Latest on Grand Floridian DVC

[idratherbeinwdw]

Not to split hairs but I'm not sure they could even if they tried.

One of the criteria for the 5 star / diamond rating is employees greeting guests by name. Given the volume of traffic through WDW, size of the Grand Floridian and modest union wages (which admittedly is a financial issue), I don't see how the front desk staff, bellmen and lobby greeters could ever learn the names of thousands of guests per week.

IMO, that's only feasible at 200-300 room hotels--which are typically half empty--and have a large volume of repeat business.

Do you mean the staff has to MEMORIZE each guest's name at a 5 star? My experience is that when I check in to such a resort that they indeed greet me by name (not too difficult, as you have to state who you are and show ID at check in). When I call the front desk for a request they do say "Hello Ms. Garfinkel, how can we help you? Again, not too difficult, I am sure the system is set up for the employees to know that when room XYZ calls that it's Miss Garfinkel.

But never have I had the staff use my name when I was passing by the front desk or standing next to an employee in the elevator, or anywhere else on hotel property. So although I do agree there are reasons the GF can't be a five star resort, the name thing seems pretty easy to resolve IMHO--unless you ARE saying that employees have to memorize everyone who checks in. That seems almost impossible to me unless you're at some VERY tiny resort. And it has not been my experience at all.

[TimK]

This goes back several years but I once read some official information from the AAA website which I interpreted as meaning that staff members were expected to acknowledge guests by name during follow-up encounters. Admittedly I may have misinterpreted what I read.

Here's a link to a PDF of the 4/5 Diamond guidelines.

http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Assets/Fi...linesDec08.pdf

It really doesn't take long to find items where Disney is sorely lacking--particularly in the service expectations. Disney is typically adequate, based upon my CM interactions resorts, but not close to five diamond level.

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

Disney is all about marketEARing the Brand. GF is a perfect example. To the causual Disney visitor (every few years, stays at Mod or Value) staying at GF is a dream, something they'll maybe save up for. When someone says "We stayed at GF" they automatically think "wow, must be nice". Staying at GF almost gave you bragging rights. I have a brother that used to refer to his car as "The Volvo". He couldn't just say he went to the mall, he'd say "We took The Volvo to the mall yesterday........"

Most people that stay at the GF - IMO - don't even realize what they are NOT getting for the price they paid.

But it sure sounds impressive telling your friends "We stayed at The Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. It's their Flagship Resort"

[idratherbeinwdw]

Viking you may be right about the main reason people staying at GF is the bragging rights. The few times I stayed there--at the insistence of my friend who was treating me--I was completely underwhelmed. The lobby is impressive, but after that I didn't find anything else particuarly awesome. The rooms were not large, the staff was not friendly, and even when we stayed in the Walt Disney Suite the room was not cleaned well. We found a broken glass on the balcony, the mini fridge was dirty, and there was a storage door under the fridge that was REALLY stained and awful to look at. Plus the room was not ready on time. We got a partial refund due to all the problems.

I do not get the appeal of the GF at all, but I am sure many guests love the place. To each his/her own. That being said if the GF DVC becomes a reality I'll try it at least once.

[wdrl]

Here's a link to a PDF of the 4/5 Diamond guidelines.

http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Assets/Fi...linesDec08.pdf

It really doesn't take long to find items where Disney is sorely lacking--particularly in the service expectations. Disney is typically adequate, based upon my CM interactions resorts, but not close to five diamond level.

It was interesting reading through the the AAA Guidelines. Although I agree with timk that Disney has difficulty consistently achieving a 4 or 5 Diamond rating, there are many times when I have witnessed individual CMs performing at a 5 Diamond level. Art, the now retired greeter at the Beach Club, was definitely a 5 Diamond CM.

Over the years, I have stayed at a few 4 Diamond hotels. Although I admit that I sometimes felt out of place while staying at these fancy places, none of the staff made me feel out of place. Maybe that is one reason why the hotel earned a 4 Diamond rating in the first place.

[denlo]

Viking you may be right about the main reason people staying at GF is the bragging rights. The few times I stayed there--at the insistence of my friend who was treating me--I was completely underwhelmed. The lobby is impressive, but after that I didn't find anything else particuarly awesome. The rooms were not large, the staff was not friendly, and even when we stayed in the Walt Disney Suite the room was not cleaned well. We found a broken glass on the balcony, the mini fridge was dirty, and there was a storage door under the fridge that was REALLY stained and awful to look at. Plus the room was not ready on time. We got a partial refund due to all the problems.

I do not get the appeal of the GF at all, but I am sure many guests love the place. To each his/her own. That being said if the GF DVC becomes a reality I'll try it at least once.

I've never stayed in a five diamond hotel and they are definitely not in our budget since we retired, like Wil said we've stayed in a number of four diamond hotels. But I think what Mar is saying about the lobby of the GF fits all of the Disney deluxe resorts. The lobbies are impressive but rooms are okay. The difference is that the suites at GF are supposed to pretty special, but they are really made to have been special in Walt Disney's era not today. Hotels have really changed since the late sixties and early 1970s but the GF suites are not really keeping up with what's expected. Even the room sizes are larger in other hotel chains even in the lower end chains that used to be called motels. They may not have the amenities or atmosphere but they have more space. And I think that guests are starting to think that's the norm. Look at the remodeling being done on the suites at the DL Hotel and the Grand California Hotel, why aren't they doing similar upgrades at WDW?

Our on recent drop in to the GF in June every cast member we spoke with were great. It's possible the CMs at the GF are told to respect the guests privacy more. I would imagine they encounter guests that do not want to speak to a CM let alone have a CM speak to them. Some guests don't have time for the "help". But when spoke to the CMs they treated us similar to how we are treated at other resorts.

I can see that some might consider staying at the GF a goal. It does seem pretty elegant and has some good restaurants. We'll probably try it ourselves if the new project is a DVC addition. But buy there, probably not. Why? Because I felt like I should wear country club clothes when going through lobby. LOL Perhaps it was the champagne and cake private party that was going on in the lobby or all of that marble or even the more elegant decor. For whatever reason, I'm just more comfortable at some of the other Disney resorts and when I'm on vacation being comfortable is part of the enjoyment.

[worldfanatic]

With all the kids running around, no Disney Resort could ever elevate itself to World Class status.
Impossible.
And you can't keep them out. Not when your name has Disney in it.

God bless them.......Disney lives off them.......but large numbers of rugrats defeat the luxury aspect of any resort.

[wdrl]

On the Disboards' Wedding & Honeymoon board, a person posted some very recent photos of the construction site near the Grand Floridian and Wedding Pavilion. See http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...32&postcount=1. The photos seem to show that the temporary construction walls are restricting access to the portion of the work site that is between the monorail and the GF entrance way. It looks like the beach area between the GF and the Wedding Pavilion is still open.

A second person has posted on the Wedding board that she was told that the construction will be done only during "3rd shift." I still find it hard to believe that a project the size of this one will be done only at night.