Which Monorail resort?

[Dizznee Freak]

Which of the monorail resorts do you think has the most overall appeal to kids? I know this is an openended question, but I am looking to make the best possible choice for the whole family.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We've stayed at all the monorail resorts thru the years...starting with the CR, but only garden wings, had a shot at the GF once and several stays at the Poly...

CR....we used to enjoy this resort back in the 80's before all the changes....which we didn't care for.....never was interested in staying in the A frame but did like all the extra room the garden wing rooms provided....

GF....we got an offer to stay there one year with our CR reservation....gave it a try...didn't care for the out buildings, walks to the main building and the general feel to the resort....

Poly...better choice of the 3 but it comes at a high price (that I'm not willing to pay for what you get). Again out buildings and could be long walks to the GC, food etc....pool is quite small, over crowded during some of our trips there, and I'm not one to pay their high price and hve to use the quiet pool...

Have you gave any consideration to WL? It's in the general MK area, boat ride to the CR, FW and the MK.....decent pool, restaurants and all under one roof......and the price is cheaper than the other 3 but no monorail but you can easily boat to CR and board the monorail there....we enjoy the WL since it's off the monorail and doesn't get all the lookers and shoppers and keeps the resort quaint and less traveled....just a suggestion and something to look into..for price and location hard to beat...guess you know I'm an advocate of WL but when it somes to dollars, I like deluxe at a lower price and we spend alot of our time in the MK.........

 

[ktlm]

Pretty much everything at Disney is kid friendly. It really depends on your kids. We have done Poly and GF. DH and I much prefer the Poly because we found that the transportation to anywhere except MK was MUCH faster and easier from the Poly. One thing I did prefer about the GF was that the walk to the main building was shorter than the walk at the Poly and it was well lit and open so I was not edgy at all about walking around on the grounds by myself at night. I don't like walking around the Poly grounds after dark by myself. DD(5) adores and prefers GF because she thinks of it as Cinderella's hotel. That is pretty much directly related to the fact that they have the 1900 Park Fare Cinderella dinner. They also have the Mary Poppins and Alice breakfast. There are also tea parties there. (Of those, we have only done the 1900 Park Fare Dinner). DD is a total girly girl and the GF makes her feel "fancy".

 

[bowbat]

We've stayed at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge (though not a monorail resort, it's an MK one, so I'll toss it in for comparison ), and we're booked at the Grand Floridian in February.

In general, I would say the Poly probably has the most appeal to kids. It's got the volcano pool, the beach, the tropical atmosphere, etc. And again, speaking generalities, CR probably would seem the least appealing. As it so happens, though, CR is my kid's favorite. He *loves* that the monorail goes right through the center of the hotel.

Can't speak yet to GF, though we did tour the resort when we stayed at the Poly. I thought my kid (a now-6-then-5-year-old boy) wouldn't be into the look & feel of the GF, yet he really liked it & is excited to stay there. He especially liked the band in the lobby.

They're all nice resorts; it really just comes down to personal preference.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would say it's the Contemporary because they are the only one with a walkway to and from the Magic Kingdom and their Standard Rooms are among the biggest of the Deluxe Resorts.

 

[godoftheWorld]

Easy answer. If you love floral, tree's and bushes with an overwhelming feeling of being on a tropical island. Poly
If you love the grand feeling of white glove service, and white washed wood. GF
If you like a futuristic feel(even though it's the future from the 70s lol) Contempoary

Personally, I never feel like I'm at home when I am staying at the GF, too stuffy for me.
The Contempoary, feels cold with no personality.
This brings me to the Poly. When I walk in, I am home, it is so warm and friendly, I never even want to leave the hotel.

P.S. I don't know if this makes a difference but, the Poly and the Contemporary's standard rooms are the largest in Disney. It's because they were built before Disney started making resorts with smaller rooms to fit more guest in....

 

[nklooz]

I deliberated this very recently and went back and forth. We landed on CR.

Here are some of the things we thought through and some of the things we were told/advice we were given:

Advice from a well traveled, stayed at all deluxe resort Disney friend:

-If the best resort for you is a tropical & relaxing feel, Poly
-If the best resort for you is feeling right in the middle of the Disney action, CR
-If the best resort for you is a classy resort feel, GF

Some thoughts from my research:

-If a zero entry pool important to you, CR is out (unless you do Bay Lake Tower - the DVC portion)
-If you want a guaranteed balcony, Poly is out
-If you want a signature dining on property, Poly is out
-If you like the option of of the walkway to MK, CR is it
-If you want a MK view the most affordable way possible, CR is it
-If you want walking distance to TTC because Epcot is super important, Poly
-If you want a hot tub, Poly is out

In other words, there are advantages to all, and it's all about prioritizing what's most important for you and your family.

We finally chose CR for the following reasons:
-Walkway to and from MK
-First monorail resort stop on the way BACK from the park, when we're most ready to get off and tired
-Character dining at CM with the classic characters
-Most affordable Theme Park View and a guaranteed balcony with the room we booked
-Monorail running through/feeling in the middle of it all
-Size/look/decor of the room

I had a hard time deciding because I think they each offer unique benefits. Hope this email helps sort some of those out a bit for you. A lot of it also comes down to personal taste for the feel/theme of each resort so spend some time looking at pics. My DH was all about the GF, until we saw a pic of the room interior and it was not for him at all! I was really digging Poly and then hated the idea that I couldn't book a room category with a guaranteed balcony or have a signature dining on property for date night and DD12 wouldn't have a hot tub to sit in. Some people love that Polynesian theme though!

