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mmmears
DIS Veteran
Registered: November 2005
Location: California
Posts: 8213Review Date: Wed April 29, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Location, decor, pools, restaurants, rooms, transportation Cons: Pricey
My family has stayed at the Grand Floridian 3 times, twice in lagoon-view rooms and once at club level.
The resort lobby and rooms are light and airy. The balconies are large. We could watch the Electrical Water Pageant and the fireworks over the castle from our lagoon-view rooms. It's also a very peaceful resort. We've always traveled there with our DD (since she was 2 years old) and never felt like it was not a family-friendly resort.
The lobby is stunning. There are many shops there, plus a pianist and a band in the evenings. Very festive.
There are 4 sit-down restaurants and one CS that is open 24/7 -- so there is plenty to choose from.
The quiet pool is huge, and the newer feature pool has a nice waterfall, a waterslide, and a zero-depth entry on one side. That pool is right by the beach, giving you great views of the lagoon, the Poly and the CR.
The rooms are spacious and decorated nicely. Even the rooms on the first floor have enclosed, private balconies. And the bath soaps and shampoos are quite nice.
Another nice feature is that, while most of the rooms are in outer buildings, all of those buildings are close together. We've never had a long walk to the lobby or the pools when we've stayed at the GF.
The staff has always been attentive, mousekeeping always good there. The staff in the club lounge was extremely attentive and friendly and gave us lots of advice about touring WDW as well as Sea World.
The GF is especially nice at xmas time, when it's decorated beautifully.
Carolinagal 
Mouseketeer
Registered: July 2002
Posts: 390Review Date: Thu April 30, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Location, beautiful rooms and grounds, best of the best Cons: Expensive
The Grand Floridian is a lovely resort with so much to offer. The rooms are lovely and spacious, and the grounds are well-maintained and full of lovely plantings.
When you stay at the Grand Floridian you defintely feel as though you are on vacation. Despite a repputation for "stuffiness", we have always found all of the cast members to be friendly amd helpful. We also like the food choices at the Grand Floridian, and visit several during our trip.
The downside of the Grand Floridian is definitely the cost - it is breathtakingly expensive! Occasionally you can find a room rate deal, but even at a discount these are still pricey.
If money were no object, we would stay here every time!
riskysmom
Earning My Ears
Registered: April 2009
Posts: 26Review Date: Sat May 2, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): located on monorail Cons: having to leave
Once you stay at the Grand, it's extremely difficult to ever stay anywhere else. Everything is extremely clean and beautiful...fresh flowers everywhere. Perfect location and view of the MK. It takes 27 seconds to get from GF to MK on monorail.
mikelan6
World Traveler, Usually Optimistic
Registered: September 2000
Location: Aventura, Fl
Posts: 3749Review Date: Sat May 2, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Location, Service Cons: Price, Distant Self Parking
I stayed at the Grand Floridian once and I must say it lives up to its reputation. The best part about the hotel is the location to the Magic Kingdom. To get there, it's the next stop on the monorail. To return, simply get on a launch and it's the first stop before continuing on to the Poly. I was also lucky to be upgraded to a Magic Kingdom view room. The room was so close to the park, that I could hear the background music throughout the night. The restaurants here are also fabulous.
IWISHFORDISNEY
Cant get enough of the mouse!
It was tricky with only one bathroom
I will never ever forget that embarrassing episode of being farted upon
Registered: January 2004
Location: The First State but wishing it was the Sunshine State...
Posts: 5383Review Date: Thu May 7, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Service, views of MK and castle, monorail Cons: rooms next to elevators on ground floor noisy
We just returned from our first stay at Gf and I would recommend this resort to anyone. We have a new favorite home at WDW. The service was above and beyond that of the other deluxe resort s I have stayed in. It was in no way stuffy at all. My 4 year old was thrilled he could see the monorails driving by our room and the Grand 1 Yacht was docked below our room. The housekeeping was fantastic and we had turndown service every evening. The pools were never crowded and the pool bar had fantastic drinks. I dont really have a negative other than our first room was next to the elevator and it was noisy so we had to change rooms. Our first room was in Boca Chica and our second room was in Conch Key. Both were great rooms minus the noise we liked the first room a bit better the second room as a little smaller dormer room but the view made up for the difference in size. If you are on the fence about this resort go for it. I loved it and never thought I would.
aimlyss
Earning My Ears
Registered: November 2008
Posts: 26Review Date: Tue May 19, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9
Positive aspects of the product (pros): views, location, staff, gorgeous to look at Cons: spendy
Beautiful hotel with amazing views of the Magic Kingdom. Great location, attentive staff, we loved staying there. We had a baby with us, the staff had a crib in the room when we arrived. Highly recommend!
