Is the Poly worth the extra cost? booked in POR now.

[CSchex]

Hello! I am traveling to WDW in November (23-27) with my 2 boys, ages 11 and 15, my sister and her 9 year old daughter. We are currently booked in POR, but have always wanted to stay at the Poly. We have traveled to WDW almost every year for the past 6 years, and have stayed at Pop and POR. Since we are sharing a room this year (husbands are staying home), the logic is we could afford to upgrade. Is it worth it? We feel like we are getting a great deal now, at POR with the free dining, the Poly would up our cost about $1000. We won't be spending an excessive time at the hotel, but love the idea of monorail transportation. Thanks for your help!

 

[pieface]

I love the Poly and the monorail is great to the magic kingdom but I just can't justify the added expense. I am going down in October and will be staying at the French quarter. If your not going to spend a great deal of time at your hotel it's not worth the added expense unless money is no option. It is a great resort but Disney has made the price just to expensive for me. I have stayed there and it is my favorite resort.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

The Poly is my favorite but the construction going on may make you regret the $1000 upgrade.

 

[Denmage]

We stayed at the POLY one year for New Year's Eve. It was terrific. The POLY rooms are bigger than the rooms at other resorts and if you request a Lagoon View Room, your room will face MK. The year we went it rained cats and dogs on New Year's Eve and the park was full to capacity. So instead of standing in the rain-soaked crowd, we went back to our room and watched the fireworks through the large sliding doors that faced MK. Then when they were over and everyone was rushing to leave the park, we rolled over and went to sleep.

Have a great time!

Denis

 

[CSchex]

The only option for the POLY is the garden view, so fireworks viewing from the room sounds wonderful, but would not be possible....

 

[Amanda999]

Hi! I've stayed at both Poly and POR multiple times.

I think that with kids those ages (i.e., not toddlers), and especially with the two DS (who I guess eat pretty well?!), I'd definitely go with POR with free dining.

Poly is worth the extra cost for a first/only trip and/or with toddlers, if money is of concern (which it is to me). The kids in your group are old enough to deal with bus/car ride to/from evening fireworks without meltdowns.

The kids (I assume the boys at least are big eaters at those ages) will especially appreciate the much greater counter service food choices at POR. I love Captain Cook's, but the choices are limited. And, counter service meals cost alot more than you might think. (One of my sons when we were at POR 2 weeks ago always got as his meal: milk shake ($5 or so if paying cash, counts as beverage on dining plan); cheeseburger and fries ($10 or so), sundae ($4 or so) for dessert. All that is 1 counter service credit on the dining plan. Be sure to add tax to the prices if you pay out of pocket.

While the slide at the POR pool isn't as good at that at the volcano (Poly), its not bad and there's a hot tub right there. I think your 3 kids will like it as much as mine. I was surprised that my kids didn't complain about the apparent downgrade in pool slides (from POly to POR).

I'd stay at POR and spend $150 or so on a rental car from the airport, for a lovely added bonus to your vacation. I love not being herded on the Magical Express or resort buses (which aren't bad, except ME from POR to MCO is awful - you go to POFQ, then OKW, then SS - takes over an hour to get to MCO).

Oh - also: the boat from POR to Downtown Disney absolutely beats the bus to DTD from Poly!

HTH!

 

[lilybrooke14]

In a word? No.

We stayed there in October of 2010. We spent much more than we normally would so that we could stay there. We assumed it would be the most magicalist vacation EVER!

It's a hotel. It's a nice hotel, but it's reeeeeally expensive for what you get. The rooms are old (yeah, updated... I get it) but they had a general grittiness to them that I was unprepared for. Housekeeping kept the floor vacuumed and the beds made, but they weren't particularly comfortable beds (what's with the mini pillows?), and the room in general needed to be deep cleaned. Or pressure washed.

"OMG. You're so picky. Disney has a high turn-over rate. Cut them some slack."

Yeah. No. You want to charge $$$ a night? Fine. There shouldn't be mold in the bathroom. My house is slept in every night, but I don't have mold in the bathroom.

The resort was lovely. You can walk there for free and enjoy the lovelyness. The volcano pool was cool, but always packed. We only went once. The quiet pools were nice. The ducks thought so too. You may like swimming with the ducks. I didn't partake. The ducks didn't have any qualms about pooping in the pond, so to speak, and the people with the duck poo scooping nets only showed up at night.

