The **NEW** Grand Floridian FAQ!(MAY 2011)

[MommyGina]

Ahhh, those pictures by KCMike are just incredible. I think I am going into GF withdrawal at this point. 22 days seems so far away until our next trip.

We will be staying in RPC with TPV this time around. What floor is the concierge on in the Main building?

 

[k&a&c'smom]

MommyGina - the RPC CL rooms are on floors 3, 4 & 5. The CMs are located on the 3rd floor, the lounge on the 4th - both just off the elevators. ETA: the RPC TPV rooms are located above Gasparilla's, on the 3rd and 4th floors.

Only 22 days to go, YAY!

KC Mike - I know I sound like a parrot, but love your photos!

 

[ClareH37]

Are all the outer lodges 'secure', i.e. key access?

I switched from a TPV to SL but the reports I've been hearing/reading on this site and others recently have got me thinking I'm making a huge mistake, there is no way I wish to pay rack rate (or discounted rate for that matter) to be sharing a lounge with the calibre of fellow guests being reported - sorry, I really don't mean to sound a snob, but guests wearing wet bathing attire/showing one's bare chest/walking around bare footed all in the lounge/serving area is just totally gross.

I'm seriously considering switching to a 'normal' non CL room if all the lodges are key access.

Thanks

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

What you CAN request, with an outer building 1-BR suite booking, is to be in one of the OTHER outer buildings (Sago Cay, Boca Chica, Conch Key, Big Pine Key). I am not sure there are 1-BR suites in all of the outer buildings, maybe Cali-D will pop in and answer that question. Your best bet is to contact IPO and ask which buildings are an option for the room category you have booked.

Glad I just happened to look at the thread this morning!

With the outer building one bedroom suite (2 queens in the bedroom), k&a&c'smom is correct, you can be in any of the outer lodge buildings. The suite in Sago Cay faces the marina, Conch Key faces toward the pool and Narcoossee's, and the Boca Chica and Big Pine Key suites face the courtyard pool. All of them are on the fifth floor.

The other type of outer building one bedroom suite (1 king in the bedroom) are only in Sago Cay, third and fourth floors with nice park views.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Are all the outer lodges 'secure', i.e. key access?

I switched from a TPV to SL but the reports I've been hearing/reading on this site and others recently have got me thinking I'm making a huge mistake, there is no way I wish to pay rack rate (or discounted rate for that matter) to be sharing a lounge with the calibre of fellow guests being reported - sorry, I really don't mean to sound a snob, but guests wearing wet bathing attire/showing one's bare chest/walking around bare footed all in the lounge/serving area is just totally gross.

I'm seriously considering switching to a 'normal' non CL room if all the lodges are key access.

Thanks

Sorry, none of the regular outer lodge buildings have restricted key card access.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Thanks for the suite info, Cali-D! Very helpful, as always.

ClareH37 - We have stayed in the SL building several times, and rarely see anyone without a cover up. We see families returning from their afternoon in the pool, who stop by and grab a drink and/or snack on their way to the room. Most, if not all, are wearing some type of beach shoes.

Since the lounge in SL is in the lobby, right inside the doors on the way to the elevators, there is no way for guests to get to and from the pool without walking through the area. It has never been an issue for us, the behavior of the majority of guests is quite acceptable. It's pretty hard to go anywhere without a few bad apples, but they are not the norm.

HTH!

 

[ClareH37]

Thanks for the suite info, Cali-D! Very helpful, as always.

ClareH37 - We have stayed in the SL building several times, and rarely see anyone without a cover up. We see families returning from their afternoon in the pool, who stop by and grab a drink and/or snack on their way to the room. Most, if not all, are wearing some type of beach shoes.

Since the lounge in SL is in the lobby, right inside the doors on the way to the elevators, there is no way for guests to get to and from the pool without walking through the area. It has never been an issue for us, the behavior of the majority of guests is quite acceptable. It's pretty hard to go anywhere without a few bad apples, but they are not the norm.

HTH!

