Taking the Walking Path From Disney’s Polynesian Village to the Grand Floridian Resort

If you’re staying at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, at some point, you’ll likely want to walk next door to Disney’s Grand Floridian. Partially along the Seven Seas Lagoon, the walk makes for a pleasant outing. For this edition of Resorts Gal Routes, we walked from the Great Ceremonial House at the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian’s Lobby. Below, we’ll explore the route, the distance, how long it took, and offer a few tips you might need in the event of rain or inclement weather.

We’re starting at the Great Ceremonial House, which is the Polynesian lobby. If your village building is on the opposite side of the lobby, you’ll have a little further to walk. Likewise, the walk will be a few steps shorter if you’re staying at the Island Tower or a building on this side of the lobby.

When you leave the Great Ceremonial House, you’ll walk by this long building (Tonga) that faces the marina.

Here is the opposite view as we head toward the Island Tower.

You’ll see signage directing you toward the Island Tower.

After you pass the corner of Fiji, you’ll see the walking path as it extends to the Island Tower.

Once you get to the Tower’s edge, a sign will direct you to turn left for Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, Disney’s Grand Floridian, and Magic Kingdom. Technically, you can go this way, but the pedestrian path deadends in front of a service area. You may recall that we discussed this during our walk-through of the distance between the Island Tower and the Polynesian’s bus stop.

Here’s what it looks like if you go to the left.

The path dead-ends and doesn’t pick up until you get past the opposite side of the resort’s entrance. So we’re going back to where we were.

This time, we’ll ignore the signage and take a right toward the Fitness Center and Wailulu Bar and Grill.

For me, the best way to remember this is to stay toward the water. You can see the lagoon in the distance.

We’ll continue to follow the path along the water as we make our way past the Island Tower.

You’ll also see directionals, confirming you are going in the right direction.

Of course, seeing the Grand Floridian in the distance helps.

For reference, if you had traipsed across the parking lot at the front of the Island Tower, you would have come out at the same place. The picture below shows where the paths merge as the monorail comes through in the background.

We’ve reached the Grand Floridian’s wedding pavilion and chapel. This is a pretty place to walk through. Always keep a lookout. If someone’s getting married, you might run into Cinderella’s carriage pulled by miniature white horses.

Looking back, we can now see the shoreline of the Polynesian.

Things begin to transition from tropical to traditional around this area.

The walking path wraps around the Villas of Disney’s Grand Floridian. (This is the first building you’ll pass on the left.)

We’re headed to the large building in the center of the photo below. It is the resort’s main building, which is home to the lobby, shopping, and the majority of dining options.

That’s Big Pine Key sitting on the water.

We’ll take a look back. You can hardly see the Polynesian anymore.

If you would like, you can leave the main path at this point and take a right on this path between the Beach Pool and the lagoon.

We, however, are going to stay straight. (This entire building on the left is still the Grand Floridian Villas. We’ve just reached the opposite side.)

You’ll see a fountain on the right.

If you’re interested in seeing the Mary Poppins fountain in the villas lobby, you can take the short covered walkway inside. You’ll almost immediately run into it.

We are staying straight, but you may notice that we’ve found some shade. This covered walkway runs the entire length of the walking path between the villas and the main building. It’s such a nice amenity, rain or shine.

As you continue, you’ll see signage for the main building and the monorail tracks.

We’ve arrived at the Grand Floridian’s main entrance. Here are the stats that I personally tracked:

• Total Distance from the Great Ceremonial House to the Grand Floridian Lobby (0.66 miles)
• Duration: 15 minutes*
• Total Steps: 1700

*Please note that I pause for photos when I’m walking, so I’m probably always a little slower than the average guest.

If you take this route, you’ll want to remember that it’s almost entirely in the direct sunlight during the day. So you might feel as though you’ve melted by the time you arrive if the sun is beating down. If you decide against the walk, you can always take the monorail from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian. Then, you can take the boat back. See this article for how the boat route works: Taking the Grand Floridian’s Boat Service

Alternate Path

As mentioned above, you can take the path along the beach to the back of the resort’s lobby. The portion of the path that runs between the pool and the beach is somewhat narrow.

You’ll come out at this area where you’ll have to walk up a few steps or take the ramp.

Then, you’ll continue on to the main building.

This entrance leads to the back side of the Grand Floridian’s lobby near Grand Floridian Cafe and 1900 Park Fare. It will, however, cut a little time off your walk. Here are the stats:

• Distance Great Ceremonial House to Grand Floridian (Back of Lobby): 0.52 miles
• Duration: 12 minutes
• Total Steps: 1,400

We hope this walk-through got you going in the right direction. For more Disney World walking paths, you might like the following:

• The Walk from Disney’s Contemporary to Magic Kingdom
• Walking from Grand Floridian to Magic Kingdom
• How Long is the Walk from the TTC to the Polynesian
• How Long is the Walk from Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside to French Quarter
• How To Walk from Saratoga Springs to Disney Springs

More Planning

At Resorts Gal, we specialize in helping you plan the perfect Disney World vacation. Start with our Disney World Resorts Guide for an overview of every resort hotel, or explore our Disney World Dining Guide and Disney World Transportation Guide to plan where to eat and how to get around. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.