The New Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa FAQ (March 09)

[praline3001]

Veruca A spontaneous trip to the GF ! How nice...

Brook I have a question about the cake you are ordering from PD....would like to do something like this on our next trip too...for DD...did IPO send you a PD menu to see the options...or did you just ask about the key lime pie... did they place the order for you?? I'd like something other than a traditional cake too...just not sure what....

I knew I wanted a key lime pie rather than a birthday cake. My Ryan HATES birthday cakes so this is usually the norm for his birthday.
Ipo had the PD chef call me over the phone to discuss it. I never saw a menu ... we have ordered the key lime pie more than once its REALLY good.
He is just making a regular key lime pie and decorating it for a birthday. I didnt give him any exact instructions.... hell its for a 12 year old boy~ he dont care what it LOOKS like~~~ just how it tastes!
He knows no girlie flowers or nothing like that...

 

[praline3001]

Here is a picture I had of one of the slices of key lime we have gotten from PD for a late night snack
Isnt it PURTY?! It tastes EVEN BETTER ... that and their french onion soup are my favs!

(Kelly if you want to use this pic I dont care)

 

[BlueSkies]

Blue Skies - if you have ANY idea of what you might want or are thinking of Private Dining will work with you to come up with something. Give them a call and hopefully you will wind up speaking with somebody helpful.

Veruca

Veruca Thanks for that idea... and thanks to you too Brook...I just thought if you called the GF it would be to speak with some one who handles only traditional cakes...I am going to call PD...maybe they will have some non traditional cake ideas for me...I would love to surprise my DD she dosent like Key Lime pie (although tht pic looks yummy!)...but maybe a chocolate cream pie....we all love all things chocolate....

 

[praline3001]

Blue~ you could also order one of the chocolate Mickeys to be delivered~ if she likes chocolate

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Brook, the key lime pie is a great idea. It looks so yummy! Is that a chocolate crust that I see on the picture? You gave me a great idea for our next trip! thanks

 

[praline3001]

to be honest I don't remember about the crust

 

[tinklvr64]

Hey GF Gals....

Less than a week!!!!!!!

 

[BlueSkies]

Hey GF Gals....

Less than a week!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[goofygal531]

OK I looked at the parking options at CBR and I think we are going to book a PIRATE room

Hi Brook!

We stayed at CBR one Thanksgiving trip, it was a last minute trip and the only resort available. It was nice. DH complained about the bus service and vowed never to stay in a Mod again but he's a resort snob.

For your purpose, it will work out perfectly. We had a preferred room in Trinadad North. The fastest way to the food court was thru the parking lot. The scenic route by the lake took an additional 10 mins Parking lots are RIGHT behind the buildings, very close. You'll be fine.

Just one word of caution, they have NO ELEVATORS! Make sure to request first floor or you'll be lugging your luggage up and down the stairs.

Also, call the bellman the night before with your pick up time. We called at 6am and they told us they'll be able to get our luggage by 8am. But we always tend to have issues with bellman (everywhere BUT GF! ) BWI was another nightmare! They told us 30 mins, we walked our luggage down and saw 4 guys hanging out doing nothing at bell services!

Are you doing another pre-trip report? I love your reports!

Hi everyone else! I finally found you guys!

Mare

 

[praline3001]

Thanks Mare~ for our purposes I thought it would work and the pirate rooms are adorable!

We will check in some time after dinner I am sure, order pizza in the room and get ready for our GF the next day.

Glad to hear the parking is close. I did ask to put it on my ressies I wanted to be close as possible to the parking.
IF we are, I guess I will just toss the luggage back in and drive to the GF.

If we are in the boondocks I will have bell services move it for me I don't want to strain my back on my first morning

I have decided not to do a pre trip report for personal and security reasons LOL
Still up in the air about doing a TR afterwards~ Though I always come home with tons of photos

 

[mmmears]

I think that staying one night in the Pirate rooms is a great idea! They look like so much fun and so well-themed, too! Unfortunately, we'd have a hard time spending a week at a mod , but I'd love to spend one day there. The new pirate pool looks like fun, too. It's a good way to get into the Disney mood!

