Which Deluxe for family of 5?

[cheryterese]

We're planning a last week of August/first week of September 2017 WDW trip, 9 days, and would like to do a Deluxe, most likely the only time we'd do a Deluxe as a family. The kids will be 12, 10, and 9 at the time of travel, plus there's my husband and I. Looking at numbers, here are our options in cost order from lowest to highest (I left out anything that was completely out of the budget question). Our park favorites in order are MK (4 days), Epcot (2 days), AK (2 days), HS (1 day). Which would you recommend for us and why: Contemporary Garden Wing Standard, Beach Club Standard, Yacht Club Standard, Boardwalk Standard, or Polynesian Standard? Thanks!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would go CR if convenience is tops, or Beach Club for the pool. Your dates are hot and you have older kids. That is the best pool for their ages. The

 

[cheryterese]

Yes - forgot to mention - we won't be in the room for a great deal of time but my kids are definitely big on the pool and we'd be taking time out for a swim every day for sure!

Also, what are average temps that time of year in FL? We just did 10 days in the Williamsburg, VA area with over 100 temps each day so figure if we can survive that we can survive end of summer in FL!

 

[loves to dive]

That's a tough one. On the one hand I'm tempted to say CR or Poly since you are spending so much time at MK, but on the other hand, the Epcot resorts are just steps from both Epcot and HS. How do you feel about split stays? Maybe 4 days at a MK resort and the rest at an Epcot resort?

As far as which resort, that's a personal preference thing. I'm not crazy about the MK resorts because I don't like being dependent on the Monorail to get to Epcot but if I were to stay at one (and I've stayed at all three monorail resorts more than once) I'd go for Poly. I'm not a fan of the contemporary feel of CR. With the Epcot resorts, YC is my favorite but with kids, BC might be a better choice. It's more kid friendly than YC is since it's a little lighter and has the character meals. It's the reason I tend to lean toward YC, my kid is 35. I'm not a fan of BW, I've stayed there a number of times when it was either the only one of the three available or significantly less than the other two. I don't know why I'm not a fan, it's just a personal preference.

 

[alex9179]

Because of it's proximity to MK and the number of days you want to tour there, I would choose CR. We loved our stay and it's my kids' favorite, so far, even over Poly CL. We didn't use the pool at all, so I can't comment on that.
Reasons I'd choose it:
---Close to MK, the park you plan to visit the most
---Everything is in one building. You're going during hurricane season and there will likely be a fair amount of rain whether hurricanes/tropical storms are imminent, or not. Walking between Poly buildings in a downpour is not something I want to have to repeat over the course of my vacation!
---Good to great dining options.
---Some of the largest rooms on property. We're also a family of 5 and had plenty of room.
---Buses were just fine for us during our January '14 trip.

Poly
---large rooms
---beautiful grounds and pool areas
---good dining options
---during storms, boat transportation will be suspended and walking to TTC will be unpleasant. Walking in the rain to the main building or QS won't be fun more than once , let alone to the bus stop.

We're wanting to stay in the Epcot resort area next summer because we plan on visiting that park in the evenings and my kids would love SAB. The smaller rooms are a bit of a concern, but I know we'll manage ok. It won't make or break our vacation. I'd really consider switching to a monorail resort if I lucked into a cheaper rate, though.

Edit Temps: in the 90s with a "feels like" temp of sauna. Be sure to drink water whenever the opportunity presents itself, and free filtered is available at QS. Just ask for a cup of ice water. We drank it constantly, even in the cooler months.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Last year we did the last week of August and did 11 days/10 nights. We couldn't decide so we did a split stay with poly and BC. It was the best of both worlds and an amazing trip.

BC got the edge on which resort we preferred but you really can't go wrong. SAB is an amazing pool. Walking into Epcot is magical. But the monorail from poly is awesome and they have bigger rooms.

We did the magical Labor Day deal and paid $200ish per night for the rooms.

 

[alex9179]

A split stay is a great idea and a 9 day trip is a good length for one. We're probably doing that next year, planning POR/YC unless a magical deal can get us moderate-priced deluxe stays.

 

[cheryterese]

Sorry, what is SAB?

I didn't even think of a split stay - that sounds like a great possibility!

The larger size of the Contemporary rooms is definitely a push for that resort. My husband and I love Epcot and I think being able to walk there would be incredible!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Sorry, what is SAB?

I didn't even think of a split stay - that sounds like a great possibility!

The larger size of the Contemporary rooms is definitely a push for that resort. My husband and I love Epcot and I think being able to walk there would be incredible!

Storm along bay. The pool. It is amazing. We do midday pool breaks and my kids spent 5 hours a day in the pool. One day over 8 hours. My son played pool volleyball for hours with other teens in the pool.

Poorly also has big rooms. Bigger than BC but I've never stayed at CR so I can't compare those.

