by Beauty & the Beast Diva
Have a flare for the finer things in life? Me too. It’s a blessing and a curse. Lucky for me, when I met my husband, I also met my Disney soulmate, him loving it more than I do! Shortly after our honeymoon, we “mini-mooned” back to Disney and we were signing our DVC papers, buying into the Grand Floridian. Staying there had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, he made that dream come true on our honeymoon and now we were going to “own” a little piece of that sweet white building with its prominent red roof.
The time for our first DVC trip came and lucky for me, my parents were able to travel with myself, my husband and our 8 month old. My parents are not flashy- they couldn’t care any less about the type of hotel they stayed in and even they were floored! They absolutely fell in love with Villas at the Grand Floridian and how could they not?!
When you walk into the lobby of the villas, you are met with a huge fountain. You will quickly notice that they feature the penguins from Mary Poppins, sure to make you smile and at the same time take your breath away, if not the fountain, then the grand marble tile floors. The ceilings are open up to the top floor and taking a look up overhead to check out the chandeliers and balconies is definitely worth your while. My father, who has grown up around building and construction his entire life, took a good look around and said “Wow, this really is grand!” and he was constantly taking walks around the property just checking it all out.
We had a modest one bedroom villa, which was plenty big enough to accommodate us, my parents, very sweetly, slept on the pull- out couch. We had a small kitchen, with a gorgeous freezer/ refrigerator, I can’t even tell you how gorgeous it was, the lights turned on gradually as you opened it up and it was just gorgeous (could you tell I thought it was gorgeous?!). There was also a stove, microwave, toaster, coffee pot, and dishwasher. There was also an area to set up a small bar, but it quickly became the area for my 8 month old’s snacks, bottles, bibs, formula, etc… one day we will put that area to use towards its true meaning. There was a small table with a bench seat and a few chairs, which we were able to eat at daily and a high chair was put in a small closet in the hallway, YES the HALLWAY—this was where the washer and dryer were located, but luckily I didn’t have to use them because my Mom is a laundry fanatic, THANKS MOM!
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The living room area was set up with a cozy rug, a large chair, and a couch with rolling ottomans that we ended up using for storage. Not a big area and not a ton of seating but we weren’t planning on doing much lounging, not in the room anyway.
The bedroom itself was twice the size of my bedroom at home and probably five times nicer. The king-size bed was so luxurious and everything down to the pillows were cozy and homey. There was a sweet chair next to the bed, which sadly became an area for clothing. There was also a huge TV and desk area AND a HUGE walk in closet.
The highlight for sure was the bathroom. Lucky for us the bathroom was sectioned off. Immediately off of the bedroom there was a clawfoot tub with air jets, that my daughter loved and I’m not going to lie, I hopped in one night, and am still begging my husband for one at home! The highlight of the bathtub area was the sink and vanity area. There was a TV in the mirror, and I imagined myself relaxing watching some kind of girly movie in the tub but sadly, we watched a lot of Disney Junior to entertain my daughter while we were getting ready. There was a pocket door that led to the next section of the bathroom, where there was another vanity and sink, the toilet and the HUGE, and I mean HUGE, shower, with perhaps one of the best shower heads known to mankind.
As if this amazing room at this incredible hotel wasn’t enough, our balcony overlooked the monorail, we sat outside every morning, drinking our coffee in our pajamas, with the monorail going by and beeping at us. I apologize if you were on the monorail witnessing me sitting outside on my balcony in my pj’s, BUT it was just so peaceful. We also had an amazing view of the wedding pavilion and watched the horse and carriage set off quite a few times during our week long stay, oh and we could see the gym, which I went to daily….. just kidding. Their spa was also quite close, which is amazing but that’s another article for another day!
We were able to stay in the lap of luxury but have all of the amenities and comforts of home. I’m happy my daughter was too young to remember this trip because there is no way I’d want her to expect this kind of luxury all the time. This was one of the best ways I could imagine to experience Disney, if you are looking to have a “grand” vacation or if you happen to have a LOT of DVC points I highly suggest the Grand Floridian Villas! Looking to buy or sell DVC Resale points? Check out DVC Resale Market here!