Brook, are you doing the VIP tours again? After reading your last TR I SO wanted to book one, but with the economy the way it is and the number of nights that we're staying at WDW ($$$) we decided against it. Hopefully we'll get a birthday fastpass for DHS (where I really wanted the guide) and with that we'll be able to squeeze it all in.

Have a great trip!

 

[praline3001]

I think that staying one night in the Pirate rooms is a great idea! They look like so much fun and so well-themed, too! Unfortunately, we'd have a hard time spending a week at a mod , but I'd love to spend one day there. The new pirate pool looks like fun, too. It's a good way to get into the Disney mood!

Brook, are you doing the VIP tours again? After reading your last TR I SO wanted to book one, but with the economy the way it is and the number of nights that we're staying at WDW ($$$) we decided against it. Hopefully we'll get a birthday fastpass for DHS (where I really wanted the guide) and with that we'll be able to squeeze it all in.

Have a great trip!

No, I am not doing Disneys VIP's this trip. I was but got the new price increase ~ OUCH almost double the cost as it was back in june. I am playing around with the idea of maye hiring mikes VIP service. I talked to them a few times and I really like the guy I spoke to on the phone. The have the same basic services with some minor differences ~ some of the differences are actually better than the Disney VIP guides.... They are also a heck of a lot cheaper!

The one thing I am REALLY excited about is our 1900 park fare dinner. I am having a very adorable Drizzilla costume made for Savannah~ complete with hoop skirt! She is really excited about wearing it! She is hoping the steps will get a kick out of their very own little clone!

Still thinking about doing the tea party with sleeping beauty but Savannah is getting a little old for that and the same goes with the Alice and mad hatter tea party. I think she would enjoy a mani and pedi at the spa more than either of those!

For my son's birthday, DH and him are having MAN DAY. He is taking him over to Universal and IOA. This is one good thing about having our car! DH bought a set of those VIP passes so they can get FOTL all day long~ even with the new coaster that is supposed to open this spring. Ryan loves the bigger more thrilling rides IOA has so he will love this suprise~ he doesn't have a CLUE and won't until they pull up in Universal parking lot

But because of this~ Savannah and I will have to entertain ourselves for the day I am up in the air which way to go just yet!

 

[mmmears]

It's so nice that you can still dress up your DD -- mine's too old for that now. She doesn't even want to bring a dress with us!

What's the diff between TGM & the Dis VIPs? When I looked up the VIP pricing, we were shocked (going during peak time doesn't help!). I was really hoping it would work, since we always have trouble at DHS and never have enough time to squeeze it all in (and this is before TSM opened).

The FOTL passes are great -- we used them the one time we went to Universal Hollywood and were able to cover the whole park in half a day, including riding things multiple times. I'm sure they'll have a fun day at IOA. My DD's friend has 2 older brothers and it's their favorite destination in Orlando!

We're planning to do the regular tea at the GF since we've always enjoyed that. And I'm thinking about the Surfing lessons at TL, too. I was looking at Discovery Cove, but that's also a ton of money for one day of play, so I'm thinking that's out for now.

I wish we could drive to WDW -- it would be so much easier to pack -- and so much less stress (I hate flying). But, we'd next an extra week on both ends of the trip just for the drive!

Nice to see you back on the boards, planning again!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Brooke - just so you know that fast passes that you buy for Universal are only good once for each ride. You might be better off getting the least expensive on-site Universal hotel for one night just to give you UNLIMITED fast passes!

My dds have done the my first mani and my first facial at the GF spa and loved them. They're doing the my first facial and my first pedi this trip (even though we're staying at BC instead of GF this trip).

 

[BlueSkies]

Hi Mare...Glad that you found us!! And as always the info girl...I didnt remember that there were no elevators at CBR...but then we did only stay for one night...

