Mystery Woman w/Teddy Bears at Grand Floridian Mystery Solved!!

Tracy J

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
17
Sorry the other 'thread' was closed. That is a new term to me.

The lady who is always at the Grand Floridian Hotel is my sister, Lynn, who lives near there and is definitely Not homeless.

Her late Husband, Bruce, used to be there often, too, but would often go off and do other things while Lynn listened to the music.

She takes her bags of teddy bears with her everywhere and has for many many years.

Lynn has a terrific sense of humor, but she does hear the beat to a different drummer, as the old saying goes.

Bruce suddenly passed away from a brain aneurysm October of 2007, which was a shock to all of us. He had a fantastic sense of humor as well, and the two of them couldn't have been more perfectly matched.

Lynn will be 67 in March, so she isn't as old as some thought. I am 65, and at times, websites like this one are somewhat of a struggle for me to figure out how to use, so I hope you will be patient with me.

Even as a child Lynn was rather overly imaginative. I remember when one night she got me to drag her into our closet so she could pretend she was a doll and 'catch' all of the toys come 'alive' when the rest of us were asleep. She was probably around 7 or 8 at the time. She was dissappointed the next morning that none had come to life, but she reasoned it all out that the toys must have realized that she was really a human and not a real toy.

So, Lynn is not homeless, but she is OCD. One day she will no doubt tire of going to the GF and go off into something else.

She and Bruce used to love to hand out teddy bears to children, but only after asking the children's parent's permission first. They have been going to Disney since it opened, and have spent a small fortune there, taking 4 kids there very often, spending almost more time in the place where people camp than at their own home, renting golf carts. So, if anyone thinks either of them were or are freeloaders, they are very wrong.

The person who wrote #43 on the original site about my sister needs to learn compassion for those less fortunate than she is. With the way the world is today, she could be homeless right now. I hope that is NOT the case, but if it is, I can't help but wonder if she would even give a thought to what she wrote about homeless people when many thought Lynn might be, and she really didn't like the idea of Lynn being in the hotel if she was homeless. I seem to remember that she didn't even want Lynn there if she wasn't a guest at the hotel. My goodness, don't you think there are literally thousands of people that go into these hotels to eat in the restaurants, or listen to the music, etc. It is a public place.

Lynn has a LOT of friends at the hotel, as well as a few like the above person, who resent her being there daily.

Who is she hurting? No one.

At any rate, I hope this satisfies everyone's curiosity. Thanks to all of you who were kind in your remarks about her.

Lynn's Sister,
Tracy Joan
Nashville, TN
 


Thank you for your post.

I have visited the GF many times and believe I have seen your sister. I don't have much of an imagination, but had created my own story about her, and why she was there. I imagined that Lynn was a well-to-do lady who enjoyed the genteel environment of the GF, who was quite the grand dame in her youth! I imagined her in her 20's, out dancing until the wee hours of the morning with many gentlemen swooning at the sight of her beauty, until finally a very handsome and exciting man swept her off her feet, and they lived happily ever after until she was widowed. Then with her alone, she decided to visit the GF and revisit her younger days.

So it appears that part of my story is correct. :)
 
Thank you for sharing this! I hope that I get the opportunity to meet her one day! :hug:
 
Great story! #43 be darned! I'm taking my teddy bear, Dimples, over to meet your sister and her bears next month!
 
Thank you for sharing. I have always been uncomfortable with the posts about your sister as I felt that many were prying as to why she was there. It is certainly no business of ours, but I do thank you for coming to post.

I hope that your sister continues to have pleasure in the future. :)
 
I like to visit at the GF on trips and will look for your sister.
:goodvibes
 
I have seen your sister and she always seemed like a sweet woman. Next time, I will go up and introduce myself to her.:goodvibes
 
Thank you for explaining about your sister. I have met her and visit her every time we visit, which is every couple of months. I have even introduced her to my family this past September. She is a lovely woman.
 
We frequent the GF, and just this last trip had the pleasure of meeting your sister. We enjoy her company, and look forward to talking with her again in February. We love that she comes and sits there everyday.

