POR to Poly - Will we be disappointed?

[have2getaway]

In 2017, our family of 5 (me, DH, triplet boys age 9) stayed a week at the Poly and loved it. We are planning a return trip and the cost to stay again was about $800 more, but mostly because we are staying 8 nights instead of 7. We have the $800, but...discovered we would save $1,000 if we do an even split stay with Port Orleans at the start of our trip. We planned to spend at least one day at Universal, so have considered 2 things: 1–The $1,000 would go to our US tickets, 2–We would stay at POR when we visit US, AK, DHS, Boardwalk, and Disney Springs, and save MK and Epcot for our Poly nights. My concern is...will we regret this split? Will a family of 5 be too cramped in POR? Will it be too hard to go from taking Magical Express to the Poly to POR? Our other consideration was BC for 4 nights and then Poly, but it only saved $288. Not worth it IMO. TIA

 

[epcotobsessed]

Poly has some of the largest rooms and POR rooms are considerably smaller. That being said, I think your plan to essentially get your Universal tickets for "free" by doing the split stay is a good one. POR has the nicest grounds of any moderate, IMO, and the boat to Disney Springs is a nice perk.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We absolutely love the Poly so my answer would be stay at the Poly. But to save $1,000 - I would do a split stay especially if you are doing US but making sure to end at the Poly. We stayed at the POR 2 years back - our DD really wanted to try the princess room. It was a lovely room - the only problem that I had with the POR is that it is big. We had a lot of luggage as there is 6 of us and it was the start of a two week trip to DW - we had a long path with many turns to get to the room - that we kept getting lost. It was a lot of going back and forth with all the luggage, cases of water, etc. We did not sleep 5 in a room as we needed two rooms but I don't think it would be too crowded.

 

[have2getaway]

Poly has some of the largest rooms and POR rooms are considerably smaller. That being said, I think your plan to essentially get your Universal tickets for "free" by doing the split stay is a good one. POR has the nicest grounds of any moderate, IMO, and the boat to Disney Springs is a nice perk.

Thank you! Will we will regret not trying the Beach Club? It just seemed silly to bother if we won’t even be there to use it. The lack of QS options mentioned by others also concerned us.

 

[have2getaway]

We absolutely love the Poly so my answer would be stay at the Poly. But to save $1,000 - I would do a split stay especially if you are doing US but making sure to end at the Poly. We stayed at the POR 2 years back - our DD really wanted to try the princess room. It was a lovely room - the only problem that I had with the POR is that it is big. We had a lot of luggage as there is 6 of us and it was the start of a two week trip to DW - we had a long path with many turns to get to the room - that we kept getting lost. It was a lot of going back and forth with all the luggage, cases of water, etc. We did not sleep 5 in a room as we needed two rooms but I don't think it would be too crowded.

The sprawling layout of the resort is what most concerns me. Years ago, I stayed with my older son at Coronado Springs and really hated how far we had to walk just to eat. I didn’t love the rooms either, and recall finding the room too small for only 3 of us. We felt a bit cramped in the Poly, but felt it was adequate. We are used to staying in a 2 bedroom hotel room or suite, but understand that that is just not in our price range if we want a Deluxe Disney resort. I know POR room is considerably smaller, will we manage? Will we still enjoy the resort in spite of multiple bus stops, sprawling layout, and smaller rooms?

 

[Average Joes]

We did a POR to Poly split. Yes POR will be a bit cramped no doubt. If you do little more than sleep there it should work out. POR is nice and worth saving $1000.

Magic Express is a non issue.

FP for FOP and Slinky Dog might be an issue if you are doing AK and DS at the start of the trip. Maybe go to Universal first to help with that if FPs are important.

 

[have2getaway]

We did a POR to Poly split. Yes POR will be a bit cramped no doubt. If you do little more than sleep there it should work out. POR is nice and worth saving $1000.

Magic Express is a non issue.

FP for FOP and Slinky Dog might be an issue if you are doing AK and DS at the start of the trip. Maybe go to Universal first to help with that if FPs are important.

Thank you! Yes, this our plan. We plan to do US our first day and possibly second day, and the other areas days 3 and 4, before arriving at the Poly!

But...Is it possible the rates might still go down more? Disney Visa offers aren’t out yet, and any chance there will be another discount in January we might benefit from later?

 

[epcotobsessed]

Thank you! Will we will regret not trying the Beach Club? It just seemed silly to bother if we won’t even be there to use it. The lack of QS options mentioned by others also concerned us.

Beach Club is our favorite but that's because Epcot is our favorite park and it's great to be a 3 minute walk away. POR has better QS than BC does - BC has a "marketplace" that just has a few hot items whereas POR has a large QS restaurant with many options.

 

[have2getaway]

Beach Club is our favorite but that's because Epcot is our favorite park and it's great to be a 3 minute walk away. POR has better QS than BC does - BC has a "marketplace" that just has a few hot items whereas POR has a large QS restaurant with many options.

Thank you! That is honestly what concerns us the most about BC. We are big snackers. On our last trip, we did Deluxe Dining, but we are just doing regular dining this trip, and will really need to rely on having adequate counter service dining options available.

