Bay Lake Tower or Polynesian DVC Studio

[Vasiliki76]

Hi All,
Could use help please. Planning April 2018 trip with DH, DD8 and DS5 (ages at the time). I'm so torn between the resorts. Two years ago we stayed at BLT and loved the convenience to MK. I'm not sure if the kids will love MK as much as last time or not. Is that age range still MK focused? I'm tempted to book Polynesian for the theme, but hesitant to lose the convenience and it's about $500 more. Any advice please? The studio size isn't a big deal to us as we don't mind squeezing in.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Are your kids willing to share a double sofa bed? BLT is a queen + double sofa bed, and is the smallest DVC studio.

Poly has 3 distinct sleep surfaces and while you cannot walk to MK, you can boat or monorail and also walk to the EPCOT monorail.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I love bay lake but would never stay in a studio there with two people let alone 4. Poly studios are bigger and the split bathroom is much better for families. The proximity to MK is the same since it's a boat ride or two monorail stops away from MK. But if you are dvc member at bay lake you can get awesome view of fireworks from the roof top area.

As to kids they should love MK as much or more.

 

[Vasiliki76]

Are your kids willing to share a double sofa bed? BLT is a queen + double sofa bed, and is the smallest DVC studio.

Poly has 3 distinct sleep surfaces and while you cannot walk to MK, you can boat or monorail and also walk to the EPCOT monorail.

Thank you! I was thinking of putting a twin aero mattress in the doorway. We had a pack and play last time. Epcot location on the Poly sounds nice. Do you think a 8 and 5 year old would like Epcot? I remember going as a 16 year old and not loving it. I know it's changed alot since then!

 

[Vasiliki76]

I love bay lake but would never stay in a studio there with two people let alone 4. Poly studios are bigger and the split bathroom is much better for families. The proximity to MK is the same since it's a boat ride or two monorail stops away from MK. But if you are dvc member at bay lake you can get awesome view of fireworks from the roof top area.

As to kids they should love MK as much or more.

Thank you! That's really helpful. Glad to know they should like MK as much!! They LOVED it last time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you! I was thinking of putting a twin aero mattress in the doorway. We had a pack and play last time. Epcot location on the Poly sounds nice. Do you think a 8 and 5 year old would like Epcot? I remember going as a 16 year old and not loving it. I know it's changed alot since then!

I took DS8 and an about-to-turn DD6 to Epcot in October. They loved it. Test Track was a huge favorite, they did all the WS meet-and-greets, and they enjoyed Illuminations quite a lot (while Mom enjoyed a drink from La Cava ).

 

[Vasiliki76]

I took DS8 and an about-to-turn DD6 to Epcot in October. They loved it. Test Track was a huge favorite, they did all the WS meet-and-greets, and they enjoyed Illuminations quite a lot (while Mom enjoyed a drink from La Cava ).

Thanks! Maybe it's time to give it a try. I could use a drink from La Cava right now!!

 

[Jennasis]

DH and I own at BLT and it is our favorite resort. I don't have any issue with the size of the room, and frankly you aren't in your room much anyway. The location is unbeatable, especially if MK is your thing. The food choices are better too. The Contempo Cafe is a far better QS than Capt. Cook's at the Poly, and the Wave is fantastic for a TS place.

That said, we also just stayed at the Poly studios last September and they were lovely. The studio is larger and does have 2 bathrooms. The pools are great too. We actually never went to the Lava pool as it was always crowded but the Oasis pool was great.

We can't go wrong with either choice.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

What kids will like in WDW is completely dependent on each individual kid. My DS9 has always preferred EP and AK over DHS and MK because he prefers more interactive experiences (when the Great Piggy Bank Adventure was in Innoventions, he literally could have played that all day long).

If your choices are only Poly and BLT, I would go with Poly for the reasons the PP's mentioned, but I, personally, wouldn't rule out BCV or BWV if you think you will visit EP and DHS more this trip. They may price out less than Poly as well. There is a LOT to do in the EP resort area.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If the options are an inflatable in the doorway or Poly, my answer will always be Poly.

 

[tgarre06]

We had this same debate a few weeks ago. We've stayed at the Poly and Contemporary before but not the DVC. We ultimately went with BLT and rented points for a lakeview studio. The room size is not an issue for us. Our kids will be 5 and 2 then, so we visit MK the most. For us, the walk to MK made us choose BLT. With a double stroller, for us, the walk cannot be beat. We loved being able to walk back and forth when we stayed at the Contemporary. It was so, so easy with tired kids not having to walk with herds of people after the fireworks to the modes of transportation. When we stayed at the Poly about a year ago, the morning we had early reservations at CRT, the monorail was down and the resort was not running the boat to MK yet. There were many disgruntled guests waiting for the bus that ended up taking 45 minutes to arrive. That was our only MK day, and I was standing at the bus stop wondering why the heck I had just spent all that money to stay on the monorail. That experience left a bad taste in my mouth. On the other hand, I loved being able to walk to TTC because it was only one monorail to Epcot. We disliked Capt. Cook's because it was chaotic and most of the employees seemed miserable. The staff that I encountered at the Poly as a whole with the exception of one employee was less than stellar. On the other hand, we LOVED the pool area and the view being directly across from the castle. That was really magical to be able to drink my coffee in the morning and look out to that. As a previous poster mentioned, we much preferred Contempo Cafe to Capt Cook's. Great service and good food, lots of healthy choices also. It's a tough one, but I honestly think you cannot go wrong with either. I'd happily return to the Poly again, we just chose BLT for this trip due to the ages of our kids and the fact that we will spend most of our time at MK.

