Quick which one?

bearette

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Aug 4, 2006
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Without looking at price, but they are within a few hundred, for a last minute January trip, which would you choose? We are a party of five.

AK one bedroom
Poly studio for 5
Sarasota two studios

Which would you choose and why? Thanks!
 
With kids, I'd go with Poly. Close to MK and TTC, great pool, decent resort food options plus easy access to other monorail resorts to pop in for food.
 
Both Poly pools are open.

The Poly monorail station is closed but the TTC is a close alternative to the villas. Plus boat service and the buses they are currently running to MK. And now you can also walk. While different, I’m totally good with four different travel options to get to/from Poly/MK right now.
 

With 5 people, I would pick the kidani 1 bedroom. 5 people is too many for a poly studio for our family!
 
5 would eliminate poly studio for me. I'd go with AK or Saratoga for the space. Normally I'd be a heavy lean for AK because they have some of my favorite food options on property (esp if you're looking at Savanna view). But since AK food options are limited right now, I'd probably lean toward Saratoga (even though it's my least favorite of the 3 resorts).
 
I paid cash to stay in a Poly studio and found that the DVC building is very convenient to the TTC. I wouldn't choose AKV unless I was bringing or renting a car at this time, even though I love AKL in general.
 
Tough one, all three have their advantages. I'm going to assume your party of 5 is Mom, Dad and 3 kids. Are the kids littles or older, in the case of kids size does matter.

So, if the kids are littles, you could probably get by with a studio. That would be one bed, one sleeper sofa and I'm not sure if Poly has sleeper chairs or the under the dresser drop down or none of the above.

If all three are not littles, you might still end up with a problem with a 1 bedroom at AKL. I stayed in one with my grown son and his wife, they got the bedroom I used the sleeper sofa. I really don't remember if there was a sleeper chair in there but that would give you more room to spread out junk since there is a kitchen and dining area.

If the 3 are not littles, I would thing the 2 studios would be the way to go as long as one was old enough to supervise at least one other.
 
Not sure of ages. I always pick 1 bedrooms over studios, but we want the full kitchen and washer/dryer, etc. Also at AKL you get 2 bathrooms in a 1 bedroom. Plus I love AKL as a resort, except for the travel time to parks
Poly is good for a studio, but depending on ages, could be cramped in 1. but close to MK. When we've stayed there, we've almost always just taken the monorail from the TTC/not the lobby. Pool is nice.

saratoga is always one of my last choices, due to all the bus stops, and not being able to walk to any parks, but if you are going to D Springs a lot, or don't always plan to use the bus. could be an option, and if you want the privacy of 2 studios, then that would be a good choice.
 
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Poly is out because you have 5. That would be too tight for me.

If it's 5 adults...SSR two studios.

If it's 2 adults and 3 kids, AKL, specifically Kidani (for the extra bathroom).
 
Kidani has a fun pool area if you have kids in the group, plus all of the bonuses mentioned earlier. Otherwise, I would vote for Saratoga for the space for.adults.
 
Thanks for all the tips, it was actually three adults, mom, dad and grandma,plus two kids, both 8. Grandma was afraid we would be far away from us at Saratoga so we eliminated that, as she would get the kids. One bedroom was bigger with an extra bathroom so we opted for AK after everyone's recommendation that the studio at Poly was small.
Plus my daughter is obsessed with everything Africa (Mauona was a close second which is why the studio at poly was still on offer and it was the chespest). Her favorite animal is a cheetah and she wants to be a vet for wild animals so that played a huge role, too. We can sacrifice a few minutes on the bus to make her happy and have the extra space- my son likes cars so he will get his favorites in the parks!

Thanks! I almost missed the extra bathroom and picked the incorrect side so you were very helpful!
 
1 bedroom and get away from the kids.

2 studios could be way spread out and a single Poly Studio is a step down from a 1BR if you have kids with you.
 
If you haven’t already, read up on what is open at AKL just so you have the right expectations going in. It’s rather limited, relative to other resorts - will be fine for many, may be a problem for some.

Enjoy your trip.
 
How old is Grandma? Will she mind sleeping on a sleeper sofa instead of a real bed? Is she willing to share with one of the kids? Or would she get the single twin chair bed at Kidani? You don't want Jambo House because you don't get the extra bathroom and the master bathroom is not in the master bedroom. It's across the hall from the master bedroom. Jambo is renovated hotel rooms.
 
We already discussed the bed issue- if needed we can trade off. That was the main benefit of the two rooms but she didn’t want to be far from us so that’s why we ended up with AK among the other reasons.
 
We already discussed the bed issue- if needed we can trade off. That was the main benefit of the two rooms but she didn’t want to be far from us so that’s why we ended up with AK among the other reasons.
Did you choose Kidani or Jambo? Big difference in the one bedroom.
 
Without looking at price, but they are within a few hundred, for a last minute January trip, which would you choose? We are a party of five.

AK one bedroom
Poly studio for 5
Sarasota two studios

Which would you choose and why? Thanks!
AK one bedroom. A studio is too small to be comfortable for 5 people, imo, and I don't think the Sarasota really compares to the specialness of AK or the Poly.
 












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