We will be visiting WDW in August with teenage boys, 17/15 and are keen to stay in WDW to allow boys freedom to visit the parks on their own at times. Is the monorail system the easiest route in/out Disney or do the buses offer the same kind of freedom we are looking for?
Has anyone an idea if Polynesian have small suites suitable for 4 of us and if so what would we expect to pay?
Thanks in advance for assistance
Fiona

Fiona - Your boys will probably LOVE DisneyQuest which is at Downtown Disney complex - Westside. It is separate admission but worth it, 5 floor of interactive/virtual reality type rides. The monorail system only goes to limited areas - the 3 original resorts, MK & Epcot - so you will take the Disney busses to everything else (& the transport system is great). For WDW hotel recommendations/reports check wdwig.com the unofficial guide site maintained by Deb Wills which has MANY trip reports from contributors. When my family has stayed on WDW property, we have stayed at the All-Star budget resorts. the rooms are small but saving money is our primary focus, and we don't spend much time in the rooms at all. There are several hotels on Hotel Boulevard near Downtown Disney which also offer shuttle service, they are "partner" or "good neighbor" hotels, plus you can always walk over to Downtown disney to catch the shuttle busses there. have fun!

One more thing....
I hope you are going the last half of August. It will be REALLY HOT! BUT - the Florida schools reopen in mid-August so crowds at the parks are less. We have been past 3 years the last week of August (just before Labor Day, A US holiday that falls on the first Monday in sept.) and most attractions have minimal waits, and we use the free fastpass system for the few most popular WDW attractions.

Disneyquest is a little overrated. I don't think I would travel all the way to WDW and pay to get in there. Disneyquest is in every major US city, we have one here in Chicago and i went and took my neice and nephew who love video games, they were boreds in 2 hours! Polynesian on the other hand is a greaat pick for the hotel., teenagers will love it and staying in WDW is great. use the buses to get around and you will be fine!

Disney Quest is located only in Orlando and Chicago. I would hardly call that every major U.S. city.

I'm sorry I could have sworn there was a disneyquest in LA and NY as well at the very least. I guess I stand corrected, but at any rate it was fun but not nearly woth the money and as I said you can do everything in less than 2 hours. If you have the money to spend go for it, but for the money I would choose to do something else. Anyway WDW is full of things to do and tennagers with find plenty to occupy themselves in downtown disney. I also suggest a visit to Blizzard Beach waterpark!

Hi Fiona, yes the boys will be able to get around just fine on their own. It's one of the best parts of staying on WDW property- being able to split the group up makes it so much easier when not everyone agrees with what the game plan should be. Monorail, buses, boats- as a guest staying on property you'll be able to use it all. Don't think you have to stay at the Polynesian just because of the monorail. Consider all of the resorts and choose the one that appeals the most to you. You can get from virtually any resort to any park. That information will be given to you in a resort booklet when you check in.

I was just looking through my new AAA guide to Florida and the Polynesian was one of the resorts that gave me sticker shock. It does mention that the Polynesian has "853 units, 4 with efficiancy. Some suites ($435-$2015)". That's quite a range, so I'd contact the hotel directly.

Have fun!

OK, so I checked my home email tonight & here is my latest online issue of ALLEARS, the wdwig.com newsletter. And Deb reports that several readers have reported to her a special rate at the All-Star resorts Aug 9 thru Oct 3 - $49 per night per room! you have to call Disney reservations at 407-W-DISNEY and mention code CVZ. Ask about any restrictions. I am calling in the morning! PS Get your kids to do research on wdwig.com & the Disney website, and with guidebooks - have them decide what they would like to do the most.

We stayed at the Polynesia and didn't pay anywhere near $435 a night! I thought one of the major advantages of the hotel was the monorail. We found the monorail system to be faster and easier than the buses. The second week of the trip we moved to Caribbean Beach and really missed the monorail.

I think the $435/night is for suites or concierge service. Rates at the Polynesian tend to start around $224/night. If you have a Disney Club card, you can get a 10-20% discount off your room rate.

Yes, the $435-$2015 is the price range for the suites! AAA gives prices of $289-$490 for the regular rooms in August.

As much as I love Disney, if I had $2,000 to spend on a hotel room, I doubt I would go there.

Seeing the ages of your kids I would consider Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and Citywalk. It is geared more towards the older kids.

Fiona,

It seems that part of your question is asking how many of you can fit in a room. Unfortunately, most Disney resorts are geared for four people, figuring two in one bed and two in another. There are exceptions, however. For example, a standard room at the Polynesian will have a daybed in addn. to the two double beds. Thus one boy could sleep in the daybed. The proximity to the monorail is great.

Dixie Landings rooms have (unadvertised) trundle beds, but a teen might be too tall to fit.

Wilderness Lodge has bunkbeds in some rooms. We stayed there in Sept. and took the buses back and forth. Our kids--then 12 and 14--took the bus to a park on their own once or twice and it worked fine.

You can also pay to have a rollaway brought in. And you can pay to rent a fridge--this is definitely worth it. We buy groceries for breakfast and make our own each morning (juice, cereal, bagels). Then you don't have to spend a fortune for breakfast.

Check out these excellent Web sites for more Disney-specific information (provided by people who are way too much into Disney and need to get lives): wdwig.com, wdwinfo.com

Fiona, We are WDW "addicts" and have stayed at The Contemporary, The Polynesian, The Carribean Beach Resort, All-Star Sports and All-Star Movies. Our favorite now (we have stayed there the last 4 times) are the All-Star Resorts. We get 2 adjoining rooms for less than we paid at most of the other resorts we stayed at. The All-Star resort are super. Because those resorts are so large, you never have to wait for a bus. The Polynesian was only convienient to get to The Magic Kingdom. Even to get to EpCOT you have to take 2 different monorails. The bus was almost as fast. And the All-STar Resorts are across the street (still a bus ride)from MGM Studios. My teenage sons and my 7 year old daughter LOVED Disney Quest! So did my husband and I. We got there when it opened at 10:00am and didn't leave until 8:00pm. There is so much to do! Of course it helped that when we went it wasn't crowded so there weren't waits for anything. I would NOT go there on a weekend because I think the local crowd hits in then.

Fiona-

Since your budget allows for the "deluxe" Polynesian category, you may also want to consider the Boardwalk Inn, and Yacht & Beach Club resort area. These hotels are situated around a lovely lagoon, immediately adjacent to the rear entrance of Epcot.

Epcot is literally a 5 minute walk, MGM is a 10 minute boatride, and as other posters have noted, busses efficiently get you everywhere else (Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, etc).

We've been to WDW 8-9 times, the last 5 at the Beach Club (on one stay we tranferred out of the Polynesian & into the Beach Club .. another story). The Beach Club's extensive pool complex (shared with Yacht Club) is the most fanciful & elaborate of any hotel at WDW.

As my son got older (he's nearly 17 now), he got more & more interested in Epcot than the Magic Kingdom, so being a few minutes walk away is a great convenience.