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

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Hi, guys!!! I am sitting in the lounge taking a relaxer. The girls are coloring a bunch of pages the wonderful and kind Vonnie printed and dropped off for them last night. She is AWESOME. When we saw Vonnie last night she told Lucy that she had her thank you picture hanging on her fridge. She is just such a nice person. :sunny: Another super CM is Dora. SO SWEET - I suspect she is the one that had the surprise goodies, balloons and gifts delivered to my girls. My little Jo was in awe of her as her name is Dora ;) Jojo figured she was named after her favorite character. :) Jo colored Dora a Dora the Explorer picture, which Vonnie mentioned Dora really loved as she told her about receiving it.

We went to the O'hana bfast this morning. It was cute, but quick and no Lilo. She was there before, so I don't know what the deal is about her absence. Couldn't really get a straight answer. There were a lot of seniors working O'Hanas and they really weren't too knowledgeable about the goings on! We saw Stitch, Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale were at the front for pics. The characters did quick pics and that's about it. Not a lot of interaction. The food was fine, but I am not a big bfast fan anyway. We got to the MK about 11 am and it was nasty packed. I did TGM - have for the past few trips - and he has really led me wrong this time. I don't know if all the parks are as crowded today, but the MK was a green go and it is awful. We did the people mover and that's it!! They even had to open up the full zigzag queue line for that!!! Unreal. To me it seems more crowded than our THanksgving trip. I am a bit miffed that the parks close so early, too! Tonight the MK closes at 9 pm. At least over Thankgiving they were open til midnight or so. What were they thinking??? We have a dinner ressie at LTT, so we will go back a bit before that and stay until closing. We have the best luck with everything in the evening.

Anyway - we did MK EARLY yesterday and it was still a bust. Lucy and I got there at 8:30 (it opened at 8 with EMH) and actually got fast passes for Pooh and they were for 10:30 (we picked then up at 9) - the indy line was outside the building, and it was just overall wall to wall crowds that early in the day. We stuck around til our Pooh Bear FP time, and then we headed over to Epcot WS to meet our family. The girls talked their softy dad into letting the make the Engel Puppin dolls in Germany again. :goodvibes I knew they could pull it off! ;) Lucy has 5 already - she collects dolls and usually chips in part of the cost or pays the whole thing as she plans to make one - and Jojo really wanted a babydoll this time until she saw the Greek Wedding outfit on an 18 inch doll. Both girls made dolls that look just like them, too. Very cute but very expensive. My husband ALWAYS says "OK, these are the last dolls...." as we leave the shop. :rotfl: We made a deal that we were going to cancel our Castle dinner if they wanted the dolls instead, so that's what we are going to do. We did do the Norway Princess dinner last night. Hated the food & the princesses were so quick to strike a pose and move on it was not as much fun as other character meals. None of us were even hungry - thank God - as we had eaten in Germany for lunch for the first time and LOVED it! It was yummy and fun. During the afternoon at WS, we pigged out at the Norway bakery and also had my favorite red bean icecream from China, and other goodies so the Norway dinner was unneccessary except I would have lost $50 if we blew it off. Just glad nobody was hungry!! (well my son ate his cod and like it - had to mention that.....and the dessert sampler was yummy, too)

Well, the angel has flown off my shoulder......Yesterday my Jojo woke up with a nasty reaction to the sunscreen I bought downstairs and her face is red and puffy! Her eyes were even swollen yesterday. This was yesterday morning when she woke up. She normally has the prettiest dark skin that really doesn't even burn, but I thought I should apply sunscreen as it was so so sunny and we were in the pool. Coming back from Epcot last night I broke my toe running up a ramp being dragged by Lucy to catch a monorail that ditched us anyway!!! :guilty: I jammed my foot into the back of hers and felt pain that made me think I was going to throw up. I dealt with it, got back to our room and took my sandal off and saw my little toe swollen 2X it's size and BLACK. I took Advil and that helped. Today we are taking it slower since the parks are so crowded anyway. We may go rent a boat. I am really thinking the girls' diarrheah situation Wed night was due to them accidentally drinking pool water so I prefer to avoid the pool. It's kind of nice just sitting around here for a change anyway. The orchestra should start soon, I think. This place is empty as the weather is so lovely and they are all at the parks.

