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If money were no issue and you could stay anywhere on the Walt Disney World property what would be your top resorts? Hopefully, the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa made that list. If not, well, this is awkward.
Recently, I had the opportunity to stay at the Grand Flo, as it’s so lovingly referred, and successfully checked it off my WDW bucket list. If you’re totally new here and have no concept of the Walt Disney World hotel tiers, the Grand Flo falls under the “Deluxe” category, and in our opinion, is the cream of the crop when it comes to service, dining, drinks, transportation, and views.
Located in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area, quite literally outside the gates, sits the Victorian-themed resort. While not an original, opening day resort, the hotel has been around since 1988 and is synonymous with the classic WDW vacation vibes. With red gabled roofs, white siding, intricate balcony designs, and the grandest lobby, this hotel takes your stay and elevates it to another level.
Fun fact: According to an article by WDWInfo, the design, while Victorian, is more of a fantasy than a historically accurate depiction, drawing inspiration from San Francisco, Florida, the Bahamas, England, and Australia.
As soon as you enter the lobby, through the sliding doors, you’re immersed in grandeur - from the intricate carpets and stunning upholstery to the larger-than-life gold bird cage and tuxedoed pianist - you’ll notice the enormous 16-ft chandeliers, hanging 40-ft above your head, stained glasswork, and the friendliest bunch of cast members this side of Seven Seas Lagoon.
When we checked in, our room wasn’t quite ready so we decided to enjoy one of the many wonderful places to dine at the hotel - Grand Floridian Cafe. As we made our way to our table, the cast member shared fun facts about chocolate artwork, as well as menu items we can’t miss.
Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the Grand Floridian Cafe serves up well-priced entrees all day long. We dined around 12:30 p.m. as a party of three and ordered the old-fashioned pancakes, chicken and waffles, and a Grand Breakfast. Everything was wonderful from the service to the food, and by the time the bill arrived, we received the magical notification that our room was ready.
While the Grand Floridian is a deluxe resort, it also offers a Vacation Club side, The Villas, where guests or DVC members can rent points for one, two, and three bedroom villas - talk about high dollar! Alas, we are not DVC members and were already spending quite a chunk of change to stay here, so we elected to stay on the non-DVC side, and found our room in the Big Pine Key building.
Expecting the typical Disney-style accommodations, imagine our surprise when we entered a large, corner room with an abundance of space, two balconies, and enough seating for 5+ people. Yeah, we got lucky.
When you first entered our room on the upper level, we were so pleased with the small hallway, private bathroom space, and of course, the balconies facing both Magic Kingdom and the other facing the Polynesian Resort. *Note: we stayed at this portion of the hotel right before renovations began. Today, Big Pine Key is fully refurbished and is now home to DVC villas. See those here.
In all honesty, while the room in and of itself was spacious and beautiful, we really felt the age. It had some wear and tear and the mattress spring covers had seen better days. And, for $1,000+ for one night, we were hoping for a bit more, in terms of cleanliness. This just means we’ll have to try again in a newly renovated room, right?
After check-in and the hundreds of photos and videos we shot of the space, we decided to take the boat over to the other Magic Kingdom Resorts. A huge perk of this hotel is its transportation. Guests may boat, bus, walk, or monorail to certain parks, with the ride to Magic Kingdom coming in at a whopping 3-5 minutes.
Boat service takes you to Magic Kingdom, as well as to the Polynesian, and gives easy access to the Contemporary Resort, too. From the Grand Floridian, guests may also take the Epcot monorail line, transferring at the Transportation and Ticket Center, to get to that park.
Busing is busing and always has its grievances. Thankfully, we had no issues at this resort with its one bus station. Especially after dealing with resorts like Saratoga Springs and Coronado, having one bus stop is a relief.
After a long day at the park, we popped into Gasparilla Island Grille, the resort’s quick-service spot for a large fry and some water, and headed back to our room for fireworks on our patio. Waking up was just as magical.
Donning my white robe, courtesy of the Grand Flo, I made a cup of coffee and watched Magic Kingdom come to life. I could hear the boats start warming up, I watched the lights turn off on the castle, and listened to the Main Street music float up to my room as the monorail whizzed by and truly felt like I was the luckiest girl in WDW.
Upon checking out, we enjoyed the gift shops like M. Mouse Mercantile, Basin White, Sandy Cove Gifts & Sundries, and the downstairs boutique. Pro tip: If you have kiddos there is a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the Grand Floridian grounds, however, it is still unavailable at this location.
It’s worth noting the resort's other signature dining such as Citricos, which was recently refurbished, and Victoria & Albert’s - the most expensive meal you’ll eat on property, which was also refurbished and reopened recently. Other, less expensive spots to catch are Narcoosee’s, which is right on the water by the boat launch, the various pool bars, 1900 Park Fare, and the Garden View Tea Room (both are currently unavailable since WDW’s reopening in 2020). The Enchanted Rose is my favorite lounge, also located at the Grand Flo, and has some of the best cocktails and yummiest truffle fries you’ll find for miles.
Other mentionables include the pools, campfire activities, nighttime movies, the spa, boat rentals, fishing, cruises, and so much more. Read up on those amenities here.
Now for the big question - would we come back? Yes… But. I know, there’s always a downside to the finer things in life, right? We would come back, but we would definitely wait for the prices to dip a smidge during the slower seasons or would book a weeknight vs. weekend.
We would also elect for a renovated building, as the old layout just doesn’t fit the bill… Literally. In terms of exact figures, we spent around $1,050 for one night - definitely the priciest room I’ve ever stayed in. If you’ve got the cash, the Four Seasons down the road is in the same ballpark and is worth its weight in gold. Just sayin’.
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