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Published by Jennifer Marx 01-05-2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
Jenny Pooh
on
01-06-2008, 07:43 AM
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| Disney's Grand Floridian Resort Disney's Grand Floridian Resort puts the luxe in deluxe! It earns it's spot at the top of Disney's hotel chain for that very reason. I've been lucky enough to stay twice, both times on the concierge level; once by an a unbelievable upgrade and the other by paying for it. As soon as you enter the gate to the resort you are immersed in the Victorian theme. Even the guard shack is cute! When you drive up to the portico at the resort entrance several people come running out to open your door, take your luggage, welcoming you personally to the resort. Now that's service  The lobby is full of grandeur. The soft colors of the rugs and walls, grand staircase, large seating areas, grand piano, bird cage elevator and larger than life fresh flower arraignments are breathtaking. Something right out of Mary Poppins era if you ask me. The resort is large but not too large at the same time. The resort map seems like the buildings are very spread out but in reality they are fairly close to one another. There are 6 buildings of rooms with the Grand Lobby building holding all the shops, food court and game rooms. The 2 pools are large with plenty of seating. The themed pool down on the beach seemed to have the most children at it than the other non-themed pool. So if you want more peace and quiet I would go for that one. The biggest and best reason for staying here is the monorail! You are a 5 minute ride to the Magic Kingdom. Any closer you would be in the Magic Kingdom! You can also take the boat over. 2 stops after the Magic Kingdom on the monorail route is the Transportation and Ticket Center were you can switch over to the Epcot monorail. All other parks are serviced by buses. And at this resort the bus waiting area has benches with TV's to keep you occupied while you wait, how's that for deluxe  Rooms are large and beautiful. You'll find lots of subtle hints of Disney in each room. From the lamps with a bust of Mickey to Alice in Wonderland on your bedspread you'll still feel like you are in Walt Disney World without it overbearing you. Bathrooms are nicely stocked with amenities including my favorite, a large makeup mirror that you can pull toward you without leaning over the sink. Turn down service is wonderful which comes with chocolates and a note card wishing you a pleasant night along with the weather forecast for the next day. One little touch that I thought was unique was instead of those big housekeeping carts clogging the hallways they place baskets filled with the bed linens and towels by each door. How did we get an unbelievable upgrade to the concierge level you ask. I don't think I'll ever know how or why we got it. We were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite called The Cape Coral Suite in the Sago Cay building. Perhaps it was because we had booked to adjoining rooms and they didn't have any. Whatever the reason it was a truly a once in a lifetime stay in that suite. Concierge level costs more ( a lot more  ) to stay in than a "regular" room. The rooms are not decorated differently than the others. But the differences are; you have a separate check in area, a concierge to help you with anything you might need or do, and the best of all a full spread of food all day long in the concierge lounge, including special tiny seating for the kids! Is it worth the money? Hard to say. If you are celebrating a special occasion than I say go for it. But otherwise I won't be booking a concierge room at any resort again. My first time on this level I didn't have to pay for it so it was great. Second time was a one night stay (as a special treat for my sister) and we ate dinner & breakfast there and didn't really need or use any of the other perks. It was a lot of money for that one night. We could have stayed several nights a moderate for that price. All in all I would recommend Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. I'm know I'll be back again after I've finished my quest of staying at every WDW resort  Pros:
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Last edited by Jenny Pooh : 01-06-2008 at 07:48 AM.
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By
Chrissi
on
01-06-2008, 11:21 AM
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|  Too Grand For Me! My experiences at the Grand Floridian are more of a detached view. I was a member of a wedding party based at the Grand Floridian in November 1999. The bride and groom (dear friends of mine and my husband's) had nearly 50 guests and VIP events were held daily before and after the wedding - most centered at the GF. I had the pleasure of partying off-site with most of the wedding party in a condo, but the bride and groom were guests at the GF and used their honeymoon suite as a kind of wedding command center. Being the bride's right-hand, I enjoyed the GF in a most unusual way. Behind the scenes.  The GF is a very formal, elegant resort hotel. Ideal for a romantic wedding and honeymoon setting. (Ideal for my much more formal and affluent best friend. ) It's the height of luxury at WDW for those not able to afford the high-end Presidential-type suites on WDW property. For a night or two, ANYONE can feel like a princess at the GF. My friend's room (wedding command central ) seemed a bit small to me, but there was lot going on - papers, plans, gowns, and tuxedos took up every available surface pre-wedding. However, after we cleared out all the wedding clutter while the bride was at her last fitting, the room appeared cozy and lovely as a honeymoon retreat. My friend was really pleased with her room.As wedding guests, we were treated to an amazing VIP experience as the wedding was held at the Wedding Pavilion. The Ketubah Signing was held in the Wedding Pavilion's replica of Franck's Salon from the movie Father of the Bride. The Wedding Pavilion is every bit as white and etheral as a princess could wish. The window behind the altar area in the Wedding Pavilion is unique. It perfectly frames Cinderella Castle and actually magnifies it so it looks larger and brings the magic that much closer. The bride and groom had a three-part reception: a memorial toast to the bride and groom's departed loved ones on Commander's Terrace (MouseWeddings.com - Pictures of the Commander's Terrace at Walt Disney World) followed by a viewing of the Electrical Water Pageant from the terrace before moving inside to Victoria & Albert's for dinner and dessert. Despite having dessert at dinner, the entire wedding party and all 44 guests moved to buses waiting in front of the GF to take our group to the Magic Kingdom for the cake-cutting inside the breezeway in Cinderella Castle. Having sampled some of those amenities as a wedding guest, I can comment on the ambience of the resort and it's flagship restaurant, the V&A. I remember so clearly the walk following the wedding up to Commander's Terrace. The wide, carpeted stairs seemed like something out of Titanic. It was a little too grand for me. I felt like I was in a fairy tale.  It was a wedding and I'm sure everything was carefully staged by Disney's wedding planners, but they made it seem so happenstance - like magic happens there all the time. I couldn't help but feel like a princess, too.Dinner at Victoria and Albert's was everything and more than I expected. Our dinner was a very late seating - about 10 PM - and most of the wedding party had been up since 6 AM. Coffee, apparently, is traditionally served at the end of the meal at V&A, but we begged our servers to save us from embarrassing the bride by passing out cold in our sorbets from fatigue and they took pity on us. Dinner was a 5 or 6 course affair carefully orchestrated by the head chef and the bride with a wine pairing for each course. 6 wine tastings and a huge meal caught up with us fast. Coffee never tasted so good. I couldn't say for sure if it was our gratefulness or just the excellent quality of the coffee and expertise of the brewer that made it taste so good. It's been a long time, so the sequence of events at dinner is a little muddled, but at some point during the part of the evening at the V&A, the bride and groom were presented with a heart-shaped, braided Challah. I don't know much about the tradition of Challah bread, but I believe the rabbi blessed the couple before dinner and the Challah was served to either all of the guests or certain guests. I was one of them, so I have no idea.  My friend was really pleased with the service and care taken by the staff at the V&A. It was an amazing meal and an amazing evening.One more area of the GF that I can comment on is the GF Convention Center. It's every bit as grand and lovely as the rest of the resort. I was a little bit surprised at the detail that went into the space even on a day when there were so few people actually using the space. The wedding party was allocated several rooms the day of the wedding in the Convention Center to prepare. Maybe 12 of us total and there were floral arrangements in every room. NOT arrangements for the wedding or provided by the bride and groom's parents. Just everyday (HUGE!) floral arrangements on tables in gathering areas and restrooms even.  My friend's wedding planner even arranged for hairdressers and make-up artists to come to us in our temporary dressing rooms.If you're looking for a fairly tale, you can find it at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. While it is just a little too grand for me and wouldn't be my first choice, I can understand the draw for couples and honeymooners who want to be enveloped in that ethereal magic that seems to encapsulate this resort hotel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
mickeycrazy
on
01-10-2008, 07:40 PM