Thank you, starting to calm down down

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Thank you, starting to calm down down

I understand the jitters when you read a bad review (or a few!) - WDW is an expensive vacation, and you want it to go well. I'm as guilty of it as anyone.

Try not to worry too much, and enjoy your planning.

 

[KCmike]

Ahhh, those pictures by KCMike are just incredible. I think I am going into GF withdrawal at this point. 22 days seems so far away until our next trip.

We will be staying in RPC with TPV this time around. What floor is the concierge on in the Main building?

MommyGina - the RPC CL rooms are on floors 3, 4 & 5. The CMs are located on the 3rd floor, the lounge on the 4th - both just off the elevators. ETA: the RPC TPV rooms are located above Gasparilla's, on the 3rd and 4th floors.

Only 22 days to go, YAY!


KC Mike - I know I sound like a parrot, but love your photos!

Thanks you two!!! Very sweet.

 

[Tink rules]

Do the deluxe king rooms have a balcony?

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Do the deluxe king rooms have a balcony?

The ones over Gasparilla's do have a balcony, and a jacuzzi tub. The turret deluxe king rooms do NOT have a balcony - but they have beautiful wrap around windows!

 

[KCmike]

Hope everyone made it through this past weekend. I read that the humidity down there was 98% and it felt like 107 on Friday. The dog days of summer are up ahead I'm sure.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Thanks for the help with the locker room question! I actually found pictures on a website... I was quite surprised to come across them!

I'm back with another silly question.....

Do the room refrigerators have a freezer section?

Thank you!

 

[lin7]

I love your photos KCmike, just beautiful

LittleMissMagic, the fridges do not have separate section for the freezer, I think it does get a bit colder in the top section of the fridge, you can adjust the temperature though.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

LittleMissMagic, the fridges do not have separate section for the freezer, I think it does get a bit colder in the top section of the fridge, you can adjust the temperature though.

When doing that you need to be carefull because one time we must have adjusted settings by accident in the fridge we had at the Contemporary and the bottled water we had turned into blocks of ice.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

LittleMissMagic - the website you've referenced is banned by the DIS, so you probably need to edit your post before a mod does it.

CR Fan - I'm very surprised you can adjust the temp that low, we've had very little luck lately getting the room 'fridge more than slightly cold. It seemed to me they worked better in the past, but maybe I'm simply feeling nostalgic.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

My bad! I thought that it usually automatically takes out banned sites with the URL, but I typed it out. My apologies!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

No problem, I just didn't want you to get in trouble. When you type the name with spaces, rather than an url, it looks like you are trying to bypass the filter.

I hope you will ask any questions you need.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

KC Mike - I hope everyone in WDW right now is keeping cool and hydrated. Park Touring with that kind of heat index can be rough.

More great photos!

 

[catyanna]

Hi everyone1 I am so excited because at this time next month I will be arriving for our first visit to the GF!!!! for MANY years my family & I have been going to Disney & always say "one day we will be a ble to stay there" One day is FINALLY here!

My DH & I are taking my parents & DS (3). I am really excited because I am surprising my mother. She has no idea that we are staying at GF. She thinks we are staying at FW cabins Even better, I booked SL CL. She may faint. I have told her that I have a surprise for her. So we are playing a guessing game everyday to make the wait a little more bareable.

Every day I send her a text w/ a 1-word clue. She gets one guess per day. I need a little help with words to send her. I want each word to add up in the end but I dont want them to be so easy that she guesses what it is. I have told her that we are having lunch at GF on the day we arrive s that is why we will be driving straight there .

The clues I have given her so far are Sugar (for Sugar Loaf), Bertha (organ @1900 PF), Crowned (spanish word for "Coronado" as in Hotel del Coronado), Walt Disney (suite name), dinner (we've had dinner at GF before)

She has NO idea what the surprise is, as she would never have imagined that I would be able to afford such a place (thanks to discounts & lots of small weekly payment I've been able to do it) She is a HS teacher & is due back to work the day after we head home. So this will be much appreciated by her. She deserves this & I cant wait to see her face!!!!