WL or Poly Apr 29 - May 5

[spicedparrot]

We are debating about staying at the WL or the Poly. We have a 5 yr old and from what I've been reading I'm a little concerned about the bus wait times/commuting time from the WL. I've always wanted to stay at the Poly but never could justify the cost. I'm thinking that maybe its worth the splurge because of the easy monorail access to MK and Epcot.

What are everyone's thoughts?

There are some good room only specials now, but the Poly Garden View is still about $800 more for our trip (6 nights) than a WL Woods View.

Does anyone have experience with bus transportation at the WL?

Is there any signficant gains in themeing, disney experience from staying at the Poly?

Is it worth 800 more?

Thanks!

 

[mirage0306]

We stayed at the WL last summer and have no complaints about the buses. We only ever took the boat to the MK, which we really enjoyed. I don't think we waited more than five or ten minutes for a bus to get anywhere. We did share with FW once and the GF occasionally, and I think the Poly. But it didn't bother me. I liked to see the other resorts.

I am sure the Poly is easier in terms of transportation due to the monorail, but we really were happy with the service at WL. $800 is a lot of money--only you can decide if it's worth it, of course. But either way, I think you'll be fine!

 

[pepe of ohio]

We used to do the Poly many years ago, back when the rates were not stupidly overinflated and the monorail more dependable.....we've moved on.....the Poly is just too over priced....

We've done the WL so over 10 of our last trips to WDW...we rely solely on Disney transportation and have no regrets.....yeah, there have been a few glitches in buses but nothing to ruin our stays or make us want to use a rental car.....all the resorts have transportation issues but it's in how you let it impacts for vacation, is up to you.....saying using Disney transportation takes time away from a vacation is nonsense....there's plenty of time in any day to visit the parks and enjoy oneself....we don't live and die in a park opening to close....

We've used the boat to get to the MK, FW and CR.....hardly waited for a second boat (WL is one of the smallest resort) have used the bus to the MK too....again no problem and as for the other buses, seems like the longest wait is always for the DTD bus...but if you just walked down to the depot and the bus you wanted pulled out.....the 20 minute wait may seem like an hour but they do try to keep to the 20 minute schedule (especially in the am, as per a controller last trip monitoring the buses, to get guests to the parks first thing before RD)

For my money and sanitity we'll always chose WL over the Poly on price alone (don't see what the extra money at the Poly really gets you)..the WL is small, compact, under one roof and gets very little day visitors clogging up the resort and its eateries.....plus with the savings at the WL, we can extend our trip a few more days....the monorail is not all it's cracked up to be in our thinking......

 

[KatMark]

Love everything about the Poly and would stay again in heartbeat. We have never stayed at WL...holds no appeal to us at all.

 

[spicedparrot]

Thanks for the input...

My concerns arose from everything I read in the Unofficial Guide and Easywdw about travel from the WL...they made it sound terrible. Perhaps that was just in high season? We'll be going the first week in May so presumably those are average/normal crowds.

Pepe - You mentioned Monorail reliablity. Does it breakdown frequently? Obviously if that's the case the Poly would be a terrible idea.

The only other reason for considering the Poly is that we are from the Rocky Mountains...so Wilderness Lodge, while the themeing seems very good, isn't exactly "unique" for us. The Poly is much more exotic.

Please continue to comment, I find all of them helpful.

 

[mickeynut1]

We've stayed at both and love both for different reasons . The WL has a nice homey feel and the lobby is a great place to relax taking in all the beautiful surroundings. With that said, the Poly has a slight edge for us over the WL in that the rooms are quite a bit larger and every room comes with a daybed, which is a big plus for us as we have 2 teens. Both resorts have great pools and great CS places (we love both Roaring Forks and Captain Cooks). My choice would be the Poly for the larger room and the beach for watching the fireworks, but the WL is also a great choice for less money. On both of our WL stays we never had any trouble with transportation. We found the buses to be great and we love taking the boat to MK as well as to the CR . Good luck deciding, but you really can't go wrong with either one as they are both awesome resorts .

 

[Karabee]

I love the Poly, just sadly, not how inflated the price has become. However, the last trip we took we stayed at the WL and I'm not sure I would go back. To answer your question, I never found the buses to be anything but wonderful. They always arrived within a few minutes. The boat to the MK was also a huge perk for us. The thing I didn't like was the rooms, but I have heard that this past December they started fixing them up. They were just rather drab.
The one thing I will say about the WL is the pool area seemed really great for kids. We don't have any kids, but there were always activities and events happening for them.
If the Poly theme is what you are looking for, but you want to save the money, you can always spend some time in the lobby like we do every trip!

 

[Disfan20]

First I want to say my family loved the WL and I know everyones expectations for Disney transportation is different, but we had a horrible experience with WL transportation. We went last year towards the end of May. After sometimes waiting up to 40 -50 mins for the correct boat, all but two times it went to FW to pick up more people. After the first couple days we gave up on the boat and went to the bus. This was no better. Again after sometimes 20 -30 min waits the bus would then also stop at other resorts. Coming back from the parks was also a very long wait in most cases.

We had always stayed at the values and I feel there transportation was much superior. I'm sure if you compared the ride from POP to MK with no stops compared to WL with several stops the difference would be minimal.

The bottom line is Poly is well worth the $800.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have never stayed at the Poly but have stayed at Wilderness Lodge twice so far. I really liked that everything was in one building, the rooms were nice, the pool was fun and I liked the store there.

I do not care for Roaring Forks because it's so small but I did check out the Poly CS and it seemed small too me so that would be a wash.

We took the boat to MK and really love doing that. I used the buses everywhere else both times. The buses did share with Ft. Wilderness but it was a quick stop and didn't bother me. The wait was always less than 15 minutes but it was the end of Feb. once and the other time was the week after Memorial Weekend so it wasn't crowded.

I would like to stay at the Poly sometime but I know I'll be back to WL again.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We have stayed at both. DW would pick the Poly; her favorite resort. She would say spend the money.

I love the WL; my favorite resort (but the Poly is a really close second). We didn't have any problems with WL transportation. If money is an issue I would stay at the WL.

 

[spicedparrot]

Well, it sounds like the WL will begin its refurbishments while we are there. It could be we get a room away from the work, but having stayed in a Disney hotel while being refurb'd I don't think that's something I want to repeat.

Guess, its the Poly...any recommendations on a Longhouse/Room Request?