Disney Vacation Club Opens 200 Mary Poppins-Inspired Rooms at Disney World’s Grand Floridian
Monday, June 27, 2022
Popular timeshare ownership program, Disney Vacation Club, has just opened its villa expansion at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on June 23, 2022. This expansion added a new DVC room category—the Resort Studio and has added a total of 200 DVC rooms. The existing rooms have also received a full refresh.
The new Resort Studio suite layout is unique to the resort and is different from the Disney Vacation Club’s traditional Studio Villas that sleep four to five guests. Resort Studios don’t have kitchenettes like the Studio Villas, but guests can request a microwave to be placed in their suite.
While the Resort Studios don’t have the kitchenette amenities, they are some of the most stunning rooms on the Walt Disney World property. The decor ups the level of elegance that the Grand Floridian is already known for. The suites offer a modern take on the property’s existing Victorian theming with colorful, floral motifs and nods to the Mary Poppins films.
“The inspiration for the rooms and for most things at the Grand that you’ve been seeing lately with the reopening of Citricos is that we continue to bring in that garden feel,” says Shawn Moore, resorts portfolio design manager for Walt Disney Imagineering. “We brought the Victorian garden from the exterior to the interior so it’s really those embellished gardens that you feel, and the natural tie for this room was bringing in Mary Poppins because of the film’s architectural scenes, the garden feeling—and we already have the penguin fountain in the DVC lobby.”
Artwork in these new suites shows Mary Poppins flying into Cherry Tree Lane, parades of penguins, and silhouettes of umbrellas, penguins, and other believe characters on room furnishings.
The Resort Studios are located in the resort’s Big Pine Key building and were previously traditional hotel rooms.
“We really focused on bringing that outdoor feeling to the inside and then also making it lighter and brighter so it has more of that summer day feeling where you really want to sit on the patio and relax, and it’s also really relaxing when you come back from the parks,” Moore says, noting that other recent resort room refreshes, like the Incredibles-themed room update at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and a Moana-inspired enhancement to rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, have all made the rooms significantly brighter. “All of our most recent rehabs have taken that general strategy to make them a bit brighter so that when you come back to the room, you feel refreshed.”
Beyond the bright and cheery decor, Resort Studios will attract guests looking for two queen beds rather than the queen and sofa bed provided in the traditional DVC studio villa. These units are incredibly spacious with lots of closet and drawer space and will be a great accommodation option for members.
In addition to these updates and refreshes, Citricos restaurant recently reopened with a Mary Poppins Returns-inspired overhaul. Plus, Victoria & Alberts, the popular Grand Floridian restaurant, is reopening on June 28.
Learn more about Disney Vacation Club on the brand’s website.
