Is GF REALLY that superior?

[writersblock]

So we've narrowed it down to a deluxe and these are our choices (for our honeymoon):
GF villa
Boardwalk villa
Poly villa
AKL - we can push the boat out for club villa, or get Savannah villa, or go value or standard for 2 weeks.

I'm loving the theming of AKL but it seems so far away from everything. SO loves Boardwalk but to me it looks pretty standard. GF is my love but is it worth the money? All villas look the same apart from theming. Hearing amazing things about poly too.

Help me out!

 

[Shanti]

So we've narrowed it down to a deluxe and these are our choices (for our honeymoon):
GF villa
Boardwalk villa
Poly villa
AKL - we can push the boat out for club villa, or get Savannah villa, or go value or standard for 2 weeks.

I'm loving the theming of AKL but it seems so far away from everything. SO loves Boardwalk but to me it looks pretty standard. GF is my love but is it worth the money? All villas look the same apart from theming. Hearing amazing things about poly too.

Help me out!

These are all lovely resorts. It's really about what you're looking for.

• AKL offers the animals, a less hectic, less stereotypically Disney experience, and some very good dining. It's only a few minutes from Animal Kingdom.
• The Boardwalk is in walking distance to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It has circus/amusement park theming, and its main pool features a kooky clown slide. The Inn portion of the resort has beautiful guest rooms. There are no restaurants inside this resort.
• The Poly and GF are both on the monorail line, & thus have convenient access to both MK & Epcot. Their lobbies are both typically bustling with people.
• The Poly, naturally, has a tropical vibe. It also has a (crowded) pool with a Volcano-themed waterslide.
• The GF has the grandest looking lobby, and beautiful buildings all around. It has a bit of a Victorian feel. It has several good restaurants.

All of these are great places to stay. Poly is a favorite of many on Dis. I liked it, but no more than any other deluxe I've stayed at. We'll stay at the GF and then the Boardwalk in just a few days, as we like the theming of both, and I want to visit AKL in a year or two. They all have their charm.

 

[Sue M]

GF is special, no doubt. I don't stay DVC so can't comment on villas, but GFV are new, and I've heard rooms are nice. We love GF, won't be long till we are back! The grounds are beautiful, great dining options, the lobby is amazing and it's nice to just sit and enjoy the music. They have a grand piano, and also a small orchestra who plays in the evenings.

We also love Poly! It depends which theming appeals to you. The past few years we've been alternating between GF & Poly.

I think there's something special about seeing the Castle from the resort and sitting on the beach to watch Wishes and Electric Water Parade.

In Epcot area I prefer YC/BC, over BWI.

AKL is wonderful, true it is further to MK from there, but then if you stay at an MK area resort, AK is far. It has some nice dining options, love Boma & Saana, and also Mara, their CS. The pool is beautiful. But unlike the MK or Epcot resorts that have multiple resorts in the area with so many dining options, AKL is sorta isolated.

 

[Pooh2]

If you are staying for two weeks, why not do a split stay and try a couple of the resorts on your list? Or even three? AKL, Boardwalk, and a MK resort.

 

[mousefan73]

If it was just my husband and I, I would pick an Epcot area resort, ( BC) just as I can see us walking over to Epcot to enjoy the food and drinks nightly ( get a park hopper) Epcot offers more to just strolla nd hang out...

Poly I like more the feeling than GF.. Monorail is a great convience if you have strollers and do MK mainly...

An adult only trip for me is more epcot area..

 

[Hopefully]

So we've narrowed it down to a deluxe and these are our choices (for our honeymoon):
GF villa
Boardwalk villa
Poly villa
AKL - we can push the boat out for club villa, or get Savannah villa, or go value or standard for 2 weeks.

I'm loving the theming of AKL but it seems so far away from everything. SO loves Boardwalk but to me it looks pretty standard. GF is my love but is it worth the money? All villas look the same apart from theming. Hearing amazing things about poly too.

Help me out!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!!!

Are you planning to rent points for a DVC Villa? You need to do that about 11 months in advance and they are typically unable to cancel/change dates for a refund.

GF Villa is beautiful, but it is next to impossible to rent a studio there. They are, in essence, oversold, and even owners report difficulty booking studios.
Boardwalk villas are centrally located and lots of fun. We enjoyed the ability to walk to 2 theme parks from them. There are many, many restaurants withing walking distance if you include the Boardwalk, The Swan and Dolphin, the Yacht and Beach Clubs and nearby WS in Epcot.
Poly villas are lovely and new. They are on the monorail and they are the only studios that connect to each other.
AKL is lovely as well. But as you noted it is somewhat removed from other areas. Again it is nearly impossible for a non-owner to book either a Standard villa or a club Villa. There are only a few of each and they are snapped up at the 11 month window by owners.

