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

[triplefigs]

Glad you're having such a great trip! Enjoy, but get up earlier girl!

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Lives4Disney~I'm enjoying reading your posts while you are there. It sounds like you are having a great time We leave tomorrow night on a red eye flight..your report is making me even more excited! We check in the GF on Saturday..can't wait!

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Laura

 

[triplefigs]

Lives4Disney~I'm enjoying reading your posts while you are there. It sounds like you are having a great time We leave tomorrow night on a red eye flight..your report is making me even more excited! We check in the GF on Saturday..can't wait!

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Laura

Congrats on your upcoming marriage! We were married on April 1st, 1995 and Disneymooned at the Poly. You're going to have so much fun. Post pictures afterwards, please!

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Congrats on your upcoming marriage! We were married on April 1st, 1995 and Disneymooned at the Poly. You're going to have so much fun. Post pictures afterwards, please!

Thank you for the congrats. I will make sure to post pictures when we get back.

P.S. Happy Early Anniversary!!
Laura

 

[thedisneymom]

Lives4Disney-
Thanks so much for the daybed information. It is greatly appreciated! I am so happy that you are having some Disney magic. Also, surprised that you weren't happy at PBH. Enjoy your trip! keep us posted.

 

[Tinks]

Lives4disney---I'm glad your trip is going well. I know from reading this thread over the last several months how much you love the GF. Thanks for the live updates!


I'm still planning my "Girls only" trip with my friends in August. Right now we are booked lagoon view, but when I'm at Disney in June I'm going to check out the GF concierge buildings and possibly upgrade us. Will they show me the RPC area and/or SL building if I just walk over to GF and ask???

 

[Lives4Disney]

Hi, guys!!! Well......The magic really lives here - at the GF. I told my husband last night that I just can't sleep. I am on a happiness high. REALLY. I keep going over in my mind all the super CMs here at the GF that I really need to write to the manager about. I just cannot tell you. I feel like I have an angel on my shoulder this time. We always love WDW, but usually do not get so much magic and such wonderful treatment. Sometimes none! We have been overwhelmed by the gracious treatment this time. Just blown away. There is a difference. I don't know why, but there is something changed.

OK, last night at MK (we went after dinner) we had our own "private stretch" in the stretching room at the Haunted Mansion. It was OFFERED to us!! We have not been able to do that stretching room for the past few years as my daughter's vision has deteriorated. We usually ask the CM to be taken directly to the Doom Buggies and board at the exit to avoid the mob scene from that room to the buggies in the dark ( you know what I mean!) Anyway, I approached with my usual request and the CM asked it we would want our own private stretch! It was awesome. My daughter was thrilled and told me it made up for the years that she hadn't been able to do it. She actually got to SEE some of the things going on in that room, and get the experience start to finish. I just about cried when I thanked that kind CM after the ride. I just choked up. It was just the best. We really enjoyed the MK at night. We did Adventureland - not too crowded, picked up some of Yago's (sp?) feathers from the floor - my girls LOVED that, watched Wishes from Fantasyland - SO BEAUTIFUL - I just feel like bawling when I listen to the words......We shopped a bit on the exit, and bought treats to take back and enjoy......got to our room and there was a beautiful balloon bouquet and all kinds of treats and presents for my two girls from a super sweet concierge member that we had talked to during the day! I could not believe it. I don't want people to think this stuff happens all the time because it has honestly rarely happened to me on about 30 trips, but for some reason we are just overflowing with magic this trip. My girls made special thank you pictures for the sweet concierge members today. (I asked my daughters what should we do for them, what should we get them and Lucy said "A really big tip!") I just don't know that that is the right thing as they just did this stuff out of the kindness of their hearts. I think maybe writing a really nice letter to Kent Mitchell about the special people he has working for him would be best. What do you all think???

The girls had their hair wraps done at the pool yesterday by the most wonderful lady from Colombia. She did their hair on our Thanksgiving trip. She is just so sweet and does great work, too! My younger daughter's wrap lasted from the end of Nov until it was cut out yesterday!!! We got our money's worth on that one! I talked to her about her life in Columbia and wow, I was touched by her story. I just feel so overblessed to be here now. Makes me almost feel guilty!! She was just wonderful, though, and so upbeat and positive - very interesting and she is so grateful to be in the USA and safe.

