Four Reasons to Stay at Disney's Grand Floridian
When Brian and I took Stella to Disney World, we decided to stay at a Disney Hotel, the Grand Floridian.
If you’re planning a Disney trip, you’re probably trying to decide whether you should stay at a Disney resort or somewhere off-site. On one hand, you have convenience, and on the other, you could save some money. But my philosophy is that time is our most valuable currency, and thats’s one reason why I’m so glad we stayed at the Grand Floridian!
I loved our stay at the Grand Floridian so much that it’s my #1 tip to having the perfect first Disney trip!
Here are my top four reasons I know we made the right choice staying at Disney’s Grand Floridian.
Convenience
When we took Stella to Disney, she was five. We found this was the perfect age for us, as she was young enough to be amazed by all the Disney magic, but old enough to appreciate all the rides and be able to remember the trip. It also meant that we didn’t have to pack a stroller!
Because the Grand Floridian is so conveniently located in the Magic Kingdom resort area, it was easy to plan our days around when we’d want to stop back at our hotel room for a rest, a change of clothes before dinner, or a snack. We set ourselves up for success by being so close to the action!
Transportation
While the Grand Floridian is so conveniently located, we wanted to go to all the parks multiple times, and asking a five-year-old to walk from Epcot to Animal Kingdom just wasn’t going to happen.
That’s why is was so helpful that the Grand Floridian had so many different transportation options— and we used all of them! From a Lyft van (like a taxi) that looks like Minnie Mouse to Disney’s Magical express (basically a shuttle), to Disney Bus Transportation, we could basically get wherever we wanted without having to put much thought or valuable park time into it. I believe that time is money, so I was thankful to save that time so that we could spend more of it making memories with Stella!
Fireworks
Since the hotel is in Magic Kingdom’s resort area, we got to see the fireworks over Cinderella’s castle every night. This meant that if Stella (or Brian and I!) was tired and needed to head in a little early, we didn’t have to stay up, outside, in the park to see the fireworks. We could be in our princess pj’s watching from bed!
Food Package
We went back and forth on whether we wanted to get a full dining plan which would allow us to have breakfast and, essentially, and open kitchen at the Grand Floridian throughout the day. Ultimately, we decided to go for it! Even though we knew we’d be in the parks during the day, we loved having the option of fueling ourselves for the day at the hotel’s breakfast. And, since Brian is gluten-free, I felt better knowing that if we needed to, we could head back to the hotel and have some guaranteed GF food ready for him.
We ended up having so many amazing GF options in Disney, which I wrote about here.
If you’re trying to decide where you want to stay during your Disney trip, I couldn’t recommend the Grand Floridian enough! We’d choose it again in a heartbeat.
To see even more from our trip, click here.
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