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

[KCmike]

Heading Home on the Resort Boat

Sorry for the blur

 

[k&a&c'smom]

KCmike - love the photo! It reminds me of the movie, "Notorious," have you seen it? In the beginning, when Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant are in Florida, they end up driving together in the twilight - this photo has a similar quality.

 

[reallymom]

We have always wanted to stay at the GF! Our room is in the outer garden. We are a family of 5, that number also includes a baby in a crib. I read that they offer full sized cribs at this resort, instead of the pack and plays. Any experience with this?

Also, my older kids (12 and 9) really want a room with a daybed. How do I know if my room will have one of these?

 

[KCmike]

KCmike - love the photo! It reminds me of the movie, "Notorious," have you seen it? In the beginning, when Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant are in Florida, they end up driving together in the twilight - this photo has a similar quality.

Never seen it. I've obviously heard of it being a Hitchcock film, right? Is it a must see? I like most of his other films. It's kind of embarrassing to say I haven't seen that one. It seems like there are always classics that come up now and again that people ask me if I've seen. I am a huge movie fan too.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

KCmike - I think it is a must see for Hitchcock fans, one of his best.

To get back on topic (I sometimes stray, lol) - a boat ride around the lagoon sounds good right about now!
Lagoon view in Big Pine Key

We have always wanted to stay at the GF! Our room is in the outer garden. We are a family of 5, that number also includes a baby in a crib. I read that they offer full sized cribs at this resort, instead of the pack and plays. Any experience with this?

Also, my older kids (12 and 9) really want a room with a daybed. How do I know if my room will have one of these?

Congratulations on booking your first stay at the GF!

Nearly all standard rooms have a daybed, so it is quite likely you will have one. As for the cribs, I have never used or requested one, but others here have - hopefully, someone will pop in to give advice!

 

[DrMomof3]

7 weeks from right now I will be running my first marathon while staying at GF! I can't even believe it!!!
We've had a difficult fall - one child hospitalized, beloved dog diagnosed with cancer, broken boiler in the house we just bought in July, etc. It wasn't looking good for staying at GF, mostly due to financial considerations, but then we were able to get a room-only discount combined with some unexpected income from my DH's job. Our room is fully paid off now so unless something new and really bad comes up, we should be good to go! I even got our phone call from IPO last week welcoming us. It was very exciting for me!!! (Even though our dining reservations were made months ago so I didn't really need anything.)
Now that life has started to settle down (well except for the craziness that comes with the holidays), I'm starting to get really psyched to finally stay at GF!

Amanda

 

[rcraw45425]

We have always wanted to stay at the GF! Our room is in the outer garden. We are a family of 5, that number also includes a baby in a crib. I read that they offer full sized cribs at this resort, instead of the pack and plays. Any experience with this?

Also, my older kids (12 and 9) really want a room with a daybed. How do I know if my room will have one of these?

Our girls are14 & 16 now and we had a regular crib back in '99. It was great, much sturdier than a pack & play for a 2 year old, it made a good "cage" for her, when trying to get her to take a nap. I remember it being white and metal, kind of institutional looking. Standard crib sheet worked fine on it.

The daybed is decent, My younger was around 12c our last GF stay and I think she slept on it one night when her older sister was being a bed hog. It's the size of a single bed if this helps. The mattress flips to reveal it.

 

[DrMomof3]

We have always wanted to stay at the GF! Our room is in the outer garden. We are a family of 5, that number also includes a baby in a crib. I read that they offer full sized cribs at this resort, instead of the pack and plays. Any experience with this?

Also, my older kids (12 and 9) really want a room with a daybed. How do I know if my room will have one of these?

We are staying at GF for the first time also BUT I have requested - and successfully received - a "real" crib at the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Beach Club. It's a portable crib so it's still smaller than a regular crib that you'd have at home but it was much better for us than a pack n play. On our last stay at the Polynesian, our room wasn't ready until late and when I called for a crib they tried to tell me that they might not have any left. I got a little annoyed (we had arrived around 10am and asked for one at check-in) and said that I didn't think it was right for us to get penalized for our room not being ready early (it's first come, first serve). The woman on the phone said she'd look into it and it might take awhile to get the crib. Less than 10 minutes later a very lovely women from mousekeeping showed up with a crib and extra crib bedding. If I had given up when they told me they weren't sure they had one, I certainly wouldn't have gotten one. I was polite but firm and had no problems.

