Since you mentioned you would have several non-park days, the Poly would be a great choice. Not only does the Poly have the pools...but the kids can also play in the sand and make sandcastles. You can rent the little water mice and zip around the lagoon for the afternoon. Rent a surrey bike and peddle around. And in the evenings you can watch movies on the beach, make smores, and watch the Electric Water Parade and the fireworks show....all steps from your hotel room

It is also really nice to be able to hop on the monorail or take the boat shuttles to access other resorts for meals and shopping. At AKL, everything is via bus. That would get old after 10 days IMO.
You can easily visit the AKL for a meal or two and go to the viewing areas to see the animals.
Regarding the views at Poly, there are very few undesireable views. Many people like the views facing the parking lot as these also face the monorail and kids enjoy watching the "monorail ride". The rooms in Rapa Nui are the closest to a parking lot but even those have a lot of landscaping in between.
Good luck