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

[Lives4Disney]

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!

When I ordered a White Chocolate Goofy for DH I wanted some goodies on the plate other than only 5 strawberry tuxedos (that is the "standard" and they are really really yummy btw)...I ordered those and a mixed variety of choc truffles. I also could have ordered a cookie variety or a pastry selection. I had to dig this info out of the CM. Some of the pastries would have had custard filling, therefore needing refrigeration and the huge cake I ordered needed it, too, and that alone barely fit in so I nixed the pastries. Good thing!

You can also order chocolate truffle box that has the GF painted on white chocolate on the cover. They do strawberries and a warm choc dipping sauce that are delicious. There is the Cinderella slipper dessert, too. (I never ordered this....it's white choc filled with some type of mousse and that doesn't appeal to me)

The CMs are not overly helpful w/suggestions so maybe somebody here can help! I have pics of these if anything sounds interesting.

Karebear - I know Big Pine used to be the smoking building. Not sure if any other was also.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney

 

[NeverSayNever]

LIVES4DISNEY... Thank you... that is great.

We are not strawberry folks so that won't work, but chocalte truffles and cookies sound great! I agree the custard in the pastries maybe too much. Have you had the mini castle cake... how was it?

If not a hassle I would love to see pictures...

I was thining of doing one slipper desert for our dinner at Narcosees jsut for the effect I guess.

Thanks again

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Thanks for all the input on the cakes ladies! After reading all 117 pages of the cake thread it seems most people complain about the chocolate cakes from the GF (too dry etc) not the vanilla.

So I am going to go with the GF cake (in vanilla) vs the Coral Reef one (Don't want any distraction from my Chocolate Wave!! ). My logic for having it sent out to the cabana was to skip lunch that day and just eat cake (what the heck- we are on vacation! ) and bring the leftovers back up with us. But, there is something to be said about having it sent to the room so when we get back from the cabana it is waiting for us.....

 

[Lives4Disney]

Here is the platter I ordered DH this past July. Of course I forgot to take a pic until after the thing was half eaten. It was a white choc Goofy and strawberry tuxes and a dozen choc truffles.

Here is a choc truffle box....

Here is a Mickey & cookies....

Happy planning! I have seen the Cindy slipper & it's pretty - also that little mini castle cake over on the Cake thread on the Restaurant board. They both look very sweet!

Lives4Disney

 

[Lives4Disney]

Thanks for all the input on the cakes ladies! After reading all 117 pages of the cake thread it seems most people complain about the chocolate cakes from the GF (too dry etc) not the vanilla.

So I am going to go with the GF cake (in vanilla) vs the Coral Reef one (Don't want any distraction from my Chocolate Wave!! ). My logic for having it sent out to the cabana was to skip lunch that day and just eat cake (what the heck- we are on vacation! ) and bring the leftovers back up with us. But, there is something to be said about having it sent to the room so when we get back from the cabana it is waiting for us.....

I think that's the best route to take. They will set it up really nicely for you. Then you can enjoy your Coral Reef dessert (although it looks like they've modified that choc wave since I last had it) and order lunch/fluffy drinks at the cabana!

My Cindy cake and Tink were marble, I think and standard shapes....maybe that matters. THat icky choc Minnie cake was like it was made months prior and frozen and defrosted and refrozen. Just nasty w/ice in it and half watery cake. ALSO, they couldn't find the correct cake. They took a LONG time trying to find our cake - she started to bring out the wrong cake and turned around - so maybe they gave MINE away to somebody else.... The waitress did say they were doctoring up a Mickey cake to be Minnie.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney

 

[NeverSayNever]

OHHH AHHHH... SO Great thank you...

As soon as the boss goes to lunch I am going to call and have a sweet plate made, hpefully some cookies and truffles etc. It all looks so good!

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

We just booked the GF for three days before our BCV stay. We will be at the Royal Palm Club. I am sure somewhere on this thread there is talk about the RPC. I just can not find it when I am doing the search. Can someone tell me what the RPC is like? What should I expect?

TIA!! I can't wait for this trip!

 

[DisneyNotes]

I can help with the RPC. What would you like to know?

 

[Lives4Disney]

We just booked the GF for three days before our BCV stay. We will be at the Royal Palm Club. I am sure somewhere on this thread there is talk about the RPC. I just can not find it when I am doing the search. Can someone tell me what the RPC is like? What should I expect?

TIA!! I can't wait for this trip!

I have only stayed RPC - tried SL once and it just wasn't the same.

RPC is the BEST. I have some trip reports on this thread, kind of mixed in, though.

