Help Choosing Resort at WDW

[mrmet77]

My wife and I and our 2 daughters plan to go to WDW at the end of March 2021 for spring break. We have never stayed onsite, but would like to do so this time. We have been looking at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Two queen beds would suffice as my daughters are young enough where they can still share a bed. Also, we would like a room with a theme park view to be able to view the fireworks.

We won't be buying park tickets directly from Disney, so from what I understand we would not be able to participate in the meal plans, so that is not a consideration for us. However, one of the kids has a severe peanut allergy and the other has celiac disease, so if one resort has better food options, that would be important to know.

Any thoughts or recommendations on those resorts, or whether we should consider buying DVC points and staying at a different resort, would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Charles

 

[tvsdisney]

I would do the Grand or Poly. I’m not sure how old your kids are but the pools are much nicer and both have a splash pad for the kids.
In terms of theme park view the poly offers a straight on view for the fireworks and they pipe in the music. The contemporary offers a wonderful view but you can definitely see that the fireworks are shot off way behind the MK. Have you considered a club level stay at the Poly? You can do a theme park view and the. You’d also have the lounge to watch the fireworks from with snacks ( ie beer/wine for you and your wife) and treats for the kids. I know you mentioned allergies and you can note that on the reservation and all locations are more than willing to work with you and prepare something allergy friendly. I believe there is also a special diets number you can call ahead of time as well.
Also I’m pretty sure you can add on the dining plan when booking a room only. We are AP holders and I have done that for some of our stays. Renting DVC is also an option and you could request a lake view at the Poly and the 3rd floor. That would give you a great view but the 3rd floor is never guaranteed. We just got back from a lake view last week and it was amazing. I will say the boat horns are sometime loud and a problem for some but we didn’t hear them at all. It’s just all personal preference. Here is a view from Moorea last week!

 

[holden]

Poly has the best view of the fireworks. Renting DVC points would probably be the most economical. Also, Poly studios have an extra bathroom (well, a shower/sink bathroom) which is nice with 4 people.

As far as the food is concerned, Disney is very good about allergies/food intolerances. Just ask for the GF menu wherever you eat. You should also mention the peanut allergy when you order food.

 

[mrmet77]

Thanks for the information. I just called Disney and they said the room at the Poly (theme park view) for 3/29/21-4/2/21 is about $5,500, which is a bit of a shock. Over $1200 per night, not including tickets or meals!

They said rooms at the Grand Floridan (theme park view) were about $100 more than Poly and that there was nothing currently available (theme park view) at the Contemporary.

 

[Heather07438]

We recently rented points to stay at the Poly, standard view for $400/night.

The Poly DVC studio villa does sound like a good fit for your family. Volcano pool, hot tub, many food options, view of MK, 2 showers in a very roomy studio.

 

[TJA]

We are also a family of 4 with 2 daughters and have stayed at all 3 of those resorts.

When considering Poly, we highly prefer staying CL (Club Level) (Hawaii building) with the TPV (3rd floor rooms) or even Lagoon View (1st floor rooms). 2nd floor rooms do not have a balcony and therefore not our favorite. Someone posted the view, and it's even better in person. Besides the view, staying in Hawaii building allows very close access to both pools and also the main building. Not to mention the food/drinks in the CL lounge (also right in the Hawaii building).

If you don't want to stay CL, then I'd look at staying at GF. We had a Lagoon View room and it was possibly the best all-around view we've ever had in Disney World. The view did not have people traffic.....only the peaceful water, boats, and to the left was the Castle. So if you were to book a TPV room, I can imagine the view would be absolutely spectacular. By the time of your trip, the GF should have its walking path to MK complete, which will be a great perk.

Edit to add: I see you just priced out the resorts. Yes, those prices are horrendous, for sure! The only thing I can say is that there *should* be a discount out for your time frame as it gets closer. But I understand wanting to book something now that is in your budget and then checking on the discounted price later on. For now, maybe check out Beach Club or Yacht Club over in the Epcot area (walk to both HS and Epcot). I know it's not the MK monorail resorts, but still very enjoyable resorts with a great pool for your kids. Or, in the alternative, consider booking a split stay so you can experience your monorail resort for 2 nights and also stay at a less-expensive resort for the other nights with lots of park time.

 

[Heather07438]

For your dates DVC in March '21 Poly Lagoon view, it's 120pts (@$20/point $2400). Something to consider.

DVC doesn't specificly offer 'theme park view' but I believe lake view is that from the Moorea longhouse. Maybe someone who has stayed in one of those rooms can explain better details.

 

[mrmet77]

Thanks again for the great responses. If I wanted to rent points to stay at the Poly, how do I do that?

 

[mrmet77]

Is there a recommended place to look to rent the DVC points? I assume using DVC points still entitles the user to use the Disney transportation to and from airport, 60 day FastPass booking, etc., right?

 

[mrsap]

Is there a recommended place to look to rent the DVC points? I assume using DVC points still entitles the user to use the Disney transportation to and from airport, 60 day FastPass booking, etc., right?

Yes, you are still entitled to all of that. I heard David’s is good.

https://dvcrequest.com/
Also wanted to add: my DS has severe peanut and tree nut allergies. Disney is wonderful at accommodating people with allergies. Just make sure you let each server know before ordering and a chef should come out to meet with you prior to ordering.

