Continuing our reviews of our six resort split stay in July, we found ourselves checking out of Copper Creek and into the Grand Floridian Villas. We were super excited because this would be our first Grand Floridian stay as owners at the resort. It had been about two years since we have stayed here, fell in love, and added a resale contract. This trip solidified for us why we made that emotionally driven purchase!
We are going to continue our review using the template The DIS follows for Walt Disney World Resort Reviews. Don’t forget to head to the site to leave your own resort reviews!
Check-In Process
Following an early breakfast at Whispering Canyon, we said goodbye to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and headed for The Grand Floridian. It was around 9 am, so we knew it might be too early for our room to be ready. Upon pulling up to The Villas, we were greeted by very happy and enthusiastic cast members. Paul decided to go in and inquire about our room while I stayed with our luggage. The cast members were so incredibly welcoming! Paul was escorted to sit down at one of the desks, where Dan assigned us a ready room immediately. Meanwhile, bell services didn’t want me standing outside in the heat and took our luggage inside. We met Jerry from bell services, and he was fascinating to talk with!
Rating: Very Satisfied
Service and Cast Members
I realize I mostly covered this with my check-in; however, our excellent service here wasn’t just concentrated to that single experience. We really can’t say one bad thing about the Cast Members we experienced at the Grand Floridian. Aside from check-in and the DVC Cast Members, we enjoyed talking with those who were operating the open house villas; we had an incredibly wonderful experience with the cast member working the Beaches Pool Bar & Grill. I wish I had gotten the gentleman’s name who waited on us. His overall attitude and demeanor could turn anyone’s day into a great one. He took the time to explain the dishes they served, knew where we were sitting, and delivered them to us while again explaining the sauces and all the accompaniments he brought. It was just a really elevated service that I didn’t expect from a pool bar!
Rating: Very Satisfied
Lobby/ Common Areas
We had the unique experience that the main lobby was basically empty. It was cool to see it in all its beauty without crowds of people. If I think hard enough, I can still smell the fantastic lobby smell – one of my absolute favorites (which Magic Candle Company nailed, by the way). The theming here is one of my favorites, timeless elegance and Victorian charm. The Grand Floridian never fails to make my heart flutter.
Rating: Very Satisfied
Hotel Condition/Cleanliness
The common areas of both the main lobby and villas were sparkly clean. We saw Cast Members walking around as we did at Wilderness Lodge wiping surfaces, and we felt completely safe to be there.
Rating: Very Satisfied
Room Cleanliness
Our room was spotless. As with all the rooms on property, the new procedures have added an additional level of cleanliness. Extra linens are zip-tied, and remote controls are wrapped to show they have been cleaned. After staying at Copper Creek, we noticed everything at Grand Floridian was in working order, including our bathroom drain. Everything smelled fresh, and we didn’t see anything that we would be dissatisfied with.
Rating: Very Satisfied
Room Decor
The Villas here are beautiful. I love the light and creamy colors, the yellow glow the lamps give off at night, the beautifully tiled bathroom, and the hints of Mary Poppins in the artwork. If there was one drawback, if you look closely, you can see the furniture and carpeting are showing a decent amount of wear and tear. At the last condo meeting, we learned that Grand Floridan is scheduled in 2021 for a soft goods refurb, so hopefully, that can happen on schedule and will give a needed refresh to the furniture. Aside from that, it was still one of our favorite rooms ever. Our fourth-floor standard view overlooked portions of the lake, the resort, and the monorail and was extra beautiful at night.
Rating: Satisfied
Dining Options
Since the NBA was still here when we stayed, some areas were not accessible during this time, and some restaurants were closed. We honestly barely even noticed. The dining options opened included Gasparilla’s Island Grill and Grand Floridan Cafe, both of which we have had on a previous trip, and Beaches Pool Bar & Grill and Enchanted Rose, which we visited this trip. I touched on my experience with the service at the Beaches Pool Bar, but I was also really impressed with the food. For a pool bar, it was great! I will never count these places out again. They are entirely viable dining options. I’ll save the actual review for another day, and I’m sure a lobster roll being delivered to your pool lounge at the Grand Floridian is good by default of the surroundings. Still, Paul and I were both delighted with our experiences. We also had a lovely evening at Enchanted Rose, but only had drinks. Some day, I’m trying those truffle fries!
