GFV First Visit Success

[NSL]

I returned a week ago from a short trip with minimal planning time. I normally plan my trips 11 months in advance as many of us DVC members do -- but this one came about very quickly! My husband found out he was heading to Orlando for business. We decided to stretch it over the weekend so that I could join him for a quick getaway. We had less than 3 weeks to plan. When I originally got on the DVC site there was nothing available for one night let alone all three nights! I kept checking and would grab any room available (studio or even 1 bedroom) that became available. I started with the first night (Friday) at the Poly in a studio lake view. Then I got one night (Saturday) at the GFV resort studio theme park view. Then I found a 1 bedroom at the Boardwalk for Sunday. In the end, I can't even tell you how many times I switched trying to get what worked the best for us. At one time I had some combination of three nights at Saratoga, Old Key West, Beachclub, Poly, GFV, or Boardwalk. Luckily with all that switching, I only ended up with 8 points in holding and never lost a room in the process. When I found a room, I would have to cancel and rebook in order to not lose points to holding plus we don't have a lot of points that we can play around with to begin with. I am hoping I can work something out with the points in holding for our trip in July. It stinks that I have to wait for the 60 day mark to do that though! In the end, we stayed at the GF the entire trip. We did have to change from Theme Park View after two nights to Lake View. I enjoyed the Grand Floridian so much that I am now looking at purchasing a small contract there. We own at AKV and love it! We have never stayed at a monorail resort before and we were really looking forward to trying Poly, but in the end not having to change rooms one of the nights made me give that up. We are definitely fans of GFV now!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Good for you!
Were you in a resort studio or the the deluxe lake view for the two nights? Was the theme park resort studio worth the points?

 

[NSL]

Good for you!
Were you in a resort studio or the the deluxe lake view for the two nights? Was the theme park resort studio worth the points?

We were in the resort studio with a theme park view the first two nights. The last night, we moved to a deluxe studio with a lake view. I preferred the resort studio better -- mostly because I liked the decor in it better. I also preferred the bathroom set up there. The view was amazing, but I don't think I would choose that category (simply because the number of points) if I had the choice. I loved it, and if I had a lot of points, I would in a second. We don't own a lot of points, so I wouldn't for that reason. I wasn't crazy about having two beds in the room since it was two of us -- I would prefer one king sized bed, but I can see the appeal if you were staying with a family. I liked the lobby of the second building (I can't remember the name of it now) with the deluxe studio. It had a beautiful fountain in it. The first building was pretty but not nearly as extravagant as the second. Sorry I don't know the names of the buildings. The deluxe studio was also more dated than the resort studio. If you want an actual mini fridge with a sink and those amenities, you would for sure want the deluxe studio over the resort studio. I don't care about those things, so that made no different to me. I'd be happy to answer any more questions if you had them.

 

[paults]

congrats, glad it all worked out for you. I like the VGF but my DW is not a big fan. We had stayed there only once but visit a lot to just walk around.

 

[erinkristen04]

Hi there! We are Poly owners with just a handful of sleeps left until our first stay at Grand Floridian. We are going to be in a resort studio, so I’m thrilled to hear how much you loved it! The one thing I’m a bit nervous about is the level of noise and soundproofing… there seem to be varying reviews. Would love to hear your take on it.

Also, did you feel like all the construction detracted from anything for you? Disney generally does a nice of job of trying to mitigate construction issues and we aren’t usually too phased by it, but the most recent pictures I saw of the resort seemed…. Scary. Lol! I’m hoping to not feel like we are smack in the middle of a hard hat area anytime we set foot outside our room, but also want to make sure I manage my expectations appropriately.

 

[NSL]

Hi there! We are Poly owners with just a handful of sleeps left until our first stay at Grand Floridian. We are going to be in a resort studio, so I’m thrilled to hear how much you loved it! The one thing I’m a bit nervous about is the level of noise and soundproofing… there seem to be varying reviews. Would love to hear your take on it.

Also, did you feel like all the construction detracted from anything for you? Disney generally does a nice of job of trying to mitigate construction issues and we aren’t usually too phased by it, but the most recent pictures I saw of the resort seemed…. Scary. Lol! I’m hoping to not feel like we are smack in the middle of a hard hat area anytime we set foot outside our room, but also want to make sure I manage my expectations appropriately.

I did notice some noise in the room. I could hear some people above us in the first building which was where we had the resort room. The second building I did not hear anything. I am a light sleeper, so I am not sure if it was just me or if they were actually loud above us. It wasn't terrible but noticeable.

As far as the construction goes, it didn't bother me. Clearly I could see it going on, but it didn't detract from the experience for me. It was your "regular" Disney type construction -- if that makes sense. It seems there is always some going on wherever I go. Hope this helps!