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

[DisneyNotes]

We stayed in room 4409 in the main building RPC during our last visit. It was next to the Walt Disney Suite. The hotel hallway sort of turns a corner at that point and so the balcony is longer since the building isn't square right there. The room is the standard size though. I suppose the WD Suite next door had the extra space. The rooms to the left of us would have had the same wonderful view and those numbers would have been smaller. Seems like I've seen somewhere that 4401-4409 are the charmed rooms for the castle view on the 4th floor. I like being on the 4th floor since the lounge is on that floor.

The non-square building situation is the same for the Deluxe rooms. Some have larger balconies. I don't know how many of the 6 Deluxe rooms have the larger balcony though. I didn't put in a request for which type of Deluxe. I only requested 4th floor. Three are on that floor and so I have a 50/50 chance. By the way, none of the Deluxe rooms have MK view.

 

[DisneyNotes]

I've been to the GF spa. It was nice, but not too large and not as fancy as I'd envisioned. They only had me down for one treatment instead of the two that were on my itinerary, so I had to come back the next day for the next one. There was no charge for that treatment though. They were very polite and accommodating, just like everyone else that we came across at the Grand. A CM even stopped and gave me a ride on her golf cart when she saw me walking down the long sidewalk out to the spa.

This was a couple of years ago and so maybe they've refurbished since then.

 

[arbonnette]

About those RPC deluxe rooms....I used to plan trips w/in weeks of check in and they were almost always an option!! I always opted for the MK view RPC instead. Now of course when I would want the deluxe, no go. I am the last minute lucky booker, though.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney

I am usually a "last minute lucky booker" too! My family usually does not plan trips this far out, and so I am surprised that we did not get our first choice room 6 months out. I played with the dates on the Disney site yesterday, and even booking now for next September/October only lists Deluxe-King as available. Surprisingly, a Deluxe room at BWI is not available either for my dates, as I looked at that when I found out GF Deluxe is not an option. But I definitely choose GF over BWI without a guaranteed boardwalk view, IMO.

I also agree about the rates getting out of control. I have a hard time rationalizing the $690 for RPC during value! But if the service is top-notch, it will be worth it to us, especially if we get our room request (4th floor/MK view!)

I am counting the days 'til my DD starts school! But I will miss her once she is gone all day! This will be her first year of all day, everyday "big girl" school!

Have a great Monday, everyone.

 

[jenins121681]

I've been to the GF spa. It was nice, but not too large and not as fancy as I'd envisioned. They only had me down for one treatment instead of the two that were on my itinerary, so I had to come back the next day for the next one. There was no charge for that treatment though. They were very polite and accommodating, just like everyone else that we came across at the Grand. A CM even stopped and gave me a ride on her golf cart when she saw me walking down the long sidewalk out to the spa.

This was a couple of years ago and so maybe they've refurbished since then.

Thanks for the info, I can't wait! Is it far from the main building? You mentioned walking down a long sidewalk.

 

[DisneyNotes]

For some reason, I took off in the direction of the convention center. Then the spa was a long walk from there since they are both separate buildings on opposite sides of the hotel. Even the direct route is a little bit of a walk, but it is pretty along the way and it wasn't raining that day and so the walk back to the main building was just fine. It's not an extreme distance or anything, but you'll just need to allow a few extra minutes to get over there.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Good morning all! For those of you who have stayed RPC standard room, would you have any suggestions on location/room number requests? We have two rooms booked for October and have requested connecting but I'd be fine with adjoining if it meant a better location. We've stayed in a suite and a deluxe room so haven't had the straight-on castle view. We'd like that this time around! The oversized balcony sounds great too - any info on where those rooms are located? Thanks as always!

I would email IPO and let them know your preference for that MK view. We have stayed RPC many times and always had that view. They are rooms 4301-4309 and 4401 to 4409. I just won the 4409 door plaque from Ebay . We've had that room a couple times. (also 4401 many times and 4405 many many times! - I think 4405 is the BEST seems to be direct unobstructed view - the 4401 - 4403 have a palm tree infront of them, but still a nice view) These MK view rooms are farthest from the lounge, but worth it! I prefer 4th floor convenience to the lounge, but the corner elevator makes it easy to floor hop.

Arbonette - My DD just started school all day last year. I thought I'd be sad because she's my baby, but I had a ball! It's so freeing! I hope you adjust and enjoy your time.

Kelly - I love the DDE.

I am glad I am not being cheap on thinking $990/nt standard RPC is just a bit over the top. I used to be secretive with DH on the $505/nt RPC cost a couple yrs ago ....haha. If only I could get that room rate again!! (and deluxe rooms were $515) AND I was also really shocked that they went and changed the "Value" season to July 20th. Unreal. That is crappy. I am not feeling so good about Disney today.

