Which would you choose

[bjmzl]

My family five of us(girls 13, 9, and 5) are going to WDW the first week in July, my question is which would you choose:

Poly with park hoppers and use Disney transportation or stay at Port Orleans Riverside with park hoppers, water park and have own car.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Personally, no matter where we stayed, we are not renting a car....why have the added expense when Disney does all the driving for you??? . That's part of the allure of the Disney vacation for us...and we have had no issue with the busses at any resort we've stayed at, even with little ones.

 

[B-Ride]

IMHO, there is no real comparison. Poly all the way. The easy trip to MK is the big deal for our family.

Of course we still rent a car for DTD, AK and DHS. For about 200$ I never understand why everyone doesn't.

 

[Day-Day]

Is there a cost difference between the two options?

I’d consider POR with the water park and the car. July is very busy and hot; the water park would be a nice day any you can still go to a park that day if you feel like it.

We always have our own car or a rental and really get our use out of it. It is much nicer for getting to and from most of the parks; especially a water park. We visit the grocery store and stock up for breakfast and occasional lunches at our resort and we sometimes eat at a non-Disney restaurant for better quality and lower price. We keep a cooler in the car and have drinks on the way back from the parks while enjoying our “reserved” seats in the quiet comfort of the car.

 

[mickeynut1]

I would go with the Poly without hesitation. The rooms are larger and you can't beat being close to MK via the monorail and within walking distance to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail . We usually use a town car service to get to the resort and back to the airport, but sometimes we get a rental car if I can find a rate somewhat equal to what the car service costs. But even when we get a car, we use Disney transportation for getting around to the parks, water parks, and DTD. The car comes in handy if we have a TS breakfast at another resort as it's easier to drive than to do transfers since there are no buses that go from resort to resort. Good luck .

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Without a doubt - the Polynesian.

With three kids you will definitely appreciate the bigger rooms. We once thought we would stay at the POR to save money and we didn't even last two hours! Once Dh saw the size of the rooms we tranferred back to a deluxe.

The transportation at the Poly is really good. You can take the monorail or ferry over to MK and take the monorail to EPCOT. There are lots of good restaurants both at the Polynesian and on the monorail line. The waterparks are nice, but the Poly has a great pool. I would definitely give up the waterparks to stay at the Poly.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Park hoppers and a car are not necessities......we've done alot of trips to WDw (over 40) and never used a car on any, it's just an added expense....hoppers are the same, you can easily do the same park all day.....

We've never stayed at the POFQ but if we ever stay moderate, that would be the one we would pick, we visit there every trip for one day, but still, if we did, we'd never rent a car and probably do the hoppers there....

Poly has alot of convenience (but at a price) we have stayed at the Poly quite a few times but it was years ago, rates weren't so high and better discounts were out but those stays were always amazing....liked the monorail and big ferry as options...bus travel was always iffy there for us but that was alot of years ago....bigger rooms and you are comparing a moderate to a deluxe so do as you may.....skip the rental and hoppers and stay at the Poly, you won't regret it....

 

[sleeperclan]

I'd choose the Poly in a heartbeat! DD(17) and I fell in love with it when we stayed a couple of years ago for one night. We loved the convenience of the monorail and Kona Cafe is one of our favorites. We aren't water park people, so there's no appeal there. With that said, either choice is a good one. On our mother/daughter trip we also stayed 4 nights at POR and enjoyed it. The only mistake we made was to stay at the Poly FIRST and then POR...should have done it the other way around

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would go with the Polynesian based on their theme, access to the Resort Monorail, walkway to the TTC, restaurant options and bigger rooms.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I will agree with everyone else and say the Poly. POR is my favorite resort however with five in a room the extra space is hard to beat. I will say that if you can swing the waterpark, I would. July is hot and our kids love them. Its great to have that option. Also the poly's pool can get so crowded.

 

[Karabee]

Agree with everyone else above - Poly all the way. I never drive when we're in Disney. Waiting for the bus for a few extra minutes is worth it not to deal with the huge parking lots and confusing roads.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I think it depends on what is most important to you. Either way, I think you can ditch the car and save the $. Even when we have ours with us it stays in the lot at the resort most of the time. Both those resorts have decent transportation.

If space is the most important thing to you - stay at the Poly. The rooms at POR are a tight squeeze with 5, but it is doable.

If your kids are big swimmers - get the water parks. My kids LOVE them and we consider them a must in the summer. If they are not that into swimming, then they will probably be quite content with either resort's pool.

 

[gilsan]

Poly, we just came back and our room was huge. You really would only need the car for AK and DHS. Everything else is a boat ride or monorail ride away including restaurants. POR means you need to drive everywhere.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

I would say Poly! We have stayed there twice and LOVE the resort!!! It's also really nice being right there on the monorail line. Why rent a car? If you fly into MCO, use the Magical Express to and from the airport. You won't have to worry about paying hundreds for your rental car, going through the hassle or picking it up, not to mention the toll roads you will go through and the traffic you will deal with!

 

[jujube]

OP, ask your girls what they would like to do. When are you going? If it is during a crowded time, the Volcano pool at the Poly gets crowded. It's small for the size of the resort. They might prefer a water park.
We either rent cars or take taxis because we don't like the buses, so I would go with having your own car.

 

[Magic3forme]

We have stayed at both, and hands down the Poly is a better choice. Our room was so much larger at the Poly, plus the convenience of the monorail and such a short walk to the TTC for Epcot.

the POR does have a great food court, but the Polys is decent and they have dole whips!

Also I love the beach area to watch Wishes.

 

[padawans]

You won't need a car at the Poly. The transportation options are wonderful. We have only had an issue with the monorail once and they provided busses. It's really no big deal. We do rent a car now to pick up water, alcohol, and snacks. Sometimes we keep it sometimes we drop it off at car center. It just depends on the cost of the car rental.

 

[DemoBri1]

I'd definitely go the Poly route, although I'd also still rent a car. I just like having the option of being able to venture off property if we need to for a less expensive meal or if we need something from the store.

 

[chris44]

Another vote for Poly all the way! We also never rent a car - too stressful. The one time we rented one, I was so frustrated with figuring out how to get where we needed to be, especially at night coming back from the parks in the dark!

We absolutely love the Poly but can rarely afford to stay there. Have a super trip!!