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

[Janet2k]

Several years ago...trip to San Diego....out to Coronado Island....fell in love with a building there...didn't know what it was.

Duh...found out it is the Hotel Del Coronado....the one the GF is based on!

Karma or what?!

Meezers, I stayed at the Hotel del Coronado this summer for the first time (my family was guests of Nutz4dzny's family). I fell in love with the del, but I kept comparing it to the Grand Floridian. I soon began calling the del, the Grand Floridian West.

I know we'll go back to the Hotel del Coronado someday. It is truly a glorious resort. The Grand Floridian should be proud to be patterned after such a grand ol' dame.

 

[Steph H]

I soon began calling the del, the Grand Floridian West.

I haven't STAYED there, but I did get a tour of it about 15 years ago when I visited family in San Diego. I agree with you completely, Janet--the GF is lucky to be patterned after such a beautiful place.

Loved the aerial photos, by the way. I almost feel like I'm there again! Only without the humidity.

Still working on my trip report. The hard part is trying to narrow down the pictures I took to just a few.

 

[Janet2k]

The hard part is trying to narrow down the pictures I took to just a few.

Oh, I hear you on that! I've still got photos from last October that I haven't posted yet, not to mention the ones from this summer's vacation. Yikes! But what did I do the other day when I had a few minutes to spare? I gathered together aerial images of the Grand Floridian. You can see where my priorities lie, can't you?

 

[Janet2k]

I have placed photos of the Royal Palm Club’s morning food offerings into a new on-line photo album. I haven’t completed all of the captions yet, but hope to do so soon. Click here to view the photo album.

I should note that my young daughter took all of these photos. I got a kick out of viewing her close-up photos of the cereals, for example, Special K & Fruit Loops and Cheerios. I remember specifically asking her to take a photo of the cereal. What I forgot to tell her was to take at least one faraway shot. Yikes! (In my advancing age, I sometimes forget how the young mind works.)

Since you won’t see a photo of this, I should explain that the cereal was located inside tall cylinders. There were six of these acrylic cylinders. The cereals that were served during our vacation were as follows: Special K, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, Cheerios, Raisin Bran, and Frosted Flakes. At least she got photos of all six of the cereals. That's my girl.

 

[natorimom]

Hi Janet2k we will be staying at the Grand Floridian for the first time August 2006 for 7nights. Have a package booked with AAA ,including the dining plan and will be staying lodge concierge. Will the breakfast offerings be similiar to what you just posted for the RPC breakfast offerings? Will appreciate any help you can give me with room location also.Thanks

 

[triplefigs]

Hi Janet2k we will be staying at the Grand Floridian for the first time August 2006 for 7nights. Have a package booked with AAA ,including the dining plan and will be staying lodge concierge. Will the breakfast offerings be similiar to what you just posted for the RPC breakfast offerings? Will appreciate any help you can give me with room location also.Thanks

According to the GF IPO, the food offerings at SL are *supposed* to mirror RPC exactly. Steph H just got back and has pictures she said she'd post soon.

 

[Meezers]

WOW...thanks again J2K...one thing we were "concerned" about (not really) is brothers obsessive need for protein (read meat) in the morning...I did not realize that meat was available at the RPC for breakfast....once again you rule!

PS...I liked the close up pictures....kind of looked like pop art posters!

 

[Janet2k]

Natorimom, like Triplefigs stated, the offerings should be basically identical between the Royal Palm Club and Sugar Loaf concierge lounges (and in the past whenever I visited both lounges, the food offerings were basically identical).

I am looking forward to viewing Step H's photos of the Sugar Loaf lounge since she just returned from a stay there. My guess is that the breakfast offerings will turn out to be basically identical: cereals, fruits, pastries, bagels, croissants, breads, juices, milks, teas, coffees, and so on.

As to room location, I haven't stayed in Sugar Loaf yet, but if I did, I would probably request a marina view. I really like the water and find it fun to look out over the marina.

 

[Janet2k]

Meezers, I wish I could remember exactly what meats were offered in the Royal Palm Club lounge. Looking at the photo, one of the meats was definitely ham, but I'm not sure if the white meat was turkey and/or chicken.

By the way, I'm glad you liked my daughter's photos of the cereal. I'm not even going to bother posting her 30 photos of the kids' TV (she did the same thing at the Animal Kingdom Lodge's Kilimanjaro Club, except I think she took 40 photos of that lounge's TV, yikes).

 

[natorimom]

for the pictures and replies will keep checking this site for Steph pictures. I haven't sent an email to the Grand Floridian concierge planners as yet , just seems to early to me. Will make that request for a marina view , is this area pretty quiet? My mother will be travelling with me and she is undergoing chemo right now ,but is so looking forward to this vaction, my fingers are cross she will be able to make this trip with me and the kids. She won't be going into the parks because she tires easily. So will need a quiet location. This is also my reason for doing concierge, so she will be able to get light breakfast and snacks while we are at the parks. So sorry for rambling, just need to talk. Bye

 

[Janet2k]

Will make that request for a marina view , is this area pretty quiet?

Natorimom, I haven't stayed in Sugar Loaf so I can't answer your specific question. However, I have stayed in Conch Key a few times in rooms that bordered the marina. I have also stayed in the Main Buidling a few times in rooms that overlooked the marina. I did not have a problem with noise coming from the marina. That is me, though, and I can't speak for your mother (I wish I could).

I will give you a link to my personal photos of the marina area. I have hosted two private parties in this location, so I hope a few of the photos will give you a glimpse of what the marina area looks like in both daylight and moonlight:

GF Marina
GF Summerhouse (look towards the bottom for marina photos)

I hope that helps. And I wish your mother a healthy future.

