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

[heatherlynn444]

We are "trying" the GF for the first time as a couple in May. We usually stay at the BC. I have stayed at the GF and Poly as a kid and Poly really appealed to me as a child more than the GF, my parents like the GF best. I think we will probably "try" Poly at some point too, like Heather said my Hubby wants to try Poly as well. I think they all have there own appeal and it depends on what you want - the decor of the BC really appeals to me, and I love that area, but we are branching out this time- hahaha. Have a great trip.

Thanks everyone for your restaurant advice: We love Narcoossees as well, we eat there quite a bit. And I am looking forward to breakfast at Kona and dinner at O'Hana. I was just trying to get a handle on the reccomendations for the GF pros on what else we should consider!! Thanks

have you eaten at GF cafe? you should give it a try

 

[vbarry]

Hi Everyone- Well- I switched back to the Sugar Loaf today for our holiday trip...and I am not switching again!

Just wondering about the restaurants at the GF. I have eaten at 1900 Park Fare but none of the other restaurants. We want to stay close by the resort for our ADR's to save time etc.

Is GF Cafe good for lunch or dinner or both? I am really thinking about trying Narcoossee's while we are there. Is this a kid friendly restaurant? I was thinking of eating there on Christmas evening...what do you guys think??

Anyway- thanks again for all of your help. I love this thread and all the information I have found. I cannot wait to spend Christmas at the Grand!

 

[heatherlynn444]

we LOVE GF cafe for breakfast, lunch, AND Dinner. Narcoossees is our fav. I have only seen very few children there, as it can be a very long ad slow meal. we are always there about two hours. good luck!

 

[JANIE G.]

Kytiam,

I know what postcard you are referring to and I love it too. As a matter of fact, I even have it sitting on a little easel on my bedroom dresser. So sorry your mother lost hers. I will check tonight through my Disney materials and see if I have another one and I'll post back tomorrow if I find it. If I do find another one, I'd be happy to send it to you.

Jane

 

[allisonswonderland]

I will be there in May and I can check to see if the post card is the same, I know that is a ways away....but would be happy to do that for your mom.

Heather- I have actually eaten at the GF Cafe, however it was in '96 or so. Actually Josh and I ate there one night during our honeymoon too, now that you mention it. We had a nice quiet evening planned and had a bit of a fiasco - as Disney Event Group Lost My flowers from my Mad Hatter Tea Party and we had driven these HUGE silk arrangements all the way down from IL, my inlaws were going to pick them up and take them back and DEG never put an order to return them and that night I found out after 3 days of thinking THIS IS DISNEY they will turn up - they told me they could not find them. I was crushed because they had been a gift from my aunt and were used at my shower at home too... so out dinner was a bit somber.

 

[heatherlynn444]

I will be there in May and I can check to see if the post card is the same, I know that is a ways away....but would be happy to do that for your mom.

Heather- I have actually eaten at the GF Cafe, however it was in '96 or so. Actually Josh and I ate there one night during our honeymoon too, now that you mention it. We had a nice quiet evening planned and had a bit of a fiasco - as Disney Event Group Lost My flowers from my Mad Hatter Tea Party and we had driven these HUGE silk arrangements all the way down from IL, my inlaws were going to pick them up and take them back and DEG never put an order to return them and that night I found out after 3 days of thinking THIS IS DISNEY they will turn up - they told me they could not find them. I was crushed because they had been a gift from my aunt and were used at my shower at home too... so out dinner was a bit somber.

that is so sad! ug. i would be devestated. you def. need to go to GF cafe again!

 

[BCV23]

Oh, what a shame!!

We like GF Cafe best for lunch although it's fine for dinner as well. It's just that there are three restaurants at the GF with more adventurous food for dinner....Citricos, Narcoossee's and of course, V&A.

Citricos and Narcoossee's are both kid friendly and we always see kids at both. Citricos sometimes has fewer but I think it's because not as many people know about it. We always took our kids to Narcoossee's when they were little. Citricos was a different restaurant way back then. If an hour and a half-2 hours is too long for them, you can always skip appetizers or dessert. We also found that WDW servers are great about serving families with small children in quick fashion.

I always wonder why there's not more mention of V&A on this thread. It's a fantastic dining experience. The cuisine is excellent of course and the service matches it. The rooms are lovely, there's a harpist playing, there's a little surprise at the end of dinner for every lady. It's just such a lovely experience for a couple. Even the ladies room is special!

 

[heatherlynn444]

Oh, what a shame!!

We like GF Cafe best for lunch although it's fine for dinner as well. It's just that there are three restaurants at the GF with more adventurous food for dinner....Citricos, Narcoossee's and of course, V&A.

