Boulder Ridge Villas vs Poly Villas

[ChipNDad]

Planning our 5th trip to the world with our 12 y.o. daughter and 7 y.o. son in sept. 2018. We have been watching endless YouTube videos about all the resorts. We are planning on renting dvc points and have narrowed our choices to the poly villas or boulder ridge villas. Anyone care to offer their insight on which one we should book??

 

[Trip planner]

Are you considering a studio at Boulder ridge? Besides the bungalows, Poly only has studios whereas Boulder ridge has 1 and 2 bedroom options. If space is important, BRV may be the way to go. If you are only considering studios, I prefer Poly for location and transportation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Both BRV and PVB will have the murphy bed in the studio. There is no murphy bed in the BRV one bedroom. PVB will have one queen bed and one queen sleeper plus the bunk sized murphy bed in the studio. BRV will have one queen bed and one double sleeper sofa plus the bunk sized murphy bed in the studio. PVB will also have a separate shower in another space other than the space with the tub, toilet and sink. BRV will have a single combo tub/shower with a toilet and the sink outside. BRV one bedroom will have a king bed and queen sleeper sofa, separate tub and shower with two sinks. One bedroom has a full kitchen. Both studios just have microwave, undercounter refrigerator (without a freezer section), coffee pot and toaster.

 

[DG25]

If you are going between to studios than for me you need to ask about room lay out. Since you have a boy and a girl, both with give you a sofa pull out, BRV will have a full, Poly will have a queen, both will have a pull down Murphy twin bed. And both will have a queeen bed. Here is the big difference, the poly bath room will give you a shower and toilet in one, and a tub with shower and sink in the other, so mom and daughter can shower in one while dad and son use the other in morning and you all get done faster. At BRV you have only a tub with shower and toilet and the sinks are outside the bathroom.

Next thing to consider is are you going to use the pools a lot. My favorite would be BRV, but your kids favorite is going to be Poly. The difference and someone else can chime in here, is at BRV everyone can use both pools I am told, but at poly the quiet pool is just for the villa people, although again your kids won't want the quiet pool, my DGD is 12 and she loves poly pool the best.

As for resturaunts I say hands down BRV for quick service and a tie for table service. I do not like the quick service at poly, don't like the food, don't like the lay out and is always way to crowded and packed. But that could just be me, others will say roaring forks is small without options. I prefer whispering canyon over Ohana but they are both good.

One has the monorail, one has a boat ride, both are fun, one is slightly faster, but I find the monorail also much more crowded.

For your kids your best choice may be poly, it would be for our family. Yet our families favorite is BRV and we do a split stay many times so we can enjoy both.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are going between to studios than for me you need to ask about room lay out. Since you have a boy and a girl, both with give you a sofa pull out, BRV will have a full, Poly will have a queen, both will have a pull down Murphy twin bed. And both will have a queeen bed. Here is the big difference, the poly bath room will give you a shower and toilet in one, and a tub with shower and sink in the other, so mom and daughter can shower in one while dad and son use the other in morning and you all get done faster. At BRV you have only a tub with shower and toilet and the sinks are outside the bathroom.

Next thing to consider is are you going to use the pools a lot. My favorite would be BRV, but your kids favorite is going to be Poly. The difference and someone else can chime in here, is at BRV everyone can use both pools I am told, but at poly the quiet pool is just for the villa people, although again your kids won't want the quiet pool, my DGD is 12 and she loves poly pool the best.

As for resturaunts I say hands down BRV for quick service and a tie for table service. I do not like the quick service at poly, don't like the food, don't like the lay out and is always way to crowded and packed. But that could just be me, others will say roaring forks is small without options. I prefer whispering canyon over Ohana but they are both good.

One has the monorail, one has a boat ride, both are fun, one is slightly faster, but I find the monorail also much more crowded.

For your kids your best choice may be poly, it would be for our family. Yet our families favorite is BRV and we do a split stay many times so we can enjoy both.

Guests at Wilderness Lodge can use both pools. Same at the Polynesian. Only pool that is limited to a specific building is the one at BLT. That's only for BLT guests.

 

[oceanmarina]

Having stayed in both I would say boulder ridge as you have the 1 bedroom villa option. The theming in both places is amazing. The pools are larger at WL. I feel the main Pool at the poly is too small. I know the poly is on the monorail, but honesty I find the buses to be more reliable. The bus ride to MK from WL is quick.

 

[ChipNDad]

Great input. My kids and wife are rooting for Poly. We are definitely looking at a studio. The extra bathroom space is really a plus, and our son is super excited to sleep in the little twin murphy pull down bunk. Since we are going in September, we want to stay some place that affords us lots of resort time opportunities and fun places to spend our time in case the bad weather catches up with us. Has anyone walked from the poly to the TTC to board transportation? Glad to know that the WL buses are efficient. We were a little worried that the boats to the MK could be a slower transportation option.

 

[chiisai]

Great input. My kids and wife are rooting for Poly. We are definitely looking at a studio. The extra bathroom space is really a plus, and our son is super excited to sleep in the little twin murphy pull down bunk. Since we are going in September, we want to stay some place that affords us lots of resort time opportunities and fun places to spend our time in case the bad weather catches up with us. Has anyone walked from the poly to the TTC to board transportation? Glad to know that the WL buses are efficient. We were a little worried that the boats to the MK could be a slower transportation option.

We just stayed at poly with an 11yo and 7yo.

We always walked to ttc for Epcot; it was very close.

The WL boat is wonderful. I think I fell in love with WL after taking the boat back the first time. Poly has one, too, and we took it home rather than monorail; it is a lovely way to end the MK day.

The poly baths are great- loved having two showers going at the same time. The room felt small when the sofa bed was out, as the coffee table/trunk (and stacked sofa pillows) took up the room between the end of the bed and the side table. (Not that this wouldn't be similar at WL, but I just found it a bit surprising; I think it may be perception because of the amount of room the bath areas take up.)

All that said, we enjoyed WL more from a theming and food standpoint (and I love Hawaii), and will return there instead of poly, even with the significant double bath benefit of poly.

We did like the ttc monorail to Epcot, but we will likely boat over to contemporary from WL and then monorail over. (You can see I like the boats.)

However, we'll take a trip to Poly for trader sam's; it was so much fun, the kids loved it, too.

 

[ChipNDad]

We just stayed at poly with an 11yo and 7yo.

We always walked to ttc for Epcot; it was very close.

The WL boat is wonderful. I think I fell in love with WL after taking the boat back the first time. Poly has one, too, and we took it home rather than monorail; it is a lovely way to end the MK day.

The poly baths are great- loved having two showers going at the same time. The room felt small when the sofa bed was out, as the coffee table/trunk (and stacked sofa pillows) took up the room between the end of the bed and the side table. (Not that this wouldn't be similar at WL, but I just found it a bit surprising; I think it may be perception because of the amount of room the bath areas take up.)

All that said, we enjoyed WL more from a theming and food standpoint (and I love Hawaii), and will return there instead of poly, even with the significant double bath benefit of poly.

We did like the ttc monorail to Epcot, but we will likely boat over to contemporary from WL and then monorail over. (You can see I like the boats.)

However, we'll take a trip to Poly for trader sam's; it was so much fun, the kids loved it, too.

Great! Thanks so much. Great advice. You've mentioned some transportation options I have not thought of.