GF main building LV or Poly LV Concierge?

[shelly3girls]

Which would you choose and why? We are planning a split stay next Jan. It will be me, DH, DD's 6 and almost 4. We are staying at the Poly next month for the first time, and have stayed at the GF a couple of times but never in the main building. The GF room is about $110 more per night, we will be there 4 nights. Is it worth the extra money? We plan to spend a lot of time at the hotel this trip especially in the pool, as we usually do. I would love to hear your opinions.

 

[jel0511]

As someone who's stayed at both, I don't think it's worth it. But, it was always my dream to stay in the Main Building and I did, and it was just o.k (the Poly was my first concierge experience). The Poly's lounge is just more kid friendly IMO, and the view from the LV rooms in Hawaii can't be matched by any view from the main building. There are a few rooms in the main building that have a MK view, so booking a room there won't guarantee you a view of the MK. So, if the view of the castle and the fireworks is important, stay in Hawaii. Now, I love the GF MUCH more than the Poly and this summer, we'll be trying Sugarloaf Concierge for a change. DH likes being to walk around the resort getting to/from our room, and we didn't have that at the GF RPC. Also, the Hawaii building is just so close to the pool and it's such a quick walk back. That was my main beef with the RPC. Since you're staying in the main building, you have to trapse back through the lobby to get back to your room. There is a "secret" elevator located near Gasparilla's that you can use to get upstairs, but unless you're on that side of the main building, it's really out of your way. Once, I had to run back upstairs to get something we had forgotten. I walked into the main lobby, of course with a cover-up on, and walked directly into a wedding party having some wedding pictures taken. I felt like a complete idiot all messy and sweaty from the pool, and these people are dressed in formal wear. It just didn't seem right to me to be walking thorugh the lobby like that, but it was truly my only option.

 

[shelly3girls]

jel0511
Thanks for the advice! I can see your point. I think for now we will stay with the Poly. It sounds like the Hawaii building is really what we are looking for especially since we will be there for New Years weekend. I don't want to go into the parks on NYDay, but we really want to see Wishes. We may change our mind once we stay at the Poly next month for the first time. Can I ask why you like the GF better than the Poly? We love the GF we just have heard so many good things about the Poly that we figured we had to try it.

 

[jel0511]

Well, since you asked.... I personally don't like the decor of the Poly rooms. I think they are dark, old looking and just plain blah. I've also had some problems with mold and musty smells, and with an asthmatic son, not acceptable. I've now stayed there 3 times, and as much as we love the grounds, pool, great ceramonial house, etc, the rooms just don't do it for me. We'll visit from now on, but we'll never stay there again. Everytime we visit the Poly, I yearn to stay there, but once I do, I'm kicking myself since I dislike the rooms so much. Again, this is personal taste so it might not apply to you.

 

[disneyfor3]

We have only stayed in the main bldg. at GF. We had a wonderful time. We would love to stay at the Poly next time though - we have only done a non-concierge room at the Poly and still prefer the Poly overall.
The things we loved at the GF were the pools, monorail right there, band playing while in lounge, room was lovely and very clean, excellent mousekeeping - towel animals, room perfect every day with the drapes drawn, ice bucket filled each evening, and tv on bedtime story on low, and lights on low. The lounge offerings were nice also.
The things we didn't care for: distant guest self-parking, we had to ask in the lounge if we wanted a soft drink and they poured it in a paper cup for us and kept the can, one rude cm (sure you can get those anywhere). We were there last September when a hurricane hit at home (we live in Maryland and this is rare). The airport was closed at home the morning we were supposed to leave but did open in time for our flight. I mentioned our concern to a concierge CM and he told me not to be ridiculous - it wasn't even going to do any damage to Maryland. I thought this was a little rude. When we did get home we had no power for a week. This same CM when he showed us to our room (which was supposed to have a magic kingdom view) but which was half blocked by trees, when I started to say something, he cut me off and said I got exactly what I asked for. We did enjoy the room even though we could only see a small portion of the fireworks. One time I did call down from our room 15 minutes before we were leaving for our car to be ready by the valet and they told me I could not call ahead, I had to come downstairs and then they would get the car. When I did this we had to wait 10 minutes for the car with a 3 year old. For this reason, I do prefer the self parking at the Poly.
All things said, we had a wonderful time and the Grand Floridian is beautiful.

 

[JayCT]

We stayed at the Poly Concierge LV in 2002 and absolutely loved it. The atmosphere is much more relaxed than GF. As an example, the volcano pool was full of families having fun and enjoying themselves. My boys joined right in. The GF pool was quite (almost eery) and would not have been as much fun for our DSs (then 4 and 6). We found that the rooms at the Poly were not dated or old as is often stated. The rooms are decorated in soft earth tones that are taken for the south seas (hence the name Poly). Just because a room does not have stark white walls or the very latest trend in colors does not mean it is dated. I think people just assume that because the hotel is 30 years old (as my father always says, just because it is old does not mean that it is no good). They actually just redid the Hawaii building and from reports on these Boards, the decor is the same as before the remodel. As for the mold problem, we did not see it, but it a problem reported many times. Hopefully with the remodel, the problem will have been corrected. We are going back to WDW in May, but unfortuantely we will be staying at the CR. DW is getting a great discount at CR that was too good to pass up. That is not to say that if a good AP rate or code comes out, we will not change. Anyway I think you made a good choice with the Poly. Jay