AKL or Poly for Jan 08/marathon

[QueenGoblin]

I hope some of you experts will help me sort through this!

DH, DD (almost 5 by then), DD (13 months by then) and I are heading to the world for about a week. We plan to stay at one of the Value resorts for the first part of the trip and then move into either AKL or Poly for the marathon weekend. Because DH will be running the Goofy Challenge (half marathon on Sat and the full marathon on Sunday) I am going to have blocks of time alone with the girls and even when he is around, he might be too tired to go to the parks, so we will either be hanging around the resort or maybe I would take one or both of the girls to MK by myself.

So how do I pick between the two?

Here are my current Pros:

Poly-neat pool (if Jan weather permits), fun theme, walk to TTC and monorail to MK

AKL - great theme, animal watching, DH loves Boma

I know both offer children's programs, but which is better? I think I would lean to AKL bc DD loves animals, but I'm not sure she will be happy there all day if we decided to skip the parks, and Poly would be so much easier to hop over to MK for a little bit...

Thoughts?!?!?

ETA: This would be our first stay at either. On our previuos trips we stayed at FW and ASMo.

 

[QueenGoblin]

Anyone?

 

[Tina1]

Ok I hope this helps. My DD was going to run the race last Jan, long story short she ended up not running. I did quite a bit of research to see which resort would be more friendly for the early morning transport and location for the wait as they ran by. The Poly was hands down the best. I know there were more reasons but for the life of me I can't rember . Sorry just got home from work(tired). Tina

 

[Tina1]

Now I remember. I looked into the Epcot resorts to see if she could walk to the race (quite early in the morning)No walking that early from the resort to the park.They have to get up real early to bus then wait for the race to start. I did find out it's real cold that early so the best advice I can tell you is to have them take a old sweat shirt to toss beside the road when they warm up. They collect the shirts after and donate them to charty. Tina

 

[Deb & Bill]

If your husband is running the full and half, staying at the Polynesian will allow him to take the monorail to the start and back to the resort. You can also watch him run the full marathon and the half as he goes through the TTC if you are inclined. If you stay at the AKL, he wil have a harder time getting to the start and you are pretty much trapped at the resort until after the full marathon (the runners run along the side of the road coming out of AK. Not really, but traffic does get congested with the siteseers on the sides of the roads and the runners on the other side of the road.

You'll also have an easy time of getting to the MK if you want to watch him run through there. And if you want to get over to Epcot to see the finish, you can hop the monorail over there.

I'd choose the Polynesian over the AKL for marathon weekend.

 

[DizznyChick]

i would go with the poly just for the monorail

 

[Cool-Beans]

I like AKL much more than the Poly. But Poly has the monorail, which is such a big plus, especially if the Marathon ties up traffic...which it always has when I'm there for it.

Still, I'd go AKL. But that's because I like it better.

 

[helloirishkitty]

I've stayed at the AKL and I plan on staying at Poly in December, but for this trip, I think the Poly is the best idea for you. It's close to the monorail, so it'd be easier for you to get both of the DDs with a stroller and all over to see him. If the getting there thing isn't an issue, then pick AKL. It's one of the most unique hotels in the world, and Boma is delicious (which you know.. heh).