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

[triplefigs]

Steph,

Thanks for the pictures! They are great!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Steph and Janet, thank you so much for your hard work. All I can say is, "WOW!" I am more excited than ever to be staying in Sugar Loaf. The food offerings look superb. I've only stayed at AKL and Poly Concierge and neither of them compare to Steph's pictures. My husband will be so pleased. I saw so many things (Asian & Thai) that he loves to eat. He's more on the exotic side than I am. I loved seeing the individual servings.

I have been so pleased with the CL planners. Every single time I've emailed them, I heard back within 30 minutes. Great customer service.

Lori

 

[Janet2k]

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.

Steph H, start saving your pennies now. My husband and I have spent many wedding anniversaries at the Grand Floridian. We have the most wonderful memories and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

As to last year's vow renewal, the Welcome Party that our Event Manager put together for us was perfection. He knew Halloween was my favorite day out of the entire year. He knew Rick and I had met on Halloween. He knew my family had a fun-loving attitude. He took all those things into account and put together the most perfect party. I just hope that came across in the photos that I shared. I would like to note that my Event Manager truly used just the right amount of touches to make that party completely our own. Pumpkins were carved in our images... Wait staff were attired in authentic Haunted Mansion ride costumes (plus full face makeup)... Grand Floridian furniture was used as buffet stations… Homemade Halloween treats were served such as candy apples, s’mores, and Mickey Krispsies… Nostalgic candy from days of yore was available for the Trick ‘Or Treat bags… The list goes on. It was a very fun and oh-so-relaxing night for my family and our guests.

Switching subjects -- I just reviewed your Sugar Loaf photos. They were wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I noticed that the Sugar Loaf’s concierge lounge food offerings were so similar to what was offered in the Main Building’s concierge lounge that I didn’t know if I was looking at your photos or my photos. That’s definitely a good thing. I’m sure it put many future Sugar Loaf guests’ minds at ease.

One final thing, I saw that you took a photo of the cereal cylinders. Next time I’m on vacation, I think I’ll hire you to take photos for me. Just don’t tell my daughter that I said that.

 

[Steph H]

FYI, I added the pictures of room 6201, a standard room with a marina view. I have several shots of the room and the view!

Janet--I'd be happy to take all your pictures for FREE. I assume you'd be paying for my trip, right?

 

[Janet2k]

I'd be happy to take all your pictures for FREE. I assume you'd be paying for my trip, right?

Sure thing, but you'd have to bunk with us and put up with my husband's snoring.

I'm going to check out your new photos now. You're making me feel guilty that I still haven't posted photos of my room from last Fall's vacation, ~gulp.~ (I'll try to do that this weekend.)

 

[Steph H]

Sure thing, but you'd have to bunk with us and put up with my husband's snoring.

No problem, I have earplugs. It's a deal!!!!

 

[triplefigs]

How much is too much to ask Concierge to do? Would they buy autograph books and a pressed penny book for the kids for our arrival? I also want them to set up a small tree that I'm going to ship down. Are these requests too much?

 

[TammiMcMan]

How much is too much to ask Concierge to do? Would they buy autograph books and a pressed penny book for the kids for our arrival? I also want them to set up a small tree that I'm going to ship down. Are these requests too much?

Put it this way, those requests shouldn't be too much to ask. The staff at the YC last year bought a bunch of things for me and even wrapped a few of them. They setup the tree that I had sent down and all the gifts were placed underneath. They left the box that I used for the tree and the box for my DD's Pal Mickey inside the closet.

You are very crafty and creative Denise, have you thought about custom autograph books? I've done it with my kids and it's really easy and helps with the waiting for vacation. I went to a local craft store and purchased some nice stock paper, on the heavy side. I cut the 8 1/2 x 11 sheets in half, poked holes so that they would fit inside a 3 ring binder and put on the reinforcement tabs. Each kid decorated their own autograph pages with character clip art stickers that I printed off the internet, or they'd hand draw things. Some characters had their own special page to sign and then we had a few generic pages. I also purchased photo sheets that would fit inside the binder and put their pictures in from that particular vacation. I'll post the Snow White page from one of my DD's books. And yup, those are Snow Whites lips.

 

[triplefigs]

Put it this way, those requests shouldn't be too much to ask. The staff at the YC last year bought a bunch of things for me and even wrapped a few of them. They setup the tree that I had sent down and all the gifts were placed underneath. They left the box that I used for the tree and the box for my DD's Pal Mickey inside the closet.

You are very crafty and creative Denise, have you thought about custom autograph books? I've done it with my kids and it's really easy and helps with the waiting for vacation. I went to a local craft store and purchased some nice stock paper, on the heavy side. I cut the 8 1/2 x 11 sheets in half, poked holes so that they would fit inside a 3 ring binder and put on the reinforcement tabs. Each kid decorated their own autograph pages with character clip art stickers that I printed off the internet, or they'd hand draw things. Some characters had their own special page to sign and then we had a few generic pages. I also purchased photo sheets that would fit inside the binder and put their pictures in from that particular vacation. I'll post the Snow White page from one of my DD's books. And yup, those are Snow Whites lips.

That's really cute, Tammy! I really should make 3 of those for them. Just in case I don't get to it, I'm glad to know that the IPO will get them for me! For the clip art, did you glue it on the sheets or did you print it directly on the stock paper?

 

[TammiMcMan]

Denise, I printed them right onto clear sticky labels, then just cut them out and put them on the paper. I have to say that the characters really made a big deal about having their own special page to sign. They're a little more awkward to carry around than the smaller autograph books, but it really was worth it.

