Is the walk to MK worth it?

[Friedbutter]

Hi everyone!

We are going to Disney Jan 2021 and I have analysis paralysis between Contemporary and Poly.

I’d really rather stay at the poly for the theming but I am having a hard time giving up the walk to MK.

We will have a 4.5 yo and a 7 yo and will be using a stroller. Our trip will be 6 nights and we will have park hoppers.

I need to decide this week to put in our request to rent DVC points.

Thoughts? (Thank you in advance!)

 

[goingtoexpo!!]

Do you think you'll be ending your day at Magic Kingdom any of your trip days? I find the Contemporary most rewarding if I am ending the night at Magic Kingdom. When the masses are heading towards the monorail, it is so wonderful to walk instead!

 

[DGsAtBLT]

We love BLT but are trying Poly this trip.

We are so excited, but a part of me really thinks we’re going to end up missing the MK walk. It really is that good. No worries about monorail delays, waiting, or anything. And no crowds leaving MK which you can’t beat at any other resort (until the GF walkway is complete).

Poly has the advantage with Epcot though.

 

[GoingSince1990]

You should be able to walk from MK to Poly in Jan 2021. A longish walk but very scenic.

 

[ucf_knight]

Do you think you'll be ending your day at Magic Kingdom any of your trip days? I find the Contemporary most rewarding if I am ending the night at Magic Kingdom. When the masses are heading towards the monorail, it is so wonderful to walk instead!

This is what you need to take into consideration. If you only have one or two nights planned at MK then it’s probably not worth it. I’d just stay at the resort you like best.

 

[DurhamBuckeye]

I've never stayed at the Contemporary, but have stayed at Poly. I can tell you that I found Poly to be extremely easy to get to and from MK, and I can't imagine the marginal gains in time to stay at the Contemporary would be worth it for our family (we love Poly).

We really look forward to grabbing a (very good) cup of coffee from Kona cafe to go, and hopping on the monorail first thing in the morning. It's our favorite coffee in the World. We could go from our room to MK with the kids in a stroller without them needing to get out, and for us the theming of Poly & that morning coffee are more than worth the extra couple of minutes each way to MK.

Oh, and the Dole Whip. It's my favorite sweet treat in the parks, and I love that I can get it at the Poly.

 

[White Rose]

My hubby wants to do a Split stay and end the trip at the Contemporary for the 50th anniversary day. I am not a walker, and am starting to prepare/ train now so I won’t be in serious pain after walking 10 miles a day. At this point we would have been in WDW for 5 days and not much break time.

I have a hip birth defect and feet issues that cause lots of pain after a day or two of heavy standing or walking. I know after 2 days, I will be hurting, from previous trips. But I never really tried to train...

He thinks he can get me to walk to and from the resort to MK At the end of our very active trip.

Do you really enjoy to walk form MK to the contemporary? Is it a long walk? Will I regret each step and whine and look back and the monorail, pouting..that I could be possibly sitting or leaning against something and not adding to my agony....I watched the video of someone walking..and it seems...long..and...not bad...it’s just adding to the eventual agony that is my feet.

I won’t give up and get a scooter... I am seriously wondering if he is insane about the whole extra walking thing...is it really not that bad and I am just being overly whiney?

 

[kiford]

Do you really enjoy to walk form MK to the contemporary? Is it a long walk? Will I regret each step and whine and look back and the monorail, pouting..that I could be possibly sitting or leaning against something and not adding to my agony....I watched the video of someone walking..and it seems...long..and...not bad...it’s just adding to the eventual agony that is my feet.

The problem is that if you're leaving MK at the same time as everyone else, you'll be standing in line for the monorail for probably longer than walking to CR. I find it much harder to just stand than to walk and at least I feel like I'm making progress when I'm walking. It's maybe a 10 minute walk compared to potentially 15-30 minutes for monorail depending on crowds and time of day. And then you may be standing ON the monorail and then walking from the monorail back downstairs. IMO it's less work to walk.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

My hubby wants to do a Split stay and end the trip at the Contemporary for the 50th anniversary day. I am not a walker, and am starting to prepare/ train now so I won’t be in serious pain after walking 10 miles a day. Ni this point we would have been in WDW for 5 days and not much break time.

