Love PORiverside!! Is POLY worth all the Extra Money?????

[bellenbuzz]

Would really like to try a Deluxe resort next trip....
But it seems hard to justify the additional cost per night.
Port Orleans Riverside Alligator Bayou is where we have stayed and it is absolutely beautiful and very nice.
HELP deciding !!

 

[Mike N Kathy]

Yeah it is ..If you can afford it go for it

 

[LowesChevy]

It is my favorite resort and have stayed there many times.

I guess how you figure its worth to you is how much time you spend at the resort. For instance, do you like to have a free day or come back during the afternoon to swim or do you just eat and sleep at the resort. If your family tends to wake up and hit the parks till 6 or 7 at night maybe the extra expense is not worth it.

It is convienient if you like to dine at Kona, O'hana and nearby the other monorail restuarants like Citricos, Narcoosee's, California Grill, and Chef Mickey's as well.

The monorail is a big bonus. However busses to AK, MGM and DTD share with Contemporary and GF, with Poly being the 2nd stop. We spend most days at MK and Epcot, so it is not a big problem for us. Never really had bad experiences with the busses.

Good luck in your decision making

 

[SGMCO]

I would love to be able to stay at the Poly but
I could never justify the price.
I love the POLY but would rather save the
extra money for either Plane tixs or souveniers.
We just visit the resort and eat at O'hanas and that
is enough for us.
We also love the PO resorts and will be staying at POFQ
this time around. We will eat at O'hana like always.
Staying at POFQ instead will save us around $250.00
per night x 8 nights= $2000.00 --that could be used for
another Disney trip!!

 

[YesMickey]

Yeah, I agree I don't understand why people pay $350/night to stay at a resort at DW of all places. I mean I like to be comfortable while on vacation, but if I'm in the resort alot of time then someone must be sick or something. I mean I go to the World to be at the World, not to overpay for my room. I guess I am spoiled since where I'm from you can get a Jacuzzi suite in a casino for $69/night or go to the panhandle of FL and get a room on the beach for less than $200/night. We stay at POR and POFQ and love it. They have an extra mode of Transportation with the water taxi to DTD. Worth the price right there.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

If you LOVE POR, I wouldn't stay at the Poly. Once you stay at a deluxe resort, it is kind of hard to go back to a moderate.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

I have stayed at both the POR and the Poly and the Poly always wins for us hands down.

With that being said, my brother is a cast member, so we pay 50% off a night....in December, we only paid $222/night for the Poly. If we had to pay $300+/night, I don't think we could afford it.

Yes, the Poly is worth it...It's absolutely beautiful. The beds are more comfortable, the resort is breathtaking...I can't say enough good things about the Poly.

Here's some pics....Enjoy!

 

[bellenbuzz]

The POLY does look fabulous!
But that darn cost......I can see both points of view.....pros & cons....
Disney on-line won't let me get a quote for 2009 yet, when I am planning for.
I like to plan early and get lots of details, thats half the fun of planning a WDW vacay!
Do you know when I can book for 2009 ???
Thanks so Much!

 

[tink_lover]

We have been choosing deluxe just for the space. If there were 4 of us, I doubt we would spend the extra money for deluxe. We tried POR and it felt really cramped for us. I'm on vacation and want to be comfortable.

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

We were in the same situation a while back. POR is a wonderful resort, and we really enjoyed our stay. However, we finally made the "Poly Plunge" last year. It has always been one of our favorite places to visit (dining, shopping...) and now (having stayed there) it's our favorite, hands down. It's sort of like switching from dial-up to DSL or a cable modem; tough to go back...possible, but tough. We'd rather shorten our stay, cut corners or simply save up a little longer to stay at the Polynesian.

 

[PrincessDisney96]

I think the Poly is definetaly worth the extra money if you can afford it.
1. It is great for kids. The pool is awesome and the kids love it. An awesome volcanoe water slide and if you have little kids there is a shallow section for the pool.
2. If you adults just want to go out one night without kids then there is a Peter Pan themed day care that my children loved.
3.They have a little beach where you can watch Wishes
4. The restaraunts are amazing. Kona Cafe, Ohana's, and Spirit Of Aloha Show
5. It is beautiful!
6. The rooms accomodate 5 with two queen beds and a daybed

Overall this hotel is awesome and is my family's favorite!

 

[kathiep]

The POLY does look fabulous!
But that darn cost......I can see both points of view.....pros & cons....
Disney on-line won't let me get a quote for 2009 yet, when I am planning for.
I like to plan early and get lots of details, thats half the fun of planning a WDW vacay!
Do you know when I can book for 2009 ???
Thanks so Much!

