Grand Floridian Tips/Secrets/Advice

[bethymouse]

Book a reservation at Narcoossee's at 9pm. Yes it's late. Yes it's an expensive signature restaurant, but they pipe the music in and around the outside "porch", and you have a perfectly beautiful and romantic view of the Wishes fireworks! I had the best service there ever ( comes in second to Flying Fish Cafe at Boardwalk). Ask when Richard the greeter works. He's a dapper young (90 year old) gentleman that is a must meet!

 

[jrogue]

Have any of you used it, and more importantly, is it worth $61/day/person?

My family uses it every time, but it depends on how much you eat. If your family eats very little it is not worth it, as it is a LOT of food. My family eats a lot, so it is definitely worth it for us.

 

[rle4lunch]

Thanks everyone, good advice coming in. We're leaning toward doing the dining plan just because we like to visit the nicer restaurants for dinner time around 3-4 times a trip. When we do, we kinda scrimp on what we get because it's too expensive. With the dining plan, you don't have to worry about that, right?

 

[Seanual757]

We do the dining plan (quick service) every time we stay it's well worth it, we actually came home with a bunch of drinks and snacks this trip.

 

[Missymoe4]

Thanks everyone, good advice coming in. We're leaning toward doing the dining plan just because we like to visit the nicer restaurants for dinner time around 3-4 times a trip. When we do, we kinda scrimp on what we get because it's too expensive. With the dining plan, you don't have to worry about that, right?

I always do the dining plan because we eat a lot and certainly don't scrimp. Another thing to consider: during the summer and probably other "high season" times, character buffet prices are a lot higher. I believe last time we paid $59.99/adult (we were a party of 4 adults) at Chef Mickey's in August. For us, the dining plan is way cheaper, plus we get to eat at the character buffets and have steak dinners. We also travel without children, so that is a huge difference for my party as opposed to parties with children.

If I didn't eat that much or had children, I would definitely weigh out the cost. My best advice is to go through some of the menus and weigh the prices out.

Also, different times of the year may reflect different pricing for some places (such as Chef Mickey's).
This website seems to have some information for you to look through. http://www.themouseforless.com/walt-disney-world/dining/seasonal/

Good luck!!

Btw: I'm booked at the GF beginning end of July through first week in August.

 

[cbconglom]

Don't pay for dining plan - only worth it if it is free! You have more freedom.

sadly when staying at a deluxe and paying rack rate for the room the "free" dining plan costs you more then booking the room with the usual 30% discount available.

also (and no one be offended by this) if you feel obligated to load up on junk food that you have to haul back just to use up all your snack credits in order to get your moneys worth, is that really a good value?
if you want to save money you could look into garden grocer delivery. or bring your own snacks. and if you're not worried about it then just buy what you buy and feel good knowing you don't have credits you have to use up to make sure you're getting that value. I ate table service for all the meals of my 5 day trip for $400. so the dining plan would of cost me more.

disney rarely does things to genuinely save you money. they offer the plan because it works in their favor.

on a more positive note, the grand flo is my favorite resort. i stayed there for the first time oct 2015 and went right back dec 2015. i will always stay there when i can. the spa is great. citricos is great. the grounds are so peaceful in the morning. definitely quickly gauge the line for the boat and the resort monorail to see what seems best. some of the boats are small like said above. i also really enjoy walking so sometimes when the express monorail line is short i will take that to the TTC and walk through poly grounds and to the grand flo. again a little long of a walk but pretty. suppose it depends if you are tired of being crammed around people more then tired feet

 

[rle4lunch]

I've stayed at the Poly 3 times in the 80's when I was a kid, back then it was still $300+/night, so we ruled that one out this time. Surprisingly, the GF gave us the best military rate from all the deluxe hotels. We've stayed at Shades of Green before (and I stayed there in the 80's when it was the Golf Resort condos), but we now have a kid who will be 18 months old when we visit in December, so we wanted to be as close a possible to get back to the room for naps and such. We've stayed at moderate resorts on site as well, but we're really excited to stay at the GF at Christmastime. We were stationed in San Diego for the last 5 years (we're now stationed outside of Washington DC) so we went to DL about 3 times a year. We stayed at the Grand Californian twice (once with a FREE upgrade to a 2000 sqft penthouse), the Disneyland Resort twice and Paradise Pier once (don't recommend this crappy resort to anyone). We loved the Grand Californian and DL resort. The GF reminds us of the Hotel Del Coronado where we were stationed at last, so we can't wait to stay there.

