Spent a week in the Poly (8/4 to 8/11) and we already miss it! After two stays (2003 and 2005) at the Wilderness Lodge in a Deluxe Room, we decided to try the Poly, and went with a MK view conceirge room ... and are so glad we did. My wife and I, and our son (8) had another amazing trip - despite the heat.
Just a few notes and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
1. Poly itself
Just really beautiful. We got lost walking around the first few days, but what a nice place to get lost! Our son loved the volcano slide, and although we thought the pool itself was a bit small, we enjoyed it. We remember the WL pool as always being so warm as to not be refreshing, but that wasn't the case here, and it was the hotest week of our three trips.
2. Our room
Very nice. Comfy beds and an amazing amazing view. Watching wishes from the balcony every night is something you don't get sick of. The music is pumped in on the beach, so we could hear everything loud and clear from the balcony. We were on the 3rd floor and just had stunning views. We left all the curtains opened all night, and it was great to roll over in the middle of the night and see what color the castle was. I think staying on the first floor would have been a much less attractive option for us, as you'd tend to keep the curtains closed a lot of the times, I would think.
I know there's been a lot of talk about issues with Mousekeeping. We didn't have any at all. They were great. We did have a few issues the first day with our AC, and they were quickly taken care of AND they actually compensated us for it. Very nice.
3. Concierge. We'd absolutely do this again. As many have said, if you try to eat $100 worth of food a day, I guess you could... but that's not the point. We were only there one time when they had the hot food out, and had some excellent cucumber/avacado rolls. But we ate breakfast there every morning. We always stopped by for a few cold drinks on our way in and out of the building, and stopped in for snacks too. And then we usually capped our nights with the excellent desserts. With all the water and soda we drank, and not buying breakfast every day? Maybe we saved $50 or so on food per day. Maybe more.
But what we loved was how it made our room feel bigger. We had another place to sit and relax. We weren't just lying on the beds. We hung out there at times and it was great. Our room was right next to the 3rd floor entrance, and there were a few times when we let our son sleep and my wife and I hung out there for a bit. We really feel this aspect of it was worth every penny.
The staff was very helpful too. We had planned all our dining choices in advance, but when we made a few last minute changes, they took care of them. And I had called to say it was our 15th anniversary and look for suggestions for something to do for my wife, and they told me about flowers, etc. I didn't actually end up doing that, but on our second day we had a beatuful picture signed by Mickey and Minnie congratulating us on our anniversay. That was very nice.
3. Transportation. We thought that the Poly seemed the most convienent place to stay, and we now feel sure of it! We took the monoral to the MK on our trips there, and usually took the boat back. The short walk to the TTC to get the direct Monorail to EPCOT is fantastic. That perk alone makes it convienent. From what I can see, if you want to be at EPCOT for park open, the Poly is the best place to be. I know YC and BC are right there, but seems like a long walk to get to the front of Future World.
We had no problems with buses at all. We bused to AK and MGM, and in both cases were on a bus by 8:10 a.m. and at the parks by 8:30 or so. Coming back on the buses I think the longest wait was 10 minutes to get back from AK, and that was only because we saw the previous bus driving away as we were walking up to it.
4. Magical Express
Our first experience using this, and it was smooth. We'd certainly do it again. We were a bit concerned because we'd rented a car the previous two trips so we could spend a day at Islands of Adventure... but we just cabbed both ways. It was easy and about $45 each way.
5. The parks.
Seemed more crowded than our previous trips. I base that on specific things, in that our plans for certain parks are unchanged... and I noted increased crowd levels. Still, we were there at park open and gone by 1:00 pm each day, and never waited in lines. But we could see how crazy it was getting as we were heading back to the Poly for a break!
6. Pin trading. This was the first time we let our son do this, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I bought him a lot of 10 random pins off of e-bay, and then we got him a lanyard at the resort, and he had a blast. Over the course of the week he must have had more than 100 different pins. I know there are "special" pins and "valuable" pins... and I'm sure he had some of those at some points. But our only criteria was to let him trade for what he wanted. He was a bit tentative at first, but after a few days he was striking up conversations with cast members all over the place. It was great. And a few of them actually just gave him pins without taking one back (happened in the resort and in the MK, I think) which was very nice.
The lanyard will be a fun reminder of our trip. And we'll definitely start him fresh the next time we go. As I said, we'd highly recommend it.
That's enough rambling from me... we're exhausted today, but already miss being there. I'll go through my photos today if I can, and try to post some. But please let me know if there are any questions I can answer. This board was really helpful to us before our trip, and I'd love to return the favor!
Just a few notes and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
1. Poly itself
Just really beautiful. We got lost walking around the first few days, but what a nice place to get lost! Our son loved the volcano slide, and although we thought the pool itself was a bit small, we enjoyed it. We remember the WL pool as always being so warm as to not be refreshing, but that wasn't the case here, and it was the hotest week of our three trips.
