Impressions of VGF from this past weekend

[sonofanarchy]

Just got back from 4 nights at Wilderness Lodge. Rode by GF quite a few times. Here are my opinions:

1.The building itself, just like the GF, is beautiful.
2.Non lake view rooms are going to have really boring views.
3.The monorail passes by some of the rooms so close, I can imagine the furniture inside shaking.
4.The building is too far away from the main building. In fact, it's further away than any other GF building. Almost feels as though it's a different resort. In the rain, it's going to really stink. Heck of a walk over to restaurants and transportation, all uncovered.

I don't know. It will sell quick, but it's not nearly as good of a fit as the Boardwalk or WL Villas. Much like the Beach Club Villas, very obvious afterthought, but not even as well located.

 

[BenDiscipio]

Your post sounds to me like you're trying to convince yourself that you don't want it. Choose for yourself, but the VGF is going to be stunning and it's location is fabulous.

1. Yes the building is beautiful and the rooms will be the nicest DVC has seen.

2. Boring views? Really? 3 sides of the building will have some sort of lake view or magic kingdom view...its unavoidable... with only one small side facing towards nowhere in particular except the monorail. Hard to find a bad view here...

3. First of all, the monorail is not a subway car. Secondly, the monorail passes as close to this building as it does when passing by areas of the original building. I rode the monorail past it several times and never felt that close....

4.It's located right next to the pools...so one merely walks across the pool area to the main resort. That's far? And it's closer to the spa than the main resort is....

 

[hakepb]

One of the site map drawings had a covered walkway to the GF. I have not heard that feature has been removed.

I do still wonder if it will feel too far to many...especially if you are going to V&A or Citricos on a stormy evening.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Your post sounds to me like you're trying to convince yourself that you don't want it. Choose for yourself, but the VGF is going to be stunning and it's location is fabulous.

1. Yes the building is beautiful and the rooms will be the nicest DVC has seen.

2. Boring views? Really? 3 sides of the building will have some sort of lake view or magic kingdom view...its unavoidable... with only one small side facing towards nowhere in particular except the monorail. Hard to find a bad view here...

3. First of all, the monorail is not a subway car. Secondly, the monorail passes as close to this building as it does when passing by areas of the original building. I rode the monorail past it several times and never felt that close....

4.It's located right next to the pools...so one merely walks across the pool area to the main resort. That's far? And it's closer to the spa than the main resort is....

I'm not a DVC Member and have no intentions of ever being one, so no, there is no question of "not wanting it". I rent points and stay at DVC Resorts and given that I love the GF, obviously, I want to love the GFV.

From what I could see, one whole side of the building will have a view of some trees and the road beyond it.

It's location to the spa means nothing to me. I don't use the spa. I use the main building and transportation. It is definitely the furthest building away from the main building.

 

[sonofanarchy]

One of the site map drawings had a covered walkway to the GF. I have not heard that feature has been removed.

I do still wonder if it will feel too far to many...especially if you are going to V&A or Citricos on a stormy evening.

I didn't see any covered walkway when I was there. Could have easily missed it though. That definitely seems like it would make the most sense.

If not, it would suffer from the same issues the Poly does in a bad storm. Granted, the other lodge buildings aren't covered either, but none are as far away.

 

[Andrew015]

3.The monorail passes by some of the rooms so close, I can imagine the furniture inside shaking.
4.The building is too far away from the main building. In fact, it's further away than any other GF building. Almost feels as though it's a different resort. In the rain, it's going to really stink. Heck of a walk over to restaurants and transportation, all uncovered.

The monorail does not pass as close to the rooms at VGF as it does while going inside of the Contemporary...

As for proximity to the main building, take a look at the below picture. I drew one red line from the center of the VGF to the nearest exit of the main building. I then copied the same line (no change in length) and applied it to some of the other out buildings. You can see that the line from VGF touches the main building, where as it comes up short from some of the more distant out buildings. Thus, it is not any further of a walk than folks staying in Conch Key or the far end of Big Pine Key currently have to get to the main building. Access to the monorail and gift shops will be slighly better as compared to these two out buildings. Access to some of the restaurants will be slightly longer. At the end of the day, it's such a negligable difference that i don't see it factoring into anyone's purchase decision.

