HMMM, Tough choice?

[funshipm174]

POLY or CSR. We have reservations planned and are going to stay at the CSR for the first time. My question is this.

Other than the convenience of the monorail, is the POLY worth the extra money that would be spent? We may want to do the POLY,but can't determine if it is really worth the extra money.
I assume most days we would be in the Parks, so other than the monorail, what am I getting with the Poly that I am not getting with another moderate(CSR in this case)?

TIA

 

[Leota]

I stayed at the Poly & CSR back to back in one trip. While I loved the convienence of the Poly & in our case, the concierge, I don't think I'd spend the extra money to be there again. I am very glad we tried it tho, it was a dream of mine to stay there since I went as a child in 1973.

We really loved CSR & felt we got a great value for the money. It really feels like a "Deluxe Lite". I compare the amenities to WL.
I totaled up how many nights we could have stayed CSR for what we spent on Poly Conc & it was 21 nights CSR for the cost of 7 nights Poly. I would have been happier with 21 nights!

 

[vanyel]

I've stayed at both and like both. Are you going with kids and what are their ages? What are you goals for the trip? Will you be using the amenities at the hotel or will you be mainly going to the parks?

Staying at the Poly is wonderful. You're right on the monorail, have two great restaurants there, the beach, view of MK and the other monorail hotels. The pool is nice but not exceptional and there is not spa/hot tub. No food court but a great coffee bar w/pastries. There are more water actities available also (which we didn't use at all).

CSR is the moderate that is closest to the deluxes in amenities. It has a great pool with a hot tub. I think the grounds are beautiful and love walking around the lake. I've never eaten at the Mayan Grill but the Pepper Market is a decent food court (a little more expensive than some of the other food courts but has more selections).

We're staying at CSR on our next trip because we decided that we didn't want to spend the extra money on a deluxe. Instead we're doing several tours, La Nouba and table service dining. (It was a difference of about $900 for our 8 night stay in Sept. between AKL & CSR so the choice was easy).

If you really want the convenience of the monorail, can or don't mind the extra money for the resort, and don't care about the hot tub, stay at the Poly. If you have kids or teens that will want to spend more time at the pool and playground, CSR is probably a better choice. And I think a great choice for couples (it's really romantic especially at night!).

Forgot about busses - we rent a car but the last time I stayed at CSR we didn't and I had no problem w/ the busses from there.

Don't know if this helped. Look at the pictures. Do a search on the Disboard for other threads on these resorts. Buzz? and Epcotfan have great websites for CSR with links in their posts and Tikiman has an amazing Poly website.

You won't be disappointed, imho, whichever you choose though I think I convinced myself that choosing CSR was the best decision! Have fun.

 

[funshipm174]

Thanks for the replies. Our goals are to spend about 2 of our 8 days poolside, and the rest in the parks. I know we do not want conceirge service, but I have always wanted to stay at the Poly. But then again, most of what I read tells me the CSR is almost equal in most ways. I guess the $$$$ will be the factor in the end!

Thanks all!

I've stayed at both and like both. Are you going with kids and what are their ages? What are you goals for the trip? Will you be using the amenities at the hotel or will you be mainly going to the parks?

Staying at the Poly is wonderful. You're right on the monorail, have two great restaurants there, the beach, view of MK and the other monorail hotels. The pool is nice but not exceptional and there is not spa/hot tub. No food court but a great coffee bar w/pastries. There are more water actities available also (which we didn't use at all).

CSR is the moderate that is closest to the deluxes in amenities. It has a great pool with a hot tub. I think the grounds are beautiful and love walking around the lake. I've never eaten at the Mayan Grill but the Pepper Market is a decent food court (a little more expensive than some of the other food courts but has more selections).

We're staying at CSR on our next trip because we decided that we didn't want to spend the extra money on a deluxe. Instead we're doing several tours, La Nouba and table service dining. (It was a difference of about $900 for our 8 night stay in Sept. between AKL & CSR so the choice was easy).

If you really want the convenience of the monorail, can or don't mind the extra money for the resort, and don't care about the hot tub, stay at the Poly. If you have kids or teens that will want to spend more time at the pool and playground, CSR is probably a better choice. And I think a great choice for couples (it's really romantic especially at night!).

Forgot about busses - we rent a car but the last time I stayed at CSR we didn't and I had no problem w/ the busses from there.

Don't know if this helped. Look at the pictures. Do a search on the Disboard for other threads on these resorts. Buzz? and Epcotfan have great websites for CSR with links in their posts and Tikiman has an amazing Poly website.

You won't be disappointed, imho, whichever you choose though I think I convinced myself that choosing CSR was the best decision! Have fun.

 

[goofy4tink]

Here's our story. We had always stayed at POR (DxL). My dd loved it there but really wanted to try the Polynesian. So, as a surprise for her, I booked the Polynesian during Disney's FairyTale Pkg era. We got a terrific deal. But, after our first day there, my dd, then 9 (almost 10) told us it just didn't feel like she was in WDW, that it didn't seem as magical. Now, I'm sure that was because she had such strong feelings about POR. But now she has stayed at ASMusic, BWV, and the Contemporary. She has never asked to go back to the Polynesian.

We liked it well enough. But the Volcano Pool was always hugely crowded. If we wanted to sit by the pool and relax, we had to do it at the quiet pool and even that had it's fair share of screaming kids. We liked Kona Cafe but don't feel the need to make a special trip back there. Capt. Cooks (small food court type area) was okay...we were able to grab something quickly and eat. Choices weren't huge.

The big thing for us was that if it was raining, we had to run from our longhouse, Tokelau, to get to the bus stop or the food areas or the monorail. For the amount of money you are paying this seemed almost ludicrous to me. And we did find the bus transportation to be a little lacking. But the ability to take the short path to TTC and catch the monorail to Epcot was a plus..as were the boats to MK.

We are going to BCV in a month. But at the end of our stay there, dd and I will be moving over to POR for a few nights before we head home. We are looking forward to this in a big way. The quiet pools there are really quiet since no one uses them very much. and the theming at the moderates is really terrific.

I guess it's all about what you want. If you want easy transport via the monorail to MK or even Epcot, then stay at Polynesian. But, I think you're better off saving some money and staying at a moderate.

 

[vanyel]

I think you'll really like the pool at CSR plus it has a hot tub and the Poly doesn't. Use your extra money for dining and other fun things. As nice as I think the Poly is, I find it hard to justify the extra money, especially since we don't have any extra money

I wouldn't worry about your ressie there at all.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I have stayed at CSR. It is a beautiful resort. We have stayed here twice already and stayed at the Cabanas.

I have often wonder what it would be like to stay at the Poly. Well.. the only way for me to find out is to actually stay there. So I am going to try it for 2 nights, then on to WL and POFQ. I would hate to stay there for the whole entire trip and then not like it. This way, if I don't like it, I have something to look forward to which is my favorite, WL and I love FQ too!

 

[Buzz2001]

For me, the extra money is never worth the jump to a deluxe at WDW, too overpriced. We enjoy CSR so much that I'll take the extra money and spend it on other things; dining, t-shirts.

CSR has a hot tub, the Poly doesn't, CSR has a great pool area, CSR has a spa and a gym, CSR does not share transportation with other resorts like the Poly does and is just minutes from MGM, AK and Epcot and Blizzard Beach.

Check out my CSR website below.