@Aliceacc
I see that you've stayed at both the Poly and The Beach Club.
Which did you prefer?
OK, not-so-quick hijack with my apologies.
Honestly, it's a hard question to answer. I love them both!
The Poly has to be the most serene place in the Orlando area. Beautiful flowers everywhere you look, with the quiet sounds of Hawaiian music playing softly in the background. CMs greet you with "Aloha." Rooms are dark wood, intended to be cooling and soothing. It's an amazing counterpoint to the frenetic craziness of the parks.
I could very happily live in the Polynesian.
Then throw in the transportation: the MK monorail is right there. And the TTC is steps away, so the Epcot monorail is a piece of cake.
Paradise.
But last trip, we decided to try the Beach Club. I had read all the books, and knew the basics. But a friend of my daughter's was over for dinner one night, and had just gotten back. She described the BC as being "right across the street from Epcot, closer than the church is to your house." OK, when advertising says something is close, you take it with a grain of salt. But when a kid, who walked back with sore feet after a day of touring says so, you pay attention.
Kelly was right: it was no more than a 5 minute walk from our room to International Gateway. (Disclaimer: I did request, and get, a room "close to Epcot." We were right above the Dis's "hidden entrance.") And it was a bit cheaper than the Poly. And the Pool... don't get me started on StormAlong Bay!!! My kids are all total water rats; we go back every single afternoon for some pool time when the parks get too hot and crowded and cranky for our taste. If I could happily live in the Poly, my kids could happily live in StormAlong Bay. It was wonderful!!
And that access to Epcot simply can't be overstated. You're steps away from any sort of cuisine you could want. Oh, and DHS is also very close, though we chose not to make the walk in the August heat. The boat ride was great, and we enjoyed it.
I must also say a word about the hospitality of the BC. Saturday night at Epcot, my husband tripped and hurt his finger. By Monday, it was red, swollen, painful and warm to the touch; he took his wedding ring off the adjacent finger while he still could. We went to First Aid, and they suggested a trip to the hospital. While there, they found that not only did he have a broken finger (under the nail, where it wouldn't effect his ability to bend the finger), and a staph infection (my guess would be courtesy of a hot tub, though we don't know that), his diabetes was also out of control and they talked about admitting him. We were leaving for home in less than 24 hours, and he had thousands of dollars of camera equipment with him that needed to be packed up, and I had no idea how to do it.
I went to the front desk in tears.. it's how I deal with stress. The first thing they did was to give me access to the room until Magical Express arrived the next day. The hospital eventually released my husband, and he went to the desk, requesting that they call when the prescription arrived. They comped his cab fare, and sent the prescription right up.
They saved that last day. He was able to change, take his medicine when it arrived, and get up the next day to pack up his stuff. Then we had access to the room for a few more hours, so we hit Epcot one more time before returning at about 3 to check out.
The also wrote in response to the thank you note I sent, and called a few weeks later to see how he was. Customer service at its finest. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the service we received at the Beach Club.
Again, my apologies for the lengthy answer to a simple question
