One Night-Stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
Summer IN Walt Disney World, Florida
June, 2024
Rooms
Resort Layout
Amenities & Dining
While we’ve visited Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa many times over the years to dine and to admire holiday decor, our June 2023 trip was our first overnight stay.
Resort Rooms
Our Resort-View category room was on the 5th floor of the Sago Cay building. Because it was on the top floor our balcony was tucked into the roofline and had a bit of a restricted view. However, the interior felt more spacious because part of the ceiling was higher.
Sago Cay is one of the closest buildings to the main lobby area of the resort. The exterior entrance to Gasparilla Island Grille quick service restaurant was just steps away from the building’s exit.
Resort Layout
Proximity to Magic Kingdom is one of the biggest advantages to staying at the Grand Floridian, with access by boat, monorail or by foot. The monorail also takes guests to EPCOT (with one transfer) and bus transportation is available for Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Most of the resort’s restaurants and shopping are found on the first two floors of the main building. The exterior buildings surround a courtyard area where lawn games, recreation and evening movies are offered.
The fireworks from the Happily Ever After show are viewable from the boat dock and along the resort shore line.
Dining
Dining at the Grand Floridian ranges from casual quick service to fine dining. 1900 Park Fare recently reopened for Character dining with a breakfast and dinner buffet.
On this trip we booked a dinner reservation at Narcossee’s, a signature dining experience with views of Bay Lake and Magic Kingdom. During Happily Ever After we were invited to watch the show from the outdoor balcony while the soundtrack played synched with the fireworks show.
The menu is heavy on seafood and other European-inspired dishes, and the main vegetarian dish was roasted vegetable paella. The sides (mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts) could be altered to also be vegetarian.
After dinner, we stopped on the main lawn to watch the end of Aladdin (outdoor movies were offered 4 nights a week)
We closed our evening at The Enchanted Rose, a lounge themed after the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Activities
The Grand Floridian is a great option for parents of very young children. There are two large pools, each with a shallow walk-in entry.
Two locations for swimming are conveniently located at the center of the resort overlooking Bay Lake. The Beach Pool has a waterslide and adjacent Alice in Wonderland themed splash area. We preferred the quieter Courtyard Pool. Both offered poolside bars.
Learn more about Walt Disney World Resorts with these posts:
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