Disney’s Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort – Filled with Character (And Characters From Mary Poppins to Dumbo!)

Hi everyone!

We attended the grand opening of the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on Wednesday! I have over 1000 photos to go through, and will be posting several articles (and lots of photos) of this new Disney Vacation Club resort. Today I wanted to focus on the “character” of the resort – in the form of Mary Poppins, Dumbo and Mickey!

This morning I photographed a walk between Disney’s Polynesian Resort and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – the footprint of this area has completely changed!

This is the entrance to the Villas of the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa parking lot, which is a new parking area dedicated to the resort.

On Wednesday morning, the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opened with a low-key, elegant ceremony.

Mickey and Minnie were on hand to cut the ribbon with Grand Floridian General Manager Norm Noble.

Here is our video of Mickey and Minnie helping to cut the ribbon:

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort was not as highly themed with characters as other resorts until the last 4 years, when new marble floors with Disney characters were installed in the main building. 3 years later (and one year before this new DVC resort debuted), the Alice in Wonderland water playground opened. This whimsical Mary Poppins penguin fountain is the centerpiece of The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian, and features jubilant penguins in “motion” as they enjoy pouring and receiving tea.

Many of the villas (I believe 1 bedroom and above) include this lovely cutout artwork of Mary Poppins! Penguins, horses, Mary and Bert are part of the design.

The villas with full kitchens that we viewed have this hidden Mickey made of plates. Look closer and you’ll see that Dumbo is the theme here, with Timothy Mouse and the Casey Jr. as part of the story! Stork feathers surround the plates.

Many of the beds we saw included a Mickey head towel creation. I remember many years ago, it was a surprise when guests would arrive at their resort whether there would be a towel animal. Now it is pretty standard, but still a lot of fun to find one!

These coasters were in a Mickey head shape.

Some of the villas included these Victorian silhouettes of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Also in some villas, a portrait of a young girl riding a bike with a Duffy bear hangs.

Mary Poppins and The Happiest Millionaire artwork is found in villas and hallways.

Dumbo is the theme of this Murphy bed in a studio. This isn’t the first time that Murphy beds have been themed for characters at Walt Disney World, we love the Princess and the Frog bed in the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside!

In this 1 bedroom villa (part of a 2 bedroom lockoff), Mary Poppins is part of the Murphy bed.

Here is our video of the 2 bedroom lockoff:

Mickey is directional!

There are actually very few hidden Mickeys at the resort, but we found this one (and others like it) outside.

This is the Alice in Wonderland themed water playground that sits between the Villas and the main building of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. The Mad Hatter’s hat is the bucket, and the tea pot spills water down on the cups.

Four years ago, the marble tiles were installed at Disney’s Grand Floridian. This section features Peter Pan.

Disney’s Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is filled with character (and characters!) Much simpler and smaller in character scope than Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which opened last year, the Villas offer an classic look at some of your Disney favorites!