Conference koolit::disney

    Jim,
    
    I can't help you with GF, but if I adopt you will you send me too??????
                                                     
    ja

    We spent a week at the GF last December.  The room we had was very
    nice, overlooking the lagoon.  The hotel is beautiful, but if you
    want an escape type hotel, this is definately not the place to go!
    Since it was the newest and the most expensive, everyone wanted
    to see it.  It seemed like no matter what time we were out, there
    were crowds on the walkways.
    
    If you'd like specifics on anything, feel free to reach me.
    
    We have stayed at the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian and the
    Disney Inn and so far have liked the Disney Inn far better than
    the other two.  Crowds don't flock to the DI like they do the other
    hotels, therefore making for a much more secluded and relaxing
    atmosphere.  Our next trip is Dec. and we're staying at the Poly.
    
     

    
    This is where me and my wife stayed on our honeymoon.  We were on
    the Grand Plan, so I cannot tell you how much of what we got was
    because of that or how much was because of staying at the Grand
    Floridian.  Also, we were there when it was still pretty new, so
    the hotel may have been "trying to make an impression."
    
    Expensive - the most expensive hotel on the grounds right now, I
    think.  We payed $2xx/night for that, but I can't remember the exact
    number (the honeymoon suite is $8xx/night).  We got a nice room facing
    the lagoon, with the MK and the pool in sight from our large porch.
    Since we were in the "main" building, the price was higher.

    The room is decorated very beautifully and the bathroom was spectacular.
    Since the hotel was designed with Victorian principles in mind,
    most of the rooms are different than each other.  The lobby is out
    of this world, the hotel restaurants are great.  Victoria and Alberts
    is the signature restaurant - tr�s expensive, NO SMOKING (yay!) anywhere
    inside the resaurant, a waiter and waitress per table, and a harp
    player provides the background music.  Narcoosee's is a great casual
    place where you can get lobster and yards of beer.  The shops did not
    really impress me - expensive clothes mostly; what they really needed
    was a food/drink store like in the Contemporary.
    
    We got a free paper every morning and a "present from Tinkerbell"
    every day we returned from the parks (Mickey stuffed toys, GF pens,
    GF Photo albums, GF carrying bags, etc.).  Room service was class
    A-1.
    
    The pool is huge.  There is fairly nice excercise room with a lot
    of high tech equipment (not for me, *I'm* on vacation!).  
    
    The beach is beautiful and there is a sand bar right on it.  He
    stays open till 11:00 pm for those who are into moonlight walks.
    
    The view is great - GF is a very eye-pleasing place.  
    
    Lastly, the bathrobes, mmmm, I'm going back just for them!
    
SEAN/BEER=LABATTS

    RE: .3
    
    I'm going down in April and spending my first two nights in the GF.
    The breakdown I get it that there is one Eisenhower Suite (approx.
    $800/night) and six Honeymoon Suites ($354/night+tax) [I'm staying
    in one of the suites].  Were you under "Conceirge Service"? Or does
    everyone come home at night to little goodies?
    
    George_who_loves_little_toys_and_trinkets
    

    Yes Sean & I were under the conceirge service.  I believe that only
    the people who have the conceirge service receives the gifts. 
    
    You will have a blast, enjoy it!!
    
    -liz

    My wife and I stayed at the GF for 5 nights last October, and I
    cannot begin to tell you how impressed we both were. Everything
    that was said in reply #3, I second. Check out the dude playing
    concert grand piano in the lobby, or the Dixieland Band playing
    on the second floor balcony overlooking the first floor of the 
    main lobby. The restaurants were very good, the character breakfasts
    were alot of fun (the characters were very friendly, and stayed
    forquite sometime), and when we were there, the pool and jacuzzi
    were opened ALL NIGHT!!!! I have never stayed at the Disney Inn,
    but we have stayed at the Contemporary and the Polynesian, and I
    would definitely stay at the Grand Floridian if I had a choice.
    
    	I can't wait to go back....
    
    		John F...
    

    What does "conceirge" mean ?
    
    GR

    Has anyone stayed in a deluxe lodge tower room?  Comments?  Is it
    worth the premium price? 

