Triple DVC stay review: Kidani, BWV & Poly

[CookieandOatmeal]

I have a LV studio booked for May and I'm praying I get as good as a view as you did.

 

[mousestruck]

Thanks so much for your review! I agree with many of your thoughts and observations. We had a split stay between AKV Jambo and Poly LV last August. We are longtime fans of AKV, so it was hard to try another resort... but OMG... so glad we did!

At AKV, we also prefer Jambo over Kidani, unless we're booking a 1 bedroom because the Kidani rooms have so much more space and an extra bathroom. But we really love the grand lobby at Jambo, along with the food options, gift shop, layout and general vibe. I feel like Kidani was poorly designed. We hate walking through the lobby to get to the pool and walking through the parking lot to get to Jambo.

We were absolutely blown away by the Poly! Our room was near yours, but one floor higher. The view was absolutely spectacular. We watched the fireworks from our balcony every night and were totally awed. The room itself was also amazing. We had two teenagers and had plenty of space in the studio. Loved the two bathrooms and extra bed. We were also floored by the convenience of the monorail. Transportation was so speedy. One night we were in our room 20 minutes after leaving Main Street!

We arrived at the Poly with uncertainty, but left with a new favorite resort! (Well, at least one of our top 2 resorts!) For our next trip, I booked a couple nights at AKV concierge and am hoping to get the Poly for 5 nights at the 7 month mark. Can't wait to return!!!

 

[Lisa F]

Thanks for the great recap. Staying at Poly studios in May after a lot of deliberation and reading how great it was for you makes me very happy with our decision.

You should be! It was truly an awesome resort and my only regret is we did not stay there the entire time!

 

[Lisa F]

I have a LV studio booked for May and I'm praying I get as good as a view as you did.

I would request upper floor, close to TTC. Location was spectacular!

Thanks so much for your review! I agree with many of your thoughts and observations. We had a split stay between AKV Jambo and Poly LV last August. We are longtime fans of AKV, so it was hard to try another resort... but OMG... so glad we did!

At AKV, we also prefer Jambo over Kidani, unless we're booking a 1 bedroom because the Kidani rooms have so much more space and an extra bathroom. But we really love the grand lobby at Jambo, along with the food options, gift shop, layout and general vibe. I feel like Kidani was poorly designed. We hate walking through the lobby to get to the pool and walking through the parking lot to get to Jambo.

We were absolutely blown away by the Poly! Our room was near yours, but one floor higher. The view was absolutely spectacular. We watched the fireworks from our balcony every night and were totally awed. The room itself was also amazing. We had two teenagers and had plenty of space in the studio. Loved the two bathrooms and extra bed. We were also floored by the convenience of the monorail. Transportation was so speedy. One night we were in our room 20 minutes after leaving Main Street!

We arrived at the Poly with uncertainty, but left with a new favorite resort! (Well, at least one of our top 2 resorts!) For our next trip, I booked a couple nights at AKV concierge and am hoping to get the Poly for 5 nights at the 7 month mark. Can't wait to return!!!

Finally someone who agrees with me, lol. You perfectly articulated why I prefer Jambo... but different strokes for different folks! I would love to do concierge in AKV again too, my one stay there was concierge and it really spoils you. I am hoping I can get Poly at my next planned trip in 2018, I am watching availability at 7 months now and it seems pretty good throughout summer of 2017. Hoping February of 2018 will be ok too but I guess we will see! Our feb break is a week after everyone else's but I want a friday/sat/sunday night at the tail end of everyone else's break week... hoping the higher friday and saturday night points will help me. we'll see I guess! I am planning 3 nights at WDW prior to a 4 night cruise and then one more night at the end of the cruise.

 

[mousestruck]

I would request upper floor, close to TTC. Location was spectacular!



