Daisymeo
Future Zephyrhills, FL snowbird
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2001
- Messages
- 222
What a great trip! We spent 6 nights at the Poly and then moved on to 3 nights at the Beach Club. I'll try to give you my thoughts about the two. Remember we all have our own opinions, I'm just sharing mine.
I had requested a balcony room with a building preference of Tokelau or Rarotonga. Originally this was Fiji then Aoteorea but as luck would have it I found out a few days before we left that these were both closed for extensive remodeling. Well, they tried to put me on the second floor of Rarotonga facing the parking lot. Luckily, I had learned enough from the DIS to know there were no balconies on the second floor here so I spoke up and told them I wanted a balcony room. As luck would have it they gave me room 3947 in Tokelau. What a beautiful room with a view of the quiet pool and just a couple rooms down from the elevator and ice machine. We could sit on our balcony and see the castle and in the evenings had a view of the MK fireworks, not a great one but we could see them. This is a great resort for people who have kids and want to go to MK and also has great access to Epcot via the monorail. We loved the boat launch to MK and back and especially used it in the evenings for just a relaxing boat ride back to the Poly. Once we were on it during the fireworks. Buses to AK and MGM were both no longer than a 10 minute wait going and no wait at all coming back to the Poly. We ate at 'Ohanas, Kona Cafe, Captain Cook's, and yes, the Poly luau which we absolutely loved. (Check my restaurant reviews on the restaurant board in a few days.) The Poly also has great access to all the other resorts on the monorail as we also ate at 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickeys. We loved the Tokelau building. It was so convenient to the GCH and the TTC as well as to the pools, laundry, and arcade. There was no noise heard in the halls or from the pool. Also there was no infamous Poly smell. I think I would request it or Fiji next time.
After 6 nights, we moved on to the Beach Club. I had been wanting to stay in the Epcot area just to have a different experience. My only room request there was a full balcony and nonsmoking. Why I bother to make a room request I don't know because they had assigned me to a first floor patio room. When I once again spoke up and told the lady I would like a full balcony she told me that this room had a full patio. Well, I didn't go for it and magically after I spoke up again she found Room 3682 which had a full balcony. This room was located above Cape May and was on the lake side but faced the courtyard entrance to the lobby from the lake side. This was a nice room, exactly what I wanted for a garden view room. But it was so far from an elevator and an ice machine that I couldn't believe it. Who designed this hotel just wasn't thinking with the placement of so few elevators. The bell man did show us a stairway a few rooms down which we did use all the time. It led down to Cape May and was very convenient. We actually carried a plastic sack in our pack and on the way back from the park got ice in it and carried it back to the room. If I ever stay there again I will definitely request a room close to an elevator but then I never get my room requests so maybe that won't work either. The room was nice but the furniture did show some wear and there were also stained spots on the carpet in places. Not quite as big as the Poly room but still a nice size. Pluses were the convenience to Epcot and MGM. It was great to just stroll around the World Showcase or the Boardwalk in the evening. The best plus of all was Stormalong Bay pool. What a fantastic pool!! It was not crowded at all at any time as they were making you show you room ID and issuing wrist bands and checking to make sure people had them. We ate at Beaches and Cream, Cape May, and ESPN on the Boardwalk. The only real minuses here was the absence of a Captain Cook or Mara type of place to get quick food. They also do not let you refill your own mugs. You have to either take them to Beaches or to Hurricane Hannah's and I saw times where the line at Beaches to refill mugs was out the door. Another minus is how far you have to walk to the parking lot if you have a car. Folks, it's quite a walk in the hot sun. The other minus of course was the room location but maybe I will know more next time what to request when I get there.
The question now comes to which will we stay in next year. I loved them both but would only split again if I had a 10 day trip like this year and that's not going to happen. The big attraction for me to the Beach Club was Stormalong Bay. It almost outweighed all the minuses. I polled my family and it was a unanimous vote for the Poly even my 11 year old daughter whose favorite thing is swimming chose the Poly. If anyone has any questions, be glad to answer them. Sorry so long. I'm in Disney withdrawal and it helps to write about it.
