Boardwalk vs Riviera vs Grand Floridian

[Jamester116]

Going first week of December. Very limited availability. Some background. We are a family of 4–mom, dad, and 5 and 7 year old boys. This is the boys’ 6th trip.
We were able to snag a 1 bedroom at Boardwalk villas for the first 5 nights of our trip. We can then finish out the trip at another resort.

today, my husband found Riviera deluxe studio for our entire stay.

He also found an outer building room at Grand Floridian for the entire stay.

We have only stayed at Riviera for 1 night in the same room type. We loved it.

I’m kind of leaning towards the Boardwalk for its location and the larger room size. But I’m super torn. Price differences are negligible.

any insight? Where would you stay?

 

[Jessica Geisler]

My little guys are 6 & 9 and they still rattle off the Riviera as their favorite resort. The cast members were just wonderful for activities - and they loved playing the yard games, watching the skyliner, getting gelato at the pool, and watching Epcot fireworks from our balcony. I’m not sure why they didn’t care for Boardwalk, but I think it’s because the entire time they wished they were at beach or yacht club because they could see it. I also preferred the drinks at Bar Riva! The boardwalk is just such a fun atmosphere, but is a quick skyliner ride away. And now that I think about it, I think they also probably hated BW because I made them walk to and from HS & Epcot

 

[Nabas]

We have stayed at the Grand Floridian (May), Riviera (July), and Boardwalk (September) this year.

We are not big fans of the Skyliner. Really long lines in the morning for park opening and it closes for lightning, which has left us scrambling for a bus.

All 3 have good pools, an important consideration for us. (Deck space is rather tight at the Grand Floridian.) The Boardwalk has the best hotel water slide at WDW. Perhaps something important for your children? (While we were at the pool, some kids did the water slide again and again.)







5 and 7 year olds? Aren't they going to spend most days at the Magic Kingdom? Perhaps then the Grand Floridian.

But if they are big Star Wars fans, then there's nothing better than being able to walk to and from Hollywood Studios. You already indicated liking the idea of the extra space of a one bedroom at the Boardwalk:

 

[Dis Dragon]

If the price is negligible for Grand Floridian and you're staying the entire length I would do that, GF and BW are never in the same ballpark though so I'm expecting not.

Boardwalk's setup and food choices are a negative, where Riviera has a great one in theirs. The main benefit of being at boardwalk is you're in charge of what time you get to HS and Epcot. If you're not a have to be there when they first open the ticket scanner type of person then I would stay at Riviera so you don't have to change.

 

[ariel222]

I would do GF. Can’t beat the location, you can walk over to Poly for a Dole Whip, walk to take the monorail to MK, hop over to Contemporary. Quick boat ride to Wilderness Lodge/Fort Wilderness. Easy monorail to Epcot. It’s close to the fireworks and feels more connected to the magic of Disney. That said if you’re planning on spending more time at HS/Epcot that’s an entirely different story. There’s just something about staying at GF that always feels special.

 

[DisneyKidds]

As with all things real estate….location, location, location.

GF if you want one hotel, or split stay BW and GF.

GF, for us, is the best of the three, although there’s a lot we like about BW. We SkyLined to Riviera a couple times last trip. Looked alright, but we wouldn’t choose it over GF or BW.

We do split stays all the time. It’s nice having time by the MK and by Epcot/Studios.

 

[Kae]

As with all things real estate….location, location, location.

GF if you want one hotel, or split stay BW and GF.

GF, for us, is the best of the three, although there’s a lot we like about BW. We SkyLined to Riviera a couple times last trip. Looked alright, but we wouldn’t choose it over GF or BW.

We do split stays all the time. It’s nice having time by the MK and by Epcot/Studios.

I agree. We enjoy splits stays

 

[Tigger's ally]

Riviera won us over last time. Rooms are great and to us the skyliner was great. We rope dropped and were first in line in the morning so we went straight to either park with no wait. We also travel in December and the skyliner wasn't down at all as there were zero storms unlike the summer months. The food at Riv beats both. To me, the way we did the parks, the skyliner was actually way easier than walking from BW. Dropped us right off at both parks without having to walk great distances.