Amanda

 

[k&a&c'smom]

DrMomof3 - oh, my goodness, you HAVE had a bad time! I hope your child is all better, the boiler is fixed and your dog is comfortable, at least. Poor baby. It's tough to get bad news regarding your pets, isn't it?!

Hopefully, most of it is behind you, and you can look forward to your GF stay! Kudos for getting it all paid off, woohoo!

 

[Lulu'sMom]

7 weeks from right now I will be running my first marathon while staying at GF! I can't even believe it!!!
We've had a difficult fall - one child hospitalized, beloved dog diagnosed with cancer, broken boiler in the house we just bought in July, etc. It wasn't looking good for staying at GF, mostly due to financial considerations, but then we were able to get a room-only discount combined with some unexpected income from my DH's job. Our room is fully paid off now so unless something new and really bad comes up, we should be good to go! I even got our phone call from IPO last week welcoming us. It was very exciting for me!!! (Even though our dining reservations were made months ago so I didn't really need anything.)
Now that life has started to settle down (well except for the craziness that comes with the holidays), I'm starting to get really psyched to finally stay at GF!

Amanda

DrMomof3~my heart goes all out to you and to your family.
So happy that you are able to go on this trip and were blessed by DH's windfall so you can participate in the WDW marathon.
Remember, when everything seems to be falling apart around you, take the moment to count your blessings.

The GF is wonderful to stay at during the marathon! The kids can be right at the GF's entrance and watch mom run by! OR take the monorail and see you run in the MK! How exciting!!!

 

[DrMomof3]

Thank you for your support! It really has been a difficult time for the whole family. I think it'll make our trip that much sweeter! I was showing the kids the pictures of GF this morning and my 5 year old daughter said, "Isn't that where we were going to stay but then it was too much money?" I was happy to be able to say that we were still going to be able to go "thanks to a good sale they were having!" We stay at the Poly for the 1/2 marathon in 2011 and it was very convenient so we thought we'd try GF this year. My DH is running the 1/2 marathon on Saturday and then I go for the full on Sunday. And the kids are doing the kid races on Friday. Medals for everyone!!!
I was salivating over the pictures of the food in the lounge. I'm so excited to stay CL and experience that!!! Thank you to everyone who posts such wonderful pictures so we can look forward to our trip.

Amanda

PS The dog has recovered from surgery and will start some chemotherapy soon. Poor girl!

 

[rcraw45425]

We are staying at GF for the first time also BUT I have requested - and successfully received - a "real" crib at the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Beach Club. It's a portable crib so it's still smaller than a regular crib that you'd have at home but it was much better for us than a pack n play. On our last stay at the Polynesian, our room wasn't ready until late and when I called for a crib they tried to tell me that they might not have any left. I got a little annoyed (we had arrived around 10am and asked for one at check-in) and said that I didn't think it was right for us to get penalized for our room not being ready early (it's first come, first serve). The woman on the phone said she'd look into it and it might take awhile to get the crib. Less than 10 minutes later a very lovely women from mousekeeping showed up with a crib and extra crib bedding. If I had given up when they told me they weren't sure they had one, I certainly wouldn't have gotten one. I was polite but firm and had no problems.


Amanda

Wow, soundslikethe Polynesian was no better foryou than they were for us back in '04. We arrived from the WL around 11AM as the Poly had told us to come on over our room was ready. Arrived to find out that we did not have a room yet, it would be a short while. Finally went to DTD to eat at 12:30. Returned, still no room and by then there were a lot of other people receiving theirs. DH was starting to boil. We waited and waited and waited some more. Finally the manager came out and said he would see why we were the only ones still waiting. Turns out our room should have been pulled from inventory, they had shampooed all of the carept and it was soaking wet. We had an ADR at 'Ohana for 5:30 and tickets for the MNSSHP that evening. Manager said he would take care of our meal, which was nice, but we still had a room with wet carpet throughout our stay. To this day none of us want to stay there again. I had had to book us there for this trip but we were so ambivalent about it that we changed our dates to get a room at the GF! I hope that your upcoming stay is everything that you want it to be and that your furbaby makes a full recovery!

