*The Official VILLAS AT DISNEY'S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA Owners & Lovers Group* - LOBBY REFURB BEGAN 4/14!

[AstroBlasters]

My DH did say "We are NOT coming back for a LONG LONG time" after my 1st kid as a toddler ran away from him at dusk before fireworks. We were back within a year ...

It was amazing!! I have pictures like that too. Brought a smile to my face. I wonder if it has something to do with MagicKey blockout dates too? WDW and the holidays brings a lot of first timers AND veterans alike, while it seems like the locals may avoid DL (or at least the parks) during the holidays.

And to bring this back around to VGF - we bought most of our points at VGF for that very reason: to stay around the winter holidays. It does cost a LOT of points, and yes it is crowded, but the giant tree, the gingerbread house, the decorations... it's magical.

Here's what we did for transportation when staying at VGF:
MK: monorail to, boat home
EP: Monorail+Monorail or walk to poly/breakfast/monorail.
HS: rope drop? take an uber/lyft; otherwise, bus is fine both ways
AK: no longer see a need to rope drop, especially if you have LLMP or extra hours - so bus is fine both ways. But we've often used uber/lyft as well.

If we split stay with Riviera or BWV/BCV, we only go to EP/HS when staying at a nearby resort, and then only visit MK/AK when at VGF.

That is very helpful, Thank You!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Oh for sure east coast v west coast thing, the rivalry will live on forever haha but yeah, in the same way you are lucky enough to be able to afford the LLPP, we use LLMP/SP when we really want to ride something. We never wait more than 20-25 mins for anything. But like us, I’m sure you go to Disneyland often enough that even for your favorite ride you wouldn’t wait more than 30 mins. Same thing here. I think the wait times for things is mostly overblown, outside of holidays seasons. It might take you 20mins to get from your hotel to HS but we are talking about a theme park resort area the size of San Francisco. With that amount space and distance, a lot more is offered. And WDW is also surrounded by beaches, it is Florida lol. Vero Beach is less than 2hrs away! Maybe a bit longer of a drive than to Laguna but certainly doable for a day trip. But then, you don’t need to leave property to have a full week trip (I’m sure we’ll do Vero when we’re a bit bored of the parks years from now, but not yet!)…and not to say you need to leave property to have a great trip to DLR! I guess we just didn’t find it as necessary to go for more than a few days and feel like we accomplished everything we mostly wanted and then felt itchy for more. I think it will be pretty great as a local though. I’m excited about evenings in the parks, a ride or two and getting my steps in lol

I am tracking.

A good trip for us is 5 nights and it really takes me 3 days to even start to feel like I am on vacation.

Living in the NW and having a job mostly based at a desk, the 25k steps a day and vitamin D blast put me in a very good place.

Also, we LOVE that everything is walking distance and never have to wait for transportation when staying at VGC. Also, SNA is a 2hr flight…. easy peasy….

So….early morning (not rope drop) starts, back to the room in the afternoon, head back after an ADR somewhere nice.

By the end we are definitely just cherry picking rides and happy to leave…. and then about 2-3 weeks later we are ready to go back….

Our only trip to WDW was a Covid reschedule @ BLT in March of 2021…. and I am very hopeful that our March 2024 trip goes smoothly. If nothing else, we’ll be staying at some fantastic resorts and eating at some nice restaurants….. my wife is thrilled to be staying at the Grand Floridian.

I also foresee myself popping over to the new Poly Tower bar when the family is resting…. it looks to be about as close as the main GF locations….

 

[ClaraOswald]

I am tracking.

A good trip for us is 5 nights and it really takes me 3 days to even start to feel like I am on vacation.

Living in the NW and having a job mostly based at a desk, the 25k steps a day and vitamin D blast put me in a very good place.

Also, we LOVE that everything is walking distance and never have to wait for transportation when staying at VGC. Also, SNA is a 2hr flight…. easy peasy….

So….early morning (not rope drop) starts, back to the room in the afternoon, head back after an ADR somewhere nice.

By the end we are definitely just cherry picking rides and happy to leave…. and then about 2-3 weeks later we are ready to go back….

Our only trip to WDW was a Covid reschedule @ BLT in March of 2021…. and I am very hopeful that our March 2024 trip goes smoothly. If nothing else, we’ll be staying at some fantastic resorts and eating at some nice restaurants….. my wife is thrilled to be staying at the Grand Floridian.

I also foresee myself popping over to the new Poly Tower bar when the family is resting…. it looks to be about as close as the main GF locations….

I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts after your trip!

 

[PolyRob]

I do not see a lot of families or kiddos…..

