Grand Floridian Villa worth the extra cost?

[tinkerbell070406]

Hello! I am arriving a day earlier than expected and won't get to the resort until probably 8pm assuming all goes well. I've booked a resort studio villa at GF for that first night, then we will be moving to a deluxe studio at the Polynesian for the next 3 nights before then moving on to the Riviera. My question is, due to getting in at 8pm should I change it to 2 nights GF and 2 nights Poly, or keep the 1 and 3? It is quite a bit more expensive to do 2 and 2, however, we wouldn't really get to enjoy the GF because we're getting in so late and then doing MK early the next morning. It has always been a dream of mine to stay at the MK resorts, specifically Poly and GF. The refurbished resort studio rooms are gorgeous, too! Also, we are from the west coast and there's the potential of never going back, as we go to Disneyland. The last time we did Disneyworld was 2014! So...Is the GF really worth the extra cost in this situation? TIA!

 

[Karebear]

Can you just stay at the Poly for that first night? Another west coaster here and that would be my vote. Your flight can be delayed (happens to us sometimes) and then you get in later than planned. I also wouldn't want to be changing hotels that first morning as you have an early MK day planned and you will be dealing with the time change. Not sure if the Poly is an option though?

 

[tinkerbell070406]

That was another thought I had, but the price was just about the same so that's why I reserved the GF. What's nice is Disney does a luggage transfer. You just leave your luggage at the lobby and they take it to the new resort for you. One thing too is that my Poly reservation is through a DVC rental agency which means the first night at the Poly will be a different room so we have to do a luggage transfer anyway! It will just be at the same resort. I could do a little more digging and actually talk to a live person at Disney on the phone to see if there's anything they can do about keeping us in the same room (everything I've looked at has been on the website). If we could be in the same room I would do that for sure!

Is that your post that you're going to Disneyland Paris? We just went in June!

 

[Marthasor]

That was another thought I had, but the price was just about the same so that's why I reserved the GF. What's nice is Disney does a luggage transfer. You just leave your luggage at the lobby and they take it to the new resort for you. One thing too is that my Poly reservation is through a DVC rental agency which means the first night at the Poly will be a different room so we have to do a luggage transfer anyway! It will just be at the same resort. I could do a little more digging and actually talk to a live person at Disney on the phone to see if there's anything they can do about keeping us in the same room (everything I've looked at has been on the website). If we could be in the same room I would do that for sure!

Is that your post that you're going to Disneyland Paris? We just went in June!

If you book Poly for the first night (same room category), you can tell the front desk CM when you arrive and ask to stay in the same room - they will try their best to accommodate.

If you really want to try out VGF, however, I would do 2 GF, 2 Poly, but if you rented points for Poly, I'm not sure you are going to be able to adjust that Poly reservation down to 2 nights. If it's only 1 night at VGF, I probably wouldn't do it - that's a lot of money to spend and not be able to enjoy the room. IMHO, if you are arriving at 8 pm and then going to MK early the next day, I would probably just pick a cheaper resort altogether and have your luggage transferred in the morning - why spend so much money for, essentially, 8 hours in a hotel room?

 

[Karebear]

Is that your post that you're going to Disneyland Paris? We just went in June!

Yes we will be going to Disneyland Paris We had a French exchange student live with us and we will be visiting her and her family in Paris. While we are there, I thought that I would add Disneyland Paris to the trip..we are excited!

 

[PinkPixel]

Hello! I am arriving a day earlier than expected and won't get to the resort until probably 8pm assuming all goes well. I've booked a resort studio villa at GF for that first night, then we will be moving to a deluxe studio at the Polynesian for the next 3 nights before then moving on to the Riviera. My question is, due to getting in at 8pm should I change it to 2 nights GF and 2 nights Poly, or keep the 1 and 3? It is quite a bit more expensive to do 2 and 2, however, we wouldn't really get to enjoy the GF because we're getting in so late and then doing MK early the next morning. It has always been a dream of mine to stay at the MK resorts, specifically Poly and GF. The refurbished resort studio rooms are gorgeous, too! Also, we are from the west coast and there's the potential of never going back, as we go to Disneyland. The last time we did Disneyworld was 2014! So...Is the GF really worth the extra cost in this situation? TIA!

Stay 2 nights at GF so you can wake up and go into MK and then return for a rest in your room, check out pool and then have a drink or zero proof beverage at Enchanted Rose or Citricos before returning to MK for evening. You can also watch fireworks from GF or Poly. When are you staying? There is renovation on going at GF and parts of lobby will close at some point.

 

[tinkerbell070406]

If you book Poly for the first night (same room category), you can tell the front desk CM when you arrive and ask to stay in the same room - they will try their best to accommodate.

If you really want to try out VGF, however, I would do 2 GF, 2 Poly, but if you rented points for Poly, I'm not sure you are going to be able to adjust that Poly reservation down to 2 nights. If it's only 1 night at VGF, I probably wouldn't do it - that's a lot of money to spend and not be able to enjoy the room. IMHO, if you are arriving at 8 pm and then going to MK early the next day, I would probably just pick a cheaper resort altogether and have your luggage transferred in the morning - why spend so much money for, essentially, 8 hours in a hotel room?

That's one of the problems...I can't change the reservation at Poly because I rented the points. I can still cancel with no fees though. That means cancel Poly through rental, then rebook room through Disney. There's basically no difference in cost between adding the first night to either Poly or GF. It's when I start cancelling the rental and booking 2 nts at each directly through Disney where it gets $$$. I'm considering FQ as well.

 

[tinkerbell070406]

Yes we will be going to Disneyland Paris We had a French exchange student live with us and we will be visiting her and her family in Paris. While we are there, I thought that I would add Disneyland Paris to the trip..we are excited!

