Favorite Monorail Resort CL?

[saraheliz]

Talk to me about the monorail resorts CL! What is your favorite and why?? Especially if you travel with kiddos.

 

[heidijanesmith]

My only monorail resort CL stay was at the Poly and it was fantastic!

Great CM's, good food, the whole longhouse is CL level, great location.

Watching the fireworks from inside the CL was a huge perk. The lower the lights and pipe in the music. You can have adult drinks and the kiddo's can have a snack and a drink.

We loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[CynBeth]

I completely agree about Poly.

 

[saraheliz]

Thanks! Considering this option but would really like to stay close to MK.

 

[mrsap]

GF RPC. We love everything about it.

 

[bethclayton]

GF RPC (main building) is my favorite and GF Sugarloaf is my second favorite. Both offer wonderful food, great locations, a relaxing lounge, and a luxurious vibe. But RPC is like an enhanced version of SL's vibe and ambience, and an even better location (though only steps away from one another, so not a huge difference). Poly would be my third choice, I like the view from the lounge. I have never stayed at the Contemporary, only BLT.

 

[AngiTN]

Having done all 4 (if you count GF twice) Contemporary. I love the room decor currently, and the room layout. Love that I know I'll have a balcony. Food actually comes in last for us, the all have plenty we like so I consider it a wash. We found the staff always nearby and helpful.
Poly was just too crowded, too loud with SOOOOO many kids. I like kids but don't like them running amouck untamed when inside the resort. I get this can vary based on luck of other guests but I do think Poly attracts more families than the other 2 resorts overall and as such, there are more kids and more of a chance of kids who have parents who let them have free reign. DH and I were picking between CR and Poly for a quick trip next week and he said "CR, Poly had too many kids". I'm also not a fan of the rooms at Poly right now. I am sure I'll give it another chance once they do a refurb there.
GF, RPC was the opposite of Poly, if you can imagine. Too quiet. I don't care for the long drawn out design of the tables being spread around the windows. Makes for great views but hard to grab stuff and go back and forth. SL was very disappointing. The staff was either absent or non-attentive. There were too many times where I stood around hunting for someone to help get a drink or something. They seemed to hide in the back and when out, never asked if anyone needed something. I always felt like I was a bother to them.
Though not monorail so outside your consideration I actually prefer WL. But I don't care for using the monorail so never pick a resort based on it. Thing is not a benefit in my eyes. So for MK area, I'd pick WL (once their CL is reopened)

 

[mickeynut1]

Talk to me about the monorail resorts CL! What is your favorite and why?? Especially if you travel with kiddos.

I've stayed at all of them and with the exception of GF SL, I love them all for different reasons (no particular order):

GF RPC - great food offerings, large/spacious lounge with a lot of seating, great views of the grounds, nice CMs

Poly CL - great food offerings, nice lounge with extra seating on 3rd floor, amazing CMs, awesome castle view

CR CL - great food offerings, nice lounge, amazing CMs, awesome dead on view of castle/fireworks

GF SL is the only CL I didn't care for and have no desire to return to. Nothing bad happened during our stay, it's just not a CL for me. The food offerings were good, but I didn't care for the overall atmosphere/vibe. Since the lounge is located in the lobby of the SL building, there are no windows/views. I enjoy spending time in the lounge and I didn't find the SL lounge to be very relaxing as it had more of a cafeteria-feel to me (just my opinion).

 

[cutigerlady]

We didn't like the Poly because we didn't think the CL food offerings were kid friendly. The CM noticed my son didn't have much on his plate and she told him to pick off some of the stuff from the little plated appetizers. Now my son can be picky, but he will try just about anything once. CR was the CL on the monorail that my kids like the best. They love that the monorail goes through the main building and they love to sit on the balcony and watch the boats/trains go by. They also think this resort has the best arcade (so glad it's back and they got rid of the kids club thing there!). The food in the CL was good and everyone we interacted with at the resort was very helpful/friendly.

 

[saraheliz]

Though not monorail so outside your consideration I actually prefer WL. But I don't care for using the monorail so never pick a resort based on it. Thing is not a benefit in my eyes. So for MK area, I'd pick WL (once their CL is reopened)

I'd actually love to try WL but we are a family of 5. So, it's not really just the monorail, rather that's how I'm classifying them- it's the size of the rooms/ability to sleep 5, along with proximity to MK and to each other. If I had to pick any resort to try, it would actually be WL!

 

[AngiTN]

I'd actually love to try WL but we are a family of 5. So, it's not really just the monorail, rather that's how I'm classifying them- it's the size of the rooms/ability to sleep 5, along with proximity to MK and to each other. If I had to pick any resort to try, it would actually be WL!

They do have a deluxe room that sleeps more.

 

[saraheliz]

They do have a deluxe room that sleeps more.

Yes! It would have to work out perfectly with a discount, though. Seems like the other resorts there's a chance of getting a CL room with a discount but with slimmer pickings at WL in terms of what we'd need I'm guessing that's less likely. I guess only time will tell! So many choices!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Mine are 9 and 5 at the moment. When balancing various things such as the resort itself (especially the pools), access to monorail for MK and Epcot, boat transportation, and the actual CL experience, Poly is our first vote. It provides the perfect balance of "convenience" as a parent, in my opinion.

I personally really like CR CL quite a bit, but we don't love their pools with the kiddos. No zero entry, only a dated/dinky splash area. Prefer CR CL for a shorter trip. CL staff is best among the three, in our experience.

GF has great resort amenities for kids (love both pools and the splash pad) but I'm less a fan of the CLs there. No overwhelming reason why, just like others better. The monorail to/from Epcot from GF starts to bug me after awhile since it's more of a process (this a minor nit for sure).

Always so many pros/cons to balance and different opinions, as you can tell from the responses on this thread.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Well, if I have to choose a monorail resort it’s got to be the POLY. Having said that, the last time I stayed at the Poly I took the ferry over to MK all the time as it was much closer to my accommodations than walking back to the lobby to catch the monorail. In truth, the best monorail resort IMHO doesn’t have a monorail stop. That would be Wilderness because you don’t have a bunch of people touring the resort by hopping on and off the monorail. Yet I can catch a boat over to the Contemporary and do all the monorailing I want. Just one persons opinion..