booked poly - but can’t warm up to the idea of staying there...

[KenHutch]

First off take a deep breath and remember a trip to WDW staying on site anywhere is better than being at home. I actually suffer from the opposite issue than you. I have wanted to stay at the Contemp since I was a little kid but we are probably staying at The Poly. My 18 year old says the CR is to cold and in-Disney like. Every trip we eat at The Poly 2-4 times and she just likes the feel more. Remember even at The Poly your still at Disney.

 

[stephk1981]

We love Poly and BC, stay at each every year. A few years we have thrown in a third trip at GF or BWI......while those aren't my * favorites* we still had an amazing trip. We stayed at CR TPV once, not CL. Granted it was only for 2 nights before we could get a reservation at Poly, but we all disliked it. Try poly out, even though I disliked CR ( as in I'd stay off site rather than at CR) I am still glad we tried it. I never would have known it wasn't a good fit for us. Have a great trip!

 

[karasmom]

I appreciate all the opinions!

To the ones suggested We should not go if we can’t get the resort we want - we HAVE to go. It’s for cheerleading so I don’t have a choice - my daughter has to be there during those days (give or take a day or two).

I don’t know what’s wrong with me - I love the theming and “feel” - one would think I’d be super excited...

I’m hoping we will go and love it and, as someone suggested, we will end up with a new favorite to choose from

But I’ll still keep calling to see what else may open - packages are due to be paid today for my check in day so some may drop their reservation!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I actually think it's good that you are trying something new. Don't get me wrong, I have my favorites as well, but, as you have discovered, sometimes your favorite just isn't available so, if you want to (or have to, in your case) go to WDW, you make do with what is available in resort inventory. After dozens and dozens of trips, we've discovered we will only stay deluxe, but I still like to save money, so I shop all the deluxes for the best deal and, though I prefer the EP resorts, I can construct a great trip with whatever resort/room category offers me the best price. We also throw Swan/Dolphin into that mix if it offers the best savings. We always try to focus on whatever unique things the resort we are staying in has to offer so, if staying at Poly for instance, we definitely go to Trader Sam's and, on our last trip there, went to SOA as well. These are things we probably wouldn't travel over to do if we were at AKL or BC, for instance. So, I would go and enjoy everything Poly has to offer! You may end up loving it!

 

[ginny65]

I understand your contemplation. We LOVE YC and SAB. Our upcoming trip is the DH and myself for our anniversary. We've always wanted to go to Hawaii, so we thought why not Poly?! We did stay at Poly years ago with the kids, so we know how beautiful and relaxing it is. Now that we have our reservations booked though, I'm already missing YC. I just love the clean lines of the resort architecture at YC and that beautiful SAB! We also love walking to Epcot, DHS, BW, Dolphin/Swan and mini golf. This is suppose to be a relaxing anniversary trip though, and we are only going to Epcot one day. The rest of our trip, we are just relaxing and the resort. But still, it's hard to not go somewhere you know you love, especially when you are spending so much money.

 

[FSU Girl]

I was not a fan of Poly, just don't like going outside to get to my room. I love the Contemporary, one of my favorites on property. I would just keep checking, you never know what will pop up. Please cancel or change rooms all the time. I was able to get a one-bedroom villa at Grand Floridian a few months out for my wedding and that was one of the hardest to get rooms on property, it was completely sold out for months and I just kept checking every day and one day what I needed showed available.

 

[AngiTN]

I appreciate all the opinions!

To the ones suggested We should not go if we can’t get the resort we want - we HAVE to go. It’s for cheerleading so I don’t have a choice - my daughter has to be there during those days (give or take a day or two).

I don’t know what’s wrong with me - I love the theming and “feel” - one would think I’d be super excited...

I’m hoping we will go and love it and, as someone suggested, we will end up with a new favorite to choose from

But I’ll still keep calling to see what else may open - packages are due to be paid today for my check in day so some may drop their reservation!

Even if you don't go and love it it's not like you are going to go and be in a 3rd world country or anything. It's still Disney World, so it's not going to be horrific.
I don't care for GF on the surface.
But, I knew I'd never know for certain how I truly felt till I stayed there. So I booked a stay and gave it a shot for a short trip.
And you know what, I didn't love it, or really even like it a lot.
I wasn't so miserable I wished I was at home or anything but I did learn enough that I don't plan to book again.
So sure, keep checking and sure, CR may well show up but don't go in dreading Poly. It's not going to be that bad

Or look at it like this, do you allow the kids to just say they won't eat something? Without ever giving it a try? Or do you make them at least give it a taste first? This is sort of the same thing, right?

 

[karasmom]

You just totally pulled the “mom card” on me
“You don’t know if you like it if you don’t try it”! I sontotally say that to my kids all the time

Even if you don't go and love it it's not like you are going to go and be in a 3rd world country or anything. It's still Disney World, so it's not going to be horrific.
I don't care for GF on the surface.
But, I knew I'd never know for certain how I truly felt till I stayed there. So I booked a stay and gave it a shot for a short trip.
And you know what, I didn't love it, or really even like it a lot.
I wasn't so miserable I wished I was at home or anything but I did learn enough that I don't plan to book again.
So sure, keep checking and sure, CR may well show up but don't go in dreading Poly. It's not going to be that bad

Or look at it like this, do you allow the kids to just say they won't eat something? Without ever giving it a try? Or do you make them at least give it a taste first? This is sort of the same thing, right?

