Polynesian vs Contemporary?

[shelzyp]

We wanted to stay at a monorail resort since we have 2 year old twin boys an we have hated the buses in the past when we were kidless. Is one hotel better then the toher? We stayed at Polynesian for the weekend last Otober and really liked it but have never stayed or known anyone who has stayed in the contemporary.

Thanks for the help!
Michelle

 

[-SIR-]

Well the contemporary is great because its so close to the park and the rooms, which are awesome, have just been refurbished. Plus Chef Mickeys is a great place for dining with kids. However, if you stay there I would stay in a tower room. The Garden rooms are in a small building behind the resort and are not worth the money in my opinion. The downside of the contemporary is that the grounds and interrior of the resort feel very outdated because they are. This resort is in the middle of a major refurbishment.

basically my advice would be to stay here only if the convenience of being within walking distance to the park and having nice restaurants that will entertain you and the kids, is very important.

On the other hand, the poly is one of my all time favorite resorts. Contemporary is just okay in my opinion. I love how the polynesian just makes you feel like your on a relaxing vacation. Contemporary is just too busy for me. Plus Ohana is probably my favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World. Since poly is on the monorail track too its not a big deal that its a bit further away from the magic kingdom. The rooms in the poly have also recently been refurbished and ive heard they are amazing as well. I love Polynesian for the atmosphere, convenience, and food....

for pictures check out www.allearsnet.com

Another resort to consider is the Wilderness Lodge. kids and adults both usually adore it and it has some of the best theming at any disney resort. It's pretty spectacular... you can take a boat to the magic kingdom but you do have to bus everywhere else unless you transfer to a monorail for epcot. The restaurants here are also top notch.

follow your instincts and you will be happy!

 

[wdwmagic]

Check out http://reviews.wdwmagic.com/default2.aspx?entity=Resort for lots of reviews on both.

 

[Cinderella1976]

In my opinion, I like the Polynesian much better because of the atmosphere and I feel it is more family friendly. The pool is really nice to. Ohana's is a great place for dinner (lots of fun and great food) and Ohana's also has a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, Pluto & Mickey. We ate at both and enjoyed them very much. You can also take the monorail over to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's which I highly recommend also. As the other poster mentioned, the Wilderness Lodge is also great, but if I had to choose between the two, I would have to say the Poly. Have fun :wave:

 

[Disnut]

I have never stayed at the Poly. We stayed at the Contemp. and loved it.

 

[shelzyp]

Thanks, we are traveling with others and we all have different wants, mine and DH's being monorail, other's being price, so it is hard to decide between the two. I think we got a good price on the polynesian and I think we would all like it better then the contemporary.

I mentioned the Wildernes Lodge to DH but he is not a fan of taking the boats since we have to take the boys out of the stroller which got to be a PITA when we went Oct 2006.

 

[vilegirl]

I love them both. I've stayed at the Poly more than the Contemporary, but I think they're both full of that famous Disney magic!:sohappy: I definitely agree with what someone else said...get a tower room if you stay at the Contemporary. I've never stayed in the garden rooms, but to me, staying in the tower is the fun part! A Contemporary tower room is definitely very close to the monorail, Chef Mickeys etc. With the Poly, depending on the longhouse you get, you might have more walking. Regardless, they're both GREAT resorts!! You can't go wrong!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

We stayed at the Poly twice when DD was little - can't beat that monorail when it's time for a nap!! Absolutely loved the resort. Went to the Contemporary every trip for meals - always seemed so noisy and busy, not very relaxing at all to us. Just my two cents...

 

[beachclubbasics]

I haven't seen the updated rooms in the tower at the Contemporary, but I prefer the Poly because it truly does remind you of bieng on a tropical vacation and it would be a great place to relax at the end of a busy day when the little ones are in bed.

I've stayed at the Contemporary about 20 times (Dad worked for a Disney corporate sponsor). I have fond memories of the Contemporary, but the last time I stayed there it was just going through renovations (2005) and I ended up on the North Garden Wing (RIP ). I was surprised to see that the hall carpets were the very same ones since 1971. And everything in our room was falling apart. Mind you, it was probably because the NGW was being demolished shortly after, but it was in a bit of disarray.

I also remember the tower rooms being noisy (when I stayed you could hear the click every time the monorail doors opened and it got noisy when the concourse was crowded) but I have heard that the rooms have better soundproofing now.

 

[tigger1968]

Both have pros and cons these days in my opinion. I'm a monorail geek, so staying at both have been goals of mine for years. We have been in Contemporary twice, both times tower, and loved it. Very quiet. They were just starting to refurb the rooms, so we had an older room, but found that nice. Service and staff were top notch, food choices are great. Loved being 1 minute walk from the monorail. Stayed at Poly last year. Had a newly renovated room and it was awesome. Service was fair, food choices are good. The grounds and pool are beautiful, we loved them. The biggest disadvantage we saw was that the layout means you may have a hefty walk to the monorail depending on the building. For us, we frequently walked to the TTC to hop one there. We had a major issue with the way management at the Poly handled a problem in the room, and to be honest that has soured us a bit on the resort. We just felt like the staff at the Contemporary was way above par, and we had a few issues there as well on one trip. Having rambled on about all that, it boils down to Poly being more appealing to the eye in our opinion, but Contemporary being more guest friendly. If monorails are a main consideration, we vote Contemporary Tower. Can't beat walking out of your room, and there it is below you! Hope this helps (although I just re-read it....and it probably won't :lookaroun )

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Just had a tower room in December. If you want more space in your room I would go for the tower room in a heart beat. The rooms are bigger than what we had when we were in the Poly. Yes it was sometimes a bit loud when you went outside your room but with the door closed it was peaceful. The only complaint we had were the silly sinks that were like big flat trays and seemed to let the water pool up even after you had turned off the water (was constantly having to try to keep our 2 year old from playing in it) and the latches on the door to the balcony which were pretty darned hard to operated either open or close.

I would also remind you that when you are leaving the MK for your hotel the Contemporary is the first stop, the Poly is the third. When you've got tired two year olds that want a nap this means something.

The one place where the Contemporary does fall below the Poly is the swimming pool. If you want the cool theme it aint the Contemporary.

 

[jesserin]

One downside to the Poly? With two small boys... be prepared to have sand EVERYWHERE. :lol: Our last trip to the poly, the kids kept getting in the sand as we were walking back to our room, and we were forever cleaning sand out of socks and pockets. That might be one small reason to consider the Contemporary.

But both reosrts are really fantastic. The Poly certainly has more "atmosphere" but I think y'all will be thrilled with either choice.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

As others have said, you won't go wrong with either.
Poly is our favorite due to the immersive theming.
Contemporary allows you to walk to and from MK (if you are using strollers for the young ones).
Both being on the monorail allow for easy entrance and exit for mid day naps etc.
Heights/balconies may be a bit of a challenge for young kids, Poly while it does have balconies, buildings are lower, with more ground floor rooms available.