Honeymoon Resort Disagreement

[jessica289]

Hey everybody,

My fiancee and I are looking at resorts to do our 10 day/9 night honeymoon. I want to do the Grand Floridian Resort because it's like the fairytale resort and been named the more adult type. Plus it's the resort I've wanted to go to since I was little but my family thought it was too fancy and expensive.

My fiancee likes the modern look of the Contemporary resort. He said we could afford the MK as well. Which from the photos is very beautiful if we get the right floor.

There are two options I can really do at this point. Give into the beautiful view from the Contemporary Resort for the whole honeymoon.

Or would it be worth looking into doing a split stay to appease both parties? How many days should we book at each resort? Should we book a MYW package for those nights? We want to take advantage of the spa and mini golf discounts from the MYW packages which is why I asked that question.

Lastly, we have a pretty steady budget of 12000 for this whole trip complete with dining, ticket, souvenirs, and food. But we are trying to come home with money still in our hands. Would it be worth the money to do a split stay at the Contemporary and GF or is it more cost effective to just choose one resort? Which resort would you choose?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Have you considered the Poly? I think it would be more romantic than either of those.

 

[jessica289]

Have you considered the Poly? I think it would be more romantic than either of those.

I've done Poly before with my family vacations many times. As romantic as it is I always get reminded of my family vacations which isnt something i'd like to do on my honeymoon...lol So I want to make some new memories in a different resort

 

[carolwoodpacific]

I really don't think you can go wrong with a split stay. This way everyone is happy, AND you get to experience two new-to-you resorts. Sounds really fun!

There shouldn't be a problem booking the MYW package with two resorts. As far as how to split the time - to avoid any stress, I would split it as evenly as you can with 9 nights - 5 and 4. Since you are "giving in" to Contemporary, maybe you can say that you should then get 5 nights at GF, and 4 at Contemporary.

 

[rrali33tt]

I really don't think you can go wrong with a split stay. This way everyone is happy, AND you get to experience two new-to-you resorts. Sounds really fun!

There shouldn't be a problem booking the MYW package with two resorts. As far as how to split the time - to avoid any stress, I would split it as evenly as you can with 9 nights - 5 and 4. Since you are "giving in" to Contemporary, maybe you can say that you should then get 5 nights at GF, and 4 at Contemporary.

I totally agree.

 

[lurkyloo]

Yup! I'm with them! We actually split our 2-week honeymoon among 4 resorts, with two 5-day stints and 2 weekend stints. Splitting between just two resorts would not be as crazy, and Disney can move your luggage for you while you play in the parks.

 

[heathrow42]

Have you thought about staying at Bay Lake Towers? It's an extension of the Contemporary. You could rent points from a DVC member and save yourself a ton of money. For an estimate.. plug your dates in here: http://www.tagrel.com/dvcCompChart.shtml and multiply the number of points by $10 - and you'd have the approximate cost. DVC holders tend to rent their points for $9-11/point. For example, if a stay cost 150 points, that would be $1500. Depending on the time of year you could probably get a 1 bedroom (with kitchen & living room) MK view at Bay Lake Towers for 400 points for 10 nights - which would be about $4000. The same room would be over $7,000 cash through Disney. (I checked Sep 20-30.. but the MK view wasn't available, Lake view is a little less. So it would definitely save over $3k) The views from Bay Lake Towers are amazing.. floor to ceiling windows - just gorgeous. It's like having a luxury apartment with a view of the Magic Kingdom. You can find DVC members renting points on the DVC boards here and elsewhere.

As for Contemporary vs Grand Floridian - I'm partial the the Contemporary. I really like how close everything is in main building and to the monorail. I don't want to hike outside to my room if it rains!

--Heather

 

[Lorelei528]

I vote for a split stay as well. We did one on our wedding/Disneymoon with one week at BWI and one week at AKL...

We have done split stays on vacations as short as 5 nights!

It's like two mini vacations in one!

 

[herb102211]

Another vote for the Poly! I think it's a lot more romantic too, especially given all of the construction over at GF.

 

[jessica289]

Another vote for the Poly! I think it's a lot more romantic too, especially given all of the construction over at GF.

