ok so we have done disney 3 times, POP/ 09 christmas 3 days; i personally chose the worst time as a "first timer" we did not get a chance to go on any rides at any of parks, it was packed and i under estimated wait times and such. (mommy and 2 children one under 2 and a 4 year old..worst choice ever but we loved it we made it work some how we ended up seeing every parade in every park by accident lol DH was deployed at the time) i hated this resort....i felt like the room was way too small even though we never spent anytime in it lol AKL 10 : much longer stay! LOVED the theme and we saw everything and just really loved the time spent there!! perfect room/food and pool! POFQ 12: this was done as a mother/daughter trip, my mother had never been we stuffed as much into 3 days as possible i loved the resort such nice people. All times we were a military family, so we only had dinning and resort package. no need to purchase tickets we got them from the MWR. my DH is no longer military. so my delima is making Disney fit on a budget and weather or not the dinning package would be a necessity or not. I enjoyed the feeling of having everything payed for before we left no under estimating food costs it was all laid out, We really enjoyed the dinning plan every time, but felt like we wasted the quick service(we left disney every time with almost 4-5 meals) and over stuffed ourselves trying to "get our moneys worth" when we went to a TS. we really only east breakfast a light lunch and dinner. A little info Two (disabled - they wear leg braces)boys 5 and 8 and myself on this trip. my husband wont be able to get off from work this time. We are contemplating a split, but this is something we have never done and i don't even know if it is worth it, i don't even know if this is do-able with the WDYW package. 5 year old wants AOA (little mermaid room, but i heard the walks are horrid and we had this problem at pop ) 8 year old want WL(or AKL again, this not really an option i like something fresh and new) I want to try POLY(the reason i am so attached to this resort is not only because of transportation but we went here for our Christmas eve dinner and i just fell in love), or GF( have been here for dinning and shopping and during Christmas for Santa and the ginger bread house but looking at the pictures i don't like the room decoration nor the small pool) looking at only 4-5 days for the vacation. looking at oct/sept Should i sacrifice the dinning plan for the deluxe resort or, do value or moderate and get the dinning plan. is the split even worth the time? So should i sacrifice the poly, for the WL and do 2 days there and 2 days AOA, i'm trying to make everyone happy....i have no idea where to stay.... i enjoy hotel ambiance, the feel of "out of the country" theme at epcot and food. the children love candy, and Rides lol. but i don't want two tired cranky and in pain babies from walking too much. we will be taking the parks slow with pre-planned breaks back at the hotel that were near impossible with prior reservations and i had to sit them down on the side walks. partly why i want the monorail, we are only doing Epcot and MK. and maybe HWS, only for 2 rides. maybe there is a resort i'm overlooking that might fit all our needs? help! thank you!!
the Polyn is just to expensive. you might try the CR garden view - not tower - it is a little cheaper. for WL - might go with VWL and rent a reservation from a DVC member - now the studio has queen bed and double sleeper sofa. (except OKW - it was 2 queen beds) BLT - is probably a better choice - but its living space is tiny. (you have almost more room in the bathroom than the living area)in a studio. a 1-bedroom would give you more than enough space. with BLT or CR you can walk to the MK and get there faster than you can riding the monorail.
If it were me, I wouldn't do a split stay for a 4-5 day trip. We did a 2/4 split in the past and the first 2 nights went by so fast that we were checking into the 2nd resort before we knew it. Then once we were just feeling "settled" at the 2nd resort, it was time to pack up and go home. Split stays are a great way to try 2 resorts in one trip, but for us, it wasn't worth it for such a short trip. As far as resort opinions, we've never stayed at any of the values so I can't comment on those, but we have stayed at the WL twice and the Poly once. The Poly is our favorite of the two, but we still love the WL. The WL is quite a bit cheaper than the Poly, but is still convenient to MK via boat. September is usually when free dining is offered, but you have to pay rack rate for the room and get at least a 2 day base ticket for everyone, so that may be an option for you if you are no longer eligible for the military tickets. I think the WL or Poly would be great choices if you will be spending most of your time at MK and Epcot. The Poly is just 2 monorail stops from MK and is a 5-7 minute walk from the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail. The WL is a quick boat ride to MK and while you have to take a bus to Epcot, we have always found the WL bus transportation to be great. My choice would be a deluxe resort and pay OOP for food. Good luck.
The WL would be less walking than the Poly. It is a very compact resort with everything under one roof, nice if you get rainy weather. And the boat ride to MK is nice and short, but the bus is quicker. The pool area is compact and there are two hot tubs there. Roaring Forks has good food choices. The Poly could be a lot more walking than the WL. Some of the buildings at the Poly are a bit of a walk from the main building. But the monorail would be very convenient for your kids. It would be a good choice for that reason. They are both good resorts.