Awesome! We did a trip to Europe and Paris was one of our stops. One of the days it was an impromptu "hey, let's go to Disney!" LOL. If you can you have to ride Crush's Coaster. THE BEST RIDE EVER!!!! No other ride compares.

 

[tinkerbell070406]

Stay 2 nights at GF so you can wake up and go into MK and then return for a rest in your room, check out pool and then have a drink or zero proof beverage at Enchanted Rose or Citricos before returning to MK for evening. You can also watch fireworks from GF or Poly. When are you staying? There is renovation on going at GF and parts of lobby will close at some point.

My thoughts exactly! Early September. I'm hoping the lobby will be done!

 

[sndral]

First, if you rented points for your 2 night Poly stay you’ll be in a studio, if you decide to then rent from Disney make sure you rent a studio, & even then, because of the cash/DVC situation, you may have to move.
I too fly in from the west coast, & I’ve stayed at both the Poly & the GF, they’re both nice, I personally prefer the GF - they aren’t that far apart - the boat runs MK-GF-Poly-MK, the monorail runs Poly-GF (full resort monorail route is MK-Contemp.-TTC-Poly-GF-MK.)You can walk between the 2 resorts, although w/ the Poly2 construction the walkway isn’t as convenient as when they don’t have the detour.
If you opt to keep that first night at the GF, you should arrive in time to check out the shops & listen to the pianist in the lobby, maybe take a monorail or boat ride, then watch the MK fireworks from the patio in front of the QS restaurant Gasparillas, and have a nightcap in the lobby at the Enchanted Rose.

 

[Karebear]

Awesome! We did a trip to Europe and Paris was one of our stops. One of the days it was an impromptu "hey, let's go to Disney!" LOL. If you can you have to ride Crush's Coaster. THE BEST RIDE EVER!!!! No other ride compares.

Thanks for the tip...will definitely check it out! This trip is sort of morphing as we have been adding other countries and places to see...but I told my husband we need to take at least one day for Disney! The cool thing is that our exchange student's sister is a CM at Disneyland Paris and she is going to show us around. Have a fun trip to WDW!

 

[Judique]

Hello! I am arriving a day earlier than expected and won't get to the resort until probably 8pm assuming all goes well. I've booked a resort studio villa at GF for that first night, then we will be moving to a deluxe studio at the Polynesian for the next 3 nights before then moving on to the Riviera. My question is, due to getting in at 8pm should I change it to 2 nights GF and 2 nights Poly, or keep the 1 and 3? It is quite a bit more expensive to do 2 and 2, however, we wouldn't really get to enjoy the GF because we're getting in so late and then doing MK early the next morning. It has always been a dream of mine to stay at the MK resorts, specifically Poly and GF. The refurbished resort studio rooms are gorgeous, too! Also, we are from the west coast and there's the potential of never going back, as we go to Disneyland. The last time we did Disneyworld was 2014! So...Is the GF really worth the extra cost in this situation? TIA!

Keep what you have and possibly change your MK day? The resort studio is very nice and you will enjoy it. You can check out of GF and still use the facilities. Are you traveling with adults or also with young kids? I really liked the splash area they had at GF for toddlers and young children.

Another option would be to stay 4 nights at Poly. They will do whatever they can to keep you in the same room. All three resorts are nice to just hang out at. But whichever resort you choose, that MK day after a late arrival will be somewhat tough. It's always a good idea to take advantage of early entry, which makes for an early morning. Whatever you do enjoy!

 

[PlutoPan]

I think it’s always worth it at VGF for the villas.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

That's one of the problems...I can't change the reservation at Poly because I rented the points. I can still cancel with no fees though. That means cancel Poly through rental, then rebook room through Disney. There's basically no difference in cost between adding the first night to either Poly or GF. It's when I start cancelling the rental and booking 2 nts at each directly through Disney where it gets $$$. I'm considering FQ as well.

For extra cost I'd keep the 3 nights at the Poly vs cancelling and paying a lot more to do 2 and 2 at VGF.

 

[tinkerbell070406]

Thanks for the tip...will definitely check it out! This trip is sort of morphing as we have been adding other countries and places to see...but I told my husband we need to take at least one day for Disney! The cool thing is that our exchange student's sister is a CM at Disneyland Paris and she is going to show us around. Have a fun trip to WDW!

LOL that's exactly what happened to us! We met my daughter at the end of her study abroad term in Spain and I just kept adding country after country You have fun too!

 

[js]

That is too much moving for me.
I would book the Poly the full stay (or RIV) but not three resorts.

 

[Genie+]

We’ve done quite a few split stays the last several trips. It’s made me rethink, and now we’d rather not book anything under 3 nights unless in a bind. 1 night is not enough time to settle at all. 2 nights is better since at least you get one full day where you wake up and go to sleep in the same room, but still not enough time to get a true feel for the resort.

My vote goes to sticking with 3 days at the Poly and picking up one night just to sleep after arrival. We’ve done this many times for the 1st night, usually book Pop or ASM then keep an out for a distressed rental that night. We found OKW $200 3 weeks out for this month.

 

[Mattrg_2000]

That is too much moving for me.
I would book the Poly the full stay (or RIV) but not three resorts.

Agreed. We never hop more than 2 times and never fewer than 2 nights. One exception, if we have a late arrival then stay one night at Marriott (or Hilton) off property…check in late and out early. That counts as a ‘move‘ though. We never ‘move‘ more than twice.

According to our rules, I’d drop GF completely and stay off-property on night one for ~$200 then use the 3 nights at Poly. The GF trip would be for next time.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

I’d keep it . 2 nights isn’t enough anywhere . Don’t ruin your Poly stay by shortening it . Just enjoy GF for the night you arrive . You can also rope drop then come back to swim at GF before you check into Poly .