Last night, my husband says to me we should see if we can stay here instead of moving to the Polynesian (we move tomorrow morning) so I checked with the concierge and he told me they are pretty much booked solid. :guilty: I hate when my husband does this to me!! I KNEW he wouldn't want to leave this place - I knew I wouldn't want to leave this place - but at home, he thought trying the Poly again would be fun. The thing is, and both my girls agree - they are not nice to ya at the Poly. We were talking about what we would all prefer to do (stay or switch) and the girls both laughed about the difference in the way guests are treated. I have been there before and it is very noticable difference in the way we are treated over there vs. here at the GF. I hope HOPE HOPE things are better this trip at the Poly than in the past or this will be our last try at that resort. I am still crossing my fingers that we can stay here by some miracle - where's my angel when I need her???!! :angel:


Lori - your Ariel story cracks me up. :lmao:

The other 3 cabanas are just walk up - first come first get. They were all taken when we were out there. It is a really busy time of year, though. On Tuesday I had a hard time finding a chair for my stuff. In August when we were here I didn't have much of a problem getting a cabana for us.

If I remember I will check the price of the water in the minibar.

Triplefigs - .......What can I say?? I love this place. My kids do love the CR, but I think the way they are being this time has won them over to the GF!

I am just sad this is our last day here. :guilty: I am feeling like my trip is coming to an end. Sniff. The Poly will begin a whole new adventure, I suppose. Oh, the pianist just started.....sigh...... :cloud9:

Happy planning, everybody!! I like the idea of the candy treat to send to our sweet CMs and also I will definitely write a nice note about the special concierge CMs here.

Take care,

Lives4Disney :goodvibes
 
Thank you so much for posting your adventures! I will be staying at the GF main building this summer and am really looking forward to my first visit there!
 
Hi, guys! Well - my adventure continues!!! We just got back from the MK to a flashing red light on my phone message button......we get to stay the next 3 nights at the GF instead of the Poly!!! Wooooohoooo!!! :cool1: That's the good news, the bad news is we have to room change. This room is already "promised" to someone else. How that happens with a specific room, I don't know, but it did - so we will have to talk to the concierge staff tomorrow and find out where our new room will be. We don't care if it has a MK view at this point as we have seen Wishes for the past 6 nights. I feel kind of bad about the last minute switch only because I emailed the Poly IPO about purchasing some treats for our stay. Oops. I do not know what will become of that. Didn't even want to mention that issue to my DH. All I know is that after staying here, and meeting such great concierge and lounge CMs no place can measure up anymore.

Well, we rented a pontoon boat this afternoon for fun outside of the parks. It was great and we all really enjoyed it. We rented a Whaler last time, but this boat was more comfy and roomy and about the same cost, too. I have not seen the Grand One leave the marina since our stay began last Sunday. I thought it was in such high demand, but the price must be prohibitive. It looks nice, but not THAT nice or that large.

We went back to the MK about 5:30. Jo and I watched Cinderellabration which we both think is cute. We tried to do IASW, but there was a LINE!!! How often do you see that??!! We did the carousel instead. Then met up with our Space Mountain family and we went to LTT for dinner and it was a very pleasant surprise. We haven't done it in a couple years after a so-so experience, but this time was great & I would recommend it. GREAT character interaction. Some of the best so far. We saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. They came around several times and goofed around and played and posed. FUN! The food was even better than the so-so I remembered. It was pretty yummy and I stuffed myself. :rolleyes: I am feeling kind of bad going around feeling so full all the time. In the 6 months prior to this trip I lost 45 lbs, and now I am getting scared of what I have done to myself, but I can't stop!!! It has been fun to eat what I want. :goodvibes I do feel kind of yucky all filled up though and am kind of looking forward to the better way I feel when I am not eating restaurant food constantly. ;)

We had a BLAST after 8pm. Went up the Swiss Family Treehouse all by ourselves, had our own boat on the Jungle Cruise and a slightly off color commentary by our driver which was funnier than the standard JC fare! We road the MC of Aladin twice and the second time, Lucy and my DH road in their own carpet in the front and these two foreign people climbed in the back - we cracked up that they had hitchhikers that didn't realize the visually impaired girl was driving......When we got off, Lucy and my DH were laughing because these two hitchhikers didn't know how/who was controlling the crazy thing and were yelling and fighting with eachother during the ride about it! After that, the kids ran to BTMR and walked on, then my son walked on SM and had a boat to himself! Now we know when to go to the MK - the last hour or so - and we can get so much more done.

