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

[Lives4Disney]

Hi,Jeanine3kids, Yes the party was mostly girls. My daughters have done it a couple times and that has been the case each time. I guess it depends on your little guy & how old he is. The boys that we saw looked to be around 5 yrs old. Not much older than that. Same with the Adventures in Cooking class. There is a pirate adventure for kids, too, but my girls have never wanted to do that - it's supposed to be fun though!

Happy planning!!

Lives4Disney

 

[tinklvr64]

Brook request a marina view room if you dont want to look at the pool

We are staying SL in Nov and want a pool view again. Should I take the time to request? Do you think they grant requests??

 

[Lives4Disney]

We are staying SL in Nov and want a pool view again. Should I take the time to request? Do you think they grant requests??

Concierge has it's own set of room assigners. I DO think THEY take the time to grant requests. It's been our experience every time at the GF.....NOT at the Poly or BWI though.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I just want to start off my saying I am really enjoying your GF thread. I have never stayed there and I am almost wishing that I have. I am a DVC member so we usually just stay at DVC resorts but that might have to change. My question is about the Wonderland Tea party. Is this event mostly girls because I have a daughter and a son and I think he might enjoy this to but if we show up and there are all girls there and no boys he won't go in. So I just wanted your opinion.


Thanks
Jeanine

My ds (7) has done the Tea Party 3 times so far. He was 5, 6 and 7 at the time. He loves to go because Mad Hatter is his favorite character. One time was the only boy, the other two times there were at least 3 boys there (usually with their sisters) and they ranged in age from about 5 to about 8. I asked ds if he still wanted to do this on our July trip, and he definitely wanted to go back. I think you ds will have a great time. The emphasis is on fun, games and being silly!

 

[Lives4Disney]

My ds (7) has done the Tea Party 3 times so far. He was 5, 6 and 7 at the time. He loves to go because Mad Hatter is his favorite character. One time was the only boy, the other two times there were at least 3 boys there (usually with their sisters) and they ranged in age from about 5 to about 8. I asked ds if he still wanted to do this on our July trip, and he definitely wanted to go back. I think you ds will have a great time. The emphasis is on fun, games and being silly!

Robyn, a couple times when we did it there was no Mad Hatter. They substituted Mary P instead.

That is cute your DS likes it! It sure lookes like fun to me.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

We are staying SL in Nov and want a pool view again. Should I take the time to request? Do you think they grant requests??

I have been able to give my room reuqests to the IPO and at any of the conicerges.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Robyn, a couple times when we did it there was no Mad Hatter. They substituted Mary P instead.

That is cute your DS likes it! It sure lookes like fun to me.

OMG - if ds went and Mad Hatter wasn't there that would be it for him! He feels like it's more about fun and games than a "tea party". Without Mad Hatter he wouldn't want to go. Ds is a trip - while all the kids love WDW ds is the most "Disney indoctrinated". He wasn't just 3 on his first trip, and believe me he remembers everything about that trip! Of course he has champagne taste - GF is always his favorite resort, while the girls go back and forth between GF, YC and the Poly.

When we were there in January he was reminiscing about the GF baby pool. I think he's still somewhat territorial about it, and will always have a soft spot for the GF quiet and baby pools!

 

[Lives4Disney]

OMG - if ds went and Mad Hatter wasn't there that would be it for him! He feels like it's more about fun and games than a "tea party". Without Mad Hatter he wouldn't want to go. Ds is a trip - while all the kids love WDW ds is the most "Disney indoctrinated". He wasn't just 3 on his first trip, and believe me he remembers everything about that trip! Of course he has champagne taste - GF is always his favorite resort, while the girls go back and forth between GF, YC and the Poly.

When we were there in January he was reminiscing about the GF baby pool. I think he's still somewhat territorial about it, and will always have a soft spot for the GF quiet and baby pools!

That is so cute. I hope he stays a Disney fan!! My DS fell off the wagon a couple years ago. Too much been there done that for him. DH decided to join us mid trip for our spring break vacation but DS is staying w/friends. He has no desire to go back to WDW for a long time.

