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!
I stayed at the Grand Floridian for the first week of February, 2021. The location is superb in respect to access to great dining at the connected resorts (via the monorail) and Magic Kingdom (new walkway is amazing) and EPCOT (when the monorail is running again to that location). I agree with Tom on the rooms. I also stayed at top-floor, dormer room. The rooms are dated and completely lack theming. They are comfortable, but they just don’t feel like you are at Disney. The grounds and lobby, etc. are just beautiful at Grand Floridian. I also like the Enchanted Rose. I know there’s been some controversy about what used to be there, but after several attempts to get a table (or even just one bar stool) at the prior establishment, the renovation and expansion is very welcome. After the Bar Riva at the Riviera (fantastic counter service food options and super friendly staff), I think it’s the best bar at Disney World (disclaimer: I’ve been to most of them, but not all). So in my opinion, a B- for the rooms, but an A or A+ for access to dining and parks near Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. I like split stays so I’d consider this an option combined with time at one of the Boardwalk resorts or the Riviera for a full onsite experience.
While the GF will always have a special place in my heart it’s in need of some love. For the price it could be better.
I couldn’t agree more, Tom. Character rooms would be amazing! I’d love to see that.
If they could just make the bathroom fans work so the rooms don’t fill with steam I’d be thrilled. I’m looking at you room 6101!
I’m amazed at the lack of attention to detail in a hotel in this price range. How difficult is it to order chairs high enough that you can enjoy the view when sitting in them? Decor can be a matter of taste, but functionality is pretty cut-and-dried.
I think everyone is in agreement that the GF needs some serious improvements to its rooms. One thing to note regarding the option of character rooms: The GF hosts a lot of conferences for professionals, rich professionals. Who might not be thrilled with the rooms, but might be less thrilled to be staying in a character room.
But Mary Poppins is a perfect fit for character rooms at GF. Some of the others in your link as well, including Cinderella.
“The GF hosts a lot of conferences for professionals, rich professionals. Who might not be thrilled with the rooms, but might be less thrilled to be staying in a character room.”
That’s a fair point, although I might use the past tense of host.
Coming out of this, I think Walt Disney World is going to have no shortage of convention space. To the contrary, they’re overbuilt on those options for the foreseeable future. But that’s another topic for another post…
Tom, I don’t know much about the conference center spaces, but I have a client (I’m a travel agent) who goes once a year for a conference normally at Yacht Club so she books there. She just contacted me to say their conference had been moved this year to the Grand Floridian. It’s in December 2021 so seems they are at least planning on that. (Side note, we moved her to the Contemporary because she didn’t want to stay at the “stuffy Grand Floridian”. )
I’m one of those professional, conference goers and I’d love a themed room for a change!
Generally speaking, Disney’s hotel construction projects seem to be straying from from theming in general. With the Riviera as a prime example, Disney seems to be only interested in coming up with a generic building, stuff it with some Disney artwork or something, and call it done, and people will just eat it up anyway. On the other hand, Disney is theming the Polynesian into Moana for no apparent reason. Moana isn’t even one of the popular princesses — you can’t even find Moana in Disney World, that’s how popular she is — yet Disney is heading that way. It’s like Disney doesn’t know how to do things right anymore. They are either not making Cinderella rooms, or they are making Moana rooms. I mean, Moana is a really bad option commercially: you can’t even sell her dress! Disney just figures that they will teach the people what to like: they build it, people will come. IPerhaps the pandemic will bring some humility into Disney, but if it does, such humility will be short lived.
The movie is a beautiful homage to Polynesia, so that seems to be an apparent reason 🙂 As the mother of a five year old – Moana has been beloved by toddlers and preschoolers for years (including her costume). I think she isn’t in Disney World regularly due to the challenge of her ethnicity.
In a few years, Moana will be removed because of cancel culture and cultural appropriation.
“ On the other hand, Disney is theming the Polynesian into Moana for no apparent reason.” Uhhhh, other than the fact she is a Polynesian princess? That seems like a pretty fair reason. Maybe you don’t like her skin color.
If you truly believe Moana is unpopular, you have been living under a rock.
Thanks for your blog, as always, Tom! I agree with your opinion of the GF rooms. The Society Orchestra used to be a highlight. To your knowledge / rumors, might they return… ever…?
