CR vs GF

[chic mama]

I can't decide! We have a tower room with theme park view at the contemporary with no discounts booked this fall or we could switch to the Grand Floridian outer building lagoon view with free dining. Difference in price is only about $650...

We have 4 kids and thought being walking distance to the magic kingdom would be nice and seeing fireworks from the room would be great when the younger ones go to bed! But I'm sure my husband would like saving the money! Has anyone stayed in the outer building of GF? Far walk to the main building/monorail etc?!

 

[Yahweh]

I'd do Grand Floridan with the free dining. While MK is in walking distance to the contemporary, it's not so close that the monorail would take much longer to get to MK. Especially on the way to MK

 

[ludari]

I agree with the previous poster. I would switch to GF.

 

[Jennasis]

I would go where you are saving the most money. That said, I love CR far more than GF. If money were no object, we'd always pick CR.

 

[Belle83]

Which one is cheaper? $650 is a significant price difference imo. I'm inclined to vote for Grand Floridian with free dining because I hate the idea of paying rack rate. I agree that the walking distance from MK to Contemporary is not so close that I would factor it in to the decision.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm assuming one of your kids is small? If so, I'd do GF in a heartbeat for the Alice-themed water play area.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

None of the GF outer buildings are far from the Main building. The GF is gorgeous with far far more amenities than CR. We love lagoon view at GF. Request 4th floor Boca Chica. We stayed there last Feb. and could see the electric water pageant and some of the fireworks from our room. I much prefer the lagoon view over the TPV, parking lot view at CR

 

[Grand Admiral]

I agree that the walking distance from MK to Contemporary is not so close that I would factor it in to the decision.

On the contrary, our last trip to WDW when my son was almost 3, being able to walk back to CR was a lifesaver when he had a meltdown one afternoon. Also, being able to watch Wishes from our bed was great too. CR is a great location if you have small children.

 

[MissMet]

I would go with CR if you have a stroller. GF is the last stop before MK so you may find very full monorails at prime times heading to MK making it hard to fit your stroller. Plus, there's nothing like that view!

 

[KonaKaiTom]

The walk from any of the outer buildings at the GF to any other building or the monorail is no more than 5 minutes -- it is a fairly compact resort. As PP have said, the monorail to the MK is all of 48 seconds...once you are on it and it leaves. Coming back we generally take the boat as it is the first stop as opposed to the monorail being the last stop. Plus when the kids were smaller they wanted to take the boat ride, as in they enjoyed it as much as a park ride.

Tom

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We stayed in CR in 2014 and we stayed GF last year...they each have their pros and cons...At Contemporary we LOVED that everything was under 1 roof so we didn't have to walk too far to get from point A to point B. We loved that it was within walking distance to MK as well, specially since sometimes the monorail system can be flakey lol. We also liked their quick service place there (The contempo Cafe) they were fabulous and a lot of the time we got our food to go from there and ate in our room. My older son also LOVED the arcade there as well. We also had a theme park view and while seeing the fireworks the first couple of nights were awesome, it got old real fast, LOL. We are early to bed type of people so the fireworks would either wake us or keep us up. The other thing that we didn't really like about the CR is their pool was not zero entry so while my older son had a blast in the water if my younger son wanted to go in he could only sit on the stairs or we would carry him around the pool...which was ok for us, but not ok for our little independent one, LOL. When we stayed GF last year we were in a deluxe room so we had the little living room area. The room was SOOOO nice and a lot bigger than CR. We had a pool view which was nice too. We loved the pool bc it was zero entry so my toddler could splash around in the very shallow end while my older DS could play in the deeper end. It was more quiet at the GF than at CR as well. In my opinion we liked our stay at CR better than GF. Yes GF was quieter and the room was nicer and bigger, but something about the CR just seems like you are in the middle of the magic. Although if my hubby was making the decision he would definitely say go with the resort that is cheaper, lol...I look at it this way...if you go with the cheaper resort than you just have $650 more to spend on souvenirs, LOL.

 

[chic mama]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I really appreciate the first hand experience. After looking at a room only discount at GF and realizing that it will be $1200 less than rack rate at CR I think we are going to go with that! I just assumed the free dining was best but definitely not in this case!

I think the pool area there is going to be great for us since we have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old and twins who are almost 2!

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

I would just keep the CR theme park view. I honestly don't think any of the other theme park view resorts come close to the CRs theme park view. The CR view is outstanding!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I really appreciate the first hand experience. After looking at a room only discount at GF and realizing that it will be $1200 less than rack rate at CR I think we are going to go with that! I just assumed the free dining was best but definitely not in this case!

I think the pool area there is going to be great for us since we have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old and twins who are almost 2!

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

I would just walk the kids older enough to watch out to the dock, and leave the littles with your other adult in the room.

 

[Shanti]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I really appreciate the first hand experience. After looking at a room only discount at GF and realizing that it will be $1200 less than rack rate at CR I think we are going to go with that! I just assumed the free dining was best but definitely not in this case!

I think the pool area there is going to be great for us since we have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old and twins who are almost 2!

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

Yes, when you're staying deluxe, room-only discounts are frequently better deals than Free Dining. That's a great deal at GF and definitely preferable to paying rack rate at CR, even though I love CR. Just save CR for another trip.

I would leave the room as it is, as you likely won't get such a deal with a theme park view. You can walk your older two out to watch the fireworks from good spots at the GF while hubby stays with the sleeping little ones, or vice versa.

 

[Belle83]

On the contrary, our last trip to WDW when my son was almost 3, being able to walk back to CR was a lifesaver when he had a meltdown one afternoon. Also, being able to watch Wishes from our bed was great too. CR is a great location if you have small children.

I could definitely see that benefit, but I don't personally see that as worth $650 (the walk part at least). What I remember from the walk was that it wasn't that close, or much less time than the monorail to GF (though waiting for the monorail with a 3yo melt down would not be fun!).

OP I would definitely go for GF based on your update. You can't go wrong though

 

[Babsy]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I really appreciate the first hand experience. After looking at a room only discount at GF and realizing that it will be $1200 less than rack rate at CR I think we are going to go with that! I just assumed the free dining was best but definitely not in this case!

I think the pool area here is going to be great for us since we have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old and twins who are almost 2!

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

If you can get it with your RO discount, then Yes! The TPV is the ultimate, IMO, for MK area resorts. However, if it doesn't open up, all the views are pretty good at the GF! Enjoy!

 

[jacknsally19]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I really appreciate the first hand experience. After looking at a room only discount at GF and realizing that it will be $1200 less than rack rate at CR I think we are going to go with that! I just assumed the free dining was best but definitely not in this case!

I think the pool area there is going to be great for us since we have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old and twins who are almost 2!

If a theme park view opens up at GF would it be worth it to add? My older2 want to see fireworks but I know the littles won't stay awake that late!

I have stayed at both resorts with little ones and I think you have made the right choice! The zero depth entry pools are absolutely fantastic with very small kids. Personally, I wouldn't pay the extra for TPV but I would look into the extra cost for club level. I think its really worth it with kids.

Enjoy your trip!