 

[epcotobsessed]

Yeah, we eat almost exclusively in the parks, Epcot especially, when staying at BC. Yachtsman is fantastic, but that is clearly not a meal you grab on the fly. BWI has better counter/QS options than BC/YC - fortunately, that is just a few minutes walk away as well.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

The sprawling layout of the resort is what most concerns me. Years ago, I stayed with my older son at Coronado Springs and really hated how far we had to walk just to eat. I didn’t love the rooms either, and recall finding the room too small for only 3 of us. We felt a bit cramped in the Poly, but felt it was adequate. We are used to staying in a 2 bedroom hotel room or suite, but understand that that is just not in our price range if we want a Deluxe Disney resort. I know POR room is considerably smaller, will we manage? Will we still enjoy the resort in spite of multiple bus stops, sprawling layout, and smaller rooms?

I have to say that we did not love the POR as a resort. But I will say that we were there when the POFQ's food court was being renovated so the food court at the POR was unbelievably crowded. The way the food was being served was horrible because they were serving massive amounts of people. Our son got a meal but the rest of us were grossed out and we left. Plus it wasn't cheap.

We did love Yehaa Bob in the lounge, plus the CMs at check in were lovely. If the temp was a little cooler we would have enjoyed walking around to see the lovely grounds a little more.

We sleep 5 at the Poly often and don't have a problem with the size of the rooms. Yes you can get bigger rooms outside of Disney but we love staying on property. Enjoy your planning!

 

[have2getaway]

Oh, I agree. The room size was plenty big enough. Just meant that under normal circumstances we would prefer a separate room for us and the kids, but it’s a small compromise to be on site at Disney and at a beautiful resort.

 

[MomOTwins]

I thought POR was lovely but I did find the bus service annoying with all the stops. Would definitely stay again if budget were a concern.

But you don’t really answer the most important question for me—how much time do you spend at resorts? Do you do midday breaks or early evenings at the resort or are you rope drop to close people? If the latter, I would do POR in a heartbeat. But if the former, I say Poly (or another deluxe that is cheaper but still awesome like WL or AK).

 

[Average Joes]

POR's food court is busier than a Deluxe from our two stays. It was pretty crazy around supper when we arrived. There was more selection and we thought the food was better than the three deluxes we have been to. We go to breakfast before Rope Drop so crowds tend to be fine.

Did you mention when you are going? We are renting DVC at the Poly for around $300 a night tax in. Price depends on season. If you are going 10-11 months out that could be an option.

 

[have2getaway]

I thought POR was lovely but I did find the bus service annoying with all the stops. Would definitely stay again if budget were a concern.

But you don’t really answer the most important question for me—how much time do you spend at resorts? Do you do midday breaks or early evenings at the resort or are you rope drop to close people? If the latter, I would do POR in a heartbeat. But if the former, I say Poly (or another deluxe that is cheaper but still awesome like WL or AK).

Well, we have only been as a family one time in 2017. We stayed at the Poly and loved it, but we were on Deluxe Dining and went a bit crazy with ADR’s. Our boys loved the Poly pool, but we didn’t allow enough time for them to use it. This trip we vowed to make more time to enjoy the resort, since we have already been once. We do plan to do US, but other than that, we don’t plan to schedule many dinner ADR’s. That way, if we have a warm afternoon, we can enjoy the resort and pool. We plan to do regular dining to make that happen. This is a large part of why I would like to spend the extra money now. That, and the fact that after all our boys are 10, our trip costs will increase and will possibly require a moderate hotel.

 

[have2getaway]

POR's food court is busier than a Deluxe from our two stays. It was pretty crazy around supper when we arrived. There was more selection and we thought the food was better than the three deluxes we have been to. We go to breakfast before Rope Drop so crowds tend to be fine.

Did you mention when you are going? We are renting DVC at the Poly for around $300 a night tax in. Price depends on season. If you are going 10-11 months out that could be an option.

We are going in mid-January. We have considered renting DVC, but with 5, we are more limited, And really prefer our boys each have their own bed at night. We also like the flexibility if we need to cancel for some reason.

 

[Disneylover99]

Will we still enjoy the resort in spite of multiple bus stops, sprawling layout, and smaller rooms?

Based on what you’ve said so far, I’m going to say no.

 

[gillep]

Based on your previous experience with CSR, I do not think you will be happy with POR. It is a lovely resort, but it has all of the same negatives as CSR. Between the two marketplaces at YC & BC and Hurricane Hanna's I think that there are more than enough CS options (you can also walk to Boardwalk bakery and Epcot), but others disagree.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you felt cramped at Poly, you’ll feel doubly cramped at POR. If you didn’t like the sprawling feeling at CSR, I don’t think you’ll like POR. BC has one of the best pools on property and you have the Marketplace, the Ale and Compass Marketplace, Hurricane Hannah’s and you can walk to Boardwalk Bakery. There is no lack of QS, IMHO. If you think you are going to have to go down to a mod when the boys are older, I would do Poly or the BC/ Poly split now.

 

[have2getaway]

If you felt cramped at Poly, you’ll feel doubly cramped at POR. If you didn’t like the sprawling feeling at CSR, I don’t think you’ll like POR. BC has one of the best pools on property and you have the Marketplace, the Ale and Compass Marketplace, Hurricane Hannah’s and you can walk to Boardwalk Bakery. There is no lack of QS, IMHO. If you think you are going to have to go down to a mod when the boys are older, I would do Poly or the BC/ Poly split now.

We were going to do 4 nights at each. Is 3 nights at the Beach Club enough to give it a try? That will leave us with 5 nights at the Polynesian.