AKL or WL?

[flinkerfrosch]

I am second guessing myself again...

In Oct, we are staying 4 nights at the Poly and then 8 nights at AKL.

I'm now 2nd guessing myself, and wondering if WL would be more convenient?

My boys are 3 and 6. They love animals, but LOVE pools even more! Is the AKL pool better then WL? I also think the boat to MK or to get the monorail is handy. Watching the water parade and fireworks from WL is pretty cool too! I'm just not sure..I don't want to make the wrong decision...

If we did AKL we would rent a car for the 8 days.

If you had to pick, what resort would you stay at?

Thanks in advance

 

[elaw]

.... Is the AKL pool better then WL?
I also think the boat to MK or to get the monorail is handy. Watching the water parade and fireworks from WL is pretty cool too! I'm just not sure..I don't want to make the wrong decision... If you had to pick, what resort would you stay at?

Thanks in advance

Is the AKL pool better then WL? I like them about the same ... but I would have to give the nod to the AKL pool

I also think the boat to MK or to get the monorail is handy It is very handy ... the AKL is a bit more isolated from the parks.

Watching the water parade and fireworks from WL is pretty cool too! yes ... it is, but watching the animals roam around is really cool too. You will also get to see those from the POLY too.

If you had to pick, what resort would you stay at?
WL ... It's our favorite ... but I dont think you can go wrong with either of them.

 

[kanderson89]

For animals and pool, I give the nod to AKL.
For transportation, WL
I like the food better at AKL, but that may/may not be a factor for you. Other consideration is car rental cost. Could save $$ if you stay at WL.
Both are very nice, and we like them both for different reasons.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I love the WL, but the pool is much better at AKL in my opinion. Zero entry and a nice kiddie pool area

 

[mickeynut1]

I am second guessing myself again...

In Oct, we are staying 4 nights at the Poly and then 8 nights at AKL.

I'm now 2nd guessing myself, and wondering if WL would be more convenient?

My boys are 3 and 6. They love animals, but LOVE pools even more! Is the AKL pool better then WL? I also think the boat to MK or to get the monorail is handy. Watching the water parade and fireworks from WL is pretty cool too! I'm just not sure..I don't want to make the wrong decision...

If we did AKL we would rent a car for the 8 days.

If you had to pick, what resort would you stay at?

Thanks in advance

We've stayed at both and both are great resorts. As far as which has the better pool, we liked both of them equally. WL is more convenient to MK and the boat is nice to have as alternate transportation, but the buses from AKL aren't bad at all, IMO. AKL is kind of out away from everything, but it didn't take more than about 5 extra minutes compared to other resorts to get to the parks. With that said, if MK will be the park you go to the most and/or you will be eating at a lot of monorail resort restaurants, the WL would probably be the better choice for convenience. But as far as the resorts themselves, you can't go wrong with either one as they are both great places to stay. Good luck.

 

[HM]

AKL's pool is better for young kids with it's zero entry. It's also larger than WL's pool.

 

[LisaTC]

On our last trip I was bemoaning the cost of AKL but wishing we could one day stay there, until we went to our ADR at Boma. While I thought it beautiful and the animals cool, etc. DH and I both commented that we were glad we didn't end up staying there as it does seem so far removed from it all. Which, if that is what you are aiming for, then by all means. I get that. However, WL is ultra convenient and beautiful in an of itself! I wonder about pools and stuff, too, but I know DD, who loves to swim like a fish, would rather go to a park on any given day than swim.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We LOVE WL, but visited AKL last trip and definitely would consider staying there. We would consider a WL / AKL split if we were to do a split stay.

In our opinion the pool at AKL gets the nod because of the zero entry. The playground area there is nicer than WL's as well. Yes you have to take buses everywhere from AKL, but we found them to be quick and efficient.

The thing that kept us at WL is the location on Bay Lake, which I find to be sooo beautiful. We love having the option of the boat to MK, and walking or boating over to Fort Wilderness.

Since you will be spending some time at the Poly, you will get to experience a MK area resort, so you might be more open to doing something different like AKL. It really does come down to personal preference though, as different people fall in love with different resorts.

 

[flinkerfrosch]

Thank-you to everyone for your help! A lot of great advice

I was considering doing WL/AKL, but I think I'm going to stick to Poly/AKL.

We have decided to get a rental while we are at AKL, so we have a bit more freedom. We do have a lot of ADR's, so I think a car will come in handy!

 

[flinkerfrosch]

One more quick question to whomever may know..

Can you rent Surrey bikes from any resort or do you have to be staying at that specific resort. Same for boats? Can you rent boats from any resort?

 

[vicki_c]

One more quick question to whomever may know..

Can you rent Surrey bikes from any resort or do you have to be staying at that specific resort. Same for boats? Can you rent boats from any resort?

You can rent anywhere.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

FWIW...I think Poly/AKL is a great split stay, especially with young boys however I would swap it around. I would stay 4 days at AKL and then 8 days at Poly. I think watching the animals is cool but after 4 days, it would grow to be somewhat boring.(JMO..no flames plz) I would also think you could skip the rental car if you only stay 4 days at AKL. Poly has great transportation to MK (both monorail and boat) which will be your main draw with kids that age AND you have easy monorail access to Epcot. It is also SO NICE to spend down time at Poly because you have the marina with boats to rent, a great pool with a beach for the boys to play in the sand, you can watch the MK fireworks and the EWP in the evenings, and you are a quick monorail ride from eating and shopping at GF and CR and 2 boat rides from WL.