Would you rather...

[All Tangled Up]

I was wondering if anyone else had to make this choice, and if they were happy with what they picked and why.

Would you rather stay at your dream Disney resort and sacrifice a few days of vacation, or
stay somewhere else on property that doesn't appeal to you as much, and be able to stay at the World for an additional 1-3 days?

In my situation specifically (but feel free to answer generally as well so I get a few different opinions ), Poly is the resort that just appeals to myself and everyone so much more. I've stayed there for a night when I was too young to remember most of Disney World, and I remembered that night resort stay of all things! We'd absolutely love to stay there. Our other options are Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge... which look nice, but we aren't totally in love with the idea of. But I feel like I would appreciate having more days on vacation in the long run.
If we stayed at the Poly we'd only stay for 8-9 nights compared to 10-12 nights at AKL or OKW. We are renting DVC points btw and are hoping to get a reservation for January 2018. TYIA!

 

[wolf29]

We hardly spend any time at the resort, so we would/do absolutely go the longer stay option.

 

[Alyssa Hamilton]

Stay longer! I only use the resorts to sleep and shower for the most part. Park life for me!

 

[tseitel]

Stay longer!!!

 

[ncc1701]

It depends on your priorities. For us the ideal would be YC/BC but based on the prices we can stay 6/7 nights at POFQ ( or POR as a 2nd choice) versus 3/4 nights at YC/BC. If we did do 6/7 at YC/ BC we would have to cut back on other trips. And a long weekend or 2 at the Jersey shore in June /September is more important to us than the perfect WDW resort.PO resorts still give us things that are important ( lounges, queen beds ) & the boat to DS which for us makes up for walking to Epcot and the Boardwalk amenities.
We could stay longer at a Value ( work schedule allowing) but those resort don't appeal to us since we are no longer all day park people

 

[LoopyDoopy]

I am of the same mindset that a hotel room is NOT something I want to spend a lot of my budget on. Every moment in the room is a moment away from the fun. OTOH, there is something to be said for location. The Garden Wing at the Contemporary is more expensive than say the All Star, but considering how close it is to the MK and Epcot, I find it worth it. Also, I like to dine at the restaurants in the Contemporary, Poly, and GF, so there's that, too. The time it takes to get from a lower priced resort to MK and Epcot makes the additional expense worth it (for me).

Have you considered doing a split stay? I'm doing Beach Club for Epcot (walking distance to park), HS, and AK. Then transfer to Contemporary for MK. You may want to do a lower priced resorts then move to a deluxe one.

 

[Disneylover99]

Stay longer, but at the same time, I wouldn't stay somewhere that didn't appeal to me. Fortunately, I prefer Pop.

 

[KT0191]

I always vote for longer stays.

 

[clayfolks]

I'm a split stay person. I'd say do two nights at Poly, then switch to AKL/AKV. (Those are my two favorite resorts)

 

[rosiebean]

I'd much rather have a shorter stay at a resort that I love versus a longer stay at a resort and I am just OK about.

I spend a lot of time in my room and at my resort every trip, be it a long one or a short one. And given that my "long" trips are seven days, I would absolutely take it eight or nine days at my favorite deluxe over an even longer stay at a resort that did not appeal to me.

Frankly, after 5 to 6 days in the parks, I'm worn out. My resort is much more than a place to sleep when I am at Disney…as I said before, my resort is as important to me, personally, as the parks are.

 

[Smittolis]

As someone posted above, we prefer to do a hybrid and split our stays, we usually stay in a cheaper option for the first few days while we adjust to the timezone and heat etc... then we move over to our hotel of choice for the rest of the time. This means we don't burn too much money in the early days when we are simply getting our bearings, it also means we get to stay a little longer than we would be able to do if we were staying at our #1 resort the whole time. The hotel for us is simply a Home base to recharge, sleep etc.. it has to be enjoyable but the vast majority of our time we are out and about! Location, location location! ;o)

 

[kmv]

I would personally stay longer. More time to enjoy the world and to enjoy the resort. If you shorten your trip you will have to cram everything in and probably won't spend as much time enjoying your resort anyway.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

I would go 8-9 nights at Poly because 8 nights is the max we stay anyway due to missing our pets!

