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

[hearingaidmom]

Help! I just got my confirm in the mail from my travel agent (on Walt Disney Travel Co. letterhead). It says:

Grand Floridian - YRU
Grand Floridian - Concierge

Is this resservation for RPC? That is my intention and what my TA told me on phone and via email. I just want to be sure. I knew the wonderful people on this board who are so knowledgeable about the GF would know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Help! I just got my confirm in the mail from my travel agent (on Walt Disney Travel Co. letterhead). It says:

Grand Floridian - YRU
Grand Floridian - Concierge

Is this resservation for RPC?

According to some of my old confirmations, RPC level simply stated "Concierge", while SugarLoaf was referred to as "Lodge Concierge". You can always talk with the IPO department of the GF. They're the ones who'll assist you with your pre-planning needs and they'll know exactly which building your reservation is for.

 

[mrp4352]

We're kicking off our trip next week (doesn't that sound great? Only 10 more days!) with two nights at the GF. I've tried searching the thread, but haven't found an answer, even though I found the question.

If we end up with a MK view, will we be able to hear the Wishes music from the room?

TIA!

 

[Lives4Disney]

We did the Grand Floridian character dining last Nov and were very disappointed. My grandaughter was thrilled with Cinderella n Prince Charming!
But the service and the food were not good. It was over crowded for sure and they could not handle the crowd. They were more worried about taking breaks then pleasing the customers. I usually try to find the best in everything, however this is one I will never do again

Oh....sorry you didn't care for 1900 Park Faire. We LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! The Alice bfast and Cindy dinner there have become our favorites. We were also there in November - around Thanksgiving - and we had really nice bfasts and dinners there. My girls had such fun & I thought the food was really good for buffet food. One character meal that used to be our absolute favorite and must do is Chef Mickey's. Unfortunately, in August we had a horrible dinner experience there, and my kids don't even want to ever go back to that one. Kind of a bummer since we have been going to Chef Mickey's since my 15 yr old was a tot. My 5 yr old daughter said her mac & cheese tasted like sweaty socks. How she knows this, I don't know......but there you have it. The place was dirty, sticky, crummbly, and super super crowded and service was weak. I miss the old CM days when it wasn't quite the draw it has become.

I wouldn't give up on 1900 Park Faire. Try it again. I am even making my kids give CMs another go for bfast in March!! It's tradition!

Happy travels,

Lives4Disney

 

[Lives4Disney]

We're kicking off our trip next week (doesn't that sound great? Only 10 more days!) with two nights at the GF. I've tried searching the thread, but haven't found an answer, even though I found the question.

If we end up with a MK view, will we be able to hear the Wishes music from the room?

TIA!

Oooooo! 10 more days for you - how awesome!! I was excited to see my countdown is under 7 weeks!!

I have stayed in the main building with a castle view and I could kind of hear the Wishes music. Not the narration, though. I enjoyed it just the same.

Happy travels!! Have a safe & wonderful trip!

Lives4Disney

 

[pink elephants]

But the service and the food were not good. It was over crowded for sure and they could not handle the crowd. They were more worried about taking breaks then pleasing the customers. I usually try to find the best in everything, however this is one I will never do again

So sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We went for breakfast in Feb. and thought it was the yummiest breakfast buffet we've eaten at Disney. We especially loved the French toast baked with peaches and drizzled with white chocolate.


Perhaps it's a dinner thing (I'd love it if someone could comment about that)?? About how crowded it was: I've been wondering if Park Fare's dinner would experience fallout from the changes to CRT - more people because CRT is now so outrageous. We had the last reservation for breakfast and had the place practically to ourselves. Lots of character interaction (DD2 1/2 sang all of Jolly Holiday to Bert) and no rush to leave. A great morning break from the parks.

 

[gidge]

Well I am glad to hear that perhaps it was just bad that one time. We will give it another try since we will be staying at GF...too funny the Disney rep told me there were no vews of MK from GF.......I thought that sounded wrong because we stayed at Poly last year and I think The GF is closer to MK haha....I guess we get whatever we get........its all good.have a great time......and I adore Chef Mickeys at Contemporary.......we had a wonderful time 2 years ago at the breakfast there.

 

[traci]

RPC question:
I emailed a request for MK view and got a reply that it was received and noted. I have heard of guests filling out some sort of dinner reservation list and such. How do I obtain that, and at what point to I schedule those? Our trip isn't until October. But I suffer from the dreaded GF OCD...

**first time in the main building RPC** sorry for all the silly questions!

 

[triplefigs]

RPC question:
I emailed a request for MK view and got a reply that it was received and noted. I have heard of guests filling out some sort of dinner reservation list and such. How do I obtain that, and at what point to I schedule those? Our trip isn't until October. But I suffer from the dreaded GF OCD...

**first time in the main building RPC** sorry for all the silly questions!

The GF doesn't email you an itinerary planner. Just email them or call to let them know what you'd like them to book for you. Then they'll email you a itinerary document with all the reservations and ADR times, etc. They did a fabulous job for us in December.

 

[traci]

thanks triple
just call and make the reservations with ipo and then they mail confirmation?

any benefit to being rpc and deciding while we are there that we want dinner at 1900 and don't have a reservation? what about at chef mickeys?

for our 1st trip we had the free dining and had adr's every day...it was hard with 2 little ones being on that schedule sometimes.

thanks again all!

 

[Lives4Disney]

thanks triple
just call and make the reservations with ipo and then they mail confirmation?

any benefit to being rpc and deciding while we are there that we want dinner at 1900 and don't have a reservation? what about at chef mickeys?

for our 1st trip we had the free dining and had adr's every day...it was hard with 2 little ones being on that schedule sometimes.

thanks again all!