Brook Maybe a request for a ground floor room would be a good idea and easy on the back too... For a nice mother daughter day maybe a trip over to EPCOT..visit Japan do the pick a pearl and have some lunch in one of the countries...Just a thought...maybe the Kim Possible thing..I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you do...

 

[praline3001]

It's so nice that you can still dress up your DD -- mine's too old for that now. She doesn't even want to bring a dress with us!

Oh she has a whole new set of sundresses this trip! She is out of the princess stuff but thinks its going to be HYSTERICAL to go as one of the step sister to the 1900 meal I tend to agree~ we are going to have a blast!! I am purposely getting extremely early ADRS so it won't be crowded and we can get extra time with the steps for photos!

Brooke - just so you know that fast passes that you buy for Universal are only good once for each ride. You might be better off getting the least expensive on-site Universal hotel for one night just to give you UNLIMITED fast passes!

You can now buy the unlimited Fp and that is what my DH did. They came in the mail yesterday. They can ride every ride as many times as they would like.
AND they can still stay at the GF!

Brook Maybe a request for a ground floor room would be a good idea and easy on the back too.

I requested to be as close to the parking lot as possible. I am going to guess that a parking lot view is not a top booking room I am sure we will get what I want no problems! It will most likely be getting dark when we get there so what use is a view?!
The only thing is that curtain with the skull staring at you CREEPY

My dds have done the my first mani and my first facial at the GF spa and loved them. They're doing the my first facial and my first pedi this trip (even though we're staying at BC instead of GF this trip).

We have a spa close to home we visit and she loves getting facials with me. Just not sure if she will want more park time or not

 

[BlueSkies]

mmears We're doing the regular afternoon tea also...DD and I really enjoy this...last trip I bought her the Alice in Wondrland tea for one tea pot and cup set...it is adorable!! (Kelly I'm sure you must have this too...)

 

[mmmears]

Brook,

I remember seeing all those cute sundresses on your last trip report! Your DD looked so adorable (and comfortable) in them. We never dressed our DD up in all the Disney costumes on our trips when she was little, because it was so hot & humid and the costumes were "itchy".

I love the idea of dressing up like one of the stepsisters -- I bet that they'll love that! I mean, they must get lots of little Cinderellas there every day, but how many kids will come dressed up as Druzilla?

Are you getting the same kind of cute sundresses as last time? They looked so well-made and comfortable.



BlueSkies,

Isn't the afternoon tea so nice and relaxing? I'm so excited that we can fit it into our busy schedule. It's something of a tradition for us. The first time our DD was 2 years old and I was so nervous when they served her with the Royal Doulton china. Even though she was a perfect little lady there, it's so easy for a 2-year old to break things!

This trip we wont be at the GF, so it will be a little bittersweet going over there to visit. I just hope I'm happy with where we are staying -- if not, it will be torture to venture over to the GF!

 

[praline3001]

mmears We're doing the regular afternoon tea also...DD and I really enjoy this...last trip I bought her the Alice in Wondrland tea for one tea pot and cup set...it is adorable!! (Kelly I'm sure you must have this too...)

I saw that tea cup set! It was adorable! I almost..almost bought ~ but decided not to.
One of our possibilities is doing the afternoon tea. BUT Savannah is at an age that when we were in SL in June she considered tea time in the club lounge afternoon tea
I was good with that
Funny side story~ we were having tea in SL when my brother's family showed up at the GF. He called me on his cell to let me know he was in the lobby and to come get him~ So I made Savannah leave her scones and jelly and tea with the attendant so we could show him back to SL... we get in the lobby and my angel puts her hands on her hips and tells her uncle "Uncle Jeff, you interrupted my tea and crumpets!" The look on my brothers face was PRICELESS~ he said "I think you have been staying at the GF a little too long missy!"

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Wow - that's great to know about the unlimited fast passes. We haven't done Universal in several years but maybe we'll go over there one day as long as we can buy those fastpasses.

Thanks!