Help! Poly or Beach Club

[Jackie H.]

I really can't make up my mind!!! It is one of these two for sure - but which one!?!?!

We are a family of four, 12 yo DS and 9 yo DD. I am the planner and kids and hubby will be happy either way.

Poly: I have always wanted to stay here. Our last trip we stayed at AKL and loved it. Sitting on the beach watching the MK fireworks sounds like a dream come true to me! The monorail to MK and EPCOT sounds heavenly, but I've heard the buses to MGM & AK are a hassle with stopping at the other resorts. (They don't stop anywhere except AKL on that route and that may have spoiled us.) Of course, we love MK and being that close just screams "I'M AT DISNEY WORLD!!!!"

Beach Club: We love EPCOT too and with-in walking distance to all those wonderful WS restaurants - WOW! I know the kids would love Stormalong Bay and the boardwalk. The boat ride to MGM would be great (we loved the one that went from Dixie Landings to DTD). Can you see Illuminations from Boardwalk beach? There are so many more restaurants and things to do on property. My hubby would love the health club - he always goes to one while we are there......

I just can't make up my mind!!!

Please any and all opinions and experiences....

Thanks!

 

[disneycuban]

I was faced with the same dilemma, and I chose the Poly because of it's theming, room decoer, food, etc. But I also chose it because I am only going to EPCOT and MK, I don't know how buses are from the Poly ,but you can always go to the TTC and take a bus from there. Anyway, my votes for the POLy.

 

[Beechparty]

We have stayed at both and loved them both for all the reasons you mentioned. I think my favorite was Poly. I think you also have to consider will you be going to MK more or Epcot more.
We loved walking to epcot from beach club. We also loved the monorail or walking to TTC from the Poly.
Eating on property seemed to be easier at Poly. The eating places at Beach Club are shared by many more people and can tend to be more crowded.
When are you going?
Where in alabama do you live? We are from Alabama, too.

 

[Terry S]

It is such a personal preference and they are such different resorts as far as themeing goes, but we love the Beach Club Hands Down.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I love the Poly! I would stay there every chance that I got. Could be a bit of nastalgia on my part, I stayed there my first trip in 1976 when I was 3....But I still love it! The monorail is right there and you can walk right to the TTC. I think this is the best hotel on the property.

 

[Scoootch]

I love both resorts but would definetly choose BC over the POLY if I had to choose only one or the other. Your kids sound the perfect age to enjoy SAB and SAB's pool area beats the volcano pool at the Poly by far. Not to mention, the Poly does not have a hot tub - I realize it's hot in the afternoon for the hot tub but one of my favorite things to do after a long day of walking in the parks is to soak in that awesome hot tub in the evening - feels sooo good on the feeties LOL.

Having the monorail at the Poly is nice but being so close to Epcot,MGM and the Boardwalk (which is great to just walk over to at night as an evening activity btw) is just so much nicer when your kids are a little older like yours are too.

And then lets not forget BEACHES-N-CREAM YUMMM!

You really can't go wrong with either resort, but my personnal favorite will get BC

Good luck deciding!

 

[PamNC]

will be bias because my favorite resort is Beach Club. However, we don't have any kids and we find the Epcot resort area to be perfect for us with all the shopping and dining, not to mention the close walk or boat to Epcot and MGM. And, you can't beat Stormalong Bay.

Never stayed at the Poly. I think it's beautiful. We always visit the Poly because we have a tradition of having breakfast our first full day at Kona Cafe before going to MK. We have stayed at the Grand Floridian. It's lovely, but then again, we missed the Epcot resort area so much we transfered over to Beach Club after one night. So, it's rather obvious which I would pick.

But I have a better idea. Split your stay 1/2 and 1/2 and experience the best of both worlds.

You'll have a great say whichever you choose.

PamNC

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there ~ are you going long enough to have a split stay between the two resorts?

>>^..^<<

 

[MamaQuack]

As the mom of a 12 yr old DS I can tell you he will love the SAB. He will also love all the carnival games on the boardwalk and the nearby minigolf. We have been staying at the YC for almost 6 years now and would not even consider anywhere else!

Have fun. Oh, and dd will love it too - especially if she likes hair wrapping!

 

[rgoble5972]

I agree with >>^..^<<, would you consider splitting your stay between them both?

As you can see from my signature, we almost always split our stay between a Magic Kingdom resort and an Epcot resort. That way, we do the MK and Animal Kingdom while we are at the Polynesian, and Epcot and MGM while we are at the Beach Club. All of my family agree that it is the perfect solution for us while at WDW.

We usually stay for 8 days/7nights and divide the time by staying the first 3 nights at the Polynesian and the last 4 at the Beach Club (of all the parks, we tend to spend the most time at Epcot, so we stay the extra night at the Beach Club).