We're not into junk food, but I know we probably spend at least $10-15/day per person on drinks alone walking the park. Then $25-30 on dinners each and then breakfast is about $12-15/person, so I think the dining plan would equal what we're spending on food anyway.

Do you have to buy the dining plan to correspond with how many days you're staying at the resort or can you modify it?

 

[KTM1799]

Staying at GF in December, I booked a bay view room. Is their a particular building or room that anyone would suggest I ask for?

 

[Chezman1399]

Hello all. I was hoping to gain some insight on the Grand Floridian. We just booked our trip for the first week of December 2016 and I was hoping to get a little bit of inside knowledge on the resort if possible. We've been to many DL/WDW resorts before, but this is the first for the GF. We've visited it at Christmastime and know about the big gingerbread house and live music as well, but are there any tidbits of info on resort offerings and/or little known amenities that we should be on the lookout for? Thanks for any insight!

It looks like everyone has given you some great tips already, so I'll just say I never stayed at the Grand Floridian until a couple years ago. When my late wife and I got married and bought into DVC at the Animal Kingdom and when we realized how far away AKL was, we bought at Grand Floridian and absolutely loved it. I personally never wanted to stay at GF, it never seemed as fun to me as Poly, and always seemed really spread out, but it was amazing. To me, it may have the best staff at any hotel in WDW. You have 5 sit down restaurants plus the afternoon Tea area, I'm a huge Tea drinker and we did this the first time we ever stayed at GF. You have a small, but nice quick service area. There are a number of shops. 3 bars if members of your party enjoy an adult beverage or 2. Due to the lobby being so large, it is one of the more relaxing lobbies in WDW. You are just a monorail stop away from MK, you can take the monorail 3 stops to get to the TTC and head to Epcot or walk through the Polynesian which is also a very short walk away. Overall, you just have a lot of options, nice rooms, great location, and amazing cast.

One mistake I see people make is they think you can walk from MK to GF, but you can't. I see 1 or 2 families every night after park close who see the boat is packed and the monorail is packed and they start walking down the walkway towards the GF.

 

[DisneyJeff]

One mistake I see people make is they think you can walk from MK to GF, but you can't. I see 1 or 2 families every night after park close who see the boat is packed and the monorail is packed and they start walking down the walkway towards the GF.

In my opinion, that is the nicest "pathway to nowhere" on property. It has great scenery and is well-lit.

Seriously, it would be nice if that path did actually run to the GF. I know that it doesn't because of the canal where they keep the water parade floats. Perhaps some type of drawbridge could be used. (Wishful thinking, I guess.)

 

[Tuvalu]

Staying at GF in December, I booked a bay view room. Is their a particular building or room that anyone would suggest I ask for?

Boca Chica

 

[rle4lunch]

It looks like everyone has given you some great tips already, so I'll just say I never stayed at the Grand Floridian until a couple years ago. When my late wife and I got married and bought into DVC at the Animal Kingdom and when we realized how far away AKL was, we bought at Grand Floridian and absolutely loved it. I personally never wanted to stay at GF, it never seemed as fun to me as Poly, and always seemed really spread out, but it was amazing. To me, it may have the best staff at any hotel in WDW. You have 5 sit down restaurants plus the afternoon Tea area, I'm a huge Tea drinker and we did this the first time we ever stayed at GF. You have a small, but nice quick service area. There are a number of shops. 3 bars if members of your party enjoy an adult beverage or 2. Due to the lobby being so large, it is one of the more relaxing lobbies in WDW. You are just a monorail stop away from MK, you can take the monorail 3 stops to get to the TTC and head to Epcot or walk through the Polynesian which is also a very short walk away. Overall, you just have a lot of options, nice rooms, great location, and amazing cast.

One mistake I see people make is they think you can walk from MK to GF, but you can't. I see 1 or 2 families every night after park close who see the boat is packed and the monorail is packed and they start walking down the walkway towards the GF.

Thanks for the info, good story! We always take the time to walk the GF whenever we're there, but we still didn't know about the 5 restaurants until after we booked it. Surprisingly enough, the GF had a better military rate than Poly and the Contemporary. We were planning for the contemporary (not because of the style, we're not really 'into' that type of styling) for the convenience factor and for the kid friendly character breakfast (our son will be a year and a half old when we go and we want to indoctrinate him early, lol). Regardless, we always wanted to stay at the GF, so we were pleasantly surprised that they were cheaper than the others.