Personally, I would choose the Boardwalk Villas. You have the greatest chance of success, I think, and I love the area.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Also note that it can be very difficult to get a Boardwalk Standard Villa year-round, or any studio there from Seotember-early Janaury, even if you try to rent points at 11 months.

it is also impossible to rent points for an AKV Club Level Villa. There are only 5 of them, and they are booked by owners in advance of the 11 month booking window using a booking trick. Unless you control AKV points, you will not get AKV Club. (And Standard is possible at AKV - @Hopefully really meant "Club or Value!")

 

[hillg1868]

AKL is gorgeous! Absolutely grand architecture (its similar to the wilderness lodge cause of the designer) HOWEVER, I find it to be too dark. Its gorgeous at night with the chandeliers but just too dark for my liking. Also it is FAR FAR FAR FAR away from anything else but the animal kingdom. ~20 minutes to MK, Epcot, MGM etc. Also if you want to dine at the Jambo house whilst staying DVC, you either have a long walk or waiting for the bus to stop at the Jambo House on its way out to the parks. Also you only have one motive of transportation (Bus). GF, Boardwalk, Poly, you have dealers choice. Not saying AKL is a bad place (basically no where on disney property is bad per say) its just.....secluded. Staying in DVC at Grand Floridian this september for vacation and I've heard good things (i mean its the grand floridian for goodness sake!
Enjoy your vacation!!!!!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I personally would go with Boardwalk.

To me the GF is just so BUSY all the time. All the shops and restaurants and the big lobby that invites crowds...since I've been part of that crowd many times, it just doesn't feel *nice* to me. I personally would have a hard time getting beyond that if I were staying there.

And while I don't feel that AKV is far away from much of anything (we drive to all parks, even MK, almost all the time, so time in the car is time in the car!), I don't actually *like* it, so I personally wouldn't stay there again.

Poly has the same "busy" factor, but hey, Trader Sam's is there.

But for me and DH, we didn't want our honeymoon to be SO fancy we could never ever do it again. So the over-water bungalows in Bora Bora were taken off the possibility board, and we took a honeymoon we could do again (Alaska cruise). So my Boardwalk suggestion is only if that could happen again in the future, since you're asking for opinions, and opinions come from our lives.

 

[borgthe]

I would like to suggest the Beach Club. It is within walking distance or boat to both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Beach Club is absolutely beautiful. I think you would enjoy this location.

 

[mickeynut1]

So we've narrowed it down to a deluxe and these are our choices (for our honeymoon):
GF villa
Boardwalk villa
Poly villa
AKL - we can push the boat out for club villa, or get Savannah villa, or go value or standard for 2 weeks.

I'm loving the theming of AKL but it seems so far away from everything. SO loves Boardwalk but to me it looks pretty standard. GF is my love but is it worth the money? All villas look the same apart from theming. Hearing amazing things about poly too.

Help me out!

We've never stayed in any of the villas, but have stayed at AKL, Poly, & GF and we love them all for different reasons. AKL is out away from everything, but we found the buses to be fine. In our experience, it didn't take more than maybe 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts. Also, since the buses only service AKL and Kidani, there's no sharing with any other resort(s). The resort being somewhat isolated is one of the (many) things I love about it as it makes for a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, IMO. With all that said, I would choose the resort that the theme/decor appeals to you the most as I don't think any one resort is superior to the others (just my opinion). Good luck and happy planning .

 

[jpeden]

I'm going to go in the opposite direction and suggest you choose the Villas at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. My wife and I stayed five nights for our anniversary last September and it was awesome. We had a standard view room, but there are plenty of places to watch the animals from in my opinion without spending the money. While it is about a 20 minute bus ride to the other parks, we always found that the buses were plentiful and quick to arrive both coming and going from the parks. We loved the theme of the resort and the way it was decorated. The best part was it was like it's own vacation within a vacation, as it is so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the Disney Parks that it felt like it's own little oasis in the middle of the Disney bubble. I highly recommend it for your honeymoon trip.

 

[Skywise]

"Looks down nose at you" -

But OF COURSE it's a superior resort, only the finest people stay there to recreate and luxuriate in their spare time to while away from the cares of the world! Now pardon me while I sip on this old fashioned I just acquired from Mizzners... and I'm not on the DDP... hehe hehe hehe...

If GF is your love STAY THERE. Is it worth the cost you're going to spend? NO. NONE of the resorts are worth the current prices. (As I've said several times here before I've stayed in 5 star Vegas resorts for a third of the price I've paid at Disney!)

