Hi MoPops,
We were at the Mayan Palace NV building in November - so I will try to give feedback that might help your planning . The Grand Bliss is very centrally located .
1) specific to the pool - the really fun ,for kids stuff is at the Grand Mayan pool area .There is a kids club as well . The (awesome) kids splash pool with slides is near the beach front casual restaurant Ola Mulata.
The Grand Bliss & Mayan Palace pools are both ocean front - if, an easy walk to use the beach matters to you. The Mayan Palace pool is quite large and therefore has more “seating” - relative to the number of MP guests .
2) Make sure you show your grand kids the baby turtle egg sanctuary that is on the beach , just to the right of the Grand Mayan area .
There are scheduled releases after 5 pm and a kid friendly talk is done by the sanctuary staff.
( we saw it in Feb.- 2 years ago / I assume Jan is similar)
3) You may wish to take a shuttle to the pool with a 1 year old . My wife has a knee that is heading towards replacement (other one was already done) We walked to the Mayan Palace pool once and it was about 400 yds using the very nice winding walkways . After that one walk , we would ask for a (personal) shuttle from the person who handles this at the building entrance . It was never a problem and usually was less than a 5-10 minute wait . Often we were taken by a bell person in a smaller golf cart ; sometimes it was a bigger shuttle that was taking others to the pools / or beach.
4) Food -
there is a very nice Saturday(8am-2pm or so) Farmers Market behind the OXXO that is 100 yds from Vidanta’s Sea Garden property .You can get there by walking the beach or taking a taxi. The taxi was 110 pesos I believe . The Vidanta taxi stand person gives you a slip with the amount needed.
If you walk over - taking a taxi back is easy & you can always go to the Sea Garden to get one if none are in the immediate vicinity .
The Farmers Market has vegetables ; fruit , a cheese guy and other local vendors including those selling non food items . You can pay with USD but pesos are probably better . There is a secure Santander money machine in the Sea Garden’s mini market store (should you run out of pesos - like I did) The stand that makes blue corn tortillas in front of you & sells tacos is worth a lunch stop IMO. It is a very nice family business.
If you go to the Farmers Market I would then pick up some basics at OXXO - their prices on a lot of things are very close to what you pay at Mega or Walmart - because Mexican locals shop for daily stuff at OXXO . Milk, tortillas , eggs , chips ,pop , beer ,limes , cooking oil , small sizes of breakfast cereal , orange juice etc..
La Plaza is a very short walk from the Grand Bliss. The food court /stores there have everything you need if you prefer not to go off resort . We found some items pricey and others comparable (if you amortize for convenience & taxi costs) to other stores.
Strawberry Jam from France was 3 times what we pay in Canada ( same jam/same container -(did not buy) , Mexican Crackers (Lara-Saladas Classico’s) were the same as Oxxo ; Milk & ground coffee * were a little,higher.
The bakery has amazing Pain au Chocolat. The frozen yougert stand is worth it .
Within the La Plaza building are 2 casual restaurants . Sweet Paris Creperie & Tacos Break
We had “brunch” at the crepe place - since it has egg & sausage crepes and you can eat on the outdoor deck We had dinner at the Taco place and it has outdoor seating with a view of the GL buildings and lit golf course .There was some musical entertainment that evening.
Santuario has evening entertainment and casual finger food & drinks can be ordered . There are lounge seating places where all of your family could relax ,that are further from the “stage area “but you can still hear the entertainers and view them on video screens if not directly .
We ate outdoor sit-down evening dinners at Havana Moon & Ameca Social House - both had good food & good views . We also ate lunch & at least one dinner poolside ; since we had the 45th anniversary promo / credit towards the resort restaurants.
If you have an interest - book yourself on the “ back of the house tour “ - there is a recent Mexican Forum thread on it .
* - coffee filters
I like to make early morning coffee and drink it while others are still sleeping .
Mayan Palace & Sea Garden have not provided any coffee filters for a number of years . (perhaps higher Vidanta brand ownerships get coffee filters.)
You can buy a box of 50+filters at La Plaza for about $5 . (I bring my own filters) & I pack a small brick of vacuum packed store coffee from home . That coffee lasts a few days & this trip I bought enough coffee for the rest of the week at La Plaza.
You can book the free inbound airport to resort transportation for yourself . You can also book it for your daughter‘s family for their Weds arrival.
Enjoy the family time .
