AKL or Poly?

[Doug S]

Well, I've hit quite a snag for my September plans. My friends have decided they're unable to join me for the first part of my trip. The original plan was going to be to split a room at GF for 3 nights, then I would continue on solo for another 3 at AKL.

With no one to split the cost, I'm changing my plans to start at an All-Star for 3 nights then switch to a deluxe for the last 3. The offer I have has the GF for under $300/night, but as a guy in his mid-20's, it just isn't my style. I know some would call me insane for passing up such a good offer, but it's quite a hit to my budget and I just don't think it's me.

The quote I have for a standard at Poly is about $150 total more than the cheapest I can get a standard at AKL. What would you choose? My new dates would overlap a Halloween Party night and I will be visiting Epcot almost every day for the Food & Wine festival. Is it worth giving up a chance to wake up with the animals to have the larger room and better transportation? I bummed around Poly last trip and absolutely loved the atmosphere. Really took me back to my trip to Hawaii.

 

[dansdad]

Well, I've hit quite a snag for my September plans. My friends have decided they're unable to join me for the first part of my trip. The original plan was going to be to split a room at GF for 3 nights, then I would continue on solo for another 3 at AKL.

With no one to split the cost, I'm changing my plans to start at an All-Star for 3 nights then switch to a deluxe for the last 3. The offer I have has the GF for under $300/night, but as a guy in his mid-20's, it just isn't my style. I know some would call me insane for passing up such a good offer, but it's quite a hit to my budget and I just don't think it's me.

The quote I have for a standard at Poly is about $150 total more than the cheapest I can get a standard at AKL. What would you choose? My new dates would overlap a Halloween Party night and I will be visiting Epcot almost every day for the Food & Wine festival. Is it worth giving up a chance to wake up with the animals to have the larger room and better transportation? I bummed around Poly last trip and absolutely loved the atmosphere. Really took me back to my trip to Hawaii.

I would chose AKL for the $$ savings and it really is an awesome resort that should be experienced at least once. And if you're visiting Epcot everyday, the ride from AKL and Poly will be the same amount of travel time.

 

[mickeynut1]

Well, I've hit quite a snag for my September plans. My friends have decided they're unable to join me for the first part of my trip. The original plan was going to be to split a room at GF for 3 nights, then I would continue on solo for another 3 at AKL.

With no one to split the cost, I'm changing my plans to start at an All-Star for 3 nights then switch to a deluxe for the last 3. The offer I have has the GF for under $300/night, but as a guy in his mid-20's, it just isn't my style. I know some would call me insane for passing up such a good offer, but it's quite a hit to my budget and I just don't think it's me.

The quote I have for a standard at Poly is about $150 total more than the cheapest I can get a standard at AKL. What would you choose? My new dates would overlap a Halloween Party night and I will be visiting Epcot almost every day for the Food & Wine festival. Is it worth giving up a chance to wake up with the animals to have the larger room and better transportation? I bummed around Poly last trip and absolutely loved the atmosphere. Really took me back to my trip to Hawaii.

If the extra cost is doable, I'd go with the Poly. We've stayed at both and while we do love AKL, the Poly is our favorite. We found the transportation at AKL to be fine, but we enjoy being on the monorail. AKL has beautiful surroundings, but we love the tropical atmosphere of the Poly and there's nothing like seeing the castle every day. With that said, both are awesome resorts and you really can't go wrong with either one. Have a great trip .

 

[100acreHiker]

Poly. AKL is just so removed that the incovenience outweighs how lovely the resort is. And it's not like Poly isn't lovely. It's beautiful. And for a single guy, it's busy and lively and you'll have great access to Epcot via the monorail, etc, and boat access to MK. Worth the extra $150 to not be taking buses the whole trip, too.

 

[StaciaRae]

We LOVE AKL - I swear I could vacation there for a week and never leave the grounds. Having said that - I'd choose Poly. Poly is just closer to where you'll be going every day. You'll spend an hour a day on the bus back and forth to AKL. If your trip included a fair amount of time at HS and AK, then I'd suggest AKL, but if not, go with Poly. AKL will give you a good reason to come back to WDW soon!

