Quick Grand Floridian First-Timer Review

[Christine]

Hey all, I posted this on the Grand Floridian thread but thought most people trying to decide on a hotel might not sift through all the pages of the dedicated GF resort thread. This was our first stay at the GF and, just as a warning, I am apparently a "Contemporary" kinda gal but was looking forward to being changed over with this visit.

So.....

My Group: Party of 16 ranging in ages from 83 down to 3 years old. Two members required ECVs.

I would have to say that my vacation kind of started out on the wrong foot months ago. When we booked our 6 rooms, we really wanted to stay at the Contemporary due to having a great stay there last year (Garden Wing) but 5 months out, it was already booked for standard rooms. We told the CM that we desired a monorail resort due to the ECV users and small children and we wanted to limit time on having to use a bus. We were offered the GF and we were using a military discount. We were pretty clear with the CM, while on the phone, that one of the members of our trip had terminal cancer, had mobility issues, a walk-in shower was needed and that, if it could be done, an adjoining room with her was needed. He put us on hold for quite some time to go talk with the room scheduler (5 months out), came back and said that a medical need had been noted and that there would be no issues with the group. We didn't know enough to ask what that meant but we assumed that it was likely my aunt would get an adjoining room with her daughter who was on the phone with me booking her room and took for granted, based on the conversation we were having, that it would be a HA room.

As the trip got closer and we were looking at rooms in MDE, I felt like my aunt's room information should have mentioned HA. It didn't. I won't go into all the details as I already posted for help here weeks ago, but she did not get a HA room and the resort was booked. I worked with all sorts of people before I left for the trip to try to get something fixed but couldn't. Guest Services was very nice about it and tried to move all of us but it didn't work out. The Guest Services rep assured me that she used to intern at the GF and that *something * would be done when we got there to make it happen and that we would likely have no issues. She told me that I could also request devices to be used in the room to help her shower access.

Arrival: Our arrival day was great. We got in around 11AM to the resort and some of our rooms started to be ready at about 1:00. When we all finally got checked in, we found we had 6 rooms on the first floor of Sago Cay. I believe the mobility issues were taken into account in choosing this building and floor. No need to use the elevators and it was the closest to the main building and Gasparilla Grill; also very close to the handicapped parking lot. My aunt was not given an HA room nor was she put in an adjoining room with anyone else in the party. We went back to the front desk to ask for the shower access device through Housekeeping explaining all the previous drama about the need for HA and what had happened when booking. The hotel was at 100% capacity and no room changes could be made that day. I, personally, had two rooms of the six (one for me and DH and one for my adult kids and their friend). My immediate family was put in adjoining rooms that were right in the lobby itself right next to the elevator. And when I say "right next to the elevator" I mean that that I could lean out my room door and shake hands with someone waiting for the elevator. I thought it odd but with a positive Pollyanna attitude thought that "surely" this wouldn't be an issue. My aunt's mobility shower device did not get delivered until the next day and we had to ask for it again. For our 6 rooms, we had reserved one Theme Park View and the rest were supposed to be Standard Garden View, Outer Building. We ended up with the one Theme Park View, Four garden view rooms, and one Lagoon View (my parents got that one).

My rooms: Well, I have to say that after all 5 of us in my party had a sleepless night situated next to the elevator, I was miserable. Even my husband, who can sleep through anything, was complaining (he was even wearing earplugs). After the fireworks, people about 12 deep were lined up outside my room door, waiting for the elevators, whooping it up, laughing, shouting, etc. I don't blame them. There was a lot of noise outside the room doors through about midnight. It finally quieted down to where all you could really hear was the random "ding" of the elevator. Around 3:30 a.m. people starting milling about again in the lobby here and there. They would have whole conversations outside my room door waiting for the elevator. People would let their kids play in the atrium lobby late at night or early in the morning and there was a lot of "outside" voices going on. I'm not complaining about the people, it's vacation. But IMO, GF should not put rooms there. Later in the trip, as I explored some of the other outer buildings, I noted that many of the other buildings which were probably newer, did not put rooms there. They were storage closets, housekeeping closets, etc.

