Poly/Contemporary or AOA

[Mskay1216]

Hello
So we are planning our wdw trip for July 2019
Torn between the above resorts
We are a family of 4
Our little folks are will be 7 and 5
We love the larger than life theming at AOA (we stayed at the cars suites 2 years ago) would love to stay there again but we are concerned about the pets

Are they allowed in the food court? Has anyone been since the new pet policy?

The poly and contemporary are our other options since we never stayed at either and would love the proximity to MK
Any thoughts on those two?


I also read mixes reviews of the poly - crowded , outdated old rooms etc which surprises me. .it looks soo nice when we take the ferry to the park makes us want to stay there every time

I don't know much about the contemporary except for the monorail

Outside of AOA we would like to stay at a mod or deluxe

Thanks in advance everyone

 

[maxiesmom]

I love both the Poly and the Contemporary. I don't think you can go wrong with either of those.

My favorite thing about the Poly is being able to watch the fireworks from the beach. So if you think you may have early nights, that is a huge bonus. And I don't know how the rooms can be outdated, they were all recently redone.

Being able to walk to and from the Magic Kingdom is a great perk of the Contemporary.

Why not look on line at pics of the rooms and see which one appeals to you most?

 

[Mskay1216]

They were? That's good to know
Thank you!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

The resort side (non-DVC) rooms at Poly were last touched around 2013. The DVC longhouses were totally re-done more recently when they made the conversion to DVC. It's the resort-side rooms that often get the "dated / showing their age" comments around the DIS.

I don't necessarily disagree with that comment to some extent. We've been staying at Poly a couple of times a year since 2014 - I have never had a problem with any of our rooms but like all Disney resorts, you have a massive volume of people coming in/out of these rooms and if you are super picky you'll find evidence of ware and tear in a room here and there. (In fairness, our room at YC in July had a few dings/dents and it was renovated 1 year ago). Some people think it's a "dark" theme but that's a very subjective/personal opinion on the decor. For us, we love it.

As to which resorts, our kids have been little in our travels (age range 1-8) and we have mostly always migrated to the convenience of the monorail resorts. It fits our touring and mid-day break strategy very well.

Poly and CR are pretty much our go-tos... although I like Poly for a longer stay and CR for a shorter stay. Poly's pools (both zero entry, large kids splash pad) better suit our needs. CR's pools are typically less crowded which is really nice and it's a beautiful setting on Bay Lake... just no zero entry and a dinky kids splash pad not on par with other resorts.

We've done AoA and like it as well, we'd just normally opt for monorail over bus most of the time if we can swing it.

Happy planning!

 

[Babsy]

I agree with GADisneyDad14. If the MK area resorts are in your budget, I would give one of those a try. We like all three monorail resorts about equally. Which one we choose varies from trip to trip, but any of the Poly, GF and CR is a fantastic place to stay. I wouldn't be too concerned about the Poly rooms if this is your first choice. They may show some wear and tear, but they are still large beautiful rooms in a resort that is truly magical. They are dark, IMO, but they are meant, IMO, to be as this adds to the atmosphere of the resort. It is a nice, comfortable sort of 'dark' that is soothing and relaxing, IMO. The CR is wonderful, as well, especially in the tower rooms (although the convenience of the GW rooms with mostly pleasant GV's is really awesome as well). We were happily surprised during our first stay here and really love the CR.

Sorry I can't say anything about AoA and dogs as I haven't stayed there since the dogs have been allowed. There is a sticky thread here at the top of the resorts forum that you can read.

Personally, I would give a monorail resort a try with your young children. It is awesome being on the monorail line! And it is nice to try something new.

Enjoy!

 

[Mskay1216]

Thanks so much everyone!
Is there a quieter section/bldg that I should request?

 

[Babsy]

Thanks so much everyone!
Is there a quieter section/bldg that I should request?

Which resort are you referring to?

 

[Mskay1216]

Which resort are you referring to?

Poly

 

[Babsy]

We have never had a noisy room at the Poly and have stayed in multiple buildings there throughout the resort. You might want to request something away from the pool or luau which can be noisy at times. So perhaps you might want to avoid Samoa, Fiji and Aotearoa. If you look at a resort map you can see where the pool and Luau Cove are located. Also, some people dislike the horns from the boat dock and find them noisy. If they might bother you, I would avoid Tuvalu as well.
Good quiet choices would be in Rarotonga, Niue and Tokelau. However, I believe that Tokelau may be DVC now, IIRC.

 

[MrKnight]

Poly and Contemporary are both Deluxe Resorts, AoA is a Value Resort. It's apples to oranges. IMHO, if there is a choice to make, I would pick a Deluxe resort any day over a Value resort.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you choose Poly and want a quiet room, I would request Rarotonga. We've stayed in Hawaii, Fiji and Rarotonga and Rarotonga was by far the quietest.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you choose Contemporary, you can walk to and from the MK (or take the monorail if you want to). There are times when the walk is greatly preferred.