Poly theme park view or garden view club level?

[Tonberry]

I'm in agreement with the majority here, do the club level!
Aside from watching the fireworks, the thing I liked best about it is that at the end of the day, you can just come in, sit down and relax.
We came in from a long day at the park, the kids sat on the couch and watched Disney Junior, while I grabbed a beer, my wife got a glass of wine and we sat down, unwinded, and thought about how lucky we were to be here. It's such a nice feeling that we rarely ever get.

 

[ddpatrick13]

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses. I went ahead and switched it to the club level room. This is our first ever club level stay out of 20+ visits and I am really excited. My fear now is that I will be ruined and want club level every time .

 

[NYCANC]

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses. I went ahead and switched it to the club level room. This is our first ever club level stay out of 20+ visits and I am really excited. My fear now is that I will be ruined and want club level every time .

Yep- that will happen!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

Yes, CL! It will spoil you for the little conveniences.

 

[adisneyaunt]

You ll love it... it's Awesome!!! Enjoy!!

 

[ljmclin]

Quick question regarding CL - We stay at the poly every trip but have never stayed CL. We always have the dining plan and I didn't think I could justify the price increase for the food offerings alone. Is that not a good way to look at things? One of our top things to do at Disney is eat at great restaurants (everyone feels that way right???) so we have a big meal every day. I'm trying to talk myself into spending the money but I want to be sure I will take total advantage of CL. Any thoughts/advice?

 

[mickey2minnie1]

Quick question regarding CL - We stay at the poly every trip but have never stayed CL. We always have the dining plan and I didn't think I could justify the price increase for the food offerings alone. Is that not a good way to look at things? One of our top things to do at Disney is eat at great restaurants (everyone feels that way right???) so we have a big meal every day. I'm trying to talk myself into spending the money but I want to be sure I will take total advantage of CL. Any thoughts/advice?

Here now at CL. There is a lot of food choice. If you are here you do not need to eat elsewhere unless you want to. We do one meal out, usually lunch, although they have enough here for that too. We don't want to do it any other way. Looove CL!

 

[Tigger's ally]

Full disclosure, I'm a big CL fan and especially a Poly CL fan.

Since price is a push, it really just depends on how much value you place on being able to see MK directly from your room. I guess only you can answer that question.

But as PP notes, the CL lounge has a wonderful view of the MK - so while your room will have a garden / Oasis Pool view, you always have the lounge there to get your TPV fix. I agree with @anomamatt in that it's not quite the same as having the view from your own room, but it's a close second.

The main word that always comes to mind with Poly CL for us is "convenience" - the location of the Hawaii longhouse is just so convenient for lots of things - from pool time, to transportation, to popping out to the beach for fireworks, etc. The CL offerings are also very convenient - I don't have to go to Cap't Cooks for something small like a cup of coffee. The breakfast offerings in particular are an adequate substitute for having to eat breakfast somewhere else for most folks.

Even the evening apps - historically Poly CL's weak spot - have been much improved over the last few months.

I'd say if you've been to Poly several times and don't mind giving up the TPV room, I'd say go for it, if only to try something different and experience the resort in a new way.

FWIW, here are some pics!

Lounge at night...
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View standing at the lounge windows...
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Lounge during HEA a few weeks ago...
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My morning office last July... (I will get up early and work/catch up on e-mails/DIS while the fam sleeps)...
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It doesn't hurt that the fridge is well stocked....
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STELLA!

 

[jina]

We stayed at the poly in Nov 2014 off season (early November). Decided to splurge on park view and did a spilt stay first at AKL w/ savannah view (another splurge). When we checked in at the poly, they had upgraded us to CL level. So we had a theme park view in the club building - balcony facing the castle. We thought the room view was wonderful and loved watching the fireworks at night after DD (4 at the time) went to bed. And you just can't beat the location of the Poly. Having experienced both, if I did have to pick CL vs theme park (not both) I would pick CL as I really loved being able to hang out there and relax. I can't eat gluten but there were plenty of things I could eat and it was nice to have breakfast and snacks there. But what I most enjoyed was the view from those huge windows and the kind CM's there. It really added a whole new level of luxury to our already luxurious vacation.

Now I'm starting to plan for next year's trip and am forced with more budget constraints since last time (we have been living off of my part time salary for over a year w/o clear view on when that will get better). So I am looking at renting DVC points, and am between a studio at AKL for 6 nights, or 3 nights BC studio + 3 nights BLT studio - AKL is $100 less/night but we've already stayed there and it's less convenient given DD is now older and we'd benefit from being able to walk to most of the parks. But the budget is a big deal. Well, that's for another thread I will start once I get my head straight about this.

I hope you have a magical stay!

 

[Leelo]

I have stayed CL at AKL and TPV at Poly. I would say TPV in a heartbeat over CL but obviously I am missing something since most others would choose CL.

Is the Poly's CL remarkably better than AKL for so many to say that is the better choice?

I have never considered CL again bc it did not benefit us at AKL. As a side note, we don't drink alcohol or soda and we don't have children. We LOVED watching the fireworks and relaxing on our private balcony. I would love some advice on what I am missing about CL that I could consider for a future trip.

Loved this room view!