My DH went to the front desk very early the next morning and got our 2 rooms changed. It was supposed to be our MK day but we got there a little late because we had to totally repack our stuff up (yes, I had fully unpacked). My kids' new room was ready around 2:30 but nothing heard on ours (which was to be another adjoining room), my DH kept calling and we were told that they didn't know the status of the room and that they were going to send a manager over to do a walk through of the room. I don't think they knew my husband was sitting right outside the room. No one ever came to check the room, he kept calling and they finally let us in. Then his band wouldn't work. My DH was in my son's room calling about it and it was probably the one time someone got "snotty" with him at the desk and said "How can you say your band doesn't work? You are calling from your room." to which he had to say that it was his second room. That was all finally fixed around 5PM. My DH later went back to the front desk to somewhat complain about the original rooms and how loud they were and that he couldn't believe they were actually tolerated by guests and about the delays in getting into the next set of rooms. The GF ended up giving us a $200 "guest inconvenience" credit. My DH told her he wasn't really looking for anything but just wanted to provide feedback. So out of a 7 night stay, I had a little bump in the road and "loss" of room for about 8 hours. I guess the $200 covers that.

Our new rooms were on the 3rd floor and were now lagoon view. They were very nice, comfortable, and mousekeeping was great. Towels were thick/plush and everything was really clean.

Complaining done. After all that, everything went well. I've read some reports over the past few weeks that people have felt the staff at the GF was unfriendly or service was not great but every staff member we encountered was really nice, helpful, and friendly.

Gasparilla Island Grill was good. I especially liked the steel cut oatmeal option in the morning. That was a favorite of our group. The pizza was also very good. The salad option was REALLY good and I wish I had taken more advantage of that. Very, very good. For $12 you pick your greens, toppings, and any protein/meat and they toss it all up in a big bowl for you and provide your dressing in it or on the side. It was enough for my husband and I to split for lunch one day and was one of the few "vegetables" I got on the trip. I wanted to have more of it but just ran out of time.

I do have to say, though, that I'd give an edge to the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary. I think they have better sandwich options and bakery items (if you're into cupcakes/cakes, which I am). I didn't care for the sandwiches I had at Gasparilla and one night several of us got the "Thanksgiving" sandwich. I've had these before over the years and this one was pretty bad. I thought about getting the Fish Reuben but the CM told me it was made with tilapia which is not a fish I care for.

We spent some time at the Courtyard Pool. The pool area was great and the hot dogs were very good from the pool bar.

We sat out one night at the marina area and watch fireworks (very good viewing). After that, I could sit on my balcony with my Lagoon view, look over to the right, and see quite a bit of the fireworks with the lagoon view. Loved seeing the monorail go by.

I've visited the Grand *many* times on other trips and always felt the lobby was pretty relaxing with all the chairs, etc. This year it seemed to me that it was SO crowded and packed and full of people that I never once sat in there because I just wanted to get out of there. I don't know what has changed. If the week I went was super busy (I normally go in the dead of the summer) or if some of the restaurants are just drawing in more people to resort. They were building the gingerbread house but that, honestly, didn't seem to be attracting a lot of people. This place was HOPPING. I thought the Contemporary was "bustling" but this had it beat, at least this week.

Overall, we had a nice time but I don't think any of us, even in my extended party, got WOWed by the GF. I was really hoping that it would happen to me and I wouldn't feel wistful over the Contemporary, but I guess I just didn't find the GF "magic" that others seem to find. I thought it was funny that the others in my party didn't either (and they had never stayed at any other resort besides Shades of Green and that was about 20 years ago). I'm sure everyone on this thread will hate that I've said that. I wish I could put my finger on what was missing, but I can't (probably Club Level ).

Oh, one last thing:

Parking: Everyone was charged for parking even though we had 3 handicapped access. For instance, I had a placard yet both of my rooms were charged (even though we only had one car). I had that adjusted at the front desk midway through the trip. The CM removed charges and then told me that she was putting in a code so no further charges would come on. Looking over my bill this morning, I see that I was again charged for 3 more nights of parking. I need to get my son's bill from him and then email Disney to have this corrected. Grrrr..., I should have paid better attention before I left.

Anyway, if anyone has any specific questions, my memory is still fresh so ask away!

 

[heidijanesmith]

Thank you for your review.

I am sorry to hear you had troubles with your rooms, especially not having a HA room, when you really needed one.

I stayed at the GF for a conference and was very underwhelmed by the front desk staff. I thought they were the worst attitude front desk staff I have encountered at any of the WDW resorts I have stayed at. (AKL was our best experience with the Poly at a close second).

