Can’t Make a Decision!!! Poly or GF??

[MacMama0930]

just when I started feeling confident about my choice in the Poly, I began admiring some photos of the Grand Floridian. To be safe, as of right now, I have both booked.

I originally (well not originally - I originally had AKL booked), booked Polynesian, TPV Club Level. Now I also have GF, Main Building, Standard Club Level. The two different view options make the package nearly the same cost.

Who we are: Family of 4, 2 kids ages 7 and 10.

When we’re going: October, 7 nights

Our experience: disneyland vets, never been to WDW
What we hope for as a vacation: comfortable beds, decent sized rooms, hotel atmosphere, bright airy look, good food for picky eaters in club lounge, Halloween activities (party, Return to Sleepy Hallow, Halloween decorations) fireworks viewing, not park all day kind of people, want to relax, swim, rent a boat, we aren’t really planning on rope dropping, character meals.

Thank goodness I get a chance to see WDW before my family does for work conference next month. I will obviously check out these two hotels and see which one “calls to me”, but in the meantime, help me obsessively compare the two!!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

GF is definitely more bright and airy. Poly rooms seem more dark. I think the Poly rooms are slightly larger.

We have stayed at the Poly and loved the pool, ease of walking around the resort, and beautiful grounds. Kona Cafe is great. Captain Cooks not so much.

We’ve never stayed at GF, but eat at GF Cafe every trip. We love the lobby there.

 

[Timothy02359]

We love GF.

 

[trishadono]

I agree gf. You can always visit poly for meals since they are as close if not closer than DLH and GCH(I've stayed at both).

My dh loves gf because it's airy. The lobby is amazing and has things like the band ,piano player and grand staircase that is just Grand.

Also the bathroom: Poly the sinks are inside. At gf the sinks are separate from toilet and shower. Look at room pix if needed.

If you do choose poly do what I do. I put a towel on the desk to do my hair and make up there (mainly when ds/dh are with me).

I stay at both often. Poly has a slight edge for transportation because you can walk to ttc and the themeing is FUN.

Gf is more elegant overall. Both pools are fun for all too.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you want bright and airy and want to relax and swim, I would go with GF. Poly is definitely not bright and airy plus the pool areas can get very crowded and there is zero shade at the main pool. Poly tends to feel more crowded and congested, IMHO. Plus the Poly, TPV CL rooms are incredibly loud. You will hear the electric water pageant and fireworks every single night. The GF room will be much quieter.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Having stayed at both resorts several times and in those specific CL/room view categories... to me it comes down to what kind of overall vibe you want in a resort. We prefer the tropical/Tiki vibe and I think a CL TPV room there is perhaps my favorite room choice in all of WDW - it fits our vacation style perfectly.

GF has a more refined flavor to it, brighter, better food options in the lounge (subjective of course).

Poly CL has the advantage of being steps away from both pools. Quick in/out to the room, lounge, etc. GF RPC is fine in terms of access to both pools, just not quite as convenient.

We like Epcot quite a bit and Poly has the advantage of being walking distance to TTC. At GF, you have to transfer monorails so it makes the trip longer (or taking Uber/Lyft/Taxi/Minnie Van works too). Sometimes we’ll just randomly decide to go to Epcot, so the flexibility of the Poly location appeals to us.

If you haven’t already, I’d stop by the CL thread if you want more opinions on one CL over the other.

I do give the “comfortable bed” nod to GF over Poly.

Ultimately, both are great choices in my humble opinion. Good luck deciding!

 

[KenHutch]

With children I would think the Poly, my girls love the place and do a lot of meals at the Poly. The Grand Floridian is beautiful but when I broached the subject of a stay there this year my teen vetoed the motion. She said the place just felt to stuck up (her words not mine) and it looked like the kind of a place where kids should never raise their voice.

 

[mickeynut1]

just when I started feeling confident about my choice in the Poly, I began admiring some photos of the Grand Floridian. To be safe, as of right now, I have both booked.

I originally (well not originally - I originally had AKL booked), booked Polynesian, TPV Club Level. Now I also have GF, Main Building, Standard Club Level. The two different view options make the package nearly the same cost.

Who we are: Family of 4, 2 kids ages 7 and 10.

When we’re going: October, 7 nights

Our experience: disneyland vets, never been to WDW
What we hope for as a vacation: comfortable beds, decent sized rooms, hotel atmosphere, bright airy look, good food for picky eaters in club lounge, Halloween activities (party, Return to Sleepy Hallow, Halloween decorations) fireworks viewing, not park all day kind of people, want to relax, swim, rent a boat, we aren’t really planning on rope dropping, character meals.

Thank goodness I get a chance to see WDW before my family does for work conference next month. I will obviously check out these two hotels and see which one “calls to me”, but in the meantime, help me obsessively compare the two!!

We've stayed at both (although not CL at the Poly) and while the Poly is my favorite resort overall, the GF runs a very close second. I can't compare the CLs as I haven't stayed CL at the Poly, but GF RPC is amazing, IMO! The lounge is large and spacious with beautiful views of the grounds and being in the main building is just magical. However, the Poly lounge has a great view of the castle/fireworks. With that said, I would choose the one that the theme/decor/atmosphere appeals to you the most as I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Good luck!

 

[HappyMomma]

They're both fantastic. Hard choice for sure. GF is very bright and airy, luxurious. Poly is darker and more island feel, also busier IMO. The food at GF will seem more "normal" to picky eaters. We are staying GF and visiting the Poly for a meal, drinks and some dessert on our upcoming trip. Get the best of both worlds that way. We were pixie dusted a room with RPC access on our last trip and it was A-MAZE-ING. We're staying SL on our next trip and I'm feeling meh about it.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We were VERY disappointed in the GF (Sugarloaf) the last time that we stayed there. I'm not a complainer (that's my husband's job), but I truly had that gut wrenching feeling that we'd made a huge mistake by staying there. Hair on the bathroom floor (that NEVER moved our entire stay), dirty walls, scuffed and chipped columns in the halls, dirty light fixtures in the restaurants. The list unfortunately does go on. Each of the CM's were fantastic though and afternoon tea was great (but our waitress was not).... We won't be staying at the GF again. I would stay at the Poly.

