Monorail Resorts

[Welcome_Home]

Hello all! Quick question regarding the monorail resorts...we are in the early early stages of planning our WDW trip. Curious to hear your all's thoughts on which resort on the monorail is your favorite and why? We have never stayed at BLT, VGF, or Poly and excited to try one of them out for our upcoming trip. We have 2 young daughters and currently leaning towards BLT for the convenience to MK. However, the wife has always wanted to stay at VGF as well. If we stay at BLT or VGF we will probably splurge on a 1 bedroom for space. I know that Poly only offers studios, but the additional bathroom and convenience to Epcot/MK via the monorail is a big plus for them. Thought we would reach out to you fine folks and see if there are any pro's and con's to these resorts that we might have overlooked. Any advice or personal experiences good/bad will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[BillPA]

I would go with BLT, it's a quick walk to the MK and it's the only one of the 3 you listed that has 2 full bathrooms. The poly has a full bath and a second room with a sink and shower, no toilet.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

I highly recommend VGF, but you really can't go wrong with BLT either. VGF has such a great vibe, and is great for kids.

 

[disneynutz]

I vote for VGF, after your stay you can add it to your favorites or take it off of your repeat list.

Bill

 

[Jennasis]

BLT is our home and our favorite. The location is unbeatable and I think the park views from here are better than the other two. Contempo Cafe is our favorite resort quick serve location too by a mile. That all said, we really enjoyed the Poly when we stayed last year. Great vibe, great pool, lots of fun. A little less convenient with the location than BLT but still good.

 

[kdonnel]

I have not stayed at the Grand Floridian in either the villas or regular rooms so I can't comment on it. I have stayed in the regular rooms at the Poly and loved the resort.

I love staying at the Bay Lake Villas. Walking to the Magic Kingdom is just so easy.

 

[kboo]

How old are your girls? We are almost BLT new owners with girls born late 2011 and late 2015. If they are young and at least one of them is still napping, I highly recommend BLT because then the non-nappers can walk over to MK if they want to. It makes it very easy to make any ADRs at the MK as well. (We have stayed at both CR and BLT). The extra bathroom in the BLT 1BR and up are awesome. We've also stayed at the hotel at GF (and will be at VGF this august) - my older daughter is very clear that this is her favorite hotel at WDW. The restaurants are excellent, there is a lot of fun stuff to do at the resort, and the pools are excellent. And Poly - is on my list to visit in 2018 - last 2 trips to WDW we have gone there for meals and just to walk around. If you think you'd be splitting time between EP and MK, Poly's location is superb because you can walk to TTC and take the monorail to EP or MK without transfers.

 

[CraigInPA]

There's no bad choice here.

Choose BLT for easy convenience to MK via the walkway (which you won't use if your children are beyond strollers and under 8 or 9), a nice pool, and easy monorail access.

Choose Poly for easy access to the Epcot monorail, MK monorail, and a superior pool.

Choose GF for MK monorail, nice pool, and superior dining.

 

[Welcome_Home]

How old are your girls? We are almost BLT new owners with girls born late 2011 and late 2015. If they are young and at least one of them is still napping, I highly recommend BLT because then the non-nappers can walk over to MK if they want to. It makes it very easy to make any ADRs at the MK as well. (We have stayed at both CR and BLT). The extra bathroom in the BLT 1BR and up are awesome. We've also stayed at the hotel at GF (and will be at VGF this august) - my older daughter is very clear that this is her favorite hotel at WDW. The restaurants are excellent, there is a lot of fun stuff to do at the resort, and the pools are excellent. And Poly - is on my list to visit in 2018 - last 2 trips to WDW we have gone there for meals and just to walk around. If you think you'd be splitting time between EP and MK, Poly's location is superb because you can walk to TTC and take the monorail to EP or MK without transfers.

Congrats on the ownership, or soon to be ownership!! Hope it was a smooth and fun-filled process. My daughters are 2 and 7 months old, so naps and lunches back at the room will most likely be figured into the trip.

 

[JennM]

We just returned from our first stay at a Poly studio and absolutely loved it! I was also concerned about space in a studio, with a 12yo girl and a 8yo boy, but one slept on the pullout sofa and the other slept in the bed under the TV. While there was only one toilet in the studio, there were two separate bathrooms - one had the walk-in shower and a vanity, and the other had the traditional tub/shower combo, toilet and vanity. This set-up worked extremely well for us. The walk from our building (Moorea) to the TTC was short, and the pool was one of my kids' favorite parts of the entire trip. We have NOT stayed at BLT but stayed last year in a VGF 1-BR. I personally preferred the Poly's vibe.

 

[kboo]

Congrats on the ownership, or soon to be ownership!! Hope it was a smooth and fun-filled process. My daughters are 2 and 7 months old, so naps and lunches back at the room will most likely be figured into the trip.

If you are sure you are going with a 1BR, I would hands down choose BLT. This is after having had a nice big Contemporary hotel room (bigger than a studio) with a 2yo who still napped, as well as a GF hotel room (large!) and a BLT 2BR and BWV 1BR - while it is possible and pretty easy to do naps in the hotel room while 1 parent hangs out (my DH and I traded off, he just worked on his laptop in the dark room), it is REALLY nice to have another room to hang out while the kids nap. And with the BLT location, it would be easy to switch off and go to MK/Main Street for a while. I actually liked just browsing the stores and taking a leisurely walk NOT pushing a stroller or wearing a baby, and going AT MY OWN PACE.

Also, I can't emphasize enough how easy it is to get to/from MK while walking. We actually would take the kids and give them (well, the older one, last trips) breakfast or snacks on the go while heading out, and start lunch/snacks while walking back. Invariably we'd push the return time to the hotel and forget how long it takes to walk from the Carrousel out to the park entrance, and that was when meltdowns could sometimes happen. No one enjoys a melting down toddler on a bus (strollers have to be folded) or on the monorail. And the feeling to push a stroller up the ramp to the monorail only to see it pull away... !! Walking is SO much easier.

That said, Poly is on the bucket list for someday (though their lack of 1_br is a bummer) and we love GF so much that we are going back this summer (it's our 5yo's favorite resort, and probably mine too, overall). But it is also a LOT more expensive, both per point and also for total points.

If you decide that you're not going with a 1-br but instead will be staying in a studio, then I would so go for GF or Poly! Maybe Poly because of the ease of monorail access to 2 resorts. But GF has lots of princess stuff (1900 Park Fare and also a princess parade where you can meet Cinderella and Prince Charming), if that's something your older daughter likes. You really can't go wrong.