Bellenbuzz-

you summed up my situation perfectly. I loved CBR but with the main pool closed, that wasn't an option for us. I also loved CSR but DH keep nagging me to upgrade to the Poly. I finally caved in but am having a hard time accepting the $1700 difference just for the resort.

I guess I'll have to wait until September to find out if it's worth it

 

[waughzoo]

Wow! We have been debating this decision all day long. We already bought our plane tickets and are now trying to determine where to stay. We stayed at WL and really enjoyed it, but our TA can get a bigger discount at the Poly as opposed to WL. But it is still much more expensive when compared to POFQ. Is the Poly worth $800 difference over a six night stay? Still trying to crunch numbers and make a decision.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Wow! We have been debating this decision all day long. We already bought our plane tickets and are now trying to determine where to stay. We stayed at WL and really enjoyed it, but our TA can get a bigger discount at the Poly as opposed to WL. But it is still much more expensive when compared to POFQ. Is the Poly worth $800 difference over a six night stay? Still trying to crunch numbers and make a decision.

$800 over 6 nights? Without a doubt, it's worth it! The rooms are *so* much bigger, the grounds so much more lush, and the food options (in our family's opinion) SO much better (esp. now that Roaring Fork has changed its menu) at the Poly!!

And as far as transportation, the monorail alone is worth paying more for.

If the money isn't a hardship at all, I'd definitely encourage you to give the Poly a try! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[frdeb1999]

It's deffinately worth it IMO. We stay there just about all the time and always have a wonderful time. There are many beautiful mod's also. But if your looking for space and a wonderful deluxe experience .... then I'd say go for it. We spend alot of down time at the resorts in the evenings and it's a wonderful resort to do things at during this time.

 

[Native NYer]

The Poly is definitely worth it. We loved the convenience of being at a monorail resort. Being close to the TTC was a huge plus. If you can afford it, definitely try a deluxe resort, especially a monorail resort!

 

[waughzoo]

Last summer during our stay at WL went ate twice over at the Poly (Ohana & Kona Cafe) and really enjoyed the setting, food, and monorail. Our son was excited about seeing the Volcano. Our DS is 6 and DD is 4. We usually rise early and hit the parks until 2pm or so. Come back to the resort, go for a swim, then clean up and go out for a nice TS meal. Might return and relax at the resort and get to bed early or sometimes Hop to another park. A lot depends on our children. I must say the monorail is real appealing. We enjoyed the boat service at WL, but it is not the monorail.

POFQ comes highly recommend from some our friends, but they often sleep in and arrive around noon to the park of their choice and stay until closing. I am just thinking with our younger children and park habits the transportation options might be worth it. Location, transportation, food options all impact the price of resorts. Regardless, it is good times ahead at WDW.

 

[lmhall2000]

I think I can help you here...

If there are 5 in your family, YES POLY!!
Reason: Much more room in these!

If there are children in your family under the age of 6, YES POLY!!
Reason: Monorail with tired kids is GREAT to hop back to your hotel for a pool dip then get right back to MK!

If you get a code and save 40% on the room, YES POLY!!!
Reason: You've already planned to pay that for POR, so getting the discount is worth it to upgrade to Poly...

With no codes and the difference in price is greater than $500 then YES POR!!!

To me, the breaking point with choosing Poly (we've done AKL, Poly, CR, OKW..all with codes or I would have done POR) is the $500 mark...if it's under that it's worth it to pay for convenience with little ones and just the charm of it. But any thing over that, I'd rather have the cash to blow on good food, a Disney item to remember the trip by etc.

HTH!
Tara

 

[Princessbaby]

This could have been my thread!! We have been debating the same thing- go back to POR which we really enjoyed last year. or try the Poly -it was so beautiful when we ate there. But it is the cost!! I can't justify the price difference! Good luck with your decision- right now I think we are leaning more towards sticking with POR- I'm afraid once we go to the Poly we won't want to stay at a moderate again and deluxe is not in our price range everytime!
One other idea we are tossing around- a split stay. We were playing with the idea of 5 days at POR and 2 days at Poly- this way we can at least experience it as guests!
Good Luck!!

 

[bellenbuzz]

It is a tough decision........persuading the DH is half the battle !
We have 2 DD's, ages 8 & 10......they loved POR, but we dined at POLY and they loved the atmosphere !
The monorail does sound like a big plus !!
Correct me, we just hop on the monorail right at the POLY at it takes us right to EPCOT ??? AWESOME!!
Or take the Monorail to Central Transport area and hop on a bus to AK or HOLLYWOOD ???
And a boat that goes right to MK, right ??
WOW! The transportation part seems so great!
Thanks All!