We just stayed in July for a bday trip. The rooms are in the main building, mostly on 3 and 4th floor. Honeymoon rooms on 2 and suites on 5. The staff in the lounge is so nice and helpful. The CMs on the 3rd floor at the concierge desks are awesome. They are a big reason why we keep returning. They make our stays so special. You can request a castle view room. We have always been lucky with that request. You will be able to see Wishes from your balcony and hear the music piped in at the marina. LOVE sipping some champagne out there and just people watching. They serve bfast, mid morning snacks, afternoon tea/pastries/scones/cookies, appetizers, and then late night sweets. The lounge has a gorgeous courtyard view and it is so open and bright. I enjoy just sitting there in the afternoon listening to the live piano or band. Everybody (guest included) has been so nice every stay. We are RPC addicts - and we have stayed at almost every WDW deluxe many times but once we tried RPC we were hooked. It is the best. It feels like home. The CMs and housekeepers remember us and always greet us by name and it just feels so welcoming.

Let me know if you have specific questions. I love to talk RPC!!!

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyNotes]

That was beautifully put! We feel the same way about RPC.

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

I have only stayed RPC - tried SL once and it just wasn't the same.

RPC is the BEST. I have some trip reports on this thread, kind of mixed in, though.

We just stayed in July for a bday trip. The rooms are in the main building, mostly on 3 and 4th floor. Honeymoon rooms on 2 and suites on 5. The staff in the lounge is so nice and helpful. The CMs on the 3rd floor at the concierge desks are awesome. They are a big reason why we keep returning. They make our stays so special. You can request a castle view room. We have always been lucky with that request. You will be able to see Wishes from your balcony and hear the music piped in at the marina. LOVE sipping some champagne out there and just people watching. They serve bfast, mid morning snacks, afternoon tea/pastries/scones/cookies, appetizers, and then late night sweets. The lounge has a gorgeous courtyard view and it is so open and bright. I enjoy just sitting there in the afternoon listening to the live piano or band. Everybody (guest included) has been so nice every stay. We are RPC addicts - and we have stayed at almost every WDW deluxe many times but once we tried RPC we were hooked. It is the best. It feels like home. The CMs and housekeepers remember us and always greet us by name and it just feels so welcoming.

Let me know if you have specific questions. I love to talk RPC!!!

Lives4Disney

Ok Lives4Dinsey...You asked for it!! Here come some of my questions!!

I see you have children. Do you think my 5 and 3 year old will enjoy it there? I know they loved the BW, because they liked going to BC to play on the beach. My three year old proclaimed to me she will ride the monorail and go "weeeee". lol

I requested a MK view, but should I have been more specfic and asked for a castle view?

How is the club level food?

Did you do the Animal Kingdom Excursion? We signed up for it and we think the kids will like seeing the animals in such a personal way.

TIA and I am sure as time goes on I will have more questions.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Mom of 2 was it easy to book or did you have to move around dates to make it work.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Ok Lives4Dinsey...You asked for it!! Here come some of my questions!!

I see you have children. Do you think my 5 and 3 year old will enjoy it there? I know they loved the BW, because they liked going to BC to play on the beach. My three year old proclaimed to me she will ride the monorail and go "weeeee". lol

I requested a MK view, but should I have been more specfic and asked for a castle view?

How is the club level food?

Did you do the Animal Kingdom Excursion? We signed up for it and we think the kids will like seeing the animals in such a personal way.

TIA and I am sure as time goes on I will have more questions.

I have 3 kids 7, 11, and 16.5. We have stayed at the GF for years and the girls feel like princesses there. The staff is WONDERFUL and makes them feel special. I have never had any interest in AK or the animal stuff, lol. If you have to get up early for that special safari, that puts it even further down on my todo list.

THe lounge food is good. The bfast includes ham/turkey/ cheeses - which works for my picky DD7. They also have banana bread, pumpkin muffins/blueberry muffs,.... cereals, danish, bagels, fruit & yogurt to dip.

Mid morning is veggies/dips/breadsticks/cheeses/chips....cookies and sometimes the pbjs for the kids, brownies and rice krispies are out a lot.

Appetizers....it has been the same old stuff every time we go. They have skewers of beef or chicken, potstickers, meditterranean (spelled wrong I'm sure) stuff....sometimes SW stuff, but we always catch it on the skewer nts....not my fave.

Later they put out pretty pastries, choc strawberries, cookies, sweets, champagne (also during appetizers) wine, beer, etc. There is always something yummy here but we usually aren't around for it!!! It is 8 to 10 pm and we are late nt park people.

