When we were at the GF in July, we could definitely hear the music while watching Wishes from the marina. There appeared to be speakers in the plant beds. One night, I was on the right side (as I faced the castle) near the umbrella tables and couldn't hear all that well. Then another night, I moved to the left side and could hear much, much better. So it may be that the speakers are hit or miss and that could explain how someone might not have heard music down there??
I wouldnt be surprised if sometimes the speakers are on or off or just too low. I remember at the Poly that i was there for a few days before hearing the music on the grounds.
In our case at the Marina we sat to the left facing the castle at the top of the stairs leading to the tables by the fence.
Anyway I'll give you the highlights of our trip. We went with friends, were a party of 10 and spread ourselves among 3 rooms. All 3 rooms were adjoining with 2 connecting. My friends kids and some of mine shared the middle room which gave some extra space to the parents.
Our rooms were 4315,16 and 17. These face the quiet pool and at first I was disappointed but grew to love the view. You can actually see a lot. We had a view of space mountain, most of the fireworks, a view of the lagoon towards the marina, a view of the lagoon on the Poly side, a view of the Poly and of course Big Pine key, Sugar Loaf and Boca Chica. Down and to our left you could see a restaurant which i assume was citricos.
I bought an Ipod before we went and it was nice to be able to play it through the clock radio.
As i said above there was no one to greet us as club level guests and was told to check inside.
During our 10 days only once did i see someone at a podium near the lobby doors with a sign that said club arrivals.
I asked the greeter who got someone to bring us up and both my friend and I were checked in together. We were checked in but the guy from independence, MO who i remembered heather(?) had a problem with. He was ok but I could see where the way he talked could cause a problem. After checking in my friend he said "do i have to go over all that again or were you listening?" I don't know if he realizes how he sounds but...
My wife bonded right away to cm Mejay. She was fantastic, was so genuine, and nice and friendly and went out of her way to keep asking my wife what she needed.
When my wife mentioned if we could get some milk in the room for our baby she had a gallon placed in the fridge for us and had it replaced when it was running low.
She kept prodding my wife for what else she needed and when she mentioned we couldnt find Sun-In she bought it off property that day and billed it to our room.
I needed to mail a letter and asked Mejay where i could get a stamp. She took the letter and told me she'd buy the stamp and mail it. I gave her the money for the stamp and she found me letter to give me the receipt and change. Not a big deal but it made it easier when we were running late that morning.
We ran into a problem on Friday evening. We had bought tickets months ago to the Grand Gathering Illuminations dinner and fireworks. As you might have heard others say on here ( i read it somewhere) There was a huge lightning storm and heavy rain, that started around 3 or 4. The rain was so heavy , the lightning so frequent and the thunder was so close you could actually feel the building shake. We had the balcony doors open and would laugh at all the screams from the kids when the thunder would come. Not too funny, i guess but we couldnt help it.
I didnt know what to do because even though the monorail would get us there dry we'd have to walk to the odyssey restaurant which is behind test track near the water. With an infant, a 3, 6 and 9 year olfd and my friend who uses the electric wheelchair to get around i was hesitant about going. Id knew we'd get soaked and was worried about having the kids out in that storm.
I asked the concierge desk for some advice and they told me (after contacting Epcot which kept her on hold for a very long time and talking to Calvin from IPO) that any cancellations had to be done 6 days before the date and they wouldnt refund the money. The tickets cost over $400 for all of us and we didnt want to lose the money. By now it was 6:45 and dinner was at 7:30. We decided to try and get a cab and take our chances as the rain had started to lget lighter. Outside the GF there was no cabs to be found and we encountered a man who had already been waiting 25 minutes for a cab to show up. Thr rain started getting heavier again and we decided to cut our losses. I knew we'd be wet, then we'd probably feel cold in restaurant from being wet with the AC and then who knew if it would stop raining to go watch Illuminations at the reserved seating. We went back up, ordered room service and called it a night.
The next morning as we were headed to downtown Disney to shop Mejay was at the desk and when she saw us we heard her say to two other CMs
'this is the family from last night' She wasn;t even working last night but she knew the whole story and she told my wife she was working on getting us a full refund. Sure enough a few minutes later CM denny refunded our over $400.
It was nice to be treated so well and we spent that money at downtown disney.
The pools were great and were never crowded. At the most crowded time i counted maybe 30 people. We rented the cabana for a whole day and in hindsight we should have just done the morning. We had it until 7pm but by 5 we were ready to call it a day. Also in the late afternoon the sun is on the side of the monorail and shade isnt a problem then.
Frozen drinks at the pool were very tasty and we had some and walked down to the wedding pavillion and watched a bride arrive. ahhh memories....
The piano player and the band were wonderful to listen to and the music drifts down the hallways so we heard it as soon as we opened our room door.
Shopped in every store at the GF and each place had some very nice things. We went a bit crazy in the Bath Basin shop and spent close to $300 on soaps and other items. The two ladies working there were very friendly and when they saw how much soap we were buying offered thier employee discount to us which saved us at least $40. 99% of CMs at the resort and in the parks were great and the few who weren't didn't ruin anyones day but their own.
I took about 600 pics ( i hate digital cameras, i used to wind up with only 6 rolls of film) so it will take me a while to post.
There is more that I'll remember and post about later.
lol
I have never used ME and don't want to. Limo's are much more convenient. 