 

[DrunkJam]

Thanks for sharing this. I am sorry you had a bad experience.

I stayed at the GF on my last trip. We got a really good deal, and, while I am a WL girl, I had been there, and thought I may be blown away by the flagship-ness.

I was not. I mean, we didn't have any problems, and the staff were helpful and friendly to us. But, it just felt disjointed, and the buildings felt way less special than the lobby lead one to believe. I don't know, people love it, and my daughter loved it. For me it didn't have that wdw home feel.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We didn't know enough to ask what that meant but we assumed that it was likely my aunt would get an adjoining room with her daughter

For future reference, adjoining = next to or near each other. Connecting = side by side with internal access.

But IMO, GF should not put rooms there.

Too late

and it was probably the one time someone got "snotty" with him at the desk

.
He was speaking with someone in the Fall Center, not anybody in the resort. Not defending the snottiness. Just explaining.

and about the delays in getting into the next set of rooms.

More fyi: check in starts at 3. Not all rooms will be ready at that time. Some obviously are ready earlier, some naturally would be ready later. Not defense, and no idea why your room wasn't accessible when clearly it was ready.

 

[Christine]

For future reference, adjoining = next to or near each other. Connecting = side by side with internal access.

Too late
.
He was speaking with someone in the Fall Center, not anybody in the resort. Not defending the snottiness. Just explaining.

More fyi: check in starts at 3. Not all rooms will be ready at that time. Some obviously are ready earlier, some naturally would be ready later. Not defense, and no idea why your room wasn't accessible when clearly it was ready.

I'm sorry I didn't phrase my post correctly as I was typing it fast so don't take me too literally. When we were on the phone with the CM booking the room, we made it clear that the rooms needed to be linked together; i.e., my cousin requested an internal door so they could leave it open and she could have access to help with her mother's needs. I cannot remember what "term" we used on the phonecall but obviously I have used the wrong words here on my post. We definitely asked to have two rooms together so my cousin could easily access her mother without going out into the hallway and knocking on her door. We were pretty clear we wanted "connecting rooms" with internal access.

I am also very aware that rooms aren't always ready early. My check in last year at the Contemporary was closer to 4:00. My comment was regarding the communications issue when the room was clearly ready. Front desk staff later told my husband that the cleaning staff forgot to hit the "room ready" button in the internal system that indicates the room is clean. Why they said they'd send someone to check and never did for 2 hours is another matter. My husband was standing at the front desk with discussing these issues or calling the front desk from my son's room phone. I don't know what the Fall Center is and how those calls route from the front desk to them.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I am also very aware that rooms aren't always ready early. My check in last year at the Contemporary was closer to 4:00. My comment was regarding the communications issue when the room was clearly ready. Front desk staff later told my husband that the cleaning staff forgot to hit the "room ready" button in the internal system that indicates the room is clean. Why they said they'd send someone to check and never did for 2 hours is another matter. My husband was standing at the front desk with discussing these issues or calling the front desk from my son's room phone. I don't know what the Fall Center is and how those calls route from the front desk to them.

I understand your frustration with getting into your room so late. The last time we stayed at the GF our room wasn't ready until 5:40pm. We had arrived at the resort at 11am and checked to see if our room was ready when we got there. We also checked several times to see when our room would be ready. It was an extremely frustrating experience, especially since it felt like the front desk staff had absolutely no interest in trying to help us get into our room sooner. We had gotten up at 3am that morning to fly to Orlando and I think we both fell asleep in the lobby while waiting for our room. It really did sour our experience on that trip. Then the room that we waited for turned out to share a wall with the elevator. We could hear the whirring of the machinery every time someone rode the elevator. Luckily the noise really died down after 11pm, but it was very annoying. I think your experience of hearing talk outside your door would be so much worse.

The time we stayed there two years earlier we had the CM at the front desk go out of her way to find us a room that was ready when we arrived at 11am. She told us that we were scheduled for a room in Sago Cay but instead she switched us to Big Pine Key in a room with a great view of the Polynesian and the GF beach. That trip was wonderful.

 

[VandVsmama]

What a huge hassle!!

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

More fyi: check in starts at 3. Not all rooms will be ready at that time. Some obviously are ready earlier, some naturally would be ready later. Not defense, and no idea why your room wasn't accessible when clearly it was ready.

