I need your opinion FAST!

[maciemouse]

Okay, what would you do? Let me give you a little info on our situation. We are going to WDW the first week in May. I have a 3 and 4 year old. We were booked to stay at the Poly. Well, when the discount code came out there was nothing available there. So, I moved us to WL with the code. A week ago, my husband said he did not want to stay at WL, he would rather stay at Poly (loves the monorail). They did not have all four nights available. So I booked the first three nights and the last night is at AKL. We are going to be on the dining plan, atleast for our three nights at the Poly. Well after checking around a little bit this is what I found, what would you do?

1. Stay all four nights at the Grand Floridian with dining. We have never stayed here. We love the Poly, does this compare. Is it kid friendly?

2. Stay first three nights at Poly, then move to AKL. (we have never stayed here either)?

3. Stay the first three nights at Poly, move to POR.

4. Make my husband move back to WL?

Thank you for any advice you have for me. I need to make my decision in the next two days.

 

[KatMark]

Out of your four choices you listed, I would opt for #2. My DH and I do not like the Floridian at all--not our taste; we would love to stay at the AKL some day and we have stayed at the Polynesian and absolutely love it.

 

[DizzDoll]

I vote for #2. Not a fan of the GF, and the AKL looks amazing. Good Luck.

 

[lilyv]

Easy-Option 2.

 

[maciemouse]

Thank you guys. That is what I was leaning towards anyway. We will have to stay there on a Thurs. night. That is the same night AK has extra magic hours, so that will probably work out good.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I guess I'll be the loan voice of dissent.

I think a 4 night trip is too short (especially with young kids) to do a split stay.

I would do either the 4 nights at GF (love, love, love it) or go back to WL.

BTW we've stayed several times at the GF and it is not stuffy and is very kid friendly. The first time we stayed there the kids were 2, 4 and 5 and they still love the GF. THere are tons of kids there and most of the kids activities are located there (Wonderland Tea Party, Pirate Cruise, Grand Adventures in Cooking). Believe me it is very family friendly and my kids love the 1900 Park Fare Character Meals.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[mickeynut1]

As much as we love the Poly, we also love the WL (never stayed at GF). But I would switch to the GF or stick with the WL . It seems like so much hassle to stay 3 nights at one resort then have to pack up and move to a different resort for just 1 night. That last day could be spent at a park or enjoying the resort instead of packing up and moving and re-checking in somewhere else....but that's just my opinion. We're not "split-stay" kind of people....once we unpack, that's it until it's time to go home

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

First off - we have stayed at all the resorts you are looking at.

I too would not recommend doing a split stay - especially with 2 young ones. You will probably end up using lots of your last day just in the move or you may run into not have access to your AKL room when your kids are tired. If your DH really wants monorail then I would stay at the GF. It looks very upscale, but all Disney resorts are VERY kid friendly so don't worry about that.
WL is my favorite though and I would take that in a heart beat. The boat to MK is very convenient and I've never had a problem with the busses there either.

Of course you'll have fun whatever you decide!

 

[luvdisney24]

I have to agree with those that say doing a split-stay is too much of a hassle for such a short trip. On that last day you are going to spend so much time packing, moving, checking in and getting settled. You're going to loose a good half day. I would go with the GF. It's a great hotel and you'll find plenty of families around. The big plus is that it's on the monorail. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Ratpack]

I would go with staying at the WL the whole time. My kids love that place and even when we stayed at the Poly, they asked why we didn't stay at WL. As for the GF, I just really don't get into the theme and when we visit, I feel as if my kids are going to break something there. Tell your hubby that WL has great transportation, not the monorail but really nice. The boat ride from MK is very relaxing after being in the park. Never had any issues with buses to the other parks either, usually very prompt and usually not many on them other than first thing in the morning.

If you do end up with a split stay, just plan it out and it won't make a big difference for you. We have done it with 3 kids, one being a baby. Have a seperate bag for that last night so that when all the other luggage is packed up, you won;t have to go back into it for that last little bit of clothes and such. Have bell services move your luggage while you are gone to the park that day and when you leave the park, just go to the new hotel and check in. You could even carry your swimsuits and go for a swim to relay in case your other room is not ready.

 

[Hopefully]

I have to agree with the others. A 4 night trip is way to short for a split stay with little ones. You are going to waste a great deal of time and energy doing this.
I think I would do GF first and WL second. I think the GF is very family friendly
Have a Great Trip

 

[geokeim]

I would stay @ WL. (We've been to all)
That said, your husband has already said he doesn't want to stay @WL.
(He's probably going to have an "I told you so" lined up for you if you make him go there) Although we love the place.
So, that leaves you the very monorail (and kid) friendly GF.
If you don't mind paying up for the GF, sounds like it would make everybody happy. (You should work yourself a SPA treatment out of the deal

Have fun!

