WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

did you like it? was it convienient traveling to parks? about how long to the parks?

we are traveling with a 2 and 4 year old so we are looking for the easiest trip possible.
thanx for any info and tips!

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

The Polynesian is very convenient to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot since it's on the monorail.

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

The Poly would probably be the easiest for you with a 2 and 4 year old. It's right on the monorail line. Two stops to the Magic Kingdom. The monorail also stops at the Transporation and Ticket Center so it's down one ramp and up another to catch a monorail to Epcot. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are accesible by bus from the Poly.

The Wilderness Lodge and Villas aren't on the monorail line, but it is a quick boat ride from there to Magic Kingdom where you can hop the on monorail.

We used to stay at Fort Wilderness when I was really little and I LOVED LOVED LOVED taking the boat. I thought that was the best part of Disney!

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

We stayed at the Polynesian and found it super convenient. We were traveling with a 2 year old and 5 month old, and just to be able to roll the strollers on the monorail for both of them was SO nice. It was easy enough to come back to the hotel for naps or a rest and then head back to the park. My DH liked the pool a lot too. We also really liked the character breakfast at Ohana. Overall, I highly recommend if you are looking for convenience to get to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We did also travel to Animal Kingdom by bus--with 2 strollers it was somewhat of a disaster, but we made it and still enjoyed it! HTH!

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

I think you can't go wrong with either. Last November we went to Disney with our 2.5 and 4 year olds and we stayed at Wilderness and LOVED it! Very convenient. No trouble taking the strollers on the boat, etc.

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

My friends and I stayed in the Villas when we were 18....they were great! I remember the bus service took us to the parks.

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

We have stayed 2 times at the Polynesian 1st time with DD#1 when she was 15 months and we went back this past May when she was almost 3 (34.5 months) and DD#2 turned 1 on the trip.

The Poly is THE best for convenience (although the GF and the Contemp are good too) - but the reason I personally love the poly:

You can roll your stroller right onto the monorail to go to the MK.

You can walk next door to the TTC and hop onto the monorail to EPCOT without having to change monorails (you can also hop the MK monorail to the TTC and change to the EPCOT monorail but that is less convenient).

You can walk next door to the TTC and hop the ferry to the MK (or at night when the hordes run for the monorail you can roll your stroller right onto the ferry and walk next door to your hotel). The ferry was much less crowded than the monorail was at parade time at night.

You can watch both the water parade and the MK fireworks from the beach at the Poly (they pipe in the narration from the MK fireworks through rock speakers on the beach). So at night if you don't want to brave the crowds a lot of parents put their children in their PJs and then into their strollers or they bring blankets or sit on the beach chairs.

The only time you would have to take a bus is if you wish to go to HS or AK (or downtown disney).

The WL is a gorgeous hotel and a lot of fun. But there is boat service to the MK and you have to fold up your stroller (per friends who have stayed there). You must take a bus to EPCOT, HS or AK. Definitely a great hotel but more convenient when you have slightly older children. Nothing beats pushing your stroller onto the monorail when you have sleeping children and you watch other parents carrying strollers and sleeping children to the buses at night. It makes it just a little bit less stressful.

The contemporary btw if you are thinking of staying there - has a walkway to the MK so you can walk there from your hotel (you can't do that from the GF) -but you would have to take the monorail to the TTC and transfer to get to EPCOT b/c you cannot walk to the TTC from the Contemporary.

Re: WDW- anyone stay at the wilderness lodge or villas....or polynesian?

thanx everyone, i booked the poly!