Poly Devotee Considering a Change...

[tigeramy75]

Hi everyone,

We are a family of four who had our first stay at the Polynesian in 2011. All of us fell madly in love with it and we returned in May of this year for another magical, wonderful trip. We have booked at the Poly again for April 2013. We will not always be an "every year trip" family, but this is our next-to-last year with our older son at child prices, so we're trying to take advantage while we can.

We know we love the Poly. We really, really do. But I have a nagging feeling that there may be somewhere else we would love just as much. So I am considering a change for our 2013 trip. Obviously we have quite a while to decide, but it's never to early for me to start planning. Are there any other Poly lovers who have other resorts they love too? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[cmdg]

We also really love the Wilderness Lodge! When our son gets a bit older we're going to try the beach or yacht club again -- the pool there is amazing. I think I like the MK resorts best, though, so WL or Poly is always our first pick.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

The Poly is great I agree! But I also love the YC/BC and the GF. Another favorite is Kidani! You should definitely try a few other resorts, you might be surprised and find another favorite to love.

 

[andrencau]

We are Contemporary lovers. We have stayed numerous times. We love it for the convenience of being on the monorail and walking to MK. Our kids are young and we visit MK almost daily while staying a week there. Having said all of this, we love AKL. It is great. The only reason we do not stay there now is because of its location. If you are good with riding buses to all resorts it might be a great fit for you.

 

[TJA]

We love our stays at Poly too! However, we feel the need to switch things up each trip, just to make it feel different, so we also stay at the Epcot resort area. BC is our favorite over there and probably our favorite all-around disney resort. It's a whole different feeling staying in the Epcot resorts. You have the boardwalk to enjoy, plus walking path to Epcot for meals in the countries every single night if you want. Also, you can walk or boat to HS. You can take a stroll through Epcot to catch the monorail to MK - it's the long way to MK but we really enjoy this route. BC also has an awesome pool area great for all ages. Beaches & Cream for fun ice cream treats, plus you can get burger-type food there too. Walk to mini golf from there too. So much to do and see. My suggestion is to try BC next trip.

 

[jackemail]

Love Poly.....stayed there 20 trips. Finally tried others (Wilderness, CBR, Contemporary, AKL, BC) and enjoyed them all....but they did not top Poly.

Stayed at Boardwalk and fell in love with it. Now I have 2 favorites. My best trip ever was a split stay between Poly and Boardwalk.

 

[tigeramy75]

Thank you all so much! We have had dinner at AKL before and I am completely enchanted by it, but DH likes staying closer to MK since the kids are little. I do see an AKL stay in our future, though! We are considering GF. I have always perceived it as a more adult resort, but it is beautiful and SO convenient.

In all of our trips, we have never even visited the Boardwalk area...we are REALLY hoping we can get a couple of kid-free days at next year's F&W, and that is definitely where I will want to stay then!!!

Lots to consider!!! I always love hearing everyone's experiences and preferences. Thanks again!

 

[mickeynut1]

The Poly is our favorite, but we have had great stays at all of the other resorts we've tried. We like being close to MK, but we did enjoy our stay at the BC as well as AKL, even though AKL is out away from everything. If you want to stick with a MK resort, I think the GF would be a great choice. I think the GF is just as kid friendly as any other resort. The CR would also be a good choice, although I can't comment on that resort as we have visited many times but have never stayed there. Good luck.

 

[ppony]

I'd also go w/ the AKL. We really love the ambiance of the Poly but it never felt like "home" to us as the AKL does (which is why we bought DVC there). It's really a departure from North America. Both places are, which is what we are looking for on vacation. I don't want anything to be like what I can find anywhere else.

 

[Singinglizzie]

Absolutely love the Poly too, but as we all know, it's expensive to stay there! Decided a few trips ago that inorder to conserve funds, we would stay AKL and wow that turned out to be a geat decision - now my new favorite place to stay at WDW. It's not on the monorail but I also prefer renting a car so it all works out. I'd say try AKL. You could always hedge your bets, and do a split stay. Have fun deciding. Really, I've stayed at several of the WDW resorts and a great time can be had at any of them

 

[marylandgirl]

We are the same way. We love Poly and have stayed there the last 3 trips but would like to try something new this time. Also, the Poly prices have gotten way out of hand and this trip we plan on going for longer time so need a cheaper hotel, so we have decided to give Coronado a try for our spring trip. My DH is the same as yours, would rather pay more for the proximity to MK and the convenience of monorail, but trying someplace new sounds like fun to me. We can always visit the Poly during our trip. The Contemporary is a great option for you too. The theming is fun and makes you feel like you are in the heart of all things Disney there. The Beach Club and Yacht Club are supposedly fun for little ones, especially the pool and beach area, you may want to check into those. Either way, if you plan to stay somewhere else, you can always plan to visit Poly for meals or to watch fireworks, etc. Have fun!

 

[kinggoofy]

Here is another vote for the YC/BC. We are Poly people also but the YC/BC is # 1-B.

If fact we are staying at the BC in July 2012

 

[Sue M]

We also love WL, AKL and BC/YC. WL has a fun boat ride to MK. And BC/YC is a walk away from Epcot and walk or boat to HS. Both those parks have plenty of kid stuff to do, and so does The Boardwalk with street entertainers, magicians, etc, and the candy & bakery shops.

 

[flicx]

We have stayed at quite a few resorts and the poly is by far our favorite, it isn't even close. I hope to be able to stay again someday but the price is now way above what we can afford. If the price dosen't bother you, I would continue staying at the poly. I for one think you will miss it if you go somewhere else!

 

[fla4fun]

The hard thing if you've been staying pretty much exclusively at Poly, is getting used to the smaller room sizes at some of the other deluxes. I've been at CR fan for a long time, and the first time I paid more for another deluxe but had less space, I kind of took a mental step back. I've had some fairly tiny rooms at BC, and of course AKL and WL have smaller rooms. Also if you are used to the daybed, you don't always find them at the other deluxes. I would say at BC, I've had one about half the time, although I have had one at YC on every stay. Just some things to keep in mind (BTW - I've had great vacations at every Disney resort I've stayed in, but there are pros and cons to every one).

I do think if you are spending a lot of time at MK, Poly is a great choice. You have easy access to the TTC for the Epcot monorail, and you have lots of options for going to MK. It would be kind of counterproductive to stay at AKL if you are planning to spend the majority of your time at MK. I tend to stay near MK on one trip, then an Epcot resort the next, alternating them and focusing my time on the closer park(s).

 

[bowbat]

We've tried a lot of different resorts, but it's because we haven't found what we consider to be "The One" yet. I think if I were in your shoes, I'd stay at the Poly again... but maybe plan a day of visiting other resorts so you can see if there's anything that tugs at you for next time.

 

[MickeyMinnie1971]

We are Poly lovers, and for many years we wouldn't stay anywhere else. A couple of years ago we decided to give BC a try. I'm so glad we did. We love it too, and have returned twice. Now we have two resorts we love!