Poly vs. WL

[becka]

I am having a difficult time trying to decide what resort to stay at in early December. We will be going with our DS (he will be 18 months) for the first time so having easy access to the MK without having to take the bus or drive our car is a big plus for us and I am willing (for once ) to pay for that monorail/boat access.

So far I have the following Pros/Cons for the Poly vs. WL.

Poly Pros:

Easy monorail access to both MK and Epcot
Larger Rooms
Cheapest Room will probably give us a nice garden view

Poly Cons:

Don't really like the theme as much as WL
More expensive
No kiddie pool

WL Pros:

Cheaper
Better Theme
Boat to MK
Kiddie Pool

WL Cons:

No Monorail Access (boat to MK but drive to all other parks)
Smaller Rooms
Cheapest Room may get us a bad view or a parking lot or a service entrance and may not have a full balcony

Basically I think the Poly may have better services for us but there are so many other resorts I would rather stay at if access to MK was not an issue. The WL is a beautiful resort but I kind of feel that maybe the boat is not that much of a help and we will still have to drive everywhere else. I kind of feel that if I have to drive to the other 3 parks I may as well save even more money and stay at a moderate.

What do you guys think?

 

[vbfamily]

We stayed at WL in October-if you want, just take the bus over to TTC and then take the monorail to Epcot. You can then take a boat to MGM, I think. I'm sure someone will correct me on this if I am wrong.

You will still have to drive or take a bus to AK.

The boat ride from WL to MK is nice, our kids enjoyed it.

We also took the bus to TTC and then toured the other resorts via monorail.

I would think early December would be a great time to be at WL-you may even catch them putting up holiday decorations.

Let us know what you decide.

Our kids also enjoyed the kiddie pool at WL.

If they are slow when you go, you may even get upgraded.

 

[mirlow]

I think if you don't really like the theme of the Polynesian then you shouldn't stay there. I think the theme is what makes it the resort it is. Yes it is definitely easier to get to the MK and Epcot from there, but if you are going to be put off by the resort then I would stay at the WL. The Polynesian is our favorite resort and part of that is the convenience of the monorail to get to the MK and Epcot, but the main reason is that we love the theme. In January we stayed at the WL for the first time. We had a standard view room and we had pretty good view. I posted my pictures of our view a while back. It was the first time that we didn't stay at the Polynesian. I was all right with it since it was winter and very cold while we were there, which made it nice to sit by one of the fires. It was nice to have a hot tub and not have to walk outside to get to our room. I would think the holiday decorations will look nicer at the WL than the Polynesian, having it being a lodge vs. a tropical get away. The boat transportation is fine, I much prefer the monorail. For the price you can't beat the location and if you are going to spend most of your time at the MK then driving to the other parks might not be so bad. We didn't really use the bus anywhere else except to get home from Epcot after it closed. We didn't have to wait but 5 minutes at the most. IMO I much prefer the Polynesian pool with little ones rather than a separate kiddie pool. The rooms at the Polynesian are much bigger and I definitely missed the size of the room since we have 3 kids. If there are only 3 in your family then maybe it won't matter as much. Good luck in deciding

 

[twinmomto3boys]

We have stayed at both - love them both.

I like the WL a little more because it is not so spread out. Whichever room you get, it will be in the same building as the restaurants (this is very helpful especially if it rains). I also think the snack bar restaurant is a lot nicer than the one at the Poly.

Also the Christmas decorations are IMHO the BEST in Disney. It's a very cozy resort.

If you are worried about room location, you can always make a request or two. The room assignors have always gotten us a great room.

I hope this helps.

 

[MinnieGi]

Here's my opinion with a toddler slant to it.

We stayed at WL when my DD was 14 months old and wish we hadn't. The rooms are small and a toddler loves to walk/run all about. What I didn't like was that the WL beds have a heavy wood frame that sticks out from the beds. We had a room with two queens. I was always afraid of DD falling into one of those wood frames. You know how toddlers get interested in something and fail to take notice of the enviroment around them. She had several near misses of crashing into them.

We toured the Poly that trip and would have loved the extra room for her to roam all about.

DD herself did not like how cramped the room felt, she never wanted to stay in there!! She liked being down in the lobby with room to roam or of course out in a park!

Just wanted to throw that in for you to think about.

I do think WL is beautiful especially at Christmas. However the rooms with a toddler just felt really cramped.

Gi

 

[mirlow]

How could I forget about the beds. I ran into the corner really hard and it hurt like heck The beds are really high off the ground too. My 2 yr old couldn't get on or off by herself and I was worried about her falling and hurting herself.

 

[vbfamily]

Yes, the beds at WL are a pain. I left there with bruises all over my legs because I kept running into them.

They are rather high off the ground for an 18 mo. old unless they still sleep in a crib or something.

Maybe you could get a deluxe room which would give you more room to run around or consider the Poly.

If you know ahead of time the beds are going to be a problem for you, then you have to take that into consideration. We have a 4 and 6 yr old so they weren't too much of a problem for us but it may become a real issue for a toddler who likes to "toddle" around.

Have you given the Contemporary any consideration?

 

[Selket]

No help from me but we're also considering the same hotels and we'll be there in early December (perhaps 7-13? still trying to pick a date) and my sons will be 6 yrs old and 23 months old then. I'm thinking of staying at the Contemporary because it interests me and the rooms are supposedly a good size. We stayed at the PO-FQ when my son was 2.5 yrs old and I love the hotel and the theming (the pool is awesome) but the rooms seemed small. On the positive side, we didn't spend a great deal of time there. The weather was nice enough that we could run around outside a fair amount (it was May). I'm trying to keep in mind that being there in December we may want to spend more time indoors and the Contemporary could fit that bill and being able to walk to the MK is a big plus. My biggest problem at the moment is trying to come up with the money

Enjoy!

Carol