 

[loves to dive]

I'd go with AKL. First, it's not any further out than any of the moderates as far as Epcot goes and might actually be closer than MK. I've stayed at all the deluxe resorts except WL and SS and, as an adult, the monorail resorts are my least favorites. I love visiting them but Epcot and HS are our favorite parks and having to rely on the monorail to get me to Epcot is a deal breaker. I've never been on the thing when it didn't break down. If they provided both buses and the monorail, I might be swayed to stay there but not with just the monorail. Save the money and eat more at F&W.

 

[dansdad]

We LOVE AKL - I swear I could vacation there for a week and never leave the grounds. Having said that - I'd choose Poly. Poly is just closer to where you'll be going every day. You'll spend an hour a day on the bus back and forth to AKL. If your trip included a fair amount of time at HS and AK, then I'd suggest AKL, but if not, go with Poly. AKL will give you a good reason to come back to WDW soon!

OP is going to be at Epcot everyday which is equal distance from AKL and Poly. If OP was going to be at MK everyday, then yes Poly has an advantage.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

As a solo traveler, if you can swing it, I would probably pick Poly over AKL. It just feels a little more livelier than AKL. AKL is gorgeous, though! If you are worried about transportation at AKL, you can always take uber. In fact, I would recommend it if you are going to EP primarily for F&W. Take uber to BC or BWI and walk right into the IG entrance at EP.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Love both resorts! For our last three trip we have stayed at either the AKL (1x) or the Poly (2x, including F&W 2015). For your purposes I would go with the Poly, if budget at all allows.

The main reason for this is that from the Poly, you can walk to the TTC and board the Epcot Monorail directly with no transfers. While mileage to Epcot from the Poly vs. AKL may be roughly equal, the direct monorail trip is in general much quicker and more pleasant (though, as always, problems can happen). For our 2015 F&W trip, we always made it from our room at the Poly to inside Epcot in 30 minutes or less, total trip. Mind you, we were usually traveling after the rope drop crowd surge, so bag check went pretty quickly. Return trip via the monorails also felt very slick and beat waiting at the bus stop after a long day.

I absolutely LOVE AKL and have already booked my December trip there. I found the bus service to be very good - for buses. We were very pleased with it and would not hesitate to recommend it. That said, the trip to Epcot took about 2x as long from room to inside park than it did from the Poly. MK travel time was even more disparate, especially during heavy traffic times. It did cut into our vacation time. Over the five days/four nights we were there, I would estimate a few hours were lost on transportation vs. the Poly, because we ended up visiting Epcot and MK three times each. Not a problem for us, but we decided that for future stays at AKL, we may add on a day to make up for it. Some excuse, huh?

Only you can know if the added convenience of the Poly is worth $150 to you over three days. Either way, don't worry, you are sure to enjoy yourself. $150 can buy quite a bit at F&W! Have fun!

Edit to add: Uber is a great suggestion. $150 can buy a lot of Uber trips too, still looking at 20+ minutes to Epcot and MK, but still quicker that the bus routine.

 

[Doug S]

Thank you for your replies everyone! I crunched the numbers some more, and actually it's a $80 or 110 difference depending on if my TA can check me in on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. This is definitely going to be a hard decision.

I would chose AKL for the $$ savings and it really is an awesome resort that should be experienced at least once. And if you're visiting Epcot everyday, the ride from AKL and Poly will be the same amount of travel time.

Very true. Would have to walk over to the TTC, go through security, take the monorail over, then go through security again at EP. Hopefully they'll change the procedure at EP by time I'm there to allow monorail riders to skip security.

