Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a Victorian themed

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

and spa located at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

in Florida. The property opened on June 28, 1988, as the ''Grand Floridian Beach Resort''. The name changed to ''Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa'' during the fall of 1997. The resort contains 867 rooms among six buildings at an average of per room. The Grand Floridian is categorized as a "deluxe" resort. It is also distinguished as

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

flagship and most opulent resort.

History and influences

The Grand Floridian was inspired by the

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

beach resorts built along

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

's east coast during the late 19th and early 20th century. Its exterior is modelled after the Mount Washington Resort in

Bretton Woods, New Hampshire Bretton Woods is an area within the town of Carroll, New Hampshire, United States, whose principal points of interest are three leisure and recreation facilities. Being virtually surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest, the vista from B ...

, and

Hotel del Coronado Hotel del Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, is a historic beachfront hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. A rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden ...

Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 24,697 at th ...

, with red gabled roofs and white walls. Additional design inspiration was taken from the former

Belleview-Biltmore Hotel The Belleview-Biltmore Resort and Spa was a historic resort hotel located at 25 Belleview Boulevard in the town of Belleair, Florida, United States. The hotel structure was the last remaining grand historic hotel of its period in Florida that exi ...

Belleair, Florida Belleair is a town in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 3,869. History Belleair traces its origins to 1896 as a planned resort town with the construction of the Belleview Hotel by railroa ...

. Initially, Walt Disney wanted a Polynesian resort (reflecting Adventureland), the

Contemporary Resort Disney's Contemporary Resort, originally to be named Tempo Bay Hotel and previously the Contemporary Resort Hotel, is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, the hotel is one of two o ...

to echo

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

, and other resorts that mirrored the 'lands' of the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

. Main Street and The Grand Floridian act as analogous reflections. The resort was designed by the Disney company and executed by the architectural firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo. Along with

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort Disney's Polynesian Village Resort (formerly Disney's Polynesian Resort from 1985 to 2014) is a Disney-owned and operated resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort. It began operation on October 1, 1971 as one of Walt Disney World Resort's ...

, the Grand Floridian sits on the shores of the man-made

Seven Seas Lagoon The Seven Seas Lagoon is a man-made lake at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Located south of the Magic Kingdom theme park, the Seven Seas Lagoon serves as a natural buffer between the Magic Kingdom and its parking ...

near the Magic Kingdom. The hotel occupies land that had been earmarked for an Asian-themed resort during the initial development of Walt Disney World Resort in the late 1960s.

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

performed at the Grand Floridian in 1988 to film the music video for their song Kokomo. In 1992, a convention center opened adjacent to the hotel, which contains a business center.

Incidents

* On October 9, 1989, a 33-year-old woman from Glen Cove, New York, was killed when a tiny speedboat collided with a ferry boat. She and her 8-year-old son were broadsided by the ferry while trying to videotape friends and family members who were water skiing in the Seven Seas Lagoon. A crew member and a visitor on the ferry dove into the water and rescued her son. The boy was not hurt in the accident. The family sued Disney for $240 million, claiming that the ferry's operators should have seen the speedboat before it came so close. * On June 14, 2016, a two-year-old child was fatally attacked by an

American alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the gen ...

which dragged him from the shore of the resort's beach into the Seven Seas Lagoon. The child's body was recovered a day later.

Gallery

File:Grand Floridian lobby.jpg, The lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort File:Grand Floridian Villas.jpg, The Port Cochere of the Villas File:GrandFloridianmonorailview.jpg, A view of the Grand Floridian from the

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

150km with Cinderella Castle, 2007 File:Grand floridian panoramic.jpg, The Grand Floridian property as viewed from the entrance to the

File:Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa 1.jpg, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa taken from Seven Seas Lagoon

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa Commercial buildings completed in 1988 Hotels established in 1988 Hotel buildings completed in 1988 Grand Floridian Resort and Spa Destination spas Convention centers in Florida 1988 establishments in Florida Disney Vacation Club

History and influences

Incidents

Gallery

See also

References

External links