(Side note, by the end of our trip I was completely done with the Disney ducks. They're charming for a little while, and then they're just a nuisance. I want to go to the California Grill, just so I can order the duck dish and sit at Disney eating a Disney duck. Fingers crossed that they're "farmed locally".)

Being on the monorail was pretty much awesome. That said, I wouldn't pay to stay there again. Everywhere we looked, we saw things that made us think "for the price of this place, they shouldn't have ____."

"Well, you shouldn't stay there if you can't afford it."

We paid cash for our trip. We just didn't think it was worth what we payed. If you're DYING to stay there and you think you'll regret it to your dying day, by all means, live your dream. Don't let some duck hating, clean room nit-picking complainer talk you out of it. If you think you'll be reasonably happy staying in a mod, plan to eat at Ohana and watch Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian. It's delicious, and magical, and you don't have to stay there to do it.

Imagining a duck accidentally flying into the fireworks is optional.

 

[mevelandry]

There is a lot of construction going on right now (and even more to come) at the Polynesian Resort. I would stay at POR.

 

[wiigirl]

There is a lot of construction going on right now (and even more to come) at the Polynesian Resort. I would stay at POR.

I love the POLY...but with the construction, I would agree POR.

 

[MinniesYooHoo]

Absolutely! We stayed there August 2012 and had a magial trip! We were in Samoa which was just a perfect location. Close to the pool (right outside our patio), close to the beach, and close to the GCH. Being on the monorail was wonderful. It was such a relaxing and laid back trip. Flash forward to just this past June. Stayed at POR. It was awful. The sad thing is, when I booked it I knew I was going to keep comparing it to the Poly. Overall we didn't let it effect our trip, but everytime we saw the Poly we just kept saying to each other: "Why didn't we stay there again?!". Lesson learned. But of course, to each his own.

 

[poconopixie]

In a word? No.

We stayed there in October of 2010. We spent much more than we normally would so that we could stay there. We assumed it would be the most magicalist vacation EVER!

It's a hotel. It's a nice hotel, but it's reeeeeally expensive for what you get. The rooms are old (yeah, updated... I get it) but they had a general grittiness to them that I was unprepared for. Housekeeping kept the floor vacuumed and the beds made, but they weren't particularly comfortable beds (what's with the mini pillows?), and the room in general needed to be deep cleaned. Or pressure washed.

"OMG. You're so picky. Disney has a high turn-over rate. Cut them some slack."

Yeah. No. You want to charge $$$ a night? Fine. There shouldn't be mold in the bathroom. My house is slept in every night, but I don't have mold in the bathroom.

The resort was lovely. You can walk there for free and enjoy the lovelyness. The volcano pool was cool, but always packed. We only went once. The quiet pools were nice. The ducks thought so too. You may like swimming with the ducks. I didn't partake. The ducks didn't have any qualms about pooping in the pond, so to speak, and the people with the duck poo scooping nets only showed up at night.

(Side note, by the end of our trip I was completely done with the Disney ducks. They're charming for a little while, and then they're just a nuisance. I want to go to the California Grill, just so I can order the duck dish and sit at Disney eating a Disney duck. Fingers crossed that they're "farmed locally".)

Being on the monorail was pretty much awesome. That said, I wouldn't pay to stay there again. Everywhere we looked, we saw things that made us think "for the price of this place, they shouldn't have ____."

"Well, you shouldn't stay there if you can't afford it."

We paid cash for our trip. We just didn't think it was worth what we payed. If you're DYING to stay there and you think you'll regret it to your dying day, by all means, live your dream. Don't let some duck hating, clean room nit-picking complainer talk you out of it. If you think you'll be reasonably happy staying in a mod, plan to eat at Ohana and watch Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian. It's delicious, and magical, and you don't have to stay there to do it.

Imagining a duck accidentally flying into the fireworks is optional.

OMG, I snorted coffee through my nose when reading this. I found it sooo funny, but also so spot on.

 

[Babsy]

In a word? No.

We stayed there in October of 2010. We spent much more than we normally would so that we could stay there. We assumed it would be the most magicalist vacation EVER!

It's a hotel. It's a nice hotel, but it's reeeeeally expensive for what you get. The rooms are old (yeah, updated... I get it) but they had a general grittiness to them that I was unprepared for. Housekeeping kept the floor vacuumed and the beds made, but they weren't particularly comfortable beds (what's with the mini pillows?), and the room in general needed to be deep cleaned. Or pressure washed.

"OMG. You're so picky. Disney has a high turn-over rate. Cut them some slack."

