Disney resorts with monorail?

Travel Info
Hi all,
The hubby and I are taking our 3 young daughters to Disney later this year. We want to stay at a hotel that has the monorail going thru it. From what I gather, our choices are:
-Disney's Contemporary
-Polynesian
-Grand Floridian

QUESTIONS:
#1) are these the only hotels with the monorial from the hotel to disney world? (I don't care about the other parks).

#2) Do any of these hotels offer breakfast or dinner with the disney characters?

#3) How do I get the best deal at one of these hotels? and is there a minimun number of nights we must book? (we have family in Orlando we normally stay with...the hotel with the monorail is a splurge for us this time *smile*)

Travel Tips

The Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian are the only hotels with monorail connections to the parks. They connect to The Magic Kingdom (I am assuming that is what you are referring to as Disney World?) and Epcot. There is not monorail service to Animal Kingdom or Disney/MGM Studios at all.

All three of those hotels offer character dining as well:

1900 Park Fare
Located at Disney鈥檚 Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

'Ohana
Located at Disney鈥檚 Polynesian Resort

Chef Mickey's Buffet
Located at Disney鈥檚 Contemporary Resort

You can find all the information you need here:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/din...

You will need to make reservations as soon as you book your hotel...they fill up fast.

To get the bast rates, I would suggest that your family in Orlando books the rooms for you, as they offer some great Florida resident discounts. Just know that they will need to be there to check in. A little shady, and I am sure Disney wouldn't appreciate it but they also will never check. Other than that, the parks are so busy during the summer months that they don't offer many discounts.

Good luck, I hope some of this helps and have a magical time at Walt Disney World! Source(s): I used to be a castmember at Walt Disney World.
Other Travel Tips

I think I stayed at the first one when I was a little kid. I remember characters running around the lobby and the monorail going through...
Correct -- those 3 resorts are the only resorts with direct monorail access.

They actually all offer different character meal activities (as do a few of the other Disney resorts).

The monorail provides access to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot -- however, you'll need to use Disney bus transportation to get to Animal Kingdom and Disney MGM Studios (Epcot, Animal Kingdom & MGM Studios are the other Disney-operated theme parks located at Disney World).

Head over to http://www.disneyworld.com/ for lots more information, including vacation packages.
For your first question,no, no others have monorail.
For the second one,
Contemporary has Chef Mickey's, you can see it from the monorail...It is a breakfast and dinner buffet with American Cuisine for $15 to $29 per person.
Polynesian has Ohanas Best Friends Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch which has family style breakfast for $15 to $29 per person.
Finally,grand Floridian has 1990 Park Fare which is breakfast and dinner buffet for $15 to $29 per person.
Ill give u some rates here....
Grand Floridian
Cheapest room at the cheapest time is $375 per night
Most expensive room at the most expensive time is $ 2065

Polynesian
Cheapest room at cheapest time is $329 per night
Most expensive room at most expensive time is $2725 per night

Contemporary
Cheapest room at cheapest time is $259
Most expensive room at most expensive time is $2635

No i am not sure about the limited number of days you must book i never heard about that.
Hope this helps.
And Have Fun....
www.disneyworld.com
Let's answer your questions in order:

1) These are the only hotels attached to the monorail system. I know you don't care about the other parks, but you can also get to Epcot center via monorail as well.

2) I know for sure that the Contemporary has Chef Mickey's which has a character breakfast and dinner with Mickey and the gang. It is a great way to make sure to get up close and personal with the fab five (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto) and usually Chip and Dale as well. The Polynesian (my favorite resort) is home to a character breakfast with Lilo and Stich, and also home to a nightly luau dinner show (no characters in this one though). The Grand Floridian has the Alice in Wonderland characters for breakfast and dinner as well.

3) The best way to get a good deal in my opinion is to go through Disney themselves. Disney generally does not give out discounts to other carriers, so the prices from a travel agent are generally higher (they have to make their money too). As for some of the discount sites, I say you get what you pay for. I always make my reservations straight through Disney because I have seen and heard too many horror stories about people getting a huge discounted rate and not getting what they thought. When you make the reservations yourself and go right to the source there are no surprises and no problems. If you have family in the area you might try letting them make the reservations, I am sure there are discounts for Florida residents, especially those from near Disney.

If you want more info I have a couple of websites you may be interested in. First of course is the Disney website. It is easiest to get the info straight from the Mouse himself. Another good site is the disboards. The disboards is a website devoted to going to WDW. You can get trip reports, dining reviews, resort reviews, tips and tricks for avoiding crowds, as well as questions answered from people who really know what they are talking about. Finally, allears.net has a ton of info every day about what is going on around Disney, including a list of character meals and where they are. All the links are below. Also, you can go to the bookstore and pick up the Birnbaum's guide to WDW. There are a ton of guide books out there, but that is the one that has worked best for us.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip!!