Grand Floridian Stay Report: Weak Rooms at Disney World’s Flagship Resort
This Walt Disney World hotel report covers our stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, where we check out the latest changes, guest rooms, Electrical Water Pageant, and take a dusk stroll to Magic Kingdom. Additionally, we’ll discuss whether its distinction as the flagship property at Walt Disney World is warranted and how we’d like to see the weak rooms improve.
We won’t fixate on health safety protocol, enhanced cleaning, or anything else unique to Walt Disney World’s phased reopening. This is mainly because we’ve already done it several times (here and here). There are only so many photos one person can take of plexiglass barriers or health safety signs and still have it be interesting. We are well past that point.
Additionally, not a ton feels different at the Grand Floridian. To be sure, a lot has changed at the resorts. Restaurants are still closed and the ones that are open have scaled-back menus. There’s in-room and common area signage. Everyone you’ll encounter is wearing a face mask. If you visited for the first time in a year or more, it would certainly feel very different. However, what’s different is still only a small component of the full experience, and a lot of that has become white noise to us…
Post-reopening, discounts at Walt Disney World have been much more conservative than we anticipated, with a handful of exceptions. Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is one such exception. Grand Floridian has been available via AP, Florida Resident, and PIN code deals with 35% off discounts.
Beyond that, it had the largest savings with the Half-Off Hotels Disney Visa Discount that ended last month. It now has an even better Modified Bounceback Discount. (Interestingly, we haven’t seen the Grand Floridian appear on the opaque booking sites.)
Even at ~50% off, our anecdotal observations during stays in both the Disney Vacation Club and regular side of the Grand Floridian have been that hotel occupancy has not been particularly high. The villas are booking up pretty solidly, but there are still times when few guests are in the lobby.
It’s nothing like Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House, but it’s a far cry from what Grand Floridian would look like in a normal year. We suspect that non-DVC occupancy is down across the board at Walt Disney World–especially on weeknights–but it does seem more pronounced at Deluxe Resorts (plus Coronado Springs) and less of an issue at Caribbean Beach and the Value Resorts.
This likely explains the ongoing hotel closures to a large degree, why several Deluxe Resorts aren’t reopening until Summer 2021, and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Contemporary Resort going down for room renovations and refreshes ahead of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
Details of the Contemporary Resort refurbishment have yet to be made public, but its timing is unsurprising. Honestly, I’m disappointed that the entire A-frame building isn’t just closing down for an overhaul to the Grand Canyon Concourse. As discussed in our Contemporary Resort Stay Report (written prior to that project’s announcement), I’d love to see the Contemporary redone a la Disneyland Hotel–in a sleek, timeless, and clean mid-century modern style punctuated by decor inspired by “Vacation Kingdom” era of Walt Disney World’s history.
All of that may seem really tangential for a report on our stay at the Grand Floridian Resort, but I’d love to see the same happen here–and judging by the aforementioned occupancy rates, this year might be a good time to take some buildings offline for a similar project.
Except, instead of drawing inspiration from Disneyland Hotel, use Tokyo Disneyland Hotel as the blueprint.
Tokyo Disneyland Hotel has converted many of its standard guest rooms to character rooms, which are incredibly popular with its target demographic. These rooms often command premium prices as compared to the regular rooms–much like the Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach or Princess Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside.
This is going to be heresy to some fans, but I think Walt Disney World should test out a similar approach with the Grand Floridian. Pull a page from the Tokyo Disneyland playbook and convert some of the inventory to character rooms and remodel the rest to give them more Victorian detail, character, and charm.
Purists might push back against this, arguing that the Grand Floridian should be the pinnacle of luxury and themed design, and not cheapened by characters or gratuitous injections of IP.
My response would be…have you stayed in one of the rooms at the Grand Floridian lately? They are neither luxurious nor particularly well-themed.