I have a hip birth defect and feet issues that cause lots of pain after a day or two of heavy standing or walking. I know after 2 days, I will be hurting, from previous trips.

He thinks he can get me to walk to and from the resort to MK At the end of our

Do you really enjoy to walk form MK to the contemporary? Is it a long walk? Will I regret each step and whine and look back and the monorail, pouting..that I could be possibly sitting or leaning against something and not adding to my agony....I watched the video of someone walking..and it seems...long..and...not bad...it’s just adding to the eventual agony that is my feet.

I won’t give up and get a scooter... I am seriously wondering if he is insane about the whole extra walking thing...is it really not that bad and I am just being overly whiney?

I can’t answer from the perspective of someone with mobility issues, but the walk really isn’t that bad at all. It’s about 10 mins

Don’t forget you’d be skipping the (okay they’re not that bad) ramps up and down the MK station if you walk and don’t take the monorail. You’re also skipping standing waiting if that’s an issue, and potentially standing on the monorail.

A big plus of walking to/from CR instead of the monorail is for people with strollers or who cannot use the escalator. No waiting for the little elevator up and down from the monorail station at the hotel.

 

[Krystal659]

We typically stay at the Contemporary and usually walk over to MK in the morning and it does not seem far at all. However, if we take a mid-day break, I usually use the monorail to re-enter MK (no hurry to get there). Now, if we stay until park close, I will walk back instead of waiting in the forever long line at the monorail. Otherwise, I am happy to ride "home", somehow the walk back is more than I care to do.

My other plug for Contemporary is that I can easily walk downstairs and get morning coffee without having to go outside in the rain, heat, etc. which is not the case at the Poly.

Our last trip, we did find ourselves at the Poly often for QS, snacks, etc. I think either resort allows you to pop into the other with ease. Enjoy your choice

 

[skippytx]

I'm a die hard BLT fan and after spending 9 nights at a BLT studio we're really thinking about trying to grab Poly on our next studio trip. (Next visit is a 2 bedroom). The extra bathroom at Poly would have been a huge help this last trip.

I too though wouldn't want to give up the walk to MK though. The monorail isn't really that attractive anymore. It's usually 100% packed any time we try to ride it, to the point you're lucky if you even get on the first one that rolls by. The walk is a guaranteed 10 to 12 minutes home.

Do you really enjoy to walk form MK to the contemporary? Is it a long walk? Will I regret each step and whine and look back and the monorail, pouting..that I could be possibly sitting or leaning against something and not adding to my agony....I watched the video of someone walking..and it seems...long..and...not bad...it’s just adding to the eventual agony that is my feet.

I won’t give up and get a scooter... I am seriously wondering if he is insane about the whole extra walking thing...is it really not that bad and I am just being overly whiney?

Do I enjoy the walk? Not really but it is the fastest way home at night. The monorail, especially at closing, gets hammered with people, and I enjoy spending 15-20 minutes standing around waiting to ride the monorail for 45 seconds to the contemporary less than I do the 10 minute walk back to the hotel. The walk is roughly 1/4 of a mile to Bay Lake Tower (a bit farther to Contemporary), and after a long day of 5 to 7 miles of walking the last thing I want to do is walk another 1/4 mile, but it's the fastest route back to the room so I hoof it.

Look into the scooter. You don't have to use it 100% of the time. Ride it to the park, park the thing somewhere, walk around the park and ride it home.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hi everyone!

We are going to Disney Jan 2021 and I have paralysis analysis between Contemporary and Poly.

I’d really rather stay at the poly for the theming but I am having a hard time giving up the walk to MK.

We will have a 4.5 yo and a 7 yo and will be using a stroller. Our trip will be 6 nights and we will have park hoppers.

