Walt Disney World has lastly revealed the reimagined foyer coming quickly to the flagship Grand Floridian Resort, with a brand-new birdcage bar and ‘enchanted backyard’ fashion. This shares the most recent information from WDW together with idea artwork, plus our ideas on the overhaul and influence to company with stays right here for the remainder of this 12 months.
If this subject sounds acquainted, it’s as a result of we not too long ago lined it in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort Multi-Month Foyer Overhaul (Lastly) Begins Quickly. At that time, Walt Disney World had not formally introduced something–the corporate simply quietly added a warning blurb to Disney Trip Membership member reserving website. We assumed that information was correct, however that somebody had revealed it prematurely, because the consumer-facing DisneyWorld.com pages hadn’t been up to date nor had journey brokers or present company been notified.
That discover to DVC members revealed the next: “Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa shall be receiving enhancements to pick areas in phases, together with the foyer and conference middle, from April via November 2025. Friends might even see and listen to building throughout daytime hours, and parts of the foyer shall be closed at occasions. All swimming pools and most resort eating and different facilities will stay obtainable. Please permit further time for journey, as path changes could also be in place.”
Quick-forward to April 10, 2025 and Walt Disney World has lastly formally introduced the foyer enhancements. Right here’s the official launch in regards to the adjustments and additions coming to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, adopted by our commentary.
Simply minutes away from the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has delighted company with its Victorian attraction and timeless environment since 1988.
A celebration of the golden age of journey and Florida’s lavish seaside inns, the resort is understood for its distinctive theming and Disney hospitality – two qualities we proceed to honor throughout the renovation of the Grand Floridian foyer.
The foyer’s renovation marks the fruits of the resort’s multi-year refurbishment, which has included enhanced visitor rooms, refreshed eating experiences, together with the Michelin star-awarded Victoria & Albert’s, Cítricos, Narcoossee’s and 1900 Park Fare, and extra.
Coming Quickly: Grand Floridian Foyer Bar
There’s one thing particular about strolling into the Grand Floridian—the gentle piano music, glowing chandeliers, and fragrant floral preparations create an expensive, but enjoyable environment. And shortly, company will be capable of take on this ambiance with a refreshing beverage in hand, due to the brand new foyer bar!
Impressed by the foyer’s iconic birdcage, the bar pays tribute to the resort’s Victorian roots with intricate woodwork, stained glass, and brass accents. You might even spot colourful birds within the stained glass and murals all through the atrium! Reverse the bar, company will nonetheless discover the Victorian cage-style elevator that followers know and love.
New Look, Similar Grand Really feel
The encircling foyer, staircase and entrance desk shall be refreshed with a mixture of botanical accents and alluring colours to create an ethereal, garden-like environment.
Disney Imagineers are approaching this refurbishment with nice care and focus in sustaining the center and story of the Grand Floridian, whereas including contemporary new life to the foyer for company to get pleasure from.
As proven within the new rendering, the foyer will function stunning new carpeting with Victorian-inspired borders and scrollwork that includes hand-drawn florals impressed by turn-of-the-century botanical research. Up to date furnishings will mix wealthy finishes and brass accents with cozy, welcoming materials–plus a number of playful touches impressed by Florida’s pure magnificence and Victorian adorning developments.
Our Commentary
That is going to be a polarizing venture, and we’re ready with a scorching take that’s certain to be an unpopular opinion amongst diehard Walt Disney World followers: we just like the appears to be like of this Grand Floridian foyer overhaul idea artwork.
There are caveats to that, however in a vacuum, we’re happy with this artwork and the underlying idea for the overhaul. Though the carpet does look like a bit hotter than the ‘enchanted gardens’ overhaul within the outer buildings, that would simply be liberties taken with the idea artwork and daylight coming via the atrium.
As we’ve talked about elsewhere, we’re huge followers of the redone rooms on the Grand Floridian and contemplate them main updates over the outdated mid-tier Marriott rooms they changed. Similar goes for the frequent areas of the outer buildings. The foyer is basically extra of that, albeit with (possibly?) a barely totally different shade palette.
The point of interest of the redone foyer will clearly be the birdcage bar. This appears to be like stylish and thematically coherent, an awesome match for the Grand Floridian and a nod to the outdated birdcage it’s changing. Walt Disney World followers could not like to listen to this, however even earlier than seeing this artwork, we figured there was no manner the outdated birdcage survived the reimagining–it simply appears to be like dated. And never thematically-appropriate Victorian dated; it seemed dated-dated.
At minimal, the reimagining is completely not the worst case state of affairs, and we feared that the Grand Floridian’s foyer could be modernized in such a manner that stripped its character, attraction, or theme. Hopefully this clears that bar for you, on the very least.