Yeah. No. You want to charge $$$ a night? Fine. There shouldn't be mold in the bathroom. My house is slept in every night, but I don't have mold in the bathroom.

The resort was lovely. You can walk there for free and enjoy the lovelyness. The volcano pool was cool, but always packed. We only went once. The quiet pools were nice. The ducks thought so too. You may like swimming with the ducks. I didn't partake. The ducks didn't have any qualms about pooping in the pond, so to speak, and the people with the duck poo scooping nets only showed up at night.

(Side note, by the end of our trip I was completely done with the Disney ducks. They're charming for a little while, and then they're just a nuisance. I want to go to the California Grill, just so I can order the duck dish and sit at Disney eating a Disney duck. Fingers crossed that they're "farmed locally".)

Being on the monorail was pretty much awesome. That said, I wouldn't pay to stay there again. Everywhere we looked, we saw things that made us think "for the price of this place, they shouldn't have ____."

"Well, you shouldn't stay there if you can't afford it."

We paid cash for our trip. We just didn't think it was worth what we payed. If you're DYING to stay there and you think you'll regret it to your dying day, by all means, live your dream. Don't let some duck hating, clean room nit-picking complainer talk you out of it. If you think you'll be reasonably happy staying in a mod, plan to eat at Ohana and watch Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian. It's delicious, and magical, and you don't have to stay there to do it.

Imagining a duck accidentally flying into the fireworks is optional.

Duck haters of the world unite!!! Ha! You should get this published!! Too funny!

 

[mevelandry]

If you think you'll be reasonably happy staying in a mod, plan to eat at Ohana and watch Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian. It's delicious, and magical, and you don't have to stay there to do it.

Exactly. Although I loved my experience staying at Deluxe resorts I soon realized that a bedroom is a bedroom and a pool is a pool. If I wanna spend time in a deluxe, I can. I just have to take a walk on-site and eat at their restaurants.

And then go to sleep in my value/moderate resorts... With hundreds of $ in my pocket (because I did not spend it on a deluxe room).

 

[DisneyWisher]

We are typically value resorters but we have stayed deluxe several times (4WL, AKL, 2CR, and Poly) we actually were at Poly in 2004 between hurricanes Francis and Jeanne. Ivan was heading to the panhandle. It was DD11 and I only. My other girls were in college and work schedules kept them from joining us. We named it "if we can't get there by monorail or boat, we aren't going" we were there 5 nights (I got Poly CL for $300 a night, on the way home I kept thinking I could've stayed a month at ASMu for that) but we had a ball. It was our once in a long time trip (hoping i'll do it again someday with my grand kids)

But if you are rarely going to be at the resort I advise against it. We only did parks 3 half days (MK and Epcot only) otherwise we were at the pool. We watched wishes from the beach or pool 4 nights.

Reason we are value resorters. When my older girls were 17, 15, and 8 we stayed at POR, before that we only stayed value (single mom). My girls disliked POR, they disliked the "long" walk to the food court. I think at night the gorgeous walk scared them. They said there weren't enough boys. At All Stars there always seemed to be some kind of sports tournament going on. Was more than happy to go back to resort that cost 1/2 the price.

 

[usd2bmd]

Exactly. Although I loved my experience staying at Deluxe resorts I soon realized that a bedroom is a bedroom and a pool is a pool. If I wanna spend time in a deluxe, I can. I just have to take a walk on-site and eat at their restaurants.

And then go to sleep in my value/moderate resorts... With hundreds of $ in my pocket (because I did not spend it on a deluxe room).

I agree. Although in theory staying at a deluxe sounds wonderful (and probably would be) . But I am a practical girl and IF the money was available to spend. I would either stay longer at a moderate or just use it in other ways . (souvenirs, tours)

In a word? No.

We stayed there in October of 2010. We spent much more than we normally would so that we could stay there. We assumed it would be the most magicalist vacation EVER!

It's a hotel. It's a nice hotel, but it's reeeeeally expensive for what you get. The rooms are old (yeah, updated... I get it) but they had a general grittiness to them that I was unprepared for. Housekeeping kept the floor vacuumed and the beds made, but they weren't particularly comfortable beds (what's with the mini pillows?), and the room in general needed to be deep cleaned. Or pressure washed.

"OMG. You're so picky. Disney has a high turn-over rate. Cut them some slack."