    My husband and I just got back from a long weekend at the Grand
    Floridian, celebrating our 2nd anniversary.  Last year we took our 
    (my) daughters to Disneyworld and stayed at the CBR.  When we walked
    intothe lobby of the GF, and saw the grand piano being played
    beautifully by a man in a tuxedo, we knew we'd be back, without the
    kids.
    It was worth every penny of the $3XX.XX we spent per night for a
    concierge room in the main building, 4th floor tower, overlooking
    the pool area, and watching the sun rise over Cinderella's castle.
    The room was beautiful, very victorian in style with a huge marble
    bathroom.  There is a minibar stocked with all kinds of snacks,and
    drinks, and also a safe in closet area.  Each guest receives a thick
    terrycloth GF bathrobe to wear during their stay, also slippers to
    match. (No, you can't take them home, although the robes are available
    for sale in the men's clothing shop on the second floor)
    Being under concierge service, all the reservations we needed during
    our stay were made for us, we even bought passes from the concierge
    desk. When we asked for reservations to be made, the confirmation
    was not only a phone message waiting when we got back to our room, but
    also a typed note slipped under our door, just to make sure we didn't
    miss a message.
    Also part of this service was a complimentary buffet set up on the
    fourth floor.  Beginning at 6:30 each morning was a breakfast buffet
    consisting of coffee, tea, several juices, milk, several kinds of
    cereals, croissants, danish, muffins and several kinds of fruits.
    Around 11:30 just coffee, tea, and juices were available.  At 3:00
    the biggest and best homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies were
    available for snacks along with the coffee,tea, juices and ice cold
    milk. And at 5:30 a variety of delicious items were available, starting
    with a cheese and cracker tray, a fruit tray, smoked salmon with capers
    and chopped onion and some kind of sauce served on the side, a tray
    with proscuitto, imported salami, and other meats, all kinds of breads,
    the usual drinks, and 3 kinds of wine.  All complimentary.  It was
    great to get a glass of blush wine, some smoked salmon, and sit near
    the edge of the balcony and listen to the grand piano being played.
    By the way, to reach the 3rd 4th and 5th floors, you need a special
    numerical code to punch into a key pad in the elevator.
    The service was impeccable at the GF. Even with all the folks munching
    on the various buffets, you never saw a table or sitting area with
    dirty dishes for more than a few minutes, any staff member who walked
    by, either a maid type or a manager type, cleaned up what needed to be
    cleaned up. The heated pool and jacuzzi are open 24 hours a day, room
    service is available 24 hours a day, you can pretty much get anything
    you want 24 hours a day.
    We had dinner at Narcoosie's by the water one night. We had their
    T-Bone steak for two, I think it's about 32 ozs. and one drink each,
    that came to about $45 w.o. tip.
    We also ate at Flagler's in the GF.  It is an Italian themed restaurant
    right next to Victoria and Albert's.  We had appetizers, salads two
    main courses, and the bill was about $75 w.o.tip.
    My husband also rented the little water sprites to cruise around the
    lagoon for $11 a half hour.  They have several different boat type
    things you can rent, this was the smallest and least expensive.  There
    is also a video arcade with an adjoining coffe shop, I think it may be 
    open 24 hours, I know my husband got up at 5:00 to watch the sunrise
    and was able to get a cup of coffee there.
    Also on sight are an exercise room and two more cafe type restaurants,
    a women's clothing shop, and of course, a Mickey shop.
    Have I left anything out?  The Dixieland band that also plays in the
    late afternoon, some of the most beautiful fresh flower arrangements
    I've ever seen, the huge bird cage in the lobby with the imported
    parakeets.
    This was truly a romantic weekend, yes we did go to Epcot and MGM and
    Pleasure Island, but truthfully you do not need to leave the complex at
    all.  I would highly recommend the GF for any special occasion getaway.
    Enjoy.
    
    

    Yes, I did leave something out.  Each night when we returned to our
    room, our bed had been turned down, and there, on the bedside table in
    a little basket, were four of the most mouthwatering chocolate
    truffles you could imagine.  And a little goodnight notecard with
    a different "sweet dreams" saying on it each night.
    Now if I start saving now, maybe for our 5th anniversary.........

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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�   Have I left anything out?

    Well, in addition to .10's mention of the bed turn-down service, we got
    something else every night when we returned from the day's activities.