Love2663
Mouseketeer
Registered: May 2009
Posts: 109Review Date: Wed May 20, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): elegant lobby and rooms, monorail resort Cons: very expensive, in separate buldings
As the flagship resort, this is the most expensive on property. The entire hotel reflects the elegance, and some people may feel out of place. The separate buildings are problematic in inclement weather - you see a major storm coming and get to the monorail before the deluge starts, but when you get to the hotel, you still have to walk through the rain to get to your room (assuming your room is not in the main building).
Stitchmistress
Mouseketeer
Registered: July 2008
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posts: 241Review Date: Thu June 4, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Gorgeous hotel near MK Cons: Parking was far away, bus service was slow, not enough umbrellas at the pool.
I stayed at this hotel last August during free dining. I got a very good rate, but I wasn't really excited to stay there at first. I didn't think I would like the theming, and I thought it might be too "stuffy". Nothing could be further from that statement! My family absolutely loved this hotel. The CM's were warm and welcoming. We received an upgrade to a Magic Kingdom room, which made my Disney dream come true! The room and building it was in were spotlessly clean. The beds were very comfortable. This hotel was not stuffy or overly formal at all. Part of the charm of the hotel is that you see everything from wedding gowns to shorts and t-shirts. Everyone is accepted, and made to feel welcome. The stores provided ample shopping. We needed to buy some pharmacy items, and the prices were reasonable. We ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and the meal was among the top 2 that I had at Disney that week. The atmosphere inside and outside of the hotel is romantic and fun. Nighttime walks were a joy, the grounds were lit up beautifully. The pool was open late, and it was clean and the perfect temperature. The only negatives that I have are as follows: The parking is very far away (across the street). When I stay the next time, I will pay extra for Valet. It will be worth it in the hot summer months. The bus service was terrible. It was really slow, and the busses did not come frequently enough. I would expect more from a premium resort. Next time I will drive everywhere (except to the MK of course.) The only other thing they could improve would be to put more umbrellas at the main pool. There was not enough shade for this pale-skinned northerner!
kramer222
Mouseketeer
Registered: November 2007
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 281Review Date: Thu June 25, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Fancy Cons: a little schmancy
This is a gorgeous hotel - don't get me wrong - but the ambiance never really grew on me as I always felt out of place. I felt much more at home in, say, the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We had a fantastic room looking out on Cinderella's Castle, which something we never thought we would experience. The room was a little hard to get to, however, as we had to go up one elevator, then down another. Traffic was non-existent, though.
Food was pretty good - we ate at Citricos, Grand Floridian Cafe, and Victoria & Albert's. The first were pretty tasty, but the meal we had at Victoria & Albert's was absolutely outstanding and, for a foodie, worth the trip to WDW alone.
The location is great, as we were in MK within 5 minutes of leaving the room. I would have liked a bus to Epcot or an express train to the transportation center - but what are you going to do?
kd.pavilionwed
Earning My Ears
Registered: June 2009
Location: uk
Posts: 8Review Date: Thu November 5, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $250.00 | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): ecellent service, brilliant food, they made our wedding day a dream come true- intimate dineing! Cons: i can't say a bad word, it was pricey but you get what you pay for!
We got married on the 14th oct at the wedding pavilion and then had our cake and champayne reception on the terrace, atmosphere and the veiws were stunning!
We also had our wedding evening meal at the grand floridian resort n spa, we booked the intimate dineing for just the 2 of us. We were on private floor (5) and treated like royalty, we had a four course meal served by butler as they call it called Bill and he was brilliant!
We had soup starter which i have never tasted soup like it, ceaser salad (my husband is now hooked on it!) steak and veg which could of served 2! and sweetheart dessert for 2 and we also order a mini castle cake!!
The table was decorated wiv rose petels and roses and of course tinkerbell light up cubes, which i couldn't of been more delighted as i love tinkerbell!!!
The food was so filling i ended up taking half of my main meal, dessert and mini castle cake back to our hotel for another night as i couldn't eat another bite, bill boxed it all up for us!
We were allowed to stay at our table for the fireworks coming on at 9pm and water parade, the veiws were excellent, it truely was a fairy tale wedding!
