Resort choice, Spend or Save???'s

[kaysmommie]

I wanted to post this here because I love this board and it has so much good information. If you got a good Discount for Poly would you put it on your credit card and pay it off over the next year. OR stay at POFQ which is more easily payed for before the trip. We have only stayed at deluxe resorts and are a little worried about moderates but we like the price better. WE do like the convenience of the monorail with our small children. Our last stay was also at Poly and we loved it but planned on going a bit cheaper, until I got a good deal on Poly, one I'll never get again. The POFQ is still much less expensive though and would save about $900. Would you pay $900 more to stay at Poly for the week or save the extra dollars? Dh seems like he would rather save although he likes the poly. He said to keep the resie for Poly but I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for any and all opinions .

 

[luvtogo12]

Personally, I would want to save the $900.00. To me, the hotel is just a place to sleep at night. Of course, it has to be clean and have a certain amount of services but for a savings of $900.00, I would go with a moderate.
Have a great time.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'd save the extra money and put it toward another trip.

 

[Kay1]

I'm sure I would choose POR. I think it's a very nice resort with a nice pool and a nice sister pool/playground. It also has the boat to DD and it's fun to try new things.

My husband and I had to chose between two rental homes at Christmastime, one was larger, had a game room and spa. The other was plenty large (3/3), nice pool but no game room or spa but $400 less. We decided $400 would buy several restaurant meals and other extras and went with the smaller house. IMO, $900 is a lot of money that could be spent on other things.

 

[Rootskate]

I would also go with the moderate, especially if it meant no credit card to pay off when I got home! Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[karliebug]

since my family uses the room basically as a place to just sleep and shower, I would save the money and go with the least expensive option. My kids love the theming of the value resorts and since we spend most of the day and night in the parks it works out just fine for us. For that extra 900, we can have another vacation!

 

[magicmom99]

having stayed at the moderate with young children last Thanksgiving week, I'd go with LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. It took us at least an hour each way to take the bus to and from the parks and our young kids got tired of it. That was a waste of 4 hours each day if we tried to take a break mid-day. Way too much wasted time. If you do decide to stay at the moderate, I'd definitely rent a car if you are planning on a mid day break

 

[kaysmommie]

thanks for the repiles. We do spend some time in the afternoon and evenings at our resort. Our kids still need break/naps and swim time is the highlight of the trip. That said I'm sure POFQ will be fine to take breaks at, it will just take longer to get there. I would rather not have a balance on my card after the trip at all though, especially like a $1000 balance. DH doesn't want to take any other trips this year even if we pick a moderate because he only gets a week off anyway. Any other opinions please post . I'm considering changing my ressie but want to think it over for a bit.

 

[HayGan]

I have to say go with POFQ! Our first stay with the kids was at the POLY and we LOVED it. Then last year we stayed at OKW and guess what, we LOVED it. We had no problems with the buses at all. Sure the monorail is nice but that is a big difference in price. Actually your difference in price isn't much less than my 6 night stay at POFQ with the dining plan is costing in Sept.!!! I kind of faced the same decision recently with the 40% off code. I could have stayed at the Poly for about $700 more than POFQ but I figured that difference paid for our dining plan so I went with POFQ. Our next trip will likely be at CR MK view so that $700 savings could go a long way towards that as well!

 

[kaysmommie]

having stayed at the moderate with young children last Thanksgiving week, I'd go with LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. It took us at least an hour each way to take the bus to and from the parks and our young kids got tired of it. That was a waste of 4 hours each day if we tried to take a break mid-day. Way too much wasted time. If you do decide to stay at the moderate, I'd definitely rent a car if you are planning on a mid day break

Thanks for reminding me, it is always easier to stay at any resort that has easy park access (boat or monorail). Thats the reason we stay deluxe for the most part. Wow I didn't know it took and hour though! I figured 20-30 minutes with and hopefully not waiting long for a bus either. I might get impatient with those waits.

 

[kaysmommie]

I have to say go with POFQ! Our first stay with the kids was at the POLY and we LOVED it. Then last year we stayed at OKW and guess what, we LOVED it. We had no problems with the buses at all. Sure the monorail is nice but that is a big difference in price. Actually your difference in price isn't much less than my 6 night stay at POFQ with the dining plan is costing in Sept.!!! I kind of faced the same decision recently with the 40% off code. I could have stayed at the Poly for about $700 more than POFQ but I figured that difference paid for our dining plan so I went with POFQ. Our next trip will likely be at CR MK view so that $600 savings could go a long way towards that as well!

Wow is POFQ that much cheaper in September? I might have to back up my dates a little then. We are planning on goin Oct 3-11. IF they run free dining then I can probably check in on September 29 instead. I forgot to say both packages include the DDP already. We are also planning on going to MNSSHP for our first time this trip! Thanks.

 

[HayGan]

Thanks for reminding me, it is always easier to stay at any resort that has easy park access (boat or monorail). Thats the reason we stay deluxe for the most part. Wow I didn't know it took and hour though! I figured 20-30 minutes with and hopefully not waiting long for a bus either. I might get impatient with those waits.

We NEVER had an hour trip to or from any park. The longest we waited for any bus was 10 minutes and the actual trip was no longer than 15!!!