Thank you for sharing,

Super.
 
Hi Linda. I loved your imaginative story about Lynn and her genteel earlier life. She would get a kick out of that!

I have just now figured out how to Answer all of you who have sent such Nice emails about Lynn. I will try to get to each before I go to bed, but if not, I will answer all tomorrow.......12/28/09

And, yes, Linda, you did get part of Lynn's story right! I will tell all of you a few funny things that have happened to Lynn later, if any are interested. Just let me know.

A Belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
Joan

Thank you for your post.

I have visited the GF many times and believe I have seen your sister. I don't have much of an imagination, but had created my own story about her, and why she was there. I imagined that Lynn was a well-to-do lady who enjoyed the genteel environment of the GF, who was quite the grand dame in her youth! I imagined her in her 20's, out dancing until the wee hours of the morning with many gentlemen swooning at the sight of her beauty, until finally a very handsome and exciting man swept her off her feet, and they lived happily ever after until she was widowed. Then with her alone, she decided to visit the GF and revisit her younger days.

So it appears that part of my story is correct.
 
Tracy!

Glad I caught you up, I would love to hear more stories about Lynn. I feel I forgot to mention something about Bruce, I heard he got his hair cut at the barber shop on the second floor???
 
Thank you for sharing this! I hope that I get the opportunity to meet her one day! :hug:

I hope someday to be able to meet your sister!! Thank you for sharing this!!!
 
We have seen your sister many times on our visits to the Grand. I always felt there had to be a story behind her continued visits to the Grand. I never wanted to bother her, but now that you have shared her story, we will definitely introduce ourselves next time. Thank you for explaining what is really no one's business!
 
I missed all of this, so let me get it straight...

A woman is hanging out at the GF and gives teddy bears away to little kids. People are upset about it.

Is that right?

Sounds like a nice thing to do, IMO.
 
Tracy, thank you for taking the time to come here and fill everyone in on your sister. My family and I had the pleasure of seeing her last month during our visit. As others mentioned, we too assumed that she simply enjoyed sitting in the lobby enjoying the music, as we do. I hate that there were posters here who felt the need to say cruel things about her without knowing her true story. When we glimpsed her sitting on a settee close to the entrance to 1900 Park Faire she in no way whatsoever appeared homeless or destitute. Quite the opposite, in fact. People sometimes feel the need to be unnecessarily cruel when posting "anonymously" on message boards. There truthfully is no excuse for bad manners. We hope to see her again during our June visit!
 
I missed all of this, so let me get it straight...

A woman is hanging out at the GF and gives teddy bears away to little kids. People are upset about it.

Is that right?

Sounds like a nice thing to do, IMO.

Yep, you got the story.
 
Sorry the other 'thread' was closed. That is a new term to me.

The lady who is always at the Grand Floridian Hotel is my sister, Lynn, who lives near there and is definitely Not homeless.

Her late Husband, Bruce, used to be there often, too, but would often go off and do other things while Lynn listened to the music.

She takes her bags of teddy bears with her everywhere and has for many many years.

Lynn has a terrific sense of humor, but she does hear the beat to a different drummer, as the old saying goes.

Bruce suddenly passed away from a brain aneurysm October of 2007, which was a shock to all of us. He had a fantastic sense of humor as well, and the two of them couldn't have been more perfectly matched.

Lynn will be 67 in March, so she isn't as old as some thought. I am 65, and often struggle on websites like this one.

I need to change my password, since they just gave me a temporary one, but even my 44 year old computer savvy son couldn't find where to change it.

Even as a child Lynn was rather overly imaginative. I remember when one night she got me to drag her into our closet so she could pretend she was a doll and 'catch' all of the toys come 'alive' when the rest of us were asleep. She was probably around 7 or 8 at the time. She was dissappointed the next morning that none had come to life, but she reasoned it all out that the toys must have realized that she was really a human and not a real toy.