Never understood this about Disney resorts as it seems to be a frequent complaint. I have a ton of stays with Marriott and they have accommodated me checking in early (even at completely unreasonable times like 11am)... and the Marriott properties aren't $500+ per night!

 

[tellemarie]

I used to be in love with GF and couldn't wait to stay there, even with not being treated super nice by CM when we would visit (around the shops + restaurants). First stay was a little meh, but it was still ~the Grand~ so we went back for a week. After that trip, will never stay at GF again. We sold the DVC contract we had purchased for VGF as well. I'm glad to hear that outside of the unpleasantness of the start of your trip it got better though!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Marriott and they have accommodated me checking in early (even at completely unreasonable times like 11am)...

Almost any hotel (except, ime, the Luxor in Las Vegas)will let a guest check in as early as their reservation system begins a new day - i.e. 6 AM at Disney. But the typically don't even ensure that a room will be ready at their posted check in time. That's typically the time check in starts. I've waited in the bar of a Courtyard until close to six.

 

[plygph]

We have always regarded GF sitting there majestically on the banks of Seven Seas Lagoon as the premier resort at WDW. That image is ingrained into us by how it is portrayed in WDW advertising, as such we expect a higher level of service. Lets be honest at the rates charged which we willingly pay the staff here should be able to deliver.

Our DDIL has always had a desire to stay at GF so when it came time to celebrate our grandsons birthday in 2016 we choose to stay at GF. Well that is out of our system. We found this hotel to be lacking in service when compared to Poly, Contemporary, BLT, Wilderness Lodge and dare I say it OKW. Now we are no slouches in things Disney as we have visited at least 35 times and are DVC members all of them at a WDW resort. This was the worst service we have ever received at any WDW resort, and it was small things they failed at. Example we had our Grandson left a snow globe on the sofa bed on the day of mousekeeping. When we returned to the room we found the sofa closed and a broken snow globe on the counter in the room. We called the front desk to complain it still took 2 days to get the snow globe replaced as it had been purchased at the park. I have had similar issues at other resorts in the past it would not have taken a call to a manager or 2 days to resolve this matter.

There was more but it is just piling on lets just say been there done that we won't be going back not worth the money or if your DVC the points. Those with negative views on this resort I found a lot of common ground with our experience. We had the same snootiness with the staff, their lack of that usual WDW wanting to help, they really had that we don't care attitude.

There will be GF lovers here who will not agree with anything negative written about this resort but that is their opinion but like myself and other here who have had not so good experiences at GF these are ours. I respect yours please respect mine.

My 2 cents.

 

[Christine]

We have always regarded GF sitting there majestically on the banks of Seven Seas Lagoon as the premier resort at WDW. That image is ingrained into us by how it is portrayed in WDW advertising, as such we expect a higher level of service. Lets be honest at the rates charged which we willingly pay the staff here should be able to deliver.

Our DDIL has always had a desire to stay at GF so when it came time to celebrate our grandsons birthday in 2016 we choose to stay at GF. Well that is out of our system. We found this hotel to be lacking in service when compared to Poly, Contemporary, BLT, Wilderness Lodge and dare I say it OKW. Now we are no slouches in things Disney as we have visited at least 35 times and are DVC members all of them at a WDW resort. This was the worst service we have ever received at any WDW resort, and it was small things they failed at. Example we had our Grandson left a snow globe on the sofa bed on the day of mousekeeping. When we returned to the room we found the sofa closed and a broken snow globe on the counter in the room. We called the front desk to complain it still took 2 days to get the snow globe replaced as it had been purchased at the park. I have had similar issues at other resorts in the past it would not have taken a call to a manager or 2 days to resolve this matter.

There was more but it is just piling on lets just say been there done that we won't be going back not worth the money or if your DVC the points. Those with negative views on this resort I found a lot of common ground with our experience. We had the same snootiness with the staff, their lack of that usual WDW wanting to help, they really had that we don't care attitude.

There will be GF lovers here who will not agree with anything negative written about this resort but that is their opinion but like myself and other here who have had not so good experiences at GF these are ours. I respect yours please respect mine.

My 2 cents.

plygph--thanks for your feedback on your experience. As I stated in my original post, I had heard things about the lack of response at GF or snootiness so I was braced for that. I was glad to say, though, that I did not encounter it on this visit. I had the one problem at the beginning of my stay with the awful room and they did take care of it pretty promptly. The problem with my aunt's HA room wasn't their fault and with the resort booked to 100% capacity there was little anyone could do.

