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

[poohluvrs]

Thanks For The Sweet Response And Adorable Pic's Of Your Little Sweeties!

 

[FutureBrideOfMike]

Hi everyone!
I have always wanted to stay at the GF and we are going to WDW this fall for our disneymoon. Our budget just will not allow for us to conceierge or anything like that. We will just be able to stay in a standard Garden View.
couple of questions:
-Is the Garden View worth it at GF? Should we sppend the $ to have that or would we be better served elsewhere?
-Are there King beds in Garden View rooms?
-What are our chances of an upgrade in October on our HM?
-Any tips on what location, building, etc to request?
-We LOVE Epcot. It is our fav park. We are not super worried about getting everywhere in 5 minute or anything but is it hard to get to Epcot?
Thanks in advance for your help!!!

 

[phyllis1966]

Hi -

I'm not an expert, but DH and I do love the GF, so there are a couple of your questions that I can answer from experience:

The garden view rooms are terrific! Our first stay was in the Conch Key building and we loved it, so we always request it when we go and have always gotten it. Garden View from Conch Key is a view of either the Quiet Pool and its surroundings, or the marina on the other side of the building. Both afford pretty views, IMO. I think the only building that has some obstructed Garden Views is Big Pine Key, because of the snack bar building.

There are definitely king beds in some of the Garden View rooms, because we have been in one of them.

Don't know much about being upgraded - I know someone will be able to answer that for you, though.

Conch Key and Sago Cay both have nice Garden Views - maybe other posters can recommend other buildings, too.

With the changing of monorails to get to Epcot, it probably takes about 12-15 minutes for the ride only (not counting time spent waiting for the monorails). It's no hassle, though - we find it really convenient (Epcot is my favorite park also!).

Congratulations and have a great Honeymoon!

 

[hearingaidmom]

Thank you poohluvrs and Janet2K. I did email RPC concierge about my ADRs yesterday. They emailed me back within 30 mins. with a note that they had made everything they could at that point and would email the confirms on the rest when they could make them. The attached itinerary listed everything that I had requested except for 2 things. We did get the 2 things that I was most concerned about-breakfast at CRT and the Disney Girl Princess Tea Party at the GF. The two things that were not listed were requests for dinner at House of Blues in DTD and lunch at Rainforest Cafe in AK. Maybe these can't be booked 180 days in advance.?? I'm not sure. It's not a big deal if we don't get these two. We have eaten at HOB in New Orleans and have had lunch at RC in AK on our last WDW trip.

Now I just need to call GF Private Dining to schedule a surprise 10th anniversary dinner for DH and myself. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[traci]

we are staying rpc in late october. this is our first time in concierge there. when can i contact them to help with dinner/breakfast reservations?
**sorry for small caps - baby in hand!

 

[Angel16]

Traci - What a beautiful picture of your daughter with Minnie. I love her expression. Thank you for sharing.

You may contact IPO 190 days in advance of your arrival to arrange your dinning reservations.

 

[jlawall]

Thx again Janet! We are within two weeks so it is crunch time! Time to plan the itineraries!!!!!!!!!!!!!I WILL announce your name in the lobby!! HAHA!

 

[thedisneymom]

I sent you a PM
Thanks for the fabulous photos of Pine Key. I am getting a better idea of where we'll be!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Hi!! I am at the GF in room 4401 - my favorite room!!!! I have had it once before and loved it then! I have a perfect MK - castle - wishes view!!

The daybed mattress measures 72 inches long X 30 inches wide. My 5'8'' son is perfectly comfortable on it.

Haven't seen the pool cabanas yet, but I will check them out and photo them.

I have to say, we tried UO for the first time and it was OK, but nothing touches WDW. Portofino Bay cannot hold a candle to the room/service/CMs at the GF. This is my favorite place to be.

Well! I am totally feeling the magic here. So many cool things have happened. I will tell more later. Off to bfast with Alice!!

Take care! Happy travels everybody.

Lives4Disney

 

[triplefigs]

Hi!! I am at the GF in room 4401 - my favorite room!!!! I have had it once before and loved it then! I have a perfect MK - castle - wishes view!!

The daybed mattress measures 72 inches long X 30 inches wide. My 5'8'' son is perfectly comfortable on it.

Haven't seen the pool cabanas yet, but I will check them out and photo them.

I have to say, we tried UO for the first time and it was OK, but nothing touches WDW. Portofino Bay cannot hold a candle to the room/service/CMs at the GF. This is my favorite place to be.

Well! I am totally feeling the magic here. So many cool things have happened. I will tell more later. Off to bfast with Alice!!

Take care! Happy travels everybody.

Lives4Disney

Channing,

Have a great, great, great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope it's a magical trip!

Denise

 

[thedisneymom]

Happy to hear you are having a great time! Tell Alice I said hello! Thansk for measuring the daybed too!

