My wife and I checked in on our arrival date as planned, we drove because wife doesn't fly! From the time we were met at the unloading zone in front until we left, It was pure bliss. Never in my life have I been treated with as much care, respect and attention as I was this stay. I just cannot think of a bad thing to say. The rooms were beautiful, the lobby was indeed "Grand" and the small orchestra on the second floor of the lobby was excellent. One would think that with an 11 day stay, that I could mention the "bad" food at one of the places..Not so for us...whether at the resort or the parks, the food was delicious everywhere! The delivery from the parks and Downtown Disney to the resort gift shops was priceless. This is a win-win situation..no packing heavy bags around all over the park. I can honestly say that I had tears in my eyes upon leaving, (and cannot believe that the porter was able to get all our luggage and gift bags into the car!) because I was sad to leave. My wife and I have been married 30 years now and this was by far the BEST vacation we have ever had. Please try to overlook the reviews that tell how bad check-in is (mine took 15 minutes) as I believe these to just be impatient people. Your here to relax, so do it ! All I can say is the ONLY way the stay would have been better would have been if Walt himself were able to greet us!
Best resort on the WDW property by far. Just trust in God and let Disney handle the rest and you will have the time of your life...we did...God Bless!

Our family just got back from another trip to Disney World last week. This was our first time staying at the GF. The only reason I decided to stay at Disney's most expensive resort is because of the 4nights/3 free special that they were offering. Even with the 3 nights lodging free, it still cost us an exorbitant fee for this trip. We were celebrating my 41st birthday here. To be as brief as possible, we were greeted immediately by a very friendly hostess as soon as we disembarked from Disney's Magical Express in front of the hotel. We were whisked away to our building, which was the Sugar Loaf concierge bldg. adjacent to the main one. We ended up being upgraded for free to concierge level by Disney, thus entitling us to some small food offerings throughout the day. Our rooms were two adjoining ones and they were very pleasantly appointed. Please keep in mind that, being that this is touted as being Disney's very FINEST hotel, I was expecting a touch of opulence. I was somewhat disappointed to find that, even though this hotel is beautiful and lovely, I would not characterize it as high-end. Marketing ploys lead one to believe that they will be experiencing an upscale, exquisite hotel -- however this is not entirely true. It is a very nice hotel indeed, but I do not feel it really and truly lived up to my expectations based on the reviews and the belief that this was the finest Disney had to offer. Nice rooms and lovely surroundings are certainly what you get -- but you are not getting even 4 star hotel status in my honest opinion. Here in NH we have a hotel up in the White Mountains called the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH. It is considered to be only a 4 diamond AAA hotel and it was far more magnificent in all aspects when compared to the Grand Floridian. So I rate the Grand Floridian as being beautiful, pleasant, comfortable, lovely, etc. but I wil readily say it was not even close to what it is purported to be. Also worthy of mentioning is that the concierge buffet offerings are not that palatable. On the very first morning, there were tiny black fruit flies covering the fruit offerings. It was truly disgusting a sight to behold, and it so turned me off that I refused to eat any fruit for the entire trip. I even discouraged my children from doing so as well for fear of what those squalid flies would transmit. I have not even seen this type of bug infestation in Hampton Inns, let alone finding that at Disney's Grand Dame. Also, the food was the same basically every single day. I am not complaining loudly as this was free for us as an upgrade, however I do mention it for those poor souls who are actually paying beaucoup bucks for this spread -- it is not worth paying for. Especially when there are flies all over the open food. One has to wonder how sanitary it is after all. The other thing for those of you who like internet access for email, news, etc. You are required to pay $10 per day access fee! I feel that is exceptionally high and I am by no means any tight wad. And the real kicker is that you need to pay $10 to access the internet in your room and then another $10 per day to access the web at the pool/lobby area. It was nice to have the all-night cafe Gasparilla Games for our teenage boys to go grab food and play games at all odd hours of the night. The pools on the property are quite lovely, as one would expect. The boat ride from the GF to the Magic Kingdom is alot of fun and a refreshing respite on those hot days. We rented the little Sea Raycer boats from the GF dock out back. Our family rented 4 of them for 1 1/2 hrs. utilizing the coupon that is provided in your welcome package. Boy, was that one of the highlights of our trip! We really really had a blast on those things! If I could recommend one must-do, it would definitely be to try these boats - a ton of fun. Last thing I want to mention is that housekeeping was mediocre at best, which came as a bit of a shock to me. We were lucky to get very minor straightening services once every two days. There was even one day where the housekeeping staff didn't even empty our trash! I was peeved to say the least, coming home from a long day of touring to find the room smelling of trash. We also found a few days where the beds had not even been made or the room straightened up. I found that to be really odd. I've never stayed in a hotel in all my years where housekeeping did not even come in the room to do minor bedmaking/trash emptying. I did not even bother to say anything to anyone, but I will say that when I go back to Disney World, I will not stay at the Grand Floridian again. We stayed last year at the AKL in a sprawing 2 bdrm. suite that was literally right on the savannah with the animals a stone's throw from our windows. I would rate the AKL as being a higher class hotel than the GF. Perhaps Disney should market the AKL as their ultimate luxury in the future.

My family and I stayed at the Grand Floridian for a week in June, and we absolutely loved it. We had a theme park view that was outstanding. The hotel was quiet, clean and the service was excellent. The hotel staff made us feel as though we were the only guests there. They attended to our every need. We also really enjoyed that the hotel was not "over done" with Disney things. The décor was Victorian, and yes, there were various characters, etc. in the room, but it was not too much. You had to look for the characters to notice them at all. The pool and the beach area were very nice as well. We spent one of our days there taking advantage of the great service at the pool bar and enjoying the Florida sun. Although this hotel is in the center of everything, it feels like a private oasis. I would highly recommend it to everyone. The only complaint I would have would be that the lobby is a bit loud when people are waiting for the character meals in the 1900 Park restaurant; however, it is avoidable and manageable.

Our stay at the Grand Floridian was one of the best anywhere in the world. I have stayed at many Disney Resorts, from the all star movies to the polynesian, and I have to say that not only is the Grand Floridian my favourite hotel at Disney World it is one of my favourite hotels in the world!

I just love the experience you get from staying at this hotel. The staff are always very pleasant, and always happy to answer any question you may have. Housekeeping was also very efficient, happy to come early while we were at the parks, as we would usually have a midday rest stop to relax in our room, before heading back out to the parks later in the afternoon.

Our room was beautiful, we were upgraded from a normal garden view room (which was all we could get at the time we booked) to a Magic Kingdom view room. We had a great view of the castle and the fireworks. The rooms are spacious and comfortable.

In regards to food we ate at 1900 Park Fare for both breakfast and dinner, and found the buffets to have a wide variety of good food. Then at Narcoossee's we had a great view of the fireworks, and I believe this restaurant to be one of the best seafood restaurants at Disney World, great food!!! The at the Grand Floridian Cafe we had light meal which was again very nice, with a good selection and not too expensive.

Another good thing about the Grand Floridian is its location!!! The monorail goes straight to the Magic Kingdom with no stops, however of the way back it stops off at the Contempory, then the polynesian, then the Grand Floridian, so I recommend you take advantage of the boat service on the way back from the Magic Kingdom back to the hotel. The monorail also goes from the Grand Floridian to the TTC (Transport & Tocket Center) so you can then get on a monorail to Epcot. So the only two parks you have to worry about buses for are Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Although the buses are very reliable and if you miss one, you dont have to wait long before another one comes along which is very handy!

I hope this helps anyone planning on going to the Grand Floridian...I'm going back this August and can't wait!!!