Grand Floridian Lodge Tower Room or Polynesian Concierge

[lynr]

We are taking a short trip to WDW next year before our Carnival cruise.

It will be me, my DH, DS and his GF. We have been to Disney many times but my sons girlfriend has never been. My first thought was to really wow her and stay at the Grand Floridian. I have a lodge tower room booked, but I could get Polynesian Concierge for the same price. What do you all think?

Now my TA is telling me that CRO told her twice today that the Lodge Tower rooms are in main building and have concierge. Is this true? From what I can make out on the Disney website they don't come with concierge. It seems really strange that CRO wouldn't know what room was what.

I appreciate any clarification on these rooms.

Lyn

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i think GF CL lodge rooms are in the sugar loaf CL they dont have MK views but now offer full service CL

 

[MLAinVA]

I've stayed at the GF (non-CL) and CL at the Poly. Go for the Poly. It is wonderful

 

[edingerc]

Hawaii Building at Poly will still be closed then. If you aren't going suite, Poly Concierge will be down.

 

[lynr]

Hawaii Building at Poly will still be closed then. If you aren't going suite, Poly Concierge will be down.

They are going to be closed next year also? Oh my I guess that limits my decisions. Thanks for the info.

Lyn

 

[SeaSpray]

Hi Lyn!

The Hawaii (concierge) building at the Polynesian is being worked on this fall. I think you're safe for booking it next summer

I think your decision is a tough one, especially because you want this to be a special treat for Matt's GF. I do believe that "lodge tower" is not the main building at the GF. It does not appear to come with concierge, I believe it's a type of room (with a small sitting area, I think!) in a regular building. I remember this because after I booked the Polynesian LVC, I compared rooms at the Grand Floridian.

After having stayed at the GF (lagoon view room in Boca Chica) and the Polynesian lagoo concierge, I'd have to vote for the Polynesian. I still cannot get over the view we had from our balcony! And we really did enjoy the food and time we spent at the lounge


EDITED TO ADD: Ok, just did some more research and this is what I found in the GF FAQ:

What are the Lodge Tower Guestrooms?
The Lodge Tower Guestrooms are oversized standard rooms. They are exactly like the regular guestrooms, but with an additional octagon sitting area. These rooms are available in Sago Cay, Conch Key, Boca Chica, and Big Pine Key. Rooms have views of the resort’s marina, the gardens, or the courtyard pool.

Hope this helps!

 

[Sammie]

The confusion lies in the terms Lodge Tower and Lodge concierge.

All the lodge (outside the main building) rooms have some lodge tower rooms. They are somewhat larger, do not have a balcony or patio and have an octagon sitting area. Personally for the cost I would rather have a lagoon room, than a Lodge Tower room, as I don't think they have great views, and I want a balcony or patio.

Lodge concierge is in the Sugar Loaf Building. And there are some Lodge Tower rooms in this particular building, you can request them but not book them.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Others have clarified that the lodge tower rooms are not in the main building, nor do they come with concierge service (unless you are booked in lodge concierge). A couple of nice things with the lodge tower rooms is that you have the extra space with a small sitting area and 2nd tv. I like the split bathrooms at the GF, especially when travelling with teens and adults. That seems to cut down on the time it takes us all to get ready. The drawback is that all lodge tower rooms have garden views. I'm almost positive that they all do have patios or balconies, except those found on the top floor. And not to make assumptions, but I'm guessing for the bedding situation, you would need 2 queens and a daybed. With the lodge tower room, you'll only have the 2 queens. The couch is really a couch and doesn't open up for sleeping.

With all those considerations, I'd probably go with the Poly concierge, 2 queens and a daybed and we'd learn to live with the bathroom setup.

Tammi

 

[Aanna]

You might also want to consider if having concierge service would be a plus to you or not. For instance, when we go we're so busy eating at the different resort restaurants that we'd be too stuffed to make any use of the concierge lounge except for (maybe) breakfast. For us a Disney vacation is all about the eating If, however, you expect to catch a lot of meals or snacks at the lounge it might pull you other other way. What will you make the most use of?

Just to give you yet another perspective on the GF/Poly question, my family greatly prefers the GF over the Poly. The Poly's grounds are lovely, but that fact gets crowded out by memories of really hard beds and LOUD toilets flushing in all the nearby rooms. Our GF experience, on the other hand, was very peaceful and beautiful. Next time we want to be on the monorail we will only consider the GF.

