BC or Poly at Christmas time for short trip?

[twodogs]

We are heading to WDW for only 3 park days (really 2 full days and one MVMCP-only day). I currently have BC Gardens/Woods view (with RO discount) and Poly Standard view (Rack rate). For our 4 nights, the price difference is about $800. We have never stayed at either resort (have stayed at AKL 3 times, BLT twice). Kids are 10 and 12. We are park open to close people at WDW as it is time consuming to take a resort break mid day, even at close resorts (as well, since this is such a short trip, we will likely spend our park days in the parks). Since trip is in December, while I am hoping pools will be an option which kids would love, it may be too cold. On day with MVMCP, we plan to hit mini golf in the morning (with our tickets) and then DS in the afternoon or stay at the resort until MVMCP.

I know that they are both deluxe, and have proximity advantages to different parks, and park proximity is very important to us this trip since it is a short trip. We will be at all 4 parks (~1/2 day each, hopping mid day), and at the party at MK as well. We will likely Uber/Lyft if needed at park close because long bus lines almost undid me at Spring Break this year, and I am sure Christmas time is similar or worse. Would love to walk to/from parks if possible, but I don't want to walk 25 minutes or something like that.

Any thoughts on which you might choose and why? I expect they will both be decorated for Christmas but not sure how that looks (first Christmas time trip for us)? I think from BC we can walk to mini golf and Boardwalk area? I like the idea of the monorail, but it seems somewhat unreliable, and I wonder if it will just be packed in mid December, such that it is not terribly usable? I'm leaning towards BC because they seem like a wash to me, other than just style/decor, and it saves us some money. However, I've also always wanted to try Poly, so I don't know what to do. I think if I could get Poly with the discount, the price would even out, and I'd take Poly. Thoughts, my Dis gurus??

 

[disneygolfer1985]

For a short trip like that, the BC would be the most centrally located. You can walk to Epcot and DHS which saves time. The pool would be better at BC. The BC has a gingerbread carousel in the lobby. I have always been more of a fan of the Epcot resorts for location.

 

[NH-to-FL]

DW and I love the Epcot resort area. Of your two choices I would go with the BC. Walk or boat to two parks. And you will be able to walk over to the Boardwalk and Fantasia Gardens mini golf.

Unless you are looking for the advantage of being able to boat/monorail to the MK then I think you will be very happy with the BC.

 

[loves to dive]

I would go BC but that is because I love the Epcot resorts. You do have access to two parks within walking distance, you did say you didn't want to walk 20 minutes though so there is that to take into account. We can walk from HS to Epcot in 20 minutes, we walk from BC to Epcot is about 5 min. The walk from BC to HS can be about 10 to 15 min according to how fast you walk. I'm assuming you have park hoppers since you said you would be going to a different park at night so you could hop on the monorail in Epcot to MK, thus giving you access to 3 parks without taking the bus. I'm not a huge fan of the monorail resorts because I don't like having to rely on the monorail to get to two parks. You can take the boat from Poly to MK and if you didn't want to take the monorail, take the boat to MK then hop on a bus to Epcot. If BC is less than Poly, I say go for it. You can always visit Poly on your MK day.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would do BC because you have easy access to two parks. I would Uber it to MK and AK with the savings of $800. The pool is much better at the BC. We found Poly pool to be small and my kids were bored with it. The splash pad is great for small kids but my kids were 15 and 9. They loved the BC for the area and pool.

 

[Marthasor]

I agree with the others. I would go BC for this trip. If you are going to all 4 parks, BC gives you a big advantage to EP and DHS (EP is literally right next to EP, BC maybe 15 minutes or you can take the boat). I'm not a huge monorail fan. I find it to be quite unreliable and I would rather rely on my feet or an uber to get to the parks. If you stay at BC and want to uber/lyft to MK, I would recommend having the driver drop you off at CR (and walking over) or GF and taking the monorail. After MVMCP, you can always walk to CR and get an uber from there or we typically just grab the first EP resort bus that pulls up (BC/YC, BWI or Swan/Dolphin) as they are all within walking distance of each other.

 

[twodogs]

OK you are all AMAZING. This is just what I was thinking but never having stayed in either, I was torn. We will definitely walk if it is 20 minutes or less (we are fast walkers) to Epcot and DHS, as the buses are the worst part of the trip for me. Thank you all for the pool advice (maybe we will get lucky with the weather), as my kids were bored by the pool at DLH in California, even though it is a big selling point, I guess because they are too old for it now. Thanks as well for bus advice on the EPCOT resorts. I didn't realize they were all walking distance to each other, so that gives us a lot more options on the way out in the evenings. We have Military hoppers with 2 days left on them from earlier this year, so we decided to use them. My parents (the retired military) who were with us on our spring trip when we started the tickets won't be able to join this time, so we can't take advantage of the great military room discounts Disney usually offers. This offer is still 20% off, which is not bad with the way discounts seem to be going these days at Disney.

Thank you all for your advice, and I know that BC is going to be wonderful!!