2. Our room
Very nice. Comfy beds and an amazing amazing view. Watching wishes from the balcony every night is something you don't get sick of. The music is pumped in on the beach, so we could hear everything loud and clear from the balcony. We were on the 3rd floor and just had stunning views. We left all the curtains opened all night, and it was great to roll over in the middle of the night and see what color the castle was. I think staying on the first floor would have been a much less attractive option for us, as you'd tend to keep the curtains closed a lot of the times, I would think.
I know there's been a lot of talk about issues with Mousekeeping. We didn't have any at all. They were great. We did have a few issues the first day with our AC, and they were quickly taken care of AND they actually compensated us for it. Very nice.
3. Concierge. We'd absolutely do this again. As many have said, if you try to eat $100 worth of food a day, I guess you could... but that's not the point. We were only there one time when they had the hot food out, and had some excellent cucumber/avacado rolls. But we ate breakfast there every morning. We always stopped by for a few cold drinks on our way in and out of the building, and stopped in for snacks too. And then we usually capped our nights with the excellent desserts. With all the water and soda we drank, and not buying breakfast every day? Maybe we saved $50 or so on food per day. Maybe more.
But what we loved was how it made our room feel bigger. We had another place to sit and relax. We weren't just lying on the beds. We hung out there at times and it was great. Our room was right next to the 3rd floor entrance, and there were a few times when we let our son sleep and my wife and I hung out there for a bit. We really feel this aspect of it was worth every penny.
The staff was very helpful too. We had planned all our dining choices in advance, but when we made a few last minute changes, they took care of them. And I had called to say it was our 15th anniversary and look for suggestions for something to do for my wife, and they told me about flowers, etc. I didn't actually end up doing that, but on our second day we had a beatuful picture signed by Mickey and Minnie congratulating us on our anniversay. That was very nice.
3. Transportation. We thought that the Poly seemed the most convienent place to stay, and we now feel sure of it! We took the monoral to the MK on our trips there, and usually took the boat back. The short walk to the TTC to get the direct Monorail to EPCOT is fantastic. That perk alone makes it convienent. From what I can see, if you want to be at EPCOT for park open, the Poly is the best place to be. I know YC and BC are right there, but seems like a long walk to get to the front of Future World.
We had no problems with buses at all. We bused to AK and MGM, and in both cases were on a bus by 8:10 a.m. and at the parks by 8:30 or so. Coming back on the buses I think the longest wait was 10 minutes to get back from AK, and that was only because we saw the previous bus driving away as we were walking up to it.
4. Magical Express
Our first experience using this, and it was smooth. We'd certainly do it again. We were a bit concerned because we'd rented a car the previous two trips so we could spend a day at Islands of Adventure... but we just cabbed both ways. It was easy and about $45 each way.
5. The parks.
Seemed more crowded than our previous trips. I base that on specific things, in that our plans for certain parks are unchanged... and I noted increased crowd levels. Still, we were there at park open and gone by 1:00 pm each day, and never waited in lines. But we could see how crazy it was getting as we were heading back to the Poly for a break!
6. Pin trading. This was the first time we let our son do this, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I bought him a lot of 10 random pins off of e-bay, and then we got him a lanyard at the resort, and he had a blast. Over the course of the week he must have had more than 100 different pins. I know there are "special" pins and "valuable" pins... and I'm sure he had some of those at some points. But our only criteria was to let him trade for what he wanted. He was a bit tentative at first, but after a few days he was striking up conversations with cast members all over the place. It was great. And a few of them actually just gave him pins without taking one back (happened in the resort and in the MK, I think) which was very nice.
The lanyard will be a fun reminder of our trip. And we'll definitely start him fresh the next time we go. As I said, we'd highly recommend it.
That's enough rambling from me... we're exhausted today, but already miss being there. I'll go through my photos today if I can, and try to post some. But please let me know if there are any questions I can answer. This board was really helpful to us before our trip, and I'd love to return the favor!
We didn't stay Club Level; we were on the 2nd floor, Tokelau - garden view. Loved our location! I can't wait to book another stay there! 
)
You echo many of my and DH's sentiments about the resort. 
We are currently booked with a garden view myself DH DD8 DDother8 DD6 should I request 3rd floor or ground floor . Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
, we are counting the minutes. I think I may have to see about a concierge upgrade after reading your review. Also do you know if they had games or movies by the pool for the kids in the evening or afternoons? I read they had this at ASMu and Beach/Yacht club. Last trip DD did the lei making and took the Hula lesson which was fun.
and maybe a very slim chance of getting upgraded to Hawaii or even and MK view. We have the dining plan this trip so DH doesn't want to upgrade to concierge in fear of eating too much 
Maybe next year we will book Concierge. It sounds really nice 
