vent, but it's just so frustrating to me. I really, truly, deeply LOVED Disney. I loved it so much that I chose to spend the most special day of my life there. I didn't care what it cost; I knew it was worth it, because I knew they would exercise that Disney magic. Now the only "magical" suggestions that I've gotten are things like flowers, baskets, and cakes. So what? I can buy a basket of pretty much anything I want, but that's not what I go to Disney for. It's for the EXPERIENCE, the truly special experience that Disney used to offer us.

I'm just so disappointed and frustrated and saddened. I know what Disney could and, I think, should be, and I just can't believe that it's not that way any more. It is incredibly painful to lose my favorite place in the world.

Not so cheerful,
Heather W

 

[johnsonet]

Heather - I really understand what you're saying and I think you said it very well. It's hard to love a place and a feeling so much and invest so much in it (time, money, planning, recommendations to family and friends) and then find that the special things you loved are no longer there. Sometimes I feel that the magic is waning But then something will happen that reminds me why nothing else compares to a Disney vacation. I still believe the Magic is there There is something intangible about WDW that speaks to those of us who love it...

I hope that one day soon you will again experience the Disney you love And I hope that your 5th anniversary will be incredibly special for you

 

[pauladrn]

Heather,
You may want to try the Ritz Carlton... Their Club Level floor is FABULOUS! My DH and I stayed there in May for our 16th anniversary in NYC, we so enjoyed it!
I'm sorry that things didn't work out at GF for you... We're going to try it for the first time at the end of July in SL. So far, Calvin has been great.
BTW, I enjoyed your dining reviews and made a reservation for Roy's in Orlando, since you spoke so highly of the restaurant. We were looking for a change..
Good luck in whayever you decide to do

 

[johnsonet]

Have y'all seen this http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1501711?

 

[Jen66]

Well, I have seen it (obviously from the post ), but I am wondering if that means Sago is finished? They seem to working super fast. I am hoping since I have MK view booked in 15 days (I am so counting now ) that I may possibly get a room that has already been refurbished! I have requested Sago with castle view, so I guess I will just wait and see. I fly into MCO at 9:55 am, so I will hopefully be pre-checking in and getting our passes before 1pm. Hopefully the earlier the better to get my requests honored. Of course it is a Sunday, so who knows.
As a side question, I noticed another thread about turn down and it said only club level received this automatically. I thought all of the GF did as a matter of course. Does anyone know for sure? This is definitely something I want!

 

[TammiMcMan]

As a side question, I noticed another thread about turn down and it said only club level received this automatically. I thought all of the GF did as a matter of course. Does anyone know for sure?

The GF has always done it automatically for all their guests. I don't know if the recent understaffing in housekeeping has affected that at all. To be on the safe side, you may want to give them a call when you check in and ask.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Off topic but I feel so bad for all these AKL people, the info is all over the place. I wonder how this will effect the other deluxes I keep seeing posts saying people are refusing SSR and most of them are getting the Poly.

Heather I am so sorry. I hope you can figure out something.

 

[lynr]

Guess what I just did? I switched my quick trip over labor day weekend from the Beach Club to a RPC Deluxe Room.

My husband doesn't know it yet. I am not going to tell him until we are driving to the resort from the airport. We loved this room so much when I saw it open up with an AP discount I couldn't resist.

Now I am crossing my fingers that it will become available for our long 9 night December trip.

Lyn

 

[Jen66]

lynr~ Congrats!! That is awesome

 

[Babyboo]

As a side question, I noticed another thread about turn down and it said only club level received this automatically. I thought all of the GF did as a matter of course. Does anyone know for sure? This is definitely something I want!

We received this every night last week without having to request and did not stay in a club level room. So I would say it's a standard service which hasn't been affected by any shortages in staff.

 

[Jen66]

Thanks, babyboo!

 

[johnsonet]

lynr That is AWESOME!!! I know you must be excited

 

[ClareH37]

Just been reading through this thread, I'm going to be staying at the GF RPC for a week later this year I'm a bit disappointed in the slowness that the GF IPO take to respond, but as I'm also spending time at the BWI concierge thankfully the ladies in the IPO there (I've stayed there before) are going to handle all my ADRs, etc. (they are amazing and very quick to respond to emails).

I'm really looking forward to staying in the GF main building as it looks beautiful but, based on the 'so so' response from GF IPO, do you think I'm going to be disappointed? I'm just concerned that they don't seem as 'friendly' as the BWI IPO.

 

[johnsonet]

I just switched over my res. to RPC from a garden view room and I have been pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the IPO. I've read all the horror stories here.. I have gotten responses on the same day each time, and helpful responses at that. I'm sorry you are not having the same experience.

The BC/YC/BWI IPO was utterly fabulous when I dealt with them 2 and 3 years ago

 

[ClareH37]

I just switched over my res. to RPC from a garden view room and I have been pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the IPO. I've read all the horror stories here.. I have gotten responses on the same day each time, and helpful responses at that. I'm sorry you are not having the same experience.

The BC/YC/BWI IPO was utterly fabulous when I dealt with them 2 and 3 years ago

That's good to hear you've had same day responses, maybe when I've emailed them I've just hit a bad day.