Newbie help please! Pop/Poly, WL, or FW cabins

[mickeyjen]

Hi! This is my first post here, and I need some advice on where to stay. Right now our group (six adults, two 4 YO and 2 2YO) are planning to split our stay at POP and the Poly. But I am starting to second guess this as we will be losing the dining plan for a portion of that for splitting the stay.

I was wondering if the FW cabins might not be better to spread out and have the little ones nap/sleep in separate rooms. But I haven't heard much about the cabins and I don't know if they are nice. Also, what is the transportation like? We will have strollers and frequent returns to the parks to deal with because of the youngsters. I know there is a boat to MK, but is it easily walkable from the cabins? Also, what is the transportation to the other parks like? Likewise, since we don't *really* need the room, would WL be better? With both of these choices, we'd be able to stay there the entire time at one place and therefore have the dining plan the whole time.

I originally picked the Poly because it is on the Monorail and will make frequent trips back to the hotel easier - especially if they are sleeping in the stroller. Also, the fireworks from the beach, atmosphere, and larger rooms. Please give me any and all advice that you can! We are looking at 3 nights Pop/4 nights Poly which will be the same price as the FW and WL (but we'd lose the 3 nights of dining).

 

[justcruisin]

Welcome!

I'll answer some of your questions and try not to confuse you! The info can be overwhelming.

You cannot walk from FW to MK, you have to take the boat or bus.

Since you have 8 people (10 counting the 2-2yo) have you considered renting points from a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) member and staying in a 2 bedroom villa at WL? The dining plan in not an option, but you'd have a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a washer/dryer.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Hi! This is my first post here, and I need some advice on where to stay. Right now our group (six adults, two 4 YO and 2 2YO) are planning to split our stay at POP and the Poly. But I am starting to second guess this as we will be losing the dining plan for a portion of that for splitting the stay.

I was wondering if the FW cabins might not be better to spread out and have the little ones nap/sleep in separate rooms. But I haven't heard much about the cabins and I don't know if they are nice. Also, what is the transportation like? We will have strollers and frequent returns to the parks to deal with because of the youngsters. I know there is a boat to MK, but is it easily walkable from the cabins? Also, what is the transportation to the other parks like? Likewise, since we don't *really* need the room, would WL be better? With both of these choices, we'd be able to stay there the entire time at one place and therefore have the dining plan the whole time.

The cabins are great. You take a bus from your cabin loop to another bus stop or the boat stop, then on to your theme park or whatever. You cannot walk anywhere really from the cabins. But this is part of their charm. Very quiet.
We found this to be quite doable, even with a dbl stroller. A lot of people do not like the transportation at FW. But like I said, we liked it just fine. Easier than loading 5 kids into the van, carseats etc, and having to find a place to park and use the little parking lot shuttles and then possibly the monorail.

That being said, it takes much longer to go back during the day. We avoided it at all costs. But we are not stop in the middle of the day kind of people. We just had our kids nap on the fly, in the stroller. We were there in January that time, and didn't want to waste the short park hours back at the hotel.

I originally picked the Poly because it is on the Monorail and will make frequent trips back to the hotel easier - especially if they are sleeping in the stroller. Also, the fireworks from the beach, atmosphere, and larger rooms. Please give me any and all advice that you can! We are looking at 3 nights Pop/4 nights Poly which will be the same price as the FW and WL (but we'd lose the 3 nights of dining).

I'd hate the thought of losing the dining plan also. Can't you get the plan for each hotel? two packages?
Otherwise, I would go with either the cabins or WL.

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

I originally picked the Poly because it is on the Monorail and will make frequent trips back to the hotel easier - especially if they are sleeping in the stroller. Also, the fireworks from the beach, atmosphere, and larger rooms. Please give me any and all advice that you can! We are looking at 3 nights Pop/4 nights Poly which will be the same price as the FW and WL (but we'd lose the 3 nights of dining).

We loved the Poly and Wilderness Lodge, but only had a stroller to deal with when we stayed at the Poly. The monorail was great, but a double stroller would only fit in the handicap sections unfolded and even then it is a tight fit. But it is so easy to get to the Magic Kingdom and a quick walk (5 mintes) gets you to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot.

The boats are great, but we always folded our stroller up. At the cabins you would need to take a boat or bus to get anywhere. I found it much easier to load my twin 5 yr old , 10 year old, DH and double stroller on a monarail than on a bus.

