Final Thoughts and Room Reviews
As mentioned on my last day, I wanted to write out some final thoughts and spend a bit of time talking about the rooms. In no particular order:
- May is hot in Florida, hotter than summer in a lot of other places. Being well hydrated makes a huge difference in your enjoyment of the day, even if that means drinking some warm Florida water.
- Genie+ seems to be getting better here in Florida. I know when it first came out it was difficult to get reservation times, and the biggest rides would fill up within minutes, but now it seems like there is more availability/fewer people using it.
- Park hopping takes longer than you'd think, between walking to the entrance of the park, waiting for the bus, and ride over. I really want to stick to two parks a day max in the future.
- Happily Ever After is still the best fireworks show I've ever seen. I really hope Disney can figure out an equally inspiring story over at Epcot.
- Pool days are underrated, while Disney Springs continues to disappoint. I think I need to avoid it unless I'm going for a specific meal or getting baked goods very early in the day.
- Tron is great, and a very welcome addition to Magic Kingdom. I can't wait until they don't need a virtual queue anymore.
- Mears Connect wasn't worth the money saved. If you're not getting a rental car, go for rideshares. It's about $10 to move around property and $40 each way from the airport.
- DVC, on the other hand, is worth every penny I paid and continue to pay off.
- I was starting to wonder if I was visiting too often, about once every 6 months, and the answer is a definitive no. There is still so much to do, so much worth doing again, and endless ways you can experience Disney World.
- In the future, I do think I want to do fewer, longer trips as opposed to a long weekend. I mentioned it earlier, but it's really difficult for me to be in Disney and not try to do everything. It would've been very reasonable to skip a park when you only have a 3 day ticket, but I'm not quite there yet, so going forward I will try to give every park it's due.
Now for some room reviews!
I already talked a bit about All Star Music and how I liked it. Now obviously I prefer the DVC rooms at deluxe resorts, but if I were still paying cash, then I would be spending a lot of trips at value resorts. Disney makes sure to keep them looking nice, even with the simple theming, and the perks like early entry and regular busses make it well worth the extra money compared to staying somewhere off-property. I can't help compare it to a stay I did at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace near Disney Springs. While it was a nice hotel, and in most cities I wouldn't hesitate to stay there for the $250/night I paid, it never quite felt like it was a Disney vacation. It was a hotel stay with a few Disney parks thrown in. All this to say that if the All Stars or off-property are your budget, I recommend the All Stars.
Now for the Polynesian! It was my first time staying here, and I had only been a few times before to grab food and drinks. The resort is beautiful to walk around, and not too large so it doesn't take ages to get from your room to the main building. The main building has some nice stores for souvenirs and snacks. You can also mobile order takeout from Kona Cafe, which I found to be a much better option than Capt. Cook's. The location is also great, since you can walk directly to the Epcot monorail instead of having to change at the TTC. Buses were also frequently available for Studios and Animal Kingdom, although we occasionally shared with Grand Floridian. The pools were a lot of fun, although even the quiet pool was hectic for most of the day into evening. There were a lot of people taking advantage of the resort and doing non-park days while I was there.
The first thing you notice about the room are the two bathrooms. A larger one with the toilet, shower/tub combo, and a sink, then a smaller one with just a dedicated shower and sink. Across from these you have a big closet with plenty of space for hanging things and the standard DVC studio kitchenette, which I find really useful. Finally, you walk into a nice wide space for the beds and table. On the right is a pull-down single bed, and on the left is the main king and a queen sized murphy bed. IMO this room will easily sleep 5 adults, as long as the 5th isn't too tall. There is also a small table with one of the most popular lamps I've ever seen. It's big enough for two people to eat at or one person to work. And finally to go with the extra wide room was a long but thin balcony. I'm very happy they added balconies to all DVC rooms at the Poly, since getting some fresh air when you wake up or before bed is amazing on vacation.
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I really only have two negatives about the room. One is that the pull down bed takes up the space where there would normally be a dresser, so instead you have drawers on the sides of the bed. With the narrow spaces between beds and the walls, this can be a pain. The other was that the furniture was pretty worn out. The top of the pull down bed had a few hot mug stains on it, and the drawers on the side of the bed were flimsy and looked cheap. Yes these are nitpicks that could happen at any hotel, but for as perfect as the grounds look, they should put that attention into fixing furniture when it needs it.
Perhaps my favorite part about this room was the shower. I enjoy all Disney hotels that feature a separate shower, and this one had everything: rainfall, separate wand, bench, and beautiful tile work. I could easily see having this in my house one day.
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For someone staying on points, the studios are absolutely worth going out of your way to stay at. Availability is pretty good at 7 months, and I actually got this room off the waitlist about 2 months out. That also means it's pretty easy to rent points here if you're not a DVC member, which I believe saves a good bit off the cost of the room. If I wanted to pay cash directly to Disney, I think these rooms are still a bit overpriced. It's one of, if not the most expensive deluxe resorts, and that money can buy a longer trip somewhere like Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge. But if you're able to get them through DVC or are trying to fit 5 people in a single room, I would highly recommend this resort.
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