Polynesian or Grand Floridian

[BCV23]

Having stayed at both the GF and Polynesian, I can affirm that the rooms in the newer buildings are much roomier than those in the GF. The rooms in the original longhouses are probably closer to the same size.

I love both resorts but they are so different. Just be sure you enjoy the theming of the Polynesian as it is so different from GF.

BTW, we did do a split between the two. Now my husband sobbed as we drove past the Polynesian on our way to the GF. But he got over it and we moved to the Polynesian a few days later.

Two beautiful choices and it is so easy to visit the other via monorail, launch or footpath.

 

[sotoalf]

Where have you seen 400 square feet for the GF? Every published source I've seen says 440. I know the travel agent fact sheet gives a number, but I don't have that for the GF. Maybe someone who does can post what it says.

The Unofficial Guide consistently gets this wrong. The Polynesian (especially the rooms in the newer Tokelau, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui longhouses) and Contemporary have the largest standard rooms on Disney property.

 

[Tikiman]

The Unofficial Guide consistently gets this wrong. The Polynesian (especially the rooms in the newer Tokelau, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui longhouses) and Contemporary have the largest standard rooms on Disney property.

Well the new Unofficial guide should be very accurate in the new guide book. They are going to every resort and doing test and measurements on all the rooms to put in the guide. In fact my last trip I took data and measurements for them to put in the guide book of both Polynesian rooms (original and newer construction) and the square footage ended up to be 415 (for the original rooms) and 476 for the newer construction. Now I did see somewhere that the rooms at the Contemporary were similar in size to the Polynesian and both those resorts were the largest standard rooms on property. Now I read room sizes published all over the internet and just about all of them were wrong when it came to the Polynesian so how am I to believe what any of them say about other resorts? I will say that a Disney property Engineer told me that it was true that the Contemporary and Polynesian were the largest rooms but that was not comparing them to deluxe, suites or any other non-standard rooms. He also told me that the only rooms larger than or comparable to the Polynesian in size at the GF were the suites and some of the other specialty rooms (he named them off but I don’t remember what they were called). I remember seeing that the GF standard rooms were in the mid to upper 300s but since I have never measured I cannot say for sure. I did measure the room I was in at the AKL and it was 339 sq-ft. Our YC room was even smaller but it was a Murphy bed room.

 

[dizbizz]

One Vote for the Polynesian. My kids love that resort. It is by far their favorite at Disney.

 

[lentesta]

The Unofficial Guide consistently gets this wrong. The Polynesian (especially the rooms in the newer Tokelau, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui longhouses) and Contemporary have the largest standard rooms on Disney property.

I dunno, folks. We use a tape measure and measure each wall to within the nearest inch. Unless our math is wildly off, I don't see how the square footage can be wrong.

Len

 

[BCV23]

I dunno, folks. We use a tape measure and measure each wall to within the nearest inch. Unless our math is wildly off, I don't see how the square footage can be wrong.

Len

One problem is that the rooms in the three newer longhouses are much roomier since the added square footage is all floor space. Two of these longhouses are very large so I would guess maybe 40% of the rooms are the larger size.

In addition, the Unofficial Guide used the same WILDLY INACCURATE line for years...something to the effect of the Polynesian rooms being smaller than most deluxe rooms. This is not true of even the orginal rooms and the newer rooms are tons larger than Y&BC, AKL, BWI, WL. Is that line gone?

 

[Tikiman]

One problem is that the rooms in the three newer longhouses are much roomier since the added square footage is all floor space. Two of these longhouses are very large so I would guess maybe 40% of the rooms are the larger size.

In addition, the Unofficial Guide used the same WILDLY INACCURATE line for years...something to the effect of the Polynesian rooms being smaller than most deluxe rooms. This is not true of even the orginal rooms and the newer rooms are tons larger than Y&BC, AKL, BWI, WL. Is that line gone?

Not bad if that was a guess. 43% of the rooms are the larger floorplan. I guess that would be a good data point to put on the web pages.

Now if you took the Hawaii concierge rooms out of the calculation it would be a higher percentage. So basically if you are booking a standard level room your chances of getting a larger about 50/50 since the percentage of larger standard level rooms are 49%.

As far as the information on the Unofficial Guide about the Polynesian, I am sure you will find that it has been updated and is very accurate but I guess I will have to read it myself to find out. I know Len and the rest of the group has worked hard to get the information correct including statments made about the resort.

 

[BCV23]

Thank you, it was a guess.

I really enjoy the UG for many reasons so I'm not bashing it. In fact, I went upstairs and pulled out my 2006 edition.. The offending line is gone! It does say "Typical rooms measure 409 square feet, a bit more than average for Disney's deluxe rooms, and are quite comfortable." So a BIG improvement although it would be more accurate to either average the two different sizes since so many are larger or to mention the difference.

 

[Tikiman]

You know until you mentioned it (and I am glad you did) I never thought about the percentage and maybe they did not either. It is a very good point. I think it is a bad impression that since the smaller rooms are in 7 longhouses and the larger ones are in 3 longhouses that it is not so close in the percentage as the numbers show they are. I am glad you brought it up. It is not too often a Polynesian fact surprises me.

Aloha

Steve