Lives4Disney (used to, haha)

 

[NeverSayNever]

Hi, NeverSayNever!

I am by no means an expert, but I'll give you what info. I can, and bump this up for those more GF-knowledgeable than me.

The pictures you likely saw posted were of a Lodge Tower Room (the room with 2 queen beds, and then an extra seating area with a couch and second TV). Unfortunately, these rooms are not available if you have booked a standard GV room. These rooms are a bookable category under "Lodge Tower", or if you're staying in the Sugar Loaf Concierge building, there are 3 of them there, and they are by request only (you can't book those in advance). I believe the pictures you saw were likely of the Lodge Tower Room that Kelly and her family stayed in while in the Sugar Loaf building last month. (Triplefigs has stayed in one, too.)

Since you're looking to maximize your space, I would make sure that you request a regular garden view room (not a dormer room, which are on the top floors of the outer lodge buildings). The dormer rooms are quaint, with cathedral ceilings, but do have a bit less space (maybe 20 sq. ft. or so), have a solid balcony, and usually no daybed (although I think the refurbished rooms might now).

I don't think you will have an option to have a king bed, since you are a party of 4 people. I would think the maximum occupancy for a king room would be 2, maybe 3 people. Plus, king rooms are few and far between it seems, so I would prepare yourself to have the 2 queens/daybed layout.

Yes, all room at the GF have balconies (or patios on the 1st floor). I would think a 1st floor room would be just fine, although I might not want one just off one of the pools, due to foot traffic.

You can see the monorail from a lot of different points around the GF, and there are 2 pools - the courtyard pool, and the beach/theme pool.

Here are a couple of links to GF layouts:

Live Earth map: http://local.live.com/default.aspx?cp=28.411444|-81.586792&style=h&lvl=15&v=1

Resort Map: http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/grandfmap.jpg

In my personal opinion, nothing at the GF is too far away - maybe a 7 minute leisurely walk from one end of the resort to the other. I would probably suggest that you request Sago Cay (to watch the monorail, be close to Gasparilla's, the bus stop, and the marina to watch Wishes from at night) or maybe Big Pine or Boca Chica (to be close to the pools). I'm sure one of our more knowledgeable GF'ers can come along and give better recommendations, but these would be my thoughts.

I think everyone has a different opinion on the refurbishment. I personally liked the older decor a bit better, but that's just my personal taste. For a refurbished room at this point, you'd need to request Conch Key, or be staying concierge in the Main Building (which they're currently working on).

Lastly, I've yet to order any special goodies from Private Dining at the GF (although I will be in Nov.), but I would probably say order at least a couple of weeks in advance - although you could probably wait longer if you liked.

Have a great trip!

Tinkaroo... Thank you so much for the information and the links. I definately need to get a clear set of request and call and have them noted on our reservation. I know that you said most of the walks were short 5-7 minutes... but I am going to need to conserve as many steps as I can given my bad back so the info and map is very helpful!!

If anyone else has any thoughts on my room request questions I would be much appreciative for the insights.

Best.

 

[greenpea89]

Hi! I was wondering if anyone had stayed in or looked at a 2 bedroom sugarloaf outer lodge suite? The code on our reservation is BQ. We really need the extra space and this is quite a splurge for us! Is the location OK? Are these renovated yet? Are they located in all of the outer lodges or only a few? The cm that took our booking asked if we had a view request so I asked for a lagoon view - is this a possibility (all MK views were booked)? And finally does anyone know where I could see what the rooms or layout might look like? I've checked some of the websites and can't seem to find anything. Thanks so much for any help! I love reading this thread!

 

[minniesota]

I would email IPO and let them know your preference for that MK view. We have stayed RPC many times and always had that view. They are rooms 4301-4309 and 4401 to 4409. I just won the 4409 door plaque from Ebay . We've had that room a couple times. (also 4401 many times and 4405 many many times! - I think 4405 is the BEST seems to be direct unobstructed view - the 4401 - 4403 have a palm tree infront of them, but still a nice view) These MK view rooms are farthest from the lounge, but worth it! I prefer 4th floor convenience to the lounge, but the corner elevator makes it easy to floor hop.

Thanks! That's just what I was looking for. Do you happen to remember if 4405 had a connecting room?

We have only stayed RPC Deluxe and have had 4422 which was lovely and just down the hall from the lounge which we love. But with a newbie in our travel party, that castle view would be awesome!!! We can make that hike!

