1st Disney trip-Poly or GF?

[peaches0313]

We are planning our 1st World trip Sep 2014. Will have 2 little girls ages 3 and 5. Want to stay on monorail. Polynesian looks beautiful but worried about construction. GF another option-can't decide b/w standard room (book through Disney) or try to rent points for GF villas (which I know may be hard to get)? I like the new splash pad there and the princess theme at Park Fare (we like to eat onsite a lot and my girls love their princesses!) Help!

 

[DizDaD7]

We are planning our 1st World trip Sep 2014. Will have 2 little girls ages 3 and 5. Want to stay on monorail. Polynesian looks beautiful but worried about construction. GF another option-can't decide b/w standard room (book through Disney) or try to rent points for GF villas (which I know may be hard to get)? I like the new splash pad there and the princess theme at Park Fare (we like to eat onsite a lot and my girls love their princesses!) Help!

Wow...I'd love to have stayed at either of these 2 in my 10 trips....

Remember this though, This being your 1st trip and all, & you guys staying at either of the top 2 resorts, it's going to be hard for you guys to switch to other resorts for future visits...LoL Nothing will ever compare....But if the $$$ isn't an issue than I'd say go for it...I'd personally go for the POLY...The GF is awesome just too stuffy for me....

If $$$ is an issue, than I'd try one of the lesser Deluxes, that way you don't set the bar too HIGH on your first trip... just my $.02

 

[princessap]

I agree. Out first stay onsite was poly and was amazing!! it would be a no brainer for me if there was no construction. but it does set the bar high! lol. I will say that when my kids are older I will be happy to try out AKL and other resorts off the monorail that look amazing! but for now monorail matters to us.

I am interested to see what people's replies are because you and I have chatted about this and are in similar situations

 

[peaches0313]

It's not that money isn't an issue, but we have been to Disneyland twice and stayed at the Grand Californian ( a deluxe resort right on property) so in a way we have been spoiled, and don't want to do a "lesser" resort at WDW. But also, while the girls are really little, we would like to pay the extra money to stay on the monorail. As they get older, we would definitely like to try one of the moderate resorts as it will be easier to do buses when they are a bit older When they are little, I am all for convenience

 

[DizDaD7]

It's not that money isn't an issue, but we have been to Disneyland twice and stayed at the Grand Californian ( a deluxe resort right on property) so in a way we have been spoiled, and don't want to do a "lesser" resort at WDW. But also, while the girls are really little, we would like to pay the extra money to stay on the monorail. As they get older, we would definitely like to try one of the moderate resorts as it will be easier to do buses when they are a bit older When they are little, I am all for convenience

I definitely understand this, with convenience...As a PP stated AKL/V is gorgeous, but save that lil gem for when the kiddos are a lil older....

What about The CR....Not as lavish as the other 2 but will be a considerate rate drop...Also the only resort that you can WALK to MK....Huge plus...Or BLT which is newer???

 

[peaches0313]

DizDad... Yes, that is another question! I almost put that in my post--that I was considering the contemporary as well! I don't know what to do... The theming there doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as the Poly or the GF, but I do like the lower price and the fact you can walk to the MK.... decisions, decisions!

 

[princessap]

I definitely understand this, with convenience...As a PP stated AKL/V is gorgeous, but save that lil gem for when the kiddos are a lil older....

What about The CR....Not as lavish as the other 2 but will be a considerate rate drop...Also the only resort that you can WALK to MK....Huge plus...Or BLT which is newer???

is the tower cheaper than the poly and gf or just the garden wing rooms??

 

[Mousemommy1]

is the tower cheaper than the poly and gf or just the garden wing rooms??

The garden wing rooms at CR ar a lot cheaper than GF standard room, the BLV tower rooms are slightly less than a standard room at GF (like less than $100 difference) but then a TPV room in the CR tower is about $200 more than standard room at GF.

