Polynesian Villas / Yacht Club / Contemporary Review

HairyChest

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
just got back form a split stay in December at the Polynesian DVC , Yacht Club and Contemporary Resort

Contemporary resort
We had a tower room with a bay lake view. It was Gorgeous! the view looks better to me than the magic kingdom view (from videos and pics Ive seen) because its not a parking lot below you, its the pool area and then the beautiful lake. The room was nice and big too just like the grand and the poly. the walk to magic kingdom was 10 minutes which was nice but not more convenient to me than taking the monorail from staying at the grand or poly. In fact I'd prefer taking the monorail. Its more scenic, relaxing, and nostalgic. Our rooms heat and hot water wasn't working until 6pm while it being 40 degrees outside, we were freezing! we contacted the front desk and they said all rooms were like that because they are re-directing all the heat and hot water to chef mickeys since its in a temporary location. Absolutely inexcusable! The other issue with the resort is that the themeing is exactly what you see when you are just visiting- a airport hotel. Some hotels feel different when you stay vs when you are just visiting a la the grand Floridian. I never was interested in staying at the grand when I would visit, but once I stayed, the magic of the place hit me and became my number 1 alongside the poly.Not so with the contemporary. it feels like you are staying offsite to me, except when you are in the room. To sum it up, I will never stay at the contemporary by choice again. That's not because of the heating issue but because the hotel was nothing special and didn't have the Disney magic some of the other resorts convey when you stay there. And that's half the reason I travel to Orlando to stay at Disney.

Yacht Club
We love epcot and do spend most our time their. I also always thought the beach club was a better themed/airier hotel with a nicer lobby than the yacht club when I would visit. After staying there THE YACHT CLUB IS BETTER THAN THE BEACH CLUB. The lobby grows on you when you stay and has much more details than the beach club along with the titanic looking staircase. The new rooms are WONDERFUL! the colors are very nice including the darkwood floor. We watched a video of the beach club room and we said that we are so glad we stayed at the yacht club. The only issue we had was that the beds are higher then most other resorts because of the luggage space underneath. it makes the room feel smaller and it makes it impossible to sit on the sides of the beds to eat on the the rollaway table and watch tv etc. Also the natural lighting let into the room from the balcony is low compared to the poly or grand because most the patios have extended roofs blocking sunlight. the walk to epcot was WONDERFUL and was the highlight of the stay as was the pool. I would pick the yacht club over the contemporary any day HOWEVER the pool and convenience of the location does not outweigh the amount of magic you feel staying at the poly and the grand.

Polynesian DVC
I have only stayed in the regular rooms of the poly, never dvc. I did stay dvc at the animal kingdom lodge before and disliked the fact that one of the beds was a sofa converted bed. WE LOVED THE POLY DVC THE BEST!! the colors f the room was beautiful, the rainfall shower was amazing, the sofa bed AND the bed under the tv was comfortable, the ambiance of the whole resort was MAGICAL, I missed it so much when moved over to the yacht club. I would still pick the regular rooms over the dvc if I had the choice however I would never regret booking the dvc room at the poly. when I stayed at the animal kingdom dvc I thought to myself I would pick port Orleans with 2 queens over animal kingdom dvc with 1 bed and sofa. On this trip , out of these 3 resorts, I WISH I HAD BOOKED THE WHOLE TRIP HERE.


To sum it up for all you poly and grand lovers, The other resorts will not suffice in my opinion. stick with those two if you are in love with them. you aren't missing out. the location of the contemporary to mk, the location and pool of the yacht club to epcot , they will never replace the amount of magic you feel when you stay at the poly or grand.

Here are my rankings of where to stay at Disney fro where I have actually stayed:

Grand Floridian and Polynesian (Polynesian if your first time)
Polynesian DVC room
Wilderness Lodge
Port Orleans Riverside Royal Room
Yacht Club
Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC
Contemporary (the room and views of bay lake are beautiful)
Art of Animation lion king suite


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just got back form a split stay in December at the Polynesian DVC , Yacht Club and Contemporary Resort

