AKL or POFQ -- Deluxe vs Convenience?

[KJO516]

DH, DS (7), DD (4), my parents and I are headed to WDW late April 2016.

We will be visiting the parks 4-5 days, with half that stay being MK, 1 day DHS and 1 AK (will most likely skip EC for future trip due to kids ages).

I like AKL because its an affordable deluxe, but it seems so remote. Do we go POFQ to at least get us close to Downtown and DHS?

I would love to stay on the Monorail, but its steep (we are also looking into renting DVC villas, but 2 side by side rooms with my parents is OK too).

Ugh the indecisiveness is killing me!

 

[Princess Mulan]

DH, DS (7), DD (4), my parents and I are headed to WDW late April 2016.

We will be visiting the parks 4-5 days, with half that stay being MK, 1 day DHS and 1 AK (will most likely skip EC for future trip due to kids ages).

I like AKL because its an affordable deluxe, but it seems so remote. Do we go POFQ to at least get us close to Downtown and DHS?

I would love to stay on the Monorail, but its steep (we are also looking into renting DVC villas, but 2 side by side rooms with my parents is OK too).

Ugh the indecisiveness is killing me!

Either one is a great choice. Your children probably would love seeing the animals at AK, and the AK food options are terrific. Your children probably also would enjoy the pool and theming at POFQ. At either resort you will have to drive or take buses to the parks, so the location isn't that much of a factor. My advice is to choose the one that you find the most appealing. Truly, you can't go wrong with either one.

 

[MrInfinity]

I have to agree w the PP, both are great choices. Check out the dining at AK. I think that's where the main difference is here -- if you guys would want to eat out at Boma, Jiko, and Sanaa, do the AK. If you'd rather be closer to DTD, then do POFQ. Also POFQ for the theming, but AK if you want to see the animals. Win-win either way.

 

[Dentam]

We're doing a split stay at both in less than a week! Why not do both and plan your park days around which resort you'll be at during that part of your trip? That's what we're doing! Looking forward to taking the boat from POFQ to DTD one evening. Also looking forward to having an early breakfast at Boma before making the short trip over to AK for the day toward the end of our trip!

 

[mrs_incredible]

DH, DS (7), DD (4), my parents and I are headed to WDW late April 2016.

We will be visiting the parks 4-5 days, with half that stay being MK, 1 day DHS and 1 AK (will most likely skip EC for future trip due to kids ages).

I like AKL because its an affordable deluxe, but it seems so remote. Do we go POFQ to at least get us close to Downtown and DHS?

I would love to stay on the Monorail, but its steep (we are also looking into renting DVC villas, but 2 side by side rooms with my parents is OK too).

Ugh the indecisiveness is killing me!

During our last 2 trips we have stayed at AKL and LOVED it! It's so beautiful and I like that it's so quiet. Fantastic pool as well. Both trips we ended up spending a lot of time at the resort so it was well worth the money for us to stay Deluxe. It is kind of out of the way to almost everything except AK but we didn't have much park time so that wasn't a big drawback for us.
I will say that when we did go to the parks , it was always a hike to the AKL buses since they were always the last ones on the Deluxe resort lines. On one late park night, I remember seeing the POR buses way up in the front of the bus station (at MK) and thinking that our next stay would most definitely be there if we did major park time. The walks always seem so long at the end of a full day LOL
Bus wait times are also a little sketchy at times. I don't know it that's always an issue with AKL but for us we've had to wait 45 minutes for buses to MK in the past. I don't think we've ever not been able to get on a bus though. Lines are never bad, even with service to 2 resorts.

 

[cheryllarsen]

My hubby would say deluxe all the way, I would say convenience.

 

[cheryllarsen]

So that just depends on you.

 

[bjck99]

We have never stayed at AKL but did stay at POFQ our first stay when my kids were 4 years old and 18 months. I love how compact that resort is and how quick we could get to the food court (the beignets...yummy!) That being said, I'm a deluxe resort gal now. I just enjoy all the extra amenities, and the extra $ is costs to stay there is worth it for me. I would suggest Wilderness Lodge but that's gonna be a hot mess of construction (which I'll be enjoying in a few days ). I always have such a difficult time choosing a resort, and then I keep stewing over it. Either way, you're going to be at Disney! Good luck!

 

[rg35]

You don't mention if you're going to have a car or not. Last year we stayed at OKW (near POFQ), and each of the two years before that, AKL (this is our DVC home resort).

With a car it's only about 5 minutes extra in the car from AKL to MK.

Both resorts have dedicated bus service, so that will be similar, aside from distance/time.
Both resorts also have the TV screens at the bus stop which will show you approximately how long you'll wait for your next bus. At POFQ, when they are operating shared service with Riverside, that will add 10-15 minutes to your trip depending on which stop is first and last. All AKL buses stop at both Kidani Village and Jambo House.

It was nice being able to take the boat from OKW to DD while the parking construction is still going on.

 

[lustergirl]

I would choose AKL over POFQ.

 

[Fizban]

DH, DS (7), DD (4), my parents and I are headed to WDW late April 2016.

We will be visiting the parks 4-5 days, with half that stay being MK, 1 day DHS and 1 AK (will most likely skip EC for future trip due to kids ages).

I like AKL because its an affordable deluxe, but it seems so remote. Do we go POFQ to at least get us close to Downtown and DHS?

I would love to stay on the Monorail, but its steep (we are also looking into renting DVC villas, but 2 side by side rooms with my parents is OK too).

Ugh the indecisiveness is killing me!

Financially if you can swing it I would suggest AKL for the kids sake. Kids love animals. Lots of things to see and do at AKL (drum playing, animal viewing, native CM's to interact with, all fun stuff) and a really stellar offering of dining options. For convenience sake i would go with French Quarter (and the savings as well). The monorails are cool but not a big draw to my crowd.

 

[mickeynut1]

We've never stayed at POFQ, but we love AKL! As others have said, the resort is beautiful and the dining options are great. It's also fun watching the animals roam the savannas, which can be done even without a savanna view room as there are several animal viewing areas around the resort. AKL is out away from everything, but we didn't find that to be a problem (that's actually one of the things I love about the resort as it's quiet and peaceful). We found the buses to be great as it didn't take more than maybe 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts. Since the buses only service AKL and Kidani, there's no sharing with any other resort(s). With all of that said, I'm sure you'll have a great trip no matter which resort you choose, but my choice would be AKL.

 

[Dentam]

We have had issues with the buses at AKL during peak crowd times so keep that in mind. For our upcoming trip we're not as worried since the crowds should (knock on wood) be very low.

 

[ncc1701]

Speaking as someone who has only stayed at POFQ..
They no longer share buses with POR to MK and for the other parks during the morning rush they also didn't share. We aren't stay all day at the park visitors but the few times we have been at Epcot at closing there were separate buses. Even if there isn't POFQ usually is the 1st stop.
The boat to DTD is a great perk and both MK and DHS were a close bus ride away.