Today we enjoyed our rented cabana. It was kind of fun, but I thought I don't know that I would do it again. It is exactly like the other three that they have had, and right next to them - nearest to the little poolside store, except this one has better furniture and the cabinent with the TV, DVD player, radio, and fridge. There is also a padded mat type thing as a floor covering. There was no internet access at the cabana. My husband brought his laptop with expectations, but there was none available. He asked and found out that they tell people that there is, but nobody has tried it before (from the waitress at the bar) My husband still did actually like having the cabana and thought it was a great deal. Funny.....you never know! The girls liked being able to watch tv and color in the shade when they took pool breaks. I took several pics I will post when I get home. (sad, sniff - I don't want to leave!!!)

We went to the Garden Grille for lunch and the food was pretty good, but service was very slow. We did get up early today (hey, triplefigs! ) and made it to Epcot just before 9:30am. We saw the first Turtle Talk show - loved it, did Soarin - loved it, and Imagination - cheesy, but you get to sit. ...and had lunch. That's about it at Epct today. We are just doing a nice slow pace. Swam, got the girls princessed up for dinner at 1900PF (I spent my entire dinner in the bathroom as both girls wound up with diarreah one after the other - bummer) Lucy was Alice and we knew she would be, so she brought her shiny black, cute maryjanes and white tights and a black hair ribbon and she looks just like Alice. People were oohing and aahing over her. I got teary over that! Jo is so funny. She chose to be Ariel. She has the white Ariel wedding dress, some sparkly sandals and a sparkly hair ribbon. She doesn't care that she looks nothing like Ariel (with her dark hair and skin) she just wanted a dress she liked! There is NO WAY I would put a kid in that red Ariel wig they sell!! How obnoxious!!! We were going to shop at the resorts tonight, but instead we just crashed. The girls are already asleep. Too early of a start (triplefigs!!!)and too much sun. The weather is gorgeous but getting hotter. Tomorrow 84 degrees.

WDWinJune - You will LOVE this place - we check out on the first and head to the Poly, but I wish you the BEST. Congratulations. Hope everything is perfect for you and they treat you like royalty. And happy anniversary to you, Triplefigs!!

PirateoftheCarolinas - There have been so many touching things happening on my trip - I find myself tearing up so often because I feel so grateful. The CMs have just been outstanding and things just seem to be perfect. When people are nice to my kids, I love them for it!!

hmmm.....I am just having the time of my life here. Some trips don't go this way. There have been so many, but some are just kind of duds. Some are nice, but this is one of the best ever. We are having ONE problem now and that is that our thermostat is broken!! The AC will not stop cooling if it is on and our room is about 60 degrees! We have turned it off and opened the sliders to get some heat in. Told them several hours ago (this happened last night - we discovered about midnight when we returned from MK to a frozen room and we all slept in sweatshirts and warm PJs) but they have not fixed it yet. Ugh. I better follow up with it tomorrow morning.

Take care everybody. I love this place and keep telling my husband I am so happy we did choose the main building. No regrets. It is so nice to be able to leave the crowded parks and rude guests and come HOME to the GF!!

Tinks, I bet they would LOVE to show you the concierge buildings and lounges. Good advertising for a potential customer!

TheDisneyMom - I just had some expectations from what I got from the Loews website, Frommers, and my own Universal 2006 book that were just not met. The room size was the biggest issue. The Universal 2006 book says a deluxe room (which I booked) would be 600 sq ft. I didn't recheck the other sources, but I have my book with me. Our room - and we measured it as we had the tape measure for the GF daybeds was under 450 sq ft(so I felt like I was maybe not in a deluxe room) the shower was clear glass so only one person could use the bathroom at a time, the staff was so-so, housekeeping only always left 4 bathtowels for the 5 of us, (hate that) and at turndown only two chocolate (hate that, too), they charged me for a rollaway we didn't use - said they would take it off and didn't - had to deal with it at checkout. Then the most obnoxious thing (besides the resort being overrun with wild cheerleaders)- I bought and paid for an annual pass for the AP rate which I found out at check out they did not honor. Not too much money, but the principal of the thing. NO apologies, no customer service, just a that's the deal type thing and can I prove it. I KNOW what I was quoted, but did not have the print out with me to PROVE to them. I just wasn't impressed. Just several small things, but honestly when I drove up for the first time to PBH, I was in awe. It was beautiful. We ate at la Trattoria and Mama Dellas. The waiter at LT was so rude. Don't know why, but he was. The BEST part of the whole stay were the accordian player and his singer and the guitar player that went table to table at the restaurants. They were fun and nice and memorable.

Happy travels!

Lives4Disney

 

[Lives4Disney]

OK, now I am getting annoying, I know.....but I had to add about the Adventures in Cooking!

