Need advice quick......poly or boardwalk

[princessvacg]

For those of you who have stayed at the poly and boardwalk. Which is better and why. I currently have the poly booked, however, we are seriously thinking of switching to the boardwalk. First the Poly does not have a hot tub. We love hanging out at the hottub at night. Second I am not crazy about the idea of having to walk out of the buildings to get anywhere. I like being able to walk through an inside corridor to get to places. Especially when it rains. It will be me my DH and my 11 year old DS. We do like to spend more time and universal and epcot than the magic kingdom so the location is great. I just want to know about the hotels????

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We stayed at the BWV this past November and we absoulutely fell in love with the whole Boardwalk area and hotel. The convience to both Epcot and MGM plus all of the fun stuff on the Boardwalk and ESPN. You'll LOVE it!

 

[BionicEar]

From what the OP said about her preferences, she may be disappointed in the Poly.

One, the Polynesian does not have a hot tub.

Two, it's a Magic Kingdom Resort. It's a monorail (or bus) ride away from Epcot.

I have not stayed at the Boardwalk, but I have stayed at the Beach Club, and I do think the OP would like it there. Stormalong Bay is a great pool, and it does have a hot tub. It's a five minute walk to the International Gateway entrance at Epcot, and just a boat ride away from MGM. AND... it's walking distance from the Boardwalk. We loved Beach Club when we were there, but now we prefer the Poly.

 

[anothertrip]

BOARDWALK! There is NOTHING like running to Epcot 30 minutes before it closes to get a replacement souvenir for one that was lost and making it back with time to spare. And that walk is SO lovely in the morning when it is quiet. Grabbing a muffin at the bakery on your way to Epcot is great. My mom tells me the breakfast burritos are really scrumptious. I say BW

 

[Dreams-are-4-real]

I would stay at poly there is more stuff to do with kids there

 

[jakenjess]

If you spend more time at Epcot than MK, I'd definitely stay at the BW. We just returned from our second trip to the BWV, and we really love it there. We've also stayed at the Poly and love that too, but we spend a lot of time at the MK. The BW has great entertainment in the evenings that your DS will enjoy, and you can't beat the walk to Epcot and MGM. It also has a great pool with a fun slide, and some very nice restaurants, not to mention all the food options within walking distance at YC/BC and Epcot.

 

[dreamscometrue47]

We've stayed at both in the past couple of years. We loved the Poly atmosphere/grounds and found the CM's there to be very friendly and helpful. We LOVED the monorail to MK and the short walk over to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail was great in the morning (or you can monorial over). Also used the monorial to vist the Grand Floridian. Rooms are spacious and nicely redone. Loved going out on the balcony at night and listen to the palm trees....The buildings are actually closer together than you think so a walk to the Grand Ceremonial house is only a minute or two.

My favorite thing about the Boardwalk was getting up early in the morning, going to the bakery on the Boardwalk (you will have to go outside for this) and taking a slow walk to Epcot. We did not have good luck with the CM's at the Boardwalk; found the front desk to be a bit impatient with questions and never had a smile. Rooms were fine; no problems.

If you definitely have to have a hot tub, then don't stay at the Poly. As for convenience to Epcot, if you feel like walking to the International Gateway, then it's the Boardwalk. But at the Poly, you can get the monorail to the front entrance of Future World. The walk from boardwalk to MGM is a bit longer, probably around 15-20 leisurely minutes but you can also take the boat. We had no problem with a bus to MGM from the Poly.

I'm not sure what you mean about "having to walk out of the buildings to get anywhere." Boardwalk's restaurants on are the Boardwalk itself, not in the building, so you would need to walk outside there as well as at the Poly (to get to the Grand Ceremonial House).

We prefer the Poly. have a great time.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, we stayed at the Polynesian back in '03. My dd had been dying to stay there, so we gave it a shot. It was at the end of the stay there that we bought DVC at BW.
We liked the Polynesian. But, I really didn't like having to walk outside in order to get to the bus, monorail, or the restaurants. Yes, you have to go outside at BW if you want to eat, but you can get to the bus or the lobby without going outside. It just seems different.
As for having stuff for the kids to do...BW has the Community Hall area. There is a ton of stuff there for the kids. A lot of the craft activities do have a nominal charge if not DVC owners but it's worth the price.
I love being able to walk to Epcot..it is the greatest thing. And being able to walk to MGM or take the boat, depending on how tired my tootsies are. There are some terrific restaurants there at BW..as well as at YC/BC and the S/D. A lot of choices.
As for the pools, my dd loves Luna Park. She actually enjoys it more than SAB!!! She likes the open water slide at Luna Park rather than the closed slide at the Volcano Pool.
But, it is a very personal preferance.

 

[antmaril]

We've never stayed at the Poly, but we've stayed at the BWI three times, most recently last month. It is our favorite. I love the theming, the atmosphere, the location, the action on the Boardwalk - everything.

I vote for the Boardwalk.

 

[princessvacg]

Thanks for all of your votes. I really want to stay at the Boardwalk and so far, thanks to all of you, I think that is going to be my vote!! Any ideas on rooms preferences?? I am staying in a standard.

 

[NewJersey]

We stayed at BWV last year and LOVED it. It was great getting up in the AM and taking a stroll along the water to Epcot and coming back to the Boardwalk area at night was so neat. It was like being at home at the Jersey Shore. We liked the area so much we are staying at BC in may (with a night at poly to try it).

I definitely vote for BW based on the things you need. We had a BWV studio and had a view of the quiet pool and we could see tower of terror from our balcony. The whole resort is beautiful.

 

[princessvacg]

Are the villas better than the inn? Which area is closer to the pool?

 

[jjohnson]

I have stayed at both. I like the BWI but would pick the Polynesian hands down. But that's my personal preference. Based on your needs, I would go with the BWI and if you want long interior walks you'll LOVE the BW

 

[NewJersey]

Are the villas better than the inn? Which area is closer to the pool?

I like the villas b/c you had a small kitchenette. the villas are closer to the quiet pool and the inn is closer to the keister pool or whatever it is called.

Only thing I didn't like is the corridors are quite long so if you are at a room far away from the elevator, be prepared to walk far to your room!

 

[princessvacg]

I like the villas b/c you had a small kitchenette. the villas are closer to the quiet pool and the inn is closer to the keister pool or whatever it is called.

Only thing I didn't like is the corridors are quite long so if you are at a room far away from the elevator, be prepared to walk far to your room!

Thanks for the info. That was my concern about staying at the poly and ending up at Tahiti, then having to walk a long way outside, as they do not have inside corridors. I did have to walk a long way inside at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I think we were at the farthest room from the elevators and lobby but as long as it was inside, it did not bother me.

 

[CarolA]

Am I the only one who has always felt like the Poly really is an "outside" access hotel. IMHO the big difference between the Poly and the mods is the balcony. For both you have to walk outside between buildings to get to the main lobby area which defeats the "security" aspect people like about "inside corridor" hotels. (The very weak theory being that the crook has to go by a front desk who probably will never notice anything, but....)

 

[princessvacg]

I agree with you. I just do not like the idea of "being held hostage" to the weather. I like being able to walk as much as possible inside. Last year we stayed at CSR. There were a couple of bad storms and it would have taken 10 minutes of outside walking to get anywhere, hence, we ended up hanging out inside the room. When we were at the Wilderness, AK or BC when it rained you could walk to the lobby, or limited walking outside to get somewhere.