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

[TammiMcMan]

How wonderful for your son. That's got to be quite an experience.

We had one room that had the fireworks view blocked by a tree, but on our second visit there, we had a view that wasn't bad. I'm sorry I don't remember the room number, but as you entered the main door of the Sugar Loaf building, it was on the 3rd floor to the left. If you've seen a resort map (which is on the site link that I gave you) the rooms would be closer to the main building. If you're on the right hand side, then the Conch Key building tends to block out most of your view. If we stood against the balcony, we could see the fireworks with no problem. I would think that you'd want to request either 3rd or 4th floor to make sure you do clear any trees that are there.

Tammi

 

[leighe]

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, but . . .

I am considering changing our Christmas ressie from WL to GF. This was supposed to be a budget trip (started at POFQ then WL then GF - sigh . . . one day I'll really be able to stick to a budget - I promise! ) so I really want to stay in a standard room. What are good locations to request? How are the standard rooms? DH keeps saying if I'm going to be at the GF (this trip is my little sis and me) we should go ahead and do concierge, but I know we'll be in the parks a lot. so I do hate to spend the money on services we probably won't take advantage of - especially since DH will be in Vegas with some of his buddies. So essentially both of us will be in our favorite place unsupervised (Do you really need another Alice in Wonderland tote bag? Do you really need to play one more hand?) and I just have this vision in my head of money literally flying out of our bank accounts! So - I guess my question is - what is a good standard location to request and is it worth it to stay at GF without taking advantage of concierge (would really love to be in that main building - how much of a difference does that make)? Thanks so much!

 

[TammiMcMan]

What a tough decision you have Leighe. Both resorts are truly wonderful during the holiday season. WL has that rustic, country home charm with the roaring fireplace and sleigh rides, while the GF is dripping with victorian holiday elegance. Staying in concierge is a very pampering experience and being in the main building is incredible, but if you're not planning on spending much time at the resort, then it's really hard to justify. The standard rooms in the concierge level, are the same exact rooms that you are going to find throughout the resort.

If you do choose a regular room, then it will be priced by view. You either have garden or lagoon. The lagoon view does not guarantee that you'll be seeing the Magic Kingdom. You could have a view of the Polynesian and Epcot. A step up from a regular standard room is the tower room. If you want to check out the link that I posted in a previous thread, you'll see the difference between them. The tower room gives you a seperate seating area. Kerri also mentioned the dormer room which is slightly smaller, but has cathederal ceilings. You can request a dormer room as part of the regular, standard room.

You can always choose to stay where you are and use the extra money at the GF spa, or take afternoon tea, or an after dinner drink at one of the spots inside the GF main building.

Tammi

 

[minniesota]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between the Pool/MK View 2-Bedroom Suite, the Cape Coral 2-bedroom suite and the 2-bedroom Concierge Suite? Where would these be located? Thanks much!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Sorry, but all I know about is the Cape Coral suite. It's located in the Sago Cay building at the edge of the property. Situated on the ground floor it has two bedrooms, two baths, and a lovely patio with perfect views of Cinderella's castle and the Magic Kingdom fireworks. I believe the concierge suite would be located on the 5th floor of the main building. I do know that there is a suite also located in Conch Key, but I'm not sure if that's the other one that you're referring to.

You might also want to ask this question in the Lizard Lounge thread. There might be someone there that can help you. If all else fails, just call the GF directly and ask them.

Here's a link that will show you some Cape Coral photos

Tammi

 

[TammiMcMan]

double post, couldn't delete

 

[minniesota]

Tammi,
Thanks for the advice and info. And may I say I feel honored to receive a reply from one of the GF divas I have learned much from! I'm headed to the Lizard Lounge....