As for the location being an "afterthought", I really don't believe that to be the case. I doubt that space for VGF was taken into account when the original resort was built in 1988, so the arcitects / engineers had limited space to work with. I think that all things considered, they did a phenominal job of positioning the building to 1.) fit in with the rest of the resort 2.) give many of the rooms a fantastic view and 3.) keeping proximity to the GF's existing ammenities reasonable. The other option would have been to put VGF on the other side of the monorail tracks (aka parking lot area), at which point, the going rate would be $49/point.

 

[wdrl]

I think the Standard View vacation homes will be able to see some landscaping and water features that are being added to the grounds adjacent to the VGF. A few weeks ago there was an internet blog posted photos showing a cascading water fountain that was under construction that should be visible to all Standard View villas except those facing the porte cochere. Unfortunately, I can't remember the site that posted the photos.

I'm also of the opinion that the monorails will not cause any noticeable shaking or vibration as they pass. I think noise from cars and buses will be much more noticeable, if at all, than any noise from the monorails.

 

[drusba]

In my comparisons, as an AKV owner considering trying for VGF before it becomes too difficult to reserve at 7 months out, I only look at the distance to the main building and monorail station this way: it is about 460 yards from the end rooms in the north wing at Kidani to the lobby and another 80 yards to the bus station; the walk from VGF to the main building and monorail station will be about 260 yards, piece of cake for an AKV owner. Moreover. the VGF distance it is about the same as the walk from BLT to the Contemporary monorail or bus station.

 

[DenLo]

The blue prints call for a covered walkway from VGF to the main building. They have started construction on the covered walkway that begins at the corner of the standard view rooms on the north (sort of) side of the building. The photos shown on the WDW Magic website shows this construction. It also appears that the the fountain on side of the hill for the slide at the beach pool is also under construction as of August 13th. See photo five on this link: http://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/dis...'s-grand-floridian-dvc-construction/19173.htm

BTW, the covered walkway is supposed to attach to the front entrance of the GF.

 

[sonofanarchy]

The monorail does not pass as close to the rooms at VGF as it does to the rooms inside of the Contemporary...

As for proximity to the main building, take a look at the below picture. I drew one red line from the center of the VGF to the nearest exit of the main building. I then copied the same line (no change in length) and applied it to some of the other out buildings. You can see that the line from VGF touches the main building, where as it comes up short from some of the more distant out buildings. Thus, it is not any further of a walk than folks staying in Conch Key or the far end of Big Pine Key currently have to get to the main building. Access to the monorail and gift shops will be slighly better as compared to these two out buildings. Access to some of the restaurants will be slightly longer. At the end of the day, it's such a negligable difference that i don't see it factoring into anyone's purchase decision.

True. However, one would need to be wearing a bathing suit as they'd have to go directly through the pool.

 

[sonofanarchy]

The blue prints call for a covered walkway from VGF to the main building. They have started construction on the covered walkway that begins at the corner of the standard view rooms on the north (sort of) side of the building. The photos shown on the WDW Magic website shows this construction. It also appears that the the fountain on side of the hill for the slide at the beach pool is also under construction as of August 13th. See photo five on this link: http://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/dis...'s-grand-floridian-dvc-construction/19173.htm

BTW, the covered walkway is supposed to attach to the front entrance of the GF.

That's definitely smart that they did that.

 

[DenLo]

Here is a close up of the covered walkway on the blue prints. I added a red line to the walkway. This blue print does not show the connect to the main building. The print also shows the water feature (fountain?) and the small pavilion.

 

[Soul Brother]

I took pictures last week of the covered walkway under construction from the Monorail stations south end. I'll try to load pics later tonight (have to figure out how to do it).