Well.....We will see what the story is with the room change on the morrow. I tried to check out the water bottle price, but can't find the key or list in this mess!! I will find it tomorrow morn when we straighten up. Five fairly sloppy people in this bedroom size room is causing some disorganization, believe it or not..... :) It's probably a good thing we will be switching rooms - we will have to clean up a bit.

Happy planning, everybody! :wizard:

Lives4Disney :sunny:
 
Lives4Disney- Thanks so much for your posts, Im living vicariously through your trip! Best wishes for the rest of your stay! I cant wait to get my family to RPC, we had last Oct planned but had to cancel due to emergency...Cant wait to plan for this yr! THanks again! :)
 

Advice needed!

We are all set to go to WDW May 5 - 13. Plane tickets, RPC, Park Hoppers w/waterparks & more, dining plan, all our ADR's and a rental car. The 45 day mark has passed.

Shhhh...good thing DH doesn't read the boards... we are payng 2005 rack rates as there were no codes available when we booked and then when the ticket bonus came out, checked and changing to it actually would cost us more $.

Now Disney rolls out free dining again! I am so excited for our trip I can hardly wait! Do I torture myself (and my DH's wallet) by looking up all the details and compare prices? I really don't want to go in August and knowing my luck it would coincide with a hurricane!

Lives4Disney's live report is just making me dream about our upcoming vacation. I am so delighted that her family is having a wonderful time at the GF! We likedthe Poly on our last WDW trip so her comparison of the two sets my hopes high for the GF RPC!
 
Hi!! I am still here. We are in room 4313 now. Not the best room - near the bend in the hallway toward the elevators with a pretty view of the courtyard pool, though. We check out tomorrow to fly home. Big Bummer.....Oh well, I REALLY miss my dog. :blush: She would fit in here with the Victorian theme as she is a Newfie and that is the type of dog Nana from Peter Pan was - NOT a St. Bernard as most people think!! ;)

The magic continues. Just lots of little things. Yesterday a really nice guy that was checking out gave my girls three huge mylar princess balloons. They are just in a cute bouquet to decorate our room a bit. Today my girls got into Bippity Boppity Boutique and just loved it. The whole experience was wonderful. I took lots of pics I will post later this week. When we got back to the GF, their favorite concierge CM made a major deal about it - they were the first ones to go to BBB from the GF and she took their pics all over the GF, introduced them around, they even had their pics taken with the fabulous pianist. They have been treated so great here. We had such a bad month with Lucy being bullied - the bully stomped on and BROKE her foot. Long, sad story but kids can be so mean. Just the Monday before we left for vacation she got the shoe/boot thing off and was back in normal shoes. It was such a blessing to have her treated so well and so good for her spirit to be made to feel so special.

Now me and my broken toe......ugh. Thank God I brought my nice wide Birks. ;)

We tried Artist Point for the first time Sat night. It was terrific. So yummy. I tried the buffalo and really loved it - and I am not an adventurous eater, but it was so tender and tasty.

Tonight we tried Boma & it was great, too. Just a bit dark and crowded. Food was really good, though and the CMs were super sweet and friendly.

I made the 3rd position in WWTBAM! I really thought this was my time! I have been in the 2nd position a couple times and first once - at the end of a show!!!! When they were announcing the standings, my heart started pounding and I was getting ready to take my bag off and go up!! I really thought this would be it. Oh well.....we'll be back. :)

We had a problem Sat night in our room as our phones were both dead. At about 10 pm I went to schedule a Mickey wake up call and found out we had an issue here. Called concierge and they were gone. Called the front desk and reported it. I was told, in a snotty tone, that "Somebody will be up to assist you". We waited until 10:50 and I had my DH call down again as we were so tired and the kids were up waiting for this person to come and check out the situation (assist us) My DH told them that it most likely was not a problem IN our room as BOTH were dead. Anyway, he spoke to somebody that said nobody was around after 9:30 to assist us, so nobody would be coming up. So that first person was just giving me the business. That miffed me and of course I did not get her name. :rolleyes: I usually get the names!!!

