Poly patio or balcony?

[goofy4wdw2]

Which do you prefer at the Poly? 1st floor patio or 3rd floor balcony (and 2nd floor balcony where available)? Can't decide which would be better...

The 1st floor might allow quicker access in and out of the room, but I don't know if it would feel private enough with people walking by the patio door. Can you enter/exit your room through the patio using your key, or can you only lock the patio door from the inside?

3rd floor- Are there elevators in the longhouses? Better views being higher up? More private?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

 

[bcsmom]

Which do you prefer at the Poly? 1st floor patio or 3rd floor balcony (and 2nd floor balcony where available)? Can't decide which would be better...

The 1st floor might allow quicker access in and out of the room, but I don't know if it would feel private enough with people walking by the patio door. Can you enter/exit your room through the patio using your key, or can you only lock the patio door from the inside?

3rd floor- Are there elevators in the longhouses? Better views being higher up? More private?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

I agree with you on the first floor, I would feel uncomfortable with people walking by. We always get a 3rd floor room, & we had GV last time & could see the water parade from our balcony. It is not the best view, but you can see it. We stayed in Tokelau. In our room you could only lock the patio from the inside of the room. They do have elevators in the longhouses also. I love the Poly, I hope you have a great trip.

 

[Lisa10]

We just stayed at the Poly in January - third floor of Rarotongo. It couldn't have been more perfect. I would go with the balcony. Better view definitely, and more privacy with no people walking right by as would be with the patio. And, yes, there is an elevator too. The Rarotongo is a good building choice too. Right next to the main house, so your close to the monorail and restaurants, shops etc., plus within easy walking of Epcot monorail at the TTC. Close to both pools and arcade and Luau Cove too.

 

[slk537]

I suspect we would love the third floor as well, but I have to say the patios are fabulous. We just had one and were able to walk right out to the beach and watch our son run around on the lawn and beach. For privacy, we would close the draperies but I can certaibly see how it could be a concern.

I think if you could go in and out of the patios with a card key lock, they would be just about perfect.

 

[clombardi]

We have had a balcony and a patio at the Poly. We definitely prefer the patio. We sat outside much more when we stayed on the first floor. Bottom line is: patio or balcony, you can't go wrong at the Poly.

 

[my2princessgirls]

We loved our patio. We were able to sit out there during our daughter's naps and after they went to bed at night. I usually sent DH to get drinks or snacks and he could just walk over without disturbing the girls while they were sleeping. We were in room 1807 in Raratonga and there was some lush vegetation that made it nice and private, but really from that longhouse we would not have felt exposed even without it. If we get to stay there again we will be requesting the same building and ground floor again!

Hope that helps!

 

[Tikiman]

I have been on all 3 floors and I prefer the patio. The paths were never close enough for me to feel uncomfortable with people walking by and it was not like there is that much traffic anyway. Also I like having more room to stretch out (can’t put my legs out on a balcony. Also I discovered that sitting in the chair on the balcony the railing was at eye level and so to enjoy the view I had to stand up or look through the slats.

When having the patio I would sit in the morning with my coffee and paper while others were getting ready and than walk over to the sand and walk around. I also found I was taking the stairs all the time on the upper levels because I got tired of waiting for or cramming into the elevators with others and strollers. The elevators are very small in my opinion. There would be some garden view rooms I would rather have an upper floor but in most cases I would take the patio every time.

Aloha

Steve

 

[KimberlyC]

I have a small child and will take a view of a dumpster if it means getting a patio room. He's a climber and I've resorted to tenting him in his crib. We'll have our first experience with bed rails at the Poly in 16 days but it will help my stress level if I don't have to constantly make sure the door is locked so he doesn't try to escape. I'll still have to watch him like a hawk with a patio but at least there's nothing to climb out there to temp him. I don't know if you have small kids but just a thought in case you do.

 

[disnut8]

One word of advice on a patio room. There are noisy ducks that will come right up to your door and beg for food. We found them very cute. Of course, we were on the third floor with a balcony so they could be cute to us. Not sure what those people with the patio thought.

 

[chamonix]

We've had both, and there are certainly good and bad to both.

Patio: if dd wakes up first she just goes out to the beach and plays without waking us, which is kinda scary; but it's nice to have all that extra space to play or whatever while we are getting ready, etc. It really opens up your room and makes it so much more spacious. I never had any trouble with the paths being too close to the patios, that is only the case in some of the rooms, not all. We have been LV patio in Tahiti, and there isn't even a path on that side of the building (near the beach). In fact, there are rarely folks on the Tahiti beach, it's almost like having your own, lol, and the other beach over by Luau Cove is similar in that regard.

Balcony: A wee bit more private, we keep the curtains open all night to watch the castle change colors (not applicable for those in GV) and it also means we wake up earlier since the room isn't so dark after the sun rises. I miss the kids being able to run around the beach while we sit right on our patio though. I think for most folks the patio would be better. Oh, and we are bird watchers so appreciate the higher floor to see more birds in flight.

 

[D&R love Disney]

We've had 3rd floor balconies in Tahiti and Hawaii and love them.

 

[jnshakun]

I have the same question about balcony vs patio.........as mentioned by someone else, I have a little guy who loves to climb, but I also have a little girl who likes to open doors. With a 2 yr old and 4 yr old I'm not sure which is less of a risk--patio door opening to freedom, pool, and lagoon or balcony 2-3 stories up! Of course, we watch like hawks, but you never know!

 

[slk537]

The patio door has two locks - one at child level and the second is up closer to the top - I'm 5'3" and I had to reach for it a bit.

A child could figure it out with dragging a chair over, but that still gives you time to intervene

 

[glencoe]

One word of advice on a patio room. There are noisy ducks that will come right up to your door and beg for food. We found them very cute. Of course, we were on the third floor with a balcony so they could be cute to us. Not sure what those people with the patio thought.

LOVE the ducks!! We even named them too! The only came visiting in the morning and we rarely saw them during the day (but then we were at the parks most of the days!

I am a patio person....

 

[lovmy2girls]

I prefer the Patio. I love sitting out there in the morning and watching the place come alive. The girls can go outside too and play in the sand, and I can get to them quick. In Fiji, cove side, not a lot of people walk by in the morning and at night, they are on the sidewalk walking back from the Luau so people are not gawking in your window, so to speak.

 

[clombardi]

One word of advice on a patio room. There are noisy ducks that will come right up to your door and beg for food. We found them very cute. Of course, we were on the third floor with a balcony so they could be cute to us. Not sure what those people with the patio thought.

That was one of the things we loved about the patio!