Grand Floridian or Poly?

[havoc315]

We are booked for 6 nights in mid February at the Poly, a garden room. It's me, DW, ds7 and dd5. We realized if we act now under current discounts, we could get a room in an outer building at Grand Floridian for about the same price. (actually, about $40 less in GF).

We had leaned to the Poly for easy access to the TTC, the nice beach with great fireworks views, and the Volcano pool.
But we realized there are a couple things we might prefer about the GF.
DW goes to the gym every day at home, so having a gym at the GF, is an advantage. Has anyone walked from the Poly to the gym at GF?
Also, DW is bummed that Poly doesn't have a hot tub. (think we would be stopped from pool hopping?(

So any other pros and cons to consider? Any other thought?

 

[Sappermont]

So much of this is personal taste but my DH and I really enjoyed the Poly. We walked to and from the GF several times. If the GF bus came first, we'd hop on and walk to the Poly, we ate at GF and walked back to the Poly, and we did the walk just for fun. It's really not that far of a walk and so although I didn't walk to the gym if I wanted to go to the gym I wouldn't have considered it much of a walk. We absolutely LOVED being by the TTC. We found it equally as convenient as being on the monorail hotel loop. We were in Rapa Nui so we were literally right there. We loved watching the fireworks from the beach and just really enjoyed the entire experience. That said, I'd imagine that a stay at the GF ( or any place for that matter) would be equally fun. Either way, I'm sure that your trip will be awesome.

 

[Sue M]

Wow, I've never seen GF for less then Poly! Unless they've reduced the Poly discount.
We stayed 7 nights at The Poly in a GV room in Tokelau Jan 2010. We loved it.
We did walk several times. We would take the monorail over to GF for dinner & walk back too! It's a nice walk. So I agree, I don't consider it a long walk to the gym either. It's near the Wedding Pavilion. We loved the Poly beach, & watching Wishes.

But GF is a beautiful resort too, so it's really an individual choice on what theming appeals to you. I have to say, we did miss not having a hot tub in Jan, but it wasn't a deal breaker. I just thought if we ever stay at Poly again, it would be during a summer visit!

 

[havoc315]

It's currently 30% at Poly and 35% at GF, which is what pushed GF price slightly lower than Poly.

Some more of our concerns--- have heard that the Poly pool gets overcrowded, but would that be a big issue in Feb, including Presidents weekend?
And how does Poly beach compare to GF beach?

 

[KatMark]

We have stayed at the Poly three times and have loved each visit...love the theme, the rooms, the pool, etc. We have never stayed at GF -- does not appeal to me and my husband won't even walk in it.

 

[Sue M]

We went mid Jan, and pool wasn't crowded. I think all pools get crowded in the hot weather.
IMO Poly has the best beach, because it looks directly MK, and The Castle. There's something magical about being on the beach and seeing The Castle across the lake.
At GF you can watch Wishes by Narcossee's and the boat dock.

 

[Scarlett81]

Poly doesn't have a hot tub, but it does have a hot end of the pool with seating and jets that spit out hot water. Not a hot tub by any means, but fyi.
please keep in mind that the GF's spa and health club is under construction, however the health club is operational-the spa is not.as far as I know its not due to open till late 2012.
We weren't planning on going last month during our visit so it didn't affect us. Construction 'noise' didn't affect us either. The noise from the main street parade across the pond was louder than that!
Don't want to scare you away from GF for that reason-Disney does a phenomenal job from hiding any type of works thats being done. You wouldn't even know it.
There are barriers up around the spa/h.c building, and around the wedd pavillion area. I'm sure there's paths all over there that you'd walk by to get to the h.c, I just personally didn't walk over there.
Pool wise-I'm pretty sure you'd have a problem pool hopping. GF's pools are for GFers.
With the look of the Poly pool and the views from it-I doubt you'll want to leave it anyway.
We haven't stayed at the Poly yet-in a couple months we'll be there. To me, you are comparing apples and oranges. Do you want a tropical feel? Or a old world/classic grand hotel style feel? GF feels historical-you forget it hasn't been there for decades.
DW could also jog around the Poly grounds. (I'd imagine)

 

[Marthasor]

I love them both for different reasons! GF has far more amenities than Poly - more restaurants, shops, etc. The theming is quite different of course, but I would definitely spend less and stay at GF. You really can't go wrong with either resort!