 

[triplefigs]

Denise, I printed them right onto clear sticky labels, then just cut them out and put them on the paper. I have to say that the characters really made a big deal about having their own special page to sign. They're a little more awkward to carry around than the smaller autograph books, but it really was worth it.

Thanks, Tammi. sounds like a really fun project with the kids. They'd love making all the pages. I may just make one book for all 3 of them. They share amazingly well. Do you get the clear stickers at places like Staples or Office Max?

 

[TammiMcMan]

Carrying one book will be much easier on you and yes, my kids had the best time putting them together. (I admit, I also enjoyed it alot) The clear labels, I just picked those up at Staples. You can buy them in all different size labels, or just one full sheet that you can cut out. There are lots of places on the web to find the clip art and the Disney fonts. We even just used regular stickers like hearts, flowers, etc. to dress up the pages. It ended up being sort of a catch all book. There are autographs, photos and even souveniers like the park maps and menus that the kids wanted to keep.

 

[triplefigs]

Carrying one book will be much easier on you and yes, my kids had the best time putting them together. (I admit, I also enjoyed it alot) The clear labels, I just picked those up at Staples. You can buy them in all different size labels, or just one full sheet that you can cut out. There are lots of places on the web to find the clip art and the Disney fonts. We even just used regular stickers like hearts, flowers, etc. to dress up the pages. It ended up being sort of a catch all book. There are autographs, photos and even souveniers like the park maps and menus that the kids wanted to keep.

Thanks, Tammi! Sounds like a really fun project to work on together. Great idea! How's the cheering and skating going for your kids?

 

[TammiMcMan]

Cheering and skating are crazy right now. Both kids are in regional competitions this year. My son and his dance partner actually just finished theirs and they are the 2005 New England juvenile dance champions. We are so excited for them. They'll be heading to Denver Colorado a few days after Thanksgiving to compete in the national championships. My daughters cheerleading team has their first competition next Sunday. It's a process of elimination. If they win locally, they move onto regionals, then sectionals, then nationals. As luck would have it, the cheer nationals are at Disney World a few days after my son competes in Denver. I purchased plane tickets for my husband and son, but I need to hold off on me and the girls until we find out how far DD's cheer team makes it. I guess worst case scenario is that we could fly from Denver to Orlando, but I don't think the teachers will be very happy if they miss 2 straight weeks of school. I'm taking it one day at a time.

 

[triplefigs]

Cheering and skating are crazy right now. Both kids are in regional competitions this year. My son and his dance partner actually just finished theirs and they are the 2005 New England juvenile dance champions. We are so excited for them. They'll be heading to Denver Colorado a few days after Thanksgiving to compete in the national championships. My daughters cheerleading team has their first competition next Sunday. It's a process of elimination. If they win locally, they move onto regionals, then sectionals, then nationals. As luck would have it, the cheer nationals are at Disney World a few days after my son competes in Denver. I purchased plane tickets for my husband and son, but I need to hold off on me and the girls until we find out how far DD's cheer team makes it. I guess worst case scenario is that we could fly from Denver to Orlando, but I don't think the teachers will be very happy if they miss 2 straight weeks of school. I'm taking it one day at a time.

That's wonderful! Will the skating championships be televised? PiratesoftheCarolinas and I will have to cheer for him from the lounge at Sugar Loaf! And I hope you DD does well so you get another trip to WDW!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Yeah, I'm a little torn about her cheering. I'd love another Disney trip and this would be a perfect excuse. Would it be really bad of me though to not stay with the rest of the team at a value and opt for the GF instead?? We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

No DS's competition won't be televised. The only ones that you can watch on TV are the senior skaters like Michelle Kwan. They are usually available on webcast though. So if you or Lori are travelling with a laptop that has Wi-Fi, you just might be able to tune in. I'll keep you posted on DD and let you know if I might be in the world sometime around December 4th.

 

[triplefigs]

Yeah, I'm a little torn about her cheering. I'd love another Disney trip and this would be a perfect excuse. Would it be really bad of me though to not stay with the rest of the team at a value and opt for the GF instead?? We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

No DS's competition won't be televised. The only ones that you can watch on TV are the senior skaters like Michelle Kwan. They are usually available on webcast though. So if you or Lori are travelling with a laptop that has Wi-Fi, you just might be able to tune in. I'll keep you posted on DD and let you know if I might be in the world sometime around December 4th.

Let me know about the WiFi. DH will have his laptop with us for work (and the kids DVDs! ) I would LOVE it we ended up at WDW at the same time. We're there Nov 29 - Dec 7.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Janet,

That slideshow was just completely amazing. I would love to attend (or throw!) something like that. What an incredible party! And congratulations--so great you were able to have such a special celebration

 

[glass slipper girl]

Tammi, congrats to your son and his partner! Once upon a time, many years ago, I used to do ice dance as well. Not as well as your son and his partner obviously do but I had fun doing it. My mother shuttled me around quite a bit with her "kids on ice stay out of hot water" bumper sticker on the car.

Best of luck to your DD's cheer squad as well! Sounds like you could end up with a very busy December!

 

[Meezers]

Just checking in to let everyone know I am still around.

I get to make ADR's on Tuesday...thank goodness it is a day off work!

Everyone here is so talented....I love the autograph books....may need to borrow a child someday

The ice skating sounds great!

Will check back later....