 

[ekball]

Your wish list described the GF much more than the Poly, I think. Though I have stayed at both and preferred the "feel" of the Poly...

 

[MacMama0930]

Thank you guys for your opinions!

One of my main concerns is making sure my husband is happy. Frankly, it was hard to talk him into this trip. Being so close to Disneyland and him not being an overly Disney type person, I just want to blow his socks off, so to speak.

Having only looked at photos and reading reviews, the Poly seemed like a better choice. But then I started seeing things like the pool was really crowded, and that some people described the atmosphere as a cheesy 1980s movie about Hawaii - directed by someone who had never been to Hawaii! Ha! I deal with crowds much better than my family. I don’t care about a crowded pool but I have a feeling that after some time in a crowded park, my husband and son, specifically, will appreciate a more relaxed environment.

On the other side of things, we are not hoity toity kind of people. We’re very casual. I worried that we wouldn’t “fit in” at the Grand!

Transportation isn’t a huge deal for me. I think we’ll be exploring other parks quite a bit and had already budget in for Minnie Van services and whatnot. I hear the monorail isn’t always reliable (either is Disneyland’s!) so that wasn’t a major factor for why we wanted to stay there.

The Club Lounge in the main building of GF looks absolutely stunning. Gah!! I don’t know!!

 

[piratepride]

You can't go wrong with either! The two best resorts at Disney in my opinion. Make your decision, don't second guess it and have a great vacation!!!

 

[buzznina]

Easy choice for our family GF by a landslide We are an "average Joe" family and never thought we would like GF until we stayed there. It instantly became our families favorite resort. The only issue we had with it was the monorail to and from Epcot (always took long) and that is the only part we liked better at POLY (you can walk to TTC). We ended up walking from TTC to POLY, picked up some ice cream or dole whips and then walked to GF. We also liked Gasparilla over Cap'n Cooks.

 

[mickeynut1]

On the other side of things, we are not hoity toity kind of people. We’re very casual. I worried that we wouldn’t “fit in” at the Grand!

The GF is just as Disney/kid friendly as any other resort. I always said I'd never stay there as it felt "stuffy" every time I visited the resort. That quickly changed once I finally did stay there, I instantly fell in love with it .

The Club Lounge in the main building of GF looks absolutely stunning. Gah!! I don’t know!!

It is amazing! The lounge has beautiful views of the grounds and it's very relaxing sitting in the lounge listening to the band play below in the lobby .

 

[SillySallySews]

You've given yourself a tough choice! We've stayed at both and they are both amazing resorts in their own way. I think the GF checks more boxes on your wishlist, but Poly is great too! We are not uppity people either, and frankly I was worried we weren't the "type" of people who might enjoy GF, but it is hands down now our favorite resort. CL was not available during our stay, but we had a TPV room in Conch Key and it was the best room we've had anywhere on property. The view was amazing, but it was also spotlessly clean, very roomy, and we loved the separate shower/sink situation. My husband took selfies with Space Mountain in the background from our bed and I think it was the highlight of his life lol. The beds at GF were noticeably more comfortable than Poly, but that could've just been luck of which rooms we had. The pool at GF was never crowded during our stay, and we all thought the slide there was better than the one at Poly! Poly is also a wonderful resort but it is very busy and can feel slightly chaotic and overcrowded at times. I think it has better dining options though (we do not care for 1900PF or Gasparilla Grill at GF), and being able to walk from your room to grab a dole whip in under five minutes is amazing! Good luck in your decision, but I really don't think you can go wrong here!

 

[trishadono]

You've given yourself a tough choice! We've stayed at both and they are both amazing resorts in their own way. I think the GF checks more boxes on your wishlist, but Poly is great too! We are not uppity people either, and frankly I was worried we weren't the "type" of people who might enjoy GF, but it is hands down now our favorite resort. CL was not available during our stay, but we had a TPV room in Conch Key and it was the best room we've had anywhere on property. The view was amazing, but it was also spotlessly clean, very roomy, and we loved the separate shower/sink situation. My husband took selfies with Space Mountain in the background from our bed and I think it was the highlight of his life lol. The beds at GF were noticeably more comfortable than Poly, but that could've just been luck of which rooms we had. The pool at GF was never crowded during our stay, and we all thought the slide there was better than the one at Poly! Poly is also a wonderful resort but it is very busy and can feel slightly chaotic and overcrowded at times. I think it has better dining options though (we do not care for 1900PF or Gasparilla Grill at GF), and being able to walk from your room to grab a dole whip in under five minutes is amazing! Good luck in your decision, but I really don't think you can go wrong here!

Nope I have done a poly/gf split and gf beds are softer.

 

[lsyorke]

Having stayed at both(not CL) I would go with GF every time. DH use to refer to Poly as "Don Ho Jo's and that it was cheesy....this was before their most recent renovation, so I can't speak to the situation now. I never felt GF was stuffy, in fact when our kids were younger it was their favorite resort and it's only gotten better.

 

[bluejasmine]

I had a hard time with the same decision so I went for a split trip between both...

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have stayed at both and they are both great, BUT, we definitely give the win to the GF. If you are looking for bright & airy, you won't find that at the Poly. I understand the Poly theming, but it's very dark. The GF is super relaxing, and I love the courtyard pool.

We can't wait to get back there this summer!