I also was like a creeper and snuck up to the fence and pulled back some tarp to take a couple of pics of the covered walkway leading out of the VGF towards the GF and the water feature they're building in the back. There will be no worries about getting to the GF in the rain unless it's blowing with some force.

Also, rumbling from monorail will be non existent.
If anyone has walked from BLT to the MK, the monorail passes right overhead with no rumbling and barely a noise.

 

[Andrew015]

True. However, one would need to be wearing a bathing suit as they'd have to go directly through the pool.

The line that I added was done in Powerpoint in about 20 seconds. It is just for illustrative purposes to give you a rough idea of the distance. Move it slightly to the left, and this will essentially be the location of the covered walkway discussed above. Same distance with a slight curve, and you will not need to "walk on water"

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

3.The monorail passes by some of the rooms so close, I can imagine the furniture inside shaking.

This is already done - and much closer than for VGF. The monorail passes thru the CR and you can be sitting in the concourse area and not really even notice if one is going thru. Also at the GC it passes between hotel wings. You can hear a woosh since it isn't slowing down for a stop but nothing more than that. It's not a train.

 

[jerseyduke]

The monorail barely makes a noise.

As for the distance....really??? if that much of a walk is an issue, maybe WDW is not for you. If you go to the parks you walk MILES a day.

Panchos in my owners locker and an umbrella soles the worries

 

[sonofanarchy]

The monorail barely makes a noise.

As for the distance....really??? if that much of a walk is an issue, maybe WDW is not for you. If you go to the parks you walk MILES a day.

Panchos in my owners locker and an umbrella soles the worries

You're probably right. I wonder if I can get the last 50 trips back.

Just stating my opinions. These aren't facts. Just opinions and observations.

Given that there will be a covered walkway, that makes a world of difference. As for the walking in the parks comparison, sorry, but I always find that ridiculous. In the parks, there is food and water practically every where you look. After a long day of walking in the parks, when back at the hotel, it's nice to not have to walk far to get food. I much prefer the WL Villas over the standard rooms, but no doubt, being a 45 second walk to the Mercantile at night this past weekend, beat walking over from the Villas. I dare say, I'm not the only one who cares about the location of their room, given the amount of threads that pop up about it.

 

[beachclub]

Regarding #4 they should take a page from Ritz Carlton's book.
In Ireland we didnt have our umbrella with us on our way out to explore and at the entrance they had complimentary umbrella's. If The grand floridian is the ephimy of disney service and for what one pays for a room these little things should be evident at this resort.
The ritz room was even cheaper than the disney rooms at the gf and ritz is miles ahead of disney in service.

Just got back from 4 nights at Wilderness Lodge. Rode by GF quite a few times. Here are my opinions:

1.The building itself, just like the GF, is beautiful.
2.Non lake view rooms are going to have really boring views.
3.The monorail passes by some of the rooms so close, I can imagine the furniture inside shaking.
4.The building is too far away from the main building. In fact, it's further away than any other GF building. Almost feels as though it's a different resort. In the rain, it's going to really stink. Heck of a walk over to restaurants and transportation, all uncovered.

I don't know. It will sell quick, but it's not nearly as good of a fit as the Boardwalk or WL Villas. Much like the Beach Club Villas, very obvious afterthought, but not even as well located.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Regarding #4 they should take a page from Ritz Carlton's book.
In Ireland we didnt have our umbrella with us on our way out to explore and at the entrance they had complimentary umbrella's. If The grand floridian is the ephimy of disney service and for what one pays for a room these little things should be evident at this resort.
The ritz room was even cheaper than the disney rooms at the gf and ritz is miles ahead of disney in service.

And this service failure at those prices is the reason I feel my biggest hotel rip off ever was GF. I won't be back

 

[disneynutz]

Most of the rain at WDW seems to downpour for a few minutes than goes away. Never been a big deal for us.

We love a water/lake view so that is what we bought. The GV's face towards the MK kind of, and the standard views face the GF and the front of the building units faces the parking lot and monorail.

Bill