Polynesian vs. Wilderness Lodge

[gwtwfan39]

We are looking at going to WDW in late march..we are interested in either the Polynesian or the Wilderness Lodge. I would like to hear pros and cons of both.
We will have children with us.

this will also be our first trip to stay on property!

Thanks!

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

If you do a search on this board you will find lots of opinions on both hotels.

Have you tried this site?

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_hot.htm

Scroll down the left side for info on all WDW hotels.

As for where to stay, it's a matter of personal preference and budget. The Poly is very convenient if you will be spending lots of time at the MK.

Bob

 

[Kae]

Poly's rooms are bigger, you have the monorail to MK. WL is all in one building, you can request bunk beds. Both have kids clubs.

We have stayed at both & enjoyed them the same-I know not helpful. What are the ages of your kids.

 

[scanne]

Hi!

We have stayed at both and we LOVE both. In fact, these are our top two WDW resorts.

I'll tell you what I love about each:

The Polynesian:
Location! Room size! Transportation options!
At the Polynesian you will be right in the middle of the magic. You will be able to see the castle from the beach (or your room depending on the category you book), you are a short monorail ride away from the MK and it's one of Walt Disney World's first resorts. Plus they are in the middle of a major room rehab and the rooms are going to LOOK gorgeous!

The size of the rooms are amazing. They're about 409 square feet. You will have two queen beds and a day bed plus a table with two chairs. There is a ton of room to move! We had a crib set up, plus our double stroller open all the time and we still had plenty of room.

You can take the monorail to the MK and you can walk to the TTC to catch a monorail to Epcot, this way you won't have to switch monorails at the TTC like you would if you were leaving from the GF or the Contemporary.

I just love the tropical theming of the Polynesian and the restaurants, Kona Cafe and 'Ohana, are my favorites! It's a kid-friendly resort and it was a big hit with my 3 year old son! We will definitely be going back there.

The Wilderness Lodge:

We love the lodge, too. What I like about WL vs. the Polynesian is that the lodge has all the rooms in one building. At the Polynesian, there are many different longhouses that hold the rooms.

I love the lobby at WL. It is breathtaking! Roaring Fork, the casual food place, is a lot nicer than Captain Cook's, IMHO. There is a larger seating area and it seems to be quicker when you order hot foods from the grill.

The rooms are nice, but not as big. I think the rooms that have one queen and bunk beds might feel bigger, but the rooms are still nice. There are two queen beds, a table and two chairs and all rooms have balconies. There's also a set of built in drawers by the closet which I found to be VERY handy with all the kids items I brought. (Snacks, juice, diapers, etc.)

The boat ride to the MK is great. It is so relaxing and it's nice that you can leave your stroller open. We never had a problem with the buses to the other parks, either. The CM's at WL are SO friendly and helpful! Plus the gift shop at WL sells a lot of things like 1/2 gallons of milk, which was great for us b/c my kids drink a ton of milk. The Polynesian didn't sell anything bigger than a 1/2 pint carton.

So you will not be disappointed with either resort. Both are GREAT and truly embody the idea of themed hotels! We will be at WL in a few weeks and I am getting so excited!

Hope this helps!

Have a magical trip!

 

[pooh2001]

Great thread

CSANNE - thank you for spending time with your response.

I never knew about the 1/2 gallon of milk or the extra drawers by/in the closet. I hope all rooms have that. Wonderful for extra items, you wish not to leave on the table, exposed to all (we hide our toothbrushes / hairbrushes in the closet when we travel).

gwtwfan39 - see which resort fits your budget. You may find a better rate at the WL than the Poly b/c the WL is not on the monorail and sleeps 4 people.

 

[grimley1968]

Hi!

We have stayed at both and we LOVE both. In fact, these are our top two WDW resorts.

I'll tell you what I love about each:

The Polynesian:
Location! Room size! Transportation options!
At the Polynesian you will be right in the middle of the magic. You will be able to see the castle from the beach (or your room depending on the category you book), you are a short monorail ride away from the MK and it's one of Walt Disney World's first resorts. Plus they are in the middle of a major room rehab and the rooms are going to LOOK gorgeous!

The size of the rooms are amazing. They're about 409 square feet. You will have two queen beds and a day bed plus a table with two chairs. There is a ton of room to move! We had a crib set up, plus our double stroller open all the time and we still had plenty of room.

You can take the monorail to the MK and you can walk to the TTC to catch a monorail to Epcot, this way you won't have to switch monorails at the TTC like you would if you were leaving from the GF or the Contemporary.

I just love the tropical theming of the Polynesian and the restaurants, Kona Cafe and 'Ohana, are my favorites! It's a kid-friendly resort and it was a big hit with my 3 year old son! We will definitely be going back there.

The Wilderness Lodge:

We love the lodge, too. What I like about WL vs. the Polynesian is that the lodge has all the rooms in one building. At the Polynesian, there are many different longhouses that hold the rooms.

I love the lobby at WL. It is breathtaking! Roaring Fork, the casual food place, is a lot nicer than Captain Cook's, IMHO. There is a larger seating area and it seems to be quicker when you order hot foods from the grill.

The rooms are nice, but not as big. I think the rooms that have one queen and bunk beds might feel bigger, but the rooms are still nice. There are two queen beds, a table and two chairs and all rooms have balconies. There's also a set of built in drawers by the closet which I found to be VERY handy with all the kids items I brought. (Snacks, juice, diapers, etc.)

The boat ride to the MK is great. It is so relaxing and it's nice that you can leave your stroller open. We never had a problem with the buses to the other parks, either. The CM's at WL are SO friendly and helpful! Plus the gift shop at WL sells a lot of things like 1/2 gallons of milk, which was great for us b/c my kids drink a ton of milk. The Polynesian didn't sell anything bigger than a 1/2 pint carton.

So you will not be disappointed with either resort. Both are GREAT and truly embody the idea of themed hotels! We will be at WL in a few weeks and I am getting so excited!

Hope this helps!

Have a magical trip!

As tough a question as yours is, I believe this answer does about as well as anyone could to spell out what's great about each resort.

WL vs. Poly just seems cruel to me, as I love both resorts and for quite different reasons, as the quoted poster points out. I say: try one this time, and the other some other trip. We chose Poly this time because of having 2 little ones who might both use strollers. Being able to monorail to MK and EPCOT and not ever fold up our stroller is a big advantage for Poly. But we feel that even the Poly doesn't compare to WL's ambience throughout the resort, especially in the lobby.

I wish this question was: WL/Poly versus Motel 6!