DARN! We had a near-perfect experience! Now what? (POLL)

[Mousemommy1]

So, here's the deal. I've been stewing over this for the past couple of days.

On our trip last month (from 7/15-7/25), we strayed away from our normal value resort, churn and burn at the park stay, and we booked WL. We stayed club level. It was practically perfect. (practically, because nothing is perfect, right??? Ooooh, but this was sooooo close)

Things we learned???
1) to us, yes, deluxe is worth it...and furthermore, we'd take CL over the DDP any day
2) we actually like hanging out at the resort (when it's worth it for us to hang around). I think at the values, we weren't drawn to stick around which is why we burned ourselves out at the parks and came home from vacation, needing a vacation.
3) Disney vacations can be relaxing!!! This was never our experience before (see #2)
4) I can watch Wishes from alternate locations and not feel like I am missing out.

We actually left there saying we'll NEVER stay anywhere else. But, 4 days after getting home, we booked our next trip for April 2013 at POLY CL

On our reservation for last month, I bounced around for the better part of a year changing my reservation from WL, to POLY, to BC - all of them being my dream resorts.

DH would like to try POLY CL a shot, and I would too, I'm sure it will be wonderful. My problem is that because we feel we have found "perfection" at WL, and we are wondering if we should change that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra??

We had the goal of staying at least once in all of the resorts, so the POLY CL stay would move us in that direction.

Thoughts??? Stick with what we know?? Or venture out and try something new???

 

[CanadianPaco]

I really like the changing resort idea! I want to experience different resorts so I voted Poly! Happy planning!

 

[ckelly14]

Like to know more about your club level experience. It cost about $150 extra per day at the club level. We usually stay at the Swan and Dolphin free with Starpoints, but I'm planning to go to Poly next year in June. Think CL is worth it?

 

[cjnix29]

Try the Poly. If you dont' you will always wonder. I LOVE the WL. But for as much as I love that resort, we keep trying out the others. And honestly, we usually have a great time, no matter where we stay...well, at the Deluxe category anyway. We like hanging out at the resort. We use our balconies a lot, it fits how we like to vacation. We have had perfect vacations at BLT, CR, BWV, Beach Club....it leads to a different experience. After the Poly, try the Epcot resorts. We like watching the Illumination fireworks from our balcony!

 

[mickeynut1]

I voted to go with the Poly since it's a resort you have been wanting to try . The Poly was always a dream resort for us and after staying at the WL twice before trying the Poly, we didn't think any other resort would compare. We still love the WL as it runs a very close second to the Poly, but the Poly is our fav . We love the atmosphere of the WL as well as the outdoorsy theme, but there's just something about the Poly and the beautiful tropical surroundings that makes it so peaceful and relaxing for us . The Poly has an edge for us in that the rooms are quite a bit larger and all rooms come with a daybed (which is great with 2 older teens), but if the WL was comparable in size with that extra bed (without booking a deluxe room), we would have a very hard time deciding between the two. Only you can decide whether or not to take the plunge and try the Poly, but I don't think you would be disappointed. Good luck .

 

[Mousemommy1]

Like to know more about your club level experience. It cost about $150 extra per day at the club level. We usually stay at the Swan and Dolphin free with Starpoints, but I'm planning to go to Poly next year in June. Think CL is worth it?

In the interest of full disclosure, both of our CL stays are being done with the help of a 40% discount (military)....I'm not sure I'd ever stomach the cost of CL without a good discount.

But, with that being said, it was just wonderful! We used them a bit to make some reservations (i did most of them myself, I like the control ), that was great. The service was great!!! Like, Disney does service great all of the time, but this was like Disney service on steroids to us! Just above and beyond. The CL lounge was a great place to just hang out in, and we did, a lot!
We found the food offerings to be wonderful, and what (and how) we ate the CL food was more in line with how we ate at home, as opposed to the massive amounts of food that the DDP subjects you too.

Again, not sure I'd opt to pay rack rate for CL ( nope, I'm sure...I wouldn't...I'm too cheap) but with a great discount, I'd urge you to give it a shot!

 

[Simba's Girl]

If you liked Wishes from WL you will LOVE it from Poly CL...just sayin

 

[Mousemommy1]

If you liked Wishes from WL you will LOVE it from Poly CL...just sayin

I'm thinking so too....who knew???

 

[pooh4brains]

but why not do a split stay?