 

[Lulu'sMom]

Wow, soundslikethe Polynesian was no better foryou than they were for us back in '04. We arrived from the WL around 11AM as the Poly had told us to come on over our room was ready. Arrived to find out that we did not have a room yet, it would be a short while. Finally went to DTD to eat at 12:30. Returned, still no room and by then there were a lot of other people receiving theirs. DH was starting to boil. We waited and waited and waited some more. Finally the manager came out and said he would see why we were the only ones still waiting. Turns out our room should have been pulled from inventory, they had shampooed all of the carept and it was soaking wet. We had an ADR at 'Ohana for 5:30 and tickets for the MNSSHP that evening. Manager said he would take care of our meal, which was nice, but we still had a room with wet carpet throughout our stay. To this day none of us want to stay there again. I had had to book us there for this trip but we were so ambivalent about it that we changed our dates to get a room at the GF! I hope that your upcoming stay is everything that you want it to be and that your furbaby makes a full recovery!

OH, no!!!!

OK...this is when my DH's blood would start to boil too!
This has happened to us several times at the Poly and that is how we were introduced to the Tonga suites.
Of course, we kept going back to the Tonga suites. ack!
And there was the time when we were booked for a small suite and we were moved into the King Kamehameha.......

I don't know, maybe times at the Poly are changing. But at the GF, we've always received top service. Ask Nursie P (pas130). They made sure when her room was overbooked, she got a huge suite over at the YC.

 

[phyllis1966]

Good morning all! We're back from one of the most magical (and luxurious) stays at the GF.

Being upgraded to a main building, club level TPV room was an amazing surprise - at first when we were met by the lobby entrance and told we could wait up in the lounge, I thought it was a mistake! When we were told it was indeed not a mistake, I was floored - our check-in CM was so happy that I was so happy! After she explained everything about Club Level (which I knew lots about from you all ), she left and I explained to DH and DD that we may no longer have the TPV that we originally booked...they said they were OK with that and were excited about the upgrade anyway. When we got to our room later that afternoon and saw the view, we were in heaven!

We did find out, from our turn-down Mousekeeper, part of the reason we were upgraded (or maybe the entire reason) - it seems that the GF was at 100% occupancy (strange, we thought, for a slow time like mid-November) because Bob Iger, John Lasseter (Pixar) and 298 Disney execs were having a powwow at the GF, and they all took outer building rooms! Our Mousekeeper said Bob Iger likes to keep a low profile, but DH and I figure they take the least expensive rooms so tourists can pay for the more expensive ones, right? Anyway, thanks to Mr. Iger, we enjoyed our first RPC stay. We are totally spoiled now!

Once that beautiful Christams tree went up early Tuesday morning, along with all the other decorations, it was such a wonderful experience to sit in the lounge, eat and drink, and soak up the music and general holiday atmosphere. I think what made DH the happiest was his nightly glass of Kahlua on the rocks (and seeing DD and me so happy)! We felt very pampered, and Melane, Dan, Janice and Jordan were 4 of the pleasant and helpful Concierge CM's we spoke with during the week. Melane helped me to arrange a lovely surprise treat for DD, and I'll post a photo when I get a chance.

Well, back to the real world - I have to get ready for work...talk to you all later...it's drizzly here and I'm a bit bummed to be back...

 

[pas130]

We have always wanted to stay at the GF! Our room is in the outer garden. We are a family of 5, that number also includes a baby in a crib. I read that they offer full sized cribs at this resort, instead of the pack and plays. Any experience with this?

Also, my older kids (12 and 9) really want a room with a daybed. How do I know if my room will have one of these?

We used a crib at AKL, it was similar to what rcraw described, so much better than the Pack and play!!!

7 weeks from right now I will be running my first marathon while staying at GF! I can't even believe it!!!
We've had a difficult fall - one child hospitalized, beloved dog diagnosed with cancer, broken boiler in the house we just bought in July, etc. It wasn't looking good for staying at GF, mostly due to financial considerations, but then we were able to get a room-only discount combined with some unexpected income from my DH's job. Our room is fully paid off now so unless something new and really bad comes up, we should be good to go! I even got our phone call from IPO last week welcoming us. It was very exciting for me!!! (Even though our dining reservations were made months ago so I didn't really need anything.)
Now that life has started to settle down (well except for the craziness that comes with the holidays), I'm starting to get really psyched to finally stay at GF!