Anyway, Sun morn my DH told the concierge the phones were dead and when we returned from MGM they were fixed and we had another treat waiting for us and a nice note "Sorry for your inconvenience" type thing. So nice. I am just glad and grateful for concierge as the front desk has never been so great about handling any problems we have encountered in the past. Concierge does get things done.

We had a great day at EPCOT Saturday. Did the pick a pearl in Japan, ate in Morocco (fun and great servcie), not a whole lot else, but the weather was beautiful, and the crowds seemed down. MGM was pretty good on Sunday, too. Today we tried DTD for the first time in 7 years! It was a nice break, but not my favorite Disney place to be.

I have pretty much packed up everything.....I am the last one up. I am so sad that we are leaving. :guilty: This trip was the mother of all Disney trips for us. :goodvibes Just so many absolutely WONDERFUL experiences during these 10 days. I feel so blessed and lucky.

I LOVE this place. We have old VHS tapes of scenes of the MK and me just saying in the background "I love this place" in awe. After 14 years and over 30 trips, I still do. :)

Happy planning, everyone. It was a dream vacation for me. Hope yours are, too! :wizard:

Lives4Disney :goodvibes
 
Channing, you've had a great trip! Have safe travels tomorrow, and I can't wait to see all the pictures. BTW, we moved our trip up to Sept and got CR Concierge and FREE DINING!!!
 
THanks Lives4Disney, cant wait to see the BBB pix!

Congrats Triplefigs! We have twins & are hoping to get to RPC this year...any M.O.M. tips?!
 
Lives4Disney, thank you for letting us take a virtual vacation with you. It's been a lot of fun. I think I may understand about the room change. Room assignments are done 3-4 days prior to arrival, so your 4101 had probably been assigned already to a guest who requested an MK view.

Docsknotinn, did you upgrade to the lodge concierge or main building?

Garada, that is a tough one. Even if it's free, do you think that you'll take that much advantage of the dining plan, considering you are on the concierge level? Other than breakfast, we don't use the lounge as a meal replacement, but having all that snack food, definitely cuts a large amount out of our dining expense. You also have to factor in the charge you'll incur for changing your airline tickets. Depending on how many you have, that could add up fast.
 
We upgraded to the Lodge. The main building was significantly more $$. I don't really see any benefit to the MB for us other than the possible view. The down side from the MB I see is getting to the pool withoug going through the MB in pool attire. If what I have been reading is accurate the food/drinks at both is the same now. :goodvibes
 
Docsknotinn, I agree. I don't think there are big differences between the lodge and the main building. It's more of different feel, that's all. As an FYI though, there is a little known elevator that brings you out right next door to Gasparilla's Grill. We discovered this secret a few years ago and used it quite frequently.
 
I am sitting at the airport now. :guilty: Had a lovely Southern Elegance (LOVE SE and as in the past, they were wonderful) limo ride over and time to reflect on our trip. It seems so long since we were home!

I just feel like - in the words of Francie from my favorite movie and book, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, "My cup runneth over...." (but I am sure it won't take me long to start wanting to return to WDW)

The GF was the most terrific place to stay. Beautiful rooms, views, service, great food in the lounge, awesome concierge CMs, nice housekeepers.....GREAT! Even though they were full to capacity - things were great.

