...first time here, helloooo to all! We are planning a trip to Disney for the first time with our kids - ages 7, 6, and 4 months. We are all ready to book but are at a stop because we can't decide on the hotel! Grand Floridian or Beach Club?!! We fell in love with Beach Club the minute we saw it, but of course hear rave reviews about GF. Trying to weigh the difference between monorail or walking to Epcot....not to mention the pool area at BC. Anyone been to both that would like to give an opinion?! Any help or advice would be much appreciated!! We are so excited about this! :D

What time of year are you going? If you are planning on swimming a lot, or taking mid day breaks at the pool, I would highly suggest the Beach Club. Your kids will LOVE Stormalong Bay. Perfect for their ages! I haven't stayed at GF so I'm a little biased, but we loved the Beach Club.

Honestly, you will have an incredible time at either resort.

I'm right with Anne. Never stayed at GF, but we stayed at BC when our kids were 4 months, 4, 6, and almost 8 -- pretty much just like yours. We LOVED it. The pool area just can't be beat. I'm sure it would be great to be a monorail ride away from MK, but BC is so close to both EPCOT and MGM that for us it was a wash.
Wow, what great choices you have!!

ETA: And welcome to the boards!

Wow! I want to be you. Gee, if money was no object, I would go GF hands down. We ate breakfast there at the GF Cafe and loved the surroundings and the general feel of luxury and class. Plus, being just a few steps away from MK makes it ideal. Boy, seriously, can I be you?:)

Maybe looking at the pros and cons will help you decide

GF:
pros.
close to MK
monorail hotel means easy access to both the MK and epcot
great atmosphere (also a con)

Cons
not as kid friendly as BC
formal atmosphere can make it hard for some people to relax
last stop on the bus routes to the studios and AK means sometimes there is no seat on the bus, and on the way home the trip is longer.

BC
pros
best pool area at WDW
walking distance to both Epcot and the studios, plus boat to studios.
BW and it's evening entertainment nearby.
back door entrance into Epcot is usually faster then main entrance.

cons
bus ride to MK which may be the place you want to go most.
no quick breakfast location at the hotel itself.


overall I would say our family would choose BC. that is not to take away from GF in any way, but the less formal, more laid back feel of BC is our style.

Why not both? Depending on the length of your trip and the ease of moving hotels with three kids, you could probably try out both hotels in one trip. We're staying exclusively at BC (never been, but SO excited to see it), but it seems like quite a few people on here "hotel hop" to visit more than one resort.

...first time here, helloooo to all! We are planning a trip to Disney for the first time with our kids - ages 7, 6, and 4 months. We are all ready to book but are at a stop because we can't decide on the hotel! Grand Floridian or Beach Club?!! We fell in love with Beach Club the minute we saw it, but of course hear rave reviews about GF. Trying to weigh the difference between monorail or walking to Epcot....not to mention the pool area at BC. Anyone been to both that would like to give an opinion?! Any help or advice would be much appreciated!! We are so excited about this! :D

I'd vote for the Beach Club. This is hands down our favorite hotel on Disney property. Very family friendly, great pool. It's great to be able to walk 5 minutes and be at Epcot. And while the GF does have monorail service to MK, the bus ride at BC has never been a problem in our experience.

I guess I'm in the minority but GF gets my vote. I have stayed in both resorts with young children and I prefer GF. I love the BC, but as this is your first trip to WDW I don't think you can beat the location of GF. For us there is nothing like being able to see the castle from your resort or even your room and then just jump on the monorail to get to MK. Plus after a quick monorail switch you can also ride the monorail to Epcot. I also prefer the dining options at GF. With little ones we loved being able to get a quick meal anytime at the Gasparilla Grill. My favorite was getting breakfast there and eating it outside on the table overlooking the marina. It's also nice to be able to hop on the monorail and use all the restaurants at the Contemp and Poly. As far as the GF being stuffy and not famiy friendly....I have stayed there several times and never found this to be true. Fancy or not it's still Disney.

You'll have a great time what ever you choose!

Almost forgot, but GF also has some wonderful children's programs. I'm not sure what is currently being offered but I believe they have a Tea Pary with Alice, something with Pirates and a cooking program. Most of these are for kids ages 4-10.

