Resorts GF

[wajo]

DONE----25 plus years annual at the Grand Floridian- Club Level -outer buildings- etc- great times but completely DONE now.
So many factors and now the cost cutting termination of the Lobby Orchestra is just ridiculous and the last straw.
Have experienced other cost cutting measures before this. This is not a deluxe hotel. They do not care about their loyal guests.
Have many stories of great employees at the GF that have become friends and they try to exist in an environment that is a
constant battle for them with management / benefits etc. But they still put their magical happy face on every day.
How many years of making reservations as a loyal customer a year in advance
and arrival day just full of surprises and bungled reservations and sticking you in rooms you did not ask for to then transfer
later to what you had reserved. Just insanity. This happened a lot.
Worst management in the last many years. Employees try to stay long but still get screwed or have new supervisors that don't
know jack and they leave.

Well it's a whole new world and the newcomers will be very scaled back as will loyal customers like us. You will need to try to reinvent your services, guest
experience and loyalty to your guests. In the past they always had a fresh supply of newcomers so they didn't have to be as service oriented as say the Four Seasons. This old way of doing business is gone.
This resort is not worth your hard earned dollars.
FOUR SEASONS if we decide to return to DW

 

[WALL-E fan]

Agree %. We've been here since the reopening of the 'Not So" Grand and everyday has been a complete disappointment. Within the first couple of day we notice Band-Aids in the courtyard pool, a sceptic truck from "Brownies" rolling across the grounds, having to clean our own bathroom. Our room had wall plates falling off the wall, outlet plugs not working, lights flickering, making it feel as though we are in a disco club, house keeping not replenishing toiletries and on site restaurants with half waitress's just looking for a gracious tip. Never again. Hard earned money wasted on this junk of a once beautiful resort.

 

[monothingie]

DONE----25 plus years annual at the Grand Floridian- Club Level -outer buildings- etc- great times but completely DONE now.
So many factors and now the cost cutting termination of the Lobby Orchestra is just ridiculous and the last straw.
Have experienced other cost cutting measures before this. This is not a deluxe hotel. They do not care about their loyal guests.
Have many stories of great employees at the GF that have become friends and they try to exist in an environment that is a
constant battle for them with management / benefits etc. But they still put their magical happy face on every day.
How many years of making reservations as a loyal customer a year in advance
and arrival day just full of surprises and bungled reservations and sticking you in rooms you did not ask for to then transfer
later to what you had reserved. Just insanity. This happened a lot.
Worst management in the last many years. Employees try to stay long but still get screwed or have new supervisors that don't
know jack and they leave.

Well it's a whole new world and the newcomers will be very scaled back as will loyal customers like us. You will need to try to reinvent your services, guest
experience and loyalty to your guests. In the past they always had a fresh supply of newcomers so they didn't have to be as service oriented as say the Four Seasons. This old way of doing business is gone.
This resort is not worth your hard earned dollars.
FOUR SEASONS if we decide to return to DW

Honestly if you're looking for a 5-Star Disney Hotel, you're in Fantasy Land. I've never had bad service and the CM have always been top notch, especially in the club lounges. The main problem is the GF has been basically untouched since it was built 33 years ago. Yes there've been soft good room updates and maybe some new paint and wallpaper, but the basic shell is deteriorated and out of date. The Contemporary too is virtually there with it's late 90's motif getting very dated. (As compared to say Grand Destino or The Riviera, or even the VGF. )

But given the current situation, it's very unlikely that anything but bandaids will be applied for the near future.

 

[Raxel7851]

We were at the Contemporary last week. First off every CM was simply amazing in thanking people for staying there. They truly went out of their way to make our “Disney” experience as normal as possible. However, with the limited food choices, the monorail that stops running between other resorts at 7:00, and the long wait for buses to DS, I think we’ll hold off on heading back until things return more to normal. We took advantage of a nice AP discount for our room. I’m sure people who paid the higher price were even more disappointed.

 

[EdnaMode]

We were at the Contemporary last week. First off every CM was simply amazing in thanking people for staying there. They truly went out of their way to make our “Disney” experience as normal as possible. However, with the limited food choices, the monorail that stops running between other resorts at 7:00, and the long wait for buses to DS, I think we’ll hold off on heading back until things return more to normal. We took advantage of a nice AP discount for our room. I’m sure people who paid the higher price were even more disappointed.

Sub "Grand Floridian" and "since a week ago" and I would totally agree. We've enjoyed ourselves, but there is quite a bit lacking. The combination of limited transportation hours (in addition, the resort monorail has had some time out of service), limited restaurants and menus, early closures that leave everyone wondering what to do/where to eat (and how to get "home") in the evening, and (probably the biggest one for us) no park hopping, it's tough to justify spending vacation dollars this way. (Shout out to the boat service GF <--> MK during park hours, that has been great!!)

