Splitting Resorts-Which First?

[Jalva22]

Okay, I know if you change hotels in the middle of your vacation you should save the nicer one for last. But, next June I will be splitting my vacation between 2 deluxes. I will be bringing my wife, DD age 9, DS age 5. Visiting all theme parks, no water parks, repeated trips to MK. We know we'll spend part at the Poly for the monorail access, but we're undecided between WL and AKL for the other part. Garden view at the Poly, standard view at the AKL or WL. If the split was between AKL and the Poly, which would you do first? Or, if the split was between WL and the Poly, which first? Thanks!

 

[232271]

I always do the nicer resort last that way I am not regretting my
move and I end the trip the nicest way possible.!

As for the second resort both of those are very nice places
to stay, but between the two I like the AKl better. Has a big
eating area, and the animals are fun to watch. plus the pool
was bigger.

however, the atmosphere of the WL is fun if you want to
feel like you are in a mountainess resort!!

good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[rcraw45425]

Starting out Courtyard view at WL, then Garden View at the Poly. Poly was quite a bit higher for Friday and Saturday than what we're payling at the WL, $244 vs $169. But the WL rate for the room we have for Tu, We, &Th was $290 a night I guess that makes the Poly a "bargain" resort for us, huh? LOL. My DH wants aWL, I want Poly, we've stayed at neither so it'll be fun. I don't think you can go wrong with any Deluxe. We've had great times at GF, CR and the Swan. So just have fun deciding.

 

[luvdisney14]

I would stay at the small resort first and then go to the poly. We stayed at POR first and then YC.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

I would do Poly last. I would recommend AKL over WL. Last year we were going to split our stay between AKL then switch over to WL. We loved AKL so much and went to see a room at WL and were disappointed and asked to continue our stay at AKL instead and were able to.

 

[ErinInCT]

While I loved the WL when we were there last week, for you I recommend staying at the Poly around the days you plan to go to MK & then the AKL for the other days. WL & Poly are both MK resorts so it might make better sense to move to AKL to do MGM, AK & EPCOT. You can't go wrong with any of those 3 IMHO!

 

[MissionMouse]

In 2005, we will be staying at the PR and AKL. It will be our first time ever trying concierge, so we decided to do the PR first for three reasons.

1) We have young children and they will want to do the MK first. If their not starting off happy...no one will be having any fun.

2) The AKL concierge allows you to take an early morning safari and this special event is only offered two specific days of the week. We scheduled our lodging to allow us to take advantage of this offering.

3) We plan on hitting MK & Epcot first (stay at PR) and then on to Disney-MGM Studio and AK while we stay at the AKL. We expect to make trips back to the MK near the end of our trip too.

 

[Valera]

Originally posted by goin2disneyagain
I would do Poly last. I would recommend AKL over WL. Last year we were going to split our stay between AKL then switch over to WL. We loved AKL so much and went to see a room at WL and were disappointed and asked to continue our stay at AKL instead and were able to.

Though we have not stayed at AKL (may possibly next summer) we absolutley loved everything about WL. The trip was positively magical (we received free double upgrade to inner courtyard bear face room)

However, since you are booked at the MK end with the Poly, then AKL would be at the "other end" of WDW and you could plan your park visits arround your resorts so travel would be shorter.

Good luck on your decision!

BTW - Have you checked out the pictures or either resort?? Allearsnet.com has excellent pictures of the resort grounds and inside the rooms.

 

[MECH8T7]

As things stand, we are going to be staying at those two resorts next Easter. We've never stayed at either before, so our planning is just based on what seems to make sense to us (rather than WDW experiences).

Our split will be 5 Poly and 3 AKL. We are staying at the Poly because it is on the monorail (we were originally going to stay at POFQ for those days) and we put it at the start because we expected to be at MK, Epcot and MGM during the first part of our stay. We are treating the AKL as the part of our stay where we will be hanging around the resort and relaxing, so it will be at the end. We will likely be going to the AK during one of those days but otherwise we don't think we will be heading off the resort, except for moving elsewhere to take in some of the Easter activities or meals on our checkout day. The AKL appears to be a resort where there will be lots to do if you don't want to go into the theme parks.

