Help- Polynesian or Riverside

[Aileen1979]

I need help. We are struggling with where to stay during our WDW trip. We have 5 people in our family. 17, 16 and 12 year old.
We are trying to decide between Port Orleans Riverside and Polynesian Deluxe studio. I love the size of the Polynesian room but the living space actually seems smaller then the Port Orleans room, due to the size of the bathrooms. I also don't care for the second bed being a pull out couch.
We have stayed at Riverside and love it but would love to stay on the monorail for once.
Any suggestions?
FYI..... The Polynesian is $2,100 more

 

[DC to Disney]

I've stayed at both the Poly and POR, and both are great resorts. At which parks do you think you'll spend most of your time? I think the Poly has one of the best locations of any resort in WDW, especially if you plan to spend a lot of time at MK and Epcot. You can take the resort monorail over to MK, and you can also easily walk to the TTC to hop on the monorail to Epcot without having to transfer lines. You can also take a boat to MK. If you like to spend time at the resort, pool, etc., the Polynesian has great theming and a great pool, as well as several great restaurants (Kona Cafe, Ohana), and Trader Sam's is also a lot of fun.

I've really enjoyed staying at POR as well, but you have to rely on buses for all of your transportation to the parks (there is a boat to disney springs). If your family is the type to head into a park in the morning and stay there until nighttime, I think this is less of a big deal than if you plan to go back and forth between the resort and hotel multiple times during the day. Your kids are older, so this may not be an issue for you.

I haven't scrutinized the floor plans, but Poly *should* be larger, because it's a deluxe, and you're looking at a studio instead of a regular room.

 

[mfulk]

We haven't stayed at POR but we have stayed many times at Poly and absolutely love it and the location. We are now a family of 7 and can't afford two rooms at Poly right now so we are trying FT wilderness cabins but we are going to miss Poly a lot!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Have you priced out a standard room at the Poly? In the standard, you would get 2 queens and a daybed, most likely a better bedding set-up for your family.

 

[jacknsally19]

I have not stayed at POR but the rooms at Poly are huge. I would definitely chose those rooms - plus the 2 bathrooms - with kids that age.

Are you renting points to stay at the Poly? That could help with the price.

 

[SmallWorld71]

On our last trip we had 3 'kids' who were 19, 16, and 12. We ended up deciding to get 2 rooms at a moderate. (CSR) It was cheaper than one room at a deluxe.
It was SO nice to have the 4 beds, 2 bathrooms and 2 TVs. DD12 and I ended up sharing a bed - NONE of the men are easy to share with. DH snores, oldest DS is 6'4" and younger DS moves around in his sleep. We all slept so much better this way! And, the 2 bathrooms made it so easy to get ready quickly in the morning.
We ended up staying 2 nights , in one room, at Portofino Bay at Universal at the end of our trip. We absolutely loved the resort, but we all agreed there was no way an entire week in one room would have been a good idea.

Of course, there is no guarantee to get connecting rooms, though we did. But, we were OK with it if we didn't.

While we were OK with sharing one room at POR when the kids were younger, there is no way we would do it now.