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Grand Floridian Buildings
- Thread starter Mukta
- Start date
Tuvalu
Premium Member
The resort is fairly compact so from the farthest end to the other is only a 5-7 minute walk. That said:
Big Pine Key ~ closest to both pools (main and beach) and closest to the main building for monorail and restaurants
Boca Chica ~ central location. Close to main pool. Equal walk to main building, beach pool, boat dock and bus depot
Sago Cay ~ very close to bus depot and Gasparillas; furthest from the pools
Conch Key ~ furthest from the main building; close to boat dock; close to main pool
Sugarloaf is club only.
We have stayed in Big Pine, Boca Chica and Sago and enjoyed them all.
Big Pine Key ~ closest to both pools (main and beach) and closest to the main building for monorail and restaurants
Boca Chica ~ central location. Close to main pool. Equal walk to main building, beach pool, boat dock and bus depot
Sago Cay ~ very close to bus depot and Gasparillas; furthest from the pools
Conch Key ~ furthest from the main building; close to boat dock; close to main pool
Sugarloaf is club only.
We have stayed in Big Pine, Boca Chica and Sago and enjoyed them all.
Toad Hall
Member
Had a great stay in Big Pine a few years back. Booked a Garden View, but ended up with a view of the Lagoon (not MK, but Southward towards the Poly, which was great for us). As Tuvalu says, close to both pools and easy to get anywhere. Was good being near the beach when the fire alarm went off at 4:00 AM...kids entertained themselves in the sand while we waited. Upside? Free night in the GF for a short inconvenience!
imagination30
Well-Known Member
big pine key is awesome .. we stayed here in 2014 for marathon weekend it was awesome .. , we were looking out across the lagoon at the poly.. -, had the water pagent at our window everynight , the views in the morning were incredible. , and disneyest part about it , was we were close to the ttc that you could hear the boat horn.. lol- we are staying at the poly this year for marathon weekend..
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
I'm up in the air whether to stay at the GF. My concern is transportation to the other parks. We have always stayed at the AKL and didn't think the bus system was bad at all. GF looks over the top in its beauty. Great information - people have said the garden views are great too.
We've stayed at the GF the past three years as DVC members. We love the resort but are not big fans of the bus system. Positive is you are usually the last picked up, so your next stop is the parks. Negative is you are the last picked up and the bus could already be full. Also, you are the last dropped off on the way back from the park so it can seem like a really long trip back.
Sago Cay. If you manage to book a room at the end (Lagoon View but not facing the monorail), you've got a great view of Wishes. Plus, it's not too far from the restaurants (other than Narcoossee's) and far enough from the noise of the pools.
worldfanatic
Well-Known Member
DVC building.(one of my best WDW balcony views ever)
RickP330
Well-Known Member
We just booked August 2016 and our reservation says the following "outer bldg. - Theme park view". Any Idea which building I'll get? Is there anything I can do now to try and lock something in? We were strongly considering club level, but we are going to AKL after this and will do the club level there.
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Request Sago Cay. It has the best unobstructed (no trees) view of the castle and fireworks, and you can hear sounds from within the park (like howling from Haunted Mansion).
Do not request a 4th floor room. Those rooms are dormer rooms with enclosed balconies, so you would have to be standing outside on said balcony in order to appreciate the view.
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Google Grand Floridian Resort and you'll see maps and photos
jmargarone27
Active Member
I always stay in Boca Chica unless we do club level. It's my favorite location
Hulacat
Active Member
Just stayed in Boca Chica last month, we had a lagoon view but there was a tree in the middle of our view. Even with that, we had a nice view one one side of the fireworks at Epcot and MK fireworks on the other, plus a side view of the Electric Water Pageant. Wish I could bottle the smell and feel of Grand Floridian!!
Hulacat
Active Member
Is it possible to see MK from DVC rooms- and if so, how often are requests granted for those rooms?
worldfanatic
Well-Known Member
I could see the fireworks very clearly from my DVC balcony.
I was in a standard view studio and requested high floor level, which was given.
Some of the Villas face the other way, with the monorail right in front and the Poly on the left. (But that might be pretty cool)
RickP330
Well-Known Member
Google Grand Floridian Resort and you'll see maps and photos
Okay Thanks a bunch!!!
So what do you feel is the best way to increase our odds of getting such a room. Is this something I can request now or 60 days in advance? Or do I need to wait until I check in to make such a request?
Much TIA
Rick
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Call Disney reservations at your convenience and have the cast member add "requests Sago Cay" to your reservation. You may even make it more specific by saying, "requests 2nd or 3rd floor Sago Cay" (to avoid being given a 4th floor dormer room.) Since you have booked theme park view room, there is no need to add that request. When your online check in option opens at 60 days, you can also check the box for Sago Cay.
When you actually check in at the resort (avoid the direct-to-room option which bypasses the front desk), ask the cast member if your Sago request was honored (they can tell you even if your room is not ready.) At that point if the answer is no, you can ask if any Sago rooms are available. At our visit in June, our request had not been honored and we asked if there was any availability in the building we wanted. One phone call later we were able to switch.
Disney will tell you requests are not guaranteed, and we have had that happen to us. But we still like to do everything we can to increase our chance of getting the room location we want.
We have had two wonderful summer stays (2014 & 2015) at the GF
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