Wilderness Lodge or Polynesian

[starryagain]

We are going in May 2022. We are staying at Boardwalk in a studio with a Boardwalk view for 5 nights then switching to a Magic Kingdom resort for 3 nights. We've stayed at Grand Floridian before and will stay at Bay Lake in January 2022, so we want to pick between Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge (only BRV available). Our last four trips before that were Beach Club 2x and Animal Kingdom Jambo 2x.

Which would you pick in our circumstances? We have kids 6 and 9 who like to go swimming daily. We would probably only go to Magic Kingdom during our days at the resort. Cost not a factor.

 

[kanerf]

I would go for Poly. The refurbs should be done by then and you will have a nice new studio rather than the somewhat shabby ones at BRV.

 

[kandlsutton]

Assume you are looking for a studio? Agree with PP on the refurb - Poly is almost done with murphy bed (has to be way better than sofa bed) and BRV hasn’t been started. Poly also has the split bathroom with a walk-in shower and a tub/shower. My kids always hated waiting for their sibling to get out of the shower before they could use the bathroom/get ready for bed after a long day in the parks. Poly also has better transportation to MK - walk (little long), boat, and the monorail. Wilderness Lodge is boat or bus to MK…

 

[JoeyPeligroso]

Relative to cost factors, should we presume you are staying with DVC points? If so, I’d reserve Poly for now and waitlist CCV. My kids favorite resorts are AKL and WL - lots of good stuff for kids at WL with good activities and pools. The boat ride to MK is fun. If cost is really not a factor I would do a CCV cabin - the kids loved the hot tub!

 

[Blondie58]

WL for us. Why? Just a different vacation away from it all. Great places to eat. Fun places to walk. More r and r in our opinion.

 

[starryagain]

Thanks for the advice. We are going to try for Poly I think. We are DVC so we don't have enough points for a cabin. Right now I am walking a reservation for Bay Lake but I really, really would prefer Poly to the tiny BLT studio... fingers crossed (trip is later May).

 

[JoeyPeligroso]

Well, the happy news is that you should have a great time with all of these options - Good skills with your reservation hunting!

 

[RoseGold]

Poly hands down, for me. Transportation is much better to everything, right on the TTC, and the Volcano slide is fun for kids your ages. Can't get any easier than the constant TTC buses to MK. Go back and take a nap. Go back and have a swim, easy! I also like the three sleeping surfaces for your family configuration. The Murphy is quite nice IMO.

With the walking path to the VGF, you can even make the (admittedly very long) walk to MK before the boats start running to get a jump on rope drop, if that's your style. Pre-Covid, these boards were big fans of Poly room service. Hopefully that's back by then!

I guess the wild card for me is that by then BR should be maybe freshly renovated, but who knows. Also, WL has cool theming, but you can go see that without staying there.

 

[LYSE]

Both are our home resorts and CCV is our favorite, that said if your comparing a poly studio vs BRV studio then I would go Poly all day.

 

[Brett Wyman]

BRV are the worst DVC rooms on property right. They still aren't that bad, but they are the worst(BLTs are pretty bad too though). Id wait for the refresh to happen and go with the Poly.

 

[JoeyPeligroso]

Thanks for the advice. We are going to try for Poly I think. We are DVC so we don't have enough points for a cabin. Right now I am walking a reservation for Bay Lake but I really, really would prefer Poly to the tiny BLT studio... fingers crossed (trip is later May).

(and FWIW, I've not had the opportunity to stay at Poly yet, but would absolutely love to some day!)