Kelly, ya I have REQUESTED certain floors etc at Poly and BWI but you'd think they never knew. I requested 3rd at the Poly every time and got 1st and 2nd instead....took 1st a few times but the last stay I said NO WAY to 2nd so wound up on 3rd, but boy they acted like I was sooo putting them out. At BWI I asked to be on teh 4th floor w/the lounge....was that a pain in the a** stay because of course they gave us the 3rd dfloor directly UNDER the lounge so we had a long traipse B/F and pain in teh butt hike up the ugly cement stairs and that was really bad for Lucy as she hates stairs due to her sight. GF has been the only resort I've been lucky at and it seems they do care about requests.....knock on wood!!

 

[Jeanine3kids]

Hi,Jeanine3kids, Yes the party was mostly girls. My daughters have done it a couple times and that has been the case each time. I guess it depends on your little guy & how old he is. The boys that we saw looked to be around 5 yrs old. Not much older than that. Same with the Adventures in Cooking class. There is a pirate adventure for kids, too, but my girls have never wanted to do that - it's supposed to be fun though!

Happy planning!!

Lives4Disney

Thank you for your advice. I decided to go with adventures in cooking because I think they both will love that. I also booked the pirates cruise for my son and the disney my girl tea for my daughter. Last time we were down we went to the BBB and I gave her a choice this time and she picked the tea party. I think she will like the tea since she is a big fan of the american girl doll and this doll seems similiar. I had no idea that the GF was so geared towards kids I always thought it was mostly a adult snobbish hotel but I can see now that I was really wrong. I am so glad I found this thread I am really enjoying it. How many times a year do you go to disney? Also how crowded is Easter week? Is it worse than the summer. I booked late August this time. I was going back and forth between August and late June and I was told August was better crowd wise I will soon find out I guess.

Jeanine

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Remember that the Mad Hatter is at the 1900 PF breakfast if he needs his "fix"

My DS is WDWaholic too! He was 2years and 4 months old for his first trip and the tiny minute details he can recite back to us about the trip (in fall 2005) are frightening to me!!! He also "studies" the park maps so much that he can almost tell us the layout of the parks better than I can!

He would love to stay at the CR some day since he is such a monorail fan, but he is a HUGE fan of the GF too!!

Have fun!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Cinderumbrella - that is a good point about 1900.

My son LOVES (well LOVED, haha, before he turned into a grumpy teen) the CR. It is still his favorite...he was 18 months our first trip and we would go for 2-3 wks once or twice a year every year until lately now we make shorter trips more often - THANKS SWA.

Once we bought APs and discovered the magic of the GF we were so hooked and we have gone up to 5 X in one year. This year probably only twice due to my cranky DS17. I had summer booked but I cancelled it. Who knows, though.....I managed to pull a July 1-10 trip together a week before we left last summer. When I need my fix, I NEED MY FIX!!

Jeanine3kids - I didn't want to sway you, but both my girls prefer the cooking to the Alice tea party. If given a choice of one, they choose cooking each time. The princess tea is precious. I loved it. My oldest DD was 8 when we did it, my little DD was 4. DD8 and I enjoyed it the most. DD4 got squirrely sitting for so long listening to storytelling and songs.

I am nervous about this Easter stay....we always have spring break this March week and it has been ugly crowded before....we didn't go last year because the yr prior it was awful. I have been over July 4th a few times and I think it's comparable to that.

Oh, the GF is so not snobby. It is GREAT. I have met the most wonderful Disney ish CMs that work there. THey make our trips magic every time.

Enjoy!

Lives4Disney

 

[Tonyspad]

We stayed in SL in December of 2006 and are considering a visit for 2009. I had heard that there was a renovation planned that included moving the lounge. Any info or photos would be helpful.
Thanks

 

[Lives4Disney]

We stayed in SL in December of 2006 and are considering a visit for 2009. I had heard that there was a renovation planned that included moving the lounge. Any info or photos would be helpful.
Thanks

Hi, it's done. There are updated pics at the front of this thread. The lounge was just enlarged, not really moved.

Happy planning,

Lives4Disney

 

[Golfing Goofy]

I am reading this thread and want to thank you all for the great advice & pictures. It really helps someone like me who had never been to WDW!!

Can I ask you a question? When you say that it is crowded over the spring break, do you mean the RPC or the parks in general?