The dining plan is so great. Our TS meals were always over $100 dollars, so we came out ahead. But ADR's are a must.

I think it is hard to get little ones to sleep no matter where you stay at Disney. It would be great if you could stay at one place your whole stay. The way my family takes over a hotel room, I would hate to take the time to get everything packed back up to move.

 

[zipDdoodah]

I agree about not wanting to lose the dining plan because food really adds up. You can get a vacation package for the Villas at WL if you want more space and still get the dining plan as well. For the cost, I think I would opt for WL rather than FW. We find the transportation fairly convenient, and you DO have the boat to MK. Of course you won't have the monorail, but you won't have that for your POP stay either if you go that route. With all things considered including cost, location, dining plan, and transportation, I would go for WL. Hope this helps!

 

[mickeyjen]

Thanks so much for all your input! I think perhaps I was little unclear in my first post. I wasn't asking if we could walk to MK from FW, but if we could walk to the boat launch. It sounds like FW won't be very convenient for going back and forth. Thanks for the info on DVC also, but we are three different families who will all be staying in separate rooms. I think that will spare our sanity!

Please keep the advice coming! I really appreciate it!

 

[teacher31]

You need to know this about the Ft. Wilderness Cabins -
1. You cannot park anywhere except in front of your cabin. Want to go to the pool? Hoof it. Want to go to the Settlement (Hoop De Doo Review, food, etc.)? Catch a bus to get there because you can't park there.
2. We missed the feel of a hotel. We usually stay at Port Orleans and we missed walking down to get sodas, visit the shop, seeing other people, etc. We felt isolated. Yes the space was wonderful, but we'd rather be cramped and feel like we are with other people. Just us.

I wish I had known about the parking ahead of time. Yes, you can rent a golf cart for $50 per day, but that was too much for us to have it parked most of the time.

Have fun!

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Hi there Mickeyjen and welcome to the DIS

We stayed in the cabins just last month for the first time, two adults and 2 kids ages 9 and 5. I think the cabins are great! There are many advantages to them but I will tell you that for me there were two disadvantages: I missed the convenient aspects of a resort (things like a food court or quick food place) and the transportation system, while it works well, is more time consuming. I guess it'll depend on what is most important to you, but I'll also say we had the dining plan and it was awesome! It would be a bummer for you not to have it the entire time.

The cabin we had was a handicap accessible, which was fine, something that may be different from a regular cabin - the bathroom was large, about 9-10 ft square I'd say and had a roll in shower, floor sloped to a drain in the middle of the room . Cabin was as cute as can be, bunk beds and a full bed in the bedroom and a murphy bed and sofa in the living room. Lots of space for us to spread out, a full kitchen, dishwasher, frig, dishes. Also two tv's (one in the bedroom and one in the living room) and a vcr in the living room It's peaceful and although the cabins aren't very far from each other it does feel like your own space. Nice to not have to worry about the kids disturbing people on the other side of a wall.

The transportation system worked well but you do have to take a bus just about anywhere - to the dock area, down to the settlement or out to the outpost and the bus station there. You must transfer at the outpost bus station to a bus to take you to whatever destination outside Ft. Wilderness you want to go (park, downtown disney etc). This takes a little more time. We drove our own car to the parks usually but sometimes split up and I'd use the buses so got a little experience with them. We did not rent a golf cart. That would be nice but in the end we didn't feel it was worth the cost to us.

Ft Wilderness has lots of activities. We all enjoyed the campfire, s'mores and movie one night also.

I've stayed at the Poly and it's quite nice and can't beat the monorail. It's a trade off though because the cabins are roomier and it sure is nice to have separate rooms with kids sometimes. I love the WL also, wonderful themeing in the hotel - rooms are much smaller than the Poly's though.

Good luck with your decision, I know it's tough! If you have more questions feel free to ask.

 

[DisneyMom5]

You know, another thought is...is this your first trip?

even if its not, have you considered Pop for the whole trip? We found the buses to be very convenient and it is not as spread out as the moderates can be.
Our kids LOVED the themeing, the pools, etc.
The food court is great.
You could have the dining plan for the whole trip.
It is much more convenient for mid-day trips, even if you have to fold up the stroller.
(I might suggest going back BEFORE nap time, or staying in the park if they are already sleeping. With my kids, they would have been awake before we would even get back to the room between leaving the park, boarding the monorail, etc.)
And, with the money you save between the dining plan and staying at pop, you could get some great souveniers. LOL
Just a thought.