HELP! Can't decide between Poly and CR! Which one?

[onceuponadream]

Hi

We are traveling at peak season so will be paying full price and want to make the best decision. What a fun choice to have to make . We will be staying the first 4 nights at AsMo and need to decide which monorail resort to spend our last 5 nights. There are 2 adults and our 4 kids 10 and under. We are interested in:

Proximity/ease of transportaiton to as many parks as possible. Our favorites are MK and MGM.

Some type of reasonable "food court" area for L and D (pizza, chicken strips, burgers...kids stuff).

Resort that's not too spread out (CBR was beautiful but way too many bus stops and too far to the food court for little feet. POFQ was better size for us).

Big, clean room that is worth the $400/night we will be paying (as we are 5 +2 year old).

A "magical" feel to the resort.

Between Poly and CR which would fit us better??

PS We have considered the Dolphin as I'm an RN but are concerned with the luggage transfer issue as well as proximity to MK...any comments??

 

[robinb]

I will be able to answer this question better after my next stay, but I'll take a stab at it anyway. I stayed at the Contemporary in July and loved it. We'll be staying at the Polynesian in December .

Proximity/ease of transportaiton to as many parks as possible. Our favorites are MK and MGM.

I think CR has the edge here since you can walk to and from the MK. You'll have to drive or bus to MGM from either resort so there is really no advantage except the bus picks up and drops off at CR first.,

Some type of reasonable "food court" area for L and D (pizza, chicken strips, burgers...kids stuff).

Both resorts have a snack shop that serves that kind of food. I believe both snack shops have the same hours. In July the CR snack shop was open 24/7 and the grill closed at 11:00 pm (I think) or maybe midnight. The snack shop at CR is right next to the arcade with a window looking into it. That may or may not be an advantage .

Resort that's not too spread out (CBR was beautiful but way too many bus stops and too far to the food court for little feet. POFQ was better size for us).


Both resorts are compact. I think CR might have the edge here, although it would be quite a hike from the farthest room in the South Wing to the snack shop and MK.

Big, clean room that is worth the $400/night we will be paying (as we are 5 +2 year old).


I think both resorts have big, clean rooms. Are they worth $400? I don't know {{shrug}}.

A "magical" feel to the resort.

The Polynesian. Hands down. Don't get me wrong, CR has "magic" too. I love the monorail going through the resort. I also suspect that the views from the tower are great. But ... I think the Polynesian is still more "magical".

One thing ... are you set on a MK resort? If you are willing to pay $400 per night you might be able to rent DVC points from someone and stay in a 2 bedroom at BWV or BCV for the same price. You'd be able to walk (or boat) to both MGM and Epcot.

 

[onceuponadream]

robinb

Thanks for your opinion! I'm not totally stuck on a MK resort but... if we choose to do an Epcot resort I can stay at the Dolphin for $129/night. We would need 2 rooms there so $260 for Dolphin vs. $300 CR garden wing vs. $400 CR tower or Poly standard. We decided this trip we could really splurge (and it's $500 diff between Dolphin and Poly) so we really want to base the choice on ease of transportation as well as a "really neat" resort .

We really want to "try" the All Stars as our kids are little and would love the theming. If I knew for sure the transportation would be awesome we may even stay there the whole time. However, to choose between Epcot and MK resorts we would love to stay at a monorail resort (the kids are fascinated with the monorail) while the kiddos are little and an Epcot when they are bigger (although they could ride test track all day long).

I guess I could consider staying at CR/Poly and Dolphin instead of AsMo but for some reason I really want to try AsMo!

We are used to traveling to Disney with inlaws and they won't be making this trip so ease of travel is really important...so much to think about...thanks again for your help

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Originally posted by robinb

Proximity/ease of transportaiton to as many parks as possible. Our favorites are MK and MGM.

I think CR has the edge here since you can walk to and from the MK. You'll have to drive or bus to MGM from either resort so there is really no advantage except the bus picks up and drops off at CR first.,

[/B]

One small comment to add here, the proximity of the Poly to the TTC, gives a quicker route to EPCOT, and perhaps better bus service to the rest.

 

[onceuponadream]

How long is the :

walk from CR and Poly to MK?

monorail from CR and Poly to MK?

monorail from CR and Poly to Epcot?

bus to MGM from either resort?

I've read so much I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight as probably the closest resort will win Thank you thank you thank you

 

[eeyore0062]

With kids in mind, I think you can't go wrong at the Contemporary. They have a great Food and Fun area with great "fast" food counterservice and a huge arcade. They could spend hours in there!

There are 2 pools, one with a slide, 2 hot tubs, boat rentals and you can WALK to the MK.