Soooo much comes down to personal preferences...

-Aanna

 

[lyncruiser]

Go for concierge service. With four adults in one room, you'll appreciate having another "annex" where you can go for breakfast, a break, a little TV, etc. We just returned from a stay at Royal Pacific Resort at Universal, club level.

We had four adults in the room. I get up early -- others get up late. It was great to get up, put on some clothes and go to the concierge lounge to read the paper, have coffee and relax, without disturbing the late sleepers. They'd come to the lounge later and I'd then return to the room to get ready. Breakfast every morning was really convenient. But, the best part was feeling that, with the concierge lounge, we were not living on top of each other if you know what I mean.

 

[lynr]

You will never believe what my TA at DU has gone through to try and find out about these rooms, and she still received the wrong answer from CRO.

They have told her 3 times now that all these rooms come with concierge service and once that they are in the main building. I know CRO is wrong because of your responses.

What do you think would happen if I booked this and got down and stated that CRO had stated that they do have concierge service. Would they give us access to Concierge or will they just say tough they made a mistake? Good thing we have this information on these boards because if I didn't have this information and got down there thinking I had concierge service and didn't I would really be upset.

Lyn

 

[Aanna]

Perhaps your TA is mis-naming the type of room you've reserved? By the time three CM's agree that the room includes concierge you've gotta wonder where the problem is. Not saying that the CRO is always right (far from it!), but when three of them agree about what they're seeing on the screen there's a possibility that it's your TA who's mispeaking. Even a single word misheard can mean a huge difference in which room they are talking about.

 

[TammiMcMan]

What do you think would happen if I booked this and got down and stated that CRO had stated that they do have concierge service. Would they give us access to Concierge or will they just say tough they made a mistake? Lyn

Unless something has changed very recently, CRO is clearly making a mistake. I wouldn't count on the front desk CM's being able to do much about it though. It is what it is and you won't have anything on your confirmation to state that you were booked in concierge. As Aanna and Sammie pointed out, it could just be an honest mistake with the terminology being used. For the final answer, I would call down to the GF and speak with a resort CM directly. Sammies post also mentioned that there were lodge tower rooms in the Sugar Loaf concierge building. You would need to book "lodge concierge" and make a request for this style of room. There's no guarantee that you would get one, but there are 6 available, with 2 on the top floor having no balcony. You could check out the price difference between a Lodge Tower room vs. Lodge Concierge and go from there.

 

[lynr]

Tammi: Thanks for the thoughts on the bedding situation I hadn't even thought of that.

Hi Lyn!

The Hawaii (concierge) building at the Polynesian is being worked on this fall. I think you're safe for booking it next summer

Terri: My thought is that Deziree has never been to Disney and I think that the Grand Floridian would make the best impression for a first timer. I really want to wow her!

With that being said you that the Polynesian is my favorite and with all the rennovations being done I really think that would be our best bet. Deziree is not a frilly girl so maybe I would pay all that money and she would have like the Polynesian better.

It's really a tought call and Matt is no help with his suggestion to spend as little as possible because we are only there for 3 nights. His only request is that we stay in a monorail resort. He didn't care for the WL this year because of not having monorail access.

So since my family here at home is zero help to me in the planning department, I have turned to my friends on the DIS boards and I have decided to go with the Polynesian.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and suggestions.

Lyn

 

[SeaSpray]

Lyn: I think you made the right decision The Polynesian is a beautiful resort as you know, and I'm sure she will be thrilled with the resort itself, and her first time at Disney World!

 

[lynr]

Lyn: I think you made the right decision The Polynesian is a beautiful resort as you know, and I'm sure she will be thrilled with the resort itself, and her first time at Disney World!

Terri:

I think I just had to talk it out to make the right decision.

Deziree's birthday is next month and she has no idea that we decided to include her in our trip. Since she has never really been on vacation we have decided to wait until her birthday to tell her.

Lyn

 

[petersinki]

Does anyone know if all the rooms in the main building of the Grand Floridian are concierge? Thanks!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Does anyone know if all the rooms in the main building of the Grand Floridian are concierge? Thanks!

Yes, all rooms in the main building and Sugar Loaf are concierge.

Tammi

 

[petersinki]

Thanks Tammi! We're heading to the GF Thursday and were thinking of upgrading. Appreciate the info.
Chad