Contemporary resort
We had a tower room with a bay lake view. It was Gorgeous! the view looks better to me than the magic kingdom view (from videos and pics Ive seen) because its not a parking lot below you, its the pool area and then the beautiful lake. The room was nice and big too just like the grand and the poly. the walk to magic kingdom was 10 minutes which was nice but not more convenient to me than taking the monorail from staying at the grand or poly. In fact I'd prefer taking the monorail. Its more scenic, relaxing, and nostalgic. Our rooms heat and hot water wasn't working until 6pm while it being 40 degrees outside, we were freezing! we contacted the front desk and they said all rooms were like that because they are re-directing all the heat and hot water to chef mickeys since its in a temporary location. Absolutely inexcusable! The other issue with the resort is that the themeing is exactly what you see when you are just visiting- a airport hotel. Some hotels feel different when you stay vs when you are just visiting a la the grand Floridian. I never was interested in staying at the grand when I would visit, but once I stayed, the magic of the place hit me and became my number 1 alongside the poly.Not so with the contemporary. it feels like you are staying offsite to me, except when you are in the room. To sum it up, I will never stay at the contemporary by choice again. That's not because of the heating issue but because the hotel was nothing special and didn't have the Disney magic some of the other resorts convey when you stay there. And that's half the reason I travel to Orlando to stay at Disney.

Yacht Club
We love epcot and do spend most our time their. I also always thought the beach club was a better themed/airier hotel with a nicer lobby than the yacht club when I would visit. After staying there THE YACHT CLUB IS BETTER THAN THE BEACH CLUB. The lobby grows on you when you stay and has much more details than the beach club along with the titanic looking staircase. The new rooms are WONDERFUL! the colors are very nice including the darkwood floor. We watched a video of the beach club room and we said that we are so glad we stayed at the yacht club. The only issue we had was that the beds are higher then most other resorts because of the luggage space underneath. it makes the room feel smaller and it makes it impossible to sit on the sides of the beds to eat on the the rollaway table and watch tv etc. Also the natural lighting let into the room from the balcony is low compared to the poly or grand because most the patios have extended roofs blocking sunlight. the walk to epcot was WONDERFUL and was the highlight of the stay as was the pool. I would pick the yacht club over the contemporary any day HOWEVER the pool and convenience of the location does not outweigh the amount of magic you feel staying at the poly and the grand.

Polynesian DVC
I have only stayed in the regular rooms of the poly, never dvc. I did stay dvc at the animal kingdom lodge before and disliked the fact that one of the beds was a sofa converted bed. WE LOVED THE POLY DVC THE BEST!! the colors f the room was beautiful, the rainfall shower was amazing, the sofa bed AND the bed under the tv was comfortable, the ambiance of the whole resort was MAGICAL, I missed it so much when moved over to the yacht club. I would still pick the regular rooms over the dvc if I had the choice however I would never regret booking the dvc room at the poly. when I stayed at the animal kingdom dvc I thought to myself I would pick port Orleans with 2 queens over animal kingdom dvc with 1 bed and sofa. I WISH I HAD BOOKED THE WHOLE TRIP HERE.


To sum it up for all you poly and grand lovers, The other resorts will not suffice in my opinion. stick with those two if you are in love with them. you aren't missing out. the location of the contemporary to mk, the location and pool of the yacht club to epcot , they will never replace the amount of magic you feel when you stay at the poly or grand.

Here are my rankings of where to stay at Disney fro where I have actually stayed:

Grand Floridian and Polynesian (Polynesian if your first time)
Polynesian DVC room
Wilderness Lodge
Port Orleans Riverside Royal Room and Yacht Club (tie)
Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC
Contemporary
Art of Animation lion king suite


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Thanks so much for your review. We have an upcoming stay at the Poly next month in a DVC studio that for some reason I am not that excited about. I've been regretting not booking The Boardwalk, Beach Club or Animal Kingdom Lodge, all of which we have stayed at many times and love. I'm even wishing I had booked WL over the Poly. We've never stayed there but visited for 4 hours or so earlier this month and loved it. It's so strange, we visit the Poly for meals a few times a year and always enjoy our time there. The public areas (lobby, pool and beach area), are usually so hectic, I think that's what is throwing me off. Your review sparked a bit of hope in me :)
 
Thanks so much for your review. We have an upcoming stay at the Poly next month in a DVC studio that for some reason I am not that excited about. I've been regretting not booking The Boardwalk, Beach Club or Animal Kingdom Lodge, all of which we have stayed at many times and love. I'm even wishing I had booked WL over the Poly. We've never stayed there but visited for 4 hours or so earlier this month and loved it. It's so strange, we visit the Poly for meals a few times a year and always enjoy our time there. The public areas (lobby, pool and beach area), are usually so hectic, I think that's what is throwing me off. Your review sparked a bit of hope in me :)

I hope your stay at Poly is going great!!
 
Love your report.

We really like the Yacht Club better then the Beach Club as well. The Yacht Club is much more quiet and relaxing and the balcony issue is no go for us.

The Poly is awesome!! So glad you liked it.

I have never stayed at the Contemporary, so I really liked your review and the pictures.
 



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