Last time we stayed at GF my husband thought our room was like a Holiday Inn. The room they gave us was small without any “magical” details. Example: they used to have unique disney themed lamps. They were tasteful, but just a touch of Disney whimsy to add to the ambience. We love the location of the monorail hotels, but agree that making all of the rooms generic loses what makes these hotels uniquely Disney.
Thank you for all the great info you provide. Here is my question: I am truly puzzled as to why WDW does not offer a (haunted) mansion themed luxury resort. It doesn’t really have to play up the haunted part too much (liability concerns), but certainly the impressive details of the mansion could be incorporated into a safe, modernized (HVAC, etc.) version of the mansion. We have been to WDW numerous times and have stayed away well before pre-pandemic times because, for me, too many people ruin the experience. (This might be another rant on corporate greed–why can’t attendance be kept at a manageable, enjoyable level?) I think we might have missed the window of lower attendance due to Covid 19, but I would definitely make WDW an annual destination once again if we could stay at a haunted mansion type of resort. Thank you!!
I had the same thought about a Haunted Mansion resort and also a Hollywood Tower Hotel. I’d be thrilled with elaborately themed rooms within existing resorts. Thanks, Tom, for the link to the Tokyo Disneyland themed rooms. Definitely on my bucket list!
A Haunted Mansion themed hotel would be awesome!!!
I think it would be cool to have, say, Cinderella rooms at the GF for an upcharge. I went to the princess room at Port Orleans but wasn’t that excited because it wasn’t that much of a princess feel. The pirate rooms were neat, and my kids loved it when they were young.
We always did think that the GF rooms aren’t as nice as the Poly’s, and definitely not as nice as the Contemporary’s. Nevertheless we are not going to ever bother going to the Four seasons because it’s not Disney. There’s no magic, it’s merely luxury. Luxury is neat but at the end of the day, not that interesting. I mean, you can stay at a 5 star hotel in any city that’s got one, or in the closest city you can get to (if you live in the sticks like us.) There’s magic only in Disney World hotels — not even in Disneyland hotels. I would rather stay at Pop Century than Four Seasons, if they were the same price, and I can only pick one of them for a trip.
Wow, those look dull. Thank you for the warning. I’ll visit for meals, but otherwise, it’ll be a toss up between Polynesian and Wilderness for my bucket list Disney vacation.
In the dozen or so times I have been to DisneyWorld, my family has stayed at the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Grand Floridian and the Polynesian. We stay there because of proximity to the parks and ease of transportation. When my kids were little , one parent could easily return to the room with one sleepy child and the other remain at the park with the other child, without feeling stranded there. At the end of a long day at the Parks I have no interest in trolling though a parking lot the size of Indiana and then doing a drive. However, NEVER have I thought I got ANY bang for the buck at these Disney hotels. Often beautiful on the outside but the room themselves are very bland. The rooms and the tiny toiletry amenities were not impressive, neither in size nor decor . In fact they were not much better than any mid to upper price chain hotel I have ever stayed at, and they cost twice as much. I also dislike their business decision to charge more for rooms that are conveniently located toward the fronts of the hotels. I went to the Beach Club once following knee surgery and asked for a closer up room and was told it was an upcharge!! Sorry, over the top. I think there comes a point where if you continue to squeeze blood out of your customers, nickle and dime them to death, the net result is that the experience is spoiled and the customer will often choose not to return. Also sorry to learn the Magical Bus for the airport is being discontinued. That was the only “perk” they offered that was worth it and encouraged you to stay at their hotels. Too much cash for these room with too little return.
I recently stayed at both the Four Seasons and Grand Floridian on the same Disney trip. There is really no comparison between the two properties. The Four Seasons is a beautiful and amazing resort in every aspect of their operations. Yes, it’s very expensive! However, if you’re looking for a luxury Disney vacation, this is the place to stay.
Believe it or not, GF is my kids’ (boys, no less!) favorite resort. I think that’s because it’s just a world of difference from where we live- the cold, snowy, rural mountains- so it just feels like a vacation. And the boys like good food (again, we live in a rural area, and don’t have many restaurants).
If the discounts were better, we’d stay there in a heartbeat, but as it stands in early summer, GF is basically the same price per night as the utterly amazing Four Seasons. We can still stay walking distance at Bay Lake or the Contemporary, and then we wrap up our Orlando trips with some parks-free time at the Four Seasons, just for the pools.
