Hey there!!! Where's Pete's Grand Floridian Grand Gripe??!!!

Exactly what resort *are* you staying at that doesn't have little kids running all over the place? I mean, this is Walt Disney World we're talking about here. From All-Star Sports to the Grand Floridian, there's going to be kids all around.

Swan and Dolphin. Conventioneers on the other hand..... The good news is no one holds conventions in Orlando during the summer months and the hotel has some serious bargains in the summer.

There is also a noticable difference between the YC and BC. In order to take advantage of the AC we will walk through one end of BC all the way through to the end of YC. It is striking how different the clientele is but I think that is also because the pool is located closer to the main body of the BC.
 
Of course you're entitled to your opinion If this is, in fact, your opinion. However, I'm tending to be of the opinion that you really don't know a lot about him at all. Or this might just be debate bait, or a randomly made comment.

Either way, I stick to MY opinion that Pete is NOT grumpy at all on a consistent basis. Tough but fair critic? Sure! Wanting to get a good bang for his buck, a good experience, and a nicely kept and administrated facility - especially at THOSE prices? Yep. Trying to make sure a place is well run/kept up so that when his Dreams clients and others stay or go there they have good experiences? Definitely. Reviewing and letting us all know the good and the bad that happened during his experience, so we might have a glimpse what to maybe expect when we go there?Yes.

But Pete being grumpy as just a general mood on a day to day basis? No way! Or - maybe it's the Joisey in me that's used to the Joisey in him. :o But I don't think so, I honestly don't. Some day I'll hopefully have the pleasure of meeting him (and others on The Team) in person, but I have been following him for about 6 or so years now, so that would be MANY MANY MANY hours of video alone, so I think I've seen a huge glimpse into his general demeanor on the daily to form this hypothesis.

And oh - yes - I WOULD feel sorry for any CM who has to deal with him - IF they don't have their "STUFF" together. Rue the day, they will, and rightfully should, in a case like this. Although even he said he kept it pretty much together in this case (probably even more than I would have, sounds like!!) But - again - have seen NUMEROUS compliments doled out by Mr. Werner on exceptional CM;'s.
He is pretty persnickety. He did LOVE Ohana one week in his Podcast and then he went off on Ohana a week or 2 later. He's rather melodramatic too as seen in this review of GF.
 
Of course you're entitled to your opinion If this is, in fact, your opinion. However, I'm tending to be of the opinion that you really don't know a lot about him at all. Or this might just be debate bait, or a randomly made comment.

Either way, I stick to MY opinion that Pete is NOT grumpy at all on a consistent basis. Tough but fair critic? Sure! Wanting to get a good bang for his buck, a good experience, and a nicely kept and administrated facility - especially at THOSE prices? Yep. Trying to make sure a place is well run/kept up so that when his Dreams clients and others stay or go there they have good experiences? Definitely. Reviewing and letting us all know the good and the bad that happened during his experience, so we might have a glimpse what to maybe expect when we go there?Yes.

But Pete being grumpy as just a general mood on a day to day basis? No way! Or - maybe it's the Joisey in me that's used to the Joisey in him. :o But I don't think so, I honestly don't. Some day I'll hopefully have the pleasure of meeting him (and others on The Team) in person, but I have been following him for about 6 or so years now, so that would be MANY MANY MANY hours of video alone, so I think I've seen a huge glimpse into his general demeanor on the daily to form this hypothesis.

And oh - yes - I WOULD feel sorry for any CM who has to deal with him - IF they don't have their "STUFF" together. Rue the day, they will, and rightfully should, in a case like this. Although even he said he kept it pretty much together in this case (probably even more than I would have, sounds like!!) But - again - have seen NUMEROUS compliments doled out by Mr. Werner on exceptional CM;'s.

I second this. There's nothing wrong with standards and reasonable expectations..especially for $750.00 a night..any resort at this level should take care of it's guest and not give them attitude for having an issue that they allowed to happen. Pete was totally justified in his opinions and his reaction. Yes he seems to have his moments, but who in the world doesn't? I know I do! That's just being human. Generally, Pete to me comes off as measured and fair in giving places chances. If a place hasn't impressed him, he's gone back to re-review in hopes things have improved. If he was so grumpy, as he's being accused of, he would never offer positive opinions and would always look to criticize..that's far from what he does...if you take the time to watch him on a regular basis, that's obvious.
 


