Help!? AKL or Poly??

[flinkerfrosch]

I was certain we were going to stay at AKL (even booked it already) but now I'm considering staying at the Poly. We are going in Oct for 10 days with DH and 2 boys under 6. What resort would you stay at and why? Its about a $600 difference, is it worth it?
I'm soooo stuck!!!! Thanks

 

[wiigirl]

Poly is my absolute favorite.

The Poly always makes it feel like a vacation.

 

[AJKMOM]

I love AKL! But haven't stayed at the Poly. You will have fun at either one. If you are going to the MK a lot, you might want the Poly because of the monorail. Although, the last time I was at WDW, the monorail was sporadically stopped for repairs.

 

[heidijanesmith]

Two of our favorite resorts! We are also going in Oct (4-13) and staying at AKL.

We stayed at AKL for our 1st visit to WDW and thought it was a perfect 1st resort. The theme is amazing, beautiful rooms and lobby. Bus service is excellent and great food options. Feels like you are on an African safari and it's very quiet.

The Poly is our favorite. Huge rooms, awesome location and day bed in every room. Feels like your in the middle of everything. Watching Wishes from the beach/pool or GCH is heaven!

With kids that age, both resorts are appealing. If you want a little more space in your room, go for the Poly. The day beds are comfy and a great option. AKL has bunkbeds, if your kids don't like to sleep together. The Poly is very convenient to MK and EPCOT and the bus service was great for us.

Either way, they are great resorts

 

[mickeynut1]

I was certain we were going to stay at AKL (even booked it already) but now I'm considering staying at the Poly. We are going in Oct for 10 days with DH and 2 boys under 6. What resort would you stay at and why? Its about a $600 difference, is it worth it?
I'm soooo stuck!!!! Thanks

We've stayed at both and while we love AKL, the Poly is our favorite and that would be our choice without question. We love the Poly for the tropical atmosphere, larger room, being just 2 monorail stops away from MK, being within walking distance to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail, the volcano pool as it backs up to the beach with a view of the castle in the distance, the beach for watching the fireworks, convenience to the CR and GF for a variety of dining options, and Captain Cooks for quick meals/snacks (which is our favorite resort CS). With all of that said, AKL is a beautiful resort and I'm sure you will have a great trip no matter which one you choose, but if you will be spending a lot of time at MK, the Poly would be the most convenient (especially if you will be taking breaks during the day and going back to the resort). Good luck.

 

[mmmears]

We love them both, and have done several split-stays at those two. IMO that's the best since you get to experience both for 4-5 days each, but I know that not everyone likes to switch hotels in the middle of their vacation.

If I had to pick one... It's hard. We love AKL and the animals, theming, etc. We also really like the larger rooms and better transportation at the Poly. I don't mind the buses at AKL, but I might if I stayed there for 10 days straight. Poly will give you more options for parks and dining without taking a bus... and will be easier to come back to for pool time or a nap in the afternoon.

 

[DisGirlAllie]

Have you stayed at AKL before? We love AKL but given the choice, and if money wasn't a huge factor, we'd try Poly. Either resort is excellent so I'm sure you'd be happy with either

Just to note, I've found that AKL is kind of a PITA for transportation. If you have a car or a lot of patience, then great. I always figured (and could be wrong) that staying at a monorail resort meant transportation was less of an issue.

 

[AquaDame]

The moment the Poly becomes affordable by renting DVC points, we will be there. In the meantime, I am an AKL girl! If $ were no object, I would absolutely try it next time!

 

[jenjersnap]

AKL has many charms. We used to enjoy it before our family became too large (trying DVC there is on our to do list). We always visit for a meal and to enjoy the ambiance now. We find the rooms small, even when it was just 4 of us, and very far from everything if using bus transportation.

That said, for $600 over 10 nights, the Poly is a no brainer for me, especially with the renovation. The only Poly cons are the too small pool, no hot tub (if that is your thing, but they may be putting one in sometime this year) and sharing busses with other resorts. We love the Poly.

 

[flinkerfrosch]

Have you stayed at AKL before? We love AKL but given the choice, and if money wasn't a huge factor, we'd try Poly. Either resort is excellent so I'm sure you'd be happy with either

Just to note, I've found that AKL is kind of a PITA for transportation. If you have a car or a lot of patience, then great. I always figured (and could be wrong) that staying at a monorail resort meant transportation was less of an issue.

I have not stayed at AKL before. I haven't been to Disney since 2005, and this will be my boys 1st time along with my DH.

So many great points by everyone. I'm still unsure...

 

[flinkerfrosch]

AKL has many charms. We used to enjoy it before our family became too large (trying DVC there is on our to do list). We always visit for a meal and to enjoy the ambiance now. We find the rooms small, even when it was just 4 of us, and very far from everything if using bus transportation.

That said, for $600 over 10 nights, the Poly is a no brainer for me, especially with the renovation. The only Poly cons are the too small pool, no hot tub (if that is your thing, but they may be putting one in sometime this year) and sharing busses with other resorts. We love the Poly.

The pool is a big factor. That's why I decided on AKL over WL was because AKL has 2 great pools and 2 waterside.
Is the pool that small at the Poly??

 

[flinkerfrosch]

We love them both, and have done several split-stays at those two. IMO that's the best since you get to experience both for 4-5 days each, but I know that not everyone likes to switch hotels in the middle of their vacation.

If I had to pick one... It's hard. We love AKL and the animals, theming, etc. We also really like the larger rooms and better transportation at the Poly. I don't mind the buses at AKL, but I might if I stayed there for 10 days straight. Poly will give you more options for parks and dining without taking a bus... and will be easier to come back to for pool time or a nap in the afternoon.

