Grand FLoridian or Beach CLub

[kpwalker44]

My wife and I are surprising our 5 children (11,10,9,6,4) in November with a Disney trip. We are on the fence between Beach Club and Grand Floridian. The monorail is a plus since MK is the park we would spend the most time at. We would need 2 rooms so Grand Floridian would be more expensive. We love the pool at the Beach Club. Boat to HS is nice and also can walk to Epcot. We have time to choose but I am trying to lock it up by the end of this month. Any feedback is appreciated !!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

What a very tough decision. With that number of children and at those ages and the fact that MK will be the favorite park, I would go with GF or POLY. SAB is a great pool but it is very spread out and easy to lose sight of a kid if you are not all together. We only have 2 DDs but we had to split up because 1 DD would want to go to the lazy river while the other one did not. Plus, you would need to bus to MK all the time.

 

[Marthasor]

Have you considered WL, CCV or BRV? It will put you in the MK area without the GF price tag. I just stayed at BRV in March in a newly refurbished 1-bedroom and it was SO nice. The boat to MK was very convenient. IMHO, the GF is severely overpriced at this point. I would probably opt for BC unless a nice discount is released for your travel period.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

We stayed at Grand Floridian on our last trip and I was disappointed. It was on my bucket list and although it was beautiful, it didn’t live up to the hype for me. I would choose Beach Club. Our plan for our next trip is to do a 10 day split stay between Beach Club and Poly.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Between Gf and BC, Grand Floridian wins hands down. GF proximity to MK is a huge factor with the ages of your children. The pools at GF are very nice with the beach pool being our favorite. Fun slide, great atmosphere, wide open sightlines, great poolside service for drinks and food and the nearby kids waterplay area for the smaller children if needed. Every room has a balcony and each building has a laundry room in case you need to do some wash while on vacation. Great food at the resort both QS and several TS. You are also on the monorail for quick access to dining and shopping around the loop. You can also see the nightly fireworks and EWP from the marina area in front of Gaspie's.

While BC has a nice location for accessing EP World Showcase, it's not as advantageous if you are wanting to spend more time at the front of the park. The SAB pool at BC looks nice but in reality is very flawed. There are no sightlines for keeping an eye on kiddos in different areas of the pool and you must often cross over small bridges and walkways to get from one area to the next. To access the slide, you must leave the pool area, cross a public walkway, and walk up a large flight of steps. I can't imagine trying to keep track of 5 children without having an outright panic attack. It would not be relaxing.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

The pool at BC is really nice but spread out whereas the pools at GF are much easier to track all the kids. Plus as much as kids love SAB, it can be chaotic and even with only a handful of kids, when mine were that age, I didn't like not being able to easily see my kids and felt like I had to follow them all around so it was divide and conquer.

Outside of the pool with little ones, BC is great and walking/boats to DHS/EP, skyliner access is really nice. If the pool isn't a big deal to you or you won't have a ton of pool time, I'd save the money and stick with BC.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Have you considered WL, CCV or BRV? It will put you in the MK area without the GF price tag. I just stayed at BRV in March in a newly refurbished 1-bedroom and it was SO nice. The boat to MK was very convenient. IMHO, the GF is severely overpriced at this point. I would probably opt for BC unless a nice discount is released for your travel period.

OP, I know you only mentioned GF and BC, but I would have to agree with Marthasor, and take a look at WL. We have found the monorail and EPCOT deluxes to be grossly overpriced.

 

[holden]

Would you consider renting DVC points? If so I'd do a 2BR at GF or BLT. You can walk to MK from BLT. That convenience is priceless at the end of a long day, especially after the fireworks - no waiting for transportation. Monorail is a short walk away too to get to EP.

WL is also great. You could also rent DVC points there. We stayed at BR in a 2BR and loved it.

 

[pixie3]

When my kids were young, the Beach Club was actually our favorite. I liked that we could go to two parks fairly easy and come back in the afternoon for a swim or nap and go back in after. The pool of course is so fun. I guess it depends on what you want. How often or how many days would you do MK? Obviously, both are great choices.

 

[ECH37]

If Magic Kingdom is your priority then definitely the Floridian. The ability to walk to and from the park and your resort is worth it. Especially if you plan on staying till closing, you can then walk back instead of waiting in crowds for a packed monorail. Also, the ability to ride the boats to and from as well is convenient.

 

[kpwalker44]

When my kids were young, the Beach Club was actually our favorite. I liked that we could go to two parks fairly easy and come back in the afternoon for a swim or nap and go back in after. The pool of course is so fun. I guess it depends on what you want. How often or how many days would you do MK? Obviously, both are great choices.

Probably 2 days at MK since we are only there 6 days (2 travel days). We would do pool day on the day we leave since we don't depart until late afternoon. I would like to sprinkle in pool time 1-2 more days but most of the time will be at the parks. I have been to the GF before but Is it worth the extra 2,500.00 I guess is the big question? I am also looking into WL now as well. I think I am leaning BC

 

[Dave006]

I have been to the GF before but Is it worth the extra 2,500.00 I guess is the big question? I am also looking into WL now as well. I think I am leaning BC

Only you can decide on if GF is worth an additional $2,500. The WL has a great pool for you mix of children's ages. There is a Splash pad right at the pool and a slide that all should be kept busy but easy to watch multiple ages in the pool. It is also very compact compared to the GF, BC or YC shares the SAB pool with the BC.