We are going to have to move our Nov/Dec trip to another date and we are thinking maybe Spring Break 2009. We were going to stay at the BWI, but the kids want to be as closer to the MK. I can't believe they actually have opinions...this is from two boys who could care less what they eat for dinner. We are currently deadlocked between GF and CR. I am just wondering if GF is just crazy overcrowded on the conceirge level. Some of the posts in the CR thread sound like the Club level at the the CR is pretty quiet. What are your opinions about that?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Lives4Disney]

I am reading this thread and want to thank you all for the great advice & pictures. It really helps someone like me who had never been to WDW!!



Can I ask you a question? When you say that it is crowded over the spring break, do you mean the RPC or the parks in general?

We are going to have to move our Nov/Dec trip to another date and we are thinking maybe Spring Break 2009. We were going to stay at the BWI, but the kids want to be as closer to the MK. I can't believe they actually have opinions...this is from two boys who could care less what they eat for dinner. We are currently deadlocked between GF and CR. I am just wondering if GF is just crazy overcrowded on the conceirge level. Some of the posts in the CR thread sound like the Club level at the the CR is pretty quiet. What are your opinions about that?

Thanks so much for your help!

We have been to the GF in RPC during Xmas, Thanksgiving and July 4 and spring breaks several times and really never felt like the lounge was overcrowded or the service was lacking at all. It has been our peaceful spot away from the craziness of the parks. We break in the middle of the day, return to the lounge the girls watch tv and read or play and DH is on his laptop and I read and sometimes we are the only ones there. The pools are never overcrowded like other resort pools are. The lobby has been great even during the afternoon when the music is played. The evenings get nuts down there, but that's to be expected because everybody wants to come check out the GF.

YOu will LOVE IT. Although if you have boys, they might really enjoy the CR.

Lives4Disney

 

[mr.mike]

We stayed in RPC the Christmas before this past one. While I really enjoyed it all 3 of my kids didn't want to do it at Christmas again.

Channing

Thanks Channing.

I wonder if we'll experience the same types of people but either way I'm just so excited!

Once we decided to go for Christmas I knew we wanted to stay concierge and then thinking of the crowds and how crazy it would be I figured the RPC would be a great place to get away from it all, listen to some music and enjoy the decorations.


Sorry to hear about how your kids felt. Mine are 10 and younger and were pretty excited when i asked 'how would you feel if we were there for Christmas?' They just wanted to know if they would have presents in Disney and at home!

My wife and I are excited that it will be just the six of us and no uncles and aunts, cousins, parents, in laws, and more. That might sound harsh but sometimes you want to spend a holiday by yourselves. We haven't even told anyone cause we don't want to have any arguments yet.
The shoe and the wrapping and the bike riding shocks me a bit but what can you do?
I was already thinking I'd send Christmas gifts down for them and the tree is a great idea!

Do you book a lot of dining? I figure its better to have something reserved because i assume nothing will be available once i'm there.

I'm also wondering if we should hit the MK on Christmas morning, or go somewhere for breakfast or relax at the GF. Any thoughts?
Thanks
mike

 

[Golfing Goofy]

Thanks!

Well, I don't know how I will make the decision ....My boys are split.

The older one (11 now) wants the GF - "because it looks like Florida" hahahaha. The polar opposite of where we live.

The younger one (9) wants CR because it looks like something he would build with his legos. Plus, he thinks the monorail going through it is pretty cool.

My DH want the one closest to the golf courses (what a surprise) and the one that will have food/snacks available when he gets done with golfing...so then he can go back and golf some more (I am exaggerating a little bit.)

I just want an escape. Somewhere nice, comfortable and relaxing.

 

[mr.mike]

I booked late August this time. I was going back and forth between August and late June and I was told August was better crowd wise I will soon find out I guess.

Jeanine

We've been going the end of August for a few years and I like it. The heat doesn't bother me and the crowds do seem less. And even though the parks close a little bit earlier that means the MK fireworks are usaully at 9 instead of ten and with young kids that works well for us.

Mike

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We did the last week of August last year and it was great! The crowds were really low. I am from Chicago so we have heat and humidity here too so I wasn't too bothered by it. It is a great time to go! Check out the Pirate and Princess Party if they offer it at that time again- it was a lot of fun!

 

[kblandino]

After a lot of research on finding the perfect bag for my trip to WDW, I decided on the Baggillini Messenger bag I found it for $19.30! It was with a promo code on Bagsbuy.com. They have free shipping, no sales tax, and there was a $10.00 off code. Plus you get a discount for registering with them.