 

[Amelia :)]

If the options are an inflatable in the doorway or Poly, my answer will always be Poly.

Agree. You don't spend that amount of money to have to bring an inflatable bed.

 

[Nancyg56]

DH and I own at BLT and it is our favorite resort. I don't have any issue with the size of the room, and frankly you aren't in your room much anyway. The location is unbeatable, especially if MK is your thing. The food choices are better too. The Contempo Cafe is a far better QS than Capt. Cook's at the Poly, and the Wave is fantastic for a TS place.

That said, we also just stayed at the Poly studios last September and they were lovely. The studio is larger and does have 2 bathrooms. The pools are great too. We actually never went to the Lava pool as it was always crowded but the Oasis pool was great.

We can't go wrong with either choice.

Given a choice between the two resorts, and allowing that I have a Poly bias, I still would choose the Poly. Both resorts have conveniences, but from a size standpoint alone, teh Poly Studios are pretty nice. Add that aero bed option and Poly wins, hands down.

My DD and her family were there (not DVC) in July and spent their pool time in the oasis pool. They loved the location as well as the atmosphere so much more than the feature pool.

OP- it is true that both locations are really pretty convenient in terms of travel IMO. I also think that no one knows what parks your children will gravitate towards. My DGD always preferred DHS and Epcot when she was young. My DH is still insisting that MK has to be the frst park that children should go into but in 11 years we never have done that and he has never noticed once we arrive.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I'd go Poly as well. BLT studios are very poorly designed, making them seem even smaller than they are. Poly studios are over 100 sq ft larger than BLT's, and the difference is very noticeable. Plus, you have the ability for two people to shower at the same time at Poly.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'd go Poly as well. BLT studios are very poorly designed, making them seem even smaller than they are. Poly studios are over 100 sq ft larger than BLT's, and the difference is very noticeable. Plus, you have the ability for two people to shower at the same time at Poly.

That would make a lot of difference in my family. The two bathrooms plus the sleeping space would make the decision.

 

[Vasiliki76]

We had this same debate a few weeks ago. We've stayed at the Poly and Contemporary before but not the DVC. We ultimately went with BLT and rented points for a lakeview studio. The room size is not an issue for us. Our kids will be 5 and 2 then, so we visit MK the most. For us, the walk to MK made us choose BLT. With a double stroller, for us, the walk cannot be beat. We loved being able to walk back and forth when we stayed at the Contemporary. It was so, so easy with tired kids not having to walk with herds of people after the fireworks to the modes of transportation. When we stayed at the Poly about a year ago, the morning we had early reservations at CRT, the monorail was down and the resort was not running the boat to MK yet. There were many disgruntled guests waiting for the bus that ended up taking 45 minutes to arrive. That was our only MK day, and I was standing at the bus stop wondering why the heck I had just spent all that money to stay on the monorail. That experience left a bad taste in my mouth. On the other hand, I loved being able to walk to TTC because it was only one monorail to Epcot. We disliked Capt. Cook's because it was chaotic and most of the employees seemed miserable. The staff that I encountered at the Poly as a whole with the exception of one employee was less than stellar. On the other hand, we LOVED the pool area and the view being directly across from the castle. That was really magical to be able to drink my coffee in the morning and look out to that. As a previous poster mentioned, we much preferred Contempo Cafe to Capt Cook's. Great service and good food, lots of healthy choices also. It's a tough one, but I honestly think you cannot go wrong with either. I'd happily return to the Poly again, we just chose BLT for this trip due to the ages of our kids and the fact that we will spend most of our time at MK.

Thank you! I hadn't even thought about an early reservation. That would drive me nuts! We stayed at BLT when our kids were 5 and 2 and had a blast! Hope you do too!

 

[BeautyBeastAndNemo]

Poly

 

[disny_luvr]

That's a difficult question and one I just had to answer myself. The Poly is my absolute favorite resort BUT my boys always beg to stay at either the Contemporary or BLT. Personally, I'm not crazy about either the Contemporary or BLT. DH and I recently decided to add two nights at Disney after our cruise and while I wanted to rent points and stay at the Poly, DH thought it was the perfect opportunity to stay at BLT. We went back and forth and finally decided on BLT. We like that we can walk to the MK. When we stayed at the Poly last summer the monorail was down a lot and it got annoying. I know everyone says about the size of the BLT studios, but after spending five days in a smaller room on the ship, I can't imagine they'll be that bad. We also don't spend too much time in our room so I'm not worried about the size of them.

 

[MaleficentRN]

I'll suggest BLT but only by a slight edge. I loved the larger room with extra shower at Poly, loved walking to TTC, but it is very dark at night and too spread out for me. I feel like I could have gotten an extra 15 minutes of sleep when going to MK if staying at BLT and not have lost my way when going to my room at 2am.

 

[tbholc81]

We did a split stay in September at the Poly and BLT. Poly was hands down better for us. It was myself, DW, DD (4) and DS (1). The pull down bed at the Poly was awesome for our DD, had a little night lite for her an everything, plus not sleeping on a pull out couch was a big plus. Once in BLT having to pull the couch out to the sleeper sofa took up most of the space in an already small room. We found both to be very convenient; walking to MK from BLT was great, but walking to the TTC from Poly balanced that out for us. We also like the dining options more at Poly.