 

[Lives4Disney]

I would email IPO and let them know your preference for that MK view. We have stayed RPC many times and always had that view. They are rooms 4301-4309 and 4401 to 4409. I just won the 4409 door plaque from Ebay . We've had that room a couple times. (also 4401 many times and 4405 many many times! - I think 4405 is the BEST seems to be direct unobstructed view - the 4401 - 4403 have a palm tree infront of them, but still a nice view) These MK view rooms are farthest from the lounge, but worth it! I prefer 4th floor convenience to the lounge, but the corner elevator makes it easy to floor hop.

Thanks! That's just what I was looking for. Do you happen to remember if 4405 had a connecting room?

We have only stayed RPC Deluxe and have had 4422 which was lovely and just down the hall from the lounge which we love. But with a newbie in our travel party, that castle view would be awesome!!! We can make that hike!

I always forget to take pics of the room, but for Xmas I did because of the Xmas tree we ordered from WDW florist & there is a connecting door in that room.....NOW I just need to absolutely verify that 4405 was the room we had at Xmas. I think it is. We just had 4405 for our July stay and I don't remember if there was a connecting door. I will check and get back to you asap! I never remember these things in hotel rooms. It seems to me they all have connecting doors, but I will see if I can find out for sure.

Yay! Found my post I wrote after we returned from our GF Xmas. It was room 4405 and in my Xmas tree pics, it shows the connecting door to 4404. We've had 4405 several times...they know we like it and give it to us on return stays....and the view is perfect! Happy planning.

Lives4Disney

 

[Cinderumbrella]

OK, ladies, I have to make up my mind about this cake thing.
I have narrowed it down to a Mickey cake but am unsure which to do

This one can be done at the Coral Reef for our first night dinner

Here is the one from the Gf Bakery. I love the idea about sending one to the room (or better yet- to the cabana!!!) but am terrified after Channing's review of the simiar Minnie cake at 1900 PF.

PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES!!!!
Kristin

 

[Lives4Disney]

Cinderumbrella......I have done it both ways....cake at the restaurant, cake in the room. I much much prefer cake in the room - or in your case the cabana.

In the restaurant it's so hard to even touch a piece of it after dinner or lunch. We are always too full to enjoy dessert, let alone bday cake we paid big bucks for! THEN you wind up boxing it up and schlepping it around. Not fun. It's so much easier, enjoyable and convenient to have the cake delivered to the room or someplace nearby. That gets my vote.

I LOVED our Minnie Mouse cake on the outside. It was absolutely adorable. I feel bad scaring people off, but that was just our experience. We have ordered twice more from the GF bakery (cinderella cake and recently Tink cake) and both were really yummy, so I am not sure at all what the heck happened with DD's Minnie cake. It was horrible and inedible and a disappointment. Sorry to scare ya off! Keep in mind though that 2 other cakes from GF bakery were really good.

Happy day,
Channing

 

[NeverSayNever]

Although I am an absolute chocolate lover, for some reason the look of the second cake appeals to me more. My preference would be the room or the Cabana... but would it be more of a surprise coming back to the room and finding it all set up? What kind of presentation would they do at the Cabana... ?

Either way, I am sure it will be great!

Best

 

[jenins121681]

I vote for the 2nd cake, I think it looks nicer

 

[jenins121681]

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as a garden view room with a king size bed (instead of 2 queens)? And if so what building?

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I ordered the 2nd cake delivered to our room with balloons. The presentation was beautiful on the table. My DH was surprised and my MIL was impressed! Not a bad combo.

Lori

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I skipped the cake after Channings review. Its looks good but I would have been mad if it was not edible. I agree about having it set up in your room.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I ordered the 2nd cake delivered to our room with balloons. The presentation was beautiful on the table. My DH was surprised and my MIL was impressed! Not a bad combo.

Lori

How did it taste? I want to order one for ds's 16th birthday and have it delivered the day we arrive (the only day we don't have any ADR's so we should be able to eat a piece )!!! He only wants vanilla. Clearly not a chocoholic like dd and me!!!

Also, can someone please remind me of the number for private dining?

Thanks so much!!

 

[NeverSayNever]

Since we are on the topic of delicious indulgences can someone suggest some other sweets to have sent to the room other then a cake. I want to have a little treat plate made that would have a mini-castle cake and then some other treats/cookies something but am not sure what to request and I don't wantto rely on a CM for suggestions.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[karebear1]

Hate to interrupt the beautiful thoughts of food and all things YUMMY.... but I need an answer to the following question:

Does anyone know what floors/buildings were formerly the smoking rooms at the GF?? I know that all rooms are now non smoking, but want to be sure that I am in a building/room that NEVER had smoking in it.

Thanks all...
and now back to our regularly scheduled yummy conversation!