 

[Janet2k]

This looks like a very nice perk. Did the tour go on the same road as the regular park attraction or on a different route?

Docsknotinn, for the most part, the Wildlife Discovery Excursion tour follows the same road as the regular Kilimanjaro Safari vehicles. However, your tour vehicle will pull off the beaten path a few times and simply park. It is while you are parked that you truly begin to feel the full effect of the tour.

With the tour vehicle parked, your guide will begin pointing out the plant and animal life that surrounds you. He/she will describe everything in as much detail as possible, from the care of the plant life to the mating habits of the animals. While your guide talks, he/she is open to questions and freely welcomes them. It really is a wonderful one-on-one type of experience where a lot of information is shared. My family and our friends enjoyed the tour immensely.

 

[Janet2k]

Are there King beds in Garden View rooms?

Phyllis1966 pretty much answered all of your questions. Don’t forget to make sure your room reservation notes your request for a king-sized bed since it sounds like that bedding arrangement is important to you.

I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon. I’ve been married for over 20 years and I’m still waiting for mine (it’s not looking like I’ll ever get it).

 

[Docsknotinn]

Thanks for the help Janet! Were capitulating about upgrading to CL from LV. The safari seems like a real nice perk and something we would do.

 

[Janet2k]

Now I just need to call GF Private Dining to schedule a surprise 10th anniversary dinner for DH and myself. Any suggestions?

Hearingaidmom, it sounds like things are working out beautifully for your vacation. I’m sure the concierge will be able to secure the rest of your reservations without too much difficulty.

Now, what to do about your anniversary dinner? Hhhmmm…

That is a tough one to answer. Do you want to dine in your room or do you want to dine outdoors? If you want to dine outdoors, you could arrange for your meal to be served along the beach or at either of the two swimming pools. The marina is another wonderful location. During my resort stay last summer, I saw Private Dining serve a meal in the resort’s lobby: click here. I don't believe I'd ever seen a meal served in the lobby before. That was a new one for me.

For a really unique afternoon or evening, don’t forget that you can rent either a pontoon boat or the Grand 1 yacht. To make your anniversary just that much more special, arrange for a meal through Private Dining.

Have fun planning and happy (early) anniversary!

 

[Janet2k]

We're capitulating about upgrading to CL from LV. The safari seems like a real nice perk and something we would do.

Uh-oh! I can see trouble ahead. Concierge can be quite addicting. You have been warned.

Seriously, I immensely enjoyed the tour. My family had been somewhat of a guinea pig for it in October of 2003. It was fun to see how the tour had evolved: VIP Safari Tour vs. Wildlife Discovery Excursion.

To me, the only difference between the two tours was an aesthetic one – the ride vehicle had changed, and for the better too. When I had attended the VIP Safari Tour in 2003, I was in a wheelchair and was unable to walk. It was a bit of an issue for me to board the tour vehicle since there was no wheelchair ramp. I had to board on my butt – not the most flattering way to board any vehicle. (I know, that’s way too much information.) I was pleased to see that the new tour vehicle had a wheelchair ramp, even though I no longer needed it because I could walk again.

The Wildlife Discovery Excursion is a wonderful tour. If you attend it, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has.

 

[Janet2k]

Hi!! I am at the GF in room 4401 - my favorite room!!!! I have had it once before and loved it then! I have a perfect MK - castle - wishes view!!

The daybed mattress measures 72 inches long X 30 inches wide. My 5'8'' son is perfectly comfortable on it.

Haven't seen the pool cabanas yet, but I will check them out and photo them.

Lives4Disney, I love that room too -- the kids & I stayed in it last summer (click here). It is nice & quiet there. And I agree with you regarding the castle view: click here and click here. It is wonderful (especially at night, ~sigh~).

Thank you for the daybed measurements. That is wonderful information and will help many other guests.

You have successfully completed the first part of your mission. I am positive that you will successfully complete the second part -- the cabana photos. Let me know if I need to send in the reinforcements.

Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[Lives4Disney]

OK, we're settling in for the night as the girls have the cooking adventures tomorrow morning and the guys want to get an early start to head over to EE and check it out.

I am totally bumming about the CROWDS! We went to MGM today and it was much worse than it was on Thanksgiving day. We didn't do much at all. Every time we headed to Millionaire it was FULL. No tower of terror as it was a two hour wait. No RR either. I don't care - but my son was not too happy. Not too big a deal, but we will have to make ourselves get up earlier and start to hustle a bit more! We prefer to sleep in and stay out later, but that just isn't working with the girls getting over colds and the weather being soooo cold in the eve.

I plan to check out those pool cabanas tomorrow - just to see what they are like while the girls are "cooking". The weather has been too cool to swim, but absolutely gorgeous blue sunny skies and no humidity. It may be warm enough tomorrow, but definitely by Wed when I have a cabana rented.

