Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a Victorian themed hotel and spa located at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, 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 400 square feet (37 m²) per room. A standard room can sleep up to five people.

The Grand Floridian is categorized as a deluxe resort, one of four types of accommodations at the Florida site. According to The Walt Disney Company, it is considered Disney’s flagship resort. The resort has received designation in the Florida Green Lodging Program.

The hotel was inspired by the luxurious Victorian era beach resorts built along Florida’s east coast during the late 1800s and early 1900s; its exterior is modeled after the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California, with red gabled roofs and white walls. Additional design inspiration was taken from the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel in Belleair, Florida.

The resort’s outer lodge buildings—Sago Cay, Sugarloaf Key, Conch Key, Boca Chica and Big Pine Key—are named for islands in the Florida Keys.

Along with Disney’s Polynesian Resort, the Grand Floridian sits on the shores of the man-made Seven Seas Lagoon 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.