Narrowed down but torn

[Joey M]

During our last 3 trips we stayed at AKL twice and Yacht club.
We really enjoyed the convience of YC to Epcot and HS. The one thing lacking at YC was on site restaurants.

We are now planning our late February 2022 trip. We have two children and ages at the time will be 11 and 8.

We have narrowed it down to wilderness lodge (nature view) poly (theme park view), contemporary (theme park view) and yacht club (water view). We contemplated looking at WL firework view but read it just isn't that good.

Poly is the absolute most expensive. Contempo is 1k less than poly, yc 2k less and WL is 3k less. We plan to stay at the resort one day during the trip.

That said, is poly really that above and beyond? We are looking for convience to parks, pool, and on site dining.

 

[MsThumper]

We used to stay at Wilderness Lodge, loved the hotel itself, but found it was very limited in food service. Now we always stay in the Epcot areas.

 

[kylenne]

During our last 3 trips we stayed at AKL twice and Yacht club.
We really enjoyed the convience of YC to Epcot and HS. The one thing lacking at YC was on site restaurants.

We are now planning our late February 2022 trip. We have two children and ages at the time will be 11 and 8.

We have narrowed it down to wilderness lodge (nature view) poly (theme park view), contemporary (theme park view) and yacht club (water view). We contemplated looking at WL firework view but read it just isn't that good.

Poly is the absolute most expensive. Contempo is 1k less than poly, yc 2k less and WL is 3k less. We plan to stay at the resort one day during the trip.

That said, is poly really that above and beyond? We are looking for convience to parks, pool, and on site dining.

Assuming everything is open when you go, it all depends on which parks you think you'll spend the most time in. If MK, I would go for the Poly in a heartbeat. As far as convenience to parks, it is really the best of the MK area resorts imo. WL is beautiful but rather isolated as far as accessing dining nearby. CR is a shorter walk to MK but will have you changing monorails for Epcot at the TTC, whereas at Poly you can also walk to MK (albeit a longer walk) or take a quick resort launch, but catch the Epcot monorail directly with a short walk to the TTC next door. Ultimately if Epcot and the Studios are your priority though it's YC by a country mile. You just can't beat walking to 2 parks.

CR has the worst pools of the deluxes and honestly is beaten out by mods in that respect, Poly's are fantastic and SAB at YC is raved about as the best on property.

Dining is a bit of a wash but I prefer the Poly because the Polynesian/Asian options are so different than the options you find at most resorts and you have more great options at GF right next door. I think it's a superior dining combo to BC/YC tbh, but there's also hopping to Epcot as a possibility when you stay there.

Ideally, if it's at all feasible, Poly/YC would be a perfect split stay. Stay at Poly during your MK part of the trip and then switch to YC for Epcot and the Studios. Since you have to bus to AK regardless you can do that when you're at the Poly. But it really is the best of both worlds.

 

[Marthasor]

During our last 3 trips we stayed at AKL twice and Yacht club.
We really enjoyed the convience of YC to Epcot and HS. The one thing lacking at YC was on site restaurants.

We are now planning our late February 2022 trip. We have two children and ages at the time will be 11 and 8.

We have narrowed it down to wilderness lodge (nature view) poly (theme park view), contemporary (theme park view) and yacht club (water view). We contemplated looking at WL firework view but read it just isn't that good.

Poly is the absolute most expensive. Contempo is 1k less than poly, yc 2k less and WL is 3k less. We plan to stay at the resort one day during the trip.

That said, is poly really that above and beyond? We are looking for convience to parks, pool, and on site dining.

I do not think Poly is worth $3K more than WL. If you want convenience to parks, pool and onsite dining, I, personally, would stick to YC or consider BC to be even closer to EP and the Skyliner. We also really like the pool at BWV/BWI - it is so much easier to keep track of your kids there and the slide is fantastic. Here are my thoughts of the resorts you have chosen:

WL - beautiful resort, rooms will be smaller than CR and Poly. Transportation isn't very convenient to parks other than MK. I think your kids will be bored at the WL pool - it's very small and has a very, small slide. QS is good here, but lacking a variety of TS.

CR - convenient to MK and EP (if EP monorail is running by then). Variety of TS if utilizing monorail to get to other resorts (GF and Poly). The pool is in desperate need of a refurb. IMHO, the only "plus" of CR is walking distance to MK. Otherwise, it feels like an airport terminal

Poly - beautiful, convenient to MK and EP (if monorail running). Variety of TS if utilizing monorail. Pool is very nice - definitely beats CR and WL pools

YC - nice rooms, walking distance to two parks (also boat and Skyliner), great pool, walking distance to all restaurants at other EP resorts and EP WS as well.

 

[ajgardner]

Wilderness Lodge is my family’s absolute favorite. We have stayed at Poly, AKL, POR, Contemporary, Pop, and WL. We liked Poly and the convenience was nice but would never pay that much for it again. I should also mention we usually rent a car so transportation isn’t as big a concern for us and we easily go to parks and restaurants at will. I feel like a lot of it has to do with your family’s style and preference.

 

[Pinkshoos]

If the Contemporary rooms are finished, if cost is the deciding factor, I'd go with Contemporary. BUT, the pool isn't as awesome as at the Poly. BUT, the transportation is better at the Cont. BUT, the dining options are better at Poly. BUT, you can walk to MK from the Cont.

