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

[DisneyNotes]

We were upgraded - we were in room 4430, and the room was just lovely. The whole resort is beautiful, the grounds and the lobby were extremely impressive. I thought the decorating was beautiful, I really liked how they incorporated so many hidden Mickey's (and Minnie's, and Donald's, and Daisy's and Goofy's!) into the wallpaper, carpet, and bedspreads. We enjoyed our stay at the GF, it was absolutely worth the ten years of hinting that I gave my DH to stay there!

It is beautiful and I can wait for the next month to pass so we can be there.

A nice touch at check-in was we were given Anniversary pins and I was given a green carnation.

That was nice of them!

If you'd like, I'll share pictures once I have them on the computer.

Yes, pictures? Have any of the RPC lounge?

 

[Debbied]

Hi
Does anyone have an email address for room requests? I dont have access to a fax and would like to make a few requests. I also would like to order some strawberrys ect to have on first day arrival in room, is this possible, do the bakery tie up with reservations this early or do I have to wait till we have checked in to order these?
Thanks Debbie

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Hi
Does anyone have an email address for room requests? I dont have access to a fax and would like to make a few requests. I also would like to order some strawberrys ect to have on first day arrival in room, is this possible, do the bakery tie up with reservations this early or do I have to wait till we have checked in to order these?
Thanks Debbie

Hi,
Just call CRO and have them add your room requests to your ressie. No need to call the hotel direct.
As for the strawberries, I called GF private dining for ours at 407 824 2474
We leave in 4 days so maybe we will see you there!

 

[Debbied]

Sorry to be dim but what is CRO?
Can the bakery tie up with the room prior to booking in?
Look out for us I will be the Brit stressing about strawberrys, (get a life, your on holiday at the Grand Floridian!! )
have a great vacation if we don't meet...

 

[TammiMcMan]

Sorry to be dim but what is CRO?

Disney's central reservation office. If you made your reservations through a travel agent though, they're the only ones who can make a request on your behalf. My experience with the GF, is that rooms are assigned at check-in, so you can probably just ask for what you want when you arrive. You may have to wait a little longer for a room that meets all your requests, but that's up to you.

Can the bakery tie up with the room prior to booking in?

Yes, but there are only a few items that require a 48 hour notice and strawberries aren't one of them. You can get same day delivery for those, so it may be easier to wait until you get there.

 

[Lives4Disney]

We're back! We actually got home early Monday morning, but with school starting tomorrow and being away from the kids for three days, I had house stuff to do.

We were upgraded - we were in room 4430, and the room was just lovely. The whole resort is beautiful, the grounds and the lobby were extremely impressive. I thought the decorating was beautiful, I really liked how they incorporated so many hidden Mickey's (and Minnie's, and Donald's, and Daisy's and Goofy's!) into the wallpaper, carpet, and bedspreads. We enjoyed our stay at the GF, it was absolutely worth the ten years of hinting that I gave my DH to stay there!

I was really surprised at what the conceige (sp?) level was like. We were given the keys to our room and told to just use the "special" elevator to access our rooms. We never spoke with any conceige (again, sp?) staff member - not the whole weekend. Although we saw several and said hello, we were not acknowledged, or worse, twice we were asked if we knew we were on the conceige level floors. Maybe we didn't look like we belonged? I know that there were other guests that were given a tour of some type, maybe there wasn't a staff member available when we checked in and therefore no one knew who we were? I'm not sure.

That being said, we enjoyed the food offerings Saturday morning, Saturday mid-day (the tea and scones were to die for) and the appetizers Sunday afternoon. The turn down service was a nice touch, I especially enjoyed the little cards that were with the chocolates wishing you sweet dreams. The view from our room was great, my DH and I enjoyed watching the monorail come by, and we could just see Epcot in the distance.

We ordered tuxedo strawberries and a white chocolate Mickey from Private Dining, they were delicious. The Mickey was huge, I was not anticipating it being that large, and I also wasn't aware that it was solid chocolate, not just a shell.

We had very good luck with the buses, I think the longest we waited was at Downtown Disney coming back to the room, about a 20 minute wait. When we went to Downtown Disney and to MGM, it was much shorter, not even 10 minutes each time. The monorails were very good as well, most of the time there was a monorail there when we were heading to MK or Epcot.

A nice touch at check-in was we were given Anniversary pins and I was given a green carnation. I was also very happy to find out that they sell the tea that was served, I think it's called "Garden View"? And, my parents sent us a wine and cheese basket from Disney Florist, and the staff at the gift shop on the main floor (sorry, don't remember the name, maybe the Mercantile?) wrapped the wine glasses for me so they wouldn't be broken on the plane.

We enjoyed our stay at the GF very much, although I know it was definately a one time thing for us, I am so glad we stayed there. If you'd like, I'll share pictures once I have them on the computer.