The concierge staff here is THE BEST - My check in was great - even though wwhen we pulled up it was just packed with cars and we had to wait for a valet - Juanita brought us right up and Katy checked us in in under 10 minutes.

We went to MK for lunch at CP (great, but same menu as always)and left ASAP as it was PACKED. At 1:00 they announced at CP that there were no more openings until after 9:30pm! Not much fun at MK when it is just bumper to bumper!! We went to Epcot and encountered similar problems, so we didn't stay too long there, either.

We came back to GF and had an hour + wait to get our luggage up to our room. They said 15 minutes, but the clock kept ticking and it never showed. My husband had to call 3 times and was told it's on it's way up. Well, they actually had problems locating all of it and that's what the issue was. By the time it showed, we were going to be late to O'Hanas, so Jerry drove us over in a golf cart from the GF and it was so cool! He would make people pull over and say "VIPs coming thru!" just for fun!! We saw a bride and groom in the Cinderella carriage. We pulled over and watched them pass and took some pics. My girls were so thrilled. Very special start to our vacation. Once again (happened on another trip) I had CC problems - the security dept started denying my charges (embarrassing) so Katy helped me get that straightened out.

Today we came back to the room and there was a message typed in Braille for my daughter - but she couldn't read the signature!! If you know Braille, there are so many different combinations and shortcuts for letter combos that she just couldn't decipher it as she is just a couple years into learning it. We went up to concierge to see if they knew who had delivered it and Vonnie (so nice) went out of her way to try and solve the mystery. She was just a doll and she did solve it. It was from a teacher that my daughter knows, but doesn't have for anything, but the teacher also knows Braille and was vacationing at WDW. Vonnie and my daughter talked about pins/pin trading and she told her some interesting info about them, gave her some special info, and actually got one out of her own stash for my daughter to keep. SO SWEET. She also helped her pin trade with the concierge manager (to get the best one!).

I am really feeling the love and magic at the GF. Yesterday, while we were waiting for our luggage, a special surprise gift of tuxedo strawberries was delivered from the manager as a thankyou for being return guests. I love this place!! They really are making us feel so special here. I was actually kind of feeling gloomy during our PBH stay - kind of worried that the way that stay went was the way the direction of our whole vacation - but once we checked in here things have been nothing but wonderful.

OH! They are trying out some new products for toiletries. They are SPA H2O or H2O SPA (not sure) and they are so so so wonderful. They are very green and have a minty scent and feel to them - very cooling, soothing and refreshing. I tried the shampoo & conditioner and the soap is just so creamy and nice, there is a really nice body butter and a cooling foot rub - feels so good after a long day. Terrific stuff. At first I was disappointed as they are not packaged so prettily. I missed the cute, charming packaging of the GF toiletries, but these new products make up for the lack of pretty bottles. Then my husband showed me a questionnaire card regarding the new stuff. They are not in the final packaging, and are just being tested. I hope they keep these new products. I would BUY them they are that nice.

Bfast with Alice was so nice this morning. The character "boss" discreetly told my husband that he told the characters to spend a bit of extra time with my daughter (He must have seen her white cane and wanted to make sure she could see them) and the characters were so sweet to her. Just really, again discreetly, cuddled her and petted her and Alice and the Mad Hatter got down to her eye level and kind of in her face (which was great). I just felt like they really cared and took extra care of her. We have really run into the NICEST CMs so far. Only 2 days - but some really really nice people. Here's hoping for more!! I have read some less than flattering things about the CMs running the cooking adventures, so fingers are crossed that all goes well.

Happy planning, everybody! I don't want to leave the GF!! We stay until April 1 and then move to the Poly. I may beg, borrow and steal to try and stay here instead. I LOVE IT HERE!

Lives4Disney

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Bfast with Alice was so nice this morning. The character "boss" discreetly told my husband that he told the characters to spend a bit of extra time with my daughter (He must have seen her white cane and wanted to make sure she could see them) and the characters were so sweet to her. Just really, again discreetly, cuddled her and petted her and Alice and the Mad Hatter got down to her eye level and kind of in her face (which was great). I just felt like they really cared and took extra care of her. We have really run into the NICEST CMs so far. Only 2 days - but some really really nice people. Here's hoping for more!! I have read some less than flattering things about the CMs running the cooking adventures, so fingers are crossed that all goes well. Lives4Disney

Wow! You've made me cry. The CMs at the GF do such an amazing job! I am so glad that you switched back to RPC. I think it must be great to retreat back to the CL with the parks being so crowded. So worth it! Keep us posted and have a safe trip.

Lori

 

[marcij]

Lives4Disney -- thanks for posting during your trip -- it sounds fabulous! Hope the rest of it is equally wonderful!