Beach Club is more fun and laid back than GF. We are BC regulars and have been to GF and felt it to be a bit stuffy..dd 11 years old had her opinion-it looks like a cruise ship Mommy...lol:)

We just spent the weekend at BC (staying at the DVC villas). Our stay was fantastic. The pool was, by far, the best hotel pool we've ever encountered. I asked my 9 year old what her favorite part of the trip was, and she said the Stormalong Bay. Loved the quick walk to Epcot. Enjoyed a casual dinner at Beaches and Cream (burgers and great ice cream), and the clam bake dinner at Cape May Buffet. They have lots of activities, at no extra charge (or very little, for bingo), including games and movies. The atmosphere was upscale, yet casual. I definitely want to stay there again.

I agree, for first timers the monorail makes your stay very special. My first time staying was at the polynesian and the fact that I could ride to the park or back in about 10-15 minutes was awesome. There is nothing better than exiting the gates and walking over to the Resort Monorail entrance. It really makes you feel like you are staying at the park.

I never actually stayed at the BC (though I have toured it and like the area a lot), but I got to stay at the GF for a convention once (I didn't actually pay anything at all for the room - how sweet is that - bad news is that I had meetings at Disney - these should be outlawed :)). The view of the castle from my room was a dream (as well as being close on the monorail). There is admittedly a bit of a different atmosphere at the GF since it seems to attract a certain crowd. I love the music though and the beauty of it all and visit it at least once every trip. The GF though actually doesn't seem as Disney to me as other hotels I have stayed at - though it does have a magic of its own.

Does anyone have any poor experiences of Mousekeeping at the Beach Club? Might be there next summer, but I've just read all the reviews I could find and there seem to be a whole bunch of them suggesting that the service here isn't always great. This would make me really cross if paying for a Deluxe... Also have I misunderstood - if there's no where for a quick breakfast does this mean there is no counter service available on this resort? I thought Beaches and crean was counter service. No?

Although the GF is gorgeous & close to Magic Kingdom, the BC is really perfect for families. You are a short walk to Epcot and about 15 minute walk from the Studios. They also have a boat to the Studios that kids love. The whole Boardwalk area is steps away and lots of fun.

BC Club has a wonderful character breakfast which we preferred to the one at GF. For a monorail hotel, Poly is more kid friendly than GF.

What a luxury problem! Whatever one you choose it will be a trip of a lifetime.

Susie from Boston

Does anyone have any poor experiences of Mousekeeping at the Beach Club? Might be there next summer, but I've just read all the reviews I could find and there seem to be a whole bunch of them suggesting that the service here isn't always great. This would make me really cross if paying for a Deluxe... Also have I misunderstood - if there's no where for a quick breakfast does this mean there is no counter service available on this resort? I thought Beaches and crean was counter service. No?

Under the Dining Plan, Beaches and Cream is a table service restaurant, and you do have waitress service. It's really casual, though. I don't think they are open for breakfast. The gift shop has a food court area, and they will prepare simple food, like sandwiches and salads. I had a yummy yogurt parfait for breakfast. That's where you would go if you just want to grab coffee and a muffin in the morning. In that area, you can buy fruit, bottled drinks, milk, and cereal. There is some seating in that area, or you could walk a few steps to to other indoor and outdoor seating areas. There is also quick food available at a stand in the pool area. There are also places around the Boardwalk for a counter service type breakfast. You can buy some groceries there, because it's also a DVC property, and those guests have a kitchenette or kitchen. We wanted to use up some counter service credits one morning, at the quick service area, and, to make up the breakfast meals, we ended up with extra bottles of water and fruit, which was fine for snacking later.

Across the hall (sort of) from the area with the parfaits (very good) there is a solarium area which was a nice place to eat a quick breakfast. I think the only hot item they had were a couple of varieties of breakfast sandwhiches (for breakfast).

When we stayed there a year ago for a weekend, the service was just fine - no complaints from me. The food at the pool bar was very good, too. I think we got two of the wraps (or something like that) - one the vegetarian version, and a differnet one, and we each had half of each - and we both (my sister and I) liked the veggie one quite a bit.

The location for Beach was great for us, we're pretty into Epcot, and that trip was focused on the Studios (we were saying one last good bye to Millionaire) :crying: The pool was top notch. We said it was a good thing we never stayed there as kids, because we would never had wanted to leave the pool to go to the parks!

Only visited Grand Floridian - it seems really nice, and if you're going to be visiting the Magic Kingdom a lot (relative to the other parks), it is a great location.

Here's another vote for the GF, for all the reasons previously mentioned.

If you want to try an Epcot resort, I highly recommend the Boardwalk. It's got all the pros of the YC/BC, but is more laid back, secluded, and special in its theming.