Yacht Club vs Polynesian

[snacks]

The cost is probably higher now.

No, it's still $398 plus tip round trip. Obviously not worth it to everyone, but we use it every trip, 5-6 times a year.
Different strokes, as they say

 

[Patty Cake]

No, it's still $398 plus tip round trip. Obviously not worth it to everyone, but we use it every trip, 5-6 times a year.
Different strokes, as they say

We use it too. The drivers are always prompt and very safe. It's superior to other car services we've tried in the Orlando area.

 

[2vets]

Thanks - your answer confirms that a Club Level upgrade would not be in our best interest.

Ok, I need to comment here. The reason CL isn’t in your best interest is because you don’t anticipate using the lounge - which can be an incredible benefit for convenience (and I think with kids the ages you mention could come in handy - I would go to the CL thread and ask people there for opinions, specifying the things you have here). I stay CL a lot, but I categorically do not use the transfer service - most use it for lounge space, food, wine, and general service. It can be wonderful for some trips, assuming the cost is doable. Nothing beats having that space during the holiday season, for instance, and I will happily shave off a day to swing it. But that’s me, and I’m rarely in the parks all day.

I would ask - what park(s) do you anticipate doing? With such young kiddos, I have to imagine that’s MK, and I would say walking/monorail access will be the best friends you have. I vote Poly, and would honestly encourage you to consider Contemporary (which is not Poly, but ohhh, that walkability). Enjoy.

 

[Suze10860]

Thanks again to all who have commented.

I think the thread has gotten a little bit away from my original question. Probably my fault. Some people are interpreting my question to mean that I'm deciding between the 2 resorts for this upcoming trip that includes our 2 grands.

As far as a possible stay at the Polynesian rather than the YC, it would be only my hubby and I. If the kids/grandkids come with us in January, we are definitely keeping our current reservation at the YC. I'm considering the switch only if no one is coming with us, which would obviously save us quite a bit of money (thousands of dollars), so it won't feel as painful to pay more money to stay at the Poly.

We thought if we stayed at the Polynesian on this trip, we could better judge how well it would or would not work for a future trip with the kids/grandkids. In other words, see for ourselves how we think the convenience of the monorail compares to the walkability to 2 parks at the YC, and whether that's worth spending more money. And again, I know it's all subjective. Simply looking for some opinions...and I appreciate all the tidbits people have offered.

As far as Club level - well, I'm glad I asked because the answers confirm for me that it's not our thing. Under any circumstances.

But just for the record, while we usually head out early, we are never in the parks all day. We like our relaxing resort time. That's not the reason it doesn't work for us. Simply put, in my opinion, the benefits offered don't provide nearly enough value for the way that we do WDW.

Don't get me wrong. I can totally understand why people book and love it. As someone said earlier in the thread, different strokes!

 

[2vets]

Thanks again to all who have commented.

I think the thread has gotten a little bit away from my original question. Probably my fault. Some people are interpreting my question to mean that I'm deciding between the 2 resorts for this upcoming trip that includes our 2 grands.

As far as a possible stay at the Polynesian rather than the YC, it would be only my hubby and I. If the kids/grandkids come with us in January, we are definitely keeping our current reservation at the YC. I'm considering the switch only if no one is coming with us, which would obviously save us quite a bit of money (thousands of dollars), so it won't feel as painful to pay more money to stay at the Poly.

We thought if we stayed at the Polynesian on this trip, we could better judge how well it would or would not work for a future trip with the kids/grandkids. In other words, see for ourselves how we think the convenience of the monorail compares to the walkability to 2 parks at the YC, and whether that's worth spending more money. And again, I know it's all subjective. Simply looking for some opinions...and I appreciate all the tidbits people have offered.

As far as Club level - well, I'm glad I asked because the answers confirm for me that it's not our thing. Under any circumstances.

But just for the record, while we usually head out early, we are never in the parks all day. We like our relaxing resort time. That's not the reason it doesn't work for us. Simply put, in my opinion, the benefits offered don't provide nearly enough value for the way that we do WDW.

Don't get me wrong. I can totally understand why people book and love it. As someone said earlier in the thread, different strokes!

