akl vs poly

[buzz1fan]

how is the akl compared to the poly. is the pool nice, how far of a bus ride to the MK? we are debating on changing our reservations on price. we have a 1 and 4 yr old.

 

[collcass]

I should preface this by saying I've never been to WDW but I would think the answer depends entirely on

1. Which park you plan to spend the most time at
2. What time of year you are going

We are going in July and just upgraded to Deluxe. I really liked the look of AKL, however, we plan on spending the majority of our time at MK. The ages of our children coupled with the busy time of year we are going, led us to believe Poly would be our best option.

 

[Frankiesmom]

Having stayed at both; I can honestly say that with the ages of your kids you are going to need the monorail access for mid-day and end of day transportation. Our very 1st trip to WDW was a stay @ AKL with a then almost 4 year old and a 12 year old;we had a savannah view and that was awesome! But then we had another baby and the next trip was at the POLY. The monorail was a lifesaver! It can be a kind of a long ride on the buses back to AKL and with tired, hot, hungry kids I would choose the POLY. Trust me you'll be sooo happy you stuck with the POLY and as the kids get older then you can try a stay at AKL. Both are wonderful resorts; with zero entry pools- either way you'll have a nice resort to stay at; but if I was you I would stick with the POLY. JMHO

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

. . .Trust me you'll be sooo happy you stuck with the POLY and as the kids get older then you can try a stay at AKL.

Or, your kids -- and DH -- may never want to stay anywhere else once they've stayed at the Poly. Trust me, dealing with this now.

 

[keylimepie]

We are stayign at AKL after considering Poly. After this yr, AKL isnt an option as we have 3 kids, the youngest 2. Once shes 3, we are over AKL's room occupancy. We can stay the Poly later. But not AKL. Besides, I like the theming of AKL better, and dh likes the dark! lol

Of course, after lookign at resorts, I tend to lean towards the YC over Poly. I am sure thats debateable, but the YC appeals to me more than the Poly, although I like the look of that, too. And its besides the poitn of the question.

I guess my answer is, if you are planning on having more than 2 kids, Id go to the AKL before it's not a choice. If you aren't then whichever one appeals to the whoel family more. I know the monorail is really convenient, but honestly, for us, it wasn't something we considered in our selection. I havent actually been to either, but it seems the main reason I have seen people choose the poly on here is access to the monorail. Otherwise I havent heard much about why it's so popular.

 

[Beavertails Queen]

I would look at as this - are you going to be spening the most time at the Magic Kingdom? If yes the monorail is going to be your best friend. And it is so close to come and have naps in the middle of the day for your young kids. I personally prefer the AKL as far as theming and a nice resort goes but if you want easy access to MK and Epcot Poly might be the good choice for you.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Our family has stayed at both and love them both! You can't really compare AKL to Poly. It's like comparing apples to pineapples.
Might I suggest a split stay? You could go to AK and DHS when staying at AKL, and then hit EP and MK while staying at the Poly. We actually did this when my DD was 4 and it worked out great! Both resorts have zero entry pools, and tons of kid friendly activities.

 

[maciemouse]

We are thinking the same way you are about the Poly. We usually do stay there because of the monorail and our kids ages are 3 and 4. We are going to Disney in May. We just switched our reservation from the Poly to AKL. I have to say I am nervous about it. I look at it this way, I do not think that Poly is worth a $400. price tag (does not include tax). We have stayed there several times in the last two years. Do I love it? Yes. But we have never payed over $300 a night because we always had a special. This year they have not offered any kind of general public or disney visa code that applies to a "room only". So it is hard to pay over $100 a night more than what we are used to paying. I love the grounds and the convenience of the poly. It is an old resort and the hallways and the buildings itself show that. That is one reason I do not feel it is worth that price tag. So, all in all, we saved over $550. dollars by making the switch. Will I regret it later? l will let you know when I get back. All I do know is that is $550. dollars more we will have to go on our summer vacation to the beach.

We have visited the grounds of AKL and I have to say I was impressed. My son loved the pool and the playground. We have stayed other places besides the Poly so we know what it is like to ride a bus. Nothing can be worse that the bus system at POFQ that we experienced last year. If we can handle making all those stops before getting to the park (especially when it is standing room only) we can handle anything.

This is just my opinion! I hope it helps. The monorail is convenient if you decide to stay there. You will have fun whatever you decide!