 

[obssessed]

Thanks for all the great info on the GF! I'm new to this board and found a wealth of information. I will be going on October 7th for my second stay at GF and was wondering if the hotel does anything special for an ADULT'S bday? My aunt will be celebrating her 50th while at WDW, which is the whole reason for the trip, and she is treating NINE family members to our magical gathering. Therefore I'd like to do something special for her!! I already have a birthday fireworks cruise booked, but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TammiMcMan]

If it's for an adult birthday, you may just want to change over to a regular fireworks cruise. You can work with the GF bakery and have a special something put together. Depending on ages, it could be champagne and white chocolate Cinderella slippers or tea/coffee and a more personalized cake.

Tammi

 

[Janet2k]

Originally posted by francie
would anyone have a picture of the sugar loaf bldg? i'm pretty sure cali's thread states that there are dormer rooms in that building and i could swear i noticed them there the last time i stayed there. however, i called the gf front desk and a cm said that the sugar loaf had no dormer rooms. since "a picture is worth a thousand words," can anyone help?

Francie, here is a photo that I took of the Sugar Loaf building from the marina on my last GF vacation: click here for photo.

 

[obssessed]

Originally posted by TammiMcMan
If it's for an adult birthday, you may just want to change over to a regular fireworks cruise. You can work with the GF bakery and have a special something put together. Depending on ages, it could be champagne and white chocolate Cinderella slippers or tea/coffee and a more personalized cake.

Tammi

I thought the decorations and cake would be nice for the little ones in our party,(ages2,3,4,5). What is the difference between the cruises? Are other guests on the regular cruise or do you have the boat to yourself like the birthday cruise? Also, thanks for the tip on the bakery! Do you happen to know if they have a menu or price list available online?

 

[Janet2k]

Originally posted by mariamouse
...does the beach at the GF have a view the MK castle (similar to the Poly)? From what I have heard, it is viewable from the pool area, boat dock, and LV rooms. However, we would be in a GV room and relying on the resort grounds to be able to see the amazing sight of the castle changing colors at night. I was hoping I could enjoy that MK magic from a chair on the beach.

Mariamouse, this was a tough question to answer but I hope I give the correct one. Read on.

I recently held a dinner party at the Grand Floridian’s Summerhouse. As part of my dinner party, a surprise dessert party was planned to cap it off. The Grand Floridian Convention Services Cast Member who put together my party suggested that my guests watch the Magic Kingdom’s Wishes fireworks show from the marina instead of from the Summerhouse beach area. I didn’t know why he suggested that until the night of my party (which I wrote about in great detail in a thread on the Dis' Trip Reports Board).

The Summerhouse dinner party was incredible; however, the dessert party that was held at the marina was breathtaking. The view of Cinderella's Castle and the Wishes fireworks show took everyone’s breath away. There was no way we would have been able to experience either from the beach. The location of beach was all wrong in reference to Cinderella’s Castle. And to help illustrate this point, please view the video clip of the Grand Floridian Resort that I posted a link to back in June. I just looked at that video clip myself and took a screen capture of the part that shows the aerial view of the resort. I put that screen capture in my “GF-Miscellaneous” album: click here to view photo. If you look at that photo, in the foreground you will see the Grand Floridian’s beach, and in the background, you will see the Magic Kingdom. I have marked with a yellow arrow the location of Cinderella’s Castle. As you can see, you won’t be able to view the castle from the beach.

I hope I’ve answered your question correctly. In my humble opinion, the best views of Cinderella's Castle (and the Wishes fireworks show) are from Magic Kingdom view resort rooms, the marina, and the Water Taxi Dock. I especially love viewing the castle changing colors from the Water Taxi Dock, ~sigh.~

 

[TammiMcMan]

I thought the decorations and cake would be nice for the little ones in our party,(ages2,3,4,5).

The fireworks cruise is the same exact thing, you get the pontoon boat for your group. It's a little less expensive because you wouldn't be paying for the "birthday package". My thoughts were that if it were strictly adults, then you might want to forego the decorations and plan something different with the GF bakery. It sounds like you do have younger children in your group though and I'm sure they'd love to see the birthday decorations.

Just wanted to let you know that you're not restricted to a set package, you can work with the GF bakery and create something else.