I like the GF but, to me, it's third of the 3 monorail resorts (First being poly and 2nd being Contemporary just because I'm a nerd for the (now) retro-modern style and, of course, it's got a MONORAIL GOING THROUGH IT!) but that's a personal taste - The restaurants are great and I like the open lobby with the live music.

But if it's your love AND it's your honeymoon... stay there.

 

[mommyrosa2]

So we've narrowed it down to a deluxe and these are our choices (for our honeymoon):
GF villa
Boardwalk villa
Poly villa
AKL - we can push the boat out for club villa, or get Savannah villa, or go value or standard for 2 weeks.

I'm loving the theming of AKL but it seems so far away from everything. SO loves Boardwalk but to me it looks pretty standard. GF is my love but is it worth the money? All villas look the same apart from theming. Hearing amazing things about poly too.

Help me out!

While we haven't tried the villas yet, we have stayed at all of the resorts you mentioned with the exception of the BWI which we're trying for the first time next month. To answer your first question about the GF...IMHO, no, I don't think it's superior over the others. It's a beautiful resort with some great restaurants and an awesome location and we've enjoyed our stays there. AKL is also a beautiful resort but like others have noted, it does appear out of the way but we actually enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. We didn't have a great experience at the Poly last year so I'll leave that at just that.
If I had to choose though, for an adults only trip, hands down, I'd go with one of the Epcot resorts and probably lean more towards the YC as it is smaller and seemed much more quieter than the BC (and we LOVE the BC). There's something to be said about having the ability to walk to two parks and enjoying the atmosphere of the boardwalk, especially at night.

Good luck and congrats!!

 

[loves to dive]

I'm another person who has stayed at all the resorts you've mentioned but only DVC at AKL (a one bedroom) and BWV (a studio). We are Epcot/HS fans so for us BW just would make more sense although I'll admit I'd rather stay at YC than BW but if that is not an option BW is good. I'm not fond of the main pool but it does have a quiet pool.

AKV really isn't as far away as you might think, it doesn't take long to get to any of the parks via the buses (we drive down but use the Disney transportation so I can't comment on driving to the parks). It is a beautiful resort and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again if I needed a 1 bedroom.

Poly is a pretty resort and has a pretty good QS and bar but of all the deluxe resorts, my second to the last favorite (CR being my least favorite). The monorail and boat to MK are definite pluses but you have to rely on the monorail to get to Epcot, which is a minus in my opinion. It's just not always that reliable and I think it takes longer than a bus might. It can be very busy and is a favorite with families with kids so there does tend to be a lot of kids there.

GF is beautiful and I think if I were going on my honeymoon and could afford it, I might be tempted to stay there. You have quick access to all the monorail resorts so there are loads of food options and again you are on the monorail/boat route to MK. Same disadvantage as Poly for me with the monorail to Epcot. I say I would be tempted but most likely, I'd do a split stay with a few days at GF then move over to an Epcot resort just because we really don't spend that much time at MK so the quick access to it isn't a draw for us.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Love, Love, Love the Grand Floridian! But, it's our favorite resort.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

AKL is gorgeous! Absolutely grand architecture (its similar to the wilderness lodge cause of the designer) HOWEVER, I find it to be too dark. Its gorgeous at night with the chandeliers but just too dark for my liking. Also it is FAR FAR FAR FAR away from anything else but the animal kingdom. ~20 minutes to MK, Epcot, MGM etc. Also if you want to dine at the Jambo house whilst staying DVC, you either have a long walk or waiting for the bus to stop at the Jambo House on its way out to the parks. Also you only have one motive of transportation (Bus). GF, Boardwalk, Poly, you have dealers choice. Not saying AKL is a bad place (basically no where on disney property is bad per say) its just.....secluded. Staying in DVC at Grand Floridian this september for vacation and I've heard good things (i mean its the grand floridian for goodness sake!
Enjoy your vacation!!!!!!!!

Bold is mine. I wanted to highlight that one bit as it's not true. Kidani is not the only section with DVC. You can stay DVC at Jambo (we do), or if you stay at Kidani, you can take a shuttle (a van, not a bus) that runs every few minutes between Kidani and Jambo. The walk is 10 - 15 minutes.

 

[vettegirl]

We have stayed there and it was lovely. However we prefer the Epcot area resorts over the GF. Just personal preference.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

I agree with the poster who suggested split stays at two or three resorts if you have the time to do so. Otherwise my preference is AKL.

 

[writersblock]

Thank you all. So much to think about. I didn't realise GF or AKL club were so hard to get. Something to consider, I guess. I'm not feeling the Boardwalk from the pics I've seen, and we are huge fans of animals.

I'm leaning away from split stays - doesn't it mean you can't do Disney dining plans?