If you had to play the Price is Right and guess this room’s nightly rack rate solely by the above photo–divorced of Walt Disney World context–there’s no way you’d come within $200. You’d probably be off by $400 or more.
If you had to guess what hotel it was, you’d probably guess something chained-brand like Hilton or Marriott. And not their high-end properties like the JW or Conrad. (Keep in mind the vast majority of Grand Floridian’s rooms have standard ceilings–we got lucky with a dormer room and its vaulted ceiling–so they’re even duller looking than the one pictured here.)
The reality is that the Grand Floridian is never going to compete with real world luxury hotels, or even the nearby Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World. As with other Disney-owned hotels, stripping the rooms of their theme to make them more broadly appealing just made them bland.
Grand Floridian simply cannot compete with the Four Seasons on the luxury level. Why not move the ‘battle’ to a playing field where the Four Seasons cannot compete with Disney? Lean into characters and theme, having more lavish Victorian designs with Dickensian Mickey & Minnie or Mary Poppins & penguins sprinkled into artwork and design flourishes.
Beyond that, as compared to what currently exists with guest rooms, what harm is there in converting some to themed character rooms? Go all-in on Alice in Wonderland rooms, Beauty and the Beast rooms, Cinderella rooms, and whatever else.
Port Orleans Riverside and Caribbean Beach have demonstrated that exactly this can be accomplished in a self-contained way that has minimal impact on overarching themes. The character rooms would draw families to the resort and the rest of the Grand Floridian could maintain its thematic integrity. It’s not like the lobby or common areas really need an overhaul–at least not like the Contemporary–anyway.
This type of a room overhaul at the Grand Floridian seems like a win-win for guests and Disney.
The last several paragraphs of rambling armchair Imagineering brought to you by every time we’ve stepped into rooms at the Grand Floridian and immediately said, “this room cost how much?!” It’s a nice hotel in many ways, but no amount of mental gymnastics can justify the discrepancy between the quality of these rooms and their price points.
As noted above, we had a dormer room. The upsides to this are the vaulted ceiling and the more secluded quality of the balcony.
The downsides are that the balcony is slightly smaller and you can’t see anything without standing up. I’m not sure why Disney doesn’t furnish these with taller chairs.
If Walt Disney World does opt to overhaul the Grand Floridian, one thing is certain: we must protect the masterpiece monkey and bunny paintings at all costs.
I’m not one for petitions, but if someone were to start one to get these puppies added to some historic register of culturally significant works of art, I’d sign it. Perhaps the Grand Floridian should even be added to the National Register of Historic Places as home to these priceless treasures. They’re arguably why it’s called the Grand, and is the flagship resort at Walt Disney World.
In terms of changes since our Villas at Grand Floridian Christmas-time stay, there aren’t really any. Well, the holiday decor is down, but that’s presumably a given.
The same restaurants are open: Beaches Pool Bar & Grill, Courtyard Pool Bar, Enchanted Rose (Beauty and the Beast Bar), Gasparilla Island Grill, Grand Floridian Cafe, and Narcoossee’s. The same ones are closed: 1900 Park Fare, Citricos, Victoria & Albert’s.
Electrical Water Pageant would’ve been back at Christmas-time, but it’s still “new to us” since we forgot to watch it then. (We caught it from Wilderness Lodge shortly thereafter.)
From a photography perspective, Grand Floridian is my favorite viewing spot for Electrical Water Pageant.
It gets fairly close to the boat dock, and you have a perspective with Cinderella Castle in the background of one set of barges and the Contemporary in the background of the other set.
From an insects perspective, this location is not ideal. (Some of the rooms in our building and others on this side of the resort would have views from their balcony; ours did not.)
Another awesome addition is the new-ish walkway to Magic Kingdom.
We’ve already breathlessly covered this in “Photos & Video: Meandering the Magnificent Magic Kingdom to Grand Floridian Walkway.” In case you missed that, it’s now possible to walk all the way from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom. Our enthusiasm for the walkway is not hyperbole. It’s a huge win for the Grand Floridian.