 

[DizDaD7]

It's mostly in the Garden rooms where you'll save a decent amount, but this is relative in terms of where you want to stay at the other 2. I know if I stay at the poly or GF I don't want a standard room...so that price comes into play....

I think you can get into a CR garden wing for around $440 or so, & into the tower for roughly $100 more I think

While a standard for the Poly is around $490 or so and go up at least $150 for the water view & Theme park view... Also even higher for that at the GF.

 

[peaches0313]

Thank you. I am looking at standard rooms if I stay Poly or GF....

 

[plumsiren]

Semi-OT, but every time I'm reminded of the rates for these hotels, it just makes me think of how you could stay in a 5-star hotel in Paris for less...I just don't get it.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Semi-OT, but every time I'm reminded of the rates for these hotels, it just makes me think of how you could stay in a 5-star hotel in Paris for less...I just don't get it.

Which is exactly why I wouldn't stay at a deluxe without a significant discount. All of our deluxe CL stays have been with 40% off and next year at GF Sugarloaf is too. We have it for $369/night, which I think is reasonable.

 

[peaches0313]

Not all of us can get a military 40% off discount...But we like to stay in a deluxe resorts since we save up and don't go on vacations very often, and our children are young so we want to be on the monorail. BUT, with that being said, that is why we only go 4 or 5 nights max instead of a whole week like some people, bc that is all we can afford going deluxe It's all about what you prefer. I do hope to either book a room only AAA discount OR take advantage of free dining in hopes that they offer that again

 

[olive]

We do long trips - at least ten days - and always split our stays, and have stayed at both the Poly and GF, as well as CR and BLT. We also have stayed at the Swan and dolphin. Our son's first trip was CR, MK view for about 5 or 6 days, followed by 5 or 6 days at Poly (garden view - we don't need an upgrade there). After that first trip with him, we always do a monorail resort plus Swan or Dolphin to be near MK half the time and near Epcot/DHS half the time. He does NOT prefer the monorail resorts to Swan and Dolphin. He loves the grotto pool and slide, and the Epcot resort area, so we have never ha a problem over the next several trips with a "lesser" hotel. He visited his grandparents at CBR once and loved that, too. We never acted like one was better than the other. When we ask him now what his favorites are, he basically says all of them. He just likes being in Disney and playing in pools. I would choose whatever you get a better rate for; Poly and GF are both lovely resorts. We do like being able to walk to the TTC from Poly for easier access to Epcot. Enjoy the trip!

 

[peaches0313]

Olive: Thank you! I know this will sound *crazy* but I am not even sure we will do Epcot or Hollywood Studios at their ages. We would like to spend a lot of time at the MK, maybe do Animal Kingdom, and have a day to just relax at the resort pool and do Mickey's halloween party. If we do have time to do Epcot OR Hollywood Studios, which do you think is more "kid-friendly" to young girls?

 

[DizDaD7]

Both my twins girl n boy have been going to every park since they were 3. Each year we enjoyed a different park. For whatever reason. Out of the 2 parks ,its hard to say. We love em all. But there are some nice shows at HS for them. Sleeping beauty. Playhouse Disney. Little mermaid. Muppet 3d. Fantasmic show. (Awesome). Nice Honey I shrunk the kids playground area for lil kids.

Epcot has lots of learning things. Both innoventions are really good and lots of hands on things to do. Spaceship earth , memo and all the sea mammals. Land with the boat ride and the lion king movie. Figment. Ellen in the energy section. Now when you get to the countries in WS. You have the Perry the platypus games you have Kidcot stations in early h country where they get things written in that language n get a stamp. And some like mexico n Norway have boat rides, And some have shows n movies. Plenty to do at both its just up to u which you think your kids will enjoy.