The Grand Floridian’s rooms have been sub-Four Seasons for well over a decade. My first stay was in February 2009, and the rooms weren’t anything special then either. I’ve said this before in other older GF threads on DTB, but the biggest issue with the hotel side of the resort is that the 1980’s-sized bathroom footprints can’t be altered without significant construction, if at all. The size of the bathrooms for regular rooms at the resort has been way too small for well over a decade now – and that most likely won’t ever change. With that, you aren’t really staying at this hotel for the rooms. And if you can stay at the DVC side, all of those issues disappear.
For me the GF is the epitome of Disney’s overpricing on its hotels. The best part is the lobby and the location, but unless you are willing to spend $1000+ for a main building club room, you aren’t going to spend much time in the lobby itself.
Also, the rooms have always looked dowdy and outdated no matter whether it’s this latest version or previous iterations. I know the Victorian theming doesn’t totally help on that front, but one would think Disney could at least try to make the rooms feel like they were in a true luxury hotel instead of an airport Sheraton. Based on pictures, The Riviera is a good example of what the GF could be if Disney even tried. Even if the theming is a bit bland, the rooms there at least look like rooms at a luxury hotel. Honestly, the still expensive but cheaper YC rooms have always looked nicer than those at the GF.
For the prices charged at the GF I would expect either the luxury and service of a Four Seasons, the over-the-top theming of the Poly, or the classic Disney of the CR (the GCC still works for me, and even their rooms are “nicer” than the GF). While the Poly and CR, and to a lesser extent the FS, are still overpriced for what they offer, they still do better at giving you something close to bang for your buck in a way that the GF can’t without some serious thought and work.
I really like the look of the GFVillas, both the lobby and the villas. Decor is themed, yet not over the top. You get the Victorian vibe, without the smell of Gramma’s house that was built during the Victorian days.
We have been guests since 1974. We usually stay at the Polynesian Hotel, with an occasional stay at the Grand Floridian. I believe in change, but not for change at all cost. Not all change is a positive thing. I’ll begin with the Polynesian When they remodeled, they removed the most iconic feature in the lobby – the waterfall. It was stunning, welcoming, and so tropical. The Lobby now looks like any other hotel lobby. The new furniture is terrible. I wonder if the interior decorators actually sat in it. It is uncomfortably huge. I had no choice, but to put my feet on it in order to sit. I feel that they changed the lobby just for the sake of change. All they needed to do was refresh it. Instead, they took away its uniqueness. Also, making it a Moana themed hotel is a mistake. When you are paying for a deluxe hotel, I don’t feel that cartoon character motif is what I’m lookin for.
Now for the Grand Floridian. It is an elegant, deluxe hotel. Why do you need to introduce cartoon characters there also??? Do our children need to be constantly engaged??? Are their attention spans so short that they need to be constantly entertained???? These hotels were not created for that. They were supposed to transport us to a different place and time, not constantly be an advertisement for Disney characters. My own kids enjoyed looking for the hidden Mickeys, and still do. But I don’t want to pay top dollar to rent a room that is a live-in advertisement. Disney needs to rethink all of this. Change, for the sake of change, is not always a good thing.
Yeah, I remember that waterfall. I was stunned to learn that Disney bulldozed it away. Now there are a lot of sofas that aren’t particularly comfortable, but useful at times.
The first time we stayed at the GF (maybe 2002?) the buildings had a lovely coffee service in the lobby every morning. We miss that amenity.
We stayed for 3 nights last week using DVC points at the Villas and were pleasantly surprised at being upgraded to a one bedroom suite which was very nice. We ate at Narcoossee’s and Grand Floridian Cafe which were both excellent. Gasparila Grill is among the better resort quick service and we ate breakfast there each day. Option of boat, monorail or walking to Magic Kingdom and other resorts for meals can’t be beat too.
Wow, I had no idea you could get a surprise upgrade when using points! Sounds awesome!
Yes it was quite the surprise. We had no idea until we opened the door to the room. We thought it had to be a mistake so my wife went right out and found the manager who asked if we wanted to give it back. No way. And we also were upgraded at the Riviera from standard to preferred view the same week. So yes, it does happen, sometimes twice on the same trip!