We will be going next summer so hopefully GF will be done with construction

 

[wiigirl]

I've done Poly before with my family vacations many times. As romantic as it is I always get reminded of my family vacations which isnt something i'd like to do on my honeymoon...lol So I want to make some new memories in a different resort

 

[andeesings]

I vote Contemporary, ESPECIALLY if you're going Tower with MK view!! Talk about romantic, watching the fireworks from your room! Plus I like that if you're in the tower everything is so close and convenient. I've stayed at the Grand. It was really nice but I don't think it was oozing with romance.

 

[pezaddict231]

I vote for the Grand Floridian, but that's because the Contemporary doesn't really appeal to us. Although I have heard MK view is fantastic. A split stay sounds like a good compromise. I wouldn't do two MYW packages though because you'll be paying more for tickets. Two 10 day tickets are going to be much cheaper than Four 5 day tickets. I think you can still use the vouchers later in your trip, but I've never really looked at the expiration on those.

 

[gamberlane]

I don't know if it was just the time we were booking for, but something to consider...they often have those 30% off your stay offers, but only if the resort isn't already mostly booked. We had planned to stay at the Contemporary for our honeymoon because, frankly, it's less girly and more guy friendly, but the hotel was already booked and so by the time the Spring offer was released they had none available for our resort. HOWEVER, it was available for the Grand Floridian and so it brought its price down significantly to where it was actually cheaper to stay at than the Contemporary.

The pictures I've seen of the newly renovated rooms at the Contemporary look amazing and I was sort of excited about that, but there is just something so magical about the Grand Floridian, I am glad we were there in the end.

 

[jessica289]

I vote for the Grand Floridian, but that's because the Contemporary doesn't really appeal to us. Although I have heard MK view is fantastic. A split stay sounds like a good compromise. I wouldn't do two MYW packages though because you'll be paying more for tickets. Two 10 day tickets are going to be much cheaper than Four 5 day tickets. I think you can still use the vouchers later in your trip, but I've never really looked at the expiration on those.

I am looking into booking one package and it sounds like I can get as many tickets as I want with the MYW package. They expire after 14 days which I would assume that goes for the vouchers as well...I'll have to call

 

[jessica289]

I don't know if it was just the time we were booking for, but something to consider...they often have those 30% off your stay offers, but only if the resort isn't already mostly booked. We had planned to stay at the Contemporary for our honeymoon because, frankly, it's less girly and more guy friendly, but the hotel was already booked and so by the time the Spring offer was released they had none available for our resort. HOWEVER, it was available for the Grand Floridian and so it brought its price down significantly to where it was actually cheaper to stay at than the Contemporary.

The pictures I've seen of the newly renovated rooms at the Contemporary look amazing and I was sort of excited about that, but there is just something so magical about the Grand Floridian, I am glad we were there in the end.

The Contemporary is more guy-friendly which I think that's why my fiancee wants it. Which the refurb definitely looks amazing. The GF is very magical too. I believe my fiancee and I are liking the idea of split stay more and more so we can get the best of both worlds essentially

 

[RedHotAssets]

My fiance and I are both opting for the Contemporary for our honeymoon because it's more "our style". I was never a fan of the GF because it always felt a bit uptight and frivolous to me, IMO. It is a beautiful resort though, and I can definitely appreciate that it's a nice place to honeymoon. In the end, you should just consider how much time you're going to spend in your room. If you plan on hanging out at the hotel a lot, then maybe go ahead and stay at both; but if you're like me and only plan on using the room for a place to sleep, it might be better just to stick with one hotel.

I totally identify with why you don't want to stay at Poly, my family always stayed there and I want to do something different for my honeymoon! We are hoping to stay at BLT as well, hopefully we can get lucky and rent someone's points. So if anyone has some points they're looking to rent...you just give me a shout!

 

[bopper]

As you know, both are wonderful. I would use this as a method of working how you will deal with conflicts in your married life. You don't want to be the one who caves into him all the time. You don't want to be the one who always gets her way. What solution are you both enthusiastic about? To find out, talk to each other about your reasons for wanting each hotel. Tell him that to you, staying at the Grand Floridian means that you are an adult and can make decisions on your own and not have to do what your family wants. He might feel that if you are doing a Disneymoon, that waking up to see the MK out your window is the most Disney of all. But you might find that 4 days of seeing MK is enough, and 4 days of GF pampering is enough so a split stay would be just the thing.