I am trying to justify $355 p/n at Polynesian. UPDATE on pg. 3 Even more confused!

[GoofyJoofy]

A Savannah view, gives you a view of the animals from your room.
My 11 yr DS's image of a best WDW vacation is seeing a giraffe from his room, and spending all his time at a water park.
Also, the AKL has many viewing areas in the lodge, and if you are up after dark, some of them offer special night vision goggles to watch the animals.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Fantasia,

I can't say if it is worth the money.
But I will say, that we really enjoyed being on the monorail during one of our stays. Very convienent, and with younger kids I would think it would make it easier to visit MK or Epcot.

AKL is beautiful, but it is so removed from everything. It can be very relaxing, but if you are going to spend lots of time at the parks, it could get annoying dealing with busess ALL the time.

One final note, if by not spending money on a Deluxe resort means you can more easily visit WDW again this year, that would be a big reason to NOT justify it.

By the way, hope I'm not getting too personal here, thought you were thinking of moving to FL. Have you given up on that idea?

I was thinking of Poly cause we do visit MK and Epcot a lot. We have been on a monorail a few times just to enjoy the ride and look out the window and enjoy the view. And we have visited the Poly, GF and CR and learned how convinient it is to take the monorail to MK and Epcot.

I suppose if I don't do Deluxe on this trip, I will save some money for our next year trip. I am planning to go during Easter and at the same time my Birthday.

I was this close of moving to Orlando last summer. My mother said that she will not visit us due to her health condition and she will not go to Florida due to heat. And.. I was her "chauffer." I'm the only one that drives her to the doctor. I told her that I will fly her in during winter and stay for a couple of weeks or even a month. She said no.

I already had the apartment leased and found where the children's school... but... it didn't happen. One of these days... I can make it happen if I really wanted to, but I love my family too much... now is not the time to move. I still think about moving... but not anytime soon.

The deluxe room at AKL is bigger than Savannah. It has more square footage and a daybed.

Thanks for the info. I guess I wouldn't mind having a bigger room. The kids have a little bit more room to play in.

Maybe I should just stick to my original plan. POP and POFQ. Or... AKL, POP, and POFQ. I don't want this to be a dilemma. I am thankful that I can go back to Disney and stay on-site.

 

[Tinkaroo]

If you really like WL, then AKL might be a natural choice, being that they were both designed by the same architect and both embrace nature in one way or another.

If you stayed at AKL the last few days of your vacation, you could spend more time enjoying the extra amenities of the hotel - the pool, the kids' activities, hanging out and watching the animals, etc.

Just got back from a standard-view room at the AKL, and I think it's worth it no matter your view!

 

[Tinkaroo]

Oops - meant to add that it really didn't seem that far to the rest of the World from AKL, and that AP might really be worth it for you! You could hopefully save on all of your rooms - not to mention the other discounts on dining, shopping, etc. you can get. If you're already planning to go back in less than a year, then it might really be worth it for you.

Don't know about the child's AP - never read those posts because I don't have children, but I bet if you did a search, you could find the answer. I think that one rates right up there with pool hopping and resort mugs!

 

[susy]

I would do the savannah view at AKL for $219-that sounds good. You don't need a deluxe room. We had one and it was okay, but I would not pay extra for it. That is a lot of moving, though. Keep in mind that in spring, peak rates are happening!!!!

 

[*Fantasia*]

Oh... This is not for next spring, this is for this coming June! When I think of WL... it's serene...very peaceful (though I know the actions are happening by the pool) and it's just breathtaking. We stayed at the Courtyard twice and it was worth it to me, but then again, I only paid about aprox $180 with the code the last time.

To be honest, I am not so much into animals, maybe my kids. But it would be real interesting to stay at AKL and watch the animals right where you're staying. This place does not even have a rental bikes, do they? My children loves to ride bikes around the ground, we always do this on every trip where there's a rental bikes on the premises.

I have this crazy thought... two nights at Poly, three nights at AKL and three nights at POFQ and just forget about POP! Hmmm... but my kids loves that resort.

Sorry... just rambling away here... Just thinking..just thinking... and I am thinking so loud that you can even read my thoughts here on the board!

 

[jckdisneybound]

To me that is just too much money, if it was a discounted room, I may go for it, but to pay rack, that just seems silly to me. Now if you do decide to go for it, I would personally make your itineray look like, Pop, POFQ, Poly.

That also seems like an aweful lot of resort changing, may make it hard to kick back.

Edited to add: I would stay at the Savannah view, yes the room is smaller but the view is so worth it.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I thought the only way to get to MK is by boat. I read somewhere that now they have a bus to MK? Is that right? If so, does this bus share it with another resort? If so, which one?

And my understanding is that bus at WL is shared with GF and FW. Is this with all the bus or only certain bus (certain parks)? So, wouldn't this mean that POP might have a better bus service cause it does not share bus with any other resorts? TIA!!