Yeah. No. You want to charge $$$ a night? Fine. There shouldn't be mold in the bathroom. My house is slept in every night, but I don't have mold in the bathroom.

The resort was lovely. You can walk there for free and enjoy the lovelyness. The volcano pool was cool, but always packed. We only went once. The quiet pools were nice. The ducks thought so too. You may like swimming with the ducks. I didn't partake. The ducks didn't have any qualms about pooping in the pond, so to speak, and the people with the duck poo scooping nets only showed up at night.

(Side note, by the end of our trip I was completely done with the Disney ducks. They're charming for a little while, and then they're just a nuisance. I want to go to the California Grill, just so I can order the duck dish and sit at Disney eating a Disney duck. Fingers crossed that they're "farmed locally".)

Being on the monorail was pretty much awesome. That said, I wouldn't pay to stay there again. Everywhere we looked, we saw things that made us think "for the price of this place, they shouldn't have ____."

"Well, you shouldn't stay there if you can't afford it."

We paid cash for our trip. We just didn't think it was worth what we payed. If you're DYING to stay there and you think you'll regret it to your dying day, by all means, live your dream. Don't let some duck hating, clean room nit-picking complainer talk you out of it. If you think you'll be reasonably happy staying in a mod, plan to eat at Ohana and watch Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian. It's delicious, and magical, and you don't have to stay there to do it.

Imagining a duck accidentally flying into the fireworks is optional.

Be my friend!! Please!

 

[mickeynut1]

Hello! I am traveling to WDW in November (23-27) with my 2 boys, ages 11 and 15, my sister and her 9 year old daughter. We are currently booked in POR, but have always wanted to stay at the Poly. We have traveled to WDW almost every year for the past 6 years, and have stayed at Pop and POR. Since we are sharing a room this year (husbands are staying home), the logic is we could afford to upgrade. Is it worth it? We feel like we are getting a great deal now, at POR with the free dining, the Poly would up our cost about $1000. We won't be spending an excessive time at the hotel, but love the idea of monorail transportation. Thanks for your help!

Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone, but for us, yes the Poly is worth the extra cost. We love everything about the Poly and can't wait to get back for another stay in December. Good luck.

 

[Masonmj84]

For me, the deluxe resort experience is worth it mainly for the location of the resorts, and the Poly, IMO, has the best location of any of them.

That being said, even at the Poly, you have to take busses to HS and AK.

For that reason, we love doing split stays with at least one portion at a MK resort and at least another portion at an EP resort (we don't mind changing resorts as most of our vactions involve staying at multiple places).

A lot of this has to do with our touring style:

1. We use magical express and don't rent a car (for us, not having to deal with the car rental hassle, driving, and parking is a big perk of going to Disney)

2. We have young kids who wake up early, need a nap in the middle of the day, and go to bed early. So our touring style is to hit the parks from RD to around 1 pm, then go back to the resort for naps/swimming. Given their convenient locations, deluxe resorts are just soooo nice for this touring style.

3. The best restaurants on property are the table service restaurants in the deluxe resorts and we love having dinners at those. Again, staying at a deluxe resort makes this soooo convenient and by doing a MK resort/EP resort split, we get to experience lots of different places.

4. In the event we decide to stay late for Wishes or Illuminations, it's soooo much faster and easier to get back to our room afterwards, and with young kids, this is a big deal (another reason for the MK resort/EP resort split).

We stayed moderate once (at CSR) and while it was a lovely resort (and, as far as the resort itself goes, more bang for the buck than any deluxe IMO), we just spent too much time on busses (and the resort had good bus service - our touring style just requires so much back and forth). We'd probably consider staying there again (or POR) once our kids are older and our touring style changes but, for now, we're a deluxe resort split stay family.

 

[JDis1015]

I may be biased to poly as DH and I stayed there for our two week honeymoon. Loved the monorail and the location to watch the fireworks from the beach. It was absolutely magical and just a wonderful experience. I'm trying to figure a way that I could do a split stay in May between a value and the poly

 

[klwdisney]

Poly is my favorite resort but I can't justify the expense. POR is my next favorite. What we did this past May was a split stay. We stayed at POR when we were doing the parks. At the end of the week we transferred to a Garden View Poly room to relax and unwind from the parks before going home. We received a free upgrade to a Club Level room in the Hawaii building!! I'm hooked now!! So that's an idea if you are scared of the cost.

 

[alc571]

OMG, I snorted coffee through my nose when reading this. I found it sooo funny, but also so spot on.

Ditto! LOL!