Ahhhhh, ok. Been a long day (I woke up at 2:58 am to make dining reservations ), and for some reason, I thought it was you two, daughter, kiddos - that’s my reading and exhaustion, not you. My vote for a no-kids trip is YC! Poly is pretty, but chaotic with lots non-guests visiting. I know this is common to all monorail resorts, but it seems more intense at Poly imo. Crescent Lake cannot be beat for an adults-only trip.

 

[loves to dive]

If Poly were my dream resort, and it was just hubby and me, I'd probably do a split stay. A couple of nights at Poly then move over to YC. Win/win. Poly is fine but of the 3 monorail resorts, not my favorite. When my son was small we used to stay there all the time, only because the Epcot resorts hadn't been built yet and Poly was the least expensive. Now, I like to visit but not stay there. I find it a bit to busy and noisy in the lobby building and don't like having to go outside to get to a room, if I want to do that I'll stay at a mod. or value. We are not MK people, even when my son was young, it was only a part day park for us, but we have always had PHs, even when there were just two parks so we have never spent all day in any one park. We always go to Epcot every day so the Epcot resorts are our go to deluxe resorts (although now days I tend to stay at Dolphin most). I like being able to walk to Epcot and HS.

 

[kylenne]

We’ve stayed at both resorts numerous times and actually done both on a split stay before so comparing them directly is fairly easy for me. Note that I’m a huge Poly person, just got back from another stay, with a solo trip in like 2 weeks. Meanwhile I really only enjoy BC/YC stays of 3-4 nights because any longer than that and the many things about it I don’t care tend to start overshadowing what I like about it. I’m also a weirdo who doesn’t like SAB though lol so keep that in mind.

They are two very different resorts, in theming, amenities, and general vibes. I vastly prefer the Poly on pretty much every metric. I don’t care for the recently redone YC rooms and much prefer Poly rooms, they’re huge (enough that 3 adult women didn’t feel cramped at all on our recent stay) and I love the Moana theming, it’s very nicely done. We are balcony people and didn’t get one this last trip but tbh we really didn’t miss it! It was fun seeing the monorail from our window.

Re: alleged “chaotic” nature of Poly. Always, always utterly baffled by these complaints. The main pool, sure, but the quiet pool’s better anyway, and it’s not like SAB doesn’t have its own issues with crowding. Unless you like to hang out in resort lobbies all night this is a total non issue to me. We never have issues getting food, shopping, etc. And during the day it’s just as empty as any other resort because most people are at the parks. A lot of people don’t like that it’s not all in one building like YC, because it can be inconvenient when it rains, but the Poly grounds are so beautiful to walk vs boring hallways on hallways.

Everything that makes this resort so popular to visit is even better as an actual guest. Can just put your name on the list for Trader Sam’s while at the pool and don’t have to wait around. The dining is so good there, esp the quick service options, and having that on site without needing to rideshare or schlep on buses is huge to me. Wailulu in particular is insanely good, probably one of the best resort restaurants right now. Sure Poly is lacking a signature, but does it matter when you’ve got Citricos and Narcoosee’s a short walk away? Which is the other benefit btw, being on the monorail is so convenient. Some of the best lounges just a quick hop away. Monorail crawls are legitimately so fun and even better when you’re staying at one of the resorts. You can decide to just do it on a whim, like we did a couple Saturday nights ago.

If you love the fireworks views at YC, nothing beats watching HEA and then walking like 2 seconds back to your room. Even if you don’t have a theme park view room, the beach is still way better than camping out in the hub. No waiting out crowds or dealing with actual chaos, trying to leave MK. You can also watch the EWP, which is so cute and kitschy and fun.

I agree with the advice to maybe do these on a split stay. Maybe end at YC since you know you love it already. But I love Crescent Lake/monorail splits, it’s my absolute favorite way to do WDW. Best of both worlds. The transportation advantage is huge, only needing the bus to AK. If you like the Friendship boats the way I do, you’ll also enjoy the resort launch between Poly/GF/MK.