Traci - I have found that less and less do the concierge staff have any power to get those difficult last minute ressies for their guests. In the old days they could work "magic", but not too much last minute magic anymore. On our stay, my girls and I extended and had no dining ressies made. We approached the RPC concierge and asked about possibly getting into 1900 PF for dinner during one of our "bonus" nights. He told me to come back to the desk about 4:30 and he would call down to 1900 to see what he could do. Well, I used my cell from the park and some WONDERFUL person had cancelled so I got us in on my own. When we moved to the Poly, the concierge got us a pass to Lilo/Stitch bfast and a pass to O'Hanas for dinner. All other ressies I got on my own. They were no help at the Poly at all, didn't even offer suggestions when they saw I was stuggling. As far as Chef Mickeys, if you are staying at the CR, they will get you in.

The thing is now that the "power" has been taken away from the concierge staff, they do have some pull at their home resort restaurants. Not a whole lot, but some. I don't even know if the concierge CM at RPC could have got us in to 1900. I had the best luck just to keep using my cell and calling on my own. We wound up with some really good ones!!!

I would definitely make all ADRs ahead of time that you THINK you may want. Don't risk it for last minute.

Happy planning! (sorry to ramble - can you tell I should be doing laundry?? )

Lives4Disney

 

[traci]

That's what I needed to hear! I don't mind booking in advance...I was just curious if the staff had any magic power once we got there and didn't have a ressie! Thank you for the insight so good to know

 

[Lives4Disney]

Traci - I LOVE your picture of your baby with Minnie! Oh! I want to just squeeze those chubby little cheeks!! She is a doll! I kind of miss that age.....My youngest started Kindergarden this year and I am FREE & so HAPPY!!! But when I see adorable babies.....I start dreaming.....Too cute!! Enjoy her!!

Lives4Disney

 

[traci]

awww thank you livesfor! it is so much work with 2 little ones, but i love it and i know it will go by too fast...i can only imagine what triplefigs went through with 3 in diapers!!! atleast mine are 12 months apart!

okay here is her first meeting with cinderella. sorry to highjack the gf thread...back to resort talk!

 

[Lives4Disney]

TRACI - I love your Cindy pic, too!!! I MISS THOSE DAYS! I remember when my 15 1/2 yr old son (about 13 yrs ago!) would wear his fuzzy Mickey fanny pack & Mickey baseball cap thru the parks hoping to get a picure taken with the characters. He had to have his Donald Duck Pez and his Mickey folding brush & word spinner light thing in it......NOW GOD FORBID he even wear a Disney shirt!!!! He did buy a cool Donald cap on one trip and will buy Star Wars stuff so he is coming out of his teenage funk (yeah!!)He actually bought a pin lanyard on our Thankgiving trip!!

I know everybody says it goes so fast and it really does. You just don't realize how fast until it's gone and it seems like yesterday.

My youngest still wants to wear princess dresses, but my 9 yr old doesn't and it is sweetly sad how soon they grow up. They still love the characters and the princess dinners and are now really into pin trading - so there is something out there for them, but I miss those big hair bow days!

Go to WDW as often as you can while they are young. We sure did and I have no regrets. You don't know where life will take you.

And here's a shout out to Triplefigs!!! Yeah, 3 in diapers at once!!! Ugh!!

Happy Disney planning!!

Lives4Disney

 

[traci]

lives4~I remember when I first found these boards I was so happy at how supportive everyone was when I said it was our first trip, young babies, blah,blah, blah. Our friends and family in "the real world" said we were making a huge mistake because they were too little to remember - you know the talk. We just ignored tham and proceeded with our plans. Anyway, that first trip with our daughter (8 months) and son (22 months) was so wonderful. Yes, it was a lot of work...not your typical relaxing vacation, but we have not one regret. The GF was actually the rest haven we needed each day and night!

Our favorite memory from that first trip was watching the parade with our kids. I was holding our daughter and dh was holding our son. Their eyes were as big as Texas. It was like baby crack - they were addicted to the sights, the lights, the sounds, the music, the dancing, the characters, you name it. My kids were transformed to another world that they would never had experienced anywhere other than Disney World! DH and I had tears rolling down our cheeks that night as we held them.

pins...now I don't even no a thing about them. I hear you trade them? is that right? I am such a novice.

oh and princess dresses! You are so lucky that you get to do that right now! How fun your youngest girl still loves it! I look forward to that. Let me guess, you used to have atleast 7 dresses packed into your suitcase when you went!

okay one more pic and i'll stop!! Here they are playing at the GF pool. I love this because they are so young and having such a fun time together

 

[MermaidsMom]

Ohhhh! I love the baby pictures! We have some of the cutest babies and kids here at the Dis, don't we? I agree with you about the GF being a relaxing place at the end of the day.

 

[chemteacher03]

Greetings all,

I just booked our honeymoon at the GF. We'll be getting married August 10, 2006. I went through a AAA Travel Agent and we are staying in a standard room (graden view - king size bed) for 6 nights. We also got 2, 3-day park hoppers and our airfare included for 3100 dollars. Is this a good deal or am I better off booking through Disney myself?

Thanks a bunch everyone!

 

[poohluvrs]

Hi Tammi, can you tell me where the B1 & B4 rooms are in the hotel layout? Thanks for the great link btw!

 

[poohluvrs]

Are there any tower rooms (the rooms w/ vaulted ceilings...) in the RPC? Thanks