Old World Glamour at Disney's Grand Floridian

PHOTO: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. (photo by Paul Heney)

Our family has done “the Disney thing” several times, but we’ve always stayed off-property. Maybe it’s been because Orlando has so many lodging options—from cheap motels to nearly every chain imaginable to lovely timeshare campuses.

I suppose we figured that was the way to get the best bang for our buck.

But my partner and I decided to try something new this year and instead opted for the old-school luxury of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, located within the company’s enormous entertainment complex in Lake Buena Vista. The spotless, picture-perfect resort evokes the early 1900s charm (and look) of the famous Hotel del Coronado near San Diego and is set among lakes and waterways.

Although there are more than 800 rooms, they are split up between a half dozen Victorian buildings, keeping a more intimate feel in many places.

Our well-appointed and spacious room included plenty of great Disney touches, from personalized welcome cookies and milk for the kids to thoughtful amenities like solar relief gel—a necessity for a pale guy like myself who burns easily.

Our balcony faced the water with a stunning view of the Magic Kingdom in the distance. Cinderella Castle and Space Mountain stood like sentinels over the treeline, tempting us to come have some adventure.

One unexpected pleasure at the resort was the glorious lobby space and atrium located in the main building. A live orchestra played a great jazzy mix on most days we were there, and it was fun to watch everyone from toddlers to grandparents enjoying the live music.

This was truly a world apart from the theme parks just down the road, but every bit as memorable.

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The kids enjoyed their time spent at the resort’s expansive pool area. While they passed on the young kids’ splash pad area (they’re too big and cool for that, you know), they did enjoy the Beach Pool with its long waterslide as well as the separate Courtyard Pool.

Courtyard is a large free-form shaped pool with a good sized hot tub—the kids alternated between the pool and hot tub with all their newly made friends.

We found the optional Concierge Lounge especially convenient—there are actually two on the resort grounds, located in different buildings. The advertised light breakfast really wasn’t that; it was quite easy to fill up on the substantial offerings. And the snacks, drinks and appetizers offered throughout the day were a step above the Concierge Level offerings you’d find at a typical Marriott or Hilton conference center hotel.

Disney makes accessing the parks incredibly simple. We’d gotten the park hopper pass, and our bracelets (they look like a cross between a Fitbit and a faceless watch) were on the desk in our room when we checked in.

Leave these waterproof bracelets on during your whole stay, and they get you into everything from your room to the Concierge Level to the parks themselves.

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One of the monorail lines stops at the Grand Floridian, making for a direct connection to the Magic Kingdom. The other parks—Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot—are also easy rides via a monorail connection or direct buses.

We found that the lack of worrying about parking made it much easier to truly “hop around” the parks. Or if the kids were getting restless about lines or the heat, it was an easy decision to head back to the resort for a few hours to eat or jump in the pool. Getting back to a park for a final few hours in the afternoon or evening was a breeze.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in taking kids to Disney, it’s that flexibility is critical in enjoying your time there. Being able to decompress for a few hours outside of the parks is paramount, especially with younger kids.

Seeing how easy the centrally located Grand Floridian made that, I know we’ll be back.