Reviews of Grand Floridian Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by auntie3187 Review Date: 02/19/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
My friend and I stayed at the Grand Floridian Room 9439 from 2/10-2/16 which had a lagoon view. We found it to be a wonderful place to stay. Turn down service is a fine welcome back after a long day at the parks. Every cast member we ran into was very helpful and cheerful. Our room had a view of the lagoon and every night we were able to view the electric water pageant, which was quite beautiful.
Pros:
near Magic Kingdom and Monorail to EpcotCons:
only negative (which will be temporary) was the construction that was going on while i was thereReviewed by Mom2maddie Review Date: 05/03/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Stayed in Conch Key Bldg top fl dormer room for 5 nts recently. Nice room (garden view) and could see lagoon and elec water pageant at night! Boat to MK and monorail to Epcot can't be beat. Only downside was lengthy walk for bus drop at HS and then very long wait for bus at night!
Housekeeping was best we've ever had and turndown is nice! My daughter wrote our maid a thank you note and we left her a nice tip because she was so good! Service in hotel and restaurants and pool bars was good as well. Would stay here again if I get the chance and will try for the new DVC that is being built.
Pros:
Location, room, serviceCons:
Bus to/from HSReviewed by 1283alex Review Date: 05/23/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Having stayed @ almost all of the Disney resorts, the Grand Floridian is by far the crème de la crème of Disney properties. The location to the Magic Kingdom & the monorail is an asset. The lobby is grand & relaxing to sit and listen to the piano players & orchestra. All of the staff are courteous & professional. Upon our last stay, the only disappointment was the lack of cleanliness detail to the room. We were surprised to discover this. The balcony had beer caps on the ground from previous guests. In addition, a child's ponytail holder from a previous guest was found on the floor and a purchase sticker from Best Buy was found stuck to the nightstand. Clearly housekeeping did not carefully take their time when cleaning the room. We didn't complain to management, but in retrospect, we should have. The food court needs to get rid of the arcade games which are loud and distracting. They need to take these out and provide more seating for guest. Despite these few floors, we love the Floridian & will return.
Pros:
Location, lobby, courteous staffCons:
room cleanliness, food courtReviewed by missy Review Date: 07/30/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Room could have been cleaned up better. Glass doors were dirty. Floor not vacuumed properly. Bathroom floor not cleaned every day. Fruit flies on food in concierge. Told CM and they said they knew of it. We were in main building. That was nice because of not leaving building to get on monorail when it was raining to get to other resorts on monorail.
Pros:
on monorailCons:
not the cleanest roomReviewed by BermudaJen Review Date: 09/01/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed at GF during last week of August 2013. The main building is beautiful. We stayed in an outer building (Conch Key) which we requested in advance. We had views of MK and fireworks every night from our balcony and were just steps away from the boat launch and Narcoossee's. The only (somewhat negative) aspect is having to walk to main building for monorail/busses and Gaparilla's to refill mugs. However, our experience was wonderful. Once you stay at GF, you don't want to stay at other Disney resorts.
Pros:
Location, beautiful grounds, amenitiesCons:
NoneReviewed by NINALINDA1023 Review Date: 11/02/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We love the Grand Floridian Resort, we have stayed there many times. This resort is like no other. The service you get is incredible. Yes it is a little expensive but worth every penny. For being a deluxe resort you would never feel more comfortable.
Pros:
WE LOVE THIS RESORT, IT IS ALWAYS CLEAN, THE STAFF IS WONDERFULCons:
NOT A THINGReviewed by Wendy55 Review Date: 01/25/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
Stayed here in early January and could not have had a nicer experience. Staff is always friendly - Kim at Gasparilla Grill is wonderful! Minzer's Lounge is a great place to sit, listen to music and enjoy a glass of wine.
Pros:
Beautiful rooms - friendly staff -Cons:
NoneReviewed by BWK0701 Review Date: 06/23/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
This was our third stay at the Grand Floridian so we have always been very happy staying there but this time was exceptional. The rooms have been renovated and are done very well. All the staff members we encountered seemed to be at their best, from the front desk to house keeping! Love the turn down service and on our last day my daughter received a rose on her bed, a very nice touch that we never experienced before. I would highly recommend staying here, both of my children love staying here as well.