Now, as for your question in general, if it was a matter of staying 4 nights vs 8, I would choose the longer stay at a less expensive resort. But 8-9 days sounds like a great vacation length to me and perfect for staying where you really want to stay.

 

[ErinsMommy]

i would pick my dream resort esp if you're going to spend some time at resort swimming/eating/hanging out.

 

[mickeynut1]

I was wondering if anyone else had to make this choice, and if they were happy with what they picked and why.

Would you rather stay at your dream Disney resort and sacrifice a few days of vacation, or
stay somewhere else on property that doesn't appeal to you as much, and be able to stay at the World for an additional 1-3 days?

In my situation specifically (but feel free to answer generally as well so I get a few different opinions ), Poly is the resort that just appeals to myself and everyone so much more. I've stayed there for a night when I was too young to remember most of Disney World, and I remembered that night resort stay of all things! We'd absolutely love to stay there. Our other options are Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge... which look nice, but we aren't totally in love with the idea of. But I feel like I would appreciate having more days on vacation in the long run.
If we stayed at the Poly we'd only stay for 8-9 nights compared to 10-12 nights at AKL or OKW. We are renting DVC points btw and are hoping to get a reservation for January 2018. TYIA!

I'd go with my dream resort over a longer stay. The resort is a big part of our trips as we spend more time there than at the parks. I would choose a shorter trip at a resort that appeals to me over a few extra days staying somewhere I wasn't thrilled about. Adding time at Disney is always nice, but I wouldn't exchange a resort I loved with a few extra days at a resort that didn't really appeal to me.

I'd much rather have a shorter stay at a resort that I love versus a longer stay at a resort and I am just OK about.

I spend a lot of time in my room and at my resort every trip, be it a long one or a short one. And given that my "long" trips are seven days, I would absolutely take it eight or nine days at my favorite deluxe over an even longer stay at a resort that did not appeal to me.

Frankly, after 5 to 6 days in the parks, I'm worn out. My resort is much more than a place to sleep when I am at Disney…as I said before, my resort is as important to me, personally, as the parks are.

We are the same way! The resort is more than a place to sleep for us as well. We love the parks, but we also enjoy our resort time (which constitutes a good majority of our trips).

 

[shanethesaint88]

If it's one day less then I would stay at your dream resort. 2 or 3 days less and I wouldn't do it. I'm in a situation now where I'm renting DVC points from a co worker for 9 days. We are currently waitlisted for my dream resort (contemporary) but my co worker doesn't have enough points for 9 days only 8. So I'll gladly go one less day. But 2 or 3 probably not

 

[Marionnette]

I was wondering if anyone else had to make this choice, and if they were happy with what they picked and why.

Would you rather stay at your dream Disney resort and sacrifice a few days of vacation, or
stay somewhere else on property that doesn't appeal to you as much, and be able to stay at the World for an additional 1-3 days?

In my situation specifically (but feel free to answer generally as well so I get a few different opinions ), Poly is the resort that just appeals to myself and everyone so much more. I've stayed there for a night when I was too young to remember most of Disney World, and I remembered that night resort stay of all things! We'd absolutely love to stay there. Our other options are Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge... which look nice, but we aren't totally in love with the idea of. But I feel like I would appreciate having more days on vacation in the long run.
If we stayed at the Poly we'd only stay for 8-9 nights compared to 10-12 nights at AKL or OKW. We are renting DVC points btw and are hoping to get a reservation for January 2018. TYIA!

So much depends on a variety of factors.

If my kids were young, I'd go with a shorter stay and opt for the convenience of the Poly.

If I was an infrequent visitor to Disney, I would opt for the longer stay at either AKV or OKW and I would choose to enjoy a day or two at my resort because of the longer stay.

