What is there to do at Disney Vacation Club's Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa? These VGF owners have nothing but glowing things to share. A LOT! Chad chats with Sam Schapman, Ron Schammert, and Jacki Schammert to scoop on all VGF activities. If you missed the previous mDVCPoints episodes on VGC, visit https://mydvcpoints.com/vgf to catch up on our content. Episode 203
Season 9 of the My DVC Points Podcast was brought to you by:
DVC Resale Market – Industry Leader in DVC Resales
DVC Rental Store – DVC Point Rentals
Monera Financial – Exclusively Financing DVC Contracts
Patreon supporters in the My DVC Points VIP Producer Club.
We'll jump in and share the DVC Villas at the Grand Floridian activities into three buckets:
- Standard activities available across the Disney Vacation Club resort network
- Activities exclusive to the monorail and Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom loop area
- Activities unique to DVC's Villas at the Grand Floridian and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney Vacation Club standardizes some of the activities we have come to love and expect with our DVC resort stays. These include pool activities, basketball courts, tennis courts, and a campfire. Disney will supply the marshmallows, but you need to bring your own graham crackers and chocolate bars if you want to make s'mores out of the deal. You'll find that DVC Villas at the Grand Floridian also has a jogging trail, movies under the stars, and a resort activity guide. This is relatively standard across the Disney Vacation Club community. One common amenity you won't find at DVC's Villas at the Grand Floridian is a community hall. You won't find a community hall at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. If the Disney Vacation Club community hall is central to your DVC experience, you may want to consider staying elsewhere.
Some activities at Disney Vacation Club's Villas at the Grand Floridian are common to all monorail DVC resorts. One of them is nighttime fireworks cruises, which cost extra, but there are sometimes snacks. You'll have your own boat captain, and you can invite up to 10 guests with you. You can also do a fireworks cruise with a larger group, but you must head over to Disney Vacation Club's Bay Lake Tower. The Walt Disney World Electrical Water Pageant is another gorgeous sight exclusive to the Disney Vacation Club monorail resorts. You can see it from the balconies and the beaches. Boat rentals onto the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom nearby Seven Seas Lagoons can also help you enjoy the area's features. A fishing trip on Walt Disney World property might help everyone in your party make the most of your Disney trip. Whether you're fishing or just relaxing, make sure you don't jump in the lagoon – it's not safe.
DVC's Villas at the Grand Floridian has unique offerings. First is the kid's splash pad. Not every DVC resort has one, and it's great because this one is zero-depth. The kiddos will be feet deep at all times and not further in the water. It's a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland theme where the Mad Hatter's hat will dump the water when it fills. You can also rent poolside cabanas at the pools for adults at the DVC Villas at the Grand Floridian. You can expect to be pampered at these poolside cabanas with a dedicated server, a TV screen, and a shaded gathering space for your resort day. Make sure to mention that you're a Disney Vacation Club member because there is a DVC discount available on the cabanas. If you're a golfer, both the Magnolia and Palm golf courses sit across the street from Disney Vacation Club's Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. You can literally walk there, which is rare for a DVC resort.
Heading back inside to Disney Vacation Club's VIllas at the Grand Floridian, the lobby is one of the most elegant Walt Disney World properties. You can often find a piano player dancing their fingers across the keys as the aural joy of Disney songs fills the air. If you ask nicely, you might be able to get a request in. Throughout the seasons, you'll find decorative Easter eggs, a life-sized gingerbread house, and other gorgeous decorations to celebrate the time of year you happen to be visiting. As you move about the lobby, you'll notice several upscale shopping locations on the first and second floors. Whether it's luxury bath products or a new Disney Vacation Club shirt, you can find it inside Disney Vacation Club's Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. If you want to take home the luxury of the Grand Floridian, make sure to purchase that coveted Grand Floridian robe and slipper set or a brand new Dooney and Burke Disney bag. But don't fret, there are a lot of opportunities for your littles as well. There is a Bippity Boppity Boutique right on the second floor to help your kiddos with their own magical transformation for the trip.
If you missed our last episode on Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa dining, make sure you go back and listen because you may want to consider activity dinings like 1900 Park Fare or the Garden View Tea Room. With Alice and Wonderland characters and Cinderella characters making appearances within this DVC resort, it's not just about the food. It's truly an experience that is unique to the Grand Floridian. You can have one of the best character interactions on Walt Disney World property here.
Have you heard of the Grand One Charter? This is the bougiest of all bougie activities at DVC's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. You can rent a 52-foot Sea Ray Yacht in Seven Seas Lagoon for a luxury experience for up to 18 guests. This boat trip will cost you – it starts at $399 per hour, which goes up if you add private dining and a Walt Disney World Cast member butler. If you hire the butler, you're limited to 17 guests.
Finally, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has one of only two spas on Walt Disney World property. If you have a standard view in your Disney Vacation Club room, you will likely be right next to the Grand Floridian Spa. This is the classic spa experience with massages, facials, and more. After pounding the pavement throughout the Walt Disney World theme parks, you can find your rejuvenation at the Grand Floridian Spa.
Credits:
- Chad Pennycuff – Host and Curator of Magical Stories at My DVC Points
- Sam Schapman – Episode Producer & Guest
- Ron Schammert – Guest
- Jacki Schammert – Guest
- Derek Sasman – Audio Editing
- Jill Creighton – Show Notes
My DVC Points is an awesome community of DVC members. Our positive, respectful, and authentic conversations about Disney Vacation Club are designed to help people make informed and educated decisions about what's best for their families. Please join us to continue the conversations on our Facebook Group and YouTube channel.
It takes an awesome community of DVC members to produce our content. We're always recruiting people to help research, produce, edit, or join our shows to share their stories. Thus far, we've had over 225 DVC members on our shows.
If our content has been a blessing to your family, please consider supporting our show through our VIP Producer's Club at Patreon.com and join us for the Patreon After-Party from our live shows.
Facebook admins and moderators of the My DVC Points Community Group: Sandy Symianick, Gina Grotsky, Shannon Ford, Caleb Allison, and Mary Anne Tracy. “Take Flight” music by Martinrowberry1 on Pond5.