Pros:
EVERYTHING !!!Cons:
—Reviewed by RSZB Review Date: 06/29/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
This was my first stay at the Grand Floridian Resort. I had concerns about the resort feeling too “upscale†for us, but it had the most reasonable room rate available on the monorail for the 2 nights (June 23-25) we wanted. I reserved an outer building lagoon view room, but was upgraded to the Royal Palm Club in room (4319) in the main building! This was a girls’ trip and the deluxe queen room was beautiful and very large with a view of the pool and Wishes fireworks from the balcony. Our room was located very close to the monorail station.
Our room was on the 3rd floor where 2 concierge desks were located. We had access to the 4th floor lounge via internal stairs or elevator. The lounge offered food and beverages 4 times throughout the day. There were usually 2 cast members attending to replenishing the refreshments. The offerings were varied, delicious, and plentiful. The lounge overlooks the lobby and is especially nice during the live music performances. A pianist plays Disney tunes from late afternoon to early evening and then a band plays until 10pm. There were a handful of shops located around the lobby which all had different operating hours.
It seemed there were more cast members here than at other resorts. They were professional, friendly, and helpful. The turn down service was a nice touch.
We used the monorail to and from the Magic Kingdom. It was stuffy and warm with a distinct lack of air flow on all occasions. Is this a side effect of the work being done?
We only used the bus service once. Due to the modified monorail schedule, a bus ran directly to EPCOT for Extra Magic Morning Hours.
The boat service was efficient enough. We used it a couple times. One night we used it after 11pm from Magic Kingdom, since the posted monorail closing time was 11pm. The boat dock was completely full and another boat was summoned to help with volume.
One evening, we walked around the grounds to get a sense for the whole resort. The pool slide was open past 10pm as was the water play area. Both inside and outside areas seem huge to me, but it didn’t feel crowded anywhere. There was construction work going on in the Sugar Loaf building.
I would recommend the Grand Floridian Royal Palm Club level rooms if you are committed to taking advantage of the extra services. I can only hope to be able to stay here again!
Pros:
location,Cons:
limited monorail during our stayReviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/22/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My friend and I stayed here for the first time for one night, 8/18-8/19. I gave him the choice between a theme park view room at the Contemporary or an outer building garden view here, and this is what he chose. During online check in, I requested either Boca Chica or Big Pine Key, with the hopes of getting a pool view, but put in no further requests.
My friend stopped to check us in around 8:30am. When I arrived around 10, I stopped at the security guard shack, feeling I’d rather be safe than sorry about trying to use my band at the registered guests side. The guard was rather cross with me. He scanned my band, asked me what I was doing there, then requested to see photo ID. When I told him the reservation wasn’t in my name, he said he needed to see ID of the person who it was under-that has never happened to me before. My friend is a CM so he often goes to register us before we arrive and no other resort has given us this trouble. When I explained that he had already been to check in the guard rudely told me to just go in and park.
With that out of the way, I parked in the self-serve lot and took my bags in to Bell Services. Our room was not ready yet so I boarded the monorail to Magic Kingdom. The monorail was the only transportation we used at this resort but we never really had any problems. There was one time when they needed to reboot the system, which resulted in the A/C being turned off for a few minutes, but that was a very minor inconvenience.
Around 1:30, I received a text that our room was 8426 (Boca Chica) and it was ready, so I immediately headed back, stopping to pick up my bags on the way. It’s like the room assigners knew exactly what I wanted! We were on the fourth floor and had a nice view of the courtyard pool and grounds. The room itself was beautiful and I really like the new décor; I feel it’s much less stuffy than the old pastels and floral designs. I also got a kick out of the GF monogram on the throw pillows, as those are my initials! We had a connecting door and the insulation was very thin; at 3am I could hear the neighbors’ phone ringing and them sneezing.
We ate at Grand Floridian Café and Gasparilla’s Island Grill; both were very good. We enjoyed both pools and I thought the slide at the Beach Pool was the second best I’ve been on (beat only by Boardwalk). The lounge chairs were cushioned, not the plastic ones at all other resorts, and there was a cast member from the poolside bar wandering around checking to see if anyone needed drinks or food.
There was a commercial being filmed in the lobby for Disney Parks online, so we were politely asked to move from the couch we were occupying as to not be in the shot.
Like a previous poster, I was concerned about this resort feeling too upscale, as it has in the past when I’ve visited. However, it was very enjoyable for the night and I would consider a longer stay, if only I could afford it!
