We recently had a great reason to stay at Grand Floridian—we were attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! But the other reason we picked Grand Floridian is to have the opportunity to stay in one of the new Mary Poppins-themed rooms at that resort.
As a refresher, there are two “sides” to Grand Floridian. The DVC Villas, “The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa” were the first to get new rooms. Now, a refurbishment in a very similar style—taking on a Mary Poppins motif—is nearly finished at the regular, resort side, “Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.”
We’ve Reviewed Grand Floridian in full here, and we’ve also reviewed the Royal Palm Club at Grand Floridian.
My understanding is that while some rooms are still under construction, Disney is only booking people into the newly refurbished rooms. That said, neither I nor my fantastic travel advisor, Lauren Quirk of Travel with Character LLC, could get Disney to guarantee a refurbished room. In any case, we wound up in a newly refurbished room.
For reference, here’s a quick look at the old rooms at Grand Floridian:
Along with the Beach Club rooms (refurbishment also in progress), these were the last of this generation of deluxe resort rooms. Notice the carpet, the awkwardly shaped TV stand, and the pretty stark use of contrasting colors (teal, red, gold).
Now, let’s walk through the new room we stayed in. This was in the Sago Cay outer building. It’s got 2 queen beds and one twin sofa bed. This post is mostly a photo tour, but here’s a video:
Immediately on entering the room, you notice the new floral theming (on the right). Some deluxe rooms lost some character with these latest changes (Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge), but Grand Floridian definitely gained some character.
There’s this nice table just inside the entry, opposite the bathroom. That box had a hair dryer, which suggests along with the bench that this was an area intended for getting ready. That said, the awkward placement of the closet (more on this below) meant that we used it as auxiliary storage.
Here’s a first look at the main living space. The colors have been muted compared to the old rooms, but the addition of the patterns is a huge upgrade, in my opinion. The overhead lighting is also ridiculously improved. The other hallmarks of the new rooms at Disney—hardwood floors, a simplified entertainment stand, under-bed storage—have been added here as well.
Your coffee will come from a single serve Keurig machine. I noticed the wall pattern but completely missed the family in there. Dang, what a nice touch.
Someone somewhere has done an analysis of how cold (or not) these mini-fridges get. Personally, I’ve never felt great about them.
Here’s a look from one of the corners:
Next to that side of the bed is a small stand and an outlet. I think this probably could have been bigger, but you can also see a closet door next to it. Luckily, the modern, functional rooms have plenty of surface space, so if you need more space you’ll find it.
Here’s that same bed, with a better look at the closet. This was very awkward placement for a closet. Besides being awkward to get in and out of, we actually almost forgot some stuff in it at the end of the trip, too.
Here’s the closet with all three doors open. You can almost feel the tightness of this space next to the bed in how poor a picture I was able to get.
Here’s look between the two beds. I think the lighting is great, and it’s awesome to see the lamp getting in on the theming. That light on the right was non-functional / burnt out, just about the only thing I found wrong with this room (other than the closet placement).
There is in-room dining at Grand Floridian, though a breakfast starting at 7AM is a little weak, in my opinion (at a normal hotel, maybe it’s okay, but Magic Kingdom opens at 8AM some days—Disney needs to account for the decisions they make).
Looking at the other side of the room. I think the Mary Poppins artwork about the couch is the absolute perfect amount of pop for the room. Closer pic of it a bit below.
Love the surface space under the TV, and you can see in the next photo that there’s an outlet on the left of the stand. We didn’t use the “Hey Disney” device, and I wouldn’t trust anything it said anyways.
If I had to pick a low point of the room, it would be this couch. I just don’t think Disney can get these couches right. I like that they transition into a twin bed perfect for Zoe, but I dunno, something about them just doesn’t look right. But still, look at that artwork again. *Chef’s Kiss*
Here’s the bed folded down into a twin bed. We travel with a pair of inflatable bed rails, but one is in bad shape so it’s good to have a room situation that only necessitates one. (You can get bed rails from Disney, too.) Personal anecdote—Zoe lost a stuffed animal between the sofa and the curtain. Then they attempted to climb over there to get it, which could have been dangerous with the lamp and the marble table (see the other pictures) nearby.
Here’s the other bed. I forgot to point out the reading lights on the headboards, two on each bed.
Here’s the room from one of the back corners. You can see the table I mentioned earlier on the left. I’m not really sure this is necessary, given the table and bench near the room entrance, but it doesn’t take up too much space.
And one last look at the room from this side.
Let’s head back and check out the bathroom. You can see the thermostat on the wall there. Only went as low as 69 degrees.
Let’s start with a look at the old vanity area:
And the new one below. You can spot…a lot…of differences. But the biggest one to my mind is how cramped the two sinks were before.
Disney has cut back on personal toiletries over the years. The current lineup is mouthwash, body lotion, a vanity kit, aloe gel, and a shower cap.
Nice art.
And last but not least, the WC. Here’s the old one, which more or less looks like something from a highway road trip motel:
And the new one, which I think benefits about 60% from a more modern color scheme and 40% from losing the shower curtain.
Well, that’s all for these new rooms. I’ve not been a fan of Grand Floridian for many years, and I’ve been pretty split on this round of Disney room refurbishments. That said, I was really impressed by these rooms. They add just enough charm and redact a lot of the gaudy details of the old rooms. I’m really glad to see “the Grand” starting to live up to its name.
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