POR vs Poly?? Poly $1800 better??

[k5xs]

Depends on your willingness to endure possibly hike-worthy walking to the central building (POR) and time-sucking bus loops (POR).

If you can afford and are willing to spend the extra money, I’d do the Poly in a heartbeat.

Your family will remember the quality of the experience long after it’s forgotten the extra $1800.

 

[stinkpickle]

For only 4 nights and spending days in the park? There's NO WAY I would spend an extra $1800 for Poly.

 

[AliceIn]

It you have a Poly studio, you have two showers. The room is much, much bigger than POR. We are a family of 5, and Poly wins hands down.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Just the $450/night in "savings" would pay for an entire family suite at one of the values where there would be more than enough room for everyone plus 2 bathrooms and a small kitchen area. For a short and park heavy trip why spend more than necessary on accommodations. I understand everyone sees things differently and the extra $$$ may be totally worth it to you and at the end only you can decide the "worth". As for your question I would without a doubt take the less expensive option. Have a great vacation.

 

[disneydentist]

I love the Polynesian, Riverside is nice, but it's not on my top two list among the moderates. BUT, for $450/night less, I'd go with Riverside.

 

[toodycat]

I haven’t stayed at Poly in a while because the last time was disappointing. However, on our next trip to WDW we plan to stay at POR. The grounds are beautiful and the theming is great. I don’t think you’ll feel like you’re missing out at all.

 

[maryj11]

I would probably spend the extra on the Poly because I love the convenience of the monorail and boat. I also love the restaurants and the easy monorail ride to other great restaurants on the monorail loop. I love watching the fireworks and water parade on the beach. The Poly is one of my favorite resorts. We have stayed at POR twice and like it also but it’s a lot of walking depending on where your located. I don’t like taking the bus for all the parks.

 

[jods]

I haven't stayed at POR but I absolutely love the Poly. For me, it would be worth the price difference. You also get the extra evening hours staying deluxe. POR looks beautiful but the bus loop turns me off. We enjoy just being at the resort when we stay at the Poly. Fireworks from the beach are awesome. If you aren't going to be at the resort much you need to factor that in. Either way hope you have a great trip. Oh. Also check out the balcony situation. POR doesn't have. I'm not sure about the standard studios as I've never stayed in one. I know not all rooms have them on the hotel side.

 

[tommygunn]

The POR is amazing! I’d take some of the $1800 and perhaps upgrade a dining experience or 2. Love the POLY, and would ultimately rather be there but not at all worth that premium.

 

[eandt]

family of 5 (2 adults kids 17,14, 10)
We have the poly booked for 4 nights deluxe studio standard view. POR just came available for our dates (woods view 5th sleeper) and it is $1800 cheaper.
Convince me to keep the poly OR switch to POR….

we will be doing 4 days at the parks….one day each park. hoping to be there at rope drop .

Rent DVC points and stay at Poly .... would be around the same price.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Stayed at both and NO WAY is POLY worth $450 PER night more. Especially when you will be at the parks 90% of the time. The POLY room in square feet is bigger than POR but to us it did not feel much bigger because the entry way takes up a lot of that footage. Also, you said this was a studio, does it have 2 real beds or just 1 bed and a pullout sofa? Which is not a great option. We have over 40 trips and find "location" to be soooo overblown. Yes, you can save some time but we rarely felt like it was that big of a difference and sure would not pay 2-3 times more per night just to save 15-30 minutes. I would look at 2 rooms or a value family suite

 

[mister morrow]

me and my siblings are around your oldest's age and we would pick poly over POR any day, but only if it was not breaking the bank. if you guys have no issue forking out the few hundred extra dollars go for poly! the vibes of the resort and proximity to MK/EP with the monorail is awesome (also the ohana bread pudding lmao)

my family of 6 stayed at POR way long ago when most of us couldn't even walk and my parents noted how awful the proximity of our room was to everything in the resort. take what i'm saying with a grain of salt as everyone has a different experience!

wherever you go you will have a ton of fun!