So, Lynn is not homeless, but she is rather OCD. She and Bruce used to love to hand out teddy bears to children, but only after asking the children's parent's permission first.

The person who wrote #43 on the original site about my sister needs to learn compassion for those less fortunate than she is. With the way the world is today, she could be homeless right now. I hope that is NOT the case, but if it is, I can't help but wonder if she would even give a thought to what she wrote about homeless people when many thought Lynn might be, and she really didn't like the idea of Lynn being in the hotel if she was homeless. I seem to remember that she didn't even want Lynn there if she wasn't a guest at the hotel. My goodness, don't you think there are literally thousands of people that go into these hotels to eat in the restaurants, or listen to the music, etc. It is a public place.

Lynn has a LOT of friends at the hotel, as well as a few like the above person, who resent her being there daily.

Who is she hurting? No one.

At any rate, I hope this satisfies everyone's curiosity. Thanks to all of you who were kind in your remarks about her.

Lynn's Sister,
Tracy Joan
Nashville, TN

Tracy, I believe it was my post #43 that you were referring to, so I will respond.

I am glad to know your sister is neither homeless nor mentally ill. For the record, I am not homeless either. I think it is fair to say that a 67 year old woman sitting in the lobby of a hotel with bags of teddy bears (and presumably her own - I haven't ever seen a reference to her giving them out to children and that would have totally changed my opinion of the situation as I knew it then) is, as you say, hearing to the beat of a different drummer.

Whether I think it is appropriate for her to be there or not (and for the record I still don't - I do NOT belive the lobby of a hotel is a public place, and said so in my original post), I am glad to know that she is welcomed by the staff and that she enjoys the visits.

If you are happy with your sister visiting the GF and the staff is willing to have her visit, then that answers the question about this specific situation. I'll be in Florida next week and if I see your sister in the lobby on the day I haver ADRs at Narcoossee's, I will smile and say hello.:goodvibes
 
Sounds like a lovely thing your sister does.

FTR, while the GF is a beautiful hotel, when I have visited there I have always gotten the feeling from some of the patrons that they are a bit "stuffy" and maybe think they are a bit "better" than everyone else, so perhaps that explains some of the nastiness on the other threads. That "air" from some of the guests is the reason that DH & I have chosen to not stay at the GF...we tend to do the other deluxes or our DVC...there's a much more "laid back" feel at the BC or OKW. :thumbsup2 I am much happier with the "little people" than I am hanging with the "swells".;)
 
Sounds like a lovely thing your sister does.

FTR, while the GF is a beautiful hotel, when I have visited there I have always gotten the feeling from some of the patrons that they are a bit "stuffy" and maybe think they are a bit "better" than everyone else, so perhaps that explains some of the nastiness on the other threads. That "air" from some of the guests is the reason that DH & I have chosen to not stay at the GF...we tend to do the other deluxes or our DVC...there's a much more "laid back" feel at the BC or OKW. :thumbsup2 I am much happier with the "little people" than I am hanging with the "swells".;)

Disney Doll, I'm not sure if you are referring to me or not - I feel like my posts on the other thread were the ones that people felt were "nasty" - although they weren't meant to be - I simply disagreed with the prevailing opinion. At any rate, my issues weren't because of the "Grand" part of the resort at all - and we don't like to stay at the GF, either. We like the Wilderness Lodge and our DVC, too!
 
Tracy,
Thank you for clearing up this mystery. We DISers have been curious about your sister for awhile. Thank you for taking the time to come to the DIS and share your story! :hug:

I hope you come to use the DIS and enjoy the company of the people that come here frequently.

I hope your sister would be excited to know she is somewhat of a celebrity here on the DIS Boards! :wizard:
 













FREE VACATION PLANNING!

Dreams Unlimited Travel is here to help you plan your ideal Disney vacation, with no additional cost to you. Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners offer expert advice, answer all your questions, and constantly seek out the best discounts, ensuring you get the most value for your trip. Let us handle the details so you can focus on making magical memories.
CLICK HERE








DIS Tiktok DIS Facebook DIS Twitter DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Top