Are the monorail resorts worth it?

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

You need to look at your own pros and cons list and determine that for yourself.

I love Pop Century BUT once I went to the dark side of monorail resorts I'm finding it hard to go back lol.

I've stayed at CR twice, GF once, and Poly once with another stay booked there for August.
I will say in my opinion GF was not worth it but the other two were.
Love the proximity to MK and taking the monorail to EPCOT.
I also like multiple food options at the monorail resorts.
Poly's theme is to die for and CR's quietness outside and in the Garden Wing is so nice when you want to be away from the loud crowds of the parks.
One thing I don't love about CR is that you share buses with Wilderness Lodge.
BTW deluxe resorts get Extended Evening Hours (most of the year it seems to be EPCOT Mondays and MK Wednesdays)

 

[SuzErwin]

We love the Contemporary because we like to resort hop for meals and it’s a short walk to the Magic Kingdom bus pick up/drop off area - and from there you can get to almost anywhere on property. We love having the boat option for the Wilderness Lodge as well.

We also find the monorail convenient for Epcot; transferring at the TTC requires some walking but it’s not onerous. And of course the monorail makes visiting the Poly and GF very easy.

 

[DisneyGuy]

Not sure how long you’re staying, but for the best of both worlds, I’d do a split between a monorail resort and an Epcot resort (BC/YC, Boardwalk or Swan/Dolphin. I’d plan my park days based on resort. Yeah, you do have to pack up in the middle but Disney will move your luggage while you head to the park on your way out of the resort.

 

[Pinnochio]

Hi,

We’re planning a summer trip to WDW this July. We normally stay on the Skyliner route, which my small children LOVE.

We’re still in the planning phase and can’t decide on a resort. So is it worth leaving the Skyliner area for the monorail resorts?

TIA

Yes if you plan on entering MK multiple times....With small children that's a huge benefit....being able to pop in quickly with very little hassle is magic....also its nice for quick breaks and nightime re-entering/exiting as well...

 

[bakerworld]

My short answer would be no.

My monorail gripe are the multiple stops along the way. The first time or two is fine but after a while I'd rather just get to where I was going.

 

[ktink]

Poly is our favorite resort! We always used the boat to MK instead of the monorail. We walked over to TTC for the Epcot monorail. We've stayed at GF also & I didn't feel it was worth it. But I think that's on me. I had expectations of what staying there would be like & it wasn't as magical for us.

 

[kylenne]

“Worth it” questions always crack me up. It’s like asking other people to spend your money for you. Nobody can tell you whether or not something is “worth it” for you because everyone places different value on different things. We all view things differently too, based on our own preferences and experiences. Like for me, pretty much every common complaint about the Poly is a nonissue to the point I’m actively baffled by them, but that’s clearly not the case for others. Meanwhile BC/YC are in my bottom tier of deluxes for a lot of reasons and I could never stay a full week at either of them but they’re favorite resorts for others. We all have different criteria.

My ideal setup for an average week long trip is always a split stay between Crescent Lake and a monorail resort. Minimizing the need for transportation is fantastic, though I can and do still go to EP/HS from the mono loop. I vastly prefer the theming and rooms at GF/Poly and the dining on the whole loop to anywhere else on property (only CSR comes close to me), and having multiple easy and fast ways to get to/from the most irritating park from a transportation standpoint trumps basically everything else to me. I find leaving MK at night so onerous and every time I’m not staying at a monorail resort I feel my stress levels rising. Being able to just walk home or take a boat rather than having to wait around MK for bus crowds to die down is priceless to me. The quick and easy trip home after late night events in particular (EEH, the parties) when I’m tired is also fantastic.

 

[jimmymc]

It depends on a lot of things, like the cost and your plans for the trip. If you're going to Magic Kingdom multiple times during the trip and like taking mid-day breaks, then it probably is. I think they're both great, it just depends on how much you plan on going to MK vs Studios.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

As PPs have said, two huge benefits come into play if you have small children and stay at MK until closing. We found first floor rooms at CR garden wing and GF Sago Cay/Sugarloaf are ideal for my family. We have had a double stroller for our last several trips, and we love staying at MK until closing, especially on party nights.

For us, if we stay at MK until midnight, our littles fall asleep in the stroller and one of our favorite parts of the day is heading back to the hotel on the walking paths. We look at the long, long lines for buses or boats and think about how lucky we are to be able to peacefully, quietly walk back to our room within 10 mins. For us, that is worth every penny. YMMV…

 

[han22735]

Like others have mentioned it "depends" for us MK is not our favorite park so we would much rather be either in the cresent lake area or on the skyliner for easy access to EP/HS instead.

 

[Robber Baron]

Hi,

We’re planning a summer trip to WDW this July. We normally stay on the Skyliner route, which my small children LOVE.

We’re still in the planning phase and can’t decide on a resort. So is it worth leaving the Skyliner area for the monorail resorts?

TIA

'Worth it' is a pretty subjective term.

However, if it's in your budget I'd suggest trying a monorail resort, even just for the experience.

We have had about a dozen stays on the monorail and it's not really even on our list anymore.

 

[pinkxray]

Definitely make your own pros/cons list.

For me, they are absolutely worth it. Although I extend it to WL too as I love being in the MK area in general. My favorite park is MK, we have little kids and spend extra time in MK. We are early risers so we don’t stay out late in the parks. I love being able to see the fireworks from the hotel, since we are rarely in the parks that late.