Re:CL I agree it’s probably not worth it. We’ve done a night of it post cruise at Poly when we planned on not going into parks, and imo scenarios like that are the only way I’d do it again. We enjoyed it a lot but it’s not worth the premium to me otherwise.

 

[Suze10860]

We’ve stayed at both resorts numerous times and actually done both on a split stay before so comparing them directly is fairly easy for me. Note that I’m a huge Poly person, just got back from another stay, with a solo trip in like 2 weeks. Meanwhile I really only enjoy BC/YC stays of 3-4 nights because any longer than that and the many things about it I don’t care tend to start overshadowing what I like about it. I’m also a weirdo who doesn’t like SAB though lol so keep that in mind.

They are two very different resorts, in theming, amenities, and general vibes. I vastly prefer the Poly on pretty much every metric. I don’t care for the recently redone YC rooms and much prefer Poly rooms, they’re huge (enough that 3 adult women didn’t feel cramped at all on our recent stay) and I love the Moana theming, it’s very nicely done. We are balcony people and didn’t get one this last trip but tbh we really didn’t miss it! It was fun seeing the monorail from our window.

Re: alleged “chaotic” nature of Poly. Always, always utterly baffled by these complaints. The main pool, sure, but the quiet pool’s better anyway, and it’s not like SAB doesn’t have its own issues with crowding. Unless you like to hang out in resort lobbies all night this is a total non issue to me. We never have issues getting food, shopping, etc. And during the day it’s just as empty as any other resort because most people are at the parks. A lot of people don’t like that it’s not all in one building like YC, because it can be inconvenient when it rains, but the Poly grounds are so beautiful to walk vs boring hallways on hallways.

Everything that makes this resort so popular to visit is even better as an actual guest. Can just put your name on the list for Trader Sam’s while at the pool and don’t have to wait around. The dining is so good there, esp the quick service options, and having that on site without needing to rideshare or schlep on buses is huge to me. Wailulu in particular is insanely good, probably one of the best resort restaurants right now. Sure Poly is lacking a signature, but does it matter when you’ve got Citricos and Narcoosee’s a short walk away? Which is the other benefit btw, being on the monorail is so convenient. Some of the best lounges just a quick hop away. Monorail crawls are legitimately so fun and even better when you’re staying at one of the resorts. You can decide to just do it on a whim, like we did a couple Saturday nights ago.

If you love the fireworks views at YC, nothing beats watching HEA and then walking like 2 seconds back to your room. Even if you don’t have a theme park view room, the beach is still way better than camping out in the hub. No waiting out crowds or dealing with actual chaos, trying to leave MK. You can also watch the EWP, which is so cute and kitschy and fun.

I agree with the advice to maybe do these on a split stay. Maybe end at YC since you know you love it already. But I love Crescent Lake/monorail splits, it’s my absolute favorite way to do WDW. Best of both worlds. The transportation advantage is huge, only needing the bus to AK. If you like the Friendship boats the way I do, you’ll also enjoy the resort launch between Poly/GF/MK.

Re:CL I agree it’s probably not worth it. We’ve done a night of it post cruise at Poly when we planned on not going into parks, and imo scenarios like that are the only way I’d do it again. We enjoyed it a lot but it’s not worth the premium to me otherwise.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this - much appreciated.

Reading all you said further convinces me that I'm in a nice win/win situation.

If our family can't come on the trip and I'm able to switch to the Poly, I'll do that. But that move would have to depend on fate because I have no idea how soon we'll know the answer. It just has to be before December 20, so I can get the deposit back on their room. Who knows if there will be any availability by then? But I think trying it out on our own this time will help for future trips. We can judge for ourselves how convenient being on the monorail is, how much we enjoy the fireworks from the beach, and everything else others have mentioned.

However, I know that I adore the YC, and if the two of us end up there in January because I'm unable to change the res, it will be wonderful. I will continue to love everything I already do about the resort. If a waterview room is available, I'll pay to upgrade. (Yup, Disney math to justify the savings from not paying for our daughter's family, and Disney's brilliance at upgrading me for free and spoiling me last time.)

This truly is a no-lose situation. Thanks to all who commented.