ETA: fixed reference since the OP has 5 children and will need 2 rooms.

Dave

 

[Robber Baron]

My wife and I are surprising our 5 children (11,10,9,6,4) in November with a Disney trip. We are on the fence between Beach Club and Grand Floridian. The monorail is a plus since MK is the park we would spend the most time at. We would need 2 rooms so Grand Floridian would be more expensive. We love the pool at the Beach Club. Boat to HS is nice and also can walk to Epcot. We have time to choose but I am trying to lock it up by the end of this month. Any feedback is appreciated !!

Usually when folks ask for opinions of a choice between 2 resorts I'll stick to those 2.

However in this case I'd recommend Yacht Club. Same area as BC, same pool.

The difference is all Yacht Club rooms have balconies, which BC doesn't.

 

[pixie3]

Probably 2 days at MK since we are only there 6 days (2 travel days). We would do pool day on the day we leave since we don't depart until late afternoon. I would like to sprinkle in pool time 1-2 more days but most of the time will be at the parks. I have been to the GF before but Is it worth the extra 2,500.00 I guess is the big question? I am also looking into WL now as well. I think I am leaning BC

So basically, spending 2500 to not take a bus to MK for two days. For me ... prob not worth it. Last time I was there the monorails were really busy/packed.

WL is nice. Beautiful lobby and pool. Boat ride over to Magic Kingdom is nice. I haven't been there in a while not sure what the boat lines have been looking like. The kids would probably like the vibe over there.

I'll always love BC though. You might even want to walk over to the Boardwalk some evening.

 

[lowlight]

GF hands down, no contest. Poly is also nice because you can walk to TTC for monorail to Epcot.

 

[Ensusieasm]

My wife and I are surprising our 5 children (11,10,9,6,4) in November with a Disney trip. We are on the fence between Beach Club and Grand Floridian. The monorail is a plus since MK is the park we would spend the most time at. We would need 2 rooms so Grand Floridian would be more expensive. We love the pool at the Beach Club. Boat to HS is nice and also can walk to Epcot. We have time to choose but I am trying to lock it up by the end of this month. Any feedback is appreciated !!

The Grand. It’s impossible for two parents to look after 5 children in storm along bay pool.

 

[Cfabar1]

Only you can decide if the cost is worth it or not. That said, if you're planning on spending the most time at MK, and you're not interested in the contemporary, I'd say go to the GF.

 

[kylenne]

I’ve stayed at both and personally with kids focusing on MK, I say GF and it’s not even close. MK is so stressful for me to get home to at the end of the night from anywhere but a monorail resort and I remember that with no small amount of irritation every single time I’ve stayed elsewhere because it was cheaper. PP talking about packed monorails fail to mention you also have a walking path and a boat option. If the mono line is too crazy just take the boat—more often than not we do, because you don’t have to deal with that TTC element who jumped in the resort monorail line bc it was shorter than theirs. Also GF is first stop on the boat coming back from the park. Meanwhile bus is bus and that’s it.

Whether it’s “worth” the extra expense comes down to your budget. It’s easy for us to spend your money. But if it were my own money, it absolutely would be, if you don’t plan to do multiple days at Epcot and HS. I’m also a SAB hater though lol. I couldn’t imagine trying to keep track of multiple kids there. GF has that fun splash pad too with the giant Mad Hatter hat that tips over, kids love that thing. Personally split stays between MK/EP are best of both worlds to me but I’d avoid it on a shorter trip.

 

[Eastern]

With your kids' ages, I would choose a monorail resort. Have you ruled out CR? It's a fun resort for kids with the monorail running through it and it is convenient to get dropped off inside of your hotel at the end of the day.

 

[kiford]

We don't find the monorail to be that convenient to get to MK. However, I will say that when we stay at GF, we usually take the boat over to MK, and that is convenient because a lot of people don't seem to realize that it's there so lines are usually shorter.

But I have to second the suggestion of WL, especially if you already need two rooms. We found it very convenient to take the bus or boat from WL to MK because it gets you to the bus terminal, where all the buses to other resorts are, so it gives you lots of options. You can do that at WL, too, but WL is less expensive, and I think it has nicer grounds and a pool.

We usually pick our resort based on where we plan to spend most of our time. If it's HS/Epcot, we stay in the BW area. If it's MK, then usually WL (sometimes GF, and we've done CR once - not our favourite - and we're trying Poly for our upcoming trip, but only because we got a good deal). If it's AK, then AKL. So as much as we love BC and their pool, if we were spending most of our time at MK, I'd do WL or GF. If you are planning equal time in all parks, then it's a slightly harder decision. If that is our plan, we will usually determine which park we would want to be at the latest at night and then pick a resort that's closest to that park. Late at night, I just want to get back to my room as quickly and easily as possible.