Amanda

I hope all stays well with your family Congrats on paid in full!!!!

Our girls are14 & 16 now and we had a regular crib back in '99. It was great, much sturdier than a pack & play for a 2 year old, it made a good "cage" for her, when trying to get her to take a nap. I remember it being white and metal, kind of institutional looking. Standard crib sheet worked fine on it.

The daybed is decent, My younger was around 12c our last GF stay and I think she slept on it one night when her older sister was being a bed hog. It's the size of a single bed if this helps. The mattress flips to reveal it.

My DS 10 and DS2 actually shared the daybed. They didn't have to, but my DS wanted to sleep with big brother. They were very comfy! And in 2010 our crib at AKL was the same!

OH, no!!!!

OK...this is when my DH's blood would start to boil too!
This has happened to us several times at the Poly and that is how we were introduced to the Tonga suites.
Of course, we kept going back to the Tonga suites. ack!
And there was the time when we were booked for a small suite and we were moved into the King Kamehameha.......

I don't know, maybe times at the Poly are changing. But at the GF, we've always received top service. Ask Nursie P (pas130). They made sure when her room was overbooked, she got a huge suite over at the YC.

Missed the Grand but they did right by us

Good morning all! We're back from one of the most magical (and luxurious) stays at the GF.

Being upgraded to a main building, club level TPV room was an amazing surprise - at first when we were met by the lobby entrance and told we could wait up in the lounge, I thought it was a mistake! When we were told it was indeed not a mistake, I was floored - our check-in CM was so happy that I was so happy! After she explained everything about Club Level (which I knew lots about from you all ), she left and I explained to DH and DD that we may no longer have the TPV that we originally booked...they said they were OK with that and were excited about the upgrade anyway. When we got to our room later that afternoon and saw the view, we were in heaven!

We did find out, from our turn-down Mousekeeper, part of the reason we were upgraded (or maybe the entire reason) - it seems that the GF was at 100% occupancy (strange, we thought, for a slow time like mid-November) because Bob Iger, John Lasseter (Pixar) and 298 Disney execs were having a powwow at the GF, and they all took outer building rooms! Our Mousekeeper said Bob Iger likes to keep a low profile, but DH and I figure they take the least expensive rooms so tourists can pay for the more expensive ones, right? Anyway, thanks to Mr. Iger, we enjoyed our first RPC stay. We are totally spoiled now!

Once that beautiful Christams tree went up early Tuesday morning, along with all the other decorations, it was such a wonderful experience to sit in the lounge, eat and drink, and soak up the music and general holiday atmosphere. I think what made DH the happiest was his nightly glass of Kahlua on the rocks (and seeing DD and me so happy)! We felt very pampered, and Melane, Dan, Janice and Jordan were 4 of the pleasant and helpful Concierge CM's we spoke with during the week. Melane helped me to arrange a lovely surprise treat for DD, and I'll post a photo when I get a chance.

Well, back to the real world - I have to get ready for work...talk to you all later...it's drizzly here and I'm a bit bummed to be back...

Welcome home! Glad you enjoyed RPC...the beginning of Nov was super crowded too!

 

[focusondisney]

Good morning all! We're back from one of the most magical (and luxurious) stays at the GF.

Being upgraded to a main building, club level TPV room was an amazing surprise - at first when we were met by the lobby entrance and told we could wait up in the lounge, I thought it was a mistake! When we were told it was indeed not a mistake, I was floored - our check-in CM was so happy that I was so happy! After she explained everything about Club Level (which I knew lots about from you all ), she left and I explained to DH and DD that we may no longer have the TPV that we originally booked...they said they were OK with that and were excited about the upgrade anyway. When we got to our room later that afternoon and saw the view, we were in heaven!

We did find out, from our turn-down Mousekeeper, part of the reason we were upgraded (or maybe the entire reason) - it seems that the GF was at 100% occupancy (strange, we thought, for a slow time like mid-November) because Bob Iger, John Lasseter (Pixar) and 298 Disney execs were having a powwow at the GF, and they all took outer building rooms! Our Mousekeeper said Bob Iger likes to keep a low profile, but DH and I figure they take the least expensive rooms so tourists can pay for the more expensive ones, right? Anyway, thanks to Mr. Iger, we enjoyed our first RPC stay. We are totally spoiled now!

