Just back from my conference at WDW. I stayed at the AKL in a standard room, but they upgraded me to savannah view. I really enjoyed the hotel, and it was cool to look at the animals. If I were to choose between the AKL and the BC/YC, it would definitely be the BC. My thoughts:
1. Rooms at the AKL seem a lot smaller. I'd say they are comparable to a moderate size-wise. The bathroom and the furnishings are like the other deluxe resorts. I wasn't thrilled with the look of the bedspread, but as the nights were chilly, the extra warmth at my feet was nice.
2. The pool is nice, but fairly small. The slide was a real let down. We have much better pools and slides at our community center here at home. Stormalong Bay leaves the Uzima pool in the dust.
3. Two very small hot tubs - for the size of Jambo House I felt the hot tubs were a bit inadequate. I tried using them twice, but both times there was no room for any more people. The BC/YC has lots of hot tubs, and you can usually find room in them even when the hotel is sold out.
4. Restaurants - I think AKL has the upper hand for the Mara. I really liked that food court, and it is much more spacious and more offerings than the Marketplace. The Epcot area has so many different choices for restaurants close by that for sit down service, you can't really beat the location.
5. Transportation - No contest. AKL has buses everywhere. They drop off at Kidani first, so it seemed to take a long while to get back from the parks. The ride back from Magic Kingdom seemed to take FOREVER.
6. Mousekeeping - The BC housekeeping was far superior. I don't know if this was because I stayed CL last time. The AKL housekeeping was spotty.
7. The staff. BC wins because they have Teena.
I stopped by to see her while I was at the conference and got to meet her and her boss. So cool to see you again, Teena!
I had a real blast visiting by myself. I really went super commando at the parks. I used my very best touring plan advice that I've gotten from the DIS and EasyWDW and I managed to do a ton in the short time I was able to spend in the parks. I'm SO glad I upgraded my ticket to an annual pass when I was there last month. I had no idea I'd be back so soon. The pass has paid for itself already.
. Nothing has shown up to customize yet, but I already have 2 bands, so I might not have to do another customized band, but IF I do I'm thinking RED!!
