We just came back from our first Disney Vacation. The Grand Floridian was simply amazing - we got an upgrade to the club level and had drinks and snacks available throughout the day (next time I will just book club level and not get the dining plan - both of these together is way too much food). The property is beautiful, the rooms are nice, the concierge service is great (they even found a screwdriver for us - we neeeded it for one of our kids' toys)! The hotel is right on the monorail, so getting around to MK was a breeze, plus, we never had to wait too long for a bus to go to AK or HS. The restaurants are nice, too - we loved the GF Cafe, Citricos and 1900 Park Fair, but Narcoosee's was a little disappointing (service wasn't great and neither was the food). The grounds at the GF are breathtaking - we filmed the fireworks from the boat dock - awesome! The main building lobby was excellent - great place to relax for a few minutes and listed to some live music (there is a piano player and also a band at night).
To sum it all up - this is a beautiful hotel at the happiest place in the world and we can't wait to come back!

My husband & I stayed at the GF for a weekend. We have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge a couple of times. The GF & WL have the same size of rooms, basically. The Floridian is convenient to the Magic Kingdom & the Transportation & Ticket Station which allows you to hop on a separate Monorail to take to EPCOT. We stayed on the top floor, which gave us a private balcony. It was a smaller room, but very quant & cozy. Amenities in the room are very nice, i.e. bath towels, shampoo, conditioner, soaps, etc. The room was very clean, which includes the bath/shower. My biggest pet peeve is the shower curtain & it was spotless. We were able to get a good rate because of a Conference, which was helpful. Otherwise the rooms would have been twice as much per night. Choosing this room depends what is most important to you. If the cost does not faze you, the convenience to the Parks is very helpful, especially if you just spent 10 hours in a park & you just want to get to your room & sleep! If you have children, make sure you do not stay on the top floor, those rooms tend to be smaller. Oh & one more thing, we have taken several trips in the last 3 months & this is the first bed that has not hurt my husband's back. It was an extremely comfortable bed.

Returned to Disney after many many years & thought it would be great treat to stay in style and this is style. We got a special rate for a Club room at the Grand Floridian which was well worth the extra cost. Included restricted access to our building, breakfast, afternoon tea, appetizers and drinks including alcohol before dinner and dessert and after dinner drinks in the evening. Lots of attention to detail and more service than you could want. Our building was located near the quiet pool which was wonderful for an evening swim. Dinner at the Cafe in the hotel which was very good and gave huge portions. They treat you well when they know your a club member. Give it a try.

Stayed at GF during last week of January 2012 for a business meeting. I'm really on the fence when rating this property. In some ways it was very good, others just average. I will err on the side of conservatism and go with average.

I used the Disney Express transportation and luggage service and was pleasantly surprised that I like it very much. You do give up some control by having to wait for the bus, wait for your luggage, etc., but it did make for a pleasant arrival and my bags arrived exactly when they were promised. Coaches were clean and comfortable. Downside on the return trip was a very loud and rambunctious child screaming in my ear- but that's not Disney's fault. Take your earplugs.

Check in was smooth, nice welcome by the staff. I was in room 9232 which had a lovely view of the back of the pool utility building- actually, exactly what I expected from a business event room! But, if I turned to the right a nice view of the lagoon. My room was very large with two queen beds and a fold out sofa. I was happy with the size of the bathroom which had a separate sink area from the shower/toilet area. Very nice toiletries, large towels and plenty of them. Room had a mini fridge, flat screen TV, pretty standard. Very clean, housekeeping left cute towel origami. Housekeeping also left me a very nice thank you note for the tip that I left which I thought was really interesting- have never seen that before.

Downsides of the room: the walls were so thin that my neighbors iPhone alarm woke me up in the morning! I could hear them opening up the drawers of the dresser. I had a screaming toddler at midnight on the other side. Thank goodness I took my earplugs... One thing I found amusing was that they offer a brochure for the sale of their bedding. This is not unusual, but I assumed that the quality would be great if they were offering to sell it. It wasn't bad, but it was no Westin Heavenly Bed. The worst part was that the comforter was one of those old fashioned acrylic type that most hotels of this price range and quality have done away with.

Because the weather was gorgeous, I spent a good amount of my free time around the pool. Very large, clean, many chairs and pool towels readily available. There was also a nice snack bar. The only downside for me was that I am a very fair person and need to have access to shade. There were few umbrellas and they were attached to tables, so no shade available on the loungers. If that is an issue for you consider renting one of the cabanas down by the beach. There was one other pool but I did not have an opportunity to check that out. I heard it had a fun slide.

The main lobby is impressive. Very grand, and fits the victorian theme. Lovely music and so fun to see the young girls going to their princess tea parties all dressed up! There are several shops in the main lobby area, one that has sundries for things you forgot. I forgot contact lens solution, and while they had a suitable alternative from my regular brand, I would have had a serious issue if I needed something else. You are very isolated here, and a taxi would be the only way to get to a pharmacy.

The one thing that I was really disappointed in were the options for eating and food quality. Because I was there for a business meeting I did not have the opportunity to experience the nicer restaurants. We had breakfast at Gasparillas and otherwise ate lunches and dinner in the conference center or Downtown Disney. Gasparillas was ok, but really geared towards families with small kids. I know it's Disney, but this really isn't your typical kids place. It was very cafeteria style. If i went back, I'd get room service or try one of the other restaurants. The plus to Gasparilla's was that it was open 24/7 which is helpful because the other restaurants had limited hours. If you are there for a few days, take advantage of their $14.99 refillable mug. Sound like a lot, but the sodas at the pool are $3.00 for about a 10 oz cup and that adds up fast.

The convention center food was just not great in comparison to other resorts of this quality.

Overall, I can't imagine anyone being too disappointed with this resort. As with anything I am sure it is a matter of you get what you pay for. I heard the rooms in the main building were pretty fantastic. I paid $199 per night on a convention rate and i felt like it was worth the price. If I'd paid the rack rate of $460, I'd be more than a bit disappointed.