I am really glad we did the main building vs SL or just a GV because we did wind up spending more time in the lounge than we usually do and the views are so lovely from the MB lounge. I do not like the fact that SL lounge is so closed in with no windows or sunlight. It is pretty, but not like MB. The parks were sooooo crowded - the only down side to this trip - that we spent more resort time than we normally do due to that fact. We said over and over how glad we were that we went all the way out and did the main building. It was worth it for us on this longer stay (9 nights). One thing I decided, though.....no more split stays if I can help it. They never bothered me before, but this time, maybe due to it being busy season, we did feel that "homeless" feeling between rooms. The switch to the new room 4313 was tough as we didn't get in the new room until about 5:30, had a 7pm dining ressie at Artist Point that we had to hustle to get ready for and then Jojo was falling asleep at the restaurant, we came back to a totally unpacked and unready room with no PJs or toiletries ready for putting her to bed. It just seemed too much effort this time. We also had so much stuff to organize twice. Live and learn, right? I KNEW I should have just booked the GF for the full 9 nights instead of listening to my family and doing Poly for the last 3. That's it. Next time I do what I want!! :thumbsup2

We decided to give our two special concierge CMs nice giftcards (WDW) because in talking to one of them we found out she is a collector of certain Disney items and figured she could pick something out on us or go out to dinner. We gave the other lady the same. On our downtown Disney trip the girls made them special order treats at Goofy's Candy Kitchen and they boxed them nicely and we added the gift cards. I feel really good about figuring out what to do and what we decided to do, as they really deserved so much for all that added special Disney magic to our vacation. We were able to give Vonnie hers in person and she was so surprised and kind of beside herself. (that's good as we constantly felt the same way thru this trip!) I will be writing a letter expressing our feelings about their outstanding service. I have never had such a great time before.

Denise - you scored with that free dining!!! And your trip is moved up, too!! Woohoo!!! We were on the monorail the other day and my Jojo asked when will we stay at that hotel (CR) again??? The kids love that place. We stopped off to shop and the elevators are really cool looking with that new decor. I am sure the rooms are gorgeous.

Hey, the bottled water in the minibar is $3.60. The juice boxes are $2.05 (almost positive) I checked a few days ago so I hope I am remembering right!!
My husband went to Gaspies one night for H2O and he thinks he paid $2 per bottle there. (the trip was a busy blur)

Happy planning, everyone! It is going to feel good to sleep in my own bed tonight! ;)

Lives4Disney :sunny:
 
Channing, I had Tyler from IPO look for you today to tell you hi from me, but you had just checked out. I was going to surprise you. You beat me to the punch, you scoundrel!
 
triplefigs said:
Channing, I had Tyler from IPO look for you today to tell you hi from me, but you had just checked out. I was going to surprise you. You beat me to the punch, you scoundrel!


Denise, does Tyler actually work in the GF??? If so, one day I did see there was a man there named Tyler. I was curious then, too, if he was THE Tyler.

Hey, I just got back home and had two pissy phone messages from Brandon at the Polynesian IPO. whoa are they RUDE. I am sooooo glad we continued on at the GF vs moving to the Poly. (Thanks to that angel on my shoulder!) They are not nice over there at the Poly - ugh. :guilty:

His first message stated I had placed an order for some treats.....but they did not have my credit card info on file. That is nuts because I phoned LONG DISTANCE a couple months ago and spoke with Linette and gave her my Amex number and we discussed specifics about my order! :rolleyes: OK, then I also emailed them before I left and double checked to see if all was a go with my requests and order. Their response was it was all taken care of. Yeah, right. :sad2: I also mentioned in several email contacts with them that my check in at the Poly would be immediately after our stay at the GF and I even gave them dates of that GF stay so they would know when I was out of town. So the Brandon guy calls me at home while I am at the GF -twice. The second call was regarding my ADRs. He was policing them as I had a couple that were kind of around the same time and "That is against our policy" and I have to call back by "today" and get them straightened out or they would be "cancelled"! Hey - back up the truck - first of all he had a very pissy, condescending attitude on the machine......I always cancel, but sometimes not until a day or so before. I am not an ADR hog, but who the heck knows exactly where they will be 180 days out? I do not make many doubles, either.I have always in the past, upon check in had the concierge CM print out my itinerary and usually we go thru it together and get rid of anything I don't think I will use. Never an issue. I know for fact in the past that there have been things I have changed/cancelled with WDWDine and they did not update, so this plan of attack seems the best. If this guy from the Poly felt it was so critical, he should have been on the ball and contacted me with some actual info before I left home - since I mentioned several times what my plans were.

I am SO GLAD we didn't stay at the Polynesian. :) Denise, hope you are having good luck with the CR IPO. I noticed a thread that was not so great in that area. I just have learned that it all depends on WHO you talk to. There are some really good ones and some duds. :rolleyes:

Take care!! :goodvibes

Lives4Disney :sunny:
 
Hi, Channing. Yes, that was most likely the "real" Tyler! And I'm so lucky 'cause I'm working with a fantastic CM (they also do the GF so it's the same staff) and having great luck again this time. That other thread is a downer. But I've had great experiences in Dec and so far this trip.

Glad you stayed at the GF. Can't wait to see your pictures! Hope your toe is better too. :teeth:
 
Oh, just thought of something kind of gross/funny I saw today in the GF lounge. A dad was in there with his two kids about 2 and 3 yrs old. He was just sitting around letting the kids help themselves to the snacks. :rolleyes: The little girl - probably almost 2 - took the fancy silver bowl of potato chips down off the table, on to the floor and just sat down on the marble floor with the bowl between her legs and helped herself to them like it was her own personal snack. Ick. I saw this at about 2 pm, when our limo was coming at about 2:30. Made me wonder what else happened during our stay and THANK GOD none of us wound up sick!!! The GF lounge was usually very dead during the afternoons, so this kind of stuff could go on easily. ;) There was nobody "supervising". I saw so many more piggy, sloppy people this trip then ever before. :guilty: The staff does give you a clue about what attire is appropriate for the lounge, but so many people do not follow it, it is surprising what people think is acceptable. More and more people than I have ever seen were using it as a restaurant and making HUGE messes at the tables and then just walking away, leaving it to be cleaned up by the lounge staff. Kind of sad. I hadn't seen that before in RPC. Only actually at the Poly! :goodvibes

Lives4Disney :sunny:
 
triplefigs said:
Hi, Channing. Yes, that was most likely the "real" Tyler! And I'm so lucky 'cause I'm working with a fantastic CM (they also do the GF so it's the same staff) and having great luck again this time. That other thread is a downer. But I've had great experiences in Dec and so far this trip.

Glad you stayed at the GF. Can't wait to see your pictures! Hope your toe is better too. :teeth:


GOOD! We have always had really nice times at the CR and their concierge staff had always been great.

My toe......oh......It is nasty! I think I only fit in certain sandals and that won't be too good here in this cold weather. :guilty: I'll see tomorrow. Everyday it gets a bit better, but I am in my slippers now and it feels weird.

Happy planning!! I am off to bed! :p

Lives4Disney :goodvibes
 
Channing, I'm glad you're home safely. Your toe injury sounds painful. I once rammed my toe into my couch leg by slipping on wrapping paper I left on my hardwood floor. My foot had black and blue streaks running up from my toe. The sad thing is that there isn't much that you can do except tape it to another toe. :guilty:

I know the 2 year old with the potato chips was a gross sight but I couldn't help but chuckle. princess: She was making herself right at home. I do hope that they weren't put back on the table.

Tyler, I hope the GF CMs know how much we appreciate their wonderful service. Our trip last Dec. couldn't have been better.

Denise, I think I'm looking forward to your CR trip as much as you. I don't know when we'll be back so I'm living out my Disney dreams through you! I can't wait to see your Halloween designs. I bet you've already started!

Lori
 
pirateofthecarolinas said:
Tyler, I hope the GF CMs know how much we appreciate their wonderful service. Our trip last Dec. couldn't have been better.

Denise, I think I'm looking forward to your CR trip as much as you. I don't know when we'll be back so I'm living out my Disney dreams through you! I can't wait to see your Halloween designs. I bet you've already started!

Lori

I totally agree about the GF/CR IPO Planning staff and the Concierge CMs at the GF. Lori and I were at SL at the same time, and we had a wonderful time. I'm very excited about trying CR Concierge too, but I am so happy that I'm still working with the same incredible IPO Planning Staff that I used for our Dec trip! They have been awesome.

And, yes, I'm working on lots of Halloween shirts. Trying to come up with a very original idea for the 5 of us for costumes for MNSSHP too. Any thoughts? Need COOL and comfy costumes, cause it's going to be HOT!
 
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