We just returned from a stay at the Grand Floridian. We had one of the few 'not so great' garden views at the resort. We were in Sago Cay. We were overlooking the loading area for the Convention Center. If you looked to the right you could see the edge of the bay. We did get to see/hear the monorail going by, which was neat. I requested a marina view, but we obviously didn't get it. I only reserved a Garden View, so I got what I paid for. I was hoping for something a little nicer, but oh well. We had a nice short walk to the arcade/quick service food, but a pretty good hike to everything else. Sago Cay bldg is never locked at 11pm, but all the others are, which I found odd. When I asked about it, they had no answer.
The room itself was very nice, and comfortable. We had 2 queen beds and the sofabed. The beds are super comfy! The balcony was nice. I also liked how the sink area is separate from the toilet/tub area. There was a flat screen tv, and an ihome ipod/am/fm radio in the room which was used quite often by my son. We had great mousekeeping service. We tipped her daily. The room was always fresh and clean feeling. We also enjoyed the turn down service each evening.
Every single Cast Member that we encountered was wonderful. Very friendly & helpful. Even the guy who steam cleans the 24 hour pool area at 2am was great! We played ping pong a couple nights at 2am. If you cant sleep, its a great way to spend an hour or so.
I think they need to have more laundry facilities, however. Each bldg has 2 washers and 2 dryers. People leave their stuff in the washers/dryers for hours so it makes it impossible for others to get laundry done. I attempted to do laundry on 3 different occasions, finally at 2am I was able to get it done. I know there is nothing the resort can do about these people leaving their items in the machines for so long, but maybe if there were a couple more machines it would make things easier for people.
The arcade room was also pretty sparse. Just a handful of games for the kids. Other resorts we've stayed at had many more. Maybe its a space issue, or maybe they dont want many kids hanging out in there.
We loved the lobby area. The gingerbread house was adorable and there was a constant line of people waiting to buy things. I bought a couple 'shingles' and brought them home for our neighbors. They have live music playing in the lobby, and you can sit and relax. They had a beautiful xmas tree, and a photopass photographer stationed there each evening, from 4:30 until about 8:30.
We got a photo shoot done at the GF. The pictures turned out wonderful. We had Evelyn as our photographer and she did a great job.
We ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe our first night and really enjoyed our meal. The food was quite good. They dont let you substitute anything, however, so we wasted a lot of food.
We had massages at the GF Spa, which we all LOVED!!!! I wish we could have done it more than once. It was expensive, but worth the money. We felt so pampered. If you go to the spa, ask for Josh
I loved the pool areas, and all the beach areas. The views are incredible! You can see the castle, monorail, water parade, all the boats, illuminations .. The wedding chapel area is gorgeous.
It was nice having the monorail, and we used it often. There was usually a short wait, but nothing horrible. The only long wait was Saturday night as we were leaving Magic Kingdom. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get on a monorail. There were lots of crying babies, it was not a fun wait. We also used the boat a couple times. Its a much slower ride than the monorail, but lots of fun.
It was a great stay. I dont know if we'd stay there again, but we did enjoy it. We have stayed at the Yacht and Beach Club resorts a few times prior and it's more our 'style'. We love being able to walk places, and the GF is secluded in that way. There are so many options for food/entertainment at the Y&BC. And the pool.. well, nothing can compare to that.
Thanks to all of you who shared experiences and gave advice. It made our stay much more magical.
I'll let you know what I find out! Guess DD won't be getting the pillows for Christmas but maybe a nice Valentine's gift!
I agree with Channing, the CM's in RPC are a huge part of what makes that experience so fantastic but all the rooms are beautiful and every CM I have met is incredibly nice.. please join the fun and post away! I was lucky enough to reserve RPC next year for 3 nights at a special discount rate they were offering if you booked while there. to be honest, my husband and I have decided that the Grand has to be a part of every trip now simply because of the service, the atmosphere, and (corny but true) the magic! it doesn't matter what type of room as long as we're there 
I would love to hear how you do with the online check in...please let us know...
I hope you are able to use that for your trip. I missed out on the 4/3 deal, even though we are going in January, due to needing to be back home too soon to make it work, with the start date of January 4. Oh, well!
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