Does anyone stay in the bungalows?

[6loversofdisney]

I always wanted to stay in one of them but not in WDW. I would want to jump off and swim so I would do one in, say, the Caribbean. But not at the Poly. Just my opinion.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Totally agree with PP. I want to be able to swim. I have DVC and it has never crossed my mind to spend my points on them.

 

[Stephen's Mom]

We were one of those lucky people who got upgraded to the bungalows for 4 nights at the end of August 2017. The room category we had reserved wasn't available and this is where they put us! It was awesome and we had so much space for the 4 of us! Would I ever pay to stay here? Nope. Way too much money but they are beautiful inside and it was great to watch the fireworks from the deck (especially since it rained a good part of the time we were there). We did have a visitor on the morning we had to get up early to head to the airport though. I got up around 5:30 am and turned the light on in the kitchen and saw a big cockroach scurry off the counter! We don't have cockroaches where I'm from and that was the first one I've ever seen. Needless to say, no one in the entire bungalow (and maybe the one next to us) needed an alarm to wake up because I did a pretty good scream! We never did find it so I'm glad I saw it as we were leaving because I would have been paranoid knowing it potentially was still there somewhere!

 

[Jcon]

We were one of those lucky people who got upgraded to the bungalows for 4 nights at the end of August 2017. The room category we had reserved wasn't available and this is where they put us! It was awesome and we had so much space for the 4 of us! Would I ever pay to stay here? Nope. Way too much money but they are beautiful inside and it was great to watch the fireworks from the deck (especially since it rained a good part of the time we were there). We did have a visitor on the morning we had to get up early to head to the airport though. I got up around 5:30 am and turned the light on in the kitchen and saw a big cockroach scurry off the counter! We don't have cockroaches where I'm from and that was the first one I've ever seen. Needless to say, no one in the entire bungalow (and maybe the one next to us) needed an alarm to wake up because I did a pretty good scream! We never did find it so I'm glad I saw it as we were leaving because I would have been paranoid knowing it potentially was still there somewhere!

Poor Jiminy, tries to help, gets screamed at and mistaken for a cockroach. Crickets life.

 

[Brett Wyman]

We stayed in them for 6 night in November 2018. Got great "deal" on a last minute rental from Davids. It was right around double what we usually spend for a deluxe 1 bedroom. It was a one time splurge since it was roughly a third the cost of rack rate.

It was definitely once in a lifetime. We were back to a studio for our February trip : )

But man the view. We never shut those blinds.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I have always wondered what do folks do on the beach at Disney? Other than watching a movie I've never seen more than a handful of folks on the beaches and then it's just a few minutes while walking by on the way to somewhere else, which I figure is why they didn't think twice about using some up

Watch the electric water pageant.

 

[skippytx]

I get bored in front of the computer alot. One day I was looking up the largest DVC contracts sold in the last couple of years, and someone bought a dedicated week contract in the Poly bungalows. So yeah, people do stay in them.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

When we stayed in May, they were all booked at least for part of our 5 night stay. There was an issue with the hanging chairs in our bungalow so we could not use them, and they could not give us chairs from another deck (which they compensated us very nicely for - we didn’t ask for any compensation and they really went above and beyond.)

It was a really fun and magical stay. At night, the deck felt really private. My kids watched the electrical water pageant and HEA in their pajamas, music piped in every night of our stay. It felt like we were the only people watching. Memories I will cherish forever - not kidding, I tear up thinking about it. I loved hearing the boat horns in the early morning and late into the night - those are ambient MK sounds to me and I didn’t realize how much I loved those noises until we stayed right there on the water. We surprisingly didn’t even go to the pool once - if we found ourselves back in the bungalow, my toddlers splashed in the plunge pool. It was so convenient and they absolutely loved it.

I would not want to stay in a bungalow with 8 people even though it sleeps that many. We normally have 8-10 people in a grand villa, but had 6 in the bungalow. It’s the same number of points as the VGF grand villa but MUCH smaller, less real beds, less bathrooms, smaller rooms and kitchen. My parents slept in the master with the king. The 4 of us slept in the second bedroom with the queen bed - my daughter slept in the pull down bunk size bed and we just barely squeezed a pack n play in for my son. We didn’t want the kids sleeping in the common space (pullout couch and another pull down bunk size bed) so that people could stay up late enjoying drinks and snacks on the deck without disturbing them.

In the future we will use the same number of points (or much less depending on the resort!) for larger grand villa accommodations for our group but I don’t regret our special stay at the bungalow for a second.

 

[Brett Wyman]

My kids watched the electrical water pageant and HEA in their pajamas, music piped in every night of our stay. .

My wife and I were cracking jokes about the EWP coming by after the 3rd or 4th night. That thing is LOUD and REALLY CLOSE to the bungalows. But the units are fairly well sound proofed. Yes you can still hear it from inside but from on the deck you almost need earplugs its so loud.

