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Subscribe NowLast updated: October 31, 2024
Walt Disney World's flagship hotel, the Grand Floridian combines 19th-century, ocean-resort styled verandas, intricate latticework, dormers, and turrets under a distinctive red-shingle roof.
Cost Range
$951 - $5,808
Lodging Area
Magic Kingdom
Category
Deluxe
Transportation
Boat, Bus, Monorail, Walk
Room: A
Pool: A-
Lighting: A
Pillows: A
High staff-to-guest ratio
Excellent dining options for adults
Large rooms with daybeds
Very good on-site spa
Fantastic kids' Alice in Wonderland-themed splash area
Boat and monorail transportation to the Magic Kingdom, plus a pedestrian walkway
Diverse recreational options
Close to Palm, Magnolia, and Oak Trail Golf Courses
Most expensive WDW resort and the rooms don't live up to the price
Self-parking is across the street
Public areas often blocked by wedding parties
Noise from Magic Kingdom, boat horns,and whistles
Bus transportation to DHS, Animal Kingdom, water parks, and Disney Springs is shared by the other monorail resorts
Large by any standard, the typical room is 440 square feet. The woodwork, marble-topped sinks, and ceiling fans amplity the resort's Victorian theme.
Bathrooms are large, with plenty of counter space and fluffy towels. Two shelves under the sink provide a small amount of storage. A separate dressing area next to the bathroom includes two sinks and enough counter space to fit a lot of toiletries.
We’ve mapped and taken photographs of the views from every single room on Walt Disney World property! Our Room Finder helps you find the perfect room for you and then request that room from Disney.
Many of Disney highest-rated restaurants are here. The Grand Floridian Cafe has excellent casual meals. Citricos is upscale yet welcoming. And it's only a question of how many Michelin stars Victoria & Albert's will get, not if.
1900 Park Fare A good choice for character dining, but too bright and loud for adults without children.
Cítricos Citricos's fanciful garden setting is inspired by the 2018 film Mary Poppins Returns. Disney describes the menu as "Mediterranean-inspired." Cítricos is one of the few restaurants where our rating differs significantly from readers. Our rating is much higher, and the difference might be whether the kitchen is able to deliver consistent quality night after night. Expect the menu to change often, and ask your server for their recommendations. If you can’t get a reservation at Victoria & Albert’s next door, this is the next best thing we’ve eaten.
Grand Floridian Cafe A quick place to grab a tasty bite in a pleasantly themed room.
Narcoossee's Narcoossee’s, an oft-forgotten Signature restaurant, outpaces its upscale competitors around Walt Disney World in delivering both impeccable service and outstanding food. You’ll certainly pay a hefty price for a meal here, but the fresh ingredients shine every time.
Victoria & Albert's Hunnel (a James Beard Award nominee) and his team prepare modern American cuisine with the best of the best from around the world. The main dining room and Queen Victoria’s Room are whisper-quiet, but the Chef’s Table is convivial and relaxed.
Gasparilla Island Grill The Grand Floridian's quick-service eatery serves up a variety of foods throughout the day. Hot feed is available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and grab-and-go items are available until midnight.
Beaches Pool Bar & Grill Beaches Pool Bar and Grill is near the pool at the south end of the resort (the one with the water slide) and, yes, it is next to the beach. In a large, octagonal, pagoda-topped structure that blends in exactly with the rest of the Grand Floridian architecture, the bar is an appropriately formal, yet basically standard pool bar. What makes this a nice place for a drink is sitting either at one of the available tables or in one of the many pool or beach chairs. From these you can look out over Seven Seas Lagoon. The dozen or so tables located behind the bar on the lagoon side are the real prizes. From there, the resort and the new Disney Vacation Club Villa bookend a 180 degree view that includes the lagoon, the tops of Cinderella Castle and Space Mountain, the Contemporary Resort, and the Polynesian. The area around the pool bar is beautiful and peaceful despite the often rambunctious children in the pool. It also makes a great place to catch Happily Ever After or the Electrical Water Pageant.
Courtyard Pool Bar The Grand Floridian Resort is a classy place in every way. Unsurprisingly that classiness extends to its central pool area, where an elegant pool is bordered by lovely bar. The Courtyard pool bar is located in the main courtyard (hence the name), next to the largest, and quietest, pool at the Grand Floridian. While the view is not quite as nice as the Beaches Pool Bar (Grand Floridian buildings versus the beach and lagoon), there are generally far fewer children around this pool. If relative peace and quiet is more important to you, the Courtyard bar is the one for you.
Grand Floridian Gingerbread House Seasonal holiday cart in the Grand Floridian lobby selling gingerbread shingles and other sweets during the Christmas season.
Grand Floridian Private Dining
Refillable Mugs Allows guest self-service soft drink refills from quick-service locations in hotels (NOT in theme parks) for $22.99 for the length of stay.
Amenities
SWIPE TO EXPLORE
The Grand Floridian has excellent pool areas. The Beach Pool is large enough that ducks often mistake it for the nearby lagoon. It's also got a 181-foot water slide, waterfalls, and a zero-entry side for kids. The Courtyard Pool is a more quiet bathing experience. A nearby, Alice In Wonderland-themed play area for kids, is excellent.