Not sure when Pete and his mom stayed here, but I saw Pete and Corey F. on May 8th after we checked in. We saw them right by the sundry shop there and I was about to say hi, but they turned around and went outside and they seemed deep in conversation so I didn't want to interrupt.
Anyway, my experience with GF's customer service was much different. My daughter had hurt her foot at MK on the 8th and we were suppose to do the Disney after hours event at HS, but her foot was bothering her so much she didn't want to go even with a wheelchair because she really wanted to rest it and ice it since she plays basketball in college and really has to make sure an injury doesn't turn into a bigger one.

So, I went to the GF desk to see if I could get my money back since we weren't going to go (even though I knew It was probably a long shot to get our money back). Long story short, they couldn't get their head office to reimburse me, but they credited my account at the GF in the amount of the tickets. Honestly, they went above and beyond.

I do agree with Pete about the golf carts zipping around. It did feel like anytime we went anywhere we had to move out of the way for them.
 
I do t really know who he is. I’m assuming he’s one of the main ppl on the boards.

Yes - his general demeanor seems that he is a generally grumpy person. That must be the polite no matter what from Kansas in me. Yes, he was sweet to his mom, but that’s to be expected- it’s his mom.

My opinion though. Like I said - I have no idea who he is, so my opinion is based off the one video.

It might be related to where you are from - I am from the NYC metro area a lot of us are like this - have bit of hardened shells you have to get through

I do know him a bit/have spent some time with him and I think he is just one of those people where if you treat him well he will treat you well back tenfold, but if you treat him badly then he will give that back to you and will take a lot to overcome that and get back to a positive position in his eyes.

Overall I think he is a pretty happy and thankful person, just if you see him when dealing with something negative he doesn't hold back
 
I appreciated his review. I grew up in a Victorian themed home (my mother collects, refurbishes and deals antiques and antique furniture) so I never really understood this "uncomfortable" feeling others have described about it.... I mean it has a "fancy" theme but we are still at a hotel in the middle of Disney World in Orlando. Anyhow... this sort of confirmed my impressions. The grounds, the buildings, the lobby, all very striking and have more of a luxe feel to them, but those rooms have never shouted "I'm worth it!" to me, at all. And at $750 per flipping night, who wants to sleep on a fold-down sofa, let alone one with stains on it and loose threading from the end of the fabric on it. I get that when at Disney, you're paying over-inflated prices for the location more than service and room, but 750 is very inflated for what those rooms are. I agree with another poster who said these rooms should be refurbed more often. Now all said, if I hit the lotto I'll be booking a 2 bedroom villa over on the DVC side.
 


I think I have identified my issue with the comfort level at GF; it's the lobby. I feel it is too bright, too much white (or just an off-white) color. There is no real contrast and it makes me feel like I'm visiting a sanitary hospital. Conversely, Citricos right off the lobby, is wonderfully themed and very comfortable.
 
The GF is not my style but it is my girlfriends style so I hope to be able to stay there with her sometime. That is a lot of cash though. Maybe a split stay sometime.
I was supposed to stay years ago with a friend, but she backed out at the last minute, so I never stayed. This was during the time that I was trying to stay everywhere on property. I did quite a few places and always found that especially if the motivation for the stay was to check the resort out (not to do parks primarily) I could get an easy feel for a place in 2 nights.
 
I've always found Pete to be tough but fair. There are a ton of Disney bloggers and vloggers out there but many of them are fluff pieces IMO. I appreciate the candor and objectivity that the team at the Dis provides. Even when they have to show some tough love.

Disney commands a higher bar than any other resort/theme park, and I can completely understand (and share in) the frustration when it seems they are doing things half-assed. I have not seen it very often, although my Disney-colored glasses are probably a lot thicker than Pete's, or anyone else on the team. I overlook a lot, and after I return from a Disney trip I tend to forget about the bad stuff and remember the magic. But if you're going to charge $700+ per night for a 4-diamond experience, you should get it, or at least something very close to it. Think Victoria and Albert's, but on a resort level. THAT is what I think of when I think of the GF. If it's not that then Disney should be called out on it.
 
The jaded side of me thinks the lead only reacted after @WDWtoday alerted them about Pete’s tweets and who he is - an owner of a travel agency, a YouTube channel and a massive forum.
I don’t think a regular Joe would have gotten that recovery.
That was my thought also -Otherwise they would have taken care of it correct in the first place -I this exact same issue at the BC
and no one called me the next day -
 
The dog in the stroller at HS or the yapping dog in Epcot or the rowdy dog on the bus....not thinking they were service animals. I was of the understanding that Disney cannot question what kind of support dog (any with cert is ok in parks and dining????). And I could print out a cert right now for my ill behaved cairn terrier and bring him in.