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| Loved the Grand! DH and I stayed Dec of 2005 in a garden view Boca Chica. They lobby decor is very grand and I love the victorian type furnishings. The building are close together and easy to walk to. The grounds are clean and beautiful. We love the christmas decorations, especially the gingerbread house. It fills the whole lobby with a great scent. The location is fantastic for getting to the MK and we loved strolling the walkway to the Poly. We had looked at pictures and watched the Great Hotels episode featuring it, but the room and furnishings were so much prettier in person. The beds were the most comfortable I have ever slept on in a hotel and we loved turn down service. We ordered the white chocolate Cinderella slipper for dessert in our room one evening and they set everything up beautifully. We had only ordered one and thought we would share, but they brought each of us one. It was a beautiful treat! We didn't deal much with staff, but everyone was friendly. I would highly recommend this for a couple looking for romance and luxury, but even a family would enjoy the location and many amenities. It was a wonderful treat to stay there. The only con (and it can be a big one) would have to be the cost. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
eff051102
on
01-11-2008, 04:15 PM
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| Dream Vacation My DH and I stayed at the Grand Floridian May 2005 to celebrate our anniversary and our first WDW vacation. Our room was a dormer room in the Boca Chica building on the pool/garden side. We had requested a king size bed (our only request) but the powers that be couldn't give us one.  Instead we got two queen beds, 2 chairs and a table. Since the dormer are smaller than regular rooms (but they come with a raise ceiling) they have a small balcony but no real sitting area. I was surprised to see that there wasn't a desk in the room either. I say all this to tell you that while the room is really cute, if you have more people in your party than just two, request a different type of room. It was cozy for two adults but I couldn't imagine the room with a child also.As for the pool view it was fine and not noisy at all. I would've loved to be on the other side of the building which faces the water and the MK but there wasn't a room open. The sitting area on the first floor was great and you could go out the other door to watch the Water Pagent from the grass. If you could get a water view room, you would be able to watch from your balcony. The main building is BEAUTIFUL! We enjoyed the band music in the afternoon while relaxing on the sofa. Just walking around the resort is an experience in itself. The pools were great but we spent most of our time at the larger pool. For some quiet time you can sit out on the beach in the chairs with the shade structure. On several early mornings we watch a mother duck and her babies wander around the grounds by the pool. It was sweet to see how the grounds crew watched out for those babies. We also saw several rabbits. The transportation was wonderful but you almost expect that for a deluxe resort. I would say that some days it took awhile for a bus, but for the most part it wasn't so bad. The boat to the MK was very romantic and we enjoyed it on several evenings. We also rented the mousers and my DH was in with exploring the lake. Renting two is the way to go if two adults are wanting to ride because they are small and won't go very fast if they are weighed down.I enjoyed my spa day and DH played several rounds of golf at the Palms and Magnolia courses. He still talks about service the club houses provide and I know he will play golf there again in Dec. 2008. I will say that the spa service was lacking somewhat (they forgot about me once I was back in the relaxing room for close to an hour) but once I was "found again" it was great. They need a better system of tracking their customers and managers who will go that extra mile. Also the walk to the spa was great BEFORE the massage, but when you are finished and need to walk back to the GF......it was a LONG walk! It would be nice if they provided golf cart shuttle service.The GF Cafe food is WONDERFUL and we ate there several times. We didn't get to eat at any other GF restaurants on that trip, but I will make up for that on this next one. Pros: Monorail GF Cafe relaxing feeling decor CM's (some helpful, some not) Cons: Pricey Service should equal price CM's (some helpful, some not) LONG walk back to room from GF Spa after a Massage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Last edited by eff051102 : 01-11-2008 at 04:48 PM.
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By
kadterp
on
01-18-2008, 03:53 PM
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| GF LOVE this resort! Last time we stayed there was in December and can I say they go above and beyond with the decorations!!! I loved our room too...it was a sico room and highly recommend it! The only negative thing that I have to say is the travel to Downtown.....a bit long! But the resort is by far the most elegant that I have stayed in so far! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
Eeyoresmom
on
01-18-2008, 03:54 PM
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| We stayed at the GF once in 2005 and it was extremely memorable. It was DH’s first trip to WDW and my first trip as an adult. Although I was a little hesitant to stay there at first because of the price, my DH really pushed to stay there because of all that he had heard about it. Our trip was a fairytale and one of our most memorable trips. We now have a very young daughter (3 months) and it is possible that, some day, we would will take her to stay there (once). I think that part of the great experience that we had was that were there by ourselves, but there were folks who had children there (not that that was a problem or diminished our experience in any respect). It may just be psychological, but it really seems like they go out of their way to pamper you at the GF and to reinforce the fact that you are really special. We had a honeymoon room (No. 4208) which has a front and center view of the castle and just was a dream come true. The room comes with a king bed and a Jacuzzi tub. Was it pricey, absolutely. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Will I forget it or stop talking about it? Never. Like any other hotel, there were a few glitches with our room. Our door would not lock right away and our phone did not work. Each problem was fixed very quickly. I have read a few places that some people think that the GF has a snooty or elitist atmosphere. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I just did not see the snootiness. I found the atmosphere really relaxing, and we really enjoyed the club lounge. When we had any issues with reservations or anything else the concierge handled them promptly and friendly. The spa was very nice and a great treat after a weary day in the park. The location of the GF is awesome. The short monorail ride is great, and if you are looking for a change of pace, the boat ride over to the MK is really neat and relaxing. If you get a chance, watch the water parade from the dock. We could write a whole other page on the restaurants there which were awesome. For more info, check out our trip report, “Honey, I shrunk your leisure time” which has even more stuff on the GF and the restaurants. Bottom line, if you are looking for a very remarkable and memorable stay, and you are willing to spend some more money, definitely check out the GF. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
galardia
on
01-21-2008, 03:40 PM
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| The GF - A Truly Magical Resort Our family of ten spent Jan. 11 – 15, 2008, at the Grand Floridian Resort, and all of us agreed it was absolutely fantastic!  We are from Kansas, and one finds very few hotels that measure up to the Grand Floridian standards. When my husband and I contacted our travel agent, we had decided to stay in a resort close to Magic Kingdom, but the Contemporary only had concierge rooms left, so she asked about the GF. Of course, it was more expensive, but we have not regretted the change for one minute. One expects to pay for the grand service and amenities found at the GF. We have been planning this trip since the first grandchild was born. We had been to Disney World twice before with high school students, staying in the Swan Dolphin, but wanted a more relaxed atmosphere this time.We booked three Garden View Rooms, so when we checked in and found we were in Boca Chica with a Lagoon and Magic Kingdom view, we could not believe our good fortune. We were in rooms 8417, 8415, and 8413, which could not have been better! Our family consists of my husband, me, our two sons and their wives, and four granddaughters – ages 9, 8, 6, and 5 – the perfect ages for their first visit to Disney World. The rooms were quite large with two Queen-sized beds, a day bed, TV armoire, desk, chair and footstool. There was a very nice, large bathroom including double sinks and all the amenities. We had turndown service each night with wonderful chocolates, and an ice bucket full of ice. There were also two chairs and a small table on each balcony. The balcony was another wonderful plus as we could watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks and the Seven Seas Lagoon Electric Water Pageant each night. The only downside was the fact that the lobby was being renovated and was covered with huge plastic sheets from floor to ceiling. Luckily for us, the renovation was completed by our last day, so we were able to enjoy the grand atmosphere. The girls loved the elevator and the bird cage. I had read where people staying at the GF felt out of place, but not one person made us feel that way. Everyone went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I had also read that the GF was considered to be rather noisy and spread out, but we did not find that to be the case at all – it was very easy to get around and very quiet. We were also lucky that the weather cooperated and we were able to swim in both the Beach Pool and the Courtyard Pool. The waterslide in the Beach Pool was a definite highlight of our swimming experience. The girls even got me to go down the slide!! What fun. Since we had small children, the monorail and the ferry were absolutely wonderful. We only had to use the bus to Animal Kingdom. Both the monorail and the ferry are run very efficiently. The GF Café was absolutely fantastic. We all ate there two mornings for breakfast, and the service and food were wonderful. We also ate at the Gasparilla Grill two mornings. It was good also, for fast-food service. The ten of us also attended Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at the 1900 Park Fare Restaurant. This was the third Character dinner we attended and one the girls enjoyed immensely. Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Termain, and the evil step sisters, Anastasia and Drizella were there and did an amazing job, never once stepping out of character. The Grand Floridian is not a resort one would choose if a yearly trip is planned to Disney, but for us, it could not have been better. Staying there helped make this a truly memorable, family vacation.  Pros: Monorail, ferry, two pools, GF Café, 1900 Park Fare, beautiful landscaping, large rooms with balconies, a marina, friendliness, and service. There were no Cons. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Last edited by galardia : 01-21-2008 at 03:42 PM.
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About This Page: This is a discussion on Disney's Grand Floridian Resort (Disney Deluxe Resort) Reviews and Ratings within the Disney World Resort Hotel Reviews & Ratings, part of the PassPorter Community - Message Boards and Forums; Grand Floridian Resort is Disney's most luxurious resort, a breathtaking Victorian hotel with turrets and gabled roofs within sight ...
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