We found the bus transporation here to be wonderful, no matter where we were going!

Also there is just something so unique about the monorail going through the main building.

We felt this resort had lots of energy, and the kids love the bright colors and all of the neat places that images of Mickey pop up!

As for the Poly, it is a beautiful resort. More laid back and, in my opinion, more suited for couples. It does have a nice new pool.. no slide, I have heard, though! Of course, it is on the monorail line, but you can't walk to the MK. The beach is very nice, as well.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[eeyore0062]

walk from CR and Poly to MK?
about 5 minutes... not far at all!!!

monorail from CR and Poly to MK?
There is on stop between the monorail and MK from the Poly, and that is the GF. There are 3 stops between the Contemporary and the MK, TTC, Poly and GF.

monorail from CR and Poly to Epcot?
You will have to transfer from the resort monorail to the Epcot monorail at the TTC no matter where you are. At the Contemporary, the TTC is the next stop, and then you get off and get on the Epcot monorail. At the Poly, if you take the monorail, there are 3 stops... the GF, the MK and the Contemporary between it and the TTC. You may also walk from the Poly which would be about a 5 minute or so walk, depending on where you are staying at the Poly to the TTC. then you could hop on the Epcot monorail.

bus to MGM from either resort ?
Yes, there is a bus to MGM from both resorts. The Poly bus has been known to stop at the GF at off times. The Contemporary used to stop at the Campground, but doesn't anymore. Everytime we rode the bus from the Contemporary, during peak times it went straight to the park without any other stops. Since they have put the Campground route on with WL, it eliminates that stop in the Campground.

Really, other both are very convenient. The Contemporary wins for us because of the walk to the MK, and the TTC being the very next stop for transfers to Epcot. With kids, for us, it is the way to go!

 

[onceuponadream]

eeyore0062

Thanks for your replies...you make it sound magical! We aren't ones to nitpick so I think either would be a good choice..but definitely high energy is good as we have 3 boys! One more question...did you stay in the wings or the tower? Is it worth the extra $100 a night for tower view (does it add to the magic) or are either equally magical? Are the tower rooms more convenient to the parks or are the wing rooms more convenient? Is there any really "bad" location that we would have a huge trek to food court or monorail/bus stop/parks?? We are splurging and don't want to not spend the extra IF it is needed to truly enjoy the CR! Thanks you so much for your help!!!

PS I did read that the tower is VERY noisy unless we request to be above the 8th floor??

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Originally posted by eeyore0062
It does have a nice new pool.. no slide, I have heard, though!

There Poly pool has a slide, that looks to be themed quite well. Check out Tikiman's site for the low down on the Poly.

Also there have been a lot of disparaging post about CR because of the condition its in. Many say it is need of a refurb.

I have never stayed at either one, I just read a lot of posts.

I will be staying at the Poly this December.

 

[jdads2]

We stayed at the Poly last October with our 3 kids (10, 7 and 4 att he time) and they loved the pool! It was nice to check out the water pageant from the pool as well.

All the kids would love to spend another vacation at Poly. We stopped in at the arcade to check it out and was not impressed. Then again, we have never been impressed with any arcade as we won't let the kids into one when we are on vacation.

Food court is OK but we rarely ate at the Poly except for a couple of memerable dinners and 1 breakfast at Kona!! The closeness to the TTC is unbeatable we always walked from our room (Tokelau bldg) to the TTC and often back late at night. The kids never complained. It was about a five minute stroll.

As far as the "magicalness" of a resort. Alot of that will depend on you as parents. When we were at the Poly I overheard one parent complaining about how disgusting it was to have ducks in the quiet pool. You could tell her kids agreed..."eeeoooooo". We just showed where Donald's friends take their WDW vacation. My daughter mentioned it to gramma and grandpa when we got home.

Have fun!

 

[robinb]

Originally posted by onceuponadream
One more question...did you stay in the wings or the tower? Is it worth the extra $100 a night for tower view (does it add to the magic) or are either equally magical? Are the tower rooms more convenient to the parks or are the wing rooms more convenient? Is there any really "bad" location that we would have a huge trek to food court or monorail/bus stop/parks??

I stayed in the North Tower and had a lagoon view. We saw the boat parade every night and we could see the MK fireworks from the parking lot. People who had a "parking lot" view could see the MK fireworks and probably even the MK if they were high enough. We were Shades of Green guests (my mother is a Navy widow) and I think the majority of the people there were SOG too. The North tower is a great location for walking to the park and going to the Food N Fun center. I think it was a 3 minute walk from our room to my endless mug of coffee and iced tea . The main entrance to the wing was a hop, skip and jump to the path to the MK. Staying in the towers would add another ... um ... 5 minutes to our times. Just the time it takes you to come down the elevator. Staying in the South Wing would also add a little extra time since you have to walk through the rest of the resort. But ... the pool is near the south wing.