And completely agree about size. There were only the four of us so it was the perfect size. But I would never book a Poly Bungalow or Cascade Cabin for a larger group. Grand Villas all the way for similar cost.

 

[oceanmarina]

My friend stayed and said the boat horns kept them up all night with the honking. Apparently it was so bad some of their DVC points were returned back to them. They said they wouldn’t stay there again because of all the boat horns honking at very late at night / very early in the AM.

 

[kiford]

My friend stayed and said the boat horns kept them up all night with the honking. Apparently it was so bad some of their DVC points were returned back to them. They said they wouldn’t stay there again because of all the boat horns honking at very late at night / very early in the AM.

I'd heard of a number of complaints about this. I didn't realize how close some of them were to the ferry boats until we walked around there last month. I wouldn't be too happy about spending that kind of money to get that kind of disruption. I think the Cascade cabins, which are similar, are nicer in terms of location - much quieter and more private. But I still wouldn't pay what they want for them either. Also, in both cases (Poly and WL), it's a lot more of a hike to the main building for restaurants and amenities.

 

[FSU Girl]

They look really cool to me, but I am such a light sleeper and hate those boat horns I would go crazy being that close to them. I already get annoyed when I'm on the 11th floor of Bay Lake Tower, being right next to it I'd lose it.

 

[Brett Wyman]

My friend stayed and said the boat horns kept them up all night with the honking. Apparently it was so bad some of their DVC points were returned back to them. They said they wouldn’t stay there again because of all the boat horns honking at very late at night / very early in the AM.

I read tons of similar comments about this on Travelocity and other sites when we were thinking about booking. I have to say we go to bed early usually, and were never woken up nor were our kids. I guess it depends on how light a sleeper you are??? You can hear them but not like they are blowing it next to your window(perhaps if they had a unit by the TTC it may be louder). We live in the city though so maybe we are use to noises. People who live in rural areas may be use to pure silence I guess. Also it's definitely not all night. They stop when the last Ferry Boat from MK finished its rounds.

 

[oceanmarina]

I read tons of similar comments about this on Travelocity and other sites when we were thinking about booking. I have to say we go to bed early usually, and were never woken up nor were our kids. I guess it depends on how light a sleeper you are??? You can hear them but not like they are blowing it next to your window(perhaps if they had a unit by the TTC it may be louder). We live in the city though so maybe we are use to noises. People who live in rural areas may be use to pure silence I guess. Also it's definitely not all night. They stop when the last Ferry Boat from MK finished its rounds.

I asked her if they are light sleepers and she said no (they live in New York City so they are used to noise), but it was too noisy even for them. Yes, it wasn’t all night but ended very late and the honking started at 5AM she said. Too early for sleeping in on vacation for sure!

 

[Brett Wyman]

I would be pretty frustrated if I paid the cash and got one of the units that’s right by the TTC. The units on the far right when facing MK are REALLY close to the TTC and really far from the great house. But some of the Cascade Cabins have serious distance issues as well. With the exception of the canal some of those cabins are closer to the Contempary garden wing then they are the WL lobby

 

[gratefulfred]

The Poly beach was one of the highlights of the trip for our 3 year old son. He loved just running around, feeling the sand, digging his hands in, etc. It can totally be a fun place for kids.

Those beaches used to be swimming beaches with lifeguards and rafts out in the water, they cut the budget and let nature take them back over ending the swimming areas

 

[kungaloosh22]

Finally stayed in a bungalow for 2 nights in Feb. We were really concerned about boat noise, but were curious what it's like and took a chance. I requested a lower bungalow #, and made a point to check in early. Sure enough we were assigned #17 (out of 20) with the availability text at 10:30am. I called and nicely asked for a bungalow further from the TTC, and ended up with #4. That stay was probably our quietest, most peaceful Poly stay ever, and we've been going regularly for 25+ years. The bungalows are very well sound proofed, though I'd still be quite nervous about a unit close to the TTC. The other pleasant surprise was that the plunge pool water was much warmer than expected. I'd say it was warmer than the hotel pool.

I don't know that we'd ever stay there again, due to the point requirement. Maybe, but not much. We sure did enjoy our time there, though! I ended up canceling all other plans for the full day between our 2 nights.

 

[Babsy]

WE seriously considered purchasing DVC at the Poly. When I discovered that they would not have ANY two bedroom units, I thought that we would use the bungalows. SO we went to see them with full intentions of purchasing a contract to use these at least once per year.

I was so disappointed when we had the tour. Only 2 real beds? For how many points per night? I can stay in Hawaii CL TPV or even GF RPC or almost wherever I want for significantly fewer $$$. It was nice, but for the 'money' it just didn't work for us. I still can't believe that there are only 2 real beds in there.

 

[dragonfly57005]

The last time I was the GF I could see that people were staying in them. I don’t think the boat sounds would bother me. I wouldn’t spend the money on them, but they would be a unique experience.