Contemporary/Polynesian or Beach Club?

HoyaMom03

New Member
Original Poster
Hi all! Getting ready to book a 6 night stay at Disney for November and undecided on a resort to book. I've narrowed it down to Contemporary and Beach Club but also still thinking about Polynesian (although not sure I'm willing to give up walkability to MK for better theming). Pricing wise my agent quoted me prices for all 3 resorts that are all within $400 total for the 6 night stay so no significant pricing considerations.

My husband and I are traveling with 3 children (ages 9, 7 and 4) and this is our second trip with the kids. We stayed at the Contemporary the first time in a garden view room and were happy with it. I would say the only drawback was the theming. Having gone to the Polynesian and GF for dinner, my kids were kind of bummed by the theming at the Contemp in comparison. They enjoyed the pool at the Contemporary - but having watched endless videos of the pool at Disney, they recognize the pool at the Contemp is underwhelming. For our stay, I'm roughly planning on 2 days at MK, 1 day at Epcot (maybe 1 1/2 days at Epcot if we arrive early on arrival day), 1 day Disney Studios and 1 day AK. We don't do a lot of park hopping or leaving the park and returning later. We pretty much get to the park near opening and leave by mid-afternoon to give the kids time to rest and swim before dinner. We prefer to stay fairly close for dinners - which at Poly/Contemp would mean staying on the monorail. At Beach Club I think that would open up restaurants in the Epcot world showcase as well as the Boardwalk as dinner options.

I love the idea of Beach Club - I have a number of friends who sing the praises of the Beach Club. And certainly the theming, pool and increased dinner options are a huge advantage. I think my reservation is with the bussing situation to MK. My husband detests the bussing so having to now do 2 days of the bus to MK and 1 day to AK is a drawback. My understanding also is that Beach Club does not have a dedicated bus for the resort and makes numerous stops.

Given our family preferences - does anyone have any advice suggestions on deciding between Contemp, Poly or Beach Club? Thanks in advance for all your insight!
 

daisyduckie

Well-Known Member
I'm odd in that I love Epcot but am not that fond of the Beach Club. I honestly wish I liked it more than I do. I enjoyed my stay at the Poly much more. And if you plan on spending more time at the Magic Kingdom than Epcot, the Poly is the way to go. I found the bus service from the Beach Club to MK to be poor. Packed to the gills buses that didn't come frequently enough coupled with a fairly long bus ride. I'd much rather hop on a monorail or two.

Plus I think your kids will love the theming of the Poly pool.
 

Kristopher Rannells

Active Member
I'm odd in that I love Epcot but am not that fond of the Beach Club. I honestly wish I liked it more than I do. I enjoyed my stay at the Poly much more. And if you plan on spending more time at the Magic Kingdom than Epcot, the Poly is the way to go. I found the bus service from the Beach Club to MK to be poor. Packed to the gills buses that didn't come frequently enough coupled with a fairly long bus ride. I'd much rather hop on a monorail or two.

Plus I think your kids will love the theming of the Poly pool.

My advice would be the Poly and I've stayed at all 3. Daisy is right, the bus situation at BC is a nightmare, but I am like your husband and hate bussing. You can't beat the theming at the Poly, Kona Café has a great breakfast to start the day, and you have boat shuttle to MK along with a short walk to the Epcot monorail. The pools are also great, although nothing compares to the BC pool. Finally, especially if you are staying in a garden wing at the CR it can be quite a walk after a full day from the MK to your room and the elevator wait for a tower room can be a real pain too.
 

drcasey

Well-Known Member
Beach Club hands down. You only share busses with the YC, which is right next door. We've always had fabulous bus service staying there. The world showcase is just steps away which is so convenient and awesome. You can have dinner at the showcase and watch illuminations right after, then enjoy a leisurely walk on the boardwalk back to the resort. The boat to HS is quick and fun! Being right on the boardwalk is great, not to mention the pool is the best on property. And SO many restaurants close by that don't require any transportation!
 

