The *NEW* Grand Floridian Resort and Spa FAQ thread (Nov 2007)

[Alicnwondrln]

ugh I love the GF.

 

[heatherlynn444]

channing-i have started my TR if you wanna check it out. the theming was very unique, intricate, and it was really pretty, BUT just not up my alley. I am not really into the tribal thing ya know? I love the light, bright colors of the grand floridian. the rooms were so dark even with all the lamps on and i could hardly see to put my makeup on. i guess i am just more of a victorian era person lol. also, i LOVE being on the monorail as the MK is my fav park and to me the "center of teh magic" and i love being near it. taking the long bus ride to everywhere got old after a few days

 

[minnie my my]

I just got my little IPO message from the GF for our March stay!!!! Whhoooohooo...yes! Take me away GF. Well, that is unless that stupid falling satellite lands on WDW or our home.

Heatherlynn, so you weren't thrilled with AKL??? It looks pretty to visit, but I agree it's so far out there that has kept me from being interested in a stay there.

Lives4Disney

That is so exciting Channing. I wish I had my next trip booked already. Maybe I will soon. Now it seems even closer.

I also agree with Heatherlynn about the AKL. My DH and I stayed there one time without the kids for a weekend. We were in Orlando for a wedding and I knew we wouldn't be going to the parks so we tried it. We had a great time there just for that. It is a beautiful place but I would not stay there for a park trip or with the children and strollers. It is just too inconvenient.

 

[praline3001]

I am totally with Heather on this one... channing you aren't missing much with the AKL
It was pretty and we had the Savannah view which was really nice to wake up to in the morning....

but the service was terrible! The rooms were soooo dark! You cant have balloons or straws there (like AK) because of the animals.

They video tape your every move on the balcony for the safety of the animals. Not that we did anything naughty on the balcony but it just felt SUPER creepy knowing video cameras were watching my room 24/7

I could go on and on for pages and pages the horror stories I had with the AKL 3 years ago but Kelly would have to make a new thread as this one would be at its limit
I have stayed at Days inn's before with better service than the AKL


Since this is Savannah's special trip I let her pick the resort she liked best. She REALLY liked the poly ...we had booked WL but she insisted on the poly. I have always seen where the poly gets better ratings than the GF so i figured we would be good? Am I mistaken?

I just got my little IPO message from the GF for our March stay!!!! Whhoooohooo...yes! Take me away GF. Well, that is unless that stupid falling satellite lands on WDW or our home.

Turn off that news woman!!!! Go shopping for more cute outfits hehe

 

[mjac]

Hi everyone - I am a total lurker and have read every single page of this thread. I have posted a few times but I think this will be number three. I am leaving March 1st for my vacation and I am so excited. I remeber reading somewhere that you can check in advance of your arrival for your room assigment. Is this correct and if so what do I need to do to check. After reading this board I am obsessed with finding out what building I have been assigned to. Thanks in advance.

 

[praline3001]

Hi everyone - I am a total lurker and have read every single page of this thread. I have posted a few times but I think this will be number three. I am leaving March 1st for my vacation and I am so excited. I remeber reading somewhere that you can check in advance of your arrival for your room assigment. Is this correct and if so what do I need to do to check. After reading this board I am obsessed with finding out what building I have been assigned to. Thanks in advance.

Welcome! I didn't know you could check room assignments!
I found out where I would be on check in. Have fun at the GF!!!!!!!
It was really pretty and I enjoyed myself A WHOLE LOT

 

[grannyminnie]

I live in the country. I live in an unincorporated area very rural and woodsy & quiet. I have my front door open now (with a 130lb furry "rug" lying in front of it) but still.....now I think I want to close it.

DeKalb where NIU is is in the middle of cornfields!!! That's what is so disturbing to me. I mean, there is (well was - last time I was there) NOTHING out there but NIU rising above corn stalks. SO crazy weird. It just feels so safe out here, but in reality it's just not safe too much anyplace these days.

