We are making a somewhat last minute (well, still a month out, but it feels late!) switch and willbe staying at Poly in February. Two adults and a three year old.
Justtryig to decide if cub level would be worth it for us--it looks like it would be about $120 more per night, including taxes. I am pregnant and DH isn't a big drinker, so we wouldn't reallybe saving much on drinks. I had planned to order some groceries and have breakfast in our room most days, so breakfast in the lounge wouldn't be a big savings either. I could see us doing appetizers instead of dinner some nights, though, and being able to watch the fireworks in the lounge might be nice.
I am leaning towards just doing standard this trip and saving club level for when we have older kids. But wanted to make sure I'm not missing any great reason to do it with a young child.
And then for longhouse requests...I was thinking maybe Rarotonga, my son might like a monorail view room,and with the lobby construction being done that seemed like it might be fairly quiet? Otherwise probably Fiji? Looking for quiet at night and an easy walk to dining and monorail/TTC as priorities, I think.
Whiporee is not the resident Poly grinch, but that made me laugh a little!
I always appreciate insights from everyone regarding their experiences and perspectives and I agree the bungalows detract from the previous view.
For us, CL is entirely worth it at Poly. We've stayed both CL and non-CL at Poly and with kids. Our experience with our two hungry teens doesn't apply here, so I won't go into all of that, but I can share our experience with our youngest.
Even if we took our teens out of the mix, I'd book CL with our youngest. For us, it's not necessarily the value of the food, but the convenience. The breakfast isn't anything spectacular, but it's more than enough for us and wonderfully convenient with kids. Our youngest is up early and interested in some cereal and juice as a pre-breakfast before anyone is ready to go. Staying CL allows him to be up and out with my husband or me while the others get ready for the day (or in some cases, continue to sleep!) I'd skip the grocery/breakfast order and use the lounge. Not a dollar for dollar savings for a family of three, but the convenience and the ability to eat somewhere other than the room is important to us when traveling with kids.
And the snacks in the club lounge are great for him too - now he's always interested in leaving the parks for a break at the resort to see what snacks are available in the lounge. It's nothing super-valuable - crackers, chips, candy, beverages. But the lure of the lounge makes afternoon breaks more pleasant and convenient. Same at night after dinner - he's ready to head back to see what is available for dessert and he makes fewer requests for treats in the park as a result. We like to see the fireworks, but a full view isn't critical - so the lounge during fireworks is great for us - our youngest is in his PJs and no fighting the crowds with a tired little one. Definitely not the same as being there in the park, but good for us.
A huge benefit is the parade of healthy snacks in the evening (along with some not-so-healthy.) Our youngest enjoys cheese, crackers, veggies and milk before we head out for our dinner ADR. He arrives at our dinner ADR with healthy snacks in his tummy, and often falls asleep peacefully during dinner. There's something about the spread that appeals to him - if I put out the same food at home or offered a piece of cheese or carrot in the room, he wouldn't be as interested.
And this only applies to kids who are really social, but our youngest is exactly that. He loves sitting at the kids' table in the lounge with the little TV playing Disney channel and making friends. It's great down time for him and he's already talking about the friends he will make in the Poly lounge next week!
In the past, we've stayed non-CL and brought or bought snacks and breakfast items for the room. But it's not the same, in our opinion. We overbuy, they are not as healthy, it's not as pleasant to eat snacks in the room and set up/clean. In my opinion, Captain Cooks is great. But my family is anti-CS generally (long story) so they are grumpy about it from our last non-CL stay. With a 3-year-old, the convenience of CL would be really nice.
