Hi- We are planning my 4th trip (husband's 5th, kid's 3rd) to WDW in January. 1st question- We are debating between Polynesian (we've stayed there 2x B4 and been very happy) and Contemporary. We love Chef Mickeys and monorail access. We have enjoyed O'Hana's, but won't be dining there this trip. Can you tell me the pros and cons of one over the other. 2nd question- (let me preface this with an upfront comment that I don't mean to offend anyone- I have read the boards enough to know there are a lot of anti-Universal fans on here. I also know this is a WDW forum, but I don't know where to get Universal info, so I am deferring to the Orlando experts on this board)- We are planning on a few days at Universal before going to WDW, but don't know enough about it. For instance- we consider MGM studios a 1day park, vs Epcot needing at least 2. How long should we allow for Universal? We are going there at the start of our trip as we expect that they will not live up to the Disney magic and customer service and so want to end on the best note possible. Also, should we stay onsite at Universal for our time there, or is close offsite with shuttle service good enough. We will ONLY stay onsite at Disney because we don't want to spend a lot of time en-route. Also, is there transportation that can get us from Universal to WDW when we make the switch? Is there a Universal message board forum that anyone here knows about that I can refer my questions to so as not to offend the anti-Universal people here? Sorry if I was long winded, and thanks in advance for the help!
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January Disney trip help needed
- Thread starter eaptmck
- Start date
peters
Member
Can't help with the Poly or Contemporary, but we stayed at Universal this past January and had a great time. We stayed at the Portifino and it was within walking distance(a bit of a hike, but nothing too bad) or a short boat ride to the parks. Very convenient. The best part of staying on site was the front of the line priviledge. It's basically like a fastpass, but all you have to do is show your room key when you go through the "express" line. Even though it wasn't all that busy in January, it still cut our time in line quite a bit. By the way, the service at Portifino was top notch... even if it wasn't quite the Disney touch
Also, the rooms were beautiful and huge and we had a standard. Another nice thing was we had a Universal package deal that if you stayed there four nights, they threw-in the park tickets for free... not sure if you'll be there that long, but a little tid bit for you. As for allocating time to the parks, with our "express" pass, we easily did both parks in two days... but we didn't have kids with us. Lastly, if you plan on going to Seaworld, they do offer a free shuttle. They may have shuttles to other places too. Anyway, hope this helps and have a great time planning your trip!
Also, the rooms were beautiful and huge and we had a standard. Another nice thing was we had a Universal package deal that if you stayed there four nights, they threw-in the park tickets for free... not sure if you'll be there that long, but a little tid bit for you. As for allocating time to the parks, with our "express" pass, we easily did both parks in two days... but we didn't have kids with us. Lastly, if you plan on going to Seaworld, they do offer a free shuttle. They may have shuttles to other places too. Anyway, hope this helps and have a great time planning your trip!
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There is a distinct difference in atmosphere between the Contemporary and the Poly, so your decision depends a lot on what you like. The Poly has a lot more relaxed beachlike feel to it, while the Contemporary is more shoplike and urban feeling. We prefer the Poly, but the views at the Contemporary can be great. We too like Chef Mickeys, but if you've alread stayed at the Poly you know that it is only a quick monorail ride over.
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mousermerf
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The Contemporary is undergoing a lot os rennovation work at the moment, and will be seeing some more work starting in October.
Not knowing the timeframe, no one can predict at what level of intrusiveness it will be at when you're there. For example, today the main escalators were closed as the walls were repainted, but next week nothing may be going on in the tower noticeably.
The rennovated parts of Contemporary are very nice though.
So, for Janaury I don't know what to tell you. The safe bet is Poly, but if you really want to try a new resort you might also want to consider the other deluxes like Wilderness and Animal Kingdom. I just wouldn't rush into the Contemporary until closer to the date or there was more information about the construction.
Not knowing the timeframe, no one can predict at what level of intrusiveness it will be at when you're there. For example, today the main escalators were closed as the walls were repainted, but next week nothing may be going on in the tower noticeably.
The rennovated parts of Contemporary are very nice though.
So, for Janaury I don't know what to tell you. The safe bet is Poly, but if you really want to try a new resort you might also want to consider the other deluxes like Wilderness and Animal Kingdom. I just wouldn't rush into the Contemporary until closer to the date or there was more information about the construction.
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maelstrom
Well-Known Member
The Contemporary is my absolute favourite hotel. That being said, they're going to be doing a lot of renovating on the main floors plus whatever they're doing to the north garden wing. The Poly refurb is mostly done with the exception of Captain Cook's being relocated to Tangaroa Terrace until its expanded location in the Great Ceremonial House is finished. I think you'd have a better time at the Poly. Also look into the Wilderness Lodge.
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polynesiangirl
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Both are absolutely great, and together are my two favorite WDW resorts. It does depend sort of on what you like - though I love beach hotels and I still love the Contemporary. I would definitely listen to what others have said about looking into what the situation is with the construction at the Contemporary to make sure it wouldn't ruin your trip...
The one thing I love most of all about both places is that they're only a quick spin on the monorail away from each other. So we always go between the two for food/boat rentals/etc. (The only thing you can't "hop" between are the pools as you probably know, and NO people I'm not trying to start a pool hopping thread here, back away! :lol: ) I can't think of a trip we've been on in the last 15 years where we didn't stop at both resorts at least once for some reason!
Some things I love about the Poly: theme (I love Hawaii SO MUCH and it's a pretty good recreation of the feel,) the volcano pool, the beach, the view from across the lake, 'Ohana, the grounds, and the fact that you can walk to the TTC from there.
Things I love about the Contemporary: tower rooms (I've stayed in the wings too but the tower is way better IMO,) Grand Canyon Concourse, California Grill (love love love love :slurp: ), Concourse Steakhouse, watching the monorails through the tower in the evening from the Outer Rim lounge, and the fact that you can walk to the MK from there (very nice when the park closes and everyone in the world is waiting for a boat/bus/monorail.)
The one thing I love most of all about both places is that they're only a quick spin on the monorail away from each other.
So we always go between the two for food/boat rentals/etc. (The only thing you can't "hop" between are the pools as you probably know, and NO people I'm not trying to start a pool hopping thread here, back away! :lol: ) I can't think of a trip we've been on in the last 15 years where we didn't stop at both resorts at least once for some reason! Some things I love about the Poly: theme (I love Hawaii SO MUCH and it's a pretty good recreation of the feel,) the volcano pool, the beach, the view from across the lake, 'Ohana, the grounds, and the fact that you can walk to the TTC from there.
Things I love about the Contemporary: tower rooms (I've stayed in the wings too but the tower is way better IMO,) Grand Canyon Concourse, California Grill (love love love love :slurp: ), Concourse Steakhouse, watching the monorails through the tower in the evening from the Outer Rim lounge, and the fact that you can walk to the MK from there (very nice when the park closes and everyone in the world is waiting for a boat/bus/monorail.)
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Thanks for all the GREAT help so far. We are pretty sure that we are going to book the Poly this week, and will be doing the dining plan again, too, because that was such a great value last time we did it (although I wish they would offer it for free sometime that we were going:veryconfu ). The only things we are still undecided about is the Universal part of our trip, but we are figuring that out slowly, too. Thanks for the input!
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