 

[Rosanne]

I had just decided to check the Disboards before going to bed and was thinking wistfully about how much I wish we were staying at the Poly in a week and a half instead of Caribbean Beach. Then I saw your post, OP, and how you wish you could be at CR instead of Poly. Just goes to show that each resort speaks to different people. I would like to stay at CR sometime but now the Poly is officially my favorite.

Even at CB I feel immensely thankful I'm able to take these trips with my family.

Hope you love the Poly also. To me it feels different staying there than visiting.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

You're getting various points of view here. Your intuition says you won't like the Poly. I think you're probably right. I like the above suggestions of renting points at BLT if you can, or try the Four Seasons, or keep looking to see what other places open up via direct reservations or rented points. Also did you try looking on various travel websites. Sometimes those have availability even when it's sold out for bookings directly through Disney. Hope that helps.

 

[Shellyb84]

We had a hard time venturing away from BC for several years so I get it! We’ve found new (sometimes unexpected) favorites by trying new places! We just spent the weekend at SSR, we wanted to add a few nights and that’s all that was available. We went in with somewhat low expectations and ended up absolutely loving it! I wouldn’t say it’s our number one (our top favorite now is the Poly, here now!) but definitely want to go back. We also ended up loving Pop when we tried it for a long weekend a few years back and have been back there several times. Honestly a lot of times our “favorite” resort is usually just whichever one we’re at! It’s Disney

 

[msjprincess]

I would give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised. There have been a few trips where I ended up in a resort that I didn't really want to try and ended up liking it. There are some resorts that I like more than others. But I have never found one that I hated so much that it ruined a trip.

Unfortunately I think the chances of finding availability using points at BLT on such short notice are slim to none. Maybe a random day here or there but not enough to string together a trip.

 

[dragonfly57005]

GF super fan here so I get what you are saying that it isn’t your go-to resort.
I’ve stayed at the Poly and still am a GF fan.
I didn’t like the rooms at the Poly - I thought it was dark, but it rained a lot during the trip for long stretches so that might be part of it.
I did like the outside areas - so beautiful. Fireworks from the beach is an incredible memory. The family still got to see the electric boat parade which is always a favorite.

I think you will enjoy your time at teh Poly - but when you will probably like your home resort better the next time you get to stay there again!

 

[AngiTN]

I would give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised. There have been a few trips where I ended up in a resort that I didn't really want to try and ended up liking it. There are some resorts that I like more than others. But I have never found one that I hated so much that it ruined a trip.

Unfortunately I think the chances of finding availability using points at BLT on such short notice are slim to none. Maybe a random day here or there but not enough to string together a trip.

This sums it up the best right there, in my opinion
We've tried every resort/villa on property except OKW and this exactly sums it up. Even with some pretty cruddy resort experiences I can't look back and say the trip was ruined.

 

[Sara_H]

It is funny because everybody has their own opinions and they stick to them. For me CR has no appeal but the Poly is on our bucket list. I have heard of several people who have always wanted to stay at Poly and then once they did were disappointed but on the flip side others love it! To each their own and I agree with someone above, you never know, you may end up liking it. If not, well you tried but at least you still got to go to Disney.

 

[Garyjames220]

All I can say is if your not to keen in staying there is that your more than welcome to transfer your booking to my name and I’ll stay there instead

As we don’t want the room going un used

 

[ginny65]

All I can say is if your not to keen in staying there is that your more than welcome to transfer your booking to my name and I’ll stay there instead

As we don’t want the room going un used

 

[fla4fun]

But I can’t help but wonder... is it just not “feeling” right because it’s not the CR and NOTHING will “feel” right?

I want it to be amazing ‍ And I don’t want to set myself up for a negative experience. I don’t think it will suck - I just don’t think it’ll be the same....

I can sympathize with the love of CR. We stayed there for years when there weren’t a lot of other options, and it was our home.

But when they built CBR and GF, and gradually other resorts as well, we started giving other resorts a chance. Yes, it was different. Different doesn’t always translate to less than or disappointing. We found some new favorites and a few that were ok, but aren’t at the top of our preference list. But we never out and out hated one or wished we hadn’t tried it.

I would keep trying to get your favorite. Focus especially around 10 to 6 days prior to check in when the room only crowd hits their penalty free cancellation deadline. But I can think of a lot worse things than a vacation at the Poly (which we have stayed at three times) so if you can’t get CR, give Poly a chance. Don’t go into it comparing it to CR, but go into it looking at the good things about the Poly (a big one for us was ease of transportation to MK and Epcot). As much as we love CR, I will be the first to admit it has cons as well as pros.

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[KayKayJS]

I'd keep looking. You won't hate it most likely, but you may not love it.

I felt like GF might be a little too stuffy for me, but I actually really enjoyed it and would definitely go back and stay longer.

Poly on the other hand, I don't think I could stay there without a major refurbishment now that I've been to Aulani twice. I know the resort isn't cheap to stay at, but in comparison to Aulani, it looks cheap (to me).

 

[karasmom]

Are you going to get my daughter to ESPN for cheer and be around thousands crazy freaking cheer people in a place that makes you feel claustrophobic as all get out when you KNOW Magic Kingdom is just a few miles a way?

BE MY GUEST!!!

All I can say is if your not to keen in staying there is that your more than welcome to transfer your booking to my name and I’ll stay there instead

As we don’t want the room going un used