Once that beautiful Christams tree went up early Tuesday morning, along with all the other decorations, it was such a wonderful experience to sit in the lounge, eat and drink, and soak up the music and general holiday atmosphere. I think what made DH the happiest was his nightly glass of Kahlua on the rocks (and seeing DD and me so happy)! We felt very pampered, and Melane, Dan, Janice and Jordan were 4 of the pleasant and helpful Concierge CM's we spoke with during the week. Melane helped me to arrange a lovely surprise treat for DD, and I'll post a photo when I get a chance.

Well, back to the real world - I have to get ready for work...talk to you all later...it's drizzly here and I'm a bit bummed to be back...

Wow! Congrats on the wonderful upgrade!! GF & RPC are spectacular, aren't they?? We were there for the first time in Sept. I am a die hard YC fan, but I feel in love with the Grand & RPC. We are planning to go to Disneyland in Dec instead of WDW, but I can't stop thinking about GF. I'm trying to figure out if I can sweet talk DH into a few days in May. I don't know if I can wait til 2013 to get back there!

 

[Goofdad]

I'm just back from a fantastic week at the GF - temps were in the low 80s, the decorations are up (tree, wreaths, Gingerbread House) and the GF was once again perfect.
I'm up to my ears (*nopun*) in photos and videos, can't wait to put it all together.
Here are some photos:


001_GF_hdr by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


002_GF_hdr by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


003_GF_hdr by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


004_GF_poppins by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


006_GF_sunset by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


005_GF_lobby by TDRyan1212, on Flickr



007_GF_Qpool by TDRyan1212, on Flickr



008_GF_centerCt by TDRyan1212, on Flickr



009_GF_centerCt by TDRyan1212, on Flickr


010_GF_entranceMonorail by TDRyan1212, on Flickr

 

[WDWKOOK]

Those are beautiful, Goofdad! Thank you for your mini review and for posting photos for all of us who can't be there right now.

 

[DrMomof3]

Good morning all! We're back from one of the most magical (and luxurious) stays at the GF.

Being upgraded to a main building, club level TPV room was an amazing surprise - at first when we were met by the lobby entrance and told we could wait up in the lounge, I thought it was a mistake! When we were told it was indeed not a mistake, I was floored - our check-in CM was so happy that I was so happy! After she explained everything about Club Level (which I knew lots about from you all ), she left and I explained to DH and DD that we may no longer have the TPV that we originally booked...they said they were OK with that and were excited about the upgrade anyway. When we got to our room later that afternoon and saw the view, we were in heaven!

We did find out, from our turn-down Mousekeeper, part of the reason we were upgraded (or maybe the entire reason) - it seems that the GF was at 100% occupancy (strange, we thought, for a slow time like mid-November) because Bob Iger, John Lasseter (Pixar) and 298 Disney execs were having a powwow at the GF, and they all took outer building rooms! Our Mousekeeper said Bob Iger likes to keep a low profile, but DH and I figure they take the least expensive rooms so tourists can pay for the more expensive ones, right? Anyway, thanks to Mr. Iger, we enjoyed our first RPC stay. We are totally spoiled now!

Once that beautiful Christams tree went up early Tuesday morning, along with all the other decorations, it was such a wonderful experience to sit in the lounge, eat and drink, and soak up the music and general holiday atmosphere. I think what made DH the happiest was his nightly glass of Kahlua on the rocks (and seeing DD and me so happy)! We felt very pampered, and Melane, Dan, Janice and Jordan were 4 of the pleasant and helpful Concierge CM's we spoke with during the week. Melane helped me to arrange a lovely surprise treat for DD, and I'll post a photo when I get a chance.

Well, back to the real world - I have to get ready for work...talk to you all later...it's drizzly here and I'm a bit bummed to be back...

How wonderful for you!!!

Thank you Goofdad for those incredibly pictures. I can't wait!!! 45 more days until we arrive....

Amanda

 

[s&k'smom]

The pictures were beautiful, looks like some of the view we had on our trip. There really isn't any place like the GF.