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

[magical4us4]

Awsome pictures!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Oops...only one more lounge pic. I thought I took more. I always forget something. This time I made sure I got room pics at least. The room was pretty IMO. The gold brought it all together. The sofa bed was rose and gold, chair blue and gold, rug green and gold and the dust ruffles were green, and blue, that went with the blue and gold comforters (which are very stiff and fire retardent btw....I didn't like that polyesterishness about them)...the drapes had neat scroll designs that if you looked closely you could see characters in them. It was very nice. Like the PP we also had issues getting the TV to CHANGE channels or volume. I changed the batteries in the remote and it still didn't work well at all. Thought it was just our issue, but apparently not.

Here are a few misc pics......

Lounge TV....

Foyer area at the bend in the hallway where the Roy Disney and Walt Disney suites are located.....

Cute kid out in front of the GF that was about the ONLY one not allowed to climb and crawl all over the antique vehicles.....I was really surprised at how many parents let their kids use these as jungle gyms.

WHERE DDs want to BE MARRIED.....

Disappointment when I said I don't think so......

More gingerbread house detail photos......

 

[TammiMcMan]

Channing, did you notice if they still have a dvd player or vcr in the cabinets under the lounge tv's?

 

[Lives4Disney]

Channing, did you notice if they still have a dvd player or vcr in the cabinets under the lounge tv's?

Tammi I just asked DH because he was over there with DD7 a lot and he said he didn't notice DVD players there at all. We had one in our room though. I don't know if that is just a concierge room thing or not but it was nice to have since the limited Disney channels get old fast.

The kids area had continuous oldie Disney cartoons or you could just switch it to a diff channel.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Am I the only one that didn't know about the cute picture sets in the back of Exposition Hall????

We were waiting for dinner at Tony's and DD and I walked back there to see what was going on. Some little princesses were getting their pics "professionally" taken by Photopass CMs (I was told it costs over $200 for these pics) and we took our own. It's kind of cute back there. We just never looked around before. I don't think we've eaten at Tony's in about 5 years either. It was something different.

Looking at the pics makes me feel better about the trip, but it was a strange one. The GF was really great, though.

Lives4Disney

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Am I the only one that didn't know about the cute picture sets in the back of Exposition Hall????

I have known about them for a while.

 

[Lives4Disney]

I have known about them for a while.

How come I can almost hear you saying Nana-nana Boo boo?!

JUST KIDDING.

OK, so I was the only one. Duh to me.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

How come I can almost hear you saying Nana-nana Boo boo?!

JUST KIDDING.

OK, so I was the only one. Duh to me.

Well now you know of a brand new picture spot the next time you are at WDW, so you can take even more.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Channing I love all the pics!! I will go back later and add stuff into the first couple of pages. The girls look so cute in the pics of the GRAND 1.

 

[SLDL]

These are great pictures! Thanks for sharing! It looks like your DDs are like my kids, they love to ham it up for the camera.

I have a question...I'm sure you did some shopping while you were there--what are the deals going on right now (i.e. spend $50 get watch for $10 or something like that)? Thanks!

 

[Tink rules]

Tell DD that she gets 10 people at her "Wedding" and that includes immediate family....

& Don't Please don't show her the Wedding special they have on the Travel Channel!!! Or is that Food TV... whatever...

 

[ClareH37]

Channing, thank you so much for posting your pictures. This is my first stay at the RPC (arriving this Sunday) and seeing your pictures has given me a fantastic idea of what I can expect.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Channing thank you for posting the great pictures. Sorry to hear your trip had some ups and downs. At least the GF did not let you down!

I do have to say the Grand looks beautiful for the Holidays in your pics. We have never visited the World during Christmas time, it looks like just going to see the decorations would be fun!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

How come I can almost hear you saying Nana-nana Boo boo?!

JUST KIDDING.

OK, so I was the only one. Duh to me.

I didn't know about them either - and we have eaten at Tony's twice!

 

[princessesrule4]

Thanks for all the great photos Channing! They've gotten me really excited for our trip in 2 weeks! Your DD's are too cute and looked like they were having a great time! I love your DD's bows. Mine used to wear one everyday until she hit about 7 then it was just special occasions and Sundays and now she won't have anything to do with them! Now its all about headbands and ponytails!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Good morning!

Looking at my pics last night cheered me up about my trip. The stay at the GF was terrific. It was magical how literally overnight the Christmas decorations appeared. I wish I would have thought to take more Xmas decoration pictures. You know how it goes....kind of always on the run. It always happens that I get home and look at my pics and think WHAT WAS I THINKING....I forgot to photo so much!!!!!!

SLDL, I didn't buy any of their special deals. I only saw frames and also fleece throws. That's it. I am not into their frames and their throws seemed thin and cheap to me so I skipped it. They did have the pirates litho and watches available for $5 even w/out a purchase....these are the same ones that they were selling for $10 or $15 over the summer w/40 purchase. They didn't have a whole lot of special Xmas party exclusive merchandise either. That was kind of disappointing. Not even a special beanie.

Something cute they did have.....a SANTA OUTFIT FOR PAL MICKEY. Super cute! WE bought it right away and Mickey went dressed for the occasion.

ClareH you will love the Grand. It is just beautiful. The gingerbread house smells sooooo yummy. They are pumping gingerbread scent up throught the smoking chimney and it fills the lobby and upward.

