Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

This is the third page of this review. For the first page, click here.

THE THEMING OF DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opened in July 1988, and recently completed a major renovation.

When it opened, it replaced the Contemporary Resort as Disney’s flagship resort, and remains Walt Disney World’s most expensive and loveliest resort.

(Some cast members at the Contemporary call the Grand Floridian the “red roof inn”; in turn, some Grand Floridian staff refer to the Contemporary as “the toaster.”)

It is also the Disney World resort hotel with the most remarkable on-site dining.

Any one of Victoria and Albert’s, Citricos, or Narcoossees would mark it with distinctive dining; to have all three is astonishing.

According to Disney World’s website, the Grand Floridian is

“a Victorian-style Disney Deluxe Resort distinguished as the flagship hotel of Walt Disney World Resort and offering world-class dining, entertainment and luxurious accommodations in its 6 striking red-gabled buildings. This magnificent hotel sits along the white-sand shores of Seven Seas Lagoon …With its gleaming white exterior, intricate gingerbread trim and gorgeous stained-glass domes, the Resort is an architectural marvel.”

The theming is sometimes claimed to reflect the design and grandeur of Flagler’s Florida hotels, which were meant to attract well-off Ohioans and northeasterners to his Florida East Coast railroad.

Anyone who has seen, for example, the remaining Flagler hotel buildings in St Augustine, will understand that this is nonsense.  [Read more →]

This is the second page of this review. For the first page, click here.

MORE ON DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

There are currently 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.

In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

A DVC property at the Grand Floridian will open in late October 2013. I’ll post a review of it in mid-November.

ROOMS AT DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

[Read more →]

TRUNDLE BEING REPLACED WITH FOLD-DOWN BED AT DISNEY’S PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT

Frequent (and terrific!!) commenter Barberella emailed a link to a page on PortOrleans.org showing the renovation of the Alligator Bayou rooms at Port Orleans Riverside resort.

You can see these under-construction photos by scrolling down this page.

The images answer the question of “what happens to the trundle beds now that queens going in?”

The Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside has been a godsend for larger families looking for affordable accommodations, as it is the only part of any moderate resort with standard rooms that can sleep 5.

It’s also the only standard moderate option for smaller families looking for three sleeping spaces to separate the kids.

In the un-renovated rooms, this was handled by a trundle bed that slid out from the side of one of the two full beds in the room, and fit between the door and that bed.

These rooms are very nicely sized (as are all moderate rooms) but not so big that it was easy to tell how a queen and a trundle would fit.

The answer?  As Barberella had noted in a comment last week, a fold-down bed is being incorporated into the furnishings of the long wall that also has the TV, dresser, table and such.

Check out the photos for how this will work, and thanks, Barberella!

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

THE MONORAIL RESORTS

The so-called “monorail resorts” at Walt Disney World are Disney’s Polynesian Village, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary resorts. (Full reviews begin at the links.)

These deluxe resorts are called monorail resorts because they are the only hotels at Walt Disney World with monorail stops.

They are among the most popular hotels at Walt Disney World…and may face an interesting future! [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA

Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort is the fifth best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.

(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.

Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, a monorail resort, has a lot of positives.

It is the third most convenient of the Disney World resorts, bested only by the Contemporary and the Polynesian.  The quality of dining at the resort is unparalleled. The overall architecture, and its associated Victorian detailing, is as delightful as is to be found at Walt Disney World.  Standard rooms–at ~440 square feet–are bigger than those at any other Disney-owned resort except for the rooms in the newer part of the Polynesian.

Its Disney Vacation Club offering, The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (reviewed separately at that link), is also marvelous.

On the other hand, it has perhaps the least kid appeal of any Disney-owned resort at Walt Disney World.

It’s the only Disney World resort with a restaurant (Victoria and Albert’s) that does not allow younger kids, and the only Disney World resort whose largest, most central pool (the Courtyard Pool) is not also the pool designed to most appeal to kids.

The kid-appealing pool, the Beach Pool, with waterfalls and a slide, is smaller and isolated on the south side of the resort.

The architecture and Victorian detailing, delightful to adults, will have no special appeal to most kids.  And the interior decorating scheme–the floors, walls, public furniture, paintings and such–will have little appeal to kids either.

Adults will recognize the decoration as typical of international high-end hotels that do not wish to risk for even a moment appearing stylish.  Those with comfortable elderly aunts will recognize the decor as well.

It’s not that kids aren’t welcome; kids are completely welcome (well, not at Victoria and Albert’s) and will have a ball here.  Rather, it’s that there’s next to nothing about the architecture, detailing, and ground plan of Disney’s Grand Victorian Resort and Spa that reinforces that welcome and makes the resort feel kid-appealing.

The resort is not stuffy or snobby–see Preston’s comment and my reply here–it’s just not that kid-appealing.

(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.) [Read more →]

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MORE ON DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

The Beach Club is one of 5 (or 7, if you count the Disney Vacation Club resorts separately) resorts within walking distance of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

(Boats also go to the both; most take the boat to the Studios–no faster than walking, but easier.)

These resorts–the Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, Swan, Dolphin, and the DVC villas at the Boardwalk and Beach Club–share a number of strengths thanks to their location. [Read more →]