AKL with FD, or Poly With meals oop???

[miss1180]

Ok we're booked at poly ******** $2500 for 6 nights, plus park tickets. But we would pay all our meals oop.
BUT since free dining came out, it looks like we can stay at AKL with free dining for about $ 3300.
It's me, DH and 5 year old DS. So character meals are big bc DS likes seeing the characters but not waiting in lines to see them in the parks lol we also like other family style meals like Ohana, Liberty tree... Which you pay the same no matter what you order. So I know the media will add up oop
But do we give up the convince of transportation at poly??? Is AKL really far from stuff??

Edited by moderator: removed reference to business

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Would you be eating more than $800 in food for your trip?

Would the time saved traveling to parks from Poly be important to you? How much is that worth?

AKL you will spend more time traveling to MK, but less to AK. About the same to HS. Depends on how you get to Epcot if it's faster or not from Poly.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would stay with the Poly. It is a great resort with convenient transportation. Your extra cost for AKL and the dining plan is too high to make it worth it. You'll be very, very happy that you stuck with the Poly.

 

[Babsy]

I would definitely stay at the Poly. the AKL is very nice, but the Poly is wonderful! Even if you have to pay a bit more than the $800 for meals, the Poly is a much nicer place to stay than AKL. Just the size of the rooms alone is worth an up charge. then there is the location - perfect! With two adults and one five year old, $800 should go a long way towards the meals for 6 days.

 

[MimiOfTwo]

No way I would give up Poly for AK. It is a beautiful resort but not nearly as convenient as Poly.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you were to pay for the dining plan, it would cost your family $901.50. So, by switching from Poly to AKL, you are downgrading your resort for, essentially, a savings of $100. Plus you'll need to pay for tips with both the DDP and OOP. Maybe check out this site and calculate your OOP costs? http://www.distripplanner.com/

Honestly, you may be looking at a savings of $100 - $200 by switching to AKL. For me, that is definitely not enough of a savings to give up Poly where you will have better transportation and a much bigger room.

 

[miss1180]

If you were to pay for the dining plan, it would cost your family $901.50. So, by switching from Poly to AKL, you are downgrading your resort for, essentially, a savings of $100. Plus you'll need to pay for tips with both the DDP and OOP. Maybe check out this site and calculate your OOP costs? http://www.distripplanner.com/

Honestly, you may be looking at a savings of $100 - $200 by switching to AKL. For me, that is definitely not enough of a savings to give up Poly where you will have better transportation and a much bigger room.

thanks!! i went on that meal calculator site the other day when i put in just the ADRs we have- about 1 meal a day- it was like $740 or something. (we have ohana dinner, BOG breakfast, liberty tree, Boma, Garden Grill, 50s Prime Time, Tusker house lunch, Kona Cafe breakfast...). so thats already pretty close to the $900, and doesn't include other quick service meals we would need... its tricky bc a lot of the meals we have are the character meals (for DS), or the "family style" meals- where everybody pays the same price, and theres no sharing meals or just ordering an appetizer for DS or whatever to save a few dollars.
BUT, you're right--- it probably won't be much more than like $200-$300 difference to be right in the middle of everything at the Poly! worth it! we'll check out AKL when we go to Boma for dinner

 

[Eastern]

I would keep Poly as well.

 

[mickeynut1]

Another vote for the Poly. We love AKL, but the Poly is our favorite. The resort overall is amazing and you can't beat the convenience of getting to MK if that's were you will be spending a lot of time .

 

[Barbara76]

thanks!! i went on that meal calculator site the other day when i put in just the ADRs we have- about 1 meal a day- it was like $740 or something. (we have ohana dinner, BOG breakfast, liberty tree, Boma, Garden Grill, 50s Prime Time, Tusker house lunch, Kona Cafe breakfast...). so thats already pretty close to the $900, and doesn't include other quick service meals we would need... its tricky bc a lot of the meals we have are the character meals (for DS), or the "family style" meals- where everybody pays the same price, and theres no sharing meals or just ordering an appetizer for DS or whatever to save a few dollars.
BUT, you're right--- it probably won't be much more than like $200-$300 difference to be right in the middle of everything at the Poly! worth it! we'll check out AKL when we go to Boma for dinner

How much would it be for you to pay for the dining plan, I think it won't be much more than what you would be paying to get "free" dining. If you are planning so many character meals I would just get the dining plan and stay at the Poly