The other 3 parks are easily accessible by driving (we always rent a car). I hate getting to MK by car, so we really love walking, monorail or taking the boat from our resort.

We stayed at BLT last Easter and somehow ended up with our MK day being 10/10. It was the only day we have scheduled there and managed to have a great time despite the crowds. We actually stayed for the fireworks and afterwards it was craziness leaving the park. The lines for the boats, monorails and ferry were enormous. We just walked right over to BLT and went to bed.

Not sure of the ages of your kids but CR/ BLT was a bigger hit than I expected last year. It was great being on the monorail line as well as being able to boat to Fort Wilderness and WL. We spent hours at FW letting the kids play on the playground after eating at their quick service. We have done horseback riding, pony riding and archery there as well. My kids love Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL. I also love the monorail dining options so yes, for me MK resorts are worth it.

GF is my personal favorite, but BLT is also high on the list. WL is another favorite. Poly is okay, I always find it a little hectic, but I would stay there again if the kids asked. When my kids were smaller they loved the water play area at the pool and could spend all day there.

My cons for the MK resorts are they can feel far away from other areas. Getting to and from Disney Springs seemed like it took forever. We recently stayed at Boardwalk since we were doing Jollywood nights and the crescent lake resorts feel so much more centrally located.

Another major con is the price. We are dvc members so I’m not paying rack rate for monorail resorts. Not sure what your budget is but if staying at a monorail resort means giving up something else you wanted to do or shortening the trip, I’d say no.

I do feel like when I’m making my adr lists most of them end up being in the MK area, so staying in the area is always easiest for us.

We are trying our last MK area resort in July, which is the Fort Wilderness cabins. Doing a split stay with Beach Club. Will do Epcot while at BC, and MK at FW. Not usually a fan of split stays, but need to see how much outdoorsy I can handle before doing a full week in the cabins.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

OP, When we stay at any Deluxe resort now, we are doing so knowing we are splurging and not because we think they are worth it, especially at the nightly cost that they charge, even when our DDs were little. Like you we have also been staying at POP a lot, since the skyliner Our last trip was at POR and we loved our stay there as well. We also would rather have a good FC over a TS. Split stays are a good way to do both and give you a chance to try it out and still save some $$.

 

[saraheliz]

We thought Bay Lake Tower was worth it but we got an amazing discount. It wasn’t even so much the monorail to the parks- we preferred walking to MK and the monorail back from Epcot was kind of a pain-but being able to jet around to other resorts for food and have a few of MK fireworks from our room was amazing. That being said we have one younger kiddo and two teens who loved the calmed atmosphere of the pool etc compared to other resorts.
We loved staying at AoA on the skyliner as well, though, and at Kidani, for different reasons…but Bay Lake Tower, moved to the top for sure.

 

[hardcorestitch]

If you plan to stay in Disney property and not visit any other theme parks, then it would be worth it.

 

[kiford]

That's very subjective and depends on what is of value to you. For us, staying at a monorail resort might be worth it for the resort itself and proximity to MK if that's where we want to spend our time or is close to the restaurants where we want to eat, but to stay there to be ON the monorail, for us that's a No. Even when we stay there we often don't use the monorail but use boat service or buses. I find the monorail to be inefficient.

 

[_19disnA]

I agree that 'worth' or 'value' is subjective and none of us can answer that for you. If you have small children and mostly (or only) plan to do MK, then staying at one of the 3 monorail resorts makes taking breaks for things like a nap much easier. If you mostly plan to visit Epcot or HS, the staying at the other side of the property, wouldn't make much sense as these are some of the most expensive hotels.

Your view of the various forms of transportation also matter. We find riding the monorail fun and it still looks futuristic after all these years. Some people have good/bad experiences riding Disney busses so tends to be subjective if you are deciding where to stay based on the form of transportation you prefer. Disney is HUGE with a LOT of visitors so the expectation that whatever form of Disney transportation you plan to use will be like having your personal valet service, will never have to wait in line, will show up the moment you arrive and leave immediately is not reality.

As often as this topic gets asked, the main factors are always the same.........budget, personal preference on the subjective topic of 'theming' and which park(s) you plan to visit. No single Disney hotel is closest to every park, so you have to consider what you plan to do while there to make the best decision for your family.

 

[Eastern]

Short answer: no. They are extremely expensive and so it's hard to extract "value". Ok if you have money to burn.

I get tired of the monorail by day 2. Crowded, stuffy, smelly. OTOH I love the skyliner. It's like a ride to me that you never have to wait long for. Pickup and drop off locations are good.

As someone else mentioned, the monorail resorts have gotten very busy. Lots and lots of people just visiting (which I do myself) and so it may not be as relaxing. Lately if I'm choosing deluxe, I prefer the Epcot resorts. Otherwise, I'd definitely stay at a skyliner resort.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

Short answer: no. They are extremely expensive and so it's hard to extract "value". Ok if you have money to burn.

I get tired of the monorail by day 2. Crowded, stuffy, smelly. OTOH I love the skyliner. It's like a ride to me that you never have to wait long for. Pickup and drop off locations are good.

As someone else mentioned, the monorail resorts have gotten very busy. Lots and lots of people just visiting (which I do myself) and so it may not be as relaxing. Lately if I'm choosing deluxe, I prefer the Epcot resorts. Otherwise, I'd definitely stay at a skyliner resort.

I like the Skyliner but my DH found it hot for warmer days and we were even there during summer.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I like the Skyliner but my DH found it hot for warmer days and we were even there during summer.

The monorail is not much better, it is really warm in there during the summers as well.