Just Back From a Split Stay -- Grand Floridian and Polynesian -- My Thoughts on Both!

[hulagirl87]

I love all your pictures of the Grand Floridian. DH and I stayed there for our wedding/honeymoon, so it makes me all smiles to see it Can't wait to see pictures of the Polynesian as we will be staying there in about a month with DD!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Ah, this was just what I needed to escape from the Christmas madness, Shelly's trip report. Welcome back!

I really enjoyed your GF pics. We stayed there last August and enjoyed it so much. I don't know what we would have done without Gasparilla, though, as it was open during our stay and we went there quite a few times. The kiddie pool area was still under construction at the time. I know we'll probably never get to stay at GF again ($$$), but I'll always have fond memories of it.

I also love the Poly very much. We stayed there 4x and it's one of our nostalgic favorites, especially at Christmas with all the Hawaiian Christmas carols. I know my grandson would love to stay there again.

Can't wait to hear more.
Joanne

Thank you Joanne! Glad you are enjoying the reviews.

I bet last August at the GF was wonderful! I think it's a better place to stay in the summer, less hectic.

The Poly was wonderful, lots on it to come!

I just wanted to say that I made it here and I'm enjoying looking at all the photos, even if I'll probably never stay at GF.

Hi Mel

Glad you are enjoying the pics!

I don't remember ever seeing this before. Is it temporary while the other place is closed? Great report!

Mizner's was there before, but it was a lounge maybe.....someone correct me if I'm wrong...They have added some CS items there for the time being since Gasparilla's was closed.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great report Shelly! Seeing all the pix of the GF brings back such good memories. I had no idea they made a separate play area for the Alice splash thing. I thought it was put at the edge of the pool lol! Thank goodness that's not the case.
I can't believe how much is built for the DVC. We haven't been over there since we stayed at the Poly in 2011.
I thought the CL offerings were better there (Yum!) than the BC.

Thanks!

The water play area isn't right at the edge of the pool, however it is VERY close.

I really thought they'd be further along with the DVC. I didn't think it looked that much different than when we were there in May. But they are definitely working on it everyday!

I've never heard too much about the BC CL. I hear the BWI CL is awesome! I'd love to try it someday.

I don't know how I existed without knowing about this website! Reading these reviews is SO amazingly helpful! Thank you for your detailed review! Anxiously waiting to here about the Polynesian since that is where my heart is set on staying next October!

to the DIS!! This is a great place for all things Disney!! Lots of valuable info here!

Glad you are enjoying the review! The Poly is coming up shortly! Hope you get to stay there next October.

Thanks for your review. We've stayed at both the GF and Poly and although we've had great stays at the GF, the Poly is still our favorite. Having stayed both SL and RPC, I love RPC but didn't care for SL. I don't like how the lounge is located right inside the lobby as you walk in and it was always very chaotic during our stay. I think SL is in a great location as it's located right next to the courtyard pool and is close to Gasparilla's and the main building, but if we stayed at the GF again and RPC wasn't available, I would opt for a GV room over SL again.

You're welcome!

RPC must be awesome! I never hear anything bad about it. I wasn't crazy about the SL set up either. Just too busy and crammed all the time. But yes you are right, the location is super!

I love all your pictures of the Grand Floridian. DH and I stayed there for our wedding/honeymoon, so it makes me all smiles to see it Can't wait to see pictures of the Polynesian as we will be staying there in about a month with DD!!!

Thank you!

How awesome that you got to stay at the GF for your honeymoon! Did you get married at Disney?

Congrats on your upcoming Poly stay. You are going to love it!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Outside the front entrance again ~

Sugarloaf CL offerings, Afternoon Tea (2:30-4) ~

At the Beach Pool ~

By the pool bar ~

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Back of the main building ~

And shots from our balcony during the day.

To the right ~

Straight ahead ~

And to the left ~

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sugarloaf CL offerings, Twilight Refreshers (5-7pm) ~

Mario Cart & Movies again ~

Boat Dock ~

The boys playing table tennis by the pool ~

Wishes from the pool ~

And a few more lobby pics ~

Okay, I think that's it for the GF pics.

The Poly review and pics are coming up!!