When I booked the GF (which was not my first choice but my adult son was over the moon about it), I did not go in with any expectation of higher service. I think I've "learned" from Disney that more $$$ doesn't equate to more service--it's usually just better location/transportation (monorail) and sometimes amenities such as pools and room size. So even though I paid more for my room than ever, I didn't expect to be treated any differently than I was at the Contemporary. In that regard, I did get the same service. I had ZERO issues at the Contemporary so didn't have to deal with any staff, so not sure how that would have gone.

I guess what I was hoping for with the extra $$$ spent was a better WOW factor on the room itself. I didn't get it. In fact, in hindsight, one thing we all disliked (since we had mixed adults in each room) was that the main bathroom dressing area did not have a slider door on as it did in the Contemporary. I know that the logic is that the bathroom does not open directly into the bedroom but into a hallway, but we all felt like we needed a tad more privacy when changing.

Anyway, as I said above, I had a very nice stay there but I wouldn't do it again unless the price was equal to one of the other deluxes. I also was not thrilled about my "break" in my 7 night stay due to having changed rooms and my loss of use for about 8 hours but they compensated me $100 per room for that so I suppose that's something.

 

[Zombie]

Parking: Everyone was charged for parking even though we had 3 handicapped access. For instance, I had a placard yet both of my rooms were charged (even though we only had one car). I had that adjusted at the front desk midway through the trip. The CM removed charges and then told me that she was putting in a code so no further charges would come on. Looking over my bill this morning, I see that I was again charged for 3 more nights of parking. I need to get my son's bill from him and then email Disney to have this corrected. Grrrr..., I should have paid better attention before I left.

Is there a policy that you don’t have to pay the resort/hotel parking fee if you have a disability placard for your vehicle? If so, is this only at Deluxe resorts or all hotels? If I’m understanding this comment correctly, we were unaware of this policy and our party would qualify for it for future visits and reference. Thanks for the clarification. And if it’s policy and a link on the site, it’d be much appreciated to be directed that way so we could educate ourselves before our December trip.

 

[buzznina]

Glad it all worked out pretty well, and now you know what GF is like. That is what WDW did really right, to have so many different style of resorts that you can try. There are a ton of Poly lovers but we were very underwhelmed by it during our stay.
Maybe it has to do with expectations. We were upgraded to GF from WL and were not really excited about it, because we did not think we would like it. After that stay it became our favorite resort and our family loved it.
At WDW (only) we much prefer rooms that open to the outside over indoor because we have always found indoor hallways to be much nosier, people voices just get so magnified.

 

[Monykalyn]

My dd and I were lucky enough to tag along on a family members conference there in August (basically paid the extra adult charges for the room). It’s a gorgeous resort and staff was fine (pool service at the smaller pool was outstanding). But we too had an issue with the room, it was dealt with but only after very firmly explaining why maintenances “solution” to wet urine smelling carpet by the bed near bathroom wall was a huge noisy fan wasn’t acceptable.
In contrast-I’ve also stayed at several levels of UO resorts- and Sapphire Falls team members every where in that resort was 4 Seasons level + superb. And fraction of price of Disney resorts. Disney used to be that level, and while still very nice and serviceable aren’t the standard of “excellent all the time” anymore.

We will get our chance at the Contemporary next August-pretty excited about that!

Glad your stay straightened out after a bumpy start!

 

[gharter]

Sorry to hear your problems.
We have gone to WDW for over 20 years and never had any interest in staying at GF. Still don't.
We love staying at BWV, Poly and AKL.
We loved going to GF for Mizners and the restaurants. Looking forward to trying out the new lounge.
Glad they fixed things for you.

 

[Christine]

Is there a policy that you don’t have to pay the resort/hotel parking fee if you have a disability placard for your vehicle? If so, is this only at Deluxe resorts or all hotels? If I’m understanding this comment correctly, we were unaware of this policy and our party would qualify for it for future visits and reference. Thanks for the clarification. And if it’s policy and a link on the site, it’d be much appreciated to be directed that way so we could educate ourselves before our December trip.

There is a policy but, sorry, I don't have the link to it. I think if you look around at resort parking information, it should be there. The policy applies to all Disney hotels in all categories.