I had requested a balcony room with a building preference of Tokelau or Rarotonga. Originally this was Fiji then Aoteorea but as luck would have it I found out a few days before we left that these were both closed for extensive remodeling. Well, they tried to put me on the second floor of Rarotonga facing the parking lot. Luckily, I had learned enough from the DIS to know there were no balconies on the second floor here so I spoke up and told them I wanted a balcony room. As luck would have it they gave me room 3947 in Tokelau. What a beautiful room with a view of the quiet pool and just a couple rooms down from the elevator and ice machine. We could sit on our balcony and see the castle and in the evenings had a view of the MK fireworks, not a great one but we could see them. This is a great resort for people who have kids and want to go to MK and also has great access to Epcot via the monorail. We loved the boat launch to MK and back and especially used it in the evenings for just a relaxing boat ride back to the Poly. Once we were on it during the fireworks. Buses to AK and MGM were both no longer than a 10 minute wait going and no wait at all coming back to the Poly. We ate at 'Ohanas, Kona Cafe, Captain Cook's, and yes, the Poly luau which we absolutely loved. (Check my restaurant reviews on the restaurant board in a few days.) The Poly also has great access to all the other resorts on the monorail as we also ate at 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickeys. We loved the Tokelau building. It was so convenient to the GCH and the TTC as well as to the pools, laundry, and arcade. There was no noise heard in the halls or from the pool. Also there was no infamous Poly smell. I think I would request it or Fiji next time.
After 6 nights, we moved on to the Beach Club. I had been wanting to stay in the Epcot area just to have a different experience. My only room request there was a full balcony and nonsmoking. Why I bother to make a room request I don't know because they had assigned me to a first floor patio room. When I once again spoke up and told the lady I would like a full balcony she told me that this room had a full patio. Well, I didn't go for it and magically after I spoke up again she found Room 3682 which had a full balcony. This room was located above Cape May and was on the lake side but faced the courtyard entrance to the lobby from the lake side. This was a nice room, exactly what I wanted for a garden view room. But it was so far from an elevator and an ice machine that I couldn't believe it. Who designed this hotel just wasn't thinking with the placement of so few elevators. The bell man did show us a stairway a few rooms down which we did use all the time. It led down to Cape May and was very convenient. We actually carried a plastic sack in our pack and on the way back from the park got ice in it and carried it back to the room. If I ever stay there again I will definitely request a room close to an elevator but then I never get my room requests so maybe that won't work either. The room was nice but the furniture did show some wear and there were also stained spots on the carpet in places. Not quite as big as the Poly room but still a nice size. Pluses were the convenience to Epcot and MGM. It was great to just stroll around the World Showcase or the Boardwalk in the evening. The best plus of all was Stormalong Bay pool. What a fantastic pool!! It was not crowded at all at any time as they were making you show you room ID and issuing wrist bands and checking to make sure people had them. We ate at Beaches and Cream, Cape May, and ESPN on the Boardwalk. The only real minuses here was the absence of a Captain Cook or Mara type of place to get quick food. They also do not let you refill your own mugs. You have to either take them to Beaches or to Hurricane Hannah's and I saw times where the line at Beaches to refill mugs was out the door. Another minus is how far you have to walk to the parking lot if you have a car. Folks, it's quite a walk in the hot sun. The other minus of course was the room location but maybe I will know more next time what to request when I get there.
The question now comes to which will we stay in next year. I loved them both but would only split again if I had a 10 day trip like this year and that's not going to happen. The big attraction for me to the Beach Club was Stormalong Bay. It almost outweighed all the minuses. I polled my family and it was a unanimous vote for the Poly even my 11 year old daughter whose favorite thing is swimming chose the Poly. If anyone has any questions, be glad to answer them. Sorry so long. I'm in Disney withdrawal and it helps to write about it.