Thanks for all your help everyone, I really appreciated it!

Twingle, I am happy you did wind up with that upgrade!!! What type of room is 4430?? Where is that one located??? Is it the 5th floor turret??? I forgot what that turret room number is.

That is a shame how you felt like you were treated by the concierge Cms. I know there has been some turnover and plenty of new staff but there is no excuse for poor manners from a GF employee. My favorite concierge CM was out of town while you were there....there are some other really nice ones, too, though. You must have run into a bad apple. There are SUPPOSED to be concierge CMs downstairs to take guests up and show them to their rooms and use the guest's key on the elevator and the room to ensure that the key works. I am not sure what happened and why you weren't shown that courtesy and service. Did you just check in at the front desk?? Maybe we forgot to clarify that part of concierge for ya before you left. Probably with all the excitement about the upgrade and it maybe not being for sure. Still, I would have thought the front desk CM would have directed you to a concierge CM. Did you have the "gold" concierge room key???

I am looking forward to you posting some pics!! So glad it was a nice stay and happy anniversary. Glad you got to spend it in RPC!

Lives4Disney

 

[honeypot36]

honeypot - yes there are AAA RPC and SL rooms. It seems WDW has really cut down on the number & dates they are discounted, though.


Thanks Lives4Disney. Gosh, everyone here is so helpful. We are thinking of staying at the GF next summer but wanted to read more about what it offered here. And it sounds WONDERFUL!! I love it when people enjoy their vacations and love hearing stories of how they went about planning them.

Will update you all on our plans once we decide.

honeypot36

 

[SLDL]

I just read on the allears newsletter about a photographer that takes you through the GF for a portrait session. Anyone ever done this? I think I will call to get some more details, it didn't sound that expensive.

 

[grannyminnie]

We're currently booked in a standard (if staying at the GF can be "standard"!) room, but all this talk of concierge has me again "lusting" for it... Is there a noticeable difference in luxury if you book SL as opposed to the main building?

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

subscribing . . .

Hoping to stay at the GF 12/08!

 

[Lives4Disney]

We're currently booked in a standard (if staying at the GF can be "standard"!) room, but all this talk of concierge has me again "lusting" for it... Is there a noticeable difference in luxury if you book SL as opposed to the main building?

Other people have different opinions, but I think so. We stayed in SL once when we couldn't get into RPC, and once was enough. To us, even though the food offerings are the same, the over all feel of it was not. If we're gonna splurge on WDW we want RPC. The main building has it's own special atmosphere that I didn't feel anything close to in SL. If you want to have concierge and don't want the hideous RPC price, go for it. It's concierge at the Grand, afterall. Could be worse.

SLDL....never heard of it. I am usually ditching being in photos, lol.

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyNotes]

If we're gonna splurge on WDW we want RPC. The main building has it's own special atmosphere . . .

I very much agree!

 

[grannyminnie]

I would absolutely love to wallow in the luxury of RPC, but those rates are horrendous. Even with the AAA they're not what I am willing to pay. Now, if I could score a 40% discount, we'd be talking!

 

[Twingle]

I have no idea how to do multiple replies, so I'll just answer each of you in turn!

Twingle, It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I would love to see some pictures of your trip. Did you get to eat at any of the restaurants in the GF? Thanks!

We did have a great time! Pictures are coming, I have dial up and it takes forever to download the photos. We didn't eat at any of the restaurants this time, but we have eaten at 1900 Park Fare for both breakfast and dinner previously. The food there was outstanding!

 

[Twingle]

Twingle, you said you were upgraded...had you not booked concierge? If not, you sure were lucky, but I don't get why you were looked at as if you didn't belong?

Grannyminnie, yes, we were upgraded to concierge. I had originally booked a LV room, with no request for buildings. When I booked I mentioned that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary, and had wanted to stay at the GF since our Honeymoon. I don't know if we were upgraded because of availabilty or because of our anniversary, but it was very nice, and a wonderful surprise.

As near as I can tell, some of the other concierge guests were greeted in the lobby and then brought up to the concierge level. We were not, we just went up to our room ourselves. Since we were not with a staff member, I think that is why we were questioned.

 

[Twingle]

Yes, pictures? Have any of the RPC lounge?

Pictures coming soon - the only pics I have of the lounge are of the carpet, the wall paper, and the view from the seats we were at! I'd be happy to share, if you'd like.

 

[grannyminnie]

Twingle, I have requested Sago Cay, marina view based on reading that suggestion on this thread, but now I'm wondering if I should just withdraw my request and maybe we'd stand a better chance of being upgraded? I am hopeful that since we're there at a less busy time, there might be availability and I can politely ask to pay for an upgrade (and maybe get a break in the rate), but I love what happened to you!!

