Anyone regret buying before staying? Leaning Poly now...

[TTA Rider Matt]

I would suggest watching YouTube videos of all different rooms types that you would want to regularly stay in. My wife and I did this without ever having stayed at any DVC resort aside from BCV, OKW, and BWV. We decided that with our family of 4, even with the Murphy bed in use when the kids get older, it provides us with enough room given the size of the studios, and the two showers was a big factor for us too. Factoring in length of contract, dues, and transportation, we found it to be best for us. Plus, it's always been my dream to stay at the Poly, been going to WDW since '95 and I never have. For a family of 5, I'm not sure I would want to choose a "studio only" property.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We recently stayed at poly in two studios. Even though we had not requested it ahead of time and were assigned different buildings, reception did switch our rooms to make them connecting right at check in. I did not ask for it, they just suggested it and did it!

We love poly, really love poly. Captain Cooks is our favorite quick service, poly is our favorite theme, tropical/ Hawaiian is our favorite decor. The grounds are gorgeous .. but... I wouldn’t buy there. Here is why:

1. We cannot survive without a washer dryer.
2. Kids like tombstone frozen pizza from the gift shop (cooks in oven).
3. It’s a real PITA making coffee in the morning on that microscopic counter. Lol
4. It’s dirty. The hallways are dirty, the rooms are dirty— least clean dvc on property. And there are lots of scooters parked in the hallways, giving it a sloppy, (sorry to offend) down market feel.
5. The pools are overcrowded with folks not staying there. Not trying to start a discussion but they just are.
6. There’s no dvc lobby. No community hall. It’s all rather half done.
7. Frenetic, crowded.
8. The bus shares with GF. Ugh. Time waster. Overcrowded. Give me a one resort bus, please.
9. If you want to work out you have to go to GF and their gym isn’t anything special.
10. The bungalows. No thanks.

Good luck deciding! Just my 2 cents!

 

[Leahc117]

I just came back from AKL Kidani today and am considering DVC. Originally I wanted AKL DVC resale. A couple of my favorite features (some of these are random): It was quiet - the resort was fully booked and I only heard anyone else from our room 1 or 2 times. The elevators were waiting/came quickly every time we pushed the button (passing through the contemporary a few times and we have waited for a long time for those elevators!), our family of 5 fit fine (but we will need a 1 bedroom next visit) in a studio with the pack and play tucking nicely into the door area where the room would connect. I liked the under resort parking, the car stayed cool and was easy to get to. However - i think i could manage to book a trip and get decent availability at AKL in the 7 mo window so maybe it is not the best use of "home resort". There are multiple resorts I would like to stay at and worry about availability. My husband and I loved copper creek but the room sizes/layout may not work for us (especially for the price).
The Poly is lovely but i would like the option of larger room options - if you love the poly maybe that works as home resort and you could use the larger 1 bed/2 bed option at SSR, OKW, and AKL as another option since they don't book as aggressively as some of the others? Grand Floridian has both studios and 1 bedroom options that sleep 5 - anyone recommend it?

 

[AVmatt]

Not a DVC member yet, but stayed at the Poly four times and absolutely love it. I’m debating between buying at Poly for 11 month advantage or partially/all at Saratoga Springs for a lower cost.

I believe you mentioned vacationing in the summer?

From the Predicting Availability thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/
Looks like 2 bedrooms aren’t too hard to get at AKV at 7 months in the warmer months, but Poly studios would be a bitt more difficult.

What if you get half your points at Poly and half at SSR (cheaper than AKV) and then bank/borrow to alternate between Poly at 11 months and AKV at 7 months? If you decide you don’t like one/both options after two years, you can probably resell your contracts at a profit or at least the same price/point you paid and then buy elsewhere.

 

[rg35]

We bought AKV in 2012 without ever staying there. I did all the research online and my wife and I went over the cost, details of each resort , available room sizes, etc. and made a decision based on that.

A couple of notes I would say just about AKV:
-We booked a Savannah view for our first two trips. The novelty wears off after a while and the animals aren't really that interesting. For our last stay there, we booked a standard room. (We also stay at OKW half the time.)
-We have triplets so we sleep 5 in a 1BR and it has worked out fine for us. Our son sleeps on the pullout chair and the girls on the pullout sofa. We did have enough points for a 2BR at OKW last year, and while it was better, we will still book 1 bedrooms in the future. After our 2021 trip, however, it's likely that we'll cut back to every other year rather every other year. So with 500 points (two years worth), we can more regularly book 2BRs -- lest we become subject to addonitis. As our kids get older I want them to experience world travel and not visit Disney each year as well.
-We eat breakfast in the room on our park days, so the full kitchen comes in handy for that vs. a studio offering.
-I think monorail resorts are overrated unless you're going to Magic Kingdom every day. Even when our kids were younger (they are now 11), we still spent a good deal of time at every park, so monorail access wasn't terribly important for us. We also drive down (or will rent a car if we fly), so we have our own transportation anyway.
-The Samawati springs splash area is great for young kids.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Our vote is Poly. Location and theming. Cooking in the room is the reason to go AKV. I like the animals but it’s my DH’s least favorite. We own SSR and have stayed everywhere. That may get more difficult though. Good luck.

 

[crisi]

My comments - your kids will not be young forever, and the Magic Kingdom may be the last place your teens want to be. If that is your favorite park as an adult, then rank it high. If its getting ranked high because your kids are little, drop that desire down a bit in the ranking.

I would NEVER trade the in room washer dryer and kitchen for more sleeping surfaces. When we bought DVC I didn't think I'd care about the stove or washer/dryer. Now, they are a necessity. Especially when the kids were little. On the other hand, unlike others, one bathroom with four people in the room works fine for us and I really don't get those that have a huge issue with that - but I grew up in a house with one bathroom for five - ten for two weeks every Summer when we'd host our cousins.

I love the Poly as a hotel, but it isn't DVC with the studios.

And we bought - years ago - BWV without ever having been back in the Epcot resort area - the closest we'd been is the bridge between France and England in Epcot. Back then there were fewer choices, that made it easier. But we feel like we picked a good resort for us. We like walking to Epcot. The theming is fine. We've made more use out of Grand Villas than I expected.