I need to decide this week to put in our request to rent DVC points.

Thoughts? (Thank you in advance!)

I would take a look at your park plans and decide from there. If you are spending a significant amount of time in MK, maybe go with CR (BLT), but I'm not a huge fan of the theming at that resort and getting to the monorail platform with a stroller is not fun (one elevator for everyone who needs to use it to get a stroller or ECV up to the platform). One of the advantages of Poly is you can walk to TTC to catch the EP monorail and it is much easier to get to the Poly and TTC monorail platforms, IMHO. Personally, I find Poly to be the better overall resort, but if you are solely going to MK for the trip or going there a majority of the time, BLT may be the right choice for you.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We are renting at Poly for our upcoming trip. I know I can't walk to MK but I can walk to the TTC which will give me access to Epcot and the boat ride or monorail ride to MK isn't too bad. The real reason we chose Poly is the size of the rooms. BLT studios just seem so small and I really didn't want to be cramped. Plus the additional shower is awesome. So if it's a choice between walking to MK and a larger room I went with larger room.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Stay where you want...
Saving 10 minutes in a 12 -14 hour day at WDW isn't a variable I place all that high on my list when it comes to where to stay.

 

[westie55]

I stayed at the Contemporary last summer. I was really looking forward to the "easy" walk to the MK. We visited in July with 2 toddlers and a baby in our party. My almost 2 year old decided he hated riding in the stroller. Well, needless to say, in the unbearable summer heat the walk to the Contemporary became LONG. We did it only a couple of times the entire trip and opted to take the monorail the rest of the time so we could relax in the AC. I was not in love with the theming of the Contemporary. It felt seriously lacking to me compared to other Disney resorts. Much of the hotel's decor was dated and unattractive to me. For that reason, I would choose the Polynesian. It's theming is far better IMO. The only downside to the Poly is the higher price tag. I am not rushing back to the Contemporary. I might feel differently about the walk from CR to MK if I had stayed in cooler, dryer weather. For our family, it wasn't worth it. YMMV.

 

[heidijanesmith]

I agree with the previous posters above, standing for me is much worse than walking.

I would rather take a nice slow walk to the Contemporary then stand and wait for the Monorail.

I normally do not like walking more at the end of an already long walking day. For example, walking home from DS to the BWV can seem like it takes for ever. But I thought the walk to and from the Contemporary to be not so bad. I made in about 8min and I am not fast.

 

[goingtoexpo!!]

The problem is that if you're leaving MK at the same time as everyone else, you'll be standing in line for the monorail for probably longer than walking to CR. I find it much harder to just stand than to walk and at least I feel like I'm making progress when I'm walking. It's maybe a 10 minute walk compared to potentially 15-30 minutes for monorail depending on crowds and time of day. And then you may be standing ON the monorail and then walking from the monorail back downstairs. IMO it's less work to walk.

Exactly. Being master of your destiny is so much better when dealing with WDW transport (IMO)

 

[TraderSamWDW]

In January 2021 you will be able to walk to the poly as well. Albeit, a long walk

 

[canuckgirl]

We stayed at Poly last trip and this time I’ve booked Contemporary and am SO excited about it!! When we stayed at Poly, yes the theming was *incredible* but the resort was so crazy busy! Outside of Ohana and kona are just crowds of people waiting to be seated and captain cooks and trader sams are basically a busy hallway. We spend 5/10 park days at MK so the walk will be incredible!

 

[TraderSamWDW]

We stayed at Poly last trip and this time I’ve booked Contemporary and am SO excited about it!! When we stayed at Poly, yes the theming was *incredible* but the resort was so crazy busy! Outside of Ohana and kona are just crowds of people waiting to be seated and captain cooks and trader sams are basically a busy hallway. We spend 5/10 park days at MK so the walk will be incredible!

Agreed, if crowds are going to bother you the poly grand ceremonial house is crazy at breakfast and dinner times.