Citricos and Narcoossee's are both kid friendly and we always see kids at both. Citricos sometimes has fewer but I think it's because not as many people know about it. We always took our kids to Narcoossee's when they were little. Citricos was a different restaurant way back then. If an hour and a half-2 hours is too long for them, you can always skip appetizers or dessert. We also found that WDW servers are great about serving families with small children in quick fashion.

I always wonder why there's not more mention of V&A on this thread. It's a fantastic dining experience. The cuisine is excellent of course and the service matches it. The rooms are lovely, there's a harpist playing, there's a little surprise at the end of dinner for every lady. It's just such a lovely experience for a couple. Even the ladies room is special!

there are three reasons i never mention V & A
1.)never been
2.)i have seen menus, am a picky eater and would HATE it, although DH would love it
3.)this lovely little thing called $$$$, and V&A requires a lot of it, which is soemthing i dont have lol.

 

[BCV23]

there are three reasons i never mention V & A
1.)never been
2.)i have seen menus, am a picky eater and would HATE it, although DH would love it
3.)this lovely little thing called $$$$, and V&A requires a lot of it, which is soemthing i dont have lol.

LOL, well good reasons for you not to mention it then. But I didn't mean anyone in particular. It's just there's always more mention of the Gasparilla's and 1900 than three great restaurants. Staying at the GF is hardly inexpensive so I always am surprised to read about RPC and Gaspies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We all decide where to spend our money.

If you think your husband would enjoy it, you should try it sometime, Heather. I consider myself rather picky at least compared to the rest of my family and I love it. For instance, I don't do scallops even though I will make them for DH. But I had one at the Chef's Table that was just so good. Tried scallops at Narcoossee's and I'm back to square one for those. EVerything at V&A is so good you might enjoy things you wouldn't guess.

 

[kytiam]

Kytiam,

I know what postcard you are referring to and I love it too. As a matter of fact, I even have it sitting on a little easel on my bedroom dresser. So sorry your mother lost hers. I will check tonight through my Disney materials and see if I have another one and I'll post back tomorrow if I find it. If I do find another one, I'd be happy to send it to you.

Jane

I will be there in May and I can check to see if the post card is the same, I know that is a ways away....but would be happy to do that for your mom.

Thanks, ladies!!!! If either of you is able to help with this, you would make my mom SOOOOOOO happy!

 

[Tinkaroo]

We love V&A!

But we also love Narcoossee's and Citricos for dinner. GF Cafe is one of our favorite lunch spots and it's a rare trip indeed that we miss it. California Grill at the CG is a never miss dinner for us as is breakfast at Kona Cafe. It's fun to monorail to either or walk or take the launch to Kona. Kona is also excellent for lunch and dinner.

So many excellent dining choices in the monorail resorts. I hope the new one at the CR will be as good.

Oh, and I forgot. Narcoossee's used to be open for lunch and we never missed it. So fun to take the launch to the GF after a morning at the MK. It was also a beautiful and peaceful view. We miss that!!!

I second all of this!

I think Narcoossee's is the best restaurant at the GF (not speaking to V&A, as we haven't tried it yet)! However, we haven't had a bad meal at any of them.

We also love Kona for all 3 meals, and the California Grill is our all-time favorite WDW restaurant (and one of our favorites of any restaurant, any where). The great thing about the MK area is that you can hop between all the monorail resorts with relative ease!

Hi everyone!

Ok, after reading some of the posts in this thread we are now flip-flopping between staying at the Poly or staying at GF. Both are on the monorail and we like the theming of both, however we're not so sure on some other things. After reading dozens of reviews on allears.net and here on the DIS boards, it seems that the service (mousekeeping in particular) is consistantly better at GF. In your experience, does this seem to hold true? In all truthfulness, if I'm going to pay the money for a deluxe, I expect deluxe service. I don't want that to sound like I'm grumpy, but I would be livid if our room was dirty or we got rude service. I simply cannot tolerate rude people to begin with, but more so when I pay for it.

How about seeing Wishes from the beach at GF, is it nice? Everyone raves about seeing Wishes from the Poly, and this would be a nice feature for us since we have a little one. Then again, I've heard that it's a short walk or rail ride between the two resorts. It also seems that we would like the food selection better at GF than at the Poly. Grrrrr......so many things to think about.

Maybe we should just keep our ressie at the Poly for May and go to GF in Dec for the holidays. Or I could just pitch a tent outside of MK and get it over with.