 

[natorimom]

Those are some great pictures, you have a beautiful family. If only i could get my husband to WDW, but he says it is not is cup of tea, oh well his lose. I will definitly request the marina view ,as it is very picturesque and she will love sitting on the balcony looking out at the water.

 

[Janet2k]

I will definitly request the marina view ,as it is very picturesque and she will love sitting on the balcony looking out at the water.

Natorimom, thank you for the kind words. My son was missing from those photos since he was taking his final exams in college and didn't join up with us until a few days later (I tried to get him to take his finals early but he wouldn't budge). He really missed a lovely party. The Grand Floridian truly knows how to create ~magic.~

I think your mother will enjoy looking out over the marina. It's nice watching the little boats come and go, and on the days of the Pirates Cruise, it's fun watching the children get ready for their adventure on Seven Seas Lagoon, ~arg!~

 

[Janet2k]

Well, I’m coming up on another wedding anniversary. As a few of you know, last year my husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage with a Fairy Tale Weddings vow renewal. On the night before our vow renewal, we hosted a private event at the Grand Floridian’s marina. My Event Manager put together a wonderful party for us. It was absolutely perfect. My family and friends enjoyed themselves immensely.

I didn’t want to post photos of my event until I had written about it in my trip report. But since I have been unable to finish my trip report thus far, I thought I should rethink that situation. The Grand Floridian is such a lovely place for a private event that I truly felt guilty keeping that knowledge all to myself. I hope my photos will give you folks a glimpse of what is possible at my favorite resort. And when I finally get around to writing about my event, I promise I’ll let you folks know (for now, keep an eye on my two trip reports: FTW VR Planning Session Trip Report and FTW VR Trip Report).

For those of you who are interested in hosting your own private event at the Grand Floridian, please contact their Convention Services folks. They are a pleasure to work with. In my humble opinion, the magical events that they are capable of creating will truly take your breath away. I know that they’ve taken my breath away.

Before I share my photos, I should note that they were taken by Disney Event Productions. The photographer who had taken my Summerhouse photos also took these photos. He did another wonderful job.

Now that I’ve mentioned all that, it’s time to share my photo album. To view photos of my Grand Floridian Marina Party, click here. (Or to view a slideshow of it, click here.)

Enjoy!

 

[princessesrule4]

I loved your slide show! What a special celebration! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Starrin]

Just completely INCREDIBLE. I see this post ... and it is funny because my wife and I decided last Saturday while we were attending a wedding that we would re-new our vows at GF for our 10 year..... wow the excitement that you have brought me in what is possible!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Janet2K - WOW!! What a wonderful Halloween themed party!! It looks gorgeous! Loves the specially carved pumpkins and the Mickey ice sculpture and all those FaBuLoUs treats!! It looks like it was just a beautiful and memorable night.

Thanks so much for sharing that slide show! We just celebrated out 17th anniversary - now I am thinking I have 3 years to plan ! I read your great trip reports, but seeing the pics was worth a thousand words.

Loved it!!

Lives4Disney

 

[triplefigs]

WOW! What a party. It is unbelievable. I just can't get over all the fun touches. Now, where are the vow renewal pictures?

 

[Steph H]

Holy cow, Janet! Those pictures--that party!--are incredible! Thank you SO much for sharing. Hmmm, trying to decide if DH and I can swing a 10-year anniversary at the GF now...

Also got a good laugh out of your daughter's pictures of the cereal. But what a good girl to take all those pictures.

Natorimom: Welcome! As a recent guest at the Sugar Loaf, I can tell you you're going to LOVE it. DH and I had a wonderful time (as did DS3). The staff there was TRULY magical and they did SO MUCH to help make our stay special.

I FINALLY got the first part of my trip report done! I've written my whole trip report, but still need to attach pictures to the page. However, I decided to put that on hold so I could hurry up and finish my Sugar Loaf page, since I know there are a few people staying there later this year that are interested.

I took TONS of pictures, and had a hard time narrowing it down. I think I think I have a pretty good representation on my page, but if anyone has a specific question, or wants to know if I have a specific shot of something, please email or PM me--I probably do!

The Sugar Loaf report is on a single page with most of the pictures in table cells. (There are also a few "pop up" pictures that will appear when you click on the link.) Note that MOST of the pictures in the tables have ROLLOVER images--ie, if you roll your mouse over the picture, you'll see a different one. (I did that to keep the page from scrolling to infinity and beyond!) If a picture does NOT have a rollover, I've stated so in the caption. Please be patient when the page first loads, as it will need to load all the pictures, too.

I hope I gave a good representation of the Sugar Loaf. Again, if you have any questions, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer them. My full trip report will be posted hopefully in another week or so.

Here it is:

http://www.thehawkinsfamily.org/thf/sugar_loaf.htm

Darn it! No matter how much I double check, I always miss something. In the second set of pictures, there is a vertical picture of the door to the balcony in our room, taken so that you can see the vaulted ceilings. That picture is mislabeled as the table/chairs and dresser/TV combination. Oops! I also just realized I forgot to put up the pictures of room 6201, which Mousekeeper Mary graciously let me visit and take pictures (6201 is a standard room, not a dormer room as we had; it had a normal balcony and a marina view). I will get those pictures up tonight. Sorry!!

Oh, and for those of you who can identify any of the food in the pictures I couldn't identify (the green melon or the red-covered cheese, for example), PM me! Thanks.

Otherwise, hope you enjoy!

 

[natorimom]

Thanks Steph and Janet2k those pictures are fabulous, and steph, your report on the sugarloaf building and concierge offerings are very detailed and informative. This experience of concierge is only for my mothers comfort. She won't be going to any parks with me and the kids, and she maybe only attend one or two meals with us out side the hotel. I really appreciate all the effort everyone on this board extends to us novice. It makes the trip planning so much easier for us. Thanks