Talking of bars, that’s the a part of this that’s certain to be outrage-inducing with some followers. It is a protected prediction as a result of that’s the case at any time when Walt Disney World pronounces a brand new lounge.
The commonest feedback we obtain in response to such bulletins are mainly that: 1) The one factor Walt Disney World builds now are bars and Disney Trip Membership; 2) The corporate has overlooked its family-friendly values/there’s an excessive amount of emphasis on alcohol; and three) Walt could be rolling in his grave over this.
We lined most of this floor very not too long ago with the GEO-82 Adults-Solely Lounge Inside Spaceship Earth at EPCOT.
I don’t wish to rehash all of that, however my overarching response is two-fold. First, Walt Disney World has added a slew of family-friendly lounges which are extra food-forward. These are extra pretty categorized as eating places than bars (or at the very least “and grills”), and are oozing inviting environment and have strong meals menus that arguably surpass among the common eating places at their respective resorts.
Lots of our favourite locations to eat with our daughter, Megatron, are lounges like this. They’re decrease stakes than desk service eating places, and infrequently permit us to make a fast “getaway” if wanted. The meals can also be usually unbelievable, and pretty priced. That is true with the brand new Wailulu Bar & Grill on the Poly’s Island Tower, and can doubtless be the case with the Pirates Tavern at Magic Kingdom. See our checklist of the Greatest Bars & Lounges at Walt Disney World for a couple of half-dozen nice choices like this.
Second, there’s undeniably demand for extra bars at Walt Disney World–particularly on the monorail loop. Only a couple weeks in the past, I walked from Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian, making my manner via the Grand Floridian en route. The Magnificence and the Beast bar was packed, with a line to enter. In the meantime, I used to be quoted a 2-hour watch for Wailulu Bar & Grill within the Island Tower. I headed over to the Nice Ceremonial Home to kill time whereas ready for my desk, which was unsurprisingly packed.
There’s no denying overarching demographic developments, each throughout the developed world as an entire and Walt Disney World. Adults with out kids are making up an ever-increasing slice of the pie for Walt Disney World, and so they’re freer spending. It’s savvy for Disney so as to add adult-centric points of interest & leisure, and in any other case chase the convention-goer and childless millennial demographics. An extremely persuasive argument might be made that Walt Disney World is solely enjoying catch-up to visitor preferences and patterns with these bars–a press release that will most likely be true even when they constructed one other dozen of them!
Our view is that Walt Disney World must do extra to cater to households with young children, because it dangers shedding its foundational generational followers if it doesn’t attain youngsters throughout their youth. However this largely revolves round promotions and pricing, not the substance of the experiences. In that regard, Walt Disney World is undeniably a family-friendly place, initially. And to the corporate’s credit score, they did already simply make such a ‘promotion and pricing’ announcement with “Cool Child Summer season” and its deep reductions.
Level being, the Birdcage Bar doesn’t hassle me within the least. That is virtually definitely one thing we are going to by no means use, both, so I’m not saying this from the attitude of selfishness. I believe it appears to be like good, is becoming for the resort, and can assist fulfill lounge demand. (With that stated, I do suppose Walt Disney World could be well-served to area out these bar bulletins from an optics perspective, however the timing is what it’s.)
Circling again, my most important concern with this Grand Floridian birdcage bar and foyer reimagining really isn’t aesthetics or alcohol: it’s crowds.
My first thought when trying on the idea artwork is that the foyer goes to be fairly busy with the Christmas tree and gingerbread home throughout the holidays. The primary constructing is already a mad home throughout the vacation season, and this may simply exacerbate it. To that finish, I might’ve most well-liked Grand Floridian turning the Tea Room right into a flex area lounge (a la Barcelona Lounge at Gran Destino Tower) and opening up extra of the foyer. That is mainly the other of that.
Not solely will this be yet one more factor that induces crowds within the foyer, however it’ll focus them. Frankly, I don’t know the way the Grand Floridian goes to have this birdcage bar and Christmas tree and gingerbread home. One thing’s gotta give–or transfer. There are extra excessive measures that Walt Disney World may take to regulate crowds on the Grand Floridian and Polynesian, however I’m guessing they don’t wish to go that far.
Grand Floridian Foyer Reimagining Timeline
By way of timing, Walt Disney World has formally introduced that phased updates to the foyer, conference middle and choose areas will start April 14, 2025. Parts of the foyer will shut at occasions, and Friends could encounter adjustments to their path of journey. Whereas building exercise shall be noticeable throughout daytime hours, efforts shall be made to attenuate disruptions, and all swimming pools, eating and different facilities will stay obtainable.