I think your final idea is a good one, if you truly want to try both resorts. I think the Poly is perfect for warmer weather/a "beachier" trip, while absolutely NOTHING on property can compare to the GF at the holidays, IMO.

The GF will always be my absolute fave. My DH loves the GF at the holidays (and even more so, RPC!), but if it's a warmer weather trip, he'd likely give a slight edge to the Poly - he loves the tropical feel of the resort. (His favorite vacation spot which we're fortunate to visit regularly is Kauai, so it gives him a taste of that.)

What really puts the GF over the top for me is the rooms - the rooms at both resorts are spacious, but I find the utilization of the GF rooms is better. I especially love the GF bathrooms (ours at the Poly have been cramped, and being tall (5' 8"), the shower head hits me in the shoulders , no fan, etc.). We also like the fact that you're pretty much guaranteed a patio or balcony at the GF - not the case at the Poly. I also like the chance of getting a king bed at the GF - not possible at the Poly unless you're bookign a suite. The GF also seems a bit more "compact" to me.

I would give an edge to the Poly in the Disney transportation category (although we usually have a rental car - but even then - Poly's lot is easier to get to!), as well as the beach. I think the beach area is very well done at the Poly, and you can't beat the perfectly centered view of Wishes.

I like the restaurants at the GF better, and have also had MUCH better service at the GF. We've had some issues with Mousekeeping (along with incredibly rude neighbors, which the resort didn't do anything about) at the Poly.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I need some help from you helpful GF chatters please!

I booked standard room RPC (with at 40% off code ) for my upcoming 25th Anniversary Trip. I emailed the IPO and got a quick response so that was good However when I made my room reservation thru CRO I noted that we would prefer a king bed if possible. I mentioned this again in my email to IPO who responded that a standard room in the main bldg was only avail with 2 queens. Rooms with a king bed were a separate booking category and I should contact CRO if I was interested in a king bed because with my reservation there was no chance I would receive a king bed. So I called CRO and had a helpful CM who was very kind but told me that IPO didn't know what they were talking about(the separate booking category) and that all they could do was note my request and I stood a chance of getting a king bed if one was available

Does anyone know who to believe and how I should handle this? I mean, it wouldn't ruin or trip or anything to get 2 queens but we'd prefer the king if possible....any tips or definite info on this???

Thanks ahead of time for any input or answers. I read this thread (and the other chattier GF thread daily and enjoy all your info)

I can't say with 100% accuracy, but I'm pretty sure there are king-bed rooms in standard RPC. (It seems like one of the posters back in December had a room like this.) IPO might have been trying to steer you to booking one of the deluxe king/honeymoon rooms to get the guaranteed bed, but I think there are king beds in a few of the regular rooms. While I've had good luck with IPO in the past, I have been told some inaccurate information from them before (as well as by the concierge CM that checked me in in Dec.). Unfortunately, it does still happen sometimes.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I agree Lindsay!
I hated the bathroom at the poly. The sink is in with the shower and no fan it was not as good a set up as the other deluxes.

 

[allisonswonderland]

We eat at Narcoossees quite a bit and agree that it is really good! I love everything about it.

V&A while on some level does appeal to me, does not appeal to the Disney me, hehehe. When I am there I do not want to think of getting dressed up THAT much. ACtually, we ate there before it must have either been V&A or it was not THAT Fancy or maybe it was Citricos (before it was Cirticos) because I remember being about 14 and eating upstairs someplace at the GF...of course that time I would not have appreciated any of it.

I think maybe at some point when we have kids, maybe that would be good to have a date night when we can't do whatever we want any more that could be a "special evening" for us with no kids or something, but right now, we will hold off.

I do see what you are saying though, so many booking concierge and you would think with that they would book V&A as well. Maybe they book concierge and do not eat as much, I guess that would be the smart thing to do.

I am just glad I am so excited about staying now, at first I was a little bummed about not staying at the BC...

 

[heatherlynn444]

LOL, well good reasons for you not to mention it then. But I didn't mean anyone in particular. It's just there's always more mention of the Gasparilla's and 1900 than three great restaurants. Staying at the GF is hardly inexpensive so I always am surprised to read about RPC and Gaspies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We all decide where to spend our money.

If you think your husband would enjoy it, you should try it sometime, Heather. I consider myself rather picky at least compared to the rest of my family and I love it. For instance, I don't do scallops even though I will make them for DH. But I had one at the Chef's Table that was just so good. Tried scallops at Narcoossee's and I'm back to square one for those. EVerything at V&A is so good you might enjoy things you wouldn't guess.

maybe sometime my parents will go with us adn they can eat at V& A with my DH. I am picky like you wont believe. I dont eat seafood, salad, most vegetables, some fruits, etc. etc. I dont like eating things that i dont know whats in it either. i know i know SO weird, but i just can't help it. also the only "meat" i eat is ham, turkey, chicken, beef etc. i dont eat like, deer or duck or stuff like that. and i even live in the south! lol.
now give me a pizza from gaspies and I am happy i know that sounds SO weird but i enjoy simple foods, but lavish hotels, go figure!