I swear the next 5am day I had there was a huge line (behind me) of people (with children) hightailing it to Slinky Dog Dash. I remember riding it in the dark in the morning being a new experience HAHA

It was amazing!! I have pictures like that too. Brought a smile to my face. I wonder if it has something to do with MagicKey blockout dates too? WDW and the holidays brings a lot of first timers AND veterans alike, while it seems like the locals may avoid DL (or at least the parks) during the holidays.

And to bring this back around to VGF - we bought most of our points at VGF for that very reason: to stay around the winter holidays. It does cost a LOT of points, and yes it is crowded, but the giant tree, the gingerbread house, the decorations... it's magical.

Here's what we did for transportation when staying at VGF:
MK: monorail to, boat home
EP: Monorail+Monorail or walk to poly/breakfast/monorail.
HS: rope drop? take an uber/lyft; otherwise, bus is fine both ways
AK: no longer see a need to rope drop, especially if you have LLMP or extra hours - so bus is fine both ways. But we've often used uber/lyft as well.

If we split stay with Riviera or BWV/BCV, we only go to EP/HS when staying at a nearby resort, and then only visit MK/AK when at VGF.

YES! I am very similar. GF is my favorite overall, especially during the holidays. While GF gets tons of crowds especially during the holidays, the original villa building is a bit shielded from it. You have your own lobby, concierge, and parking! You can also run into the main building early in the morning or late at night for pictures with NO one else in them. Splitting with an Epcot resort just makes it amazing to me! Loss of Magical Express means a rental car for me so it isn't bad being on the monorail. MK is the hardest park to get to IMO and the walking path fixes that!

I am tracking.

A good trip for us is 5 nights and it really takes me 3 days to even start to feel like I am on vacation.

Living in the NW and having a job mostly based at a desk, the 25k steps a day and vitamin D blast put me in a very good place.

Also, we LOVE that everything is walking distance and never have to wait for transportation when staying at VGC. Also, SNA is a 2hr flight…. easy peasy….

So….early morning (not rope drop) starts, back to the room in the afternoon, head back after an ADR somewhere nice.

By the end we are definitely just cherry picking rides and happy to leave…. and then about 2-3 weeks later we are ready to go back….

Our only trip to WDW was a Covid reschedule @ BLT in March of 2021…. and I am very hopeful that our March 2024 trip goes smoothly. If nothing else, we’ll be staying at some fantastic resorts and eating at some nice restaurants….. my wife is thrilled to be staying at the Grand Floridian.

I also foresee myself popping over to the new Poly Tower bar when the family is resting…. it looks to be about as close as the main GF locations….

WDW in March 2024 will be completely different than March 2021. Epcot wasn't even opening until 11am during March 2021 which is absolutely insane. My family tends to do early mornings, take a break during the afternoon/peak heat, and usually go to a NEW park at night and close it down. VGF is really easy with MK. You can also ride share and Minnie Van right to the VGF porte cochere which is great! If you want to leave Epcot easily during your VGF stay walk to a Crescent Lake resort and take your ride share or Minnie Van from there. I stopped dealing with AK busses from ALL resorts and just used Minnie Vans since they rolled out. It made AK a much more enjoyable experience.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I swear the next 5am day I had there was a huge line (behind me) of people (with children) hightailing it to Slinky Dog Dash. I remember riding it in the dark in the morning being a new experience HAHA

YES! I am very similar. GF is my favorite overall, especially during the holidays. While GF gets tons of crowds especially during the holidays, the original villa building is a bit shielded from it. You have your own lobby, concierge, and parking! You can also run into the main building early in the morning or late at night for pictures with NO one else in them. Splitting with an Epcot resort just makes it amazing to me! Loss of Magical Express means a rental car for me so it isn't bad being on the monorail. MK is the hardest park to get to IMO and the walking path fixes that!



WDW in March 2024 will be completely different than March 2021. Epcot wasn't even opening until 11am during March 2021 which is absolutely insane. My family tends to do early mornings, take a break during the afternoon/peak heat, and usually go to a NEW park at night and close it down. VGF is really easy with MK. You can also ride share and Minnie Van right to the VGF porte cochere which is great! If you want to leave Epcot easily during your VGF stay walk to a Crescent Lake resort and take your ride share or Minnie Van from there. I stopped dealing with AK busses from ALL resorts and just used Minnie Vans since they rolled out. It made AK a much more enjoyable experience.

We are in a BW GV from for the first the few nights and then a VGF 2BD after that.

That’s a great tip about the Minnie Van’s, Thank You.

 

[CWTC]

I do not see a lot of families or kiddos…..

I swear the next 5am day I had there was a huge line (behind me) of people (with children) hightailing it to Slinky Dog Dash. I remember riding it in the dark in the morning being a new experience HAHA

We did several of those 5 am days - some pre-covid when only Smugglers Run was open and some post when ROTR was standby only. There were most definitely families heading towards Batuu. My favorite memory/story that we still laugh about was heading to Smuggler’s Run right after Galaxy’s Edge opened and there was a dad with 2 kids who kept saying to his kids “Stay on target, stay on target.” It was hilarious!!

 

[AstroBlasters]

We did several of those 5 am days - some pre-covid when only Smugglers Run was open and some post when ROTR was standby only. There were most definitely families heading towards Batuu. My favorite memory/story that we still laugh about was heading to Smuggler’s Run right after Galaxy’s Edge opened and there was a dad with 2 kids who kept saying to his kids “Stay on target, stay on target.” It was hilarious!!

WDW people are definitely a different tribe….

 

[CWTC]

WDW people are definitely a different tribe….

Ha. We don’t do this anymore now that the newness has worn off.

 

[tx911]

A good trip for us is 5 nights and it really takes me 3 days to even start to feel like I am on vacation.

I’ve read that it takes 3 days for your normal non-vacation life to leave your short-term memory.

Maybe there’s something to it.

 

[kboo]

We did several of those 5 am days - some pre-covid when only Smugglers Run was open and some post when ROTR was standby only. There were most definitely families heading towards Batuu. My favorite memory/story that we still laugh about was heading to Smuggler’s Run right after Galaxy’s Edge opened and there was a dad with 2 kids who kept saying to his kids “Stay on target, stay on target.” It was hilarious!!

That is something my DH would say. As for those 5am days - December 2019 - Christmas and New Years, was a really magical trip. The castle still had the icicles and one of my fondest memories was going to the "early" NYE party at MK - December 30 at 6:30pm - and just dancing in the hub. It's as crowded as I've ever seen it, and it was so joyous. (This was before the world really knew what a pandemic was.... such innocence!) We took a really crowded bus from Riviera (which had just opened - now that is a trip I generally avoid.)

Getting to HS before sunrise sure was an experience.

WDW people are definitely a different tribe….

I have a VDH/VGC friend who calls me a Disney gunner. I may have also been the person who called DL guest services to ask whether and how to buy a "6-day park hopper" for DL.

Ha. We don’t do this anymore now that the newness has worn off.

WDW has opened so many new rides in recent years that it's become somewhat difficult even to ride all the "new" rides. I'm even too cheap to get LLMP every day! The kids and I could (and have) ridden each of these over and over....

RotR
MFSR
GotG (mine and the kids' favorite)
Remy
Tiana
Tron

 

[ClaraOswald]

That is something my DH would say. As for those 5am days - December 2019 - Christmas and New Years, was a really magical trip. The castle still had the icicles and one of my fondest memories was going to the "early" NYE party at MK - December 30 at 6:30pm - and just dancing in the hub. It's as crowded as I've ever seen it, and it was so joyous. (This was before the world really knew what a pandemic was.... such innocence!) We took a really crowded bus from Riviera (which had just opened - now that is a trip I generally avoid.)

Getting to HS before sunrise sure was an experience.

I have a VDH/VGC friend who calls me a Disney gunner. I may have also been the person who called DL guest services to ask whether and how to buy a "6-day park hopper" for DL.

WDW has opened so many new rides in recent years that it's become somewhat difficult even to ride all the "new" rides. I'm even too cheap to get LLMP every day! The kids and I could (and have) ridden each of these over and over....

RotR
MFSR
GotG (mine and the kids' favorite)
Remy
Tiana
Tron

We've done 6 days in a row at Disneyland. But it just isn't worth the cost (5-day hopper plus 1-day/1-park) so we don't do it anymore. If they had a 6-day hopper, we probably would.

 

[kboo]

We've done 6 days in a row at Disneyland. But it just isn't worth the cost (5-day hopper plus 1-day/1-park) so we don't do it anymore. If they had a 6-day hopper, we probably would.

Thank you for supporting me in this!! I even ended up making a spreadsheet figuring the different combos of days (we could have gone up to 7 days), including with/without the Disney+ subscriber ticket, and then I just threw up my hands and decided to stick with the cheaper 5 day ticket.

It's this analysis that got us into buying the WDW AP (the one with no blockout dates) because it's just easier. But Magic Key (even if we could get it) doesn't make sense for a visitor who's making one long trip over the holidays.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, I always run the numbers of an AP but it never makes sense for us. We'd really need to take at least 2 trips in a year. And even then....it's about a break-even situation.