 

[cinderkeli]

We just stayed this past July at the AKL and Poly. We did the AKL first and really enjoyed it and I kept thinking wow this is great how is the Poly going to outdo this but then it was time to go to the Poly and I loved it. I loved sitting in the Poly pool just staring at the castle it was so worth the view to me and it make the last few days of our vacation special. I was glad to do the AKL first and Poly last. We are going to do the same for our vacation next year.

 

[flyball]

We've stayed at AKL several times and it is a very relaxing resort, but if I were doing this split, I'd do AKL first. We always enjoy ending our trip with a MK visit, so staying at the Poly last would kind of prolong the day (viewing the castle, watching the electric water pageant from the beach, and feeling like you're in the middle of the magic). Also, toward the end of the vacation, you may be tired of transportation, so easy access at the Poly may be a welcome luxury. I guess it depends on your personalities! You probably can't go wrong either way.

 

[Jalva22]

Thank you all for the responses so far, they've been very helpful (and please keep them coming)! I am very excited about the trip and feel like I've just about exhausted the guidebooks and websites! I still keep looking around though because it's so much fun!

I am very curious about the WL, but agree that it makes more sense to stay at the AKL since it's closer to AK and MGM. Main reason we want the Poly for the MK part of the stay is for the monorail. I also stayed at the Poly once with my parents about 17 years ago and loved it then.

From the responses, it sounds to me like the general view is that both the AKL and the Poly are about equal, strictly from a resort standpoint. Instead of deciding based on resort, I should decide based on what days we hit each park. I really think we'll do MK one full day early in the trip, but also a couple of evenings later in the trip. I'm thinking we should start at AKL and do AK day 1 and then MK day 2. On day 3, we could go to MGM from the AKL while our baggage is moved to the Poly. Then we could do Epcot by monorail and MK a couple of evenings by monorail the rest of the trip. Good plan, I hope?

 

[CindyAnn]

Jalva22 - We love all three of those hotels! If I had to make a choice between AKL and WL, though, I would have to give the edge to AKL - it's just a totally different experience. Your children will probably love the animals at their ages. It's as close to Africa as my children are probably ever going to get, until they can afford to pay for the trip themselves! I think ours were 6 & 9 on our first visit to AKL and they really enjoyed it.

My choice, like yours, would be to start at AKL (main focus on AK & MGM) and then move to the Poly (main focus on MK & Epcot).

At AKL I would recommend having one of your dinners at Boma - great selections for the whole family. My children also loved the campfire, learning to track the animals, and decorating the animal-shaped cookies.

At the Poly our family really enjoys having dinner at 'Ohana, and having the monorail access is wonderful.

Have a great time!

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I know you didn't mention it, but have you considered the YC or BC? Both of these resorts are amazing and the proximity to Epcot and MGM can't be beat. We are doing a split stay next month and are starting at the YC and finishing up at the WL. We chose WL over Poly just b/c we love the themeing at WL.

You could start at YC/BC for Epcot, MGM and AK, then move over to a MK resort, which ever that may be. What ever you decide, I hope you have a magical trip.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I agree with Mickey Flyers...I would split between the Poly and an Epcot resort. I haven't stayed at Boardwalk, but love the look of the resort and the location is wonderful.

T&B

 

[missypie]

I asked the same question, only for a YC/CR split. Almost everyone said to do CR 1st. I'm an Unofficial Guide fan, and when I looked there and decided on which days we would be doing each park, I realized that if we did CR 1st, we would only visiting MK once during that time, which was sort of a "waste" of that location.

So my advice is to decide now what parks you will visit on what days, and then reserve the hotel according to convenience.