We did three nights at the Poly just to see what all the fuss was about. Overall, we prefer the EPCOT resorts, but we thought the room was great size-wise and the kids loved the pool. We also loved watching Wishes on the beach, and having a front-row seat for the Electric Water Pageant was awesome. The kids are actually asking to go back to the Poly, and even though I swore we'd not be back, I might book a night at the end of our next trip just to relax there for an extra day. I am beginning to feel the Poly love, even though I know that I just liked it while I was there.

In short, try Poly for a few days. If anything, the location is great. Then switch back to your true love: WL.

 

[Kim1964]

but why not do a split stay?

We did three nights at the Poly just to see what all the fuss was about. Overall, we prefer the EPCOT resorts, but we thought the room was great size-wise and the kids loved the pool. We also loved watching Wishes on the beach, and having a front-row seat for the Electric Water Pageant was awesome. The kids are actually asking to go back to the Poly, and even though I swore we'd not be back, I might book a night at the end of our next trip just to relax there for an extra day. I am beginning to feel the Poly love, even though I know that I just liked it while I was there.

In short, try Poly for a few days. If anything, the location is great. Then switch back to your true love: WL.

I think a split stay would be a good compromise. I love YC CL and want to stay there every trip (well, for the rest of my life, but oh well), but my family has wanted to try other places. So, usually we stay somewhere else for a few days and then move to YC. When we've done the reverse (YC first) I spend the rest of the trip wishing I was back there. This way I save something I love for the end of the stay.

 

[CopperWife]

I haven't stayed at either resort, but if I were you, I would give the Poly a shot! We stayed at POFQ and I thought our trip was pretty awesome. Last trip we stayed at POR and it had some pretty awesome points, too. So what I'm trying to say is....you never know what you're missing, until you try it. It might turn out that you really LOVE the beach at the Poly, or that staying at a monorail resort is just about bliss

 

[my2disneyboys]

STAY WITH WL!!!!! But who am I to talk! We also have a goal of trying everything out, and this year we are staying at the Beach Club but I have to say, I am already missing the WL and have decided no matter, what I am staying there next year again. It is my favorite resort so far. I have NEVER felt so relaxed at Disney! I liked it WAY more than the Poly (that is just my opinion!) The Poly doesn't have a hot tub and my kids go nuts for hot tubs so that was one thing and we also had a room with a broken AC that they took a few days to fix So I am biased- because our stay at the WL was near PERFECT!

 

[Nancyg56]

I would go with the Poly. I loved AKL CL but when my family wanted to try the Poly we went with it. They never looked back. We are staying BC CL for Thanksgiving and the following week but I know that while my DGD is going to have a blast at the pool, my family is going to love the easy access to Epcot and I love anywhere I don't need to cook, clean and make coffee I am going to hear how much they miss the Poly.

My Fav is AKL but can honestly say that the Poly has so much to offer that is would be a shame not to at least give it a try.

 

[MNDisneyChick]

I have stayed at both resorts and truly, you can't go wrong with either. The Poly WILL NOT disappoint. If you're curious about it, I say try it. You will always wonder if you don't.

 

[WeCantWait]

I voted to stay with the WL. My favorite resort. Of course, we had a less than magical stay at the Poly.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

You will really enjoy Poly CL if you go there. (We are heading back in less than 2 weeks for another stay.)

 

[TaraPA]

Hey Candace!!

I vote for SPLIT STAY!!!!

 

[Alabama Minnie]

If you can getting a 40% discount at the POLY I would definately do it. As I said in a previous post, those kind of discounts are fastly decreasing.

ALL of our deluxe visits have been with a 40% discount. We just can't do them with the ones they are offering the general public now.

If you have never stayed in a Epcot Resort deluxe either I would definately try there too with such a good discount. We LOVED BWI but with kids I would probably go with BC.

We were lucky enough to be upgraded to CL at BWI, it was our 30th Anniversary, but don't think we would pay the extra $$ for just the 2 of us.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I found my favorites in deluxe and they are WL and Poly. Why not split your stay? I would do the Polynesian first and then in the middle of the trip, move over to WL.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Thanks for the replies!!!

We are not really into the whole split stay thing. We like to unpack and be "home" for the duration of our trip.

We will give Poly a shot and I'm sure it will be fabulous!!! The WL will always be there for future trips if it's not!