Also if you read that link, it states it's a gray area and new state laws allow ES dogs. ALso, that was from 2017. It is my understanding that currently ES dogs are allowed at WDW. There have been tons of threads on this.

But this has derailed this thread. Sorry. We did have great food at GFC but not great service, the night we went. It was very busy though. And we will go again. We also love to go to GF in Dec to look at the Xmas decor. That would be a great time for Pete to take his mom to GFV. So lovely.


By law service dogs and service miniature horses (usually for taller or larger adults who need assistance with bracing for balance because the assistance animal has to be a certain height and weight at the shoulders compared to the person's height and weight) are allowed anywhere the person is permitted to be while the law pertaining to emotional support animals only applies to some public transportation such as air planes and I think longer distance trains, and to rental property without requiring a pet deposit. Single night lodging falls in a gray area on emotional support which is why Disney can get by allowing dogs but not an emotional support cat, rabbit, or what ever else someone can think of.
For service animals there is actually not a certification program in the USA and an employee, management, or owner of a business can only ask 2 questions which are 1. Is that or your dog a service animal and what task is your dog trained to perform. You do not have to give your medical diagnosis so for example if someone has a service dog to detect seizure they can say yes this is a service dog and it is trained to alert me when I am going to have an episode with my illness along with going and getting assistance from someone if I need it. This tells the person from the business asking that yes this is a service animal trained to perform a specific task and if the animal approaches them without the handler to please follow the animal because the handler needs assistance.
The only exception to the above is in situations where the hair from the animal can cause health and safety issues in a sterile environment which are typically hospital operating rooms and burn units. Obviously in amusement and theme parks on some rides and attractions the animal can not go on due to the restraining system but in those cases a kennel will be provided for the handler to use. Which is why at Disney a service dogs can go on attractions like Small World but not on ones like Slinky Dog Dash.


I feel that the problem in a lot of cases and not just Disney is too many people will call discrimination and either alert the media, file in court or otherwise cause a scene that places do not bother to ask the 2 questions that they can by law and thus you have out of control yappy dogs in stollers in places they should not be. From my friends who have service dogs for a variety of reasons they actually welcome being asked the questions even if it is obvious such as a sight assistance dog (the commonly known term of seeing eye is actually a brand trade mark) by the easily recognized handle on a harness because it tells them that the business is not only recognizing that they have a right to be there with their service animal but, the business is going to protect them and their service animal from an animal that is untrained and might provoke. (Yes there have been cases of an emotional support of supposed emotional support animal attacking an actual service animal).
 
My feelings on the review. I saw if as fair but explaining what happened. A place that cost that much a night should not have anything dirty or with any sort of stains no matter what they are. When a guest has a problem getting into their room as soon as the front desk was alerted the correct response should be please accept our apology for this issue we will do everything we can to fix it and then take the time to have someone on staff walk to the room with the person and see if it is a matter of in this case Pete's or his mom's magic band not working (since it happened twice once with each room) correctly in which case fixing the problem or if the room is not responding to a master entry system that hotel staff can use in which case again fixing the problem as quickly as possible.
About 5 years ago I was staying with my family at a hotel in Keystone, SD and the drain on the bathtub would not work when I went to give a tired cranky from a long day 6 year old a bath. I called the front desk and immediately I had someone from the hotel staff come up take a look at it confirm that yes it was not working, apologize for our trouble and let us know that unfortunately they were completely booked otherwise they would gladly move us to a different room but that they thought there was a stopper that would fit the drain so it would hold water and that they would be going to check on it. Not even 10 minutes later I had someone back with a flat stopper that while it would not keep a real tight seal especially if it was bumped so we would need to be careful while using it along with telling us that we would be receiving a percentage off on our room but that would be determined by higher up management who would not be there till in the morning. When I went to check out we actually got our room for half price what we had paid for it. Both that night and in the morning I was assured that they would be taking that room out of service until it could be fixed and thank me for alerting them to the problem.
 
This was one of my favs. I've never actually wanted to stay here. Feels a little too stuffy for my tastes. Much rather stay at the Poly or Contempo.
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but when they started filming inside the room, I saw that nasty couch and it was like watching a horror movie...audience seeing the killer...and the suspense of waiting for the soon-to-be victim to realize there's something awful in the room. I kept mentally begging Pete to turn around and get a good look at it and all the grossness I was seeing. It was so gratifying when he finally did. LOL It was a great video, a very fair review, and at the very least...it confirmed for me what I've always felt from the pics. i.e it's nothing special looking for the price.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











Top