    Presents!  We were told we would get "gifts from Tinkerbell" every
    night.  We collected a leather GF carry on bag, a beautifully bound
    GF photo album, and stuffed Mickey and Minnies (large, expensive,
    limited edition ones), an other doo-dads.

    For our honeymoon, we had concierge service on the fourth floor for a week,
    under the Grand Plan.  I was never sure which fringe benefits were because
    we were Concierge and which were because we were Grand Plan.  Actually,
    we went sort of close to the opening of GF - maybe it was a combination
    of Grand Plan and that.  Anyone else get this?

    My wife ordered me one of those bathrobes for Christmas!  I have yet
    to see a bathrobe as thick and comfortable as this!

    SEAN/BEER=LABATTS

    The presents were part of the grand plan. 
    
    $300/night ~= $6/week ~= 1.25/work-day ~= 3 cups of coffee/day 
    
    mike

Having no clue that I was going to be offered a Grand Floridian special,
I am now trying to figure out if it will work out for us.

Pricewise, I can handle it (because of the special).  I think the hotel is
wonderful in appearance.  The rooms are also *nice* and *big*, which is
great since there's 5 of us!

However, I'm afraid it will be too ritzy for us.  We have 2 small children
and I know they will make noise while wandering down the halls or into the
lobby, etc.  I can imagine there's lots of noise in the CBR and Poly and
other places, but is it silent as a tomb at the GF?  Linda said the Beach
Club seemed stuffy when she went.  Am I making a huge mistake going to 
the GF?

      Carol, who loves the look of the individual rooms, but doesn't want 
        to make her whole family miserable

    Carol, I have had the opportunity to stay at the Grand Floridian twice
    with my wife and three young boys. The last trip was this past April 
    and there were a lot of kids around. The staff is great and the
    1900 Park Fare has Character meals, so they do cater to the young ones
    as well as the adults. The pool is huge as is the jacuzzi. There are
    some rules about adult supervision at the jacuzzi however.
    
    The rooms are very nice. On our first stay we were on the first floor and
    last year we had a room on the third floor facing the Poly.
    We watched the Epcot fireworks from our balcony and we could see
    the Luau at the Poly as well, although binoculars would have helped! 
    
    We had wonderful vacations at the Grand Floridian and we would stay
    there again! My boys want to go back again this year.
    
    Enjoy!
    
    Ron
       

    
    The Grand Floridian is our favorite hotel to date (but we have yet to 
    see/try the Wilderness Lodge).
    
    Don't worry about the children.  GF is sorta ritzy, but there are very few
    places on WDW that do not lay out the welcome mats for kids (I probably 
    would be suprised to see kids at "Victoria and  Alberts" restaurant at GF,
    but everywhere else on GF was families galore!)
    
    It is really a supreme resort - enjoy it!  It's not a morgue at all -
    in fact, when we went (88), it had an awesome game room!
    
    Oh, and despite the overwhelming grandeur of the Y&B Club pools, the
    GF pool is really one of the nicer and larger ones.
    
    - Sean (JEALOUS!)

    Hmmm,
    
    I was NOT impressed with the game room at the GF last Summer. I think
    the Contemporary has the best game room on the resort.
    
    Mike

What makes the pool special for kids?  As I understand it, they don't have
slides.  

    Carol

    Grand Floridian is very nice, but I was
    a bit disappointed in how noisy is it.
    
    We stayed in the main building on the
    3rd or 4th floor.  Every day starting
    at 4 p.m. they have live music..a piano
    player and a band..and they both play
    contiuosly until 10 or 11 at night.
    
    It was hard to find any quiet..now I 
    expect kids at Disney, but I didn't
    expect parents and the hotel, to be
    quite honest, allowing children to
    run screaming through the foyer at
    a place like the GF.
    
    I am not talking about regular kid 
    type noise; kids are kids and they
    are going to make noise.  I mean that
    high pitched screaming that kids can
    do.  
    
    Anyway, if you want quiet, I would suggest
    staying in one of the other buildings.
    
    It's really quite a place, though...beautiful

I stayed at Big Pine Key, aka building #9, and for us it was *very* quiet.
LOVELY lagoon view, the water, the white sand beaches, the islands, the birds
(both the ones singing outside our room and the ones diving for fish in the
lagoon), breakfast on the veranda...

     :-}  *sigh  Wish I could afford to go again...

         Carol