Ultimately, aside from the guest rooms, there’s a lot we really love about Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Almost everything else, in fact. (Our experiences at Narcoossee’s and Citricos have been hit or miss, so refreshes to both would be the only other thing on our wish list for the resort.)
Nevertheless, the Grand Floridian is arguably the most well-rounded Seven Seas Lagoon Resort, with fewer drawbacks than the Contemporary or Polynesian. The rooms are a pretty glaring weakness and not everything about the resort is to our personal tastes, but on balance, we think the Grand Floridian is deserving of the flagship distinction. There are pros and cons of every resort at Walt Disney World–this is no exception to that–but we still had another solid stay at the Grand!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the rooms at the Grand Floridian? Are they too bland or just fine? Would you be on board with character-themed rooms? Are you a Grand Floridian fan? If so, is it because of the rooms or everything else? Have you stayed at the Grand Floridian since that glorious walkway debuted? Did you use it or the monorail? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Anyone against your suggestion of theming some GF rooms like the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (Alice, BATB, etc.) clearly has NOT seen any pictures of those fantastic rooms. It’s what luxury Disney dreams are made of! Those current GF room pics make me cringe.
Do you have to check for Disney Visa Rewards offers on your credit card site? I might have considered the 50% offer but never got it and have had a card for many years and use it every time I book a trip. Disney lately is a big fail in communication.
I am wondering the same thing. I have the Disney Visa rewards, and I never got an email about this discount.
I have a Disney Visa and never received anything either. I only knew about the discount because I signed up for emails from Disney Tourist Blog and they posted about it. Also, DTB’s post was the only place I was able to find the link for booking. I tried searching through my account on Chase and couldn’t find anything. I didn’t book immediately but ended up coming back here for the link to book when we decided to arrive early in December and needed a room for a night. Thanks Tom & Sarah!
I’ve never stayed at the Grand Floridian but I do like visiting the lobby and enjoyed the character breakfast there once. I’d love to do the afternoon tea one day. As for the room, those pictures are so boring and I would never pay upwards of $500 for a night there. I’m from Michigan and the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island should be it’s inspiration. Each room is decorated a bit differently and all very Victorian. It’s beautiful. Thanks for all the hard work you do on this blog. It’s my favorite Disney one.
It’s gone down hill since the teddy bear lady is no longer there. She looked kinda spooky but was very nice when you talked to her.
Hi Tom- Can you tell me if the mad hatter splash pad is currently open? My son is crossing his fingers for our April trip to VGF. Thanks!
The problem with the GCC at the Contemporary is that there is almost no floor space that isn’t either retail, dining or “essential” corridors of one form out another. The security check for the monorail, while necessary with the “new” scheme of moving security away from the MK, takes up yet more space. Just getting rid of the Fantasia gift shop would improve that immeasurably. My favourite area of the Contemporary to “hang out” in is the conferencing areas, and I’m so disappointed those are closed.
GF has been on our WDW bucket list. We’ve even booked it a few times (maybe more than a few), but every time we’ve canceled as our budget conscious minds just can’t justify the premium price. Instead we’ve opted for Polynesian, Yacht Club, Beach Club, etc. All still over priced, but the quality and location are better for us.
Just today I canceled our Spring Break stay at GF and opted to stay at the Swan. Even with the 35% discount, nine nights in a suite at the Swan was $3k difference. Plus we’ll get the Bonvoy points and nights to help fund our non Disney trips once revenge travel starts up in 2022.
Based on your reviews, sounds like we should target GF Villas instead of the hotel side?
“Based on your reviews, sounds like we should target GF Villas instead of the hotel side?”
Yeah, but if the Swan is still ~$2,000 or more cheaper than those, I’d still book that!