The monorail is in the middle of the Tower, so staying in the Tower is the best location for monorailing. The bus stops are in front of the resort and toward the North Wing.

Here is the CR resort map:
CR Resort Map

I stayed in the first segment of the North Wing on the 2nd floor (7212). My guess is the 6X00 rooms in the South Wing would be the worst of the lot.

 

[smfnj]

robinb,

We've stayed at the Poly 12 - 15 times, so you know which side I'm on here. It depends what you're looking for. The Poly is more laid back and relaxing while CR reminds me of a hotel in a city ( except for the monorail going through it ).
Our son will be on leave from Sicily in Dec., he wants to go back to the Poly. He's been staying there since he was 10 and loves the resort. We're doing 5 nights at the Poly followed by 4 nights at BW-WV.

steve

 

[robinb]

Steve,

I am trying the Poly in a few months myself and I am expecting to love it. Honestly, I think the advantages to CR over the Polynesian are (1) proximity to the MK and (2) the monorail through the lobby. The Polynesian has the CR beat on (1) atmosphere and (2) the pool. Both are great resorts .

 

[ASFCurly]

I personally love the theme of the Contemporary, we were upgraded to the Tower June 2001 and we loved it, the colors and everything, we like the theme of the Contemp better than the Poly, but as far as location to parks and transportation they are really equal, there are plenty of pictures on different websites, I would look at pictures and just try and judge that way which you might like better.

 

[onceuponadream]

Thanks for all your help!

Based on your opinions and our own we have decided to book a tower room in CR! We are from Houston and have lots of palm trees in our back yard and take a "tropical" Florida trip every summer. Soooo for us since location was pretty equal we chose based on monorail in resort vs. volcano pool. At least that's what the kids brought it down to. They voted to stay where Chef Mickey's and the monorail is! We decided to upgrade to tower room even though it's $100 a night more because we may not have the chance to do a deluxe again (or go back to Disney for a while) so we didn't want to miss the "whole" experience! Now if there any CR experts a few quick quesitons:

Where is the "food court" located?
What floor is the lobby on?
What floor is the monorail station on?

Thanks all you have been so helpful even though this subject seems to be brought up all the time!

 

[lookingforward]

Congrats on your decision! In April we stayed at the CR in the north wing and enjoyed it. In August we stayed at the Poly and loved that. Either way you can't lose. The best things about the CR was the monorail (I think it was considered the 3rd floor, but it was the floor with the restuarants and shopping area). The food court is on the first floor past the front desk and was very convienent with a great game arcade off to the side (bring lots of $$$). Chef Mickey's is a great character meal at the CR. The pool is nice, one quiet one and a cool slide at the other. I was happy to hear you booked a tower room, that should be really special. ENJOY your trip.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

We are just back from a quick trip and lots of exploring. I have not read any of the responses here yet. We stayed at CSR but checked out the CR and Poly while eating at Kona Cafe(the BEST food on our trip!). We had been in CR before to eat at Chef Mickeys. But we never walked around and through the wing rooms. We will be staying there next summer for the $95 SOG rate. After visiting Poly we decided we HAVE to stay there "one day"! It seems like the perfect resort for us. The beachy atmosphere, the pool and the overall ambience really impressed us. I think our kids would love it there too. I would choose it over CR, no contest! It was a very quick monorail trip to MK and back(we took the monorail to explore the CR). We were able to peek in a CR room, and they looked big and spacious. Poly seemed to be a more relaxing atmosphere. CR just seems like a big hotel. But we are looking forward to our next stay anyway!
I hope you get a code rate for your trip !
PS-Ohana's at the Poly looked like fun! We will probably do that while staying at CR!

 

[robinb]

Where is the "food court" located?
What floor is the lobby on?
What floor is the monorail station on?

The Food N' Fun Center is between check-in and the door out back to the pool area. It and the lobby are on the 1st floor.

I *think* the restaurants and gift shops are on the 3rd floor and the Monorail is one floor above. It has it's own access via escalator and elevator. There are convention facilities between the lobby and the "main" CR floor.

 

[onceuponadream]

Thanks!

 

[eeyore0062]

There is also a great coffee bar on the 1st floor across from check in under the esculators... we found it a nice spot to grab a cup before going out to the parks.

The monorail is on its own floor, I call it the 41/2 floor, and I believe Chef Mickey's, the Concourse Steakhouse, the Outer Rim bar are on the 4th floor, along with all of the shops. You can see the monorail above you from here!