Beach club or Poly?

[CanadaLovesDisney]

We are looking at the pros and cons for each.
Do they both have some form of counter service breakfast? We only eat breakfast at the resort usually a quick Mickey waffle or fruit cup. Are these available at these resorts?
Are there any real obvious differences between the two I should consider?:mickey:

Very much appreciated

[faline]

Personally, I would choose the Poly though both are nice resorts.

The quick service at the Poly is a dedicated quick service which means that it serves no other purpose other than being a quick service location with places to sit down after you select your food. The Beach Club quick service shares space with the shop which I found to be a bit strange. I could go to the same register to purchase my meal or the magazine I just selected.

Poly - pros:
Lovely resort
Walking distance to the Grand Floridian
On the monorail (though the new monorail operating hours make this less of a pro than in the past)
Walking distance to the Transportation and Ticket Center
Proxmity to the Magic Kingdom
Boat service to the Magic Kingdom
View of evening fireworks at the Magic Kingdom

Cons:
As this is my favorite resort, I can't really think of any cons.

Beach Club - pros:
Walking distance to Epcot and Disney Studios
Close proximity to Boardwalk as well as the Swan and Dolphin
Boat service to Epcot and Disney Studios
Best pool on Disney property

cons:
No bus service to Epcot or Disney Studios

[minnie-mouse]

The Poly! Especially if you plan to spend a lot of time at MK, so convenient to that and Epcot via monorail. Yes, Poly's Capt Cooks is a counter service (CS) restaurant and it has the big Mickey Waffles. It is nice because you can eat your breakfast on the outside patio every morning, with the view of the lush landscaping and beautiful birds. Just a great way to start every morning. I don't believe Beach Club has a CS restaurant.

The grounds of Poly, lit tiki torches, music, the view of fireworks at night, and electric water parade, great restaurants, monorail. You can't go wrong with Poly.

[Tygger7]

Only word of caution on the Poly: the rumor mill is buzzing that there will be major construction starting at the resort. No specific dates or announcements, but if you are planning to go in 2013 be prepared. In fact, we were planning to stay at the Poly for our 25th anniversary next May and decided to go to the Yacht Club instead. No way I want to deal with ANY major resort construction if I'm spending that much money.

If you are planning to go this year, you should be fine.

[DisneyDINK]

Faline summed it up pretty well, but here's my 2 cents:

Poly:

Pros:
24 hr. Dole Whip available (and other food too) at Capt' Cook's

Cons:
No hot tub


Beach Club:

Pros:
Stormalong Bay is a bit more than a pool. Very nice!
Lots of stuff you can walk to, restaurants, Epcot, HS

Cons:
Usually shares bus service with YC, BW, Swan, Dolphin and the BW and BC Villas. This makes the bus rides long and sometimes too crowded.


I'll probably stay at the Beach Club this year. It is hard to beat the location.

[Mousemates]

Others have added many pros and cons and I will try not to repeat too many of them. Both resorts are very nice, so you won't make a "bad choice" either way.

Poly

Pros - lots of fun stuff going and the enjoyment of staying at a truly iconic resort (which is a rather intangible quality that means a lot to some people and nothing to others).

The Monorail is not just convenient for travel to Epcot/MK and the eateries at GF and CR...it is super cool to watch go by form your room if you have view where you can see it. It adds to the whole disney immersion feeling the resort offers.

Cons - While the lodges have interior hallways, you do have to go outside and into the weather anytime you want to eat, go to the gift shop, or whatever. We prefer accommodations (especially in very hot or rainy weather) where that is not an issue.

No true hot tub at the poly

If you have kids, the main pool at the Poly is kind of like the grinch's heart...three sizes too small...it always feels very crowded.

Also at the pool you have lots of foot traffic coming through at a fairly constant rate requiring you to keep a much closer eye on kids and stuff.

The interior of the rooms are fairly dark (not an issue for me) but for some we have traveled with it has been.

Overall the resort has a very busy feel....constant flow of guests through the lobby and gift shop with folks arriving to eat and enjoy the restaurants and simply look around.

Beach Club

Pros - if you have park hopper passes and thus daily access to Epcot, the dining options become almost unlimited when you take the combined eateries of BC/YC/Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin and World Showcase into account. ( I purposefully left out the studios because they are far enough away to make eating there less convenient).

The pool area will likely be the best pool you or anyone in your party have ever experienced. It is genuinely unique, especially with the sandy floor, beach area for kids, and very long slide. It can also handle a tremendous amount of people without feeling overrun.

There is not lot a lot of foot traffic through the actual resort itself and to enter the pool area at all you need your roomkey or pool bracelet.

Beaches and Cream ice cream.

Walk to minigolf

Cons:

While the rooms are much more bright and cheerful, they have a more generic feel than those at the Poly.

While Epcot is an easy walk, be aware that the walk to Hollywood Studios is a bit more robust...we usually walk it, but at the end of a long day or on a very muggy Florida morning it can be a bit of a chore.

Kids have to cross through a common walkway open to all WDW guests to get to the slide entrance.

[PetefromRI]

Not a huge fan of Y&B.No real quick service food area.Great rooms.We find that the pool is always busy so we opt fot quiet pool.Great location to Epcot.We will stay again but The Poly has it all.I used to miss the hot tub but we found a spot on the end of the pool that has seating and jets and is almost like a built in hottub and the ambience of Hawaii is unmistakable.Monorail service to both MK and Epcot plus all the wonderful restaurants on the loop.Go with the Poly!

[Jayhorn]

I'd rather be able to walk to Epcot than MK (dinner at a different country every night! :mickey:), so I prefer Y&BC and Boardwalk.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Two great resorts. I would always go with the Poly as it is my favorite resort at WDW. For me it is the feeling of being in the heart of WDW. You can always see the castle, riding the monorail, and being close to the MK. The food at the Poly is fantastic with Kona and Ohana. The atmosphere is very relaxing compared to many of the other resorts.

As for the Beach Club it is very nice, has a great pool, and we love the Epcot area. It is a very short walk to Epcot and the World Showcase to eat. We enjoy the boat to DHS as well.

Can't go wrong with either resort but the Poly edges out every other resort IMHO.:thumbsup:

[mom2morgan]

Pros - if you have park hopper passes and thus daily access to Epcot, the dining options become almost unlimited when you take the combined eateries of BC/YC/Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin and World Showcase into account. ( I purposefully left out the studios because they are far enough away to make eating there less convenient).



AND because most of the food choices at DHS are pretty :ack: :-)