If this is going to be a once in a lifetime trip, I would want to stay at my dream resort.

Other considerations:

Both OKW and AKV offer 1- and 2-bedroom units while the PVB has only studios and the over-priced bungalows. If you anticipate return visits with DVC stays included, studios are okay when the kids are little but those larger villas work better when you've got tweens and teens. If that's the case, choose the Poly now and go with other resorts on another trip.

Most studios have only one real bed, but OKW studios actually have two. If having a real bed is important (and I would not want to sleep on a pull out sofa or Murphy bed for 8-9 nights), then go with OKW.

 

[LisaCM614]

I was wondering if anyone else had to make this choice, and if they were happy with what they picked and why.

Would you rather stay at your dream Disney resort and sacrifice a few days of vacation, or
stay somewhere else on property that doesn't appeal to you as much, and be able to stay at the World for an additional 1-3 days?

In my situation specifically (but feel free to answer generally as well so I get a few different opinions ), Poly is the resort that just appeals to myself and everyone so much more. I've stayed there for a night when I was too young to remember most of Disney World, and I remembered that night resort stay of all things! We'd absolutely love to stay there. Our other options are Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge... which look nice, but we aren't totally in love with the idea of. But I feel like I would appreciate having more days on vacation in the long run.
If we stayed at the Poly we'd only stay for 8-9 nights compared to 10-12 nights at AKL or OKW. We are renting DVC points btw and are hoping to get a reservation for January 2018. TYIA!

I know what I'm answering is not your actual question but since you said you're renting DVC points -
I would have a hard time staying in a Poly studio for 8 - 9 nights. I'm not sure of your travel party but we had troubles with storage for our short 3 night stay there. The two showers were nice, the lack of two beds not so much. We loved staying in the regular rooms at the Poly.
I would stay a few nights at the Poly and move over to another resort for the rest of the stay.
Also when renting I find it is easier to do a split stay than trying to find a single place for a long period of time. Over in the DVC forum they have some statistics about how difficult it is to get a long reservation on DVC. Maybe January will be OK but maybe not if the marathon is in among your dates.
Last trip we split between Poly dvc and BWV, this trip we'll be splitting between BLT and BWV.
Lastly when renting points - be open and flexible and then be prepared to be committed because there is no changing after you book!

 

[Surgie]

I would go with the dream resort for as long as you can afford. We do not view the room as just a place to sleep and shower. But we are traveling with 4 preschoolers who won't be at the park from morning until night. So we will have shorter park days, some resort only days. That's one reason a monorail resort with larger rooms is important to us.

 

[Marionnette]

I know what I'm answering is not your actual question but since you said you're renting DVC points -
I would have a hard time staying in a Poly studio for 8 - 9 nights. I'm not sure of your travel party but we had troubles with storage for our short 3 night stay there. The two showers were nice, the lack of two beds not so much. We loved staying in the regular rooms at the Poly.
I would stay a few nights at the Poly and move over to another resort for the rest of the stay.
Also when renting I find it is easier to do a split stay than trying to find a single place for a long period of time. Over in the DVC forum they have some statistics about how difficult it is to get a long reservation on DVC. Maybe January will be OK but maybe not if the marathon is in among your dates.
Last trip we split between Poly dvc and BWV, this trip we'll be splitting between BLT and BWV.
Lastly when renting points - be open and flexible and then be prepared to be committed because there is no changing after you book!

Good point about the availability issue.

Early January thru Marathon weekend is a popular time for DVC owners. That means that competition for studios, especially, will be great.

Plus, at exactly 11 months out, owners can only book the first 7 nights of a stay. They would need to call MS a couple of days later to add nights #8 & #9 (and #s 10, 11 and 12 would have to be added in a similar fashion).

Booking thru one of the rental places would require that

A. There's availability and
B. They have an owner with enough points to cover 8-12 nights.​

You'll have a greater chance of success if you split your stay because then the rental agency can split your reservations between different owners, with different home resort advantages, and a smaller number of points available.