We had considered a split stay, but its very confusing with tickets/dining plan. I am hoping for a good discount on the room rate and paying OOP for the dining plan, but if I did the discount (if one becomes available) can I do a split stay and apply the discount to each reservation?
I love the idea of a split stay, and getting to experience both resorts.
This is all new to me, so any info is greatly appreciated, thank-you!!

 

[flinkerfrosch]

We love them both, and have done several split-stays at those two. IMO that's the best since you get to experience both for 4-5 days each, but I know that not everyone likes to switch hotels in the middle of their vacation.

If I had to pick one... It's hard. We love AKL and the animals, theming, etc. We also really like the larger rooms and better transportation at the Poly. I don't mind the buses at AKL, but I might if I stayed there for 10 days straight. Poly will give you more options for parks and dining without taking a bus... and will be easier to come back to for pool time or a nap in the afternoon.

We have a lot of ADR's..is it difficult to get to them? For example we have;
*Chef Mickey's
*Ohana dinner and breakfast
*Cape May Chef
*Boma (if we stay at AKL)
*T-rex
And others that we will do while in the parks.

 

[dfarner]

The pool is a big factor. That's why I decided on AKL over WL was because AKL has 2 great pools and 2 waterside.
Is the pool that small at the Poly??

We were there two summers ago and I don't have any complaints about the size of the pool. I would say it was semi-crowded, but not cramped, if that makes sense. They did a great job of checking resort IDs (and they DID asks unregistered guests to leave), and the activity group that did the games by the pool was great. They played wonderful music and had some fantastic games for the kids. All in all, I had planned on a very cramped, tiny pool with lots of pool hoppers, and found none of that. We found it to be very pleasant.

 

[jenjersnap]

The pool is a big factor. That's why I decided on AKL over WL was because AKL has 2 great pools and 2 waterside.
Is the pool that small at the Poly??

It isn't teeny tiny but it can get pretty crowded. It is a little too small for the resort's size, IMO. We spend more time at the quiet pool, to be honest, though my kids enjoy the volcano slide.

ETA: if you go down the page to "recreation and fun", there are many pics of the volcano pool for you to gauge the relative size. http://allears.net/acc/g_poly.htm

 

[jenjersnap]

We had considered a split stay, but its very confusing with tickets/dining plan. I am hoping for a good discount on the room rate and paying OOP for the dining plan, but if I did the discount (if one becomes available) can I do a split stay and apply the discount to each reservation?
I love the idea of a split stay, and getting to experience both resorts.
This is all new to me, so any info is greatly appreciated, thank-you!!

If the discount is available for the two resorts, yes, you can receive the discount on two room only reservations. We nearly always do split stays and have done this many times, including this upcoming reservation. Other times, we have done a package with tix, dining (sometimes free) and room for first part of split stay and room only for the second portion. All discounted in some way because we won't go without one.

 

[dfarner]

We have a lot of ADR's..is it difficult to get to them? For example we have;
*Chef Mickey's
*Ohana dinner and breakfast
*Cape May Chef
*Boma (if we stay at AKL)
*T-rex
And others that we will do while in the parks.

Chef Mickey's, Ohana, and Cape May are accessible by monorail. I would take that into consideration. You can reach Cape May by taking the monorail to Epcot and walking to Beach Club. That may be something you want to consider...it wouldn't be a deal breaker for us, but definitely a consideration for ease of transportation. Will you have a car? If so, I wouldn't even factor in the monorail...just drive.

 

[flinkerfrosch]

Two of our favorite resorts! We are also going in Oct (4-13) and staying at AKL.

We stayed at AKL for our 1st visit to WDW and thought it was a perfect 1st resort. The theme is amazing, beautiful rooms and lobby. Bus service is excellent and great food options. Feels like you are on an African safari and it's very quiet.

The Poly is our favorite. Huge rooms, awesome location and day bed in every room. Feels like your in the middle of everything. Watching Wishes from the beach/pool or GCH is heaven!

With kids that age, both resorts are appealing. If you want a little more space in your room, go for the Poly. The day beds are comfy and a great option. AKL has bunkbeds, if your kids don't like to sleep together. The Poly is very convenient to MK and EPCOT and the bus service was great for us.

Either way, they are great resorts

I would say that cleanliness and pools, activities for the kids is our 1st priority, then transportation. Room size is last on the list cause we will spent a lot of time at the parks and relaxing around the pools, going to the water parks etc....we plan on doing 5 park days and 5 down days..we pretty much planned every other day for a park and a down day in between. We want to see the parks of course, but we also really want to enjoy the resort as well, and get our $$'s worth!!

 

[flinkerfrosch]

Chef Mickey's, Ohana, and Cape May are accessible by monorail. I would take that into consideration. You can reach Cape May by taking the monorail to Epcot and walking to Beach Club. That may be something you want to consider...it wouldn't be a deal breaker for us, but definitely a consideration for ease of transportation. Will you have a car? If so, I wouldn't even factor in the monorail...just drive.

Do you mean if I stay at the Poly?
And, no, no car..

 

[flinkerfrosch]

If the discount is available for the two resorts, yes, you can receive the discount on two room only reservations. We nearly always do split stays and have done this many times, including this upcoming reservation. Other times, we have done a package with tix, dining (sometimes free) and room for first part of split stay and room only for the second portion. All discounted in some way because we won't go without one.

Thank-you!

If free dining became available, could you do the 1st reservation with free dining and the 2nd reservation with room discount?
Does AKL and the Poly normally have a discount in Oct? I know free dining is possible...