 

[Twingle]

Twingle, I am happy you did wind up with that upgrade!!! What type of room is 4430?? Where is that one located??? Is it the 5th floor turret??? I forgot what that turret room number is.

That is a shame how you felt like you were treated by the concierge Cms. I know there has been some turnover and plenty of new staff but there is no excuse for poor manners from a GF employee. My favorite concierge CM was out of town while you were there....there are some other really nice ones, too, though. You must have run into a bad apple. There are SUPPOSED to be concierge CMs downstairs to take guests up and show them to their rooms and use the guest's key on the elevator and the room to ensure that the key works. I am not sure what happened and why you weren't shown that courtesy and service. Did you just check in at the front desk?? Maybe we forgot to clarify that part of concierge for ya before you left. Probably with all the excitement about the upgrade and it maybe not being for sure. Still, I would have thought the front desk CM would have directed you to a concierge CM. Did you have the "gold" concierge room key???

I am looking forward to you posting some pics!! So glad it was a nice stay and happy anniversary. Glad you got to spend it in RPC!

Lives4Disney

Lives4Disney - room 4430 is on the fourth floor, once you get off the elevator and go through the lounge, all the way to the right, first room you get to on the right. We were by the monorail. To describe it differently, if you got off the monorail and faced GF, we were in the room whose windows were two floors up and on the right.

The CM's (there were two - twice we were asked if we knew where we were) were a bit rude about it, but more questioning, like, why are you here? types. We did just check in at the front desk, and given regular keys - at least, they were the same keys that we get when we stay DVC. Blueish with wording on them. We were not greated by a concierge CM, but we didn't know we should've been.

As far as courtsey and service goes, it was very similar to our DVC stays, other than we haven't ever been asked before if we were where we meant to be. We hadn't had a lounge before, which was very nice, and the room and the views were wonderful.

It was a nice stay, and a great way to spend our anniversary. Hopefully pics will be up some time later today!

Thanks again for all your help everyone -

 

[Twingle]

Twingle, I have requested Sago Cay, marina view based on reading that suggestion on this thread, but now I'm wondering if I should just withdraw my request and maybe we'd stand a better chance of being upgraded? I am hopeful that since we're there at a less busy time, there might be availability and I can politely ask to pay for an upgrade (and maybe get a break in the rate), but I love what happened to you!!

The regulars on this board could probably give you a better idea of how often upgrades happen. We were very surprised. As far as requesting Sago Cay, when I originally booked our room, I didn't know of the different buildings, just that there were Garden Views or Lagoon (maybe Marina?) Views, and that the main building was concierge. I requested Lagoon because the rate I was given was the max I was budgeted to pay, and because I had seen the water pagent before, many, many years ago, and I was told that Disney still did it.

We rode the elevator twice with a couple that was on their honeymoon, and they had also been upgraded to concierge. I don't know if it's something GF does for couples celebrating, or upon availabilty at check in, but I'm all for asking politely for an upgrade! People do it all the time, and the worse that can happen is that you're told no. You'll still be at Disney, right?

You'll have a wonderful time, the whole place is just breathtaking.

 

[One Small Step]

Humm, well I think I can tell you a little bit! From one of my sources, I have listed a B4 Two Bedroom Suite, $1465 a night regular season. However, I think that this is actually a BU suite.

The BU suite is a two bedroom Magic Kingdom view suite, that sleeps 9. The BQ suite, sleeps 8, and has a variable view (marina,water,lagoon-it's coming up $1510 a night). Now, in the past, the BU & BQ suites have been the same price, and since my price list from my one source listed a BQ but not BU, I put in the same price for both - I'll see what I can find out.

Anyways, the BU suite (the MK View 2BR) has a oversized parlor with two balconies & queen sleeper sofa. Next to it is the king master bedroom, with a connecting 2 queen/daybed room next door. These suites are in Conch Key, and there are two of them (however, they could possibly be in Sago Cay as well, depending on how they configure them as a 1BR or 2BR, usually the 1BR is in Sago, the 2BR is in Conch, so they can sell two of one and two of the other). Great MK views. The suites in Conch Key are the Cypress (2nd floor) and the Wakiwa (3rd floor). Janet2k has stayed in both of these suites.

Hi, we just returned from a stay in the Cypress Suite. It has just been refurbished and is gorgeous, however, it does not have a daybed in the room with the two queens...as you stated, Cali, this suite is an amalgam of a former studio suite (sitting room with pullout sofabed and wet bar), a king single room and an adjoining double, with three full baths. The double room could actually be "closed off" from the suite completely (if need be) as it has its own entrance to the hallway. This room has the best unobstructed view of the MK in the suite (you can't see the castle from any of the other three(!)balconies), but you can see space mountain. Of course, you have beautiful lagoon views from all the rooms.

Wish I were still there!