 

[alex9179]

Room sizes per touringplans website. I couldn't tell the size difference between Poly and CR on our stays.
Poly-----415 sq ft
CR-------394 sq ft
BC/YC---381 sq ft
BWI-----371 sq ft

We avoided SAB when our kids were young because it is very large and you can't see everything from one place. Ours will be 13, 12, and 9 when we go. We'll only have to keep a closer eye on our youngest, who is not a great swimmer, if he ventured out of our sight.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The pools at CR and Poly skew better for little kids. With the youngest being 9, I think the kids are solid ages for Storm Along Bay.

 

[tseitel]

I would recommend looking up some images on Google of the resorts, rooms, pools etc. See if one really appeals to you.

But personally I recommend Beach Club.
Walking to Epcot
Boat to Studios (or perhaps walk)
Walk to mini golf (by the Swan)
Walk to Boardwalk
And #1 - Storm along Bay !!!!

 

[Sissy1018]

I agree with the idea of the pools at Poly being a bit aimed toward younger kids, but it's still one of my favorites. Second would be Yacht Club...not so much Beach.

 

[cheryterese]

Storm Along Bay sounds fantastic and like something my kids would love! I'm kind of leaning toward a split stay now so we can experience 2 Deluxe Resorts! We're minimalist packers so wouldn't have a lot to move. And I didn't realize the rooms at Poly were actually larger. For some reason I thought Contemporary were the largest.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'd bet the sizes of the rooms at the Polynesian were the old ones that were given to DVC to convert into villas. I think the CR as the older resort would have larger rooms. I know the ones in the Wing building were very large when we stayed there.

 

[alex9179]

From Tikiman, "The rooms in all of the original longhouses including the Hawaii Club Level longhouse are the same layout and size (415 sq-ft) except Tonga suites. The newer longhouses (Tokelau, Pago Pago, and Moorea) have slightly larger rooms (465 sq-ft)."

I found one source that notes Garden Wing Standard rooms at 437 sq ft, which is pretty darn close to GF's 440 sq ft.
http://www.ineedavacation.com/disneyworld/Contemporary.html

 

[TJA]

Storm Along Bay sounds fantastic and like something my kids would love! I'm kind of leaning toward a split stay now so we can experience 2 Deluxe Resorts! We're minimalist packers so wouldn't have a lot to move. And I didn't realize the rooms at Poly were actually larger. For some reason I thought Contemporary were the largest.

We actually couldn't tell the difference in room size between Poly and CR. I believe it's very slight.

Split stays are very easy if you don't unpack -- we used to unpack when the kids were babies/toddlers, but now we don't (kids are age 13). It's the best of both worlds cause you can concentrate on MK while staying at the MK resort, then concentrate on Epcot/HS while staying at the Epcot resort. We have one of those Llbean bathroom bags that we hang on a hook in the bathroom -- so easy to put minor items back in there and zip it up. Clothes also stay in Llbean packing cubes, so easy to come and go.

Out of the ones you listed, we've stayed at all of them and our favorites are Poly for your MK portion and BC for your Epcot portion. It's really a matter of personal taste -- all of those deluxes you listed are great to stay at. Maybe take a look at the themes of each (some pictures) and go from there. We like the tropical feel at Poly, and the views from the beach are amazing. Over on the Epcot side, BC has the best family feel for us -- love the lobby and the recently renovated rooms are very, very nice. We had a corner room there one trip and it was very large -- it had the daybed that you'll need so that might be a good request for you. We were on the 5th floor though (CL) but I'm assuming other floors' corner rooms might be the same -- someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that. Overall, I think your family would be happy with the Poly/BC split! It's one of our favorite splits.

 

[Skjhjb]

We've only had the chance to stay at Deluxe once, for 4 days only. We are 5, kids were 11, 14 & 16 when we went. We stayed at Poly and loved it. The room was a great size for us, the sofa bed/futon for DS worked fantastic. We were not crowded at all in the space - compared to our next trip at POR where we all fit, slept well, but had limited "move around" space with 5 in an Alligator Bayou room!

It is right on the monorail, plus you can walk over to the TTC if you prefer to get the monorail to Epcot.

 

[cheryterese]

I just looked at pictures of Storm Along Bay and it looks amazing! My kids would love it!

Now I need to decide between Contemporary/Polynesian for the first half of the trip because I definitely want to experience being at a monorail resort once, and then Beach/Yacht for the second half!

It looks like they all have a patio/balcony. Can anyone confirm that? That's a must so my husband and I aren't sitting in a dark room while kids go to sleep.

I think I like the look of the Yacht Club rooms a little more than Beach Club Rooms, they look a little brighter from the pictures anyway.

I love the Polynesian theming, but being able to walk to MK from Contemporary is very appealing, especially after the fireworks when the monorail is packed.

 

[Karebear]

The Beach Club rooms don't all have a balcony...I think only half the rooms have a full balcony...the rest are those standing balconies. I like the Yacht Club better because all of the rooms have a full balcony and it is also the first resort to be picked up for the bus to the parks.