 

[clutter]

Have you thought about the Epcot Resorts? We stayed at the Dolphin last July and loved it. I mean I loved the hotel, but I LOVED the location. This year, our splurge is to try Beach Club. We're trying out POFQ (loved POR last January), then going to BC for 5 nights. (Its' June, my dd will love the pool.)

On the AKL thought, they have bunk beds, which your kids might love. Mine did. You may not be much into animals, but there's something magic about giraffes sleeping outside your window at night. Personally, I'd opt for regular, not Deluxe. I think the delux rooms are on the 5th and 6th floor, and the better veiws are on the 2nd and 3rd.

 

[Cameo]

Personally, I would have a hard time spending that kind of money for the Poly. But, my main thought is the length of time you are staying at each resort. This is just my opinion, but when we have done split stays we find that we need to stay at least 4 days at a resort to get the full flavor and to get relaxed. Anything shorter than that and we are living out of our suitcases and stressing over moving again soon! I would probably try to stick to just two resorts. Have fun!

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Fantasia - we stayed at the Poly in October 2003 for three nights at $360 a night - when you convert that into our £ sterling, it sounded even worse. But, I had always wanted to stay there and we did have a very enjoyable stay . . . . BUT, I still can't believe we paid all that money for three nights onsite

We loved the AKL - and even though we paid way over the odds at $280 per night (perhaps they saw me coming from way over here in the UK ), we all preferred our stay at AKL to the Poly.

Having said that, the Poly was so convenient for our Disney trips just to MK and Epcot.

Problem is we now love Universal better than Disney (sorry!), and staying onsite at Universal is so much better value for money.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Fantasia,

With all your trips to WDW an AP would be the way to go, but you need to check out DVC, you would also get a great discount on the AP's. The money for just a few nights at the Poly would make a great down payment on DVC.

Have a great trip.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Have you considered a wing room at the CR? You'd still be on the monorail and it would most likely be less $$ than what you were quoted at the Poly. We love the CR!

 

[BensMom]

Oh, no, when you got the dropped acoustical ceiling in the main part of the hotel needing to be replaced, among other things, you gotta figure if it's worth the fact that it's on the monorail! My goodness, Animal Kingdom Lodge may be far away, but hands down, for the money - worth it! But that's just MY humble opinion. Heck, at $335 a night, check into some of the DVC resorts! Yacht Club, Beach Club, etc.

Isner/Iger need to get together and earmark the Poly for some renovation.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts and some great suggestions. Most of the folks here are die hard Poly and I guess I just want to experience what others have experience with this resort.

I also probably want to compare Royal Pacific and Polynesian. I know I have fallen in love with RPR and I want to see if I am going to love Poly just as much as RPR.

I just wish they have a general code out for June! I am considering buying an AP. Can I just buy the child AP instead of adult AP to use for codes?

Again... thanks!

 

[helenk]

From reading all the AP information you can in fact reserve a room with the child's AP.
If you are making 2 trips within a year, it would certainly be cost effective for you to buy an AP and then enjoy the discount on the Poly's rate.
We stayed there 2 nights last year after 5 nights at the POFQ, my son and I really loved the Poly my daughter and my mother liked the POFQ better, oh well everyone's taste is different.
My husband and I are going to the Poly in December and I can not wait!
Good luck with your selections.

 

[LSUDis]

I was going to suggest, since you wanted a resort on the monorail, that you check out the Contemporary Wing (North only since the South is closed until Oct., I think). The kids might like a view of the lake, and they could walk to MK. If I'm not mistaken, it is THE cheapest option on the monorail.

Plus, you could take the boat to WL for dining. .. AND you can rent watermice for the lake.

I would suggest only two resorts, too. You don't want to do all of the moving, do you? Maybe Pop and CR...save tons of money!

 

[katallo]

Our friends recently returned from the Poly and paid much less, I think 280.00. That being said, they were disappointed in the quality of the service (mousekeeping/beds were not that comfy, etc) for the price. As excited as they were to visit, they said unless Disney releases codes or discounts they won't go back for awhile. I suggested WL but she said no codes for any of the hotels.

 

[Vijoge]

AP rates are already out for June. You would save $100 a night off rack rates at the Deluxes.

How much savings on the Mods, if any? I'm trying to get an idea od how much savings MIGHT be available when we go.

 

[thumpersfriend]

We just returned from the Poly, 4 days at 350 a night. In my opinion it was not worth the price. It was a beautiful resort but I guess I expected quieter rooms, better soundproofing I mean. The volcano pool was a big dissappointment because it was much smaller than it looked in pictures. Plus it was so crowded ! The monorail was nice though and the walkway to the ticket center was nice too but I still think for the money I almost feel like I was taken. Maybe for a code at 250 I would consider it again. I was crazy about it when I first got home ,but boy that was sure alot of money. Especially when I hear of people loving the moderates. We were on the bus to Downtown Disney and a couple were staying at the CR because one of the values they liked was full. They did not like it near as well ,and the price was so much more. 2 nights the fireworks weren't until midnight because of Grad night so that wasn't what we expected either.