Where to Stay, Continued
See this for the first page of this entry.
MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Within the kid-appealing Walt Disney World resorts, the tie breaker is transportation convenience, particularly to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme parks, as you will be making more trips to these parks than any others.Of the three kid-appealing deluxe resorts, the Polynesian is far and away the most convenient.
- It is one of only three resorts served by the resort monorail that directly connects to the Magic Kingdom, and the only one of the kid appealing resorts to do so
- Is the only resort within easy walking distance of the Epcot monorail that directly serves Epcot, and
- Is the only resort for which you can take the express monorail back from the Magic Kingdom, walking from where the monorail stops at the Transportation and Ticketing Center back to the hotel–and saving often 10 to 30 minutes.
Among the Walt Disney World value resorts with kid appeal–the All-Star Music, Movies and Sports Resorts, and Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Pop Century wins, but the choice is not so clear cut*.
Collectively, transportation is slightly less convenient at the All-Stars than at Pop Century, principally because many of the buses at All-Stars serve more than one of these resorts–often all three of the All-Star Resorts.
This bus sharing both slows down and makes more variable the All Star round-trip time to and from the parks, and tends to make the buses and bus stops more crowded than at Pop.
Total travel times, over your entire vacation, likely would be nearly equivalent, but the time spent in Pop transit seems more productive, more predictable, and less frustrating.
See this for more on convenience
If neither of these can work for you, see Next Best Resort Choices.
*Pop also has a few other minor things in its favor:
- It has the same number of buildings (10) as an All-Star resort, but one more pool, shortening the typical walk to a pool
- Pop is the only one of the value resorts on a lake, improving its views and setting compared to the All-Stars.
- The 40-foot tall character sculptures make Pop more “Disney-like” then the All-Stars. John Hench, a Disney Legend, notes in his book Designing Disney
that “these beautiful sculptures are astonishing, unforgettable, and … have proven immensely popular.”
- Jim Hill (of jimhillmedia.com) has noted that Pop Century occupancy on average is about ten points lower that of the All-Stars. This makes it on average less crowded than them.
MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
- For where to stay, see this
- For your next best choices, in order, see this
- For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
- For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
- For where not to stay, see this
- For what you get in each resort price category, see this
- For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
- For resort reviews, see this
- For the value resorts, see this
- For the moderate resorts, see this
- For the deluxe resorts, see this
- For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
- For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this
- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
- Military/DOD families should look at this
- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
10 comments
Please help…I originally booked 9/22-9/29, 2012 @ AoA Finding Nemo suite for 4 adults + 2 kids. Added another adult so switched to CBR (2 rooms) with free dining (at that time AoA was excluded & Little Mermaid wasn’t going to be open until end of 2012). It looks like they are now allowing AoA in free dining but suites only(?) as I can see Little Mermaid available for that time but not when using free dining promo. I can book suites @ all other AoA with free dining. We would upgrade to regular Dining as opposed to Quick Serve plan but I still think it would cost less then current reservation. With 5 & 7 Y/O kids wanted themed room so staying in Pirate room, which is farthest away from pool , dining, etc. at CBR. Which would you choose? I know it is hard to gauge since Little Mermaid won’t open until 9/15.
Hi Joanne, everything I have seen says AOA is still not in free dining…that doesn’t mean I’m right, but I don’t have any evidence you can do free dining there.
The other rooms at CB are also themed–with Nemo–but not as intensely as the Pirate rooms. I’m actually publishing a review on the Pirate rooms Thursday of this week–preview: fun, I would have loved it as an 8 year old, but FAR from the main CB resources and not worth the extra money…
I know this is a crazy question, but bear with me. We’re going for our first time for five nights starting 12/15. Is it really worth the extra approx 2K to stay at the Polynesian? I want the best experience for all of us, but $4500 sounds like a lot compared to $2500 at Pop Century (these are prices including tickets and dining plan). I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a free dining plan for that time frame.
Hi Sarah! Not crazy at all. It’s a really personal decision, and one hard to make since you don’t really know what you are deciding until you experience each. (I assume you’ve read the reviews, if not, see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/04/26/walt-disney-world-resort-hotel-reviews/ )
To me, if you can afford it, the value difference is there. But it depends on the next best use of the money you’d save…
A “compromise” is the Wilderness Lodge–still deluxe, with even more kid appeal than the Poly, but less convenient and with smaller rooms than Poly–but at a substantially lower price.
Another option is a split stay, where you spend the first half of your trip at Pop, and the second half at Poly. This saves a bunch but lets you end–when you are getting tired and worn out–with some comfort.
Does this help?
Well, convenience is a big issue with us. One of my draws towards the Poly was the fact that it is so close to the monorail and other transportation. The fact we’re squishing our first trip to Disney in five nights/six days makes me want to have the most comfortable stay and easiest transportation as possible. While I started with “x” amount of dollars budgeted, the more I read about our first visit, the more money I want to spend just for the “ease factor”! Don’t know if that’s bad or not, but I want this trip to be fun and enjoyable. I’m making budget plans for dining/snacks/souveniers/travel/etc. So if I can make our stay convenient and easy, that’s important.
I’m with you!
Ok, last question. Kid-friendly aside (hey, they’re getting plenty of kid-friendly at the parks), if I were to get the Grand Floridian for five night at around $1500, would you consider that a deal worth taking?
Thanks for all your help! This site really is great with tons of awesome information!
Hi Sarah, yup that’s a great price for GF.
Thanks so much Dave for your information – not sure how but I got free dining at Art of Animation (Little Mermaid rooms). I am also not sure if the offer is still valid as it kept changing (4/9 only @ suites; 4/10 not at any, but on 4/11 it was available online at Little Mermaid). I can not wait! We would be the second guests to stay in our room! I will certainly share the experience with YourFirstVisit readers! The Disney Cast members are truly AMAZING!
Yay!! Please share when you get back…I’m assuming I’m gonna shift my #1 rated (4 person) value to AofA Lil Mermaid once it opens and I’ve had a chance to stay there…haven’t booked yet tho–maybe I’ll be the third guest to book the room you are in second!
Thanks for the continuing updates on free dining at Art of Animation–I’ve referenced your comment here: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/03/05/free-dining-at-walt-disney-world-for-late-summer-2012/
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