no bad views (pretty much either monorail, Poly, or lake)
1221, a standard studio, is the only dud.
There can be a snobby atmosphere that some dont like
I used to think so, before we first stayed there in the hotel section. It's now become our family's favorite resort. Some of it is the styling, it feels a little "old fashioned" as my DH used to say. But DH and DD1 both say it's their favorite resort, so by sheer number of votes, it wins in our family.
Things I like about VGF:
1. check in is sitting down at a desk, a much calmer experience. The lobby is smaller so my kids can actually play and hang out nearby and not be bouncing around during check in.
2. Split bath in the studios - 2 showers and more space to get ready
3. quiet villa building that has a covered walkway to the main building where the shops, restaurants and monorail are
4. villa building is close to splash pad and feature pool, which have a view onto the lagoon. (go out the back door of the building, not the main door!)
5. we love the hustle and bustle of the main lobby, as
@jerseyduke says. There is usually music, and my kids are the ones running around and dancing and taking away from the snobby atmosphere...
6. great food options
7. great service/attention to detail: one time we were walking around the lobby and my DD1 (then 5) was wearing an Aurora dress. The pianist saw her walk by and started playing the Sleeping Beauty Waltz, which led to an adorable impromptu father/daughter dance. Another time when we were staying at the hotel section, they made a mistake with the room assignments where they put us in a room that was already occupied (!!) and then the only room they could put us in after that was clearly a room that they used only in emergencies when they had no other rooms (the furniture and everything else in the room was super worn, and was not the view that we had booked (this was not DVC)). They put us there for 1 night and then moved us back to the original building and a view we had requested, comped us 1/2 the first night's stay (or maybe even all of it, can't remember) and loaded a bunch of anytime FPs on our
MDE. Super nice staff at all times, whether we had hiccups with our stay or not.