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
Beach Club hands down. You only share busses with the YC, which is right next door. We've always had fabulous bus service staying there.
Unless things have changed recently, I always experienced the Epcot resorts to share buses, i.e. Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, YC, BC which can make for some very crowded buses at times.
 

drcasey

Well-Known Member
Unless things have changed recently, I always experienced the Epcot resorts to share buses, i.e. Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, YC, BC which can make for some very crowded buses at times.

I stayed at the beach club last June and boardwalk last April. The boardwalk had a dedicated bus system that wasn't shared with any other resort, and the beach club only shared with yacht club.
 

HoyaMom03

New Member
Original Poster
Unless things have changed recently, I always experienced the Epcot resorts to share buses, i.e. Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, YC, BC which can make for some very crowded buses at times.

Part of my confusion is that I keep hearing different things about the bussing at BC. A web search seemed to indicate the crowded, slow service that has been mentioned here but my friend, who is a BC fanatic swears she's never been on a bus that stopped at more than the YC.
 

drcasey

Well-Known Member
Part of my confusion is that I keep hearing different things about the bussing at BC. A web search seemed to indicate the crowded, slow service that has been mentioned here but my friend, who is a BC fanatic swears she's never been on a bus that stopped at more than the YC.

Totally understandable! We stayed at the Boardwalk that time because the Beach Club didn't have any availability and I had read on various forums that the boardwalk bus situation was horrendous. Then when we got there we were very pleasantly surprised that the boardwalk busses weren't shared with anyone! I have personally never experienced any bussing issues at the beach club, the service has always been very fast and not crowded at all, and I was there during a busier period.
 

rob0519

Well-Known Member
Agree with you on the theme at the Contemporary. Twenty years ago, you could tell you were in a Disney hotel the minute you walked into the lobby and the rooms had at least some themes. Now it looks like any other Hyatt or Marriott convention hotel, except for the 4th floor and of course the monorail running through the building.

Of the other two choices, we prefer the Polynesian due to the location near the MK. We no longer have small children and are not really pool people so the pool at the Beach Club is not a major pull to get us to stay there.
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
If you have a car you can drive the days to the other parks. Much better than the busses. Your post did not say if you had a car or not but just wanted to throw that out there and Parking is free for resort guests. Out of those 3 I would pick Beach Club. :)
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Your spending most of your trip at the Magic Kingdom. Go with Poly - largest standard rooms on property. Access to Epcot via monorail. If you get a longhouse close to the TTC, it's just a 10 minute - if that long - walk over to the TTC, and you can avoid the monorail resort loop to the TTC.

Ohanas is a great place to eat. You can watch the fireworks from your table and like other the restaurants at GF and CR, they lower the lights and pipe in the music.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Hi all! Getting ready to book a 6 night stay at Disney for November and undecided on a resort to book. I've narrowed it down to Contemporary and Beach Club but also still thinking about Polynesian (although not sure I'm willing to give up walkability to MK for better theming). Pricing wise my agent quoted me prices for all 3 resorts that are all within $400 total for the 6 night stay so no significant pricing considerations.

My husband and I are traveling with 3 children (ages 9, 7 and 4) and this is our second trip with the kids. We stayed at the Contemporary the first time in a garden view room and were happy with it. I would say the only drawback was the theming. Having gone to the Polynesian and GF for dinner, my kids were kind of bummed by the theming at the Contemp in comparison. They enjoyed the pool at the Contemporary - but having watched endless videos of the pool at Disney, they recognize the pool at the Contemp is underwhelming. For our stay, I'm roughly planning on 2 days at MK, 1 day at Epcot (maybe 1 1/2 days at Epcot if we arrive early on arrival day), 1 day Disney Studios and 1 day AK. We don't do a lot of park hopping or leaving the park and returning later. We pretty much get to the park near opening and leave by mid-afternoon to give the kids time to rest and swim before dinner. We prefer to stay fairly close for dinners - which at Poly/Contemp would mean staying on the monorail. At Beach Club I think that would open up restaurants in the Epcot world showcase as well as the Boardwalk as dinner options.

I love the idea of Beach Club - I have a number of friends who sing the praises of the Beach Club. And certainly the theming, pool and increased dinner options are a huge advantage. I think my reservation is with the bussing situation to MK. My husband detests the bussing so having to now do 2 days of the bus to MK and 1 day to AK is a drawback. My understanding also is that Beach Club does not have a dedicated bus for the resort and makes numerous stops.