Lives4Disney

Boy, I'll give you weird and ironic....in our news here is the report (happened less than a week ago) of a school (high school) shooting in what metro Atlanta county? DEKALB!!!
We lived in that county years ago, but moved out here in the "country" to get away from "city life"...we're rural too, to some extent, and I feel protected. But I know that we can NEVER totally let down our guards...so sad.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Hi everyone - I am a total lurker and have read every single page of this thread. I have posted a few times but I think this will be number three. I am leaving March 1st for my vacation and I am so excited. I remeber reading somewhere that you can check in advance of your arrival for your room assigment. Is this correct and if so what do I need to do to check. After reading this board I am obsessed with finding out what building I have been assigned to. Thanks in advance.

I have not EVER been able to do this - my ressie doesn't go thru it always say's "error", but others have put their ressie into the WDW website and been able to view their ressies and it will tell them the category of the room, not the lodge building or any details THAT really won't be assigned until just a few days before your check in date....a few have found out they've been upgraded this way, but the only problem with that is that until you actually check in at the resort the complimentary upgrade could be taken away. So even if you do see an upgrade you can't get your hopes up too high!!!!

Happy planning - you will LOVE the Grand!

GrannieMinnie....ok, that's pretty creepy.

Lives4Disney

 

[NeverSayNever]

HI!

Thank you all for your views on YC vs. GF for a potential APril trip. I need to get this sorted out quick, like today or tomorrow so I'm gonna have the kids butter up Daddy so to speak... so we will see. I do think I am slightly nuts wanting to go back already... within 2months... but I keep saying it's such a good rate

Tinklvr... so sorry to hear that this latest awful tragedy as effected those you know. I just can not imagine being one fo those families... my heart goes out to all of them.

Hey, what's this.. Channing has room in her suitcases???

All this talk about he other resorts and them being dark etc... makes me think I will rarely try something else, I too love that open, airy bright feel of GF. But I do haveto say the YC and the closeness to Epcot is VERY Tempting for this trip. Lives4 I think you mentioned the boat from YC to Epcot was slow... ehhh just how slow? What about from YC to DHS?

WFamily... Aren't leaving like in 24hrs??? Have a Great trip and keep us updated. We need our GF fix!


oops phone gotta run....

Best,

 

[spacec47]

Since this is Savannah's special trip I let her pick the resort she liked best. She REALLY liked the poly ...we had booked WL but she insisted on the poly. I have always seen where the poly gets better ratings than the GF so i figured we would be good? Am I mistaken?

The poly is really nice. We enjoyed after the referb. I haven't yet stayed at the GF so I can't compair the two. We had a GV room in Roratonga on the 1st floor... so it was extremely close to the mail building. It was perfect for having 2 small children. The pool is nice but it can feel a bit crowded. We were going to go back to the Poly we liked it so much, but we decided to try the GF.

If your daughter really wants the poly, I would do it for this trip and plan a few meals at the GF.

 

[tinklvr64]

Well, that is unless that stupid falling satellite lands on WDW or our home.
Lives4Disney

OMG...Good one I am cracking up as I am reading this!!!!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

NeverSayNever, the YC and BC are still nice and bright- don't worry!

As for AKL being dark, I guess we didn't notice it. It was Christmastime, so maybe that added to the mood We really liked it there. We booked a standard with a code and were upgraded to Savannah (That video camera thing is a little creepy though...) AKL's biggest plus is that they don't share a bus!!! Would I give up my monorail to stay there again- probably not- but if we were trying to save a little money and the monorail resorts were off limits all together then we would go back in a second!

GrannyMinnie- the DeKalb connection gives me chills! (Of course up here we actually call it "DeKaLb" not "DeKab" I always got a kick out of that pronunciation when I went to Atlanta for business!!)

For all of you going back so soon I am CRAZY jealous!!! We still have over 9 months to go (and our last trip was Labor Day 2007- it feels like FOREVER!!!) DH is trying to make feel better by reminding me about our few days in Wisconsin Dells this coming June (like they even compare!! )

Take Care!
Kristin

 

[grannyminnie]

Kristin, when we first moved to Atlanta umpteen years ago, we pronounced it as you do, but learned that the "L" is silent. It took me a while to get used to that.

For those of you who really like the YC (along with, or because it reminds you of the GF), is it a lot like the BC? I've stayed there and enjoyed it, but did not walk over and visit the YC. Are there a lot of Disney touches in the decor?

 

[klofan]

Hey GF fans. I've officially booked at the GF and I'm so excited! And I'm gonna be there solo which REALLY gets me excited! I'm spending a little more than I want to, but the GF pulled me in! I'm just curious, I booked a garden view and I was wondering is there are any bad garden views here?