Hi Tom,
We stayed at the Grand Floridan March 2020, before Disney World closed. Stayed in the dormer balcony room that overlooked the pool. Room furniture is definitely outdated, bathroom sink a 6 year old can not reach the sink to brush her teeth or wash hands, with no stools around. I feel the price pays for the lobby and the staffs outfits, not the rooms at all. We had a great stay and my granddaughter was on cloud 9, since it was her first time, which made everything magical. It was very clean and the flowers were always fresh but the rooms need an upgrade. Not sure about the DVC room though.
My contemporary room 12/20 was great (theme park view), hotel needs a whole new renovation, everything is terrible including the restaurants. They didn’t have any Christmas decor anywhere except where the monorail went by and the large tree outside in front. Stayed at the Poly before but husband says it feels like an old Brady Bunch movie â€â™€ï¸ They like the Wilderness Lodge, but who doesn’t love that log home feel. They will never step foot at the Coronado every since they did away with the Fresh Market, where you walked up to each station and ordered what you wanted to eat, made fresh in front of you. Trying Aulani end of April.
I’d say Contemporary and Grand Floridian have the opposite problems of one another–the former has fine rooms but badly needs an update to the common areas, whereas the latter’s common areas are mostly great but it needs room enhancements. As for the Poly, that’s a matter of taste. I personally love the style, but I can see how someone else might equate it to an old Brady Bunch movie (ha!). Thanks for sharing!
I agree the rooms are tired, BUT it is still the number 1 hotel at Disney. My so so room had a great view of the castle and was located at the hotel with the top dining options. Parkfare is the best character breakfast at Disney and Narcooses is so underrated. Not to mention Citricos, GF cafe, a solid quick service and the 5 star Victoria and Alberts. First stop monorail to MK and now a walking path there also! Oh yea, BBB in the hotel and a fun tea party available (cheap one and expensive one). The grounds are flawless, live bands, the list goes on and on. Not sure why people hate on this hotel.
What is BBB? I think the live bands may be a thing of the past….
Agree with your perspective. The grounds are gorgeous and the dining is great. The pools are very good also. The rooms are lacking though if you spend some time there and of course they are expensive so agree with Tom’s perspective there. I still prefer Poly overall for a monorail hotel but my favorite hotel happens to be on Crescent Lake due to outstanding rooms and good location. I prefer MK location but Crescent lake is #2 for me.
Steve: Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
The rooms have always been mediocre. Stayed there once and really regretted that we didn’t stay at the Poly. Both around the same price.
Also, even though both have multiple buildings, the GF ones seemed dull and depressing compared to the main building. The Poly ones are fun.
Just never been impressed. Fun for the band (gone), the Cinderella parade (gone) and the restaurants are good. The pools are better elsewhere.
We have stayed at most of the Disney hotels. Even the expensive ones are not worth it. The Grand Floridian was the biggest disappointment of them all and I got married there in the wedding pavilion. Although I love the lobby and the restaurants they have, the room was a big let down. The Contemporary rooms are just ok although the club room had amazing food when we were there. Animal Kingdom rooms also mediocre. None of the hotels has anything special that they offer and none of them have any “wow’ factor. Just plain rooms at an unreasonable price for what you get. We live in Tampa and when we stay for any length of time we like the Ritz Carlton or the Waldorf. Not much more and cheaper than some of the Disney rooms and so much nicer and much better service and amenities.
You need a mom of three boys to answer the question of why the adorable dormer balcony lacks taller chairs. Because kids would use them to climb on the roof 😉
They did redo the bar to be (tastefully) Beauty and the Beast themed, so character rooms might not be all that far fetched.
Oh c’mon! If kids can’t climb on a hotel roof, how are they supposed to have any fun these days?! 😉
I used to LOVE Disney, over the last year I’ve really soured on it. All the things taken away for those staying on site. I am one who needs to relax and get away from all the stimulation of being at the parks. Always found my kids, when little, and now grandkids do better with more calming, non disneyfied, rooms. That is why we stayed at OKW. Every other year- loved the large 2 bedroom units.