The shortest stay that we have ever split (and I wouldn't really recommend doing this) was 4 nights. We were taking a quick trip for the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, so planned on spending the entire time at the Beach Club. My nephew was so upset that we weren't going to do the Polynesian *and* the Beach Club that we finally agreed to stay one night at the Polynesian and then move over to the Beach Club for the rest of the trip!

The Polynesian and Beach Club are my absolute favorite of all the resorts I've stayed at and I don't think I could pick between the two of them as to which one I prefer. I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

 

[uncle al]

Let's see with DS 12 & DD 9 - I have to cast a vote for BC. I am a nostalgic person as well so I really like Poly, but with two pre-teens (if they are anything like mine) you'll probably be spending more time at Epcot & MGM. So why BC.....

Lets look at access.... a short 5 minute walk over to Epcot. A 20 minute boat ride to MGM - or you can walk it in about 15-18 minutes. At the Boardwalk is "in your front yard".

How about for the kids... great arcades at both BC and over at ESPN. There is really nothing left to say about SAB, except it is arguably the best resort pool on property.

How about for the grownups... hot tub, health club (if you are so inclined, but for me I am more inclined to The Crew's Cup Lounge, and Hurricane Hannah's- great frozen drinks by that big old pool or maybe a refreshing little rum drink with an umbrella. There si Jelly Rolls over at Boardwalk, and Atlantic Dance Club (authentic disco music) and we really like the karoke bar at the Dolphin (spectators only) boy is it a hoot!

How about food... Beaches & Cream for burgers, hot dogs & ice cream & oh the onion rings. The Yachtsman Steakhouse for a melt in your mouth filet. Spoodles & The Flying Fish for other nice places to dine. Then ESPN Club - always one visit per trip for us- sports everywhere (even TVs in the bathrooms).

Other activities... An E-ticket ride on Breatheless. DS & DD would have a blast - zooming around the lagoons & canals in a turn of the century chriscraft runabout - water splashing in your face (in between screams of excitement). Not cheap, but sure enough fun!! The Boardwalk at night with actors & games.

How could you go wrong with BC?

 

[dianna112198]

Oh that is such a hard decision to make. Those are my two favorite resorts and I was faced with the same dilemma. I think the Poly has a much more relaxed atmoshpere and I love the transportation. On the other hand, BC has one of the nicest pools I've ever been in and is withing walking distance to Epcot. After weighing the plusses of both resorts, I chose the Poly.

 

[SamanthaL]

Beach Club. that's my vote.

 

[wdwfan]

I vote for the beach club!! Last year my brother and his family stayed at the Poly and visited the Beach Club. They really enjoyed their visit to Beach Club and wished they had picked it. But that's his experience. I am very partial to the Epcot resorts. The bus trip to MK never bothered me. I like being able to walk to Epcot and I like the boat ride to MGM.

 

[Jackie H.]

Splitting between resorts is really not an option. This is a quick trip for us 5 days in the parks is all we will have....we usually do 10 days. (But a short trip is better than no trip!!LOL)

Also, my hubby is a great sport about a lot of things, but he would not go for switching resorts even with a longer trip. He says changing resorts is more like work than vacation and he refuses to do it.

Thank you all for all the great responses. I am still undecided....

 

[jennymouse]

In October we stayed at AKL for 8 nights. This past June, we stayed at the Poly for two nights before moving to Boardwalk Villas for 5 nights. I'll have to say that the Poly didn't wow me the way AKL did. It seemed a bit dated to me and we didn't like having to walk (in the rain) to our longhouse. I just didn't find the magic there. However, we loved the Epcot resort area. Although we stayed at BWV we did visit the Beach Club and I'm so glad I purchased DVC there. I vote Beach Club hands down.

 

[BCV23]

If you look at my signature, you can probably guess my answer. Polynesian all the way. All five of us love it. Very convenient to MK and Epcot....shorter walk to the TTC and the front of Epcot than the walk from BC to Epcot it always seems to me.

The decor of the BC is pretty but the rooms are smaller and that makes a difference to us. We also don't like the long interior hallways at BC. At the Polynesian there's lovely landscaping and relaxing music as you walk to your longhouse. As Jennymouse said that can be a disadvantage during a sudden downpour but the longhouses aren't far apart and showers aren't much of a factor most of the time in our experience.

We like the dining options better too. Captain Cooks is 24 hours. Y&B Club has nothing like it. You can hop on the monrail and pop over to all the great restaurants at GF and CR not to mention Kona right at the Polynesian. We do like Yachtsman's but not every night or even every trip.

Most of all, the Polynesian IS magical for us. So relaxing and it seems miles from the business of the parks. You can sit on a swing at night and gaze at the lights of the Magic Kingdom, watch the fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant.

Have fun whichever you choose.