 

[5 blind mice]

We recently stayed at the Polynesian with our 3 kids, ranging from 1 (at the time) to 6 years old. For us, the convenience of the Poly was well worth the price. We spent most of our time at the Magic Kingdom, but the transportation was convenient to all parks. Also, the layout of the Polynesian was great. Our room was on the ground floor of Samoa, facing the volcano pool. In the afternoon, while my youngest napped, my 2 oldest and my husband would swim in the volcano pool. I sat on our patio, reading books and listening for my little guy to wake up. I could see the rest of the family swimming in the pool. It was perfect. I have no opinion of AKL, because I've never stayed there. I can only tell you that we were exceptionally happy to have made the choice to stay at the Poly. We'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We have stayed at both with young kids. The poly is hands down better with the monorail access.

AKL was great too. We stayed club level there. My DS loved the lounge. The buses were good, but not great. It all depends what you frame of mind is heading in.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Of course, after lookign at resorts, I tend to lean towards the YC over Poly. I am sure thats debateable, but the YC appeals to me more than the Poly, although I like the look of that, too. And its besides the poitn of the question.


DW and I have been debating this the past couple days. We are planning a club level stay in Dec 09 and it's coming down between Poly and YC. She originally chose YC as did I, but after doing some reading of the resort FAQ's on this site and Deb Will's I conviced here to do Poly. Why?

1) I liked the idea of Poly club level was all in one building. I've read reports of YC rooms can be far from the lounge.
2) I don't think we will be swimming much in Dec so the pool wasn't a huge decision factor. Plus I've read many statements that SAB is too big with litter swimmers. Our kids are 6 and 2 right now.
3) We thought being on the monorail would be key, but it was a close one. Being at the Boardwalk is very nice too.

 

[LeesyUD]

I stayed at both within the last 3 years and absolutely loved both of them. I do not have kids and went with my fiance but I can give you my opinions on the resorts themselves. We stayed at AKL first and thought it was fantastic. We thought we would miss having the water sports like at some of the other moderates and deluxes, but the animals definitely made up for that. We got upgraded to a savannah view and we never got tired of watching the animals on our balcony everyday. We also loved the pool area which was sort of jungle-ish and they had 2 jacuzzis. Boma was great for breakfast and pretty good for dinner and we loved the food court. And the gift shop had some really unique stuff. We loved being near AK bc it is one of our favorite parks. We rent a car so we do not mind a 15-20 drive to MK. I do not know how the bus system is from that resort.
We stayed in POLY a little over a year ago and I was hesitant bc we loved AKL so much. However, we loved POLY just as much! We stayed in a regular garden view room and we were in the building right next to the lobby. We loved captain cooks and ohana is one of our favorite Disney restaurants so we ate there twice last time. The character breakfast itself was just ok but we loved getting pics with mickey, minnie, stitch and lilo. Kona was pretty good too. The rooms were fantastic! We loved the decor and they were a very good size, larger than the ones at AKL. we felt so relaxed in those rooms. The two things we did like better about AKL is that it had the 2 jacuzzis and it was nice to have the indoor hallways for when it was raining. But we did love walking around the grounds when it was nice out and taking pictures. However, me and my fiance felt that it was tough to top the convenience of having the monorail there. It was so much easier to be able to stop back in your room if you wanted a midday rest and it was such a relaxing ride back from the park at night.
We are planning on getting married in Disney and our first choice for honeymoon stay is the POLY. However we have both agreed that if we cannot afford it, we will both be very happy still to stay at the AKL again but we would still just book a standard room to save money. We never bank on getting an upgrade. But we felt even if you don't book a savanna view room, there are plenty of places around the resort to watch the animals.

 

[Blessedx3]

We haved stayed at both. Our kids were 1,2, & 4. We loved each for different reasons. Yes the monorail is nice but you can't always get right on especially with stollers. I may get flamed for this but I would not base my entire decision on the monorail. The AKL is a hike but the buses aren't too bad again strollers can be a struggle with the bus also. The animals were amazing for our 2 yr old. He woke up every morning and wanted to see the animals first thing. We stayed CL at both and did a split stay. One week AKL one week Poly. And I now probably couldn't pick between one or the other. We are returning in Dec and doing the spilt stay again!! Good luck on your decsion. Either way I think you will be happy.

 

[joenan88]

This seems to be hot topic..there are many threads regarding this issue

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1022744

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=11165204#post11165204&highlight=akl+poly

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=13676750#post13676750&highlight=akl+poly