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

[Janet2k]

Were you able to get the chefs table for your group?

TammiMcMan, before my last vacation was cancelled, I did have the Chef’s Table booked. Nutz4dzny’s family was going to join my family on that vacation and she had wanted to dine there. As everyone on this board knows, I don’t cook, so dining in a restaurant’s kitchen never held any real appeal to me. But since Nutz4dzny had dined at the Chef’s Table before, she had convinced me that I would like it. I went ahead and booked the reservation. Sadly, that vacation was cancelled due to Nutz4dzny’s health issues and I never got the opportunity to try the Chef’s Table.

When I began planning this vacation, dining at the Chef’s Table never crossed my mind until other people began asking to dine with me. Since just about everyone was a Victoria & Albert’s “virgin” (~gasp!~), I decided that the main dining room was the way to go. I think it will make for a more elegant and memorable meal (and if they decide to dine at Victoria & Albert’s again in the future, they’ll have the Chef’s Table to look forward to).

The fun part now is deciding what everyone will wear to dinner. I normally wear muted colors when dining at Victoria & Albert’s, but this time I’m thinking of going for a brighter color pallet in order to kick things up a notch. I still have to find something for my daughter to wear, but she’s easy to shop for and we have time on our side.

 

[Janet2k]

I am also interested in any Grand 1 info. I booked it for the Wishes cruise on my bday. It will be a first for us, also.

Lives4Disney, I look forward to hearing about your experience. Hopefully, someone will chime in soon with photos of their cruise.

 

[DisneyDoogie]

Hi Everyone,

Last week, we just returned from a 16-night stay at WDW -- 8 nights at the RPC and 8 nights at OKW.

We have been to the GF about 15 times before but this was our first stay in the RPC, and we had an awesome time! It is definitely an amazing experience. The CMs, especially Joe and Vonnie, were incredible and we had a great time talking with them throughout our stay. (Lives4Disney, I said "hi" to Vonnie for you!)

On this holiday, we spent more time at the resort and less time running around the parks, so the convenience of the lounge and the offerings was great. I was surprised that, although the RPC was close to booked solid, at many of the offerings there were only four or five people (the exception was breakfast which was usually packed). I was pleased to hear that any food that is left over goes to a local food bank!! In general, we were happy with the offerings. We liked the fact that the evening offering changed nightly and that the breakfast offerings were a little different each day. Having the water and coffee available all day was a plus.

Like garada3 posted, the elevator near Gasparilla's was out of order so that was a bit of a hassle.

All things considered, the RPC is great, lots of fun, and the atmosphere can't be beat. It is definitely something that we would try again!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Hi Everyone,

Last week, we just returned from a 16-night stay at WDW -- 8 nights at the RPC and 8 nights at OKW.

We have been to the GF about 15 times before but this was our first stay in the RPC, and we had an awesome time! It is definitely an amazing experience. The CMs, especially Joe and Vonnie, were incredible and we had a great time talking with them throughout our stay. (Lives4Disney, I said "hi" to Vonnie for you!)

On this holiday, we spent more time at the resort and less time running around the parks, so the convenience of the lounge and the offerings was great. I was surprised that, although the RPC was close to booked solid, at many of the offerings there were only four or five people (the exception was breakfast which was usually packed). I was pleased to hear that any food that is left over goes to a local food bank!! In general, we were happy with the offerings. We liked the fact that the evening offering changed nightly and that the breakfast offerings were a little different each day. Having the water and coffee available all day was a plus.

Like garada3 posted, the elevator near Gasparilla's was out of order so that was a bit of a hassle.

All things considered, the RPC is great, lots of fun, and the atmosphere can't be beat. It is definitely something that we would try again!

So glad you had a great stay!! I just love that place. Isn't Vonnie so sweet and helpful? Joe is great, too. We met the nicest people while we were there. Thanks for saying "Hi" to Vonnie.

Lives4Disney

 

[Cass]

Welcome back to the board Janet2k

DisneyDoogie, we are staying RPC in December, where was your room? what was it like... any recommendations?

Thanks

 

[DisneyDoogie]

Cass,

We requested a room on the 3rd or 4th floor between the lounge and the elevator for Gasparilla's. We got what we asked for (even though the elevator was out of service for half of our stay) - 4314 and we were happy with it - it had a daybed and no turbo toilet! The rooms that end in 01 to 09 look over the marina and you can see the castle in the distance. We could not see the castle nor the fireworks, but that was OK. We had a great view of the courtyard pool and to the right we could see the lagoon and the Polynesian. The rooms that end in 22 to 29 (I think) overlook the new pool.

If you have two queen beds in the room, and a daybed is important to you, you should request it because some of the rooms with 2 queen beds do not have a daybed.

We noticed that the GF is experimenting with toiletries. We had a mixture of the old kind with the GF logo on it and the new ones from H20 -- one day we were left a bar of H20 soap that had a blue Disney resorts label on it (but not the GF label).

Have a great time!

 

[Angel16]

Lives4Disney, I look forward to hearing about your experience. Hopefully, someone will chime in soon with photos of their cruise.

I also am looking for pictures from DISers who have cruised on The Grand 1. That is a dream of mine to someday sail on that beautiful ship.

Janet, Happy to see you back here. I am sorry to hear about your scary experience. It is strange, you are the third person I have heard of having that happen to them in the last several months. Sending best wishes to you and your family.

 

[Janet2k]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and the warm welcome back. I’m going to try to pop in more.

I’m trying to keep what happened to my family somewhat private, but I will share this much with the hope that it might help someone else.

My family went through about six months of not knowing who to trust. It was very unnerving. Everything finally came to a head, sadly, on the night that I had finished creating my Christmas cards. It was 2 AM in the morning when I had placed my on-line order. As I shut down my laptop, the telephone next to me began to ring. I knew instantly that it was the stalker calling. I picked up the phone and didn’t say a word. I heard a loud TV or radio playing in the background. The stalker remained quiet but stayed on the line for a minute or two. Eventually, they hung up. I spent the next half hour crying my eyes out. It was then that I decided that I’d had enough. Bright and early on Monday morning, I contacted my local Police Department and began the steps that would eventually lead to the discovery of the person who had been harassing my family. I was thankful when I found out that this person had nothing to do with the Internet.

I have only shared my story with a few people. Sadly, a couple of them have been touched by similar incidents. We’ve all become very protective of each other.

I’ve been trying to put the incident behind me but it has left its mark. I have to keep reminding myself that the world is this big, beautiful place and it is filled with all sorts of kind, wonderful people.

Again, thank you for your kind words. I know that a few of you had noticed my disappearance and had either sent me private messages directly or had routed them through others. They were much appreciated. Dis’ers are truly the nicest people.

 

[Janet2k]

I also am looking for pictures from DISers who have cruised on The Grand 1.

Angel16, if you come across anything, please post it here. I will probably do a search this weekend of the Internet to see what I can come up with. If I find anything, I promise I'll share it here.

 

[Janet2k]

We noticed that the GF is experimenting with toiletries. We had a mixture of the old kind with the GF logo on it and the new ones from H20 -- one day we were left a bar of H20 soap that had a blue Disney resorts label on it (but not the GF label).

DisneyDoogie, I know it's a crazy question, but do you have any photos to share of these experimental toiletries? (I just had to ask.)

 

[Lives4Disney]

Janet, I am glad the creep got caught and that awfulness is over.

About those "experimental toiletries"......They are WONDERFUL! They were in our bathroom instead of the normal GF toiletries and at first I was disappointed as they weren't packaged as charmingly. I missed those cute detailed bottles sitting on the bathroom counter. The new toiletries are H2O Spa products and very green and invigorating. There is a wonderful green bath soap that is so fresh. My favorite was the lotion - it had a minty, menthol type feel to it and felt so good massaged onto tired calves and feet after a long day at the parks. The shampoos and conditioner were great, too. I tipped the housekeeper a big one and she brought me tons of extra supplies!! I am using the green soap in my shower at home.

I live in a small town, kind of far from the better mall so I have never been in an H2O store. I think I would like to try their other products, though. These GF toiletries are really so nice - much nicer than most other hotel products. (I personally love the Green Door Spa toiletries Wyndham uses and these are very comparable)

We had a card on the nightstand that we could fill out regarding how well we liked the new products and which we preferred during our stay. Housekeeping would oblige. There was a mention that the packaging we saw may not be the final packaging so maybe they will use the cute bottles etc in the end.

I didn't take pics of them, though!! Too funny! In July, I will remember to take more pics of lots of things. I am usually just not a camara person as much as some others here, LOL!!

Happy planning, everyone!

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyDoogie]

Sorry Janet2k, I don't have any pictures of the experimental toiletries! We had a mixture of the new ones and the old ones almost every day. The H20 soap was round - about the same size as the round GF soap - wrapped in clear wrapping, with a white H20 label on it. One bar we received had a blue Disney resorts label (I've never seen this label on anything before). Maybe all the Disney resorts will have the new soaps, not just the GF. The other H20 stuff was shampoo, conditioner, and bath/shower gel. My estimate is that the containers are about 1/3rd smaller than the GF ones. Unlike Lives4Disney, we didn't get any comment card.

 

[princessesrule4]

Sounds like you had a great stay at RPC! We will be there next week and we are getting very excited! When we were there in December, we only got to the evening offerings twice and both nights were the Asian skewers. What else did they serve in the evenings? Thanks!

 

[DisneyDoogie]

princessesrule4,

Each night there were two hot offerings - chicken was there most nights, with different spices and sauces. They also had crabcakes, meatballs, some fancy thing with pork. There were small salads too - lots of variety and something different each night. And for kids (and adults!), there were turkey wraps, ham wraps, chicken fingers, fish nuggets, PB&J sandwiches, tuna sandwiches (not all on the same night though). I don't think it would be too difficult to make a meal out of the evening offerings on some nights.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Sorry Janet2k, I don't have any pictures of the experimental toiletries! We had a mixture of the new ones and the old ones almost every day. The H20 soap was round - about the same size as the round GF soap - wrapped in clear wrapping, with a white H20 label on it. One bar we received had a blue Disney resorts label (I've never seen this label on anything before). Maybe all the Disney resorts will have the new soaps, not just the GF. The other H20 stuff was shampoo, conditioner, and bath/shower gel. My estimate is that the containers are about 1/3rd smaller than the GF ones. Unlike Lives4Disney, we didn't get any comment card.

Disneydoogie, did you have the leafy green colored bath bar of soap?? When we were there, there was a round white facial soap and my favorite was the green bath bar with the lumps/bumps on one whole side of it. It had a really fresh, green scent & really good lather. I hope they didn't discontinue using that!!

Some of those evening appetizers are delicious. One night, I did actually have a light dinner out of them. (shhh.....) We had skewers with a minty sauce on two nights - more of a Greek/Mediterranean (sp!) style, delicious - loved them in beef & chicken. They had chicken nuggets one night which made my younger daughter very happy (she lives on nuggets and Mickey Mac & Cheese at WDW - PICKY eater) One night was more Mexican with little quesadillas and chips, dips, guacamole, the little fried burritos (don't remember what they're called) and other little corn relish appetizers, tex mex salads, etc. They had a large variety of small cold appetizers also, along with the hot.

Princessesrule - have a great time & report back to us so we can enjoy it too!

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyDoogie]

Lives4Disney,
No green soap with bumps and lumps! Just the round white soap. The toiletries were a mixture. Most days, it was half GF toiletries and half H20 stuff.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Lives4Disney,
No green soap with bumps and lumps! Just the round white soap. The toiletries were a mixture. Most days, it was half GF toiletries and half H20 stuff.

Bummer. It was really nice. Maybe I will have to make it out to the H2O store and see if they have it.

Thanks,

Lives4Disney

 

[lynr]

I just switched my reservation over from the Polynesian to RPC. I don't have time to read all the messages on the link but I would like to email the RPC does anyone have the email address? Also I need a triptik from AAA to get from the GF to the Port of Tampa, does anyone have the street address for the GF?

It has been 8 years since I tried RPC because we had a bad experience last time. Since I have been reading many good things about it I decided to give them another try.

Please let me know any specials things I should be aware of at the resort.


We are traveling with another family and our party is 4 adults, a 2 year old, a 15 year old and two young adults 19 & 21.

I am so excited, I can't wait.

 

[TammiMcMan]

lynr, here you go:

4401 Grand Floridian Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL. 32830

e-mail address, wdwgfplanning@disney.com

 

[Lives4Disney]

I just switched my reservation over from the Polynesian to RPC. I don't have time to read all the messages on the link but I would like to email the RPC does anyone have the email address? Also I need a triptik from AAA to get from the GF to the Port of Tampa, does anyone have the street address for the GF?

It has been 8 years since I tried RPC because we had a bad experience last time. Since I have been reading many good things about it I decided to give them another try.

Please let me know any specials things I should be aware of at the resort.


We are traveling with another family and our party is 4 adults, a 2 year old, a 15 year old and two young adults 19 & 21.

I am so excited, I can't wait.

The GF is heads above the Poly in everything. That's great you're giving it another chance. You will love it. Every Poly concierge visit I have had was not up to par. If I said this anywhere else on the DIS I would get FLAMED!! But, sorry, it's true.... It will be quite a while before we care to stay Poly concierge again. (Maybe 8 yrs!) The CMs at the GF are great and service is excellent. Enjoy.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney