(2014-2020) Disney's GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA + VILLAS Information & Questions

[Lisann]

Could someone please explain the following question for me? I don't understand why someone would want to spend $300-$500 (or more) US dollars per night on a deluxe room "just for the experience", when they could save a ton of money on a value or moderate resort, for the same experience?.....

But it's not the same experience.

The parks are the same experience, but not the rooms/resort. You are preachin' to the choir when you talk about money, because the Grand is not very easy for me to afford, but oh my, what a difference. Everything from the beds to the grounds to the restaurants and to convenience...everything is a few notches above the rest.

I have found in life, as I am sure you have, that someone's $500 is another man's $5,000. That's just the way it is. Yes, I can still enjoy my vacation at Pop Century. But I choose to be pampered a little (a lot) when I go to WDW. And so I choose to stay at a deluxe resort. For me, it even comes down to the beauty of the resort as well. The visual. The quality of the ambiance. Yes, I will pay for these intangibles (and tangibles).

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I believe the slide is over at the Beach pool, between the villas and the main bldg...I'm not sure if there is one at the main pool

There is no slide at the Courtyard (main) Pool.[/QUOTE]

You are correct -- I had mixed up the two pools! The one with the water slide is the one with the Mad Hatter Splash Pad, correct? That would be the Beach Pool, not as I had incorrectly said the main pool earlier!

Tom

 

[GF Girl]

After experiencing the Grand Floridian and all it has to offer. We spend so much time at the resort. We make sure we get at least 2 non park days and just enjoy the resort. We've stayed at many other resorts, and the Grand is our favorite, and worth every penny. Mind you, it's not cheap, and we do save plenty for it.

 

[DisneyTwins5thBDay]

Heading back to the Grand in April, last time we were there in April they were refurbishing the tot pool area, hoping it will not be closed again this year!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Could someone please explain the following question for me? I don't understand why someone would want to spend $300-$500 (or more) US dollars per night on a deluxe room "just for the experience", when they could save a ton of money on a value or moderate resort, for the same experience? I've stayed off-property (which I will never do again) and I've also stayed on-property many times, and I find that if I stay in either a value or moderate resort, I think I would get the same immersion as in a deluxe. That is not to say that one day I'd love to stay in the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, or Boardwalk, but that'll have to wait until I win the lottery. What is your reasoning behind spending so much money on a hotel room?

One thing you must remember is part of the deluxe cost is location and convenience (except for AKL...LOL). You can be within a boat/monorail ride or walkingdistance to MK or walking distance or boat ride to EP and DHS. It is also convenient access to the "sister" resorts at these locations for dining and shopping without having to use time consuming bus routes or paying for a taxi/uber. The sayings of "location, location, location" and "time is money" are very true.

While we mostly enjoyed our one stay at a moderate resort, the room was too small for our family of four especially with no balcony space. We are a family that goes to rope drop and then retreats back to the resort for rest and relaxation before showering for dinner followed by an evening in the parks. Room space is a big deal to us. In addition, many of the deluxe rooms have a convertible daybed which is a huge plus when you have a child that unknowingly kicks and flops around in bed making sharing a sleepless endeavor.

I would also add that our family does not pay rack rate for a deluxe room at Disney and we do not visit during peak season rates. We have always had discounts on our rooms of 30-50% off with exception of our one stay at a moderate which was free dining instead of a room discount.

Not everyone will find worth in paying for a deluxe just as some do not find thrift in paying for a value. Everyone has their own perception and reality. Our family takes one vacation per year and we choose based on the experience and budget that fits our needs and tastes and I do not feel the need to compare it to someone else's vacation decision.

 

[housetomouse]

There is no slide at the Courtyard (main) Pool.

You are correct -- I had mixed up the two pools! The one with the water slide is the one with the Mad Hatter Splash Pad, correct? That would be the Beach Pool, not as I had incorrectly said the main pool earlier!

Tom[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the clarification!

 

[GPC0321]

Hi Tom, thanks for the explanation. So you and your other half must have fairly good paying jobs where you can spend say, $3500 on a week's vacation without it putting much of a dent in your wallet. In the interest of saving money, can't you find some other on-property Disney resort that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg, and maybe you could sacrifice having a balcony or a view, or close proximity to the Magic Kingdom and have access to all the perks? Then you could spend a little more on cocktails at the local in-hotel bar and interact with some of the resort guests instead of being holed up in your room. I have a great career in IT Security, but alas, I am a single traveler paying for all of this plus all my other expenses by myself, so that's a big factor, and when it comes to converting all of my Canadian dollars into US Currency, the exchange rate really sucks right now. For you it might be $3500 but for me, converted at today's exchange rate is $4620 and change! There is nothing wrong with staying at the moderates, because I'm spending most of my time at the parks anyway. The hotel room is just a place to stash my stuff until I leave, and come back and go to sleep after a busy day in the parks.

I'd like to hear some other reasons from other readers about why they choose the deluxe resorts over the values or moderates.

Nobody hunts a bargain more than I do, and in December, I'm heading to the GF. I never thought it would be possible, but I learned about renting DVC points and so I get to stay at the Grand for $272 per night. Not club level in the main building or anything, but a nice studio villa and all of the perks of being at the Grand. Quick monorail ride to MK, slightly longer one to TTC and on to Epcot, gorgeous lobby, wonderful restaurants, a spa, a salon, shopping, live entertainment, watching Wishes from the resort, other nearby deluxe resorts to explore and enjoy.

These things may not matter to someone who only uses the room to stash stuff, sleep, and shower, but I don't think the deluxe resorts are meant for those kind of Disney guests.

This will be my first time staying at a deluxe, and I fully expect to be spoiled for anything less. I'm really interested in staying at one of the Epcot area deluxes too, for the convenience of being near two parks and the atmosphere of the Boardwalk area.

Living the dream because of a wonderful DVC owner.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Nobody hunts a bargain more than I do, and in December, I'm heading to the GF. I never thought it would be possible, but I learned about renting DVC points and so I get to stay at the Grand for $272 per night. Not club level in the main building or anything, but a nice studio villa and all of the perks of being at the Grand. Quick monorail ride to MK, slightly longer one to TTC and on to Epcot, gorgeous lobby, wonderful restaurants, a spa, a salon, shopping, live entertainment, watching Wishes from the resort, other nearby deluxe resorts to explore and enjoy.

These things may not matter to someone who only uses the room to stash stuff, sleep, and shower, but I don't think the deluxe resorts are meant for those kind of Disney guests.

This will be my first time staying at a deluxe, and I fully expect to be spoiled for anything less. I'm really interested in staying at one of the Epcot area deluxes too, for the convenience of being near two parks and the atmosphere of the Boardwalk area.

Living the dream because of a wonderful DVC owner.

Fair warning...This may make you want to buy DVC so you can do this every time!

 

[dannerchri]

Can someone please point me in the direction to find info on how kid friendly GF is? Or would love to hear your opinions. We booked a week in early August 2017 using the Military discount yesterday. My husband is deployed and when I was able to tell him where we were booked for his welcome home trip he said he didn't want to stay at GF because it is "not kid friendly". So my travel agent called to book the Poly with the Military discount and it was booked. (it was available yesterday) So I need some info to help convince him that GF will be great for our 6 and 10 year old. Thanks so much for your help!!

 

[trishadono]

Had our usual mom and me tea at the GVTR

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Can someone please point me in the direction to find info on how kid friendly GF is? Or would love to hear your opinions. We booked a week in early August 2017 using the Military discount yesterday. My husband is deployed and when I was able to tell him where we were booked for his welcome home trip he said he didn't want to stay at GF because it is "not kid friendly". So my travel agent called to book the Poly with the Military discount and it was booked. (it was available yesterday) So I need some info to help convince him that GF will be great for our 6 and 10 year old. Thanks so much for your help!!

I think the GF is good for kids. You will certainly see lots of kids staying there.
There are 2 great pools. The Beach Pool has a great water slide. There is also a splash pool that has a feature that pours a lot of water on the kids.
There is 1900 Park Fare, which is basically a character dining experience.
There is a "princess promenade" where young girls can dress up and parade through the lobby.

Congratulations on the "welcome home"!

 

[thumper*]

Can someone please point me in the direction to find info on how kid friendly GF is? Or would love to hear your opinions. We booked a week in early August 2017 using the Military discount yesterday. My husband is deployed and when I was able to tell him where we were booked for his welcome home trip he said he didn't want to stay at GF because it is "not kid friendly". So my travel agent called to book the Poly with the Military discount and it was booked. (it was available yesterday) So I need some info to help convince him that GF will be great for our 6 and 10 year old. Thanks so much for your help!!

First I want to Thank You for your sacrifices as a Military Family, I know first hand the longing for a missed family member stationed over seas not to mention that you are the one running the household while he is gone. I would also like to Thank your husband for his dedication to our country and our freedom.

Besides what previous poster said there is also the Mad Tea Hatters Party and also being on the monorail line with it's convenience to MK also makes it kid friendly. GF location also makes it easy to get to Poly for their child friendly activities, you may consider the child's club there for a night while you and DH have a date night. Also since your so close to TTC your just a quick boat ride away too Wilderness lodge and it's many activities. Enjoy your time together, I know it can't come soon enough for you.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I just realized that I made a mistake on my ticker -- I don't arrive at the Grand in 20 days, oh no....I arrive in 13 days. Let the hating begin!!!!!
Thank God all my ADRs are on the correct days -- otherwise I'd be very sad.....I'm so looking forward to dinner at Narcoossees on February 1!

Tom

Lucky you! I need to get a ticker in my signature. We have GF at Christmas planned again, but we want to get there at the end of June/beginning of July, as well.

Has anyone spent time at the GF for the 4th of July? Do they have any special activities onsite for the holiday?

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Can someone please point me in the direction to find info on how kid friendly GF is? Or would love to hear your opinions. We booked a week in early August 2017 using the Military discount yesterday. My husband is deployed and when I was able to tell him where we were booked for his welcome home trip he said he didn't want to stay at GF because it is "not kid friendly". So my travel agent called to book the Poly with the Military discount and it was booked. (it was available yesterday) So I need some info to help convince him that GF will be great for our 6 and 10 year old. Thanks so much for your help!!

The GF is a very kid friendly resort! With that said, are your children girls, boys or one of each? I can see where boys may find the resort a little feminine but it is quite kid friendly. I think a highlight for the kids are the two pools and kids water play area. I, as an adult, have had to stand in a long line of kids to go down the slide at the Beach Pool and those were some happy mouseketeers I have also witnessed many children playing in the water jets built- in to the Courtyard Pool and the squealing delights emitting from the mad-hatter water play area.

I would also add that you are almost guaranteed to get a balcony at the GF where the Poly has many rooms with no balcony or patio space for relaxing. If you plan to do laundry, each outer building(except SL) has its own laundry room.

Either way, you and your family will have a blast. GF and Poly are my two favorite resorts on property.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

@trishadono - thanks for sharing the lovely pictures!

Tom

 

[KonaKaiTom]

Please ignore my ticker and join me in the single digit dance - the packing countdown has begun, T minus 7 days until we arrive at the Grand!



Tom

 

[NDFamily]

Hi Tom, thanks for the explanation. So you and your other half must have fairly good paying jobs where you can spend say, $3500 on a week's vacation without it putting much of a dent in your wallet. In the interest of saving money, can't you find some other on-property Disney resort that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg, and maybe you could sacrifice having a balcony or a view, or close proximity to the Magic Kingdom and have access to all the perks? Then you could spend a little more on cocktails at the local in-hotel bar and interact with some of the resort guests instead of being holed up in your room. I have a great career in IT Security, but alas, I am a single traveler paying for all of this plus all my other expenses by myself, so that's a big factor, and when it comes to converting all of my Canadian dollars into US Currency, the exchange rate really sucks right now. For you it might be $3500 but for me, converted at today's exchange rate is $4620 and change! There is nothing wrong with staying at the moderates, because I'm spending most of my time at the parks anyway. The hotel room is just a place to stash my stuff until I leave, and come back and go to sleep after a busy day in the parks.

I'd like to hear some other reasons from other readers about why they choose the deluxe resorts over the values or moderates.

Our first ever stay at a resort was at the Art of Animation resort. We had just gotten off a cruise and needed a place to stay for the night as our flight left the next day. This was at the beginning of August. Our room was ROASTING. Our summers are mild and honestly I hate intense and humid heat. Walking into our room was like walking into a sauna. The a/c apparently is triggered by motion which means if we weren't moving around the a/c unit would shut off. Balloons near the sensor didn't fix the issue. I was barely able to sleep due to how hot it was in the room.

It looks as if the rooms may have been updated since our stay, because honestly it was quite dingy. Not at all what I expected from a Disney resort BUT photos of the room now look much better. However, our bed was really uncomfortable.

The exterior - right outside our room was a group of trees. On this group of trees was a spiderweb with a spider so massive I swear it migrated to Florida from Australia. I've never in my life seen a spider that size. My husband found it hilarious though and there were people stopping near our room to take photos of the thing all the time. I consistently checked to make sure it had not left the tree before ever exiting the room.

As someone else has mentioned, if you want to stay in a premium resort but don't like the hefty price along with it consider renting someone's vacation points. There's a few places online that offer the service and it is cheaper than paying for the room directly through Disney. After that experience my husband refuses to stay at a value resort. For us comfort is important. We are a small family, which helps with expenses as well BUT we also live a fairly scaled back lifestyle in order to afford more expensive vacations. We like to travel and that's where we prefer to spend our money. So we budget to make that work.

 

[gometros]

Had our usual mom and me tea at the GVTR
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This is something I missed in my research. Is this something you can reserve? Is it mentioned on the first page? Thanks.

 

[TJA]

Quick monorail ride to MK, slightly longer one to TTC and on to Epcot, gorgeous lobby, wonderful restaurants, a spa, a salon, shopping, live entertainment, watching Wishes from the resort, other nearby deluxe resorts to explore and enjoy.

These things may not matter to someone who only uses the room to stash stuff, sleep, and shower, but I don't think the deluxe resorts are meant for those kind of Disney guests.

This will be my first time staying at a deluxe, and I fully expect to be spoiled for anything less.

Yep you will be spoiled staying at GF! After many years of thinking the GF wasn't for us, we finally stayed there last March and absolutely fell in love with it. We felt completely opposite of how we thought we would. Since this is your first deluxe, you won't be able to compare it to the other deluxes, but I have a feeling the GF will set the bar pretty high for the other deluxe resorts! Have fun!

 

[KonaKaiTom]

@TJA you are not kidding! Our first stay at the GF came about this way. We booked CBR in late May for an October stay. In late August I got a call from someone in guest relations....due to maintenance issues, they would like to move us to the GF for only $100 more. My response, I don't want to spend an extra $700, they said "no, that's not per night, that's in total." Great marketing idea...we've stayed at the Grand 5 times now. Once you get a taste, it is hard not to go back.

Tom