Finally someone who agrees with me, lol. You perfectly articulated why I prefer Jambo... but different strokes for different folks! I would love to do concierge in AKV again too, my one stay there was concierge and it really spoils you. I am hoping I can get Poly at my next planned trip in 2018, I am watching availability at 7 months now and it seems pretty good throughout summer of 2017. Hoping February of 2018 will be ok too but I guess we will see! Our feb break is a week after everyone else's but I want a friday/sat/sunday night at the tail end of everyone else's break week... hoping the higher friday and saturday night points will help me. we'll see I guess! I am planning 3 nights at WDW prior to a 4 night cruise and then one more night at the end of the cruise.

Good luck with your quest! We got the Poly for July 4th week at the 7th month mark with no problem at all. I was really surprised. This year we're going for another popular week and hope we're equally lucky!

We are looking forward to returning to AKV concierge. Our only disappointment is the view. For the extra points, concierge should really get you a Savannah view. We'd actually prefer a 5th floor Savannah view room with lounge access to the 6th floor rooms. But, hey, I guess you can't have everything!

 

[LvsTnk]

Thank you for such a great review of your stay!

We just got back from Kidani and stay every Christmas season there, agree with your review there as well. Love the 1 bed tho and hop over to Jambo a bit since we are there 10 nights. Summer is at the Polynesian but have to book at 7mo and have been lucky again this year really looking forward to it.

 

[SwanVT2]

Great review, thank you. The difference between Jambo and Kadani lobby size and Christmas decorations is that Kidani is a dedicated DVC resort so smaller lobby and decorations.


At BWV the people who unload your car are not Disney employees, they are allowed to unload and valet park your car, they pass your luggage off to bell services for storage and room delivery.

Lock-offs tend to have more room to room noise, some worse than others.

Bill

Do they ever allow you request a studio that is not a lock off?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Do they ever allow you request a studio that is not a lock off?

Some resorts don't have them. BLT is all lock-off studios, as is Kidani, Saratoga and I think OKW.

I don't think dedicated is a booking category for any of the studios, though, so it is only a request, and if you really really want a dedicated I suspect it needs to be your only request.

 

[Lisa F]

Good luck with your quest! We got the Poly for July 4th week at the 7th month mark with no problem at all. I was really surprised. This year we're going for another popular week and hope we're equally lucky!

We are looking forward to returning to AKV concierge. Our only disappointment is the view. For the extra points, concierge should really get you a Savannah view. We'd actually prefer a 5th floor Savannah view room with lounge access to the 6th floor rooms. But, hey, I guess you can't have everything!

Yeah it is still quite some time out. I guess I will have to wait and see, it is way too late in the game to have any idea of what february looked like this year, everything is booked as I'd expect it to be 7 weeks out.

I don't remember much about the view but I do remember really enjoying the concierge lounge. I also had a baby and got very very sick and it was nice that my then husband could take the baby out to the lounge and not go far and have tv and snacks and stuff and give me a little peace.

Thank you for such a great review of your stay!

We just got back from Kidani and stay every Christmas season there, agree with your review there as well. Love the 1 bed tho and hop over to Jambo a bit since we are there 10 nights. Summer is at the Polynesian but have to book at 7mo and have been lucky again this year really looking forward to it.

Glad to hear it! I know people can be a bit defensive about their favorites but I think having reasonable expectations also can set the tone of your vacation. It's not a BAD resort but it's just not really in my top 5. I would say in this order: Poly, BLT, BWV, VWL, BCV are my top 5 (having never stayed at GFV before but GF was not my favorite resort cash only and even concierge). But I was under the impression that it was a copy of Jambo and was a bit disappointed because of that, especially at christmastime and especially driving up to it our first night and seeing the pretty decorated and lit Jambo sign and nothing on the Kidani sign. It did not ruin the experience and the room was clean, comfortable, well themed... everything I have come to expect from DVC. Now I know what to expect better if I book it again and I seriously would under similar circumstances for a single night with dinner at Sanaa. Yum yum yum, definitely one of our favorites of the trip!

Summer looked wide open to me at the Poly, kind of wish i was going then! except for the heat lol.

Do they ever allow you request a studio that is not a lock off?

