I think I just ruined it for my hubby.....

[OneinThree]

I think the gift card idea is a great one! Some feel that the dining plan is convenient, but opinions vary. Cost savings are negligible, and you have to keep track of credits. GF is the one deluxe resort I've yet to stay at. I'd be really excited for it, tbh!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Well. You done good. Tell him to be quiet sit down and then he can have an ice cream cone. If he whines more tell him you switched to motel 6. He will recover.

 

[larissawbb]

You could always just charge all of your meals including tips back to your room and then pay it off with discounted gift cards.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would call back and ask to speak with guest services (not normal reservations CMs) and see if they would add the dining plan for you. CMs on the phone notoriously say "No" to every request that is anything other than a run-of-the-mill booking, but guest services can override anything. Not saying they will, but if you explain this is a belated honeymoon, and now your BWI room is gone, I think there is a decent chance they will let you add it on. Generally, why would they say no to people booking the dining plan when that is a lot of money for them?

For example, I booked CRT back when we did not have any dining plan, and then we added the plan after doing some more math, I called to see if they could change my cash pre-payment to dining plan credits. The restaurant reservations CM told me it was just not possible and the reservation system did not allow it; the only thing they could do is cancel the reservation and hope it opens again to rebook with credits (which would be super risky given how fast those reservations are snagged). That answer didn't sit right with me, so I asked to talk to guest services, and sure enough, they told me they'd be happy to do it, and they did, even though it was supposedly "not possible."

 

[keaster]

I would definitely take the credit you are getting for changing rooms and use that money to pay for your meals. I think you'll find you'll be okay with that!

 

[Sue M]

Well I just spoke with him and yeah, he is concerned about how it will feel (we are value people after all, lol) but he also gave me another concern. We had the meal plan booked as well and have never gone to Disney without it. This reservation is room only no meal plan and I cannot add it at the rate I got. He said he is also concerned about having enough money. So that I think is his real concern, having enough money. I get it, we always use a meal plan, we like knowing everything is paid up front except tips and what we decide to purchase. I said since there is a "credit" coming our way, I would just transfer the credit to a gift card and we could use that to pay for meals. I too am a little nervous not having the meal plan, like I said, I really like the convenience knowing everything is paid for, but I am willing to step out of my comfort zone and put my gift card plan to the test, lol.

Anyone ever have a hard time using a gift card to pay for a meal? How did you handle your tip? I would prefer to pay the tip in cash (we normally do that even with the meal plan), can we still do that? I was reading another thread that said to put everything on our bands and just use the gift cards to pay the balance at the end of the day so it doesn't go through to our credit card, that makes me a little nervous, have any of you done that? Would I be better off just leaving the credit balance on our credit card and whittling it down while we are playing in the parks?

I know I am going to sound really selfish right now, but this is our first trip without our kids. We didn't have enough money to go for our honeymoon because we just bought our house and paid for our wedding, so this is a dream trip for me. I just want us to be able to go and just be a couple, do whatever and not be concerned with anything.

First of all, GF is so chill! I find it one of the most relaxing resorts. It’s become our fav. Great transportation, access to all the MK resorts for dining options.

We stopped getting the DDP years ago. It’s not the deal it once was. Our first time I was nervous and put the cost of the DDP on a gift card and ate what we wanted. I was surprised how much we had left on the card. Paying for meals on a gift card is easy. We still do this. I have a separate gift card we use just for dining.
I think our main savings on paying opp vs DDP is that we don’t drink pop, and prefer water with meals, don’t want dessert after lunch, and after dinner if we want dessert we like the flexibility of having it where and when we want, example - after dinner at Poly (Kona) I wanted a Dole Whip for dessert. Sometimes we just share a dessert.
We also don’t use snack credit every day, we are too full! So at the end of the trip I found we were just going to resort shop to buy things we could take home like Mickey rice crispy heads just to use up snack credits. On DDP you’re paying for all this built in the plan.
For breakfast we pack things to eat like instant oatmeal packets and bagels travel well. We use food court toaster (yes, even at GF lol).

One of the magical things staying at GF is seeing The Castle from resort. Watching Electric Water Parade and MK Fireworks from GF.
Love the pools too. I wouldn’t switch resorts back to BWI. You’ll love GF.

Our first time I did a split stay with 2 days GF & 10 YC. We loved GF so much we didn’t want to move to YC!

 

[emmabelle]

We’re doing a split stay between BWI and GF, 3 nights than 2. My husband isn’t a fan of a split stay but when I got 40% off at GF and club level to boot, he said, okay! So excited to do the two different club levels!

We stayed at GF four years ago and I loved it!

 

[kniquy]

I would boast the benefits of the resort, I kind of feel the same way about GF as it being more uptight, but you make it what you will. Maybe plan a nice restaurant narcoses or cali grill, make a quick monorail visit to the poly to visit trader sams, watch the fireworks from the beach. The resort is beautiful. I honestly feel the the boardwalk area is a little too busy for my taste and can see that the GF in the evening can provide a nice quiet romantic stroll to watch the fireworks.

Do not worry, you will be at one of the nicest resorts at WDW and if he really hates it then just say never again.

