Hey everyone. I’m planning a trip and am currently deciding between the Beach Club and Polynesian. Both have extended evening hours and great transportation options (monorail to mk/epcot, walk to epcot/hollywood) but I am stuck as to choose. Does anyone prefer one over the other? If so, why? It can be because of location, food, shopping, just anything that could help me pick!
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Polynesian vs. Beach Club
- Thread starter maddoxdisney
- Start date
monorail81
Well-Known Member
Beach Club has the better pool if you’re into pools.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
Storm Along Bay will be closed until June of this year, depending on when OP is planning to visit.
mf1972
Well-Known Member
we’ve been to polynesian of for dinner & toured around. it’s a nice resort. we’ve stayed at the YC just last month & also 2023 so i would choose BC. you’ll have the benefit of both yacht & beach as well as boardwalk, swan & dolphin, so there’s many dining options. it’s also a good location due to the proximity to epcot & HS. we were booked for poly this october but just swapped it for a 1 BR villa at the BC.
Right now, we are planning for the fall, hopefully going to MNSSHP, which is why we are considering a magic kingdom resort since it will be easy to get out of the event after it is done. However, it seems to me Polynesian is only close to magic kingdom while BC is close to both Epcot and Hollywood studios. As well, I think Disney would have proper bus services after the party to get back to the resort (the last time I went to MNSSHP was back in the 2000s!) I’ve stayed at the boardwalk before, and I did appreciate being able to take a break mid day to relax from the parks and wind down, and I definitely would be able to do that again at beach club. It would also be easy to grab some dinner in world showcase!
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
I do DVC, and I go Poly, even though they only have studios(at least till the tower mistake by the lake came in), those studios are some of my favorite rooms on property even with a family of four. The cons to the property are it's very popular with non staying guests and using the bars and restaurants can be difficult as they are always busy
I love the location of the Beach Club and the pool is great, but the resort on a whole doesn't really do it for me, it's kinda bland and lack of quick service options drops it.
Ideal for me is split stay Poly/BC, though WL is probably my favorite.
I love the location of the Beach Club and the pool is great, but the resort on a whole doesn't really do it for me, it's kinda bland and lack of quick service options drops it.
Ideal for me is split stay Poly/BC, though WL is probably my favorite.
Yeah, I would be bringing some family along and since they don’t go to the parks often I wonder if they would like staying in a more classically “Disney” hotel that is very themed. I can’t make up my mind!
Love the Poly, but lately we have been finding it's just a little bit too crazy there whenever we visit. Always busy. Lots of crowds in the public spaces. We love the vibe of Yacht and Beach. The walk into Epcot and around the BoardWalk, lots of great food, the awesome pool and, like I said, there's just a "we're home" vibe to the place that makes it pretty much our favorite place to stay anywhere not just at Disney. Give me a rocking chair on the Yacht Club porch after a long park day anytime.
KaliSplash
Well-Known Member
Monorail
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
What are the ages? As great as Storm Along is, I found it stressful with my kids when they were younger, there are a lot of blind spots and some of the areas like the little lazy river are pretty deep. Much easier to keep an eye on them at other resort pools.
They’re all on the older side (high school/college age). These pools do sound super cool and would be nice for a midday break. Are the pools open in the fall (or are they not enjoyable in the fall)? I’ve never been a big pool person myself, but after my recent trips of rope drop to close park days I want to try to relax more during my stay and think a pool would be a nice place to do so!
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
All pools are heated, I have been in them in November January etc, and the water is warm BUT if the air is cold it's not going to be a great experience. Earlier fall through October you should be fine. Poly has some nice pools too and would work but the kids will probably like Beach Clubs more, it's definitely unique among Disney pools.
Let’s not forget the hot tubs. The Poly has them but in my opinion the Stormalong hot tubs are in a much nicer spot, high up surrounded by beautiful rock work. Not much better than a soak when it’s chillier out. They also have an adults only hot tub for a much more thorough relaxation.
tpoly88
Well-Known Member
Hard choice and 2 totally different hotels. Rooms at BC are a little small but there is the option of getting a king bed if needed. Poly doesn’t have that. Plus being able to walk right to the international gateway for Epcot is nice. Boat to HS and easy bus back from MK. Beach club is more calm but love the vibe at the poly. will say the wait to get on the monorail for the special events can be long sometimes but not terrible. Plus you can walk out the back to get on monorail for Epcot. You won’t go wrong with either. Love them both.
aliceismad
Well-Known Member
Depends on which parks you’ll spend the most time at. We love MK the most so the monorail line hotels always carry more weight.
Have you considered a split stay? That’s what we’re doing our next trip. Half the nights at a HS/Epcot hotel and half at a MK hotel. Disney moves the luggage for us from one hotel to the other. (But it might be too much if you’re there less than a week.)
Hotel appearance and vibe are so personal. I think everyone has their own preferences. You can’t go wrong, both are great hotels with great ambiance. Poly feels more “vacation” to me than Beach Club.
Have you considered a split stay? That’s what we’re doing our next trip. Half the nights at a HS/Epcot hotel and half at a MK hotel. Disney moves the luggage for us from one hotel to the other. (But it might be too much if you’re there less than a week.)
Hotel appearance and vibe are so personal. I think everyone has their own preferences. You can’t go wrong, both are great hotels with great ambiance. Poly feels more “vacation” to me than Beach Club.
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Basil of Baker Street
Well-Known Member
This exactly. If you're more into MK, go Poly. If evening strolling through Epcot or HS is your thing, cant go wrong with BC.
Even though BC provides easy access to 2 parks, the monorail resorts just scream Disney a bit louder to us so we prob do 2 MK area trips for every 1 at the EPCOT resorts. I’m not a big fan of the Friendship boats—since we prefer the BWI vs YC/BC and with the routes running from EP-BWI-YC-Swan/Dolphin-DHS and DHS-Swan/Dolphin-YC-BWI-EP, we pretty much just walk to both parks. For some reason, I feel like it’s so much longer to access the rooms at the YC/BC vs the Poly or even GF. With the poly longhouses being 3 floors, it’s very quick to get in/out. One time at the YC, it took us at least 10-15 minutes every time just to get out of the bldg. With the completion of the new Tower, pretty much every cash based room has quick access to a pool as well. We also enjoy the bars/restaurants much more at the monorail resorts.
I always advise to think about what you want get done on this trip and then choose the resort that best matches—with older kids, you’re probably going to be at EP/HS more often than MK—if that’s the case, staying at an EP resort just makes everything flow much nicer.
I always advise to think about what you want get done on this trip and then choose the resort that best matches—with older kids, you’re probably going to be at EP/HS more often than MK—if that’s the case, staying at an EP resort just makes everything flow much nicer.
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
Do you prefer MK or Epcot & DHS?