That is sooner than we anticipated, and I’m nonetheless skeptical that work begins in earnest on the Grand Floridian foyer reimagining earlier than April 22, 2025. There’s presently the favored Easter Egg show within the foyer, and that’s one other vacation that’s a well-liked time for the resort. It’s unlikely main work will start on the foyer earlier than Easter. It’s doable they’ll wait one other full week after that, as some college districts nonetheless have recesses the week after Easter.
The April 14 date might be when minor work begins within the foyer, or that might be when building begins on the conference middle. Clearly, these two issues are very totally different, and the typical visitor most likely doesn’t care in regards to the conference middle. Be aware that this new discover for all company on DisneyWorld.com does not embrace an finish date.
As for when work will wrap up, the goal date is most likely earlier than Veterans Day. Once more, the vacation season is the busiest time of the 12 months–and costliest–on the Grand Floridian. I can not think about Walt Disney World administration will wish to have the foyer be a sea of building partitions throughout probably the most profitable two months of the 12 months. That’s only a guess on my half, and the elimination of an finish date definitely will not be reassuring.
It’s doable Walt Disney World has eliminated the tip date as a result of there’s not certainty this may be completed by Christmas. However we strongly suspect that Walt Disney World would like to pause the venture over having work lower right into a portion of the vacation season. That might imply leaving an excessive amount of cash on the desk. (And bear in mind, this work additionally encompasses the conference middle–there’s nothing to say the foyer work received’t be accomplished on a tighter timeframe and the conference middle shall be what drags into late 2025.)
To every their very own, but when we have been planning a keep on the Grand Floridian from late April via late 2025, we’d swap resorts. The foyer is just too essential of a function and the resort is just too costly to accept it being a building zone. In fact, you shouldn’t substitute our judgment to your personal. For those who’re staying on the Grand Floridian for its visitor rooms, swimming pools, or proximity to the parks–and rarely step foot within the foyer–clearly this recommendation could not apply to you.
What’s unknown is what occurs with Grand Floridian Cafe and Grand Floridian Tea Room, the latter of which has nonetheless not reopened. Our expectation is that each obtain reimagined interiors sooner or later in 2025, with the previous closing over the summer time to accommodate that overdue replace and the latter not reopening till the foyer venture is completed. (So maybe the Grand Floridian Tea Room will lastly return this vacation season? One other Festivus miracle!)
That’s simply our hypothesis, and isn’t official. October via December is the busiest stretch of the 12 months for Walt Disney World eating places, in order that they’d doubtless need Grand Floridian Cafe to reopen by then. As for Grand Floridian Tea Room, there’s been fan hypothesis that it has been not directly “changed” by the Cake Bake Store. I don’t purchase that. Walt Disney World loves upmarket choices, and Grand Floridian Tea Room squarely matches the invoice. There’s no motive why the resort can’t maintain each.
In the end, I’m happy to see that the foyer reimagining of the Grand Floridian is lastly shifting ahead. I want the announcement have been made a lot earlier, and hope it’s not too late for impacted company who don’t wish to cope with this to relocate. I additionally perceive that that is going to be controversial with a number of WDW diehards, particularly because it provides yet one more bar to the parks & resorts.
I’m most likely within the minority, however I’m happy with the idea artwork and wonderful with the bar (although we are going to actually by no means use it). That’s most likely going to get me excoriated amongst Walt Disney World purists. As a realist, I believe the ‘Enchanted Gardens’ fashion of the outlying buildings is just about the best-case state of affairs when accounting for tastes of contemporary company and the worth level of the Grand Floridian.
Whereas WDW diehards would possibly love the present foyer and total aesthetic, the Grand Floridian doesn’t comport with the expectations of the first-timers or informal company who really keep right here. It’s so simple as that. As I’ve stated earlier than, the Grand Floridian doesn’t strike me as “pure” Victorian themed design, however reasonably, the early Nineteen Nineties interpretation of Victorian. Now, it’ll be the 2025 interpretation of Victorian.
My hope is that Imagineering can ship on this idea artwork, marrying the visible fashion of the brand new rooms with the opulence and grandiosity of the primary foyer. It mustn’t grow to be an Ethan Allen showroom, however with a better ceiling. Modernized doesn’t have to imply uninteresting and devoid of character. There’s a method to have the perfect of each worlds, a foyer that’s each well-themed and splendid. It’s a troublesome steadiness to strike, however hopefully it may be achieved. The idea artwork and what Walt Disney World has conveyed is an efficient begin.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Excited or upset by the birdcage bar coming to the Grand Floridian? What do you consider the foyer overhaul lastly taking place in 2025? Excited for the continued reimagining of Walt Disney World’s flagship resort, or nervous it’ll lose its persona and richly-themed areas within the course of? Have you ever stayed on the Grand Floridian for the reason that new rooms debuted? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Different ideas or issues? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