 

[Glenn]

Thanks for the great report & wonderful photos. Wish I could run off to the parks right now.
One thing I would like to suggest, email disney about the over serving of drunken people. Most of the places I go to do have limits. If youve had to much they say no more. Not only is it for the benefit of other patrons its also a very big liability for the business.
Disney cant do anything about constructions, bus stops probably wont change but over serving of alcohol can be controlled. If no one complains it wont change.
Looking forwards to your Poly resort & photos.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for the great report & wonderful photos. Wish I could run off to the parks right now.
One thing I would like to suggest, email disney about the over serving of drunken people. Most of the places I go to do have limits. If youve had to much they say no more. Not only is it for the benefit of other patrons its also a very big liability for the business.
Disney cant do anything about constructions, bus stops probably wont change but over serving of alcohol can be controlled. If no one complains it wont change.
Looking forwards to your Poly resort & photos.

You're welcome! I'd like to run off to the parks right now too!!

I was hoping to get an email survey about the GF, but I haven't received one. Not from the Poly either. I usually get them as soon as we get back.

I'd really like to tell them about the over-serving in the lounge. And the bus situation. I wouldn't complain about the construction, and I didn't mean to here, I just wanted to make sure that everyone heading there soon is well informed that it's there and there's a lot of it. Maybe I will send them a quick email about the other things. I really think they should put a limit on the drinks and should really look into fixing that bus situation.

Poly is coming up soon!

 

[hulagirl87]

How awesome that you got to stay at the GF for your honeymoon! Did you get married at Disney?

Congrats on your upcoming Poly stay. You are going to love it!!

We did! At the gazebo at the Yacht and Beach club. It was amazing and then being able to stay at the Grand Floridian for our stay was beautiful. Thanks for sharing all your great pictures!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We did! At the gazebo at the Yacht and Beach club. It was amazing and then being able to stay at the Grand Floridian for our stay was beautiful. Thanks for sharing all your great pictures!!!

That is awesome! I bet everything was just wonderful!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!


Now, onto the Polynesian! This was our second stay here. We stayed 4 nights in the Hawaii Club Level building in August 2011 and loved it! I was curious to see if we would love staying at the Poly as much, not staying club level. We were booked in a standard view room this time. I had put in a request to be on the top floor with a balcony in either Samoa or Tokelau.

We arrived to the Poly on Tuesday December 11 by golf cart from the GF. I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was around 10am or so. We had on clothes for the parks and were all prepared this time in-case the room wasn't ready again. The CM that took us over on the golf cart jumped off when we got there and grabbed a luggage cart and put all our bags on it and took care of everything!

A Poly CM came over and asked for our name and then took us inside to check in. There was no wait and I was greeted right away and we got things started. There were several CM's standing around, observing it looked like. I could tell things weren't exactly going smoothly. Soon after my CM went and got some help. System glitches. It took quite awhile to get all checked in. And they had just started the new RFID system that week I believe. They were trying to get my credit card linked to my room card, so I would just have to tap it on the RFID reader at the resorts and parks to make purchases. Yeah, that wasn't happening. And I didn't care. We had gift cards for all of our purchases anyway. I usually don't even link my cc to my room key, but was only doing so because we were expecting a drug store delivery for my son who had been sick. So eventually they gave up and apologized that I wasn't going to be able to use the RFID reader thing during my stay. No big deal!

She then told me that our room was not ready, but that when it was ready all of our requests will have been granted and that we would be on the top floor of the volcano side of the Samoa building! So I was very happy! I hadn't even requested the volcano pool side, because I know the quiet pool is on the other side of the building, so I figured either side would be great. But as it turned out, they were doing some work right outside the other side of the building and it was all fenced off and a big mess. So I was very happy to be on the volcano pool side!!

We headed off to the parks and around 1:00 we got the text that our room was ready – 3610. We headed back to the Poly about an hour later. I was hoping this room was actually in Samoa like the CM had told me, because the text only gave a room number, no building name. So we went through the GCF and out the back doors and over the bridge and into the Samoa building on the GCH side. Took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and started looking. We walked the whole way to the other end of the building and finally found it – very last room on the left, at the Hawaii building end of the Samoa building. The stairs were right outside our door. I was a little concerned that we would get a lot of noise being that close to the outside entrance and stairs, but we never did! I think most people used the GCH side entrance since it had the elevator and since it was closest to the GCH! In-fact, we slept so well there! It was so quiet at night, after Wishes of course! And I love where the refrigerator is in the Poly rooms. Over by the door, and not in the dresser by the beds where you can hear it run all night. .