Thanks,
Pete

 

[PrincessPaczki]

I was wondering about the GV also.

 

[Lives4Disney]

OMG...Good one I am cracking up as I am reading this!!!!

I am glad I could make you laugh!!!!

OMG...I heard this wacky thing this morning.....I actually heard it was headed to earth last week, but this morning that it's headed to North America!!! One more crazy thing to worry about.

Hey GV GF fans.....beware the backside of Sago. There are convention center views and it's not so pretty back there. I think you're safe with anything else in the GV category with the exception of a couple rooms in Boca and Big Pine that have views of the pool building rooftop.

Happy planning,

Lives4disney

 

[praline3001]

OHHHHHHHHHH for those with little princesses... I found a seamstress that makes the MOST ADORABLE Disney outfits on ebay... am I allowed to link to ebay stores on here?

If the link gets pulled PM me and I will send you the link to her ebay store....

These outfits are BEYOND adorable!!!!
http://stores.ebay.com/MOM2RTK-Designs_W0QQ_trksidZp284.m183QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDR%26its%3DS%252BI%252BSS%26itu%3DISS%252BUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D4
For all of her outfits she can make matching bucket hats and bows too!!!!!
Here are 2 dresses I bought from her and I am still debating 1 more

Oh and to turn this into a GF post... she makes the most adorable Alice costume for the tea party

 

[Cinderumbrella]

CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad I have a boy or else I would be broke buying all this stuff!!

 

[HockeyMomR]

CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad I have a boy or else I would be broke buying all this stuff!!

I feel the same way!!!! These dresses are just adorable, but no daughters here. I can't wait to see the dresses Praline special ordered for her DD's birthday! Just too cute. I need a niece to buy one for!!!! I will talk to my brother about that

 

[praline3001]

Thanks everyone about the dress comments. I get a big kick out of dressing my DD up and she likes it too.

My brother came into town last night and we were talking about our recent Disney trip. He reminded me of the funniest thing to happen to us at the GF and I wanted to share
This if GF related and the info part is if you have a guest visiting your resort they CAN use your parking pass and you can let the front desk know this without any issues...

My brother's family lives near Disney and has AP's with free parking so we only had him use our parking pass once when we were eating dinner at 1900 park fare. As most of you know, he has 2 little ones and we figured the resort parking would be closer for him to drag all of the baby gear with him. I let the front desk know ahead of time and they didn't have problems with him using our parking pass as we didn't have a car there. i forgot to tell my brother this

###side note...my brother and I love playing gags on each other and owing eachother money and never paying it back... nothing big but we can drag out owing the other $5 for a good 2 years ###

This was the conversation between the gate cm and my brother when he pulled up to the gate:
CM: your name sir?
Brother: tries to pretend he is my DH as he doesn't know he is allowed to use the pass... gives him my DH's full name.
CM: How do you spell that?
Brother: uhhhhh ...do you have a piece of paper so I can write it down?
(ask Kelly, my married name is a bit tricky to spell.... )
CM: What room are you staying in sir?
Brother: The one with the view of the lagoon?
CM: Sir, are you really staying at this resort?
Brother: oh yes, I just get easily confused.....
CM: Would you like to charge the valet parking to the room?
Brother: <big grin on his face> ABSOULETLY

When we finally met up for dinner he told us about how he charged the valet parking to OUR ROOM we teased him a while and told him we were going to call the front desk and tell them we thought our parking pass had been stolen that way he would get towed

Well after messing with him about this for a while, he was feeling a tad bit guilty and gaveme $20 to cover the parking. Whenever he owes me money he NEVER pays me back not that he is a deadbeat by any means... for our family its just more fun to tease about owing the other money

Fast forward to when he is leaving. The Gate CM tells him the machine was broken and that he couldn't charge the parking to the room... he would have to pay cash for it
So my brother who tried to cheat his way out of paying for parking at the GF ended up having to pay TWICE!!!! He called me on his cell phone DEMANDNIG his 20 back I told him not to hold his breath!!!
When I saw him yesterday at my parents' ranch he was bugging me about his 20 that I OWE HIM.... I told him I was going to have it framed