You can request it if they have it but I have found DVC very hit and miss with requests. Go in with no expectations and you are sometimes pleasantly surprised. The only time I got irritated was when I was at BW Inn (not dvc) and the check in guy talked up the view like it was the best view ever and we got there and it was a nasty view of a roof. I mean, I'm sure I had standard booked, so I'm sure I got what I paid for. But the guy had talked it up so much it was a huge let down! if he hadn't said a thing I just would have not even thought twice about it!

Some resorts don't have them. BLT is all lock-off studios, as is Kidani, Saratoga and I think OKW.

I don't think dedicated is a booking category for any of the studios, though, so it is only a request, and if you really really want a dedicated I suspect it needs to be your only request.

It is not a different booking category. The dedicated studios at BWV used to have a mini daybed that was highly coveted for families of 5 who had one small child but I suspect that is gone with the pull down murphy beds now. I have owned at DVC for 17 years and more often than not end up in a lock off and have NEVER had the noise issue before. I think I just had extraordinarily loud neighbors because when they left I did not hear a peep from the other ones. I tried to not yell at my kid early in the morning too knowing how sound traveled and made him keep a lid on the tv volume.

 

[LvsTnk]

Glad to hear it! I know people can be a bit defensive about their favorites but I think having reasonable expectations also can set the tone of your vacation. It's not a BAD resort but it's just not really in my top 5. I would say in this order: Poly, BLT, BWV, VWL, BCV are my top 5 (having never stayed at GFV before but GF was not my favorite resort cash only and even concierge). But I was under the impression that it was a copy of Jambo and was a bit disappointed because of that, especially at christmastime and especially driving up to it our first night and seeing the pretty decorated and lit Jambo sign and nothing on the Kidani sign. It did not ruin the experience and the room was clean, comfortable, well themed... everything I have come to expect from DVC. Now I know what to expect better if I book it again and I seriously would under similar circumstances for a single night with dinner at Sanaa. Yum yum yum, definitely one of our favorites of the trip!

Summer looked wide open to me at the Poly, kind of wish i was going then! except for the heat lol

That is understandable didn't even think about having a comparison to Jambo, should probably mention that to people who are planning a stay there. We have owned there since before Kidani was built so planned to walk over from Jambo the day it opened and swim, was that something new loungers and an empty pool. I have learned to love certain things about Kidani but would def book jumbo for a smaller party. For us it's all about the Giraffes!

Yep the Polynesian is a scorcher in July but my daughter is a teacher and still asks to come, since she is really close to her brother with special needs we welcome having her along. I'm definitely ordering drinks to the room best tip I think everrrr wait till I tell DD that one!!

 

[Lisa F]

That is understandable didn't even think about having a comparison to Jambo, should probably mention that to people who are planning a stay there. We have owned there since before Kidani was built so planned to walk over from Jambo the day it opened and swim, was that something new loungers and an empty pool. I have learned to love certain things about Kidani but would def book jumbo for a smaller party. For us it's all about the Giraffes!

Yep the Polynesian is a scorcher in July but my daughter is a teacher and still asks to come, since she is really close to her brother with special needs we welcome having her along. I'm definitely ordering drinks to the room best tip I think everrrr wait till I tell DD that one!!

Well if they have nothing to compare it to, I'm sure it was a lovely resort. I think also it is not the "arrival" that I was expecting. Some of that probably also has to do with the texting your room info thing but I love the part of any resort where you drive up to it and you have arrived, walk in the lobby and soak up the Disney atmosphere. The wow moment basically. With the underground garage I was really thrown off and I just followed signs to rafiki which was on my text and ended up at the room when I would have liked to come through the lobby. Not really the resort's fault but it was not a recipe to fall in love. I wish I was at sanaa right now though, yum yum. Maybe if I had more time to enjoy the resort I'd learn of its charms but I originally bought into BWV for the location and will always stay at a monorail or epcot resort over any other given the choice... If I don't have my location I will stay at AKV for theming over OKW and SS, but prefer VWL for proximity to mk + theming. If I have no other choice I will stay at either OKW or SS because it's better than being home! I remember serious fights about OKW vs. BWV when those were the only two resorts, lol. People would go nuts fighting over size vs location and I can't believe how many choices we have now! I love my DVC and that is most important.

We went in september of 2014 and it was pretty hot then too. I hope for a cool front your week! Sounds like a great trip you have planned... yes $3 delivery fee is worth it to have some grownup beverages delivered to the room. I believe they charged us regular bar prices + gratuity (which I'd pay anyway) + $3 delivery fee. The total average for the drinks is not out of line with what I pay at home (which is why I almost never drink out lol).

 

[megf06]

Just read your review and I am excited to stay at BWV for the first time in 2 weeks! We booked a 2 BR lockoff and after seeing your pics I was wondering if all the studios have the pull down bed now? This would actually work really well for us, as it is my husband and I with our 3 kids and my parents.

 

[Alice-in-wonder]

Excited now for our first stay at the Poly this April!! Thanks for the great review!

 

[lisaviolet]

Although it was just the two of us, it was nice to be able to leave the couch folded up.

Absolutely.

I feel exactly the same way.

O. M. G. I was completely blown away! Polynesian Village, where have you been all my life?

Can you please shhhhhh.

___________________

I lost the transportation quote. Bang on, with the Polynesian. It felt like such a different vacation because of all the choices and ease.

And this time I had my mom (elderly/wheelchair bound), and I can't even express how easy it was to get everywhere staying at the Polynesian.

LOVED the rain shower. LOVED it. he was begging me to take a shower every day

That's lovely.

When we got to the room, I could not BELIEVE my view.

I said this in my review of my LV room last year - Every single time I walked in my room I gasped, like I had somehow forgotten the view.

Also I decided that I'd like a drink and called room service and ordered a couple of Island Sunsets from the Tambu Lounge menu. They will send up pretty much any drink you want (i asked what was available) or anything off the Tambu menu but nothing from Trader Sam because you have to go down there to have those specialty cocktails. We did pay a premium for the drinks obviously through room service but it was $28 or so for 2 drinks and given that an avocado margarita in epcot is $14, I was happy to pay it for the luxury of having it delivered to my room. The only thing is I didn't realize it was a frozen drink and it did come a little melted in the bottom, but once I stirred it all up it was actually the perfect silky texture for drinking without leaving flavorless ice behind.

Good to know. I never thought of ordering a drink from room service.

Well actually it's a good thing I didn't know these last two stays. I would have been broke from daily Lapu Lapu orders.

I wish I had built in more time for that.

I am lazy as anything on vacation and I think this is the thought for the Polynesian. It is so beautiful that there is never enough resort time. I just came back from two weeks there and thought that.

....since I ordered everything I wanted without a care, lol.

The best! Good for you.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

No caps. Very small print for such statements.

 

[jekjones1558]

You should be! It was truly an awesome resort and my only regret is we did not stay there the entire time!

It is too bad that there are no 1 bedroom units at Poly. Eliminates this choice for those who don't want to stay in a studio.

 

[lisaviolet]

I am really sorry for your experience at Narcoosies. It is our favorite, and we end every trip there. But here is a data point. We were there in early December with my mother who is 84 years old. I had the halibut, which was excellent. My wife had the pasta, which was excellent. But my mom had the shrimp appetizer, which was awful. The shrimp was charred badly, and it tasted like the bottom of a grill. She kind of picked around it, but it was very unsatisfying. When our waiter asked how it was, we said excellent, excellent, and terrible. He apologized and took the plates away. Within a minute or two, the manager came by, apologized to my mother profusely, saying "that should never have left the kitchen". He then offered us all dessert on the house. When I got home, I looked at the bill, and I realized that they not only comped the dessert, they also took my moms dish off the bill. We then had an amazing time on the Narcoosies porch watching the fireworks. So in our experience, they could definitely screw up, but they really tried to make it right. It sucks that they did not for you.