 

[DavidL]

I agree with MomOTwins. Get in touch with guest services and see what can be done to go back the original reservation with the original rate. If hubby is going to feel out of place at GF, it won't be an enjoyable trip for him. Hubby might go in to the GF with the mindset that he isn't going to feel comfortable with the stay, and as a self fulfilling prophecy, it will be an unpleasant stay.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

he mentioned feeling ""out of place""...but dont worry ...you wont be. We spend a lot of time at the GF between dining and shopping and the tea room and going over to see the Christmas gingerbread house. We were whatever and go straight from the parks and we never look or feel out of place . People who stay there look and dress just like all of the other travelers......the hotel / resort is fancy but it has regular people in it. lol

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Well I just spoke with him and yeah, he is concerned about how it will feel (we are value people after all, lol) but he also gave me another concern. We had the meal plan booked as well and have never gone to Disney without it. This reservation is room only no meal plan and I cannot add it at the rate I got. He said he is also concerned about having enough money. So that I think is his real concern, having enough money. I get it, we always use a meal plan, we like knowing everything is paid up front except tips and what we decide to purchase. I said since there is a "credit" coming our way, I would just transfer the credit to a gift card and we could use that to pay for meals. I too am a little nervous not having the meal plan, like I said, I really like the convenience knowing everything is paid for, but I am willing to step out of my comfort zone and put my gift card plan to the test, lol.

Anyone ever have a hard time using a gift card to pay for a meal? How did you handle your tip? I would prefer to pay the tip in cash (we normally do that even with the meal plan), can we still do that? I was reading another thread that said to put everything on our bands and just use the gift cards to pay the balance at the end of the day so it doesn't go through to our credit card, that makes me a little nervous, have any of you done that? Would I be better off just leaving the credit balance on our credit card and whittling it down while we are playing in the parks?

I know I am going to sound really selfish right now, but this is our first trip without our kids. We didn't have enough money to go for our honeymoon because we just bought our house and paid for our wedding, so this is a dream trip for me. I just want us to be able to go and just be a couple, do whatever and not be concerned with anything.

Did you book room-only through WDW? If so, just call back and tell them you want a "ticketless package". You can add just dining to a room-only reservation and still keep a RO discount. I'm not sure who told you you can't add dining to a room reservation, but that's incorrect.

 

[Sue M]

I would boast the benefits of the resort, I kind of feel the same way about GF as it being more uptight, but you make it what you will. Maybe plan a nice restaurant narcoses or cali grill, make a quick monorail visit to the poly to visit trader sams, watch the fireworks from the beach. The resort is beautiful. I honestly feel the the boardwalk area is a little too busy for my taste and can see that the GF in the evening can provide a nice quiet romantic stroll to watch the fireworks.

Do not worry, you will be at one of the nicest resorts at WDW and if he really hates it then just say never again.

Have you stayed at GF? It really isn’t the least bit uptight. I thought that too before my first staybut after staying there I realized it isn’t the least bit uptight.

 

[buzznina]

DH thought the same thing about GF, after visiting a few times, but once we stayed there it became our favorite resort, you really cannot get a feel of a resort unless you actually stay there. The walking to a park thing is not a big deal for us, so that is not a big factor for us. I will tell you that we think taking the monorail to/from Epcot was the worst and would advise walking to the TTC and catching the Epcot monorail there.

 

[KerryCM]

My husband loves the Epcot area resorts, and one anniversary trip I booked the Grand Floridian because I wanted to try it. We knew the club level manager at the time and were given access to RPC, and it was a nice treat. I enjoyed the resort and didn’t find it stuffy, but my husband was not comfortable at all. I felt bad about it, but he said he just missed being able to walk into Epcot and didn’t like being out of his comfort zone!

That being said we haven’t been back and I probably won’t stay there again. We love the BWI the best and will stay at the BC if I can’t get a discount at the BWI.

 

[bumbershoot]

If hubby is going to feel out of place at GF, it won't be an enjoyable trip for him.

I have faith in the OP’s husband that he’ll see and feel that it’s not stuffy once he’s there.

My cousin and her family were uncomfortable just being in the lobby, but in feb she and I had a great time st the villas for Princess. It’s so relaxed there. Nothing at all to worry about.


OP, run the numbers with your dining plans and a Dining Plan. Unelss you giys are going really upscale with the dining I bet you’ll come out on paying cash.

Easy as anything to pay with a gift card at almost all places. You can put tip on it or in cash (just cross out or write cash in the tip line). No need to charge to the room etc. that just adds steps.

Once you’ve run the numbers, if you still want a Plan do what the op said and call to ask for the ticketless package.

 

[bumbershoot]

And tell the staff that you’re having a belated honeymoon. At the very least you’ll get many congratulations!

 

[Wild4Walt]

I understand how he feels - I always thought that way too UNTIL, I actually spent some time at the resort. It beautiful and romantic and just luxury. The restaurants are great and you're so close to the MK you can view the fireworks. There's also the Electric Light Parade that takes place on the water after dark which is just plain fun.

Some him some videos of the rooms and such from youtube. It'll help him become more comfortable with the idea.

Don't feel bad - I surprised my mom one year with an upgrade from POR to Poly and she sort of did the same thing for about the 1st half hour and then she got excited.

Pixie Dust everywhere!

 

[focusondisney]

When are you going OP? You might still have time to change back to an Epcot Resort. How about a split stay, if some of your dates are available at BW? I’m sorry this is not going how you expected. If nothing else, remind your DH that the GF is at Disney, no one is out of place there!! There is no income requirement, no fact checking if you come from the right “area” and Miss Manners is not hanging around the resort ready to issue demerits! The CMs & other guests are average everyday people, just like you.

Hopefully your DH will see how much this trip means to you & how hard you tried to make it special. I’m sure he’ll
come around when he sees how upset you are by his reaction.

 

[SG131]

I second what the previous poster said. If this is a trip without kids, I’m guessing you won’t be doing many character meals, and maybe even will do a couple signature meals. I would definitely look at cost of dining plan verses cost of some of the places you want to eat. There’s a decent chance you may come out ahead without the dining plan.

 

[FigaroandFifi]

Well. You done good. Tell him to be quiet sit down and then he can have an ice cream cone. If he whines more tell him you switched to motel 6. He will recover.

You don't understand, my hubby would be find with motel 6 if it was cheaper