If it were me and both were in the budget, I'd go for Poly, but that's because it has an amazing atmosphere, great restaurants, and I just love Tiki stuff. The Contemporary is chic, but not at all warm. I wouldn't have said this 20 years ago, but the lobby feels like an airport now.

 

[Shellyred8]

In "normal" times, there was a boat that went between CR, WL and the campgrounds. This gave you pretty quick access to all of their dining options. Plus, when you get to CR, you can hop the monorail and get to even more dining options.

If you stay at YC, don't forget to check out the dining options at the Swan/Dolphin. They have some really good options and are just a quick walk away. Also, the YC recently renovated their QS place and I've found that I really like their new offerings. It's probably my favorite QS of the 3 boardwalk hotels.

The Poly rooms (on the non-DVC side) will be finished by the time you go, so if you stay on that side, you would get one of the newly refurbished Moana themed rooms. There are pictures somewhere on the Disboards that you can search for to see what they will look like. I, personally, like what they did with them. Some people don't. But to each their own.

 

[chasgeese]

Both the Poly hotel side and the CR tower should be newly renovated by the time you get there, although we have a better idea of what the Poly rooms will look like and only speculation about the renovations at the CR (many think there might be a minor Incredibles overlay incorporated).

I personally don’t think that the Poly TPV is worth $1000 more than the CR TPV, but I also don’t necessarily think the TPV rooms at Poly are worth the premium the same way they are at the CR. The Poly is kind of far away from the MK and also the Poly grounds itself offer great access to views identical to those you can get in the TPV rooms. If you really want to stay at the Poly I would at least recommend comparing the price of a garden view room (many of which have nice views) to the price of the CR TPV room which should be more similar or even cheaper. If you really want the TPV I would save the money and stay at the CR. Otherwise, if you are up for it, a split stay with YC might be a good way to save some money and you get the best location for 3 parks (especially if the Epcot monorail still isn’t running).

 

[Disneylover99]

I would just choose the Poly, save some money and get a standard room.
It’s super easy and convenient to just walk outside to view the fireworks or castle.

 

[bennifer]

Poly is our favorite resort! That being said, for $3k less, you can’t go wrong with WL. We actually have WL booked for our trip in June!

 

[fla4fun]

WL is one of my favorite deluxes, and saving $3000 would get me another vacation. So for me, it would be WL for sure. One of my favorite things to do when staying at WL is to go over to FW and rent bicycles (one time I just took my own bike with me). I have stayed at all the resorts you are considering and had great trips at all of them. I don’t think you can really make a mistake choosing any of them.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

For 3k less, WL

 

[gottalovepluto]

Split it YC/MK area. MK area vote is probably CR theme park view. Resort day at YC because they are the perfect ages for SAB. Packing/unpacking takes time sure but bell services moves the bags making it easy and the time lost will be made up for by shorter transit times to the parks. CR will be new by then and as long as fireworks are back it could be a magical experience being able to watch from your room and being walking distance to MK- although the CR pool is sad theming wise.

 

[Blondie58]

We have stayed at the Contemporary several times. The first of our visits we alwasy requested theme park view. One stay our room was not ready and we decided to take the Bay Lake view room that was. We have taken the lake view each subsequent trip. So relaxing if you like to have evening cocktails and/or breakfast on your balcony. This may not be your thing and a park view may still be your preference though.

 

[VH103428]

I really, really like Wilderness, especially for 3k less! Poly is beautiful and convenient but WL is a beautiful resort. If you do decide on Poly, the standard/garden view are nice and you will save some money.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have come to love the Boardwalk area resorts for just what you said, how easy it is to get to both Epcot and the Disney Studios. I'm kind of shocked by your comment about the lack of restaurants. Sure the Yacht Club doesn't have a ton, but you are at the Boardwalk. There are many restaurants on the boardwalk and at the resorts. If you like that area I would book the Yacht Club and check out the restaurants at both the Boardwalk itself and at the Swan and Dolphin. Tons of great places you are missing.

 

[LiveLifeLoud]

I’ve stayed at Poly and it did not live up to the hype for me. We liked it and enjoyed our stay but not 3k more liked. That trip we did a split with BC and really enjoyed it and found we love the Epcot resorts.

CR TPV is a bucket list stay for me so I would do a split with that and YC. This way you get the best of both worlds and save some money.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I've stayed at all of these and love them all, but WL is my favorite even without considering the savings. Think of all the extras you could get for that $3000!

 

[toodycat]

I don’t think the Poly is worth the extra money. The landscaping and location are good, but I don’t think the rooms are terribly special and the lobby always feels small and dark to me. WL is amazing. I love the theming and landscaping. We’ve had some awesome CMs at both resorts, so service is excellent at either.

 

[Dug720]

Personally I would go with Poly (ESPECIALLY with the beautiful redo of the rooms that will open in July, but probably not TPV - the pics I have seen of views you are looking at the top of the castle over this random tree island) or Yacht Club. Or Contemporary depending on what their refurb looks like.

I know I’m weird, but I am not into the WL theme, and in the pictures and tours of the new rooms I’ve seen, they just look cheap to me. Especially the “CAMP” sign. But I guess if you’re into outdoor stuff maybe? Just not my style.