I agree with you about Lake View at Poly. That is a great view and a great room. Were you able to hear the music from the fireworks from your room? I could not figure out how to get it over the TV, but we walked down to the beach outside the longhouse by the pool, and the music was playing there.

Lovely to hear. Wonderful service in the end.

 

[lisaviolet]

It is too bad that there are no 1 bedroom units at Poly. Eliminates this choice for those who don't want to stay in a studio.

Yes. Maybe things will change in the future.

I wish that they would have made the choice to put a washer and dryer in these studios. There was certainly enough room. One of the washrooms is like a small bedroom!

Although there are no one bedrooms, and a large studio can never be one, the width of the Polynesian studios can be felt. They feel completely different to me.

 

[Lisa F]

Just read your review and I am excited to stay at BWV for the first time in 2 weeks! We booked a 2 BR lockoff and after seeing your pics I was wondering if all the studios have the pull down bed now? This would actually work really well for us, as it is my husband and I with our 3 kids and my parents.

Just saw some of these replies, sorry!

From what I can tell, they all have it and pretty sure it is a full twin sized mattress. Kiddo had no complaints of comfort.

Excited now for our first stay at the Poly this April!! Thanks for the great review!

You're welcome. I'm jealous! You're gonna love it!

Absolutely.

I feel exactly the same way.




Can you please shhhhhh.

___________________

I lost the transportation quote. Bang on, with the Polynesian. It felt like such a different vacation because of all the choices and ease.

And this time I had my mom (elderly/wheelchair bound), and I can't even express how easy it was to get everywhere staying at the Polynesian.



That's lovely.



I said this in my review of my LV room last year - Every single time I walked in my room I gasped, like I had somehow forgotten the view.



Good to know. I never thought of ordering a drink from room service.

Well actually it's a good thing I didn't know these last two stays. I would have been broke from daily Lapu Lapu orders.



I am lazy as anything on vacation and I think this is the thought for the Polynesian. It is so beautiful that there is never enough resort time. I just came back from two weeks there and thought that.






The best! Good for you.



No caps. Very small print for such statements.

2 weeks at the poly? So jealous. That sounds like HEAVEN on earth to me right now!! I can't believe it took me so long to stay here but now I am hooked.

It is too bad that there are no 1 bedroom units at Poly. Eliminates this choice for those who don't want to stay in a studio.

yup, it does... but it also adds choice for people who want to stay in a studio + but not have a 1BR. IMO the poly studio felt a notch above the others in luxury with appointments and size... but I agree definitely less flexibility there. For me, it works I chose NOT to do the 1 bedroom because the layout was more poor for me + the kid even though I kind of wanted to splurge and get more room (had the points for it). if they had the pulldown bed in the master bedroom I might have done it (I think they do at GFV?) but with having to pull out the couch in the living room and worry about my kid being alone in the other room that has access to the outside... I decided it wasn't for me.

Yes. Maybe things will change in the future.

I wish that they would have made the choice to put a washer and dryer in these studios. There was certainly enough room. One of the washrooms is like a small bedroom!

Although there are no one bedrooms, and a large studio can never be one, the width of the Polynesian studios can be felt. They feel completely different to me.

that would be amazing! that is the one thing I really miss from the 1 bedroom and one of the reasons I considered it. I ended up packing a LOT of clothing.

 

[pepperandchips]

Just found this and love it - great reviews on your rooms. Cannot wait to stay at the Poly in March!!! I have a soft spot for AKL and enjoyed the amazing Kidani 1-br (with two baths) and had a standard view (with a sneaky savanna view, just so long as you didn't look hard to your left at the backside of the pool area) and wouldn't hesitate to go back... but I still love Jambo more as well. It's just regal at Jambo in a way that Kidani is not.

We did not like Boardwalk Inn but the Villas look nice... The Inn room we were in also had sound issues and I did not care for the frumpy decor. I'm sure we'll try the villas eventually! They certainly look more modern.