The room was very nice. Just like I remembered the room we had in Hawaii. It was not quite as nice though. It seemed a little worn. I know the Poly is going to start updating the longhouses one at a time, if they haven't started already. I think it's time, they are starting to need a freshening up. I just hope they don't change them too much! We really liked our room and the view. Everything was great. Mousekeeping was super! She always left us extra towels and plenty of supplies. All of the CM's were wonderful! We were always greeted with an Aloha by each and every one of them, which I just love! Even the gift shop CM's were awesome, they would always ask where you were from, how long you are staying there, and what your plans were for the day, etc. So nice!

Being the room at the very end of the building put us with a tree right in front of us! But it didn't completely block our view. It was great actually. We had an even wider view being on the end since the right side of our balcony wasn't blocked off by a wall. To the left we could see the GCH. Straight ahead we could see the volcano pool – over the tree! And to the right we could see the marina, the beach, the GF, and to the far right we were looking right at the Hawaii building. Couldn't really have asked for a better location, especially considering we paid for a standard view!

As for the transportation, I'll say the same thing here as I did about the GF. Not the greatest this time. Too much bus sharing. Crazy. I can see the GF and the Poly sharing, but there was always either the CT and/or the WL thrown in there. Ridiculous. And you knew every time the CT was on your bus it was going to take forever on the way back because they always stopped there before the Poly and the GF. And every time we pulled into the CT there was a traffic jam. It was irritating to say the least. We never used the boats from the Poly or the GF. The monorail rain good most of the time. There was one hold up that I remember and one night the monorail was down completely.

We ate at Ohana and Kona. Both were very good. We also ate at Captain Cook's a couple of times. Not a huge selection there, but we got by! The kids enjoyed being able to order off of the screen there and pick their sides, they thought that was pretty neat! And of course Capt Cook's has Dole Whips, so who could ask for anything more!!

We really enjoyed being able to hang out on the beach and watch the electric water pageant and Wishes. We didn't get to do this much though because of the weather. Two out of the 5 nights we were there it was cold and rainy. And one night we were at MK. But we sure did enjoy the other 2 nights on the beach! The had movies playing each night, and we watched most of Brave on Saturday night before we had to head up to the room and get packed.

Sadly we never made it to the quiet pool. Just didn't get enough swimming weather when we were there! We did make it to the volcano pool 2 times though. One afternoon just the kids went in, it was way too chilly for DH and I. The water was warm, but the air was not!! We spent several hours on Saturday by the pool. It was sunny and about 80 degrees. Perfect! We loved every second of it! There were pool games going on for a little bit, but it wasn't overdone and loud, like we found the SAB pool to be when we stayed at the BC. The pool was never too crowded and there were always lots of chairs and loungers to be found. I suppose because of the time of year.

So, overall it was another wonderful stay at the Poly and it remains our absolute favorite resort and we will definitely stay there again!!

I have lots of pics to share!

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[mickeynut1]

RPC must be awesome! I never hear anything bad about it. I wasn't crazy about the SL set up either. Just too busy and crammed all the time. But yes you are right, the location is super!

Yes, the location of SL can't be beat, IMO. The food offerings are the same in both, but other than that I think they are very different from each other. We never had much interaction with the CMs in SL, but in RPC they are very attentive (IMO) and are willing to help with anything you need. Plus there's just something about being in the main building. Nothing beats sitting in the lounge listening to the band playing in the lobby below, not to mention that the atmosphere is great and the views from the lounge are awesome .

Now, onto the Polynesian! This was our second stay here. We stayed 4 nights in the Hawaii Club Level building in August 2011 and loved it! I was curious to see if we would love staying at the Poly as much, not staying club level. We were booked in a standard view room this time. I had put in a request to be on the top floor with a balcony in either Samoa or Tokelau.