 

[Marthasor]

We are planning our 1st World trip Sep 2014. Will have 2 little girls ages 3 and 5. Want to stay on monorail. Polynesian looks beautiful but worried about construction. GF another option-can't decide b/w standard room (book through Disney) or try to rent points for GF villas (which I know may be hard to get)? I like the new splash pad there and the princess theme at Park Fare (we like to eat onsite a lot and my girls love their princesses!) Help!

Honestly, GF sounds perfect for you. When my son was younger, that was our resort of choice due to monorail convenience and the convenience of having so many TS options right at the resort. With two little princesses, you really can't go wrong with GF! And an outer building-garden view is wonderful! We have stayed in outer building-garden view, sugar loaf-CL and main building RPC and I would very happily book outer building-garden view again!

If you can rent points for VGF and it's cheaper than a standard at GF, go for it! If not, I think you will be VERY happy at GF!

Oh, and between EP and DHS for little ones - I would pick DHS, but you will probably only need half a day.

 

[olive]

Olive: Thank you! I know this will sound *crazy* but I am not even sure we will do Epcot or Hollywood Studios at their ages. We would like to spend a lot of time at the MK, maybe do Animal Kingdom, and have a day to just relax at the resort pool and do Mickey's halloween party. If we do have time to do Epcot OR Hollywood Studios, which do you think is more "kid-friendly" to young girls?

Our older son just turned 6. He has been to Disney three times, and he was 2 1/2 on his first trip. He has always loved Epcot and enjoyed certain parts of DHS. We spend almost as much time at Epcot as MK.

At Epcot, he loves Spaceship Earth, the Land boat ride and the Nemo ride in particular, and watching the glass blower near San Angel Inn and having dinner there. He also likes the boat ride in Mexico. He has been on a Japanese kick - loves Japanese food (we live in NYC so he has access to some great choices!) and Ponyo, and had gotten a Totorro stuffed animal on one of our prior trips. He loves going to the department store in "Japan" and we ate in Tokyo Dining on our last trip. He loved that - he had one of the children's meals that they served on a monorail dish. He also enjoys Test Track and Soarin, which he was first tall enough to ride at age 4, and the Imagination ride. Sometimes the dinosaurs on Ellen's Energy Adventure scare him a little. We did the Phineas and Ferb adventures on our last trip, but not sure that would be fun for the 3 year old. I know some folks like to do the Kidcot stations, but we couldn't get our son to stay still for them. He also really likes Illuminations, but we only usually do it once per trip since it is late. We tend to skip the films because they don't hold his attention yet. Oh - and he loves the fountains and lit up sidewalk areas near Spaceship Earth. For some reason, he likes to stop and hop around near there.

In DHS, the Playhouse Disney show has always been a hit. Our infant loved it on this last trip, too! We also did a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine that was almost empty. The kids had a ball. He is pretty hardy and loves Tower of Terror. (I do not!) He really likes Toy Story Mania, too. He enjoys the Muppetvision show and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. Sometimes we go to the Little Mermaid show, although not on the last trip. We went to the first few minutes of Fantasmic once. That was apparently enough for him. Honestly, we spend the least time in DHS. I may be in for a change once he is tall enough for Rock n Rollercoaster.

You can always do a half day at each, and take the boat between them or walk along the path, though that will take much longer. We took the boat from DHS to Epcot on our first trip with our older son and thought the Epcot resort area looked so beautiful. We honestly never really knew much about it before that. Now we enjoy staying over there and spending time on the boardwalk. If you start at DHS and hit Toy Story and the Playhouse Disney show, and anything else that might be fun for them, and then take the boat to Epcot, you may still be able to end your day at MK for dinner or a ride or two and fireworkd via monorail. Unless, of course, they end up being big Epcot fans like our son. You never know!

 

[peaches0313]

Thank you so much for all the very helpful information!!!!!

 

[bdklein]

Semi-OT, but every time I'm reminded of the rates for these hotels, it just makes me think of how you could stay in a 5-star hotel in Paris for less...I just don't get it.

Totally OT.