 

[poohgirl6]

I can't say with 100% accuracy, but I'm pretty sure there are king-bed rooms in standard RPC. (It seems like one of the posters back in December had a room like this.) IPO might have been trying to steer you to booking one of the deluxe king/honeymoon rooms to get the guaranteed bed, but I think there are king beds in a few of the regular rooms. While I've had good luck with IPO in the past, I have been told some inaccurate information from them before (as well as by the concierge CM that checked me in in Dec.). Unfortunately, it does still happen sometimes.

Thanks Tinkaroo for the reply. Anybody else know if there are king beds available in standard rooms RPC? At Disney there is always conflicting info.

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Are all of the buildings non-smoking?

 

[Tinkaroo]

I always wonder why there's not more mention of V&A on this thread. It's a fantastic dining experience. The cuisine is excellent of course and the service matches it. The rooms are lovely, there's a harpist playing, there's a little surprise at the end of dinner for every lady. It's just such a lovely experience for a couple. Even the ladies room is special!

I do want to try it at some point; it just hasn't made it on the schedule yet. I contemplated doing this in December, but opted instead to do a private dinner on the RPC balcony as a surprise to DH. Although likely not quite as good of food, we couldn't beat getting to watch Holiday Wishes on one side, and the high fireworks from IllumiNations on the other!

If you think your husband would enjoy it, you should try it sometime, Heather. I consider myself rather picky at least compared to the rest of my family and I love it. For instance, I don't do scallops even though I will make them for DH. But I had one at the Chef's Table that was just so good. Tried scallops at Narcoossee's and I'm back to square one for those. EVerything at V&A is so good you might enjoy things you wouldn't guess.

I'm a bit of a picky eater, too, but I find if something is very well-prepared, I am more apt to try it. It is best if I don't know what I'm eating - I find I like things better that way!

I have heard nothing but fabulous things about V&A. I have a friend on another thread that is not a "fancy dining" person, and she thought it was the best meal of her life!

I would love to do the Chef's Table with a group - I think that would be delightful!

I agree Lindsay!
I hated the bathroom at the poly. The sink is in with the shower and no fan it was not as good a set up as the other deluxes.

I'm sure redoing those bathrooms would have beena colossal pain, but I really wish they would have tried. I almost forget how much I disliked it!

My poor DH is 6'4" - he had to practically shower on his knees!

Are all of the buildings non-smoking?

Yes, all Disney resorts are now non-smoking.

 

[BCV23]

Tinkaroo, that's a shame that you had that experience at the Polynesian. I suspect it could happen at any WDW hotel though but that doesn't matter....the memory lingers.

Got to love those monorail restaurants, right?!

Both you and Kelly mention no fans in the bathrooms at the Polynesian. The bathrooms do have fan that are motion activated. I wonder if you both had rooms where they weren't operating properly. I actually like the single bathroom as it seems more sanitary for a hotel room that often has little kids staying if you get my drift. But a split bath is nice for makeup, etc..

allison, V&A has been there since the first year the GF opened. I think you may be remembering Flagler's. It was Italian themed. Was it a large room with tons of windows. It's right above GFCafe and shaped roughly the same. V&A is two small rooms with no windows....very intimate.

Heatherlynn, I love simple things too. Nothing like a good grilled cheese. I also no longer will eat game not that I ever ate much of it. But V&A always has beef on the menu in our experience. Anyway, if you do try it one of these trips, I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

PrincessPackzi, all rooms are nonsmoking at WDW.

 

[spacec47]

Has anyone been to V&A reciently? My DH and I will be eating dinner there in less than 2 weeks and I was wondering what the menu would be like this time of year...

Just over a week until my 1st stay at the GF!

Does anyone need any info or pictures of anything?

 

[SleepingUgly]

Can I ask what the perks are for booking a club-level room, besides the food and itinerary planning? We will be driving to MK this August, and so I think we can buy our own snacks and drinks. Also, I'm anal and like to plan everything myself, so won't need any IPO assistance. The rooms are all the same size, correct, whether you book concierge or not? Are the views in the concierge rooms better than standard rooms? Are MK views guaranteed for concierge bookings?

Thanks!
Linda