Walking In
Walking into the Grand Floridian is exactly what you think it's going to be. Beautiful, polished, formal in a way that very few places still commit to. There's a live pianist in the lobby. The whole thing has this old vacation society energy, like a place that has always known exactly what it is and has absolutely no interest in apologizing for it.
I found it genuinely interesting. I just wasn't sure whether interesting was going to become something warmer.
One of the first things I did was wander over to the villas building, and the shift was immediate. Quieter, smaller, more intimate, and considerably more whimsical than I expected. There are penguin waiters frozen mid-service in the fountain. Mary Poppins' umbrella is the pointer on the elevator panel. I filed those details away as charming but hadn't yet figured out what to make of them.
The Room: Big Pine Key Resort Studio
I'll be honest about my first reaction: is this what I booked? No kitchenette, no full villa layout, two queen beds and a sleeper sofa. Not what you typically picture when you think Grand Floridian DVC villa.
But once I settled in, the room started making a lot of practical sense. Two queens plus a fifth sleeper works really well for families. There's a beverage cooler and a coffee and tea station. And what you're actually paying for isn't the room. It's everything right outside it.
Big Pine Key Resort Studio (this room): More like an elevated hotel room than a traditional villa. Two queens, sleeper sofa, beverage cooler, coffee station. No kitchenette. Great for families or guests planning to spend most of their time at the resort or in the parks.
Deluxe Studio in the original villas building: Full kitchenette, different feel, more of what people typically picture when they think DVC villa. The two buildings have genuinely different personalities and it's worth understanding which one you're booking.
Renting DVC points can significantly change the math on staying somewhere like this. DVC Rental Store is the sponsor of this video, and the link to check rental pricing is in the video description.
The Enchanted Rose: Where It Started Working
After getting into the room, we did what any reasonable person would do in the middle of the afternoon at the Grand Floridian. We went and got cocktails.
The Enchanted Rose is on the second floor, the same level you arrive on from the monorail. I was not prepared for how beautiful this space is. It's a Beauty and the Beast-inspired bar, which sounds like it could go very wrong and instead goes completely right. Four distinct spaces: the main bar under Belle's golden chandelier, a formal library with French furnishings, a whimsical garden room representing the forest around Beast's Castle, and an outdoor porch overlooking the resort grounds.
It's warm and detailed and a little dramatic in the best possible way, the kind of place that makes you want to sit there longer than you planned. We had cocktails and some charcuterie and just settled in for a while.
The cocktails are not cheap. I want to be clear about that. But being in that room in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon felt like exactly the kind of thing this resort is designed for.
The Whimsy You Have to Slow Down to See
Something shifted during this stay that I didn't anticipate. Once I stopped looking at the Grand Floridian like it was trying to impress me, I started really seeing the Disney storytelling built into the experience. The penguin waiters in the villas fountain. Mary Poppins' umbrella on the elevator. The Enchanted Rose's four rooms each telling a different part of the same story. It's not as immediately legible as the Wilderness Lodge or the Polynesian, but it's there, and it rewards people who slow down enough to find it.
Dining: From Quick Bite to Michelin Star
The range here is genuinely impressive and worth understanding before you book. Gasparilla Island Grill handles quick service. The Garden View Tea Room offers afternoon tea in a setting that is exactly as elegant as it sounds. Narcoossee's sits on the water. 1900 Park Fare does character dining. Citricos is a strong signature option. And Victoria and Albert's holds a Michelin star and the price tag to match.
That range, from a quick bite to a Michelin-starred restaurant, is actually one of the things that makes the Grand Floridian work for a lot of different kinds of trips. It's also worth knowing that this resort subtly encourages you to splurge. The shopping, the cocktails, the room service delivered by cast members in tuxedo-style shirts, the atmosphere: all of it consistently whispers that maybe this is the trip where you treat yourself a little. That's not a criticism. It's the fantasy the resort is selling, and once I stopped reading it as pretension and started reading it as an invitation, the whole place made a lot more sense.
Wilderness Lodge
Wraps you in atmosphere. Cozy, immersive, feels like a retreat from everything, including the parks. The theming does the emotional work before you even check in.
Bay Lake Tower
Puts you at the center of the action. Connected to Magic Kingdom in a direct, kinetic way. The resort is about access and proximity more than atmosphere.
Grand Floridian
Slows you down. Makes the trip itself feel like the occasion. It isn't trying to intimidate you. It's trying to make you feel like the kind of person who deserves a really good trip.
It didn't become my Disney language. But I finally understand why it's so many people's favorite. It creates a very specific kind of trip: slower, more elegant, celebratory, and surprisingly whimsical once you settle into it.
- Want a trip that feels genuinely special and elevated, not just efficient
- Are celebrating something significant and want the resort to match the occasion
- Love Beauty and the Beast and haven't been to the Enchanted Rose yet
- Want the widest dining range of any Magic Kingdom resort, from quick service to Michelin star
- Are open to DVC point rentals that can meaningfully change the pricing math
- Prefer a resort that rewards you for slowing down rather than maximizing every hour
- You connect more naturally with immersive theming than with elegant atmosphere
- You're booking a Big Pine Key studio expecting a full villa kitchen
- The resort encouraging you to spend more is going to create budget stress
- You want the Polynesian's warmth or the Wilderness Lodge's coziness
There's a moment in Mary Poppins Returns where she says, change where you're standing and everything looks different. I kept coming back to that during this stay. I still don't think the Grand Floridian speaks my emotional language of Disney the way the Polynesian does. But after staying here, I do understand why so many people deeply love it.
Episode 4: The Polynesian Village Resort, Island Tower.
I've stayed at the Polynesian plenty of times and already knew it was going to be everything I love about it. What I didn't expect was the new Island Tower to hand me a first time, after almost fifty years of coming back.