I'm far from being above making my own bed, tossing towels in a laundry basket or taking away garbage, disinfecting counters etc. but that really is a lot to ask of people staying 10 nights in your flagship resort. We had to go searching for a wastebasket to take a bag of garbage away yesterday -- we've gotten a couple of mobile orders to eat on the balcony so the paper waste needs to be emptied every day. (We did have one of those security visits and he saw that we had been keeping a paper sack by the door for trash and he offered to take it away, so that was great. But otherwise, every day we've taken a trash bag over to the ice room to dispose of it.)

The cast is under a great deal of pressure and they are doing a great job, sworking so hard - seriously, they're so friendly and welcoming everywhere, EVERYwhere. But, there is a need for more custodians, more food and more restaurant workers, more housekeeping -- there are too many of us and not enough of them. If there isn't a plan to increase cast, there's got to be a scale-back in guest capacity.

 

[NelleBelle]

How terrible to hear! When trying to decide on a resort to stay at for my mom's retirement trip next May, I considered the GF. I figured the new walkway would likely be completed and being able to walk to MK would be a major plus for my mom. But after reading reviews and seeing how dated the decor was (and honestly, the $$), I crossed it off our list. If I want to pay that price, as mentioned above, I would book us at Four Seasons. The only reason I don't do that is the distance and I'm not sure about the transportation. Other than that, the grounds, room, etc look like what the GF should look like (or once did). Sad.

 

[davidcyndi]

Thank you for this post. We moved our dvc trip oct 25-30 from gf to blt. Saved 30 points by doing so. 2 bedroom lockoff lake view.

 

[LovePop]

DONE----25 plus years annual at the Grand Floridian- Club Level -outer buildings- etc- great times but completely DONE now.
So many factors and now the cost cutting termination of the Lobby Orchestra is just ridiculous and the last straw.
Have experienced other cost cutting measures before this. This is not a deluxe hotel. They do not care about their loyal guests.
Have many stories of great employees at the GF that have become friends and they try to exist in an environment that is a
constant battle for them with management / benefits etc. But they still put their magical happy face on every day.
How many years of making reservations as a loyal customer a year in advance
and arrival day just full of surprises and bungled reservations and sticking you in rooms you did not ask for to then transfer
later to what you had reserved. Just insanity. This happened a lot.
Worst management in the last many years. Employees try to stay long but still get screwed or have new supervisors that don't
know jack and they leave.

Well it's a whole new world and the newcomers will be very scaled back as will loyal customers like us. You will need to try to reinvent your services, guest
experience and loyalty to your guests. In the past they always had a fresh supply of newcomers so they didn't have to be as service oriented as say the Four Seasons. This old way of doing business is gone.
This resort is not worth your hard earned dollars.
FOUR SEASONS if we decide to return to DW

No, don't! Don't give up on the Grand! Four Seasons is nothing compared to the Grand, seriously. You just need to suck it up and learn from Garfield the Cat's wise saying: If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations!
In the years to come, I am expecting to pay more and get less at WDW. Just accept it and enjoy what's there. Focus on the positive. Otherwise, imagine life without the Grand. Not a good life, I assure you.

Please, do reconsider!

 

[wdwfan22]

We left the Grand a couple years ago after to many poor interactions with Resort management and an overall decline is amenities, service and accommodations. Four seasons is great but if you still want the Disney feeling Yacht Club has been a nice replacement.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Honestly if you're looking for a 5-Star Disney Hotel, you're in Fantasy Land. I've never had bad service and the CM have always been top notch, especially in the club lounges. The main problem is the GF has been basically untouched since it was built 33 years ago. Yes there've been soft good room updates and maybe some new paint and wallpaper, but the basic shell is deteriorated and out of date. The Contemporary too is virtually there with it's late 90's motif getting very dated. (As compared to say Grand Destino or The Riviera, or even the VGF. )

But given the current situation, it's very unlikely that anything but bandaids will be applied for the near future.

Agree...it never was what those that flock there claim it to be.

Firsthand on this one...not just opinion.

This is where I differ...
To the original poster: at least you won’t get ripped off by the “club level” anymore...that is frankly the biggest scam in the history of disney.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We left the Grand a couple years ago after to many poor interactions with Resort management and an overall decline is amenities, service and accommodations. Four seasons is great but if you still want the Disney feeling Yacht Club has been a nice replacement.

It’s their “marginal” management approach. Blue ocean.

They look at every penny and if they don’t determine it will be a deal killer for you...it’s gone. It’s a cumulative effect that breaks the camel’s back at some point.