Rating: Very Satisfied
Island Caesar Salad w/ Chicken – Beach Pool Bar and Grill 
Lobster Sliders w/ Potato Barrels – Beach Pool Bar and Grill
Pools and Recreation
Unlike Copper Creek, which had two pools in operation, Grand Floridan was only operating one, the Beaches Pool. This was because the NBA was using the Courtyard Pool. I can’t say it affected us negatively. We swam one morning at the Beaches Pool and were the only ones there for two hours. We rode the slide multiple times. It was a more relaxing pool experience than we had at Copper Creek, where the pools there felt much busier. It seemed that many members didn’t want to stay at Grand Floridian because of the NBA and a variety of closed amenities. I would say we had a more quiet experience because of it.
Rating: Very Satisfied
Transportation
While we had rented a car for this trip, I feel I can speak on the transportation at the Grand Floridan because we did not use our car during our stay other than our check-in and check-out from the resort. We had one day that we spent at the Magic Kingdom. The monorail made it super easy to head to the park for a few hours, take a mid-day break in our room where we waited out a storm, and head back for an evening dinner at Jungle Skipper (which is a great place to eat, by the way!). Our second day we spent at the pool, we walked to the Polynesian, and we used the monorail to get to dinner at the Contemporary. Staying at the Grand Floridan gave us the ability to get to a park and other resorts without having to take the bus or use our car, making it a great location from a transportation standpoint.
Rating: Very Satisfied
Value for the Points
I would have to say the Grand Floridan and BoardWalk are tied for my favorite resort on property. They both have great rooms, beautiful theming, lovely views, and excellent proximity to the parks and other resorts. Where they differ, though, is on point cost. It is slightly painful to pay such high prices per night when other premium resorts like BoardWalk and Beach Club are so much lower. I still love the resort, and it’s worth it to be there. We will continue to stay here, but because of the point cost, we are more likely to stay here every other to every three years. Our contract here is small, so we use it to bank or borrow for our stays, which works well for us.
Rating: Satisfied
Overall Impression
Overall, we had a fantastic stay at The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridan Resort & Spa. It is one of our top choices on property, and we can’t help get excited about seeing it, whether we are staying there or not. It’s a beautiful resort with great amenities, and the location is hard to beat!
Join us soon as we head over to our third resort in our six resort split stay, Disney’s BoardWalk Villas!
*Please note that this resort review was conducted during Walt Disney World’s initial reopening period. We ask that you take into consideration that any negative impacts may be a result of situations surrounding the ongoing pandemic, and may not accurately represent the resort once it has fully reopened.
great job!!!
Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy reading your resort reviews. And I certainly agree about the high number of points per night at Grand Floridian!
Excellent review! What a great view you got. Nice 🙂
The Cast Member you mention at Beaches Pool Bar is likely to be Barry. I am a DVC VGF owner and we always make a point of multiple visits to the location just to experience Barry’s attitude and service. From my experience, he has been at the location since the venue opened. It is a highlight of our visits and we talk about him year round. The property is filled with the very best Cast Members at WDW, but Barry is the benchmark.
Well done! you captured our impressions to a T
I so enjoyed reading your article. Makes me “homesick” for the Grand Floridian Villas. I wonder if you were referring to Dan from Missouri??? He is great. We so miss Denny from Ohio and Richard welcoming us during our split stays on the Royal Palm floor and at the villas. Sounds like you had a wonderful visit. We need to investigate Beach Club and Boardwalk on our next visit.
I hope all understand that putting a remote in a plastic sleeve does not mean it has been cleaned. We hope it has, but it is not evidence of cleaning. Same with zip ties on extra linens – not evidence of anything but the application of a zip tie. If you want to be sure the room is clean – take appropriate wipes with you and wipe down all touch surfaces before you settle in. Our experience the past two weeks at AKL and SSR is that housekeeping is not any more thorough in delivering a clean room then before the pandemic. Actually had much better clean experience at Cypress Harbour for two weeks there prior to Disney stay.