 

[bennifer]

I would stay at the Poly. You will have a bigger room, and the 2 showers (which is key with 5 people!), better food, better transportation, better pools and better ambiance. I stayed at POFQ last week and when I had to venture to POR for combined busses, or just a stroll over, I was reminded why I wouldn't stay there again. Too big, busses are a pain, and it just doesn't appeal to me. It's my least favorite of the Mods.

But...you're going to be at Disney, so honestly, wherever you stay is going to great!

 

[glocon]

You mentioned going to rope drop. Will you stay in the parks all day or did you plan on some resort time? Did you pick Poly for a reason?
If you plan on just sleeping in the room and not using any resort amenities, is proximity to MK and ease of monorail to EP worth that much money?
I would love to stay at Poly some day and I know that will come at a premium cost, but personally I would save that for a trip where I would spend time enjoying the resort and not a park heavy trip.

 

[bbeagle]

I would definitely stay at a resort where I did not have to use the buses. The buses are a pain and you'll lose at least an hour a day by using them. And the buses take you out of the bubble.

I remember taking the buses as a kid when staying at the Pop Century and All-Star Sports Resorts. I remember late at night standing in line, watching 3 buses go by to our resort before we could get on them, waiting for a bus to unload and load wheelchair occupants (5-10 more minutes).

As an adult taking my kids now, I wouldn't want them to experience the buses (except for ATK, because we have to).

Every day you're staying you get 10-20% more time in the day if you're on a monorail resort. You need to choose if the extra money is worth it if won't be back for another 5+ years. I'd probably spend an extra $100 per person per day for the 1-3 hours saved - this gives you the option to come back to the room in the middle of the day on the LONG 9am-11pm days.

Plus you can have lunch or breakfast in your room and make up the money difference. When we stayed at Disneyland, the Grand Californian was WELL worth it to go back to the room during the day for quick 20 minute stops to change clothes, eat/snack, bathrooms, etc. But that hotel is actually connected to one of the parks - 0 minutes walking.

 

[Dis Dragon]

I have stayed at both and I would switch to POR for the savings. I didn't think that the bus service was that good from the Poly to HS and AK (in fact it has bad when I have stayed there). Take the $1800 and enjoy some special dinners or other extras.

The bus service from Poly is definitely a detractor - I'm also not a fan of how they have these stops setup for GF and Poly. Why they don't create one or two stops (like Wilderness) eludes me since there is room, the people mob the buses, unless there's someone there guiding the line.

My vote would be keep your money! Go to PoR. That's a lot of cheddar for other things.

 

[Rachel6236]

thank you all so much for all of the advice!!

We chose the poly only because we have never stayed there. Typically do offsite and have once stayed at POR.

I ended up renting DVC points for the same days for a studio at the Poly and it was really close to the price of POR. Super excited!

 

[eandt]

thank you all so much for all of the advice!!

We chose the poly only because we have never stayed there. Typically do offsite and have once stayed at POR.

I ended up renting DVC points for the same days for a studio at the Poly and it was really close to the price of POR. Super excited!

You made the right choice ..... Poly is awesome! We never would have been able to stay there if we didn't do it on rented points ...... be careful though after 2 rented point trips we ended buying DVC ourselves in June and already looking to add more points! Enjoy!

 

[ppony]

All depends on what *you* value in your vacation. As TinkFan said earlier, what you're doing matters too. Proximity. If the resort is just a place to sleep and leave your stuff ad you spend almost all of your time in the parks, then just do the moderate. But if the resort itself is part of the trip like it is for us, then it's absolutely worth the expense because it's part of whey we're there. We only do deluxes now for that very reason. We'e stayed at all but one moderate (Coronado holds no appeal) and all of the deluxes. The resort is an equal part of our trip to the parks.

Good luck! If it were me--and money IS an object for us-- I'd go for the Poly.

 

[ppony]

Rent DVC points and stay at Poly .... would be around the same price.

THIS. This is exactly how we do deluxe resorts exclusively. MUCH better rooms for much better prices.