Poly vs. AKL

[princess brianas mom]

We're starting our research for our annual trip this fall, well last week of Sept trip....

They both seem amazing and each has their own different vibe.
For example we love that the Poly has Monorail service but we also think that watching the animals off our balcony in the morning in our pj's would be pretty cool too!

Which do you think we would enjoy more? There's me, DH, and DD who's 3 (will be almost 4 when we go)

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We love both resorts and each one seems to offer something different. I would think that if I had to choose between them, I would probably pick AKL since DS enjoys watching the animals right now.

 

[wdwlvr629]

Going to stay @ Poly for the 1st time next month, HOWEVER, dh & I stayed @ AKL this past year. LOVED IT!!! We had a Savannah view room, it was great. In the morning, we ordered room service and sat on our balcony watching all of the animals. It would probably be great fun w/ a little one! It was by far my hubby's favorite WDW hotel so far. I have always wanted to stay @ Poly & since dh isn't going (just my 14 yr old son & I), I figured i'd fulfill one of my "dreams". Soooo, as far as comparing is concerned, I am of no help, but from my single experience @ AKL, i'd say what a great place with a young child!!!

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

We love the Poly! We have stayed there 3 times.

I have heard great things about AKL, but we don't plan to stay there. It may be close to AK, but it is far enough away from everything else for me to think it is not convenient.

If you have little kids and are going to be spending a lot of time at MK, you can't beat being on the monorail. I found, when my kids were little, that no matter what park we went to in the morning, we almost always ended up at MK for part of the day.

 

[Jalva22]

We split our stay between AKL and Poly in June 05. Our kids were 9 and 5 at the time. Both of your points are very true (about the monorail at the Poly and the animal-viewing for kids at AKL). Our kids loved watching giraffes and other animals from our balcony at the AKL. But they also thought the monorail was really neat. Something about that monorail just says Disney to us. In the end, I'm glad we split our stay and got to experience both resorts. If I was going to pick one, though, I'd have to opt for the Poly. The monorail just makes it so much easier to get around with a young child, especially with a stroller in tow.

 

[traci]

DH and I both want to stay at AKL ~ like most, we want to see those beautiful animals outside our window every morning! We have young children though (they will be 2 and 3 at the time of travel for our next trip). For us, the monorail is a must. We are staying at the Poly for the first time in September (Grand Floridian has been our resort past 2 trips). Someday we will stay at AKL, we are just waiting until we don't have to take 2 strollers

 

[bonnielynn]

did anyone have a hard time with the transporation from AKL to the other parks... ?

 

[SharonLowe]

did anyone have a hard time with the transporation from AKL to the other parks... ?

Very easy - all buses. Don't share with any other resort, which is great. We stayed at WL in July 2005 and other than getting to MK, the buses there took longer to get to the parks than the ones from AKL - WL shares with other resorts and frequently back-tracked or took the long way around to do it. AKL buses always get good spots at the parks too - close to the entrances.

 

[bzzymom]

We stayed at AKL 2 years ago when DS was 7 and DD was 11 months. DS loved the children's programs at AKL and earned all the beads for his african bead necklace. He is still proud of that necklace. We have never stayed at Poly before, but have dined at Ohana and Kona cafe as well. DS likes the looks of Poly's pool and would like to stay there sometime.

 

[mrsltg]

I definitely prefer the AKL over the Poly. The Poly was nice but it was missing something to us. We enjoyed watching the fireworks from our room as well as the water pageant but it just wasn't "Disney Magic" to me. Conversly, I felt the magic both times I stayed at AKL. I LOVED watching the animals and we were on the second floor both times. A couple of nights we could hear an ankole cow under our window snoring - AMAZING. My dd was 3 at AKL and 5.5 at the Poly. She loves them both.

 

[SuperTink]

My dream would be to do a long split stay at AKL and Poly, but because of the time of year we go, and the limited amount of time we have, time management is an issue. Our kids are young and we need the convenience of the monorail to zip us from place to place. If the AKL were on the monorail, I'd pick it to try this year. But we are sticking with the Poly, which is our choice for the best monorail resort. If I had really young kids I'd pick the Poly for sure, at least for the first trip. Either way, you'll have a blast.

 

[Jalva22]

did anyone have a hard time with the transporation from AKL to the other parks... ?

We never had a problem with AKL busses. I think its distance from the parks is more than offset by not sharing busses with any other resort. I thought the bus from Poly to the Studios was much worse than any ride we had from AKL.

Again, though, it's definitely not as good as the monorail.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Very easy - all buses. Don't share with any other resort, which is great. We stayed at WL in July 2005 and other than getting to MK, the buses there took longer to get to the parks than the ones from AKL - WL shares with other resorts and frequently back-tracked or took the long way around to do it. AKL buses always get good spots at the parks too - close to the entrances.

I had no idea that any buses at WDW were not shared. That makes travel time not so bad...

 

[jusmom]

We stayed at the Poly last May, and LOVED it , but one night we went to the AKL for dinner at Boma, and thought it was so totally beautiful, we decided our next trip,(this May,) to do both...3 nights at AKL and 8 at Poly. I don't think you can go wrong with either, they are both so beautiful.
Have a great trip, whatever you decide!!!

 

[SharonLowe]

We stayed at the Poly last May, and LOVED it , but one night we went to the AKL for dinner at Boma, and thought it was so totally beautiful, we decided our next trip,(this May,) to do both...3 nights at AKL and 8 at Poly. I don't think you can go wrong with either, they are both so beautiful.
Have a great trip, whatever you decide!!!

I see you've booked a 1BR suite at AKL. Make sure you ask for an upper level floor. To be honest, the view from the 1BR suites isn't very good - it is the corner of the savannah and you can also see the road/parking lot from the room. We had reserved one for last May (celebrating my DD's and My birthdays) along with a deluxe concierge room for our DS instead of a 2BR suite, which are all awesome and have great views, because it saved quite a bit of money (we've stayed in the 2BR suites twice).

But, I was also told the view was really good from the 1BR suites so I was extremely disappointed with our room (and they put us on the lowest level while our son was on the 5th floor with an incredible room). My DS, bless his heart, saw how disappointed I was and went to talk to concierge staff about it. The next day, they moved us to 2 connecting rooms on the 5th floor near my son's room, charged us only the price for the 1BR suite, and comped us one night for my DS's room. We've stayed at AKL many times, always on CL so I think they knew that we wouldn't come back unless they fixed the problem.

There are plenty of viewing opportunities so you'll see many animals but I would hate for someone to go there expecting one thing and getting something totally different.