DVC Grand Floridian Review - Feb 2014.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Looks absolutely beautiful!

Sure does in the pictures. I guess it has to to get people to pay the crazy prices they are charging for points at this resort.
Too expensive for my blood. I can barely afford a studio.

Beautiful. I could be happy there, but not at those prices. shaggy

Yeah I think I'll be staying elsewhere from now on til they show up in RCI.

I found the review and photos fascinating, thanks so much for sharing. The decor is interesting. I haven't seen American post war decor, is that a good representation of it?

I'm guessing the disks in the first photo are the magic bands, although, in the picture, they look rather large for RFID cards. What do the magic bands do? I've only used RFID cards on the snow fields for lift passes and as cash in restaurants, shops etc.

I'm no decorating expert but it's a nice modern version.
There is a renewed interest in making the old new again.
I love the subway tile look. Mom hates it, says it reminds her of the cheap NYC apartments of her youth.
She is so shocked that I decided to redo my own bathroom with that look.
Of course mine is a more modern version of it but I just love glass block.
I love marble too but it gets pricey quick so I skipped the marble and went with wood tiles instead.

And those magic bands are actually the size of a watch. I wore it over my watch.
They have a tiny chip embedded under the Mickey head.
They really don't work great. You have to touch the band to the sensor.
Sometimes it doesn't pick it up. I think you should be able to waive it in front of the sensor instead.
Not sure why they didn't go with that technology instead. Maybe they will have that option soon.
Definitely slows things down when they have to use a scanner to read your band and then you
have to enter a PIN #. If that was it then great, but you still have to sign a paper copy.
Seems to defeat the magic of the magic bands.

[CarolF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CarolF]

Definitely slows things down when they have to use a scanner to read your band and then you
have to enter a PIN #. If that was it then great, but you still have to sign a paper copy.
Seems to defeat the magic of the magic bands.

It sounds like the bands are used for purchasing food/items? on account, rather than access around the resort.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

It sounds like the bands are used for purchasing food/items? on account, rather than access around the resort.

Oh you need it for access too.
All the guards have scanners.
Of course you can just show your ID and they will check their list of guests the old fashioned way.
So now instead of going green, Disney is now killing trees and filling landfills with magic bands that expire or will get lost.
You can recycle them but then you lost the rest of your days access.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8uqFj4tc4

[stan2u Member Find all posts View Profile Close stan2u]

I'll be waiting for the day they show up in RCI, before I ever stay there.

You and me both, Angela, you and me both!

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Thought I'd posted to this thread. Huh. Thanks muchly for the review and pics, Chris!

Could get pricey if you are a party of 10 and people change their
minds. We did have an issue getting to one of our reservations on time so
I called up the Reservation line and they are able to rebook you in the same
restaurant, space available of course for no extra fee but if it's not available,
then say adios to your $30. Personally I think this is wrong.

Supposedly they did this because so many people were making reservations at multiple restaurants, so they could have their pick once they got around to eating, and then cancelling all the ones they didn't want at the last minute. Certainly there were a lot of people on the Dis who did that sort of thing, and I'm sure that once the people who do that get past a certain percentage point it's a real bear for Disney, because they end up scheduling in more workers than they end up needing and whatnot. I don't like the fact that a Disney restaurant reservation doesn't mean there's an actual table reserved for you at that time (if we have a local reservation, I can expect to show up on time and walk to our table with no more than a five minute delay).

It's about a short 1 block walk to the building, but that can be
like a marathon for some.

By Disney standards, that's actually pretty close.

I'll be waiting for the day they show up in RCI, before I ever stay there.

Ditto. Doubt I'll ever stay at WDW unless I'm trading through RCI, although I suppose we might rent points for a Grand Villa with the kids and their eventual families someday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8uqFj4tc4

Do they still do the parasol parade? I'd heard that was phased out years back.

[dvf_diva Member Find all posts View Profile Close dvf_diva]

Ah, that's my kind of fridge (water and wine).



Thanks for the photos and review!