 

[mickeynut1]

We've stayed at both and they are both wonderful resorts. But with that said, the Poly is our preference for a few reasons. We had a great stay at the GF and it's a beautiful resort, but we like the volcano pool at the Poly more than the GF beach pool. Plus the Poly beach is awesome for relaxing in a hammock watching the fireworks . We also love Captain Cooks at the Poly alot more than Gasparilla's at the GF. Good luck deciding, but they are both great resorts and I'm sure you'll have a great trip no matter which one you choose .

 

[bethclayton]

I love them both. For garden view, I prefer the Poly (for CL I prefer the GF). I don't see how you could go wrong with either one. It's a high-class problem.

 

[havoc315]

I think we are leaning to sticking with the Poly... Thank you for the feedback.

 

[w121mem]

Poly for sure!

 

[nadira36]

We've stayed at the Poly front he 29th of Nov to the 7th of Dec. We also ate at GF and toured the beach and pool during Wishes.

I have to say the GF wins Hands down for me.

First the rooms at the Poly are a bit - shall we say - dated. The ceiling above our shower was all rippled and falling down. It had a fresh coat of paint, however paint doesn't fix that particular problem. The shower also had only a trickle of water with made washing hair a bit tricky. Though for the amount of time we were in the room not a huge deal, but honestly for the amount we spent on the room I was disappointed. The beds were very comfortable, we loved the patio, and the size was awesome.

I honestly wasn't impressed by the volcano pool - at 4 ft deep it's not even deep enough to swim - though my 3 and 5 yr olds loved it.

The beaches were comparable from ne resort to the next. The view of Wishes was nice at both resorts.

At Poly we liked being close to the TTC - the monorail stopped working one morning and the line for the boats was ridiculous - a short walk brought us to the TTC.

The Poly is the first drop off from the ME.

I LOVE the GCH at the Poly - and all the grounds - the lush foliage is so wonderful.

Ohana is one of my Favorite restaurants, and the ginger crusted steak at Kona is divine. However Captain Cooks was horrible. We tried it 3 times, each time was worse than the one before. The third time the manager had me so close to tears because of her treatment. We do have dietary issues, but that shouldn't change how they treat us.

At GF they have a soap shop in the Main building upper level that sends a very strong scent through the entire building. It's very strong and as such DH nor I would want to be int here for long.

We loved Dinning at Citricos and 1900 Park Fare was wonderful. We didn't try the quick service.

We did walk between the 2 resorts with a buggy and a baby on DHs back - itt was maybe 10-15 minutes. It was a nice walk. There is a fair amount of walled off areas due to construction, but honestly they weren't too bad. The walk was enjoyable.

Personally I loved the look of the GF pool, there isn't a volcano, however there are rocks around it - there are KTTW locks on the change rooms at the pool - however while we were there (thankfully since the toddler needed to go potty NOW) they were propped open. The change rooms were clean and nice. We never entered the ones at the Poly.

Ultimately there are pos and cons to both,, but for the price I'd rather stay at the more kept up resort and we had so much better service at he GF which makes a HUGE difference.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

I grew up spoiled by the GF, but when I finally stayed at the Poly a few years ago I fell in love! My vote is for Poly, but both are great resorts!

 

[vettegirl]

GF all the way, this is Disney at it's finest IMO!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have stayed at the Poly and while we loved it, once I went over the GF to visit with friends that were staying there (have done this twice as our trips have been the same time twice) I knew that my next deluxe splurge would be the GF. I love the big quiet pool at the GF and the main pool (we swam, we were DVC so legal hopping), loved the light and bright feel of the rooms, loved it that they all have balconies and just found the whole place charming and welcoming. I also prefer the dining choices at the GF since to me Kona, 'Ohana and Captain Cooks all feel too similar to me.

Again, we enjoyed the Poly, but the rooms felt dark. I prefer lighter rooms (found this at both the Poly and the GCH at Disneyland which are both dark), the fact many rooms at the Poly don't have balconies annoys me, hate not having a hot tub and find that the grounds, beaches and pools at the Poly feel more crowded.

 

[dmariella88]

love GF for the 24 hour CS!!!!!!!