Tammi

 

[leighe]

Ok - soooo excited! I switched my ressie from WL to GF and actually got an AP rate - such a nice surprise! So now I need all the details. Which garden view room should I request? Has anyone ever stayed in a dormer (attic) room? Are those considered gv rooms? A nice view is the most important thing to me this trip. I'm not all that concerned about distance to the main building. If we eat everywhere I'm planning I'll need to walk anyway! I'm planning on surprising my little sister - our flight doesn't get in until almost 11pm Friday night (Dec.17) so we're going to Pop for that night and she thinks we're staying there the whole time. I'm thinking Narcoossee's for dinner the first night at GF - their menu looks terrific! Any suggestions?

I'm also planning a spa day for our last full day - figure the parks will be getting pretty crowded by then - and was planning on the aromatherapy body wrap and massage. Anybody have any other ideas? Was also considering having afternoon tea that same day.

Can you tell I'm excited!!!!

Fill me in on how to make this the best trip ever!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Leighe,

You sound so excited. You're going to love the GF during the holidays. The decorations are beautiful. Don't worry about being far away from the main building. You're probably never more than a 2 minute walk. The grounds are really not that big.

Standard rooms at the GF are priced by the view, so you either booked garden or lagoon. A lagoon view will not guarantee you a view of the magic kingdom. You could be looking across the lake at the Poly and Epcot. The gardens at the GF are beautiful. In Boca Chica, Big Pine Key and Conch Key, the garden view is most likely going to be directed towards the courtyard pool area. If you want something a bit more secluded, you can request Sago Cay. It's very close to the main building. I think the dormer rooms are very pretty, especially with the high ceilings. The only thing that you will be giving up is the full size balcony. They're a little smaller and you have the solid rail. It's a great choice though. One great thing about most of the resorts is that they will try to upgrade your view if you have the garden booked. It's all based on resort capacity obviously, but they will do it if they can.

You can try and book Narcoossee's to coincide with the MK fireworks. I know the schedule isn't even out yet, so that's hard to do. Check the MVMCP dates. If there's one planned for the night that you wanted to have dinner, then you know the fireworks should be at about 9:15. There's also an electric water pageant that goes by nightly. It will pass right by Narcoossees at about 9:15 (or a few minutes later if there's fireworks).

The GF Cafe is also a wonderful spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's resort casual and you can even get a cheeseburger there. The food is great and if Izzy is on, you can request him as your server. He is fantastic.

You should try to plan a few hours in the evening inside the main building. Mizners lounge is great for a drink, or you can even just relax on the sofas in the lobby and listen to the orchestra.

And don't forget that the GF has those beautiful white chocolate Cinderella slippers served on a chocolate plate. I think I had read another post that mentioned the cost had gone up to $14, but it's a beautiful treat. You can contact the bakery and have it delivered to your room or to one of the GF restaurants as dessert.

Tammi

 

[disneyw/kids]

I saw photos of the lobby rennovations, are any of the rooms going or went under rennovation recently? I am asking because we stayed at an unrennovated room at the Poly and hated it, and I did not ask to change rooms because I thought all the rooms were like that. Unfortunately I had not discovered disboards yeat AWWWWW! So i did not have the 411. I am sure all the rooms are very nice at the GF but I want to know I am getting the best room possible and if not I will change rooms.

 

[wdarling]

the floridian just finished a total rennonvation, i believe the lobby was the last part done. the rooms have a victorian design with some disney tyed in, like alice and wonderland. however there a very small number of rooms that have no added disney touch as request of the long time visitors of the GF that wanted the rooms to remain the same from it's opening.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I see that you are going the week of Thanksgiving. I suggest checking in early if you think that you may need to change rooms. All of the hotels over book and the GF is already filling up quickly for that week. They may not have another room to move you to later in the day. I believe this will be true of most of the resorts not just the GF. We're checking Nov. 28, hope to see you there!

Lori

 

[disneyw/kids]

Quick question, is the Sugar Loaf Building Concerige Only or do they have any regualr garden or lagoon rooms.

 

[disneyw/kids]