I forgot about that trac phone card question from earlier, but I have no clue. Sorry! We couldn't even find a store in MK or GF that was selling The Santa Claus 3.

I saw on another thread that there is a stomach bug going around WDW now....THERE IS! I saw throw up a few times (gross) and also smelled that cleaning stuff almost everywhere we went like there had just been a vomit mess. It was disgusting after a while. I brought handiwipes and we used them A LOT. Also did the Clorox room wipe thing. I had the bug Wed night but was OK fine Thursday. DD11 felt naseaus THurs. DD7 felt icky pretty much the whole trip. Just watch where you step. Nasty.

HockeyMom, tHe decorations are fun, the people visiting are not. They kill the holiday spirit. Just pigging up the parks, vomiting wherever they want and not telling anybody, slobbing and littering and cutting, pushing shoving, RUDE...it was the most obnoxious group of people I have seen in a long time and we've seen a lot in our Disney trips......I thought summer crowds were tough, but they are kind and gentle compared to the holiday crew. We have decided NOT to go to WDW for any holidays again for a few years if ever.

Princesses....oh ya, I have a whole collection of Disney bows for DDs to wear....and they are ONLY worn at WDW. What's the deal? It is such a shame little girls have to grow up so quickly and cute hair bows aren't cool. Even DD11 will wear a bow over her pony tail at WDW. SHe wouldn't be caught in one at home. Kinda sad. Hey, there was NO CREAM the whole time I was there. One day they had the trifle, though a nd it was delicious. The scones aren't the same w/out the cream. That's the only thing I noticed missing, though, as for the usual stuff. We weren't around much at all for the appetizers. No gray meat sighting.

Robyn, you should go back there and check it out. It's cute. DD got a kick out of being in the cartoon pictures. Steamboat Willie is her favorite anyway. It's cute & there's a theater too....nothing playing while we were there, but I wonder if they have something going on usually.

Happy day,

Channing

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Channing, thank you for the wonderful pictures. It is a shame about the rude people. My DH and I both said that this summer the people were the worst that we have ever seen. I wanted to know how your son likes the GF? I have 2 teenage DS's and we want to stay at the GF, but want to make sure they will like it as much as I know I will. Thanks!

 

[Tink rules]

Hey Channing...

I gotta tell you... about the rude people...

I moved upstate a few years ago - mostly because I couldn't afford a house in Jersey... Too much for too little I thought. I also desired a different lifestyle...

Boy was I right...

I'm a Jersey girl...born and bred... but now when I go back to visit and work, I notice right away how people have become and it's not like it was when I was growing up. It's sad. I think alot of the major metropolitan areas are getting like that. I hear change is good, but sometimes a lot of people lose sight of the important things. Family and community.

Now I live in a nice small town. Everyone looks out for their neighbors and when you pass someone on the street they say hello. When they say Have a nice day... THEY MEAN IT...

I guess Disney has become a microchasm of what the country has become. That's too bad because we'd all be better off with even just a little compassion.

 

[MickeyMaz]

Am I the only one that didn't know about the cute picture sets in the back of Exposition Hall????

Lives4Disney

First off, great pictures and commentary. I look forward to more. You are filling in a lot of the things we missed when we were down.

As to Exposition Hall, we had a Storytelling Experience last December thru AAA that took place in that room. Not sure if it is still there, but Alladin sat on the stage and read a story to about 4 families. It was cool how at the parts in the book where the text might read: "Alladin did this or Alladin told Jafar that..." He would say I did this and I told Jafar that. We also took advantage of the sets that they had there. All were nice shots but the 101 Dalmations was the best.

Thanks again for your time putting out all of these posts.

 

[Lives4Disney]

Channing, thank you for the wonderful pictures. It is a shame about the rude people. My DH and I both said that this summer the people were the worst that we have ever seen. I wanted to know how your son likes the GF? I have 2 teenage DS's and we want to stay at the GF, but want to make sure they will like it as much as I know I will. Thanks!

Well.....not to be a bummer but DS was a major downer on our trip. He is 17 and a good nice polite kid but he is sick of WDW and he let us know. I wish we could have left him at home...we all would have been much much happier. Honestly the arcade at GF leaves a lot to be desired & there is not much to do there for teens - or maybe we're missing something . He used to monorail over to the CR's arcade, but this time he was disappointed because when they moved the arcade up to the 4th floor he said they took out the "good" games. Not sure what he considers "good", but he is a gamer so he would know. But, I do have to say I don't think it would matter where we stayed. (Although his absolute favorite is the CR so that MIGHT have made him happier but I doubt it) It's really the WDW experience he's sick of. (except for the fact that he's a grump no matter where we vacation .....he wants to just be home with his friends) He did go to Disney Quest and wound up buying an AP for that but after 3 days there and at DTD he said "It's lost its luster". He saw some movies, went to the Virgin Megastore, hung out at DQ but I think he's done. I know I am.....no more family trips with DS17 for a long time. I used to miss him if he didn't come with, but forget that. He just brought us down and it was a waste of money.


MickeyMaz, that is cute! I wondered if they used that theater. It looked too nice to sit empty.

Tink - That is so true. The world is changing and WDW is reflecting that. I just remember how it USED to be and how the guests used to be and it's a sad contrast.


Lives4Disney