I think MK view is fine & they will KNow what you mean!!! It is lovely. Your kids will love the pool at the GF. THere is a zero depth entry and the beach is a few feet away from that. It never gets as crowded as some other WDW resort pools. There is also the courtyard pool, but nothing overly fun there....just a freeform pool.

The first time my girls went to BBB (before it actually opened to the public - the RPC concierge called over and asked if the girls could get in) when we got back to GF, the concierge CM took them all around the GF and showed them off to the other CMs in the stores and even the pianist - I have their pics with him and it was just so neat - they felt like celebrities haha. BBB is fun for little girls!!! We met some very wonderful CMs that work in Mickey's Mercantile on our July trip, too. The GF has such nice CMs.

I just can't say enough about how much I love RPC. It is a very special place to us.

Lives4Disney

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

Mom of 2 was it easy to book or did you have to move around dates to make it work.

We are using points for this stay, so it was a bit of a pain waiting for those points to come out. We originally wanted CR Club Level, but it was booked by the time points were released. The member service person told me she had GF RPC available for those dates, so I grabbed it up. It is not the best way to use points, but this will be out only trip to WDW for 2008. Our next trip after that will be 2009 (probably around Thanksgiving).

 

[arbonnette]

All the discussion about yummy treats is making my mouth water. I think I wil be ordering a Minnie cake to be in the room when we get back from Wishes the first night we are there in February. We are eating an early dinner at 1900 Park Fare that evening, but I think everyone would enjoy the surprise of the cake when we return from the park! Of course, I will very likely change my mind about the type of cake by then! I saw a beautiful photo of an Ariel cake on the cake thread, but now I can't seem to find it!!!

Also, last night I e-mailed IPO back at the address they gave me for GF with all my information and requested ADRs. My 180 day is tomorrow ... I am nervous they won't do it! Has anyone had problems with this in the past? Should I call the phone number for IPO just to be sure or should the e-mail be sufficient?

Thanks, everyone!

 

[DisneyNotes]

I've never had any trouble getting anything from GF planners, but I still made my 180 ADRs myself and had them attach it to my itinerary. I just have a difficult time relinquishing control! I'm sure they would have done it all correctly though.

 

[arbonnette]

Thanks, DisneyNotes ... I am the same with the control factor ...

 

[Alicnwondrln]

All the discussion about yummy treats is making my mouth water. I think I wil be ordering a Minnie cake to be in the room when we get back from Wishes the first night we are there in February. We are eating an early dinner at 1900 Park Fare that evening, but I think everyone would enjoy the surprise of the cake when we return from the park! Of course, I will very likely change my mind about the type of cake by then! I saw a beautiful photo of an Ariel cake on the cake thread, but now I can't seem to find it!!!

Also, last night I e-mailed IPO back at the address they gave me for GF with all my information and requested ADRs. My 180 day is tomorrow ... I am nervous they won't do it! Has anyone had problems with this in the past? Should I call the phone number for IPO just to be sure or should the e-mail be sufficient?

Thanks, everyone!

I was dealing with Calvin and he was great. If I needed something and it was my day off I made my own ressies and then emailed them to Calvin.

 

[Tinkaroo]

All the discussion about yummy treats is making my mouth water. I think I wil be ordering a Minnie cake to be in the room when we get back from Wishes the first night we are there in February. We are eating an early dinner at 1900 Park Fare that evening, but I think everyone would enjoy the surprise of the cake when we return from the park! Of course, I will very likely change my mind about the type of cake by then! I saw a beautiful photo of an Ariel cake on the cake thread, but now I can't seem to find it!!!

Also, last night I e-mailed IPO back at the address they gave me for GF with all my information and requested ADRs. My 180 day is tomorrow ... I am nervous they won't do it! Has anyone had problems with this in the past? Should I call the phone number for IPO just to be sure or should the e-mail be sufficient?

Thanks, everyone!

I'm with DisneyNotes - I make all my own reservations, too - I even have a TA and IPO for this trip! But planning is half the fun for me.

You will probably be okay, but it probably wouldn't hurt to follow-up with an e-mail or phone call. (It seems like someone on this thread mentioned that Calvin, the gentleman that seems to do most of the GF IPO work, is off on Sundays and Mondays, so that might explain why you haven't heard back yet.)

 

[ElizabethB]

We'll be at GF the last week of August in a standard garden view room. Anyone know which buildings have been refurbished and which have not? Anyone know which one(s) is/are currently being rehabbed? Would love to know your favorite building and why.

Thanks!