WWYD...5 in 1BR at OKW or studio at Poly

[ercrbc]

Planning a trip next year in August and am debating trying the Poly out. We are a family of 5, kids ages 11, nearly 5, and nearly 8. We like to have space in the rooms and honestly prefer the 2BRs (who doesn't? lol) But I am borrowing for this trip and trying to be a bit conservative on pts. We own at OKW and love it there, but haven't tried the Poly and thought for a trip in Aug when it's hot and crowded it may be nice to be on the monorail and have access to a new fun pool. We could stay an extra night at the Poly and be a few points under the 1BR at OKW. But we wouldn't have a kitchen or W/D...and I actually like to keep up with laundry on vacation. I like the idea of the split bathroom at the poly though...but then there is the additional space to spread out in the 1BR. Location wins at Poly, but we do like taking the boat to DTD from OKW.

Questions that can help me:

is there a maximum height at the kids water spray area at the Poly? My 11yo will not be thrilled if she can't play on it too. Any other thoughts on the pool? we will spend time there everyday.

for those that have stayed at Poly with 5...how was the space for luggage and clothes? If I'm not doing laundry then I'll have to pack enough for everyone for 5 maybe 6 nights.

At the Poly, are there strings to hang wet clothes in both bathrooms? We swim everyday esp in Aug and I'll be drying out swim stuff constantly.

Also the kitchenette, is there any additional counterspace than in other studios? If we pack food will we have room to keep it (breakfast, snacks, waterbottles, sandwich stuff?)

Thanks for any help, reviews and opinions! I'm thinking we would book standard view at Poly to save points, so any feedback factoring that in would be awesome!

 

[erionm]

Size wise, the OKW 1-bedroom will be a little more than double the square footage of the Poly Studio.

OKW 1-bedroom: 1005 sq ft
Poly Studio: 447 sq ft

 

[nalajms]

is there a maximum height at the kids water spray area at the Poly? My 11yo will not be thrilled if she can't play on it too. Any other thoughts on the pool? we will spend time there everyday.

There's no height limit for the water play area. However, they do restrict older kids from sliding down the baby slide. There's a life guard stationed there. I'm sure your 11 yo won't want to go on it anyways. The best part about the volcano pool is there's a bathroom under the big slide With little kids, it's a great feature.

for those that have stayed at Poly with 5...how was the space for luggage and clothes? If I'm not doing laundry then I'll have to pack enough for everyone for 5 maybe 6 nights.
Also the kitchenette, is there any additional counterspace than in other studios? If we pack food will we have room to keep it (breakfast, snacks, waterbottles, sandwich stuff?

We were there with 4. The problem we run into is a lack of sitting space. There are 2 chairs and a small table. If we're all eating, someone has to use the ottoman. And we have to put the pull out bed away if we want additional seats.

There's counter space below the TV as part of the murphy bedframe. That's where we store all the junk food, water, and MBs.

Clothes storage would have been an issue for us if we were there more than a few days. I would say Poly is a bit more than the one dresser in an OKW studio.

 

[ercrbc]

Size wise, the OKW 1-bedroom will be a little more than double the square footage of the Poly Studio.

OKW 1-bedroom: 1005 sq ft
Poly Studio: 447 sq ft

Thanks for that! Double the square footage is definitely a win for OKW, but....does location and pool beat size between these resorts? This one is a tough choice!

There's no height limit for the water play area. However, they do restrict older kids from sliding down the baby slide. There's a life guard stationed there. I'm sure your 11 yo won't want to go on it anyways. The best part about the volcano pool is there's a bathroom under the big slide With little kids, it's a great feature.

We were there with 4. The problem we run into is a lack of sitting space. There are 2 chairs and a small table. If we're all eating, someone has to use the ottoman. And we have to put the pull out bed away if we want additional seats.

There's counter space below the TV as part of the murphy bedframe. That's where we store all the junk food, water, and MBs.

Clothes storage would have been an issue for us if we were there more than a few days. I would say Poly is a bit more than the one dresser in an OKW studio.

Thanks so much! These answers are really helpful. I think as much as I want to try the Poly, OKW will win because of space. It will be nice to have the full kitchen, table and big porch. But the pool at the Poly sounds amazing! Maybe next time we do a weekend with just a few nights. For a whole week I think we will be too cramped in the studio.

 

[Deb & Bill]

OKW also has a full sized washer and dryer in the villa. Not stackables.

 

[kjmollypup]

There's no height limit for the water play area. However, they do restrict older kids from sliding down the baby slide. There's a life guard stationed there. I'm sure your 11 yo won't want to go on it anyways. The best part about the volcano pool is there's a bathroom under the big slide With little kids, it's a great feature.

There is definitely a height limit for the water play area - it is 48". We were at the pool five different days in August, and four of those days I never saw anyone check the height of a child. However, one day there was a vigilant lifeguard who checked every kid who was even close to 48", including my taller-than-average 6 year old DD, who actually was just shy of 48". Just wanted to let you know this as your 11 year old might be sensitive to being approached and measured by a lifeguard (my DD thought she'd done something wrong). YMMV, of course, but wanted to let you know in case. The resort and pool are lovely, though!

 

[lovin'fl]

Could do a split stay. Maybe a couple nights at Poly first and then over to OKW.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

If you have stayed at OKW in the past, I would definitely try Poly. It sounds like your kids could still be in a single room with their parents, even though it would be a squeeze. Being on the monorail is great for Magic Kingdom, but you also have access to the boat launches (about 20 people) from the Poly dock to the MK, and you have a short walk to the TTC so you can take the Ferry boat to MK or the Monorail to MK or Epcot. It is easy to stay late at the park, and it is easy to see the fireworks from Poly, with the music piped in to the beach.

Poly studios don't have laundry in the rooms, but they do have laundry in Moorea. You can check availability of washer/dryer and see when your clothes are ready at this website.
http://www.laundryview.com/disneyworld/

You wouldn't want to do this every time, but it is well worth doing once.

 

[freediverdude]

I think it depends on how much time you're planning to spend at the resort and in the unit hanging out versus being out and about doing things. The laundry I wouldn't worry that much about, especially if you're able to get a unit in Moorea, it's very convenient to go to the laundry room, and the Poly studios have a laundry basket in the room.

By the time you go, the new quiet pool will be open with the new bar and grill area, and you'll want to spend some time there, as well as the main pool area, and Trader Sam's for the adults, and watch the torch lighting ceremony one evening. And possibly the luau. So with Poly you'll be out and doing more and seeing more, versus OKW would be a more relaxed laid back spend a lot of time in the unit type of vacation. So we're really talking two different types of vacations here. Being on the monorail is completely different and changes how you vacation- you would be popping back and forth to MK and Epcot from the resort, sometimes at least a couple times per day, versus doing the bus and usually one back and forth somewhere per day.

I think you would be happy in the Poly studio, it has 3 separate beds, unless you were really thinking lots of together time in the unit, cooking meals and so forth, with the parks secondary, in which case then OKW.

 

[jimmytammy]

If you arent going to be in room for long periods of time, Poly should be fine. OKW is a great hangout in the room resort IMO, very relaxing. This would be my deciding factor.