Good Luck!!!

 

[bethclayton]

Do you have boys or girls, or both?

I have stayed at the GF twice and the Poly once, and I would vote for the Poly. My kids absolutely love the GF but they love the Poly even more. They just seemed to totally be in their element there.

IMO, though, you really cannot go wrong between the three. I think the best thing to do is decide which themeing appeals most to you and choose that resort. If you love the themeing of one, the details might fade into the background once you're there.

 

[mickeynut1]

I would say the Poly. Out of the monorail resorts, we've stayed at the Poly and GF and although the GF is a great resort, our DSs like the Poly more. They think the pool is better and they love Captain Cooks over Gasparilla's .

 

[PoohsFan1]

Have you gave any consideration to WL? It's in the general MK area, boat ride to the CR, FW and the MK.....decent pool, restaurants and all under one roof......and the price is cheaper than the other 3 but no monorail but you can easily boat to CR and board the monorail there....we enjoy the WL since it's off the monorail and doesn't get all the lookers and shoppers and keeps the resort quaint and less traveled....just a suggestion and something to look into..for price and location hard to beat...guess you know I'm an advocate of WL but when it somes to dollars, I like deluxe at a lower price and we spend alot of our time in the MK.........

I second this...WL is one of our favorite resorts. We have stayed there twice already and every time we are at Disney we have to go for a visit. It is a gorgeous resort that is perfect for any age kid.

We have also stayed at CR, which we really enjoyed as well. We really liked the walk way to MK and back and since we were in the tower, we were just an elevator ride away from the shopping, dining, and monorail. We liked it so much that while we were staying there we joined DVC and bought interest into BLT.

The other resort that I personally have stayed at (the kids and DH haven't yet) is the Poly. I used to stay here as a kid so there is a lot of nostalga for me there. I love the Hawaiian feel of the resort and it is right across the way from MK, therefore it is a great place to view Wishes.

With all that said and done, my vote would be to stay at the WL due to the cost, the location, and beauty of the resort. Did I also mention that they have bunkbed rooms for your kids? That alone says that they cater to kids a bit more than the other monorail resorts. Good luck deciding.

 

[Bunnyfeather]

For my son, nothing could possibly beat the Contemporary. He is in LOVE with the monorail, and having it pass right through our hotel made his entire year. I don't really like the theming of CR, and it feels run down to me, less magical than every other deluxe. But my boy thought it was more amazing than Poly or GF.

My DD is pretty easy to impress. She thought the GF was sooo fancy, she thought the Poly was paradise and she thought the CR was super-cool. She also loved the WL because it looked like Lincoln Logs. But then, she was pretty excited by the La Quinta near my grandfather's house, too, so she may not be a very good measure

 

[cw21726]

I've stayed at the CR once this past July for a conference and liked it so much we'll be back February. I don't get the run down criticism. We found the place to be very clean, uber convenient, and plenty magical for our family.

We stayed at the Polynesian and liked it but hated how detached we were from the GCH. That resort, of any resort on the monorail, has the most dated feel IMO. I wouldn't say run down though.

 

[MissionMouse]

OP,
We have stayed at all of the monorail resorts and you will be fine if you pick anyone of the three. This is one of the places where a room's view can create special memories.

 

[mariamouse]

OP,
We have stayed at all of the monorail resorts and you will be fine if you pick anyone of the three. This is one of the places where a room's view can create special memories.

I truly think it just comes down to which theme most appeals to you. They all have so much to offer and we would be equally happy to stay at any of them! I give the Poly and GF the edge since we love walking their grounds at night, but the CR is equally distinctive and fun!

 

[padawans]

According to my kids poly has a better slide than GF. I would go with poly or GF. CR is just to blah for me. Not enough theming. You really can't go wrong with any of them, but I would give the edge to poly because you can walk to ttc from there.

 

[Scarlett81]

I am one of those that honestly thinks you can't go wrong with either of them. For me, it all comes down to theming. What feel do you want to create for this trip?
I haven't been at Poly (going in Feb), but I've been in CR, WL, and stayed in GF. It all comes down to theme. For me, as a NYer, CR reminds me too much of a hip NY hotel inside. Its really nice, but I can get a hotel like that up here. To me, its not really a theme, its a typical nice modern hotel. Would I stay there?-sure. Its just not on the priority list. Another thought for me was CR gets very crowded with boat traffic from WL, FW, people going to Chef Mickey's (the most popular character bkfst)-so thats something to think of. If you don't like crowds-well, don't go to Disney!-but it is something to think of with this hotel in particular.
WL has an awesome theme, unique pool. The building isn't like a typical hotel you'll see anywhere. Its amazing. Its a little more off the beaten path. I like that.
GF is beautiful. It is the princess central hotel. Perfect for little girls. The pool was nice, ok. I found the service there to be cold and stuffy. Its another hotel that gets tons of traffic with 1900 pf bkfst, and the best signature dining of any dis hotel. The views are amazing, and you couldn't possibly get better access to MK. 5 mins on the monorail!
Havent' done Poly but am excited and nervous too. It seems to have very mixed reviews. But a strong following.
All in all, pricewise I can only compare the GF, and although it was beautiful, I was dissapointed in what we got for our money. I didn't get to book on a discount so that would have helped. I concluded you are paying for transportation options, to and from MK, easy access to the best dis restaurants, and views-all of which are fantastic. As far as acommodations goes-you are paying 5 star prices but please have realistic expectations...don't expect 5 star in the bones of the hotel (linens, carpet, furniture, etc). Much of it was dated-clean, but dated.