Doing my research for next trip. Was researching moderate and Swolphin, but DH is suggesting deluxe. My mind and heart are pointing me towards BC for convenience to HS(kids fav park) and EP, and of course SAB. Con, teens love pools so much they might not want to go to parks. DH fell in love with ambience of Poly when we went on our Once in a Lifetime trip in 2018. . Iāll probably ask our TA for quotes for both. But where would the regulars stay?
We stayed at Poly in 2015 and loved it. Weāre staying at BC in June. We stayed at BW in 2017. I loved the convenience of walking to EP and took the boat to HS. The pool at BW has the creepy crown which I didnāt love. Itās really hard to choose between the convenience of two parks vs MK. Iād go with which ever is cheaper. BC was one of the lower priced deluxe for our upcoming trip. Both are great options! Good luck!
We stayed at Poly for our first family trip. Weāre at Boardwalk this time for the location. I think with older kids that are fans of HS and easy access to EP, BC wins out. Plus, itās good to try something new!
We have been going to the Poly since the early 80ās and it has been our favorite mainly because of the transportation options for MK and EPCOT.
Our trip last October has us second guessing ourselves. The Poly is aging, needs a major overhaul and it lacks a signature restaurant. The cost savings from using a BW area resort can be used for supplemental transportation (ie Minnie Vans and Uber) to make up for and now ever surpass the transportation options that the Poly offers.
We are leaning towards BC or YC for our next trip.
How long are you staying?
If a week or more, I would do a split stay.
Thank you @kfw, @ISUamanda, @linsalt and @Nicky_S for your responses!
@kfw We havenāt considered BW but the clown would freak dd out, plus being so close to SAB and not being able to swim there would kill me! I think BC will definitely be cheaper than Poly, I donāt know by how much though. Have fun in June!
@ISUamanda, yes we want to try something new. We stayed at CR last time. Although we loved the convenience of walking to MK we missed the Disney vibe. No complaints, beautiful resort!
@linsalt Thank you for the honest feedback. I definitely donāt want to pay top dollar for something that is need of refurbishment. I will need to show DH this thread if he gets stubborn.
@Nicky_S I thought about that, but the longest we will stay is 7 days, planning 6 as of now. One day is a travel day though.
We stayed at the Dolphin over Thanksgiving and the location is great for walking to either Epcot or HS. Not sure the ages of you kids, but we have two teenagers and I got two connected rooms for a total of $600/night. BC, YC of BW run around $500 for a single room. So for me its a no brainer to have two rooms with two bathrooms for only $100 more than a single room in one of the Deluxe Disney properties. Its basically a two bedroom suite minus a full kitchen. Plus at Dolphin/Swan you have all of the onsite benefits except only Magical Express.
I would lean to BC. I think there is so much more the Boardwalk area has to offer a family with teens. Not to be down on the Poly. That is where my heart is, butā¦ You mentioned the kids would love SAB. You and hubby could go to EPCOT for dinner or lounge at Yacht Club. I would be totally fine leaving the kids to run around in that area. It will be interesting to hear the cost difference, but I also think BC will be cheaper than Poly. Good question.
The Poly and BC/YC have been my go-to resorts for the past 6 trips Iāve booked. Itās mostly because both are incredibly convenient. Poly is convenient for MK and EP via the monorail. BC is super convenient for EP and HS. You canāt beat a 5 min walk to EP or a 20 min walk to HS.
I personally give the edge to the Poly because I love the monorail (so nostalgic for me), and you donāt really need to use the monorail when you stay at BC.
Both also have incredible pools. Stormalong Bay is bigger, but itās not necessarily better than the Polyās pool IMO. Depends on which theming you like more.
Side note: I hear this so often, why donāt they change that pool feature? I guarantee it would improve the desirability of the resort. Itās already popular but could only help Disneyās bottom line.
I have stayed at Yacht Club and Poly and my recommendation would be BC. I love how it is so close to Epcot and HS and SAB is awesome. We liked the Poly but honestly if I were going to stay at one of the monorail resorts again I would pick CR over Poly.
They are in the beginning stages of a refurb of many of the rooms starting this spring! We talked to head of housekeeping who was testing a prototype refurb room on our trip in October. See my post on the finished room.
Dumb question - what is āSABā?
StormAlong Bay
@rizzog. Thanks! I do like reading peopleās experiences. Kids will be 15 and 12 at time of trip. Iām not ready for them to have a separate room. The bonus of being a more reasonable cost with most of the benefits is a pro for me and not completely out of the equation yet.
@trirookie - That is definitely something to consider! I hadnāt thought of that. I will use that in my definite PRO list for DH.
@terp05 - Would you say the only difference in the pool area is that SAB has a lay river? Thanks for your input. This makes me feel good if we do decide to go with Poly. Also, I didnāt think about not riding Monorail from BC. Hmmā¦that would only happen if we hop from EP to MK or vice versa. Also, maybe there will be some refurbs done by the time we get there.
@Jeff_AZ - I mean what were the designers thinking?
@NatLMain - We already stayed at CR. DH wanted to try either Poly or GF after having dinner at those resorts. We did not get a chance to go to BC so he doesnāt even know about itās awesomeness. I mean I donāt either, only from what I perceive from here and vlogs.
@ryan1 - Thanks for answering @ISUamandaās question before I got a chance to!
Now to get some quotes and find time to watch some youtube videos with DH. Thanks all. Iāll keep you posted!
Yes, there is the lazy river, the huge slide, and the sand-bottom pool at SAB. Itās also easily 2x as big, maybe more. But the Poly pool also has a great slide and has a more tropical oasis theming, which I like. I also like the option of Capt Cooks for poolside food versus Hurricane Hannaās. Both pools are excellent enough that it doesnāt really factor into my decision.
I think location is the biggest factor for us. We spend most of our time at MK and EP, so the Poly is a no brainer for us. Like in Oct, we spend 3 of our 7 nights at MK and the other 4 at EP.
The times we stayed at BC, we did HS EMM and DAH which made it super easy since we could just walk there and back. Rope-dropping EP from the IG is also a semi-advantage due to a lower crowd compared to the main entrance, though I donāt know if the opening of the skyliner changed that.
But I do feel like the Poly is the most convenient of the monorail resorts, because there are no transfers involved getting to EP. That saves 30 minutes.