 

[mrsap]

Some additional info from the Condo meeting…

Grand Floridian Villas December 2024 Condominium Meeting Recap​

Q: The main bank of elevators is marked for concierge guests only. Can something be done to address long waits for the "birdcage elevators", especially for guests with mobility scooters who cannot use stairs?

A: Resort GM Kristin Lindsay will discuss with staff, but said guests are welcome to use both sets of elevators during periods of peak demand.

Q: Are any steps being taken to address monorail capacity, particularly with the Polynesian's Island Tower opening?



A: Monorail capacity was carefully analyzed before committing to add the new rooms. They do have the ability to add more monorail trains to the line if needed. Alison Armor stated that "we do feel confident that we will be OK on service levels with this add." Also pointed out recent addition of walkway connecting resort to Magic Kingdom.

Q: Can anything be done to reduce crowding and clutter in the resort lobby?

A: This is the first holiday season with all resort restaurants open, including 1900 Park Fare, in 5 years. Agree that the volume of guests and strollers has been significant. Kristin Lindsay will discuss with staff and see if there is a better solution for stroller parking and guest management during peak periods.

Q: Can anything be done about "walking" reservations by members or (apparent) commercial renting activity by large-point owners?

A: (See our detailed write up regarding board comments on walking reservations and commercial point renting.)

Q: Are there any plans to replace the "beverage coolers" in Resort Studio rooms with standard mini refrigerators?

A: DVC did hear the feedback and as a result, rooms in Big Pine Key were upgraded to mini-fridges back in March 2024.

Q: Are there any plans to bring back the afternoon tea at Garden View Tea Room?

A: It is on the radar but there is nothing to announce at this time. The space is currently open to resort guests, to help alleviate lobby crowding.

Q: Can you explain about policies regarding 2025 dues payments? If someone cancels the monthly payment option, are there interest or fees applied?

A: Systems were changed to not allow gift card payments if on autopay. If a member drops off the autopay option, the full balance is immediately due or it will be subject to late fees and interested. (Additional details can be found in our 2025 annual dues write-up.)

Q: Will there be a time when the Capital Reserves balance is unnecessarily high, and could be used to defray the cost of member dues?

A: Per Tylana Hill, that could happen but "we are not at that point" now. It would most likely occur near the end of the contract term, if collected reserves exceed what is needed to maintain the property. In that case, a credit would be issued to owners.

Q: What is Disney doing to help manage property insurance costs?

A: Disney has the benefit of working with The Walt Disney Company's insurance team to manage those costs. To date, there has been very little change in insurance rates for DVC resorts.

Also during the meeting, the 2025 budget was approved by the board. The new Annual Dues rate is $7.93 per point, an increase of $0.36 or 4.7%.

 

[mrsap]

Merry Christmas All!

 

[Disney Spaz]

Merry Christmas!!!

 

[DVCRookie2023]

We are coming on Feb 1st for our first DisneyWorld DVC trip (we did stay at Disney Hilton and it was great!).

I have reserved a 2br lock off. Is it possible that we would be in Big Pine Key? I thought no but when I checked touring plans (https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps...rand-floridian-resort-and-spa?date=2024-12-28) it shows that Big Pine Key might be an option. Just trying to find out where we might be. Thanks so much!

Always thought touringplans was pretty reliable but that info seems to be wrong.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

We are coming on Feb 1st for our first DisneyWorld DVC trip (we did stay at Disney Hilton and it was great!).

I have reserved a 2br lock off. Is it possible that we would be in Big Pine Key? I thought no but when I checked touring plans (https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps...rand-floridian-resort-and-spa?date=2024-12-28) it shows that Big Pine Key might be an option. Just trying to find out where we might be. Thanks so much!

Always thought touringplans was pretty reliable but that info seems to be wrong.

Your instinct is correct. You’ll be in the original villas building. Big Pine Key has only resort studios. All deluxe studio and multi-room villas are in the VGF building hope you have an amazing stay!

 

[DVCRookie2023]

Your instinct is correct. You’ll be in the original villas building. Big Pine Key has only resort studios. All deluxe studio and multi-room villas are in the VGF building hope you have an amazing stay!

Awesome! Thank you. Can’t wait.

 

[BlueGreen5]

I also foresee myself popping over to the new Poly Tower bar when the family is resting…. it looks to be about as close as the main GF locations….

I'm actually debating about whether it's closer... I guess it depends on which GF location you are referring to. It's certainly not a lengthy trek, especially if you, like I, actually look forward to getting away from a desk and walking 25k steps. Enjoy! We're looking forward to enjoying "your" resort in early spring as well!