Patricia one of the managers was excellent, i organised this in the UK before we got to the USA, organised most of it over the phone, she also sent me emails wiv atachments of photos of dessert, different menus etc! Thank you!
we would also like to reccommend Rev Tim, the service was so romatic and personalised and he had such a good sense of humor, he had every body in stiches when we played our wedding dvd at our UK reception on the 30th Oct!
The disney photographers are excellent, they made me look like a princess, can't get over the way we look! our family were blown away, the wedding dvd is expensive but it was worth it!
kd.pavilionwed
Earning My Ears
Registered: June 2009
Location: uk
Posts: 8Review Date: Thu November 5, 2009 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $400.00 | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): intimate dineing- wedding meal Cons: none
correction to last post the intimate dining was £250 which makes it about $400 but worth it the whole day was magical, day we will remember for rest of our lives, we are going to go back for anniversary next year, can't wait!!!!
edithkitty
Earning My Ears
Registered: January 2010
Posts: 9Review Date: Mon January 11, 2010 Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 1
Positive aspects of the product (pros): the hotel inside Cons: the services
we booked and paid for a king bed room with lagoon view, but they ask me to choose from either one king bed or a lagoon view with 2 queen beds, WHAT, is that what we suppose to get? than why we paid a lot here, and the girl said "we are a family resort, only get 19 king bed room" that is not the reason, we should get what we paid for.OK? the girl is rude, and the old woman is rude, i don't get it why we need to paid a lot for this resort, for this services, is that a 4 1/2 star hotel services?? also, the mickey light is broken, the table is broken, the only good thing is the hotel outside is really grand.
also, we call for room services because we want to replace the coffee maker, but we wait for half hour, and my boyfriend call again, another 45 minutes, and is total of 1 hour 15 minutes to replace the coffee maker.WOW, that not a 4 1/2 star hotel services.
mrsfavata
Earning My Ears
Registered: July 2009
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2Review Date: Thu February 4, 2010 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Location, dining, shopping, pools Cons: Construction
My husband and I stayed here for our 1st anniversary from October 3-10. When we checked in, we were upgraded to MK view (we definately worked the "its our anniversary" angle!). We were put in a corner dormer room in Conch Key. Other than the long walk to the fitness/spa area, we found it to be a great location. We would have had a spectacular view of the Magic Kingdom, if it weren't for the large tree in front of our balcony. But we had an additional side balcony and you could see the castle from there. My only complaint was that they were doing lots of construction during our stay and it got worse throughout our stay. There was construction in the main lobby (totally taking away from its beauty) and on most of the outer loge buildings (we came back from the park one day to find painters on our balcony). To be honest, it didn't bother us that much because it began at 9AM and ended by 5PM and we were almost always not in our room. On the plus side, the resort shouldn't have any construction happening when we return for our visit this year.
We really enjoyed dining at this resort. We ate at all the "Signature" restaurants and loved every one of them. The service is really great as well. If you are a foodie like we are, I definately recommend the Dining Plan- you really get your money's worth. We also ate a Victoria & Albert's (not on the dining plan unfortunately) and it was outstanding. They even were happy to accomodate my husband who does not eat seafood (they call you a few days in advance for any dietary needs). And the service is amazing. We ate most of our breakfasts at the GF Cafe, which was really good. I once had lunch at Gaspirilla's and the jerk chicken salad was fantastic! I had read some bad reviews of Gaspirillas, but I never had a problem there and it was always very clean and stocked. Citrico's is great and has a nice bar (although no one every seemed to be drinking there) and Narcoosee's has a great view of the fireworks, so try to schedule your dinner around that. One day we took a break from the parks and rented a cabana at the Beach pool- it was $100 from 10-2 and we wished we had rented it for the whole day- it was great.
Besides dining, the best part of this resort is the location. Five minutes to the Magic Kingdom, and its so easy to get to the Contemporary (for California Grill) and Polynesian. You can also take the monorail to Epcot, which is great. Nothing beats monorail transportation!!
We had a fabulous trip and are already planning for our second anniversary October 2010. One thing I want to point out- when we were there, it was ridiculously hot and humid. Has anyone ever been there in early October before? Is this normal? The staff told us it was not normal, and more like August weather, but just wondering if anyone else had any insight. Thanks!
