Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, Orlando

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa at Walt Disney World in Florida is the flagship of all the Disney hotels located at Walt Disney World (WDW) and is based upon a turn of the century Floridian resort.

The hotel is predominantly white and pink with bright red roof tiles that make it visually quite stunning and make it look almost like cotton candy: this is definitely the hotel that will appeal most to little girls who want to be ...
...and efficient. As this is Disney's most luxurious resort, waiting to check in is something that most guests do not like to do and Disney do their best to make sure that you don't have to! I have stayed here once and when we had checked in we were transported with our luggage to our hotel room via a motorised buggy where our porter gave us a quick guide to the hotel which is very useful and a wonderful way to start your holiday!

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Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa at Walt Disney World in Florida is the flagship of all the Disney hotels located at Walt Disney World (WDW) and is based upon a turn of the century Floridian resort.

The hotel is predominantly white and pink with bright red roof tiles that make it visually quite stunning and make it look almost like cotton candy: this is definitely the hotel that will appeal most to little girls who want to be a Disney Princess!!

There is the main building of the hotel which contains the lobby as well as shops and restaurants and some of the more expensive hotel rooms and suites. The other hotel accommodation is located in 7 buildings dotted around the property. The lobby of the hotel is absolutely magnificent and is the focal point of the hotel with a six storey atrium that is particularly wonderful at Christmas when it is filled with a 6 story high albeit fake Christmas tree.

Check in:
Travel from Orlando International Airport takes about 30 minutes and check in is usually very fast and efficient. As this is Disney's most luxurious resort, waiting to check in is something that most guests do not like to do and Disney do their best to make sure that you don't have to! I have stayed here once and when we had checked in we were transported with our luggage to our hotel room via a motorised buggy where our porter gave us a quick guide to the hotel which is very useful and a wonderful way to start your holiday!

You can get to the hotel via private taxi or organised coach; public transport around Orlando is virtually non-existent! A taxi can be good value if there are four guests but for only 1 or 2 then a coach can make more economic sense, although be warned that you may also be delivering people to other hotels as well so your journey time may not be as fats.

Hotel rooms:
Our hotel room was a tower room which basically means that it offered us a normal bedroom with a hexagonal shaped seating area which contained a seating area. All rooms offer two large double beds and a day bed (also a sofa) meaning that the rooms can sleep up to five people. Decorations are luxurious and are based on soft pastel colours. The rooms offer the standard items such as large, well appointed bathrooms containing two sinks, shower and bath and hairdryer. The mini bar is well stocked but of course expensive!! The other amenities include a large colour tv, in room safe, large wardrobe and lots of storage space and complimentary robes for using at the hotel pool. Many rooms also offer a balcony, but you do pay more for these rooms.

Booking:
A variety of suites etc are also available at a higher room rate as well as hotel room sin the main building. Most deals to Florida are packages with companies such as Virgin and British Airways and typically include hotel room, park passes, flights and car hire. However, you can book all of these elements separately if you have the time and you can save yourself money. The best time to go is outside of school holidays and, in my opinion, try and avoid the VERY hot months of July and August. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways offer good scheduled flights from the UK (London and Manchester direct) on a daily basis. If you are staying at WDW and planning to spend a lot of time in the Disney Parks, I wouldn't bother with a hire car as the transportation around WDW is very good and it means that you do not have the hassle of driving on strange roads.

Location?

The Grand Floridian is located on the Magic Kingdom monorail line and the Magic Kingdom is only one stop away by Monorail if you stay at this hotel so it's very convenient if you want to spend lots of time at the Magic Kingdom. Also via the monorail line you can get to the Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort. When returning from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian you first have to travel to the Contemporary and Polynesian as well as the car park station so it is not quite as fast as actually getting there by the monorails are air conditioned and the queues tend to be very small and the monorails run every few minutes.

You can also get a monorail to EPCOT centre (this takes about 15 minutes) by changing at the Transportation and ticket centre. The Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom resorts are located right at one end of WDW so to get to all the other places (such as Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios and Downtown Disney) you need to get a Disney bus. These run every few minutes from outside the lobby and the furthest point is Downtown Disney which takes approximately 20 minutes. Buses generally run once every 20 minutes to each destination but when the parks are busy they run every few minutes. All buses are very well air conditioned.

There is also a small boat service that runs directly from the hotel to the Magic Kingdom which is a lovely way to travel if the sun is shining but is very popular so best trying mid day rather than first thing when everyone is trying to get to the park at the same time.

The use of all WDW transportation is free and guide maps etc are provided at check in.

Facilities:

The hotel offers a large outdoor pool that has plenty sun loungers as well as a small and perfectly manicured beach (the beach is raked by tractor every morning so that it looks perfect!!) There is also a very well equipped gym that offers a wide range of relaxing activities as well as the more strenuous! The pool is manned by lifeguards during advertised hours and it's great fun to swim at midnight on Chrostmas Day as we once did!

Each accommodation building offers a DIY laundry which costs $1 per wash and per dryer: this is great if you are here for 2 weeks in case you run out of clothes (especially with kids) and is a MUCH cheaper option than the hotel laundry service: irons and iron boards are available form housekeeping free of charge.

A Babysitting service is available and can be booked directly with the concierge as well as a kids club that is open during the day and evening. A small play park is also located near to the kids club (free of charge).

As the hotel is located on Bay Lake there are lots of water facilities available including the hire of motor boats (from 2 people up to about 14) as well as a whole host of other water activities. The activities are not especially cheap be are very well supervised and the lake is constantly patrolled by Disney staff to ensure that it is safe and enjoyable for everyone.

Shopping:
The hotel offers a range of shops which includes a franchise of the famed shoe store Bally as well as a gentleman's clothing shops which offers Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren as well as Disney clothing. A similar shop for women also offers American fashions at similar high street prices. A small convenience shop offers a range of Disney goods as well as everyday essential items such as toiletries etc.; this store also now sells newspapers.

Eating and drinking:
Bar service is available in the lobby which is filled with large comfortable chairs and sofas and there is often a small orchestra playing soothing music from the first floor. Remember that if you look anything under 30, ID WILL be required to buy a drink.

There is a great seafood restaurant that is situated overlooking Bay lake and Gasperiollos is the fast food restaurant that serves help yourself burgers, pizzas etc as well as breakfast items. This is good for kids as it is cheaper than buying full meals. This area also has a great outdoor seating area that offers great view of the lake as well as spectacular views of the magic Kingdom fireworks. Inside there are lots of games machines so it can be a bit noisy to eat inside here (you can also buy items and take them back to your room).

Victoria and Albert's is the flagship restaurant where dinner will cost you over $100 per person and shirt and tie are required...never eaten here but it always looks very nice!

There are two more restaurants; one which serves a buffet style lunch and dinner with Disney characters (very popular with kids) and one that serves typically Floridian food at very reasonable prices.

If you want to eat in ANY Disney hotel restaurant it is worth booking as reservations go very quickly for the most popular dining times (e.g. early evening)

Although this hotel is very grand, it is still Disney World so shorts and t-shirts are accepted in all but the Victoria and Albert Restaurant but many people do dress for dinner here which does make a nice change from shorts!

Room prices here are from at least £150/£200 per night but if you have the money then it is a wonderful place to stay with exceptional service and the perfect based for a Disney world holiday! The accommodations are immaculately maintained and cleaned and all of the staff exceptionally well versed in Disney-speak!
 

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