 

[NJ2Boardwalk]

Having done a split stay before - FORGET it with young kids. I had enough trouble getting my then DDs 11 & 13 to not unpack completely so we could move easily. Where'd we move to ---- Grand Floridian. It was great and very family friendly. They have done Adventures in Cooking, 1900 Park Fare, the zero entry pool is great. They LOVED playing on the beach and going back and forth to the pool. Plus, the monorail. If it's doable - GF hands down.

 

[honeymom]

We loved WL and transportation was not an issue.

We loved the boats to and from the MK and found it easier to be able to get onto them after the fireworks at night than the monorail (which had a huge line) or the busses. Plus, we never had a big wait for them during the day and always took and afternoon break.

For the other parks - we found that if a bus didn't show up quickly for another park, it usually did for the TTC. It was a very quick drive to the TTC and then hop on the monorail. So sometimes we were on a monorail within 5 minutes of arriving at the WL bus stop.

I think it is more hassle than it is worth to do a split stay with little ones on a short trip.

 

[emalone]

We have stayed at both. We are 42,47,daughter 13,twins 11. We all love the Poly and have never stayed at WL, but we did go over to the WL and I wasn't too impressed with it. I felt like I wasn't in Disney. I felt like we were in the mountains. The WL is nice, but the GF is just beautiful. The pool and the food is so good at the GF. We have done a split stay before and I don't think we will do it again. It takes up too much time and you and the kids will be worn out. We have stayed at the all stars, all mods, and Poly, Cont,AKL,GF. We loved all of them, but my pick would be to stay at one place. We loved the AKL, but the Poly and the GF is my favorite ones.

 

[tiger4me2]

I would do WL in a heart beat. But if DH doesn't like it it will be h**l to pay But in 2005 my DH wanted to try the GF which we did & since I do all the booking & saw how much it was I thought this would make him change his mind but no he wanted to stay there. I went there with an open mind & had the most miserable trip to Disney in my life. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong & the management wouldn't fix it or change the resort for us. Half through the trip I told DH that was the last time I listen to you about Disney I made it through but I wasn't happy which turn out to be the worse vacation ever. You ask what could possibly go wrong with the GF? Well let say certain things in the room didn't work or broke which was necessary to have to have a decent stay, this is not a third world country so I expected the toilet to work & if not, to be fixed as soon as possible. It took them 4 nights to take care of it & no word of I am sorry etc. I talked to a manager & he said he would look into it & get back to me within the hour which he didn't so when back down & nothing. We were staying in main building club level so $$$$ in that room, I expected more than to be treated like we wanted something. All I wanted was a working toilet not too hard to ask for is it? I did get some feedback when I got home & called Disney Travel to cancel the trip for 2006..they asked why & I told them. The switch me over to guest relations & told me not to cancel that someone would call me back. They did & took two nights off of my WL stay for 2006 but it didn't cover what I paid for a night at the GF. Really I just wanted to know why didn't the GF fix the problem that day instead of waiting 4 nights or move us? And maybe I am really sorry that this happened to us. The CMs working the concierge's desk there were in shock on how the management treated us. I didn't want well I did want a credit for the days I didn't have a working toilet which I think all would agree if not oh well. I expect paying over $675 a night a working toilet which I didn't have for 4 nights out of a 6 nights stay. For the amount of money we spent we could have stayed 6 nights WL Club level & 6 nights at the Marriott in St Thomas USVI garden view on the ocean. DH will never question where we stay now as he know he will be "road pizza" I don't hold it over him but at times I tell him your choice of where to stay in the "World" doesn't work with me anymore.

I would say to keep trying for the Poly. But if you have to go with the GF good luck

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I guess I'll be the loan voice of dissent.

I think a 4 night trip is too short (especially with young kids) to do a split stay.

I would do either the 4 nights at GF (love, love, love it) or go back to WL.

BTW we've stayed several times at the GF and it is not stuffy and is very kid friendly. The first time we stayed there the kids were 2, 4 and 5 and they still love the GF. THere are tons of kids there and most of the kids activities are located there (Wonderland Tea Party, Pirate Cruise, Grand Adventures in Cooking). Believe me it is very family friendly and my kids love the 1900 Park Fare Character Meals.

Good luck with your decision.

I agree totally!