Fasspass
Dvc family
Registered: December 2009
Location: Staten island
Posts: 13Review Date: Fri March 26, 2010 Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Beautiful rooms and buildings Cons: They call it a grand, cause at the minimum that's wHat it will cost you
Beautiful resort if you are looking for the "rich" look you found it. We loved it. : Posted via eTicket
DISNEY MACADAMIAN
Earning My Ears
Registered: April 2010
Location: hialeah, florida
Posts: 5Review Date: Thu April 15, 2010 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $2,000.00 | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): WONDERFUL RESORT ***** Cons: NOT A THING
We stayed at this resort in Sept.2009, we stayed for 11 days with an ajoining room for my stepdaughter her husband my mother-in-law, and my 1 year old granddaughter. We also had the deluxe dining plan. This resort was not expensive at all. It is a five star resort. It is very clean (you can even smell the cleaness when you walk into the hallway). The rooms are really big and beautiful. The beds are amazing. (I'm really not kidding). The staff was wonderful. Resturants amazing. Food was very very good. Grounds were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Oh and don't let me forget the monorail. (very convient) Were staying there again in 19 days. Cannot wait to go. I recommed this resort to everyone. Thank you disney for the GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT AND SPA. AND THANK YOU TO THE STAFF.
DisneyTech
Earning My Ears
Registered: March 2007
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 42Review Date: Tue May 25, 2010 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Nice rooms, beautiful grounds, pools Cons: None
We just returned from our first anniversary trip at the Grand. We stayed in Sugar Loaf. The staff was wonderful and so nice. They were always willing to help. Check-in was a breeze. We had requested a king room on an upper floor and got it. The room was clean and smelled wonderful. Nice selection of restaurants. We will certainly return.
alayna86
Former Disney Cast Member 2005
Registered: July 2010
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 46Review Date: Tue July 20, 2010 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Beautiful grounds Cons: very expensive
I've never stayed here so I can't post anything about the services or the rooms but my friend and I did visit for a dinner at 1900 park fare which is a princess buffet meal. I'd have to say we were pretty disappointed in the food. Some of it was stale and it just wasn't worth the money. However you do get to meet the fairy godmother who can be hard to find otherwise!
disneygirlmass
Mouseketeer
Registered: December 2005
Posts: 252Review Date: Wed September 1, 2010 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Cons:
this is my favorite resort!! good tip for those to know if anyone is looking for 24 hour food that is open, they a have a cafe open all day and night
Jordansmominjax
Earning My Ears
Registered: March 2012
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 16Review Date: Mon April 2, 2012 Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: $900.00 | Rating: 4
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Magic Kingdom Firewoks Cons: Old Outdated Falling apart room
My husband gave me this trip as a birthday gift last October 2011. We stayed in the main building club level. We had asked for the best Magic Kingdom view and we got it. That was the only saving grace. I think club level was a waste you get no extra service with that. They were very friendly but everyone at the front desk was friendly too. Our parents stayed club level in the outer building they seemed to have better service out there. I did not really eat at the club level but they did and they seemed to like it. I looked at it and it was the same in both buildings. It rained a lot of that trip so we did not see the movies they have at night. I asked them if they had any kid activities and they said no. The lobby was packed with kids a lot of families were at the resort. Why on eart didn't they have something set up for the kids when the rain started? Our room was large but tile was falling off around the sink and tub. You could see where it was patched. The jets in the whirlpool tub had black gunk in them. Ummm, not what you expect for the money. I would not and will not stay here gain unless they do a complete renavation. I would have changed hotels but I did not want to upset my husband. He planned the trip. The hotel was pretty but you don't have to stay there to visit it. Victoria and Albert 's was romantic and good. My son enjoyed the Alice Tea Party. We thought breakfast was good but that is because my son wanted to see the Mad Hatter. We ate at the signature restaurant and thought the view was nice but for us the food was only ok. The grounds were beautiful. The pool looked basic. If you really want to stay here like I did then I suggest one night to determine if it is your cuo of tea.
Marissa7495
Earning My Ears
Registered: June 2012
Posts: 13Review Date: Wed July 4, 2012 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 6
Positive aspects of the product (pros): nice hotel Cons: service
i stayed here last year with my whole family and i did enjoy the hotel. the only thing i didnt like that much was that it wasnt kid friendly. also, the service kinda stunk. i wont stay here probably ever again. ever
lilmrsellis
Wishing upon a star...
Registered: April 2008
Location: WV girl, born and bred!
Posts: 406Review Date: Thu January 31, 2013 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Positive aspects of the product (pros): Monorail access, decor, elegance Cons: Price
This hotel was literally a dream come true. Gorgeous and well appointed. It was elegant without feeling stuffy. We ARE NOT fancy people, but felt totally at home here. Can't wait to stay at Grand Floridian again!
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