I'd go with AKL. First, it's not any further out than any of the moderates as far as Epcot goes and might actually be closer than MK. I've stayed at all the deluxe resorts except WL and SS and, as an adult, the monorail resorts are my least favorites. I love visiting them but Epcot and HS are our favorite parks and having to rely on the monorail to get me to Epcot is a deal breaker. I've never been on the thing when it didn't break down. If they provided both buses and the monorail, I might be swayed to stay there but not with just the monorail. Save the money and eat more at F&W.

I've hopped between EP and MK before so I understand the monorail pains. When it does work and you catch a train at the right time, it's fantastic and I love cruising in the air instead of the bumpy roads.

As a solo traveler, if you can swing it, I would probably pick Poly over AKL. It just feels a little more livelier than AKL. AKL is gorgeous, though! If you are worried about transportation at AKL, you can always take uber. In fact, I would recommend it if you are going to EP primarily for F&W. Take uber to BC or BWI and walk right into the IG entrance at EP.

The savings at AKL could definitely pay for a few Ubers. However it's tempting to be in the same resort as Trader Sam's and be a monorail ride away from the bars at GF & CR.

Love both resorts! For our last three trip we have stayed at either the AKL (1x) or the Poly (2x, including F&W 2015). For your purposes I would go with the Poly, if budget at all allows.

The main reason for this is that from the Poly, you can walk to the TTC and board the Epcot Monorail directly with no transfers. While mileage to Epcot from the Poly vs. AKL may be roughly equal, the direct monorail trip is in general much quicker and more pleasant (though, as always, problems can happen). For our 2015 F&W trip, we always made it from our room at the Poly to inside Epcot in 30 minutes or less, total trip. Mind you, we were usually traveling after the rope drop crowd surge, so bag check went pretty quickly. Return trip via the monorails also felt very slick and beat waiting at the bus stop after a long day.

I absolutely LOVE AKL and have already booked my December trip there. I found the bus service to be very good - for buses. We were very pleased with it and would not hesitate to recommend it. That said, the trip to Epcot took about 2x as long from room to inside park than it did from the Poly. MK travel time was even more disparate, especially during heavy traffic times. It did cut into our vacation time. Over the five days/four nights we were there, I would estimate a few hours were lost on transportation vs. the Poly, because we ended up visiting Epcot and MK three times each. Not a problem for us, but we decided that for future stays at AKL, we may add on a day to make up for it. Some excuse, huh?

Only you can know if the added convenience of the Poly is worth $150 to you over three days. Either way, don't worry, you are sure to enjoy yourself. $150 can buy quite a bit at F&W! Have fun!

Edit to add: Uber is a great suggestion. $150 can buy a lot of Uber trips too, still looking at 20+ minutes to Epcot and MK, but still quicker that the bus routine.

I really do like that you can walk to the TTC from Poly to catch the direct monorail to Epcot, and it's not that far of a walk either as long as you're east of the marina. I will only likely go from the resort to MK maybe twice. Other times I'll probably be hopping to MK. Hoping to visit AK at least 2 days because of all the Avatar stuff, so the shared bus at Poly might be bothersome. After my trip to F&W last year, I discovered I'm a magician with my main trick making $100+ disappear quickly!

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

Both great resorts ...based on your information, sounds like Poly would be the best choice! There is so much activity around the resort plus the ability to bar hop at the other monorail hotels - plus Trader Sams at your doorstep, jump on the monorail to Epcot, enjoy watercraft to different locations (take the boat to WL - you'll really like Geyser Point)...so many things to do from Poly!

 

[Doug S]

I forgot to update this thread, but I decided on AKL. The savings, while small, were still worth it to me. I'm also always looking for things I haven't done before on my trips and AKL from top to bottom is new for me. I'll find another trip soon to try Poly!

 

[Rockette]

Polynesian just because of the monorail access and fireworks views.

Everything else I'd rank about the same at both resorts (except savanna views - those are awesome!). I'd probably pick the one I haven't stayed in if that were the case.

Edit: Just read your update! Still a great choice!

 

[happymommy]

Enjoy your trip!

By the way, my husband and I stayed at the GF when we were 26, and he loved it! I'm, well, let's say, almost twice that old now...