I think it would be bad to have all rooms in all hotels at Disney be overtly themed. But I probably won’t go back on site even when we can travel there again. Just no value/perks to it now.
“I think it would be bad to have all rooms in all hotels at Disney be overtly themed.”
This is a fair point, but to your other points about value and perks, why pay more for the Grand Floridian when there aren’t perks (aside from walking/monorail distance to Magic Kingdom) and Four Seasons is a significantly nicer on-site luxury hotel?
Theme is the one big advantage Disney has in that comparison, and they aren’t fully leveraging it.
Disney’s response: “Ah, so you think the rooms are weak. An 8% price increase should do the trick.”
Funny, but they’re not filling these rooms right now while offering over 50% off, so I don’t think that’s quite accurate.
Thank you Tom! Did not have my glasses on but now I do.
The blandness is what you are seeing all across Disney World when renovations occur. Theming is removed, bit by bit, leaving nothing more than a nice hotel room. Plain vanilla costs a lot less than beautifully themed furnishing. Plus you sometimes have the crude types trying to take them home with them or allowing their unsupervised children to destroy them. There were reports with photo evidence at OKW where children had drawn and written on the underside of the coffee table in some of the villas. Multiple children at multiple times. It would be nice to see a lot more “bunny” pictures in the hotels. And Nanny chairs.
You mentioned that there are times when few guests are in the lobby. Was it closed when you took that pic? Looks depressing. Stayed there years back every year with my children and loved every single bit of it!
No, it was open. You can spot a few guests in the photo if you look closely (most noticeably on the couch in the dead-center by the piano).
I’ve been lucky enough to stay at the regular rooms at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, as well as the Beauty & the Beast rooms and the Cinderella rooms. A truly impressive experience. Though they are “character” rooms, they also felt very luxurious. The furniture, decor, and flourishes all matched perfectly, and were all fairly elegant. (Maybe that’s less true of the Alice in Wonderland rooms!) I don’t know if we’d ever stay in them again (eg. do the Beauty & the Beast for a second time), but the regular room rates at TDL at reasonable for quality, unlike the Grand Flo, so we’d definitely do those again. I also heard rumors of a Tangled room at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel – the test photos looked amazing. I also saw photos of a Frozen room at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort that looked pretty good (it had a sled!) but that one was way, way, out of our budget.
That’s awesome! I love the regular rooms at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, and we snagged a discounted one-night BatB room reservation for last March, but obviously that did not happen.
Well i for one prefer the disney themed hotels if want just hotel look i stay off site the rooms are cheaper off site most of the time you are out at parks you go to room to sleep and wash up it crazy what disney charges.
Any specific hotels you prefer off-site? Thanks in advance.
Steve: some offsite hotels to consider: Swan or Dolphin. They cost slightly more than Pop Century and slightly less than Caribbean Beach, but they are fancier than both and are within walking distance of Epcot and Hollywood Studio, and have regular buses to MK and AK. Other hotels you might want to take a look at: Hilton Bonnet Creek, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, The Grove Resort and Water Park, Omni Orlando, and others. These don’t provide steady transportation so you need a car or uber, but they are very impressive and worth a look. I would never stay offsite, but I have to admit that these hotels look impressive with their size, pools, waterslides and theming. You pay a Disney value or moderate price for a deluxe experience.
The rooms are exactly why we’ve never stayed at the Grand Floridian. You hit the nail spot on the head – the rooms are bland and not even close to the cost. I like theming, and it doesn’t have to strictly Disney characters. The Polynesian takes me back to the years we lived in Hawaii. Animal Kingdom Lodge transports me to Africa. Port Orleans French Quarter makes me crave beignets.
I love your idea of adding Mary Poppins to the theming. She’s quintessential Victorian era & carried herself with class. She’d be perfect for the GF!