Arcadia Games arcade is in the main building and features relatively recent video games of all kinds.
Free Disney Movies Under the Stars are shown on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, weather-permitting, at the Sommerhouse
The Grand Floridian Health Club has weights, treadmills, and other equipment for your workout. Hours are typically 6 AM to 9 PM.
The Sense Spa is a full-service spa and salon. We think it's the best on property. Services include massages, body treatments, mani/pedi. and more.
Roast marshmallow around a campfire starting at 5:30 PM on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday on the Grand Floridian beach.
Motorized boats, and pontoon boats that seat up to 10 adults can be rented at the marina. Check with the marina for cost and operating hours.
Disney resort guests get into each theme park 30 minutes earlier than off-site guests, every day.
Those staying at Disney's Deluxe and Deluxe Villa hotels can buy Lightning Lane via Individual Purchase at 7:00 a.m. each day. Others cannot make that purchase until the official park opening time.
Disney's Deluxe and DVC resort guests get two extra hours in select theme parks on certain days of the week. The schedule changes, so check with the front desk.
Board the Walt Disney World Monorail on Floor 2 of the Grand Floridian's Main Building for convenient access to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and the Contemporary and Polynesian hotels.
Performed at nightfall on the Seven Seas Lagoon, this show is a stunning electric-light show aboard small barges and set to nifty electronic music.
Practical Matters
Check-in is 3:00pm
Check-out is 11:00am
All Disney resorts participate in Disney’s Online Check-In program. If you’ve checked-in online and provided a mobile phone number or email address, you will receive your room number electronically. Then you can go straight to the room and use your smart phone or MagicBand to open the door, skipping the lobby altogether.
These rubber and plastic wrist bands can function as your room key, park admission, charge card, and more! MagicBands cost money, but if you'd like a free option you can use the official Disney World app on your phone or request an RFID-embedded card at the front desk.
Park tickets are best purchased online in advance either directly through Disney or via our Least Expensive Ticket Calculator. However, if you arrive without park tickets, head to the concierge desk in the hotel lobby.
Dining reservation are best made online in advance or on your phone or tablet during your visit. You can also use our Disney World Reservation Finder.
Washers and dryers are availabile in laundry facilities at each Disney World hotel. Cost is $3 per wash, and another $3 per dry cycle. A small selection of soap, fabric softener, and dryer sheets are also sold, for around $1 each. Only credit/debit cards can be used for payment. For more information, see our Disney World Laundry Facilities page.
If you lose something in a theme park or during your stay at a Disney-operated hotel, visit Disney's Lost and Found website or call (407) 824-4245.
Disney hotels have gifts shops near their lobbies with a decent collection of Disney-branded souvenirs. You will also find basic pharmacy items such as sunscreen, aspirin, allergy and cold medicine, baby diapers and formula, shampoo, and the like. Resort hotels with Deluxe Villa rooms offer an assortment of groceries, as well.
Disney recommends a third party company, Kid's Nite Out, to provide babysitting services at the resort hotels. See our Disney World Child Care page for more information.
Transportation
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort is in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area. All modern GPS apps, and Google Maps, will have clear driving directions to it. As a backup, look for Disney road signs directing you toward the Magic Kingdom once you're on property.
Destination | Boat | Bus | Monorail | Car | Walk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Magic Kingdom | 20 min | – | 8 min | – | 15 min |
EPCOT | – | – | 29 min | 18 min | – |
Hollywood Studios | – | 28 min | – | 20 min | – |
Animal Kingdom | – | 28 min | – | 18 min | – |
Disney Springs | – | 29 min | – | 16 min | – |
Disney provides free bus service to all destinations except the Magic Kingdom. Buses run about every 20 minutes. Disney's bus transportation system is the fastest option to get to EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios. For all other destinations, it's faster to drive your car if you have one.
If you have your own car, it's faster to drive yourself to Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks, and Disney Springs. Disney's transportation system is faster to EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The Magic Kingdom is accessible via walking path.
Boat service is available to the Magic Kingdom. Boat service might not be available during thunderstorms.
The Magic Kingdom is accessible via the resort's monorail station; walking is faster. For EPCOT, take the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and transfer to the EPCOT monorail.
The Polynesian is a short walk from the Grand Floridian, but hot during the summer and wet when it rains. An alternate way to get to the Contemporary, Bay Lake Tower, and Polynesian is by taking the resort monorail. For all other hotels, it's faster to drive or use Uber/Lyft/taxis than to rely on Disney's bus service. If you must use Disney's bus service and the Magic Kingdom is open, it's probably fastest to walk to the Magic Kingdom bus station and take the bus going to the resort you're headed.
if you have a car, the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and other tourist destinations is to drive. Alternatively, Mears Transportation operates shuttle services between the Disney hotels and other theme parks.
Driving to the Resort
Getting to the Parks
and Disney Springs
Getting to Another Hotel
from Grand Floridian
Getting to Universal Orlando
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort is in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area. All modern GPS apps, and Google Maps, will have clear driving directions to it. As a backup, look for Disney road signs directing you toward the Magic Kingdom once you're on property.
if you have a car, the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and other tourist destinations is to drive. Alternatively, Mears Transportation operates shuttle services between the Disney hotels and other theme parks.
Disney Dish with Jim Hill Podcast
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