 

[LAKid53]

In my opinion, that is the nicest "pathway to nowhere" on property. It has great scenery and is well-lit.

Seriously, it would be nice if that path did actually run to the GF. I know that it doesn't because of the canal where they keep the water parade floats. Perhaps some type of drawbridge could be used. (Wishful thinking, I guess.)

I always wondered what that canal was for. They have a drawbridge to accommodate moving the globe used in Illuminations, so it is doable. But they'd have to staff it during the times it would be used. But I agree, it's a great walking (I used it for a run) path and wouldn't mind being able to walk from either the Poly or GF to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[cbconglom]

Boca Chica

I also vote for boca chica

 

[RScottyL]

The lobby at the GF smells wonderful - I wish Disney would bottle that scent. As a matter of fact, all the Deluxe resort lobbies have their own unique fragrance.

Check here to see what they use:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/yo...y-smell-alert-update-new-smell-alert.2871411/

I have also read it could be this:

http://www.enviroscent.com/Green-Clover-Aloe-AccScent-HD-Scent-Cartridge

 

[Caryn220]

Don't really have any secrets considering a lot were stated but I'll tell you my opinion as I stayed there last January.

I've stayed at the contemporary twice and the poly once. After staying at the GF I can not stay anywhere else when I go with my family (on my own have to buget). The resort is beautiful, 2 pools, beach area, and the amazing lobby. 1900 park fare was great for breakfast and dinner. The grand Floridian cafe was great for breakfast if you do not want the buffet. The quick service at Gasperillas was also a good option to get a meal and snacks. Right outside of there, you can sit at night and watch the MK fireworks while music to wishes gets piped in. The convenience of the monorail is great as well. We stayed in the Big Pine Key building, the closest to the main building. I personally believe that the meal plan is worth it. Not having to worry about paying for meals is a huge relief. Depending on which plan you choose, you get a minimum of 2 meals and 1 snack. My family chose the 3 meal/2 snack option bexause we wanted to experience so many different sit down restaurants.

 

[rle4lunch]

Don't really have any secrets considering a lot were stated but I'll tell you my opinion as I stayed there last January.

I've stayed at the contemporary twice and the poly once. After staying at the GF I can not stay anywhere else when I go with my family (on my own have to buget). The resort is beautiful, 2 pools, beach area, and the amazing lobby. 1900 park fare was great for breakfast and dinner. The grand Floridian cafe was great for breakfast if you do not want the buffet. The quick service at Gasperillas was also a good option to get a meal and snacks. Right outside of there, you can sit at night and watch the MK fireworks while music to wishes gets piped in. The convenience of the monorail is great as well. We stayed in the Big Pine Key building, the closest to the main building. I personally believe that the meal plan is worth it. Not having to worry about paying for meals is a huge relief. Depending on which plan you choose, you get a minimum of 2 meals and 1 snack. My family chose the 3 meal/2 snack option bexause we wanted to experience so many different sit down restaurants.

Thanks for the reply. We're going to go ahead with the meal plan mainly for the reasons you stated as well. Great to know that we can watch the fireworks from there with the music playing (as our son will be 18 months old and might need to go to bed quickly afterward).

 

[Blairnicol]

I've been to WDW 20+ times and the GF is my favorite. It was the first place we ever stayed and where we went for my 30th birthday. My recommendations would be to make sure you make time for the pool, and take the boat as much as possible. It is always my favorite. I love walking to the Poly for breakfast, as I think they have better options than the GF. I would also recommend a monorail crawl of the MK resorts (including WL-take a boat from the Contemporary) to see the Christmas decorations.

 

[SW_matt]

Is the resort very spread out? we have not long been back from our last trip at OKW and although it was nice it just took ages to get anywhere and felt too far out of the loop as we were the furthest poss distance from the main building.

We visited GF for citricos and I was absolutely blown away but we definitely prefer the compact resorts (obviously a 5 minute walk is ok)

 

[Tuvalu]

Is the resort very spread out? we have not long been back from our last trip at OKW and although it was nice it just took ages to get anywhere and felt too far out of the loop as we were the furthest poss distance from the main building.

We visited GF for citricos and I was absolutely blown away but we definitely prefer the compact resorts (obviously a 5 minute walk is ok)

You can get from any location to another in 5 minutes or less.