Thanks for the great review. Glad you enjoyed the Poly once again. We've only stayed at the Poly once, but had such a fabulous time that the Poly is now our favorite resort. We stayed GV in Samoa and loved the location and are giving Poly CL a try next year and we can't wait :.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Samoa Building ~

Our room, 3610 ~

Balcony and View ~

Looking left ~

Straight ahead ~

Zoomed in ~

Looking right ~

Zoomed in ~

And far right, since we had no wall on the right (that's the Hawaii CL building) ~

Looking right and back, at the stairs that came up the side of our building and right to our door basically!

From in front of the Samoa building. Our room is the top left corner behind the tree ~

Lots more to come!

 

[hill6]

Great review. The food offerings at GF CL are yummy.

We have stayed at both GF and Poly. Not super impressed with bus system when we were there. We would walk to TTC while at Poly to catch buses there as we were in the building closest to it.

 

[lala3291]

Loved your Poly review, Shelly! Can't wait to be there in a few days.

I requested Samoa, top floor as well. I hope our requests are granted! Although it is going to be super busy, so we will have to see.

I hope you and your family have a very, Merry Christmas! We got some awful news today. Our very good family friend has a very bad case of pneumonia and is in the ICU of the hospital. She had a seizure this morning, and her prognosis is not good at all. We are saying lots of prayers. On top of that, I have 30 people coming for Christmas Eve tonight!

Looking forward to more Poly pics!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!
I'll finish reading another day.

 

[monica23535]

Great review of the Poly Shelly! I can't believe we've been back 8 weeks already

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Yes, the location of SL can't be beat, IMO. The food offerings are the same in both, but other than that I think they are very different from each other. We never had much interaction with the CMs in SL, but in RPC they are very attentive (IMO) and are willing to help with anything you need. Plus there's just something about being in the main building. Nothing beats sitting in the lounge listening to the band playing in the lobby below, not to mention that the atmosphere is great and the views from the lounge are awesome .

We found the CM's at SL to be very nice. But we really didn't have too much interaction with them. There were only a few of them there at a time and they were always busy running around.

I bet the view from RPC is nice! We really enjoyed the view from the Poly lounge. Missed not having a view in SL.


Thanks for the great review. Glad you enjoyed the Poly once again. We've only stayed at the Poly once, but had such a fabulous time that the Poly is now our favorite resort. We stayed GV in Samoa and loved the location and are giving Poly CL a try next year and we can't wait :.

You're welcome. We really did enjoy the Poly very much once again. I bet you will love the Poly CL.

Great review. The food offerings at GF CL are yummy.

We have stayed at both GF and Poly. Not super impressed with bus system when we were there. We would walk to TTC while at Poly to catch buses there as we were in the building closest to it.

Thanks!

So can you get a bus to DHS and AK from the TTC? With no other stops? What about DTD?

Loved your Poly review, Shelly! Can't wait to be there in a few days.

I requested Samoa, top floor as well. I hope our requests are granted! Although it is going to be super busy, so we will have to see.

I hope you and your family have a very, Merry Christmas! We got some awful news today. Our very good family friend has a very bad case of pneumonia and is in the ICU of the hospital. She had a seizure this morning, and her prognosis is not good at all. We are saying lots of prayers. On top of that, I have 30 people coming for Christmas Eve tonight!

Looking forward to more Poly pics!

Thanks Lauren! I can't believe you are going to be there in a few days!! I really hope you get a room on the volcano side of Samoa.

It's not shaping up to be a very Merry Christmas here either, DS13 has the stomach flu. He started throwing up this morning and is still doing it. Poor little guy. Wonder who's next..... We should be in Church right now, but here we sit. And with my step-mom having cancer they are not going to come anywhere near here. Her immune system is really down with all the chemo.

Prayers for your friend. That is just awful.

Hope all goes well for you tonight.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!
I'll finish reading another day.

Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and your family too!

Great review of the Poly Shelly! I can't believe we've been back 8 weeks already

Thanks Monica! I know, I can't believe we are back from the Poly either. It's been over a week already.

 

[scanne]

Thank you for sharing your reviews and photos of both resorts. My DH loves the Polynesian and I love the GF. But we are both huge fans of WL, too! I do like the transportation options at WL a bit better, although the Polynesian is usually spot on!

We will be in WDW next Christmas at WL, but plan to resort hop more than go to parks and just soak in the beautiful decor. Your pics of the gingerbread house at the GF has me very excited!

Thank you, again!