 

[Tessaf]

We absolutely love the GF! We’ve done LV, TPV and club level. Our LV did have a partial view of the castle, but seeing the fireworks was awkward with trees blocking the view. We did consider trying the Contemporary once, but my girls love the grand staircase at the Grand to much for us to move hotels lol. Plus, and this is going to sound so stupid , but the bathrooms at the CR slightly turned us off. We prefer having the sinks separate from the toilet/shower so while my DH is showering, I can have our DD’s getting ready in the sink area allowing more privacy to the one showering.

I did attach 2 pictures of our DD’s watching the fireworks from our GF TPV.

 

[mrmet77]

Again, thanks for all the extremely helpful inforrmation!!

 

[DurhamBuckeye]

Is there a recommended place to look to rent the DVC points?

I will agree with the PP who said David's is good. We have just rented from them for a split stay (AKV Jambo & Poly) in Jan 2021 and the process was very easy. We have also rented previously from dvc-rental.com I rented points for a Poly stay a couple of years ago, and had a great experience with them as well. We put in requests with both companies to get points for Poly in 2021 but David's was able to get our reservation first, so we went with them. There is some risk with trying to work with 2 companies like we did, so please don't read this as me recommending you to do it that way.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Kids love the Poly. If you end up renting DVC points, I love Tokelau. It’s got a great location but is still relatively quiet. It’s right next to Oasis pool and the rooms facing the pool have decent views of the castle even though these are standard view rooms.

 

[DurhamBuckeye]

I probably should have also said, Poly is our favorite MK area resort, so I would recommend staying there. there's nothing wrong with the others, they are great resorts, but Poly is just more our style, and we love the theming.

And even if you don't have a fireworks view from your room, just go out to the beach (grab a drink or Dole Whip on the way there) and watch from there, where they pipe in the music.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My wife and I and our 2 daughters plan to go to WDW at the end of March 2021 for spring break. We have never stayed onsite, but would like to do so this time. We have been looking at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Two queen beds would suffice as my daughters are young enough where they can still share a bed. Also, we would like a room with a theme park view to be able to view the fireworks.

We won't be buying park tickets directly from Disney, so from what I understand we would not be able to participate in the meal plans, so that is not a consideration for us. However, one of the kids has a severe peanut allergy and the other has celiac disease, so if one resort has better food options, that would be important to know.

Any thoughts or recommendations on those resorts, or whether we should consider buying DVC points and staying at a different resort, would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Charles

If interested, you can purchase a dining plan with a room reservation and no tickets. It's called a "ticketless package" and you have to call in to book it. That being said, all resorts will be able to accommodate your children's food allergies and intolerances.

If budget is concerned, I would also look at Wilderness Lodge. They have a "Nature Fireworks" view category and many of the Standard View - Club Level rooms have views of the fireworks as well. It isn't a straight-on view like you would get at the monorail resorts, but still a very good view, IMHO. You would not be on the monorail at WL, but it does typically price out less than monorail resorts and it's a lovely resort.

Also, keep in mind, even if you aren't in a theme park view room, all three resorts you are considering have viewing areas at the resorts where you can simply walk from your room and see the fireworks. We typically stay standard at Poly or garden view at GF and simply walk to the beach or boat dock to see the show. It saves a ton of money.

 

[Lovetherodent]

I haven't stayed at the contemporary, but have at the Poly and the GF. At the GF, we had theme park view. It was never anywhere near $1200 a night (and those stays were fairly recent). The kids probably preferred the Poly pool, but the GF pool/play area would be great for smaller kids (you didn't say how old your girls were, but mine are in their 20s and are still quite willing to share a bed!). One of mine is gluten-free and we found Gasparilla Grill to be a wonderful lunch spot. In fact, really any on-property restaurant that isn't a stand is going to be able to handle the food allergy issue.

 

[mrmet77]

Very appreciative for all the information. Looks like I will have a tough decision! Great point on simply walking to a nearby location to view the fireworks. Given some of the prices, I may consider non-TPV rooms.

My girls will be 10 and 5 when we travel next March.

 

[Whovillemom]

I just stayed in a garden room, garden view at the Contemporary. I was unsure if I would like it because the resort seems so sterile. We LOVED it! The rooms are huge and quiet. So close to the pool, splash pad and the beach. You can see the electric water parade from some of the rooms or just watch it on the beach. Also, the pool had a slide and is 3' all the way around. It's huge and not crowded.
Don't spend the extra money for a FW view room. Its nice the first night but then it's like ok that's cool. You can watch the fireworks for free on the bridge to Bay Lake. The garden rooms the cheapest you will find on the monorail and sell out fast. Plus, it's only a 10 min walk directly to the gate of the MK.
I have stayed at Poly, and rented points the the GF. It went fine but we only did one night. I would be nervous about a whole week. If you book with Disney and have to cancel you won't loose as much as you would with renting. Also, if you give Disney a sob story because you had to cancel at the last minute they will work with you, If you have to cancel your rented points at the last minute it's a hassle even with insurance.
Poly has not been getting a lot of love lately. Lots of complaints about the maintenance of the rooms etc. I personally am not a huge fan of Poly. I seriously would look into the garden view rooms and be sure to request a ground floor room as they have patios. Just my two cents! Enjoy your trip.

 

[tvsdisney]

Those pictures were the 3rd floor in Moorea (DVC building). Keep in mind that you will not have housekeeping everyday with DVC rented points. Housekeeping will come on the 4th day if that important to you.