Given our family preferences - does anyone have any advice suggestions on deciding between Contemp, Poly or Beach Club? Thanks in advance for all your insight!

That is true... the bus stops at BC, YC and BW. There is no bus for Hollywood Studios - you have to take the boat. And if the boat can't operate because of weather, you'll be kicked off at what ever stop it was at and then have to find a way to get to DHS. Happened to us in April. We were on the boat, heading over for a yummy fried chicken dinner at Prime Time. Allowed plenty of time for Disney transportation. Just as we pulled up at the dock at the Swalfin, the boat driver announced that the had to cease operations due to lightening in the area. There are no buses from those resorts to DHS, either. So there we are, stuck at Swalfin. I know you can walk to DHS from an Epcot resort, but it was my first time staying in one and I didn't want to get us lost, plus it was starting to pour. They called for buses to come pick up stranded guests, which took over 30 minutes. I'm watching the hour I allowed to get to DHS and our ADR count down to zero. I'm with my gym buddy who I convinced to run in a race and she needed to stop at Guest Services to activate her park tickets. We were late getting to Prime Time. But while she was standing in the looong line at GS (for some reason they closed ALL the will call windows 3 hours before the park closed - CMs at the entry points were surprised to hear that when I told them), I dashed ahead and ran to Prime Time to tell them we're going to be late and please don't cancel our reservation. Fortunately they were aware of the boats not running (or I was just very convincing).

Another reason to stay at the Poly - at least two means of transportation to two parks.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I stayed at the beach club last June and boardwalk last April. The boardwalk had a dedicated bus system that wasn't shared with any other resort, and the beach club only shared with yacht club.

I stayed at the BW this past April and every bus was share with YC/BC...with BW being the last stop...
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Strange. I was there the last week of April 2016 and we did not share at all.

You were there probably a week after we were. Came down for the SW Half in mid April. Perhaps the race was the reason they decided to share the buses among the three resorts? I was just surprised that the bus we took back after dinner at the MK stopped at YC/BC before going to BW.
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Part of my confusion is that I keep hearing different things about the bussing at BC. A web search seemed to indicate the crowded, slow service that has been mentioned here but my friend, who is a BC fanatic swears she's never been on a bus that stopped at more than the YC.

For MK, Yacht & Beach always have their own bus. And if you get to the MK bus stop and Y&B have a line to leave, or is not yet present...get on the BoardWalk bus or Swan/Dolphin bus and enjoy a quick ride and nice stroll home.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
For MK, Yacht & Beach always have their own bus. And if you get to the MK bus stop and Y&B have a line to leave, or is not yet present...get on the BoardWalk bus or Swan/Dolphin bus and enjoy a quick ride and nice stroll home.

Thanks for the tip!
 

MaryJaneP

Well-Known Member
We have stayed at all 3. It really depends on your most strongly held need. If you need themeing, CR is out, BC is probably nearly out, and Poly is the winner. If you need pools, Poly is (IMHO) out, CR is also out, and BC is the winner. If you need easy transport options to the parks, then BC is marginally out, Poly is also marginally out, and CR is just slightly the winner. When our kids were that age, we did both Poly and CR with CR being the total winner. College and High School aged kids, we enjoyed BC, partially because we knew we would not be spending most of our time and attention on MK. Please let us hear after your trip and we hope you have a great time wherever you stay.
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
So many rave about the convenience of the monorail loop. Which is either not running, running on modified schedule, backed up, or waiting for clearance from station ahead. Or shut down so it can reboot. We had a stay at Poly pre bungalows and felt let down by the monorail.

Beach you can walk to Epcot or walk/boat to HS. Direct bus to MK. And a bus to AK with a few stops at neighboring Resorts.
 

s&k'smom

Well-Known Member
We are staying at the Epcot area for the first time in August and are really looking forward to the walk to epcot and the studio's. However if I had little kids and doing MK I would go with Poly only because you can walk to the TTC and take the huge boat over or the smaller boat from the dock.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom