The *New* Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Frequently Asked Questions (FEB2004) Part 2

[princessesrule4]

The only buildings with straight-on views of the MK are Sago and Conch, and some of the rooms in the main building in RPC. Sago is supposed to be closed for refurbishment over Christmas. Conch has already been done.

Here's a photo of the MK I took from our room in Sago Key.

Actually,Boca Chica and one small side of Big Pine both have MK views also. Those 2 buildings have great views of the castle - we've had rooms in both buildings and we actually prefer them to Sago. Of course , we love any MK view, Sago just is a bit off to the left!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Anyone know what order the buildings were renovated?

I know Sago? isn't yet started...

Anyone know the first to be completed?

I know the first to be completed was Conch. I will take a guess about the rest - I am sure somebody will disagree & correct me, but this is what I remember......

Conch, main building, Big Pine, Boca Chica, Sugar Loaf. Sago has not begun refurbishment yet.

Lives4Disney

 

[minniesota]

Do GV rooms have body wash and conditioner or do I need to bring my own?

Eight days to go and counting. Surprise birthday present for my DD. Not telling them to Nov 2.

Yes, all rooms have body wash and conditioner. Have a great time!!

 

[irisbud]

Yes, all rooms have body wash and conditioner. Have a great time!!

Actuallty, just in case you are dead set on body wash, our MK view room in Big Pine Key did not have actualy body wash. It had bar soap instead, which is fine with me because I love that soap and you cannot find it on H2Os website.

I know some people do not like actual sop, though.

YMMV

 

[wdhinn89]

Thank you irisbud and minniesota

 

[tenbelow]

Actuallty, just in case you are dead set on body wash, our MK view room in Big Pine Key did not have actualy body wash. It had bar soap instead, which is fine with me because I love that soap and you cannot find it on H2Os website.

I know some people do not like actual sop, though.

YMMV

Irisbud - is it the "green bar" with the nubs on it that you are talking about?

I tried to find that on H20's website as well and they don't seem to carry it.

I thought that soap was the best on our last trip and am looking forward to finding it in our room on our upcoming trip.

 

[tenbelow]

Sharing pics from our photopass shoot....

QUOTE]

ekball - thank you for sharing some of your photos - they came out great. Looks like your photopass CM did a fantastic job.

 

[tenbelow]

I don't know a CM, but we just returned from the GF, and when we were leaving our room for the last time, I saw the linen basket they place by the doors for the housekeepers. It included two clean robes, and as I looked down the hallway, I noticed other baskets with clean robes in them as well. I hope that is reassuring.

I think you also asked about Citrico's; we ate there for the first time a couple nights ago, and everything was delicious. We really enjoyed it, though I thought the menu was shorter than that of Narcoossee's, and personally prefer Narcoossee's overall. But, not because of lesser quality food, just the selection and we can never choose which of our favorites at Narcoossee's to order.

Have a wonderful stay at the Grand!

k&a&c'smom

Thank you for your thoughtful replies - it is reassuring that you saw fresh robes in the baskets.

I appreciate your thoughts on Citrico's and they make perfect sense as I've been checking the menus on "AE's" and have noticed that I will have a much harder time deciding what to order from Narcoossee's than I will from Citrico's. I'm sure we'll dine at both and I'll be sure to share my thoughts in my trip report when we return.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

Thank you for your reply, Lives4Disney!

 

[BamaTigger]

does the GF put anything christmas-y in the rooms for the 24th or 25th of december?? Im wondering whether or not to take a small tree with ornaments to put in our room to bring some "christmas" into the room.

 

[Lives4Disney]

does the GF put anything christmas-y in the rooms for the 24th or 25th of december?? Im wondering whether or not to take a small tree with ornaments to put in our room to bring some "christmas" into the room.

Hi, BamaTigger.....Last year on Christmas Eve they delivered beautiful platters of goodies including gingerbread and truffles and pretty sugared treats w/a Christmas card from the Grand to all the rooms at the hotel.

Here's a picture of what arrived late that afternoon......We also ordered the Christmas tree from WDW florist, which was absolutely gorgeous and worth the price, and we bought a gingerbread house. We did bring some Disney lights and draped them above and around our sliders and hung Disney stockings on the knobs of the drawers. We put a Mickey wreath on our room door, too.

Have fun. It's a beautiful time to spend at the Grand Floridian.

Lives4Disney

 

[irisbud]

Irisbud - is it the "green bar" with the nubs on it that you are talking about?

I tried to find that on H20's website as well and they don't seem to carry it.

I thought that soap was the best on our last trip and am looking forward to finding it in our room on our upcoming trip.

That's the one! I took them every night and hid them in my suitcase so that we would get more! I haven't been able to find them on the website either. I wish I could, I really like that soap!

 

[Lives4Disney]

That's the one! I took them every night and hid them in my suitcase so that we would get more! I haven't been able to find them on the website either. I wish I could, I really like that soap!

I like that soap, too! I have a stash of GF H2O products in my bathroom closet. I really like the body wash, too, so if by chance we didn't receive any I just called housekeeping and they brought up a big bag of more assorted H2O goodies! I am so glad they switched out the cruddy old products for these nice new ones. I do miss the cute packaging, though.

Happy planning!!! I have two weeks to go.

Lives4Disney

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Channing - two weeks to go? Wow time flies. Are you still going with your request for Sago Cay? Any idea on when they are going to start renovating Sago Cay?

We switched our January reservations from Poly to GF (couldn't get Visa discount for Poly so we upgraded and actually saved $200!). In a way I'm hoping Sago isn't renovated by our January trip and that we still get to stay in that building. I'm still partial to the old furnishings (at least by the looks of the pictures) rather than the new decor.

Hope you have a magical trip! Come back and tell me everything.

 

[BamaTigger]

Hi, BamaTigger.....Last year on Christmas Eve they delivered beautiful platters of goodies including gingerbread and truffles and pretty sugared treats w/a Christmas card from the Grand to all the rooms at the hotel.

Here's a picture of what arrived late that afternoon......We also ordered the Christmas tree from WDW florist, which was absolutely gorgeous and worth the price, and we bought a gingerbread house. We did bring some Disney lights and draped them above and around our sliders and hung Disney stockings on the knobs of the drawers. We put a Mickey wreath on our room door, too.



Have fun. It's a beautiful time to spend at the Grand Floridian.

Lives4Disney

Wow, that is really pretty! I saw the trees on the website, and they are so nice! I think I will take me a small tree and take my disney ornaments and decorate a bit.

See, my dad passed away 6 months ago(he and I were extremely close), and this will be the first christmas without him (we always did a HUGE christmas) and me and DH (we have no kids) decided to just get out of town for the holiday and WDW was the only place that would lift our spirits.
So, I just want a nice little christmas trip. SOmething to just keep us in a good mood when we are in our room.

THanks for the tips!

 

[krbq]

Channing - two weeks to go? Wow time flies. Are you still going with your request for Sago Cay? Any idea on when they are going to start renovating Sago Cay?

We switched our January reservations from Poly to GF (couldn't get Visa discount for Poly so we upgraded and actually saved $200!). In a way I'm hoping Sago isn't renovated by our January trip and that we still get to stay in that building. I'm still partial to the old furnishings (at least by the looks of the pictures) rather than the new decor.

Hope you have a magical trip! Come back and tell me everything.

We just returned from a stay at Sago Key. A CM told us it was to be closed for refurbishment the weekend after Thanksgiving and would reopen in 6 weeks.

 

[NeverSayNever]

HI Everyone,

Glad to hear that for the most part that everyone is enjoying their recent trips to GF.

Interesting to hear that Sago is next... We will be there for a short stay, 3nights mid-Sept so I wonder what building we will be in. We really liked are room the last stay witht he monorail/yacht view, so hoping for somethign similair.

Channing... The plaque is AWESOME!!! I am so happy for you and well a tad envious... but in a good way! Where did it hang it? Do your daughters think it is cool?

Oh... and do tell how did you bring the gingerbread house home? Are the outrageously priced... I so want to get one put worry about how we are goign to take it home. ANy thoughts?

Ok... I gotta get back to work...

Best

 

[krbq]

Actually,Boca Chica and one small side of Big Pine both have MK views also. Those 2 buildings have great views of the castle - we've had rooms in both buildings and we actually prefer them to Sago. Of course , we love any MK view, Sago just is a bit off to the left!

We tried to make exactly that point with the check-in CM last week but she argued that since we had a MK view reserved we could only be put in Sago or Conch, and she wasn't about to budge. A few years ago we had a room in Boca Chica in what I guess would be a LV and our view was everything from the castle to the Poly. It was a much better view, IMO, and I suppose less expensive. I would have preferred it to the view we got (but I liked having a room with the old furnishings).

 

[Lives4Disney]

We tried to make exactly that point with the check-in CM last week but she argued that since we had a MK view reserved we could only be put in Sago or Conch, and she wasn't about to budge. A few years ago we had a room in Boca Chica in what I guess would be a LV and our view was everything from the castle to the Poly. It was a much better view, IMO, and I suppose less expensive. I would have preferred it to the view we got (but I liked having a room with the old furnishings).

I am actually kinda scared of those front desk CMs .....I have only heard harsh things about them - from SEVERAL different posts, not just you krbq. We have only had NICE concierge CMs check us in before.

Never, ya I am really thrilled about it. It is still in my DH's office on his sofa waiting for a place to hang. My kids think it's pretty cool, but they think we're weird for buying it and loving it.

Bama - I am sorry about your dad. You have a WONDERFUL Christmas. Being at the GF for Xmas will lift your spirits. You can start some new traditions and make some new memories. I have my own Xmas issues and we escaped them last year and it was great. My kids missed our home traditions, though, so we need to wait a few more yrs until we do a vacation Christmas again.


Robin, thanks!! That's great about your discount deal for GF!!! I requested Sago, too. Like you, I prefer the older decor, but I do really want to check out the new rooms in person and have the benefit of some of the electronic upgrades they put in the new rooms.....particularly for DS17. I wonder why they are waiting on Sago at this point....

Lives4Disney

 

[BCV23]

We tried to make exactly that point with the check-in CM last week but she argued that since we had a MK view reserved we could only be put in Sago or Conch, and she wasn't about to budge. A few years ago we had a room in Boca Chica in what I guess would be a LV and our view was everything from the castle to the Poly. It was a much better view, IMO, and I suppose less expensive. I would have preferred it to the view we got (but I liked having a room with the old furnishings).

I'm not sure we know exactly how the GF is defining MK view right now. Since Sago and Conch are the only two buildings with a straight on view, perhaps that is what is on the computers. Boca and Big Pine have sideways views although I can imagine some at Boca especially are mighty fine. I wonder if a manager could have helped you "downgrade" if that is indeed what is in the system. I can imagine that most CMs wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't downgrade a reservation.

Channing, we've had three stays in Conch Key and one of those involved two checkins as it was separate reservations. We've only had great experiences with the front desk CMs. Truly very pleasant.