My girls LOVED this activity. I know there have been some less than nice things posted about the people running it, and the way they treat the kids, and I have to say they didn't really impress me as overly nice, but my girls thought they were! (you never know) They felt very well taken care of (their own words) and enjoyed everything they did during this little "adventure". They actually asked right away if they could do it again. They both prefered it over the Alice tea party. That says a lot because they really really enjoyed that one.

OK, signing off now!!

Lives4Disney

 

[triplefigs]

Channing,

What a magical trip! I'm so glad you are being sprinkled with PD everywhere you go. I know how much the CMs effort at the HM meant to you and your DD. How wonderful for her! I may have to try your tip about going right to the doom buggy at the exit for our next trip. The stretching room completely freaked out the kids and we had to leave immediately.

Go get some sleep so you can get up early again! BTW, now you're making me 2nd guess changing to the CR... you are so bad for me (and vice versa)!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Thanks for the info. on the cabanas. Were the other cabanas rented or empty?

The Ariel outfit made me LOL. My DD was Ariel one Halloween and insisted on getting the red wig. By Halloween, Ariel's hair was quite bushy and unruly.

One neighbor said my Ariel looked like she had been on a drinking bender! Oh, where is that starfish hairclip when you need it. Years later, he still asks if Ariel has gone to rehab yet!

Lori

 

[thedisneymom]

Lives4Disney-
I was almost crying when I read your post. I do so love when magical things happen for someone. I say write a beautiful letter for the wonderful people at Gf and maybe purchase a special treat candy. As for the PBH I am so sorry you were disappointed but feel you should also write a letter to the hotel manager explaining that you usually are a concierge guest at the GF and why you were so disappointed and list all. They can only improve what we tell them. I love Univ/Isl but there is always Magic at Disney. My kids love to split the stay now that they are older. I feel the experience at both is different but wouldn't hesitate to write a polite letter stating the things you would like change. I agree with the more towels and surely would have fought to the death over the chocolate.

 

[marcij]

Lives4Disney -- you are NOT being annoying! I LOVE reading your reports, and it sounds like the other regulars on here do too. Thank you so much for taking the time to post. I was having a pretty crappy day, and your report just perked me right up. I am so glad you are getting extra PD on this trip. Here's to the extra PD continuing!

 

[princessesrule4]

So glad you are having such a special and memorable trip! Can't wait to hear more! I'm glad you posted about the cabanas - I think mabye we might not do it now since there is no Internet access for DH!

 

[riversidedude]

For all of you experts on this thread, I have a quick question... What building has a better GV.... Sago Cay, Conch Key, or Big Pine Key? Any chance I would get a view of the theme pool with a GV?

Also:
Does anybody maybe have prices or price ranges of the items in the mini-bar? Are they the same as in the parks? (i.e. Bottled Water $2.25)???


Thanks so much!!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Lives4Disney, I love hearing about your trip. So glad that it's been such a magical one.

Riversidedude, personally, I like Sago Cay and Conch Key for garden views. With Sago Cay, you can also request marina, as this is considered a garden view. The theme pool is situated so that it's right along the beach. You'd most likely need to have a lagoon view at Big Pine Key in order to have a chance of seeing it. Janet2K has an awesome photo that I think might help you. Check this out, GF Aerial. You can see Big Pine Key on the right and the theme pool very clearly. From this, it looks like maybe a small area of this building would have a view, but it would definitely be a lagoon view room.

Janet2K also has a price list for the mini bar . I'm not sure if the rooms still contain them though.

 

[phyllis1966]

Good morning fellow GF lovers!

We haven't been back to the GF since November 2004, and DH would like to take advantage of the Spa for a massage during this trip, so I was wondering if anyone has an recent listing of the Spa services and prices. I had a printed list (thanks to a fellow DISer) around here from 2004, I think, but I can't find it anywhere!

 

[princessesrule4]

Riversidedude,

I think the bottles of water are even more expensive than the parks! Like around $3.00 ! Since Gasparilla's is open 24 hours, it would be better to run down there, but not quite as convenient as pulling it out of the minibar! When we were there in Dec. ,we didn't even pull the minibar key out of our welcome packet!

 

[TammiMcMan]

I think the bottles of water are even more expensive than the parks! Like around $3.00 !

According to the picture that Janet provided, the cost was $3.50 back in 2004 . We always plan a quick trip to Goodings to stock up on a case of water.

I was wondering if anyone has an recent listing of the Spa services and prices.

Here you go, www.relaxedyet.com

 

[phyllis1966]

Here you go, www.relaxedyet.com

Wow, Tammi! That was fast - thanks so much!

 

[Lalita]

Thanks for your trip report Lives4Disney! I really enjoyed reading it!