 

[HayGan]

Wow is POFQ that much cheaper in September? I might have to back up my dates a little then. We are planning on goin Oct 3-11. IF they run free dining then I can probably check in on September 29 instead. I forgot to say both packages include the DDP already. We are also planning on going to MNSSHP for our first time this trip! Thanks.

Our POFQ (water view room) trip for 2 adults and 2 kids with the dining plan and 1 day park passes is $1,500 for 6 nights starting on Sept 24th. We are also doing MNSSHP for the first time and our savings will help pay for that as well

I also really wanted to try POFQ! It looks beautiful and I have been looking at staying there for quite awhile. I have a goal to stay at all the resorts at least once!!!

 

[Kay1]

We NEVER had an hour trip to or from any park. The longest we waited for any bus was 10 minutes and the actual trip was no longer than 15!!!

Also, unless you have a car you'll need to take a bus somewhere no matter which resort you chose (if you plan to visit all four parks).

 

[kaysmommie]

Our POFQ (water view room) trip for 2 adults and 2 kids with the dining plan and 1 day park passes is $1,500 for 6 nights starting on Sept 24th. We are also doing MNSSHP for the first time and our savings will help pay for that as well

I also really wanted to try POFQ! It looks beautiful and I have been looking at staying there for quite awhile. I have a goal to stay at all the resorts at least once!!!

Thats why your package is much cheaper than mine you must have and AP. We have to buy & day hoppers and our stay is 8 nights too. OUr total is $2603 for water view with dining plan of course. Yes I agree it does look beautiful and I have already stayed at Poly. It's nice to try new places.

Also I"m sooo glad you said it didn't take you that long to get to resort or parks with the buses. I have read other post were people say it took them a long time, I guess it depends on when you go maybe .

 

[MiaSRN62]

It took us at least an hour each way to take the bus to and from the parks and our young kids got tired of it.

An hour each way ? I, personally have not experienced this. I've been using the disney busses since '94. We usually have anywhere from a 5-15 min wait, then about a 10-20 min bus drive (depends on the park proximity to your resort). So the shortest transport time is about 15- 20 min and the longest is about 30 min to get to any park one-way. This has been my experience having stayed at OKW, Contemp, BCV, BWV, WL, POR, AS's,& POP.

The biggest benefit with the monorail at the Poly is to the MK. To go to Epcot, you still need to loop the monorail around to the TTC and then transfer over to another monorail to get to Epcot or take a bus from the Poly. So really, imho, the MK is the only easier park to get to as opposed to other resorts. So unless you're spending 75-80% of your time in the MK, I don't see a big savings in time in transportation ? I just never experienced an hour in getting to a park except maybe 1-2 times in over 30 trips to WDW. Once in awhile there is a glitzch, but I've been stuck on the monorail for 20+ min one time, and maybe 10+ min another time due to traffic and power problems. So there are isolated problems anywhere on rare occasions.

I just think coming back to that cc bill would be a downer for me. Unless you can save up the cash, over a year for the Poly, would I go there. I do think the Poly is an absolutely beautiful hotel, but I just think what I could do with almost an extra $1,000.

 

[EthansMom]

POFQ is a beautiful resort... my young kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It's small size and whimsical theme are just right for young kids. We've never had more than a 20 minute ride on any of the busses to/from POFQ. Also, POFQ is the first stop to get on and first stop to get off of any busses shared with POR, which is handy. Also, you can take a boat straight from POFQ to Downtown Disney with all of the great restaurants, stores, and entertainment there.

I'd definitely stay at POFQ and save the money!

 

[HayGan]

Thats why your package is much cheaper than mine you must have and AP. We have to buy & day hoppers and our stay is 8 nights too. OUr total is $2603 for water view with dining plan of course. Yes I agree it does look beautiful and I have already stayed at Poly. It's nice to try new places.

Also I"m sooo glad you said it didn't take you that long to get to resort or parks with the buses. I have read other post were people say it took them a long time, I guess it depends on when you go maybe .

Nope no AP here. Look over on the codes and rates sub-board for a special going on right now for 40% off room rates. I just called and asked for the special and that is what I got. We need additional days for most of our party and will just upgrade the tickets when we arrive rather than paying for that 45 days in advance or I might order discount tickets off of Undercovertourist and use these 1 day tickets at a later date

With 2 little ones, why are you getting hoppers? One park a day is works great for us plus it is a big savings

 

[magicmom99]

First thing in the morning, we could get where we wanted to go in 20-30 minutes, but getting back to the hotel or to another park in the afternoon, it usually took us about 1 hour. We waited about 45 minutes for a bus on Thanksgiving day at 3pm to take us to MK (were going to the POLY for the luau) - took us another hour to get the monorail because of the crowds. We allowed for 1.5 hours travel time and it actually took 2 hours. Got to the luau right as the show started, luckily, they didn't give away our table.
the rest of the week, any time after the morning, it pretty much was always an hour to travel. The shared bus service between hotels didn't help either (POR and PORQ).

 

[Darcy03231]

We stay at the value resorts and I've never had it take an hour to get to or from any of the parks. A couple of times we had to wait for 10-15 min for the bus to get there, but that wasn't the norm.