Studio at OKW, AKL Savannah, SSR?

[blackacex2]

I'm looking at renting points which puts these resorts into the "affordable" category for us.

I want so badly to stay at the boardwalk, beach club, or bay lake tower. Sadly, our dates of April 14-20 are not available except through the Disney website at $330/night.

We will be renting a car, so bus service won't be a factor. I am having a hard time deciding what to do. I know a lot of you will say to stay at the AKL savannah view, but I really don't like how secluded that resort is and my wife didn't love wilderness lodge because we had a bad experience there and I'm afraid AKL will remind her of that.

Is boardwalk and beach club head and shoulders better than those other resorts based on theme and location? I almost feel like staying at a moderate like Caribbean Beach instead but since we are used to staying at 1 bedroom timeshares I think the room would be too small and we'd miss having at least a kitchenette.

I'm considering:

Old Key West- $979 (89 points/ $11 point)
AKL Savannah- $1,287 (117 points / $11 point)
Saratoga Springs- $1,100 (100 points / $100 point)
Boardwalk Villas- $1,970 (disney spring room offer)
Beach Club- $2,002 (disney spring room offer)
Caribbean Beach- $973 (disney spring room offer)
Wyndham Bonnet Creek 1 Bedroom- $578.25

 

[spiceycat]

love Disney - but just might go with Bonnet Creek - it is about as far away from the parks as OKW, SSR or CBR and you get a 1-bedroom.

 

[Karlzmom]

FWIW, we really liked OKW. With a car you can park right outside your door and be off to the parks 30 seconds after leaving your room. We also loved AND, and did nit find it to be any mire difficult than any other place. I rather enjoyed the peace.

 

[mlittig]

Here are some photos of a studio at Old Key West

Two queen beds Old Key West is the only resort that has two queen beds, the others all have one queen bed and one sofa couch:

Kitchenette:

Balcony:

 

[jojomoore]

If I were making this decision for my family then I would choose to stay at AKV. Previously, I have stayed at OKW in a 2 bedroom, at BCV in a studio and at AKV-Kindani studio. I much prefered AKV to OKW and my family much preferred AKV to BC. OKW was equally secluded as AKL and I felt like I was staying in an apartment building. Which is fine if that is what you prefer but considering how expensive a WDW vacation is, I like to have more theming, activity, and atmosphere. If you can stay in a Studio Room with a Savannah view room in Jambo house then I would say that out of all of your choices it would be hard to beat AKV for the atmosphere, theming, and activities. The only negative i could think of is that the rooms are small. If you stay at Kindani you will be away from the dining available at the lodge and find yourself going to jambo frequently. Additionally, personally, I also think BC regular resort room, would be another great choice because of atmosphere and close proximity to Epcot, restaurants, the pool, and double beds. Honestly, we found the transportation from BCV to MK and AK to not be as efficient as at Animal kingdom lodge. Buses stoped at YC, Dolphin, Swan, and BW before heading to parks. If staying at BC, I would drive to MK and Ak, walk to epcot, and take ferry to HS. I dont think Epcot resorts are far and above AKL but they are closer to HS and Epcot and have a very nice but different atmosphere.

 

[blackacex2]

Maybe I will consider AKL. Right now we are thinking about our first 2 nights at the swan and the next 5 nights at bonnet creek in a 1 bedroom. It would cost us about $750 total- it helps that one night at the swan comes via a Starwood credit card sign up bonus.

I just don't know about AKL. Animal Kingdom is by far our least favorite park and while we had a good time visiting the lodge to look around I wasn't blown away by the theme. I guess I prefer "seaside home" to "African hut village" If only the Grand Floridian, Poly, Contemporary, Boardwalk, and beach club and yacht club weren't soooo expensive or sooo hard to book by renting dvc! We always end up going to bonnet creek because the price is amazing and the only thing it is missing is disney-fication!