Adults-Only Anniversary Trip - AKL vs WL vs BW?

[aprilfoolwed]

We are FINALLY (after many years) planning our first adults-only trip for May 2026!

We've never stayed on Disney property before, and want to do a Deluxe resort (but still keep things within our budget). After lots of research, we narrowed it down to either AKL or WL. Both are beautiful and I think we'd like either, although I am slightly worried about transportation at AKL. We were leaning towards WL because of the boat access to MK.

We were looking to do a 7-night stay. But when playing around with dates and days, I discovered that if we do a 6-night stay BW is available and within our price range. Epcot is my favorite park, and I imagine we will visit several times.

Would you cut out a day to stay at BW, or move ahead with WL? Or, save a few coins and go with AKL?

 

[Christine514]

I was worried about AKL transportation too but it wasn’t that bad. On paper WL transportation seems better but in my experience it was not. We were always sharing buses with 1 or 2 resorts, Fort Wilderness and/or Contemporary. The buses were rarely full but it took longer. Maybe I was unlucky but we always waited a long time for the boat to MK. Once coming back from Mk around lunch time, we waited almost an hour. WL was my dream resort and I was disappointed by it. The food court is too small for all the rooms they added to the resort. I liked the food options better at AKL.

Walking distance to two parks would be really nice but BW is a much busier resort than the other two. It might not be your vibe if you are considering AKL and WL. There is not a bad Disney resort, just ones that are more suited depending on what you are looking for.

 

[Skippyboo]

if you are not doing a lot of MK days then the AKL transport is fine to Epcot, HS and AK. For MK you just have a longer bus ride. Jambo has covered bus waiting areas for the 4 parks and DS . You don’t share a bus with another hotel but it will stop at Kidani and then Jambo coming back from the parks.

AKL has excellent dining with Boma, Jiko, Sanaa and the Mara QS

WL has good dining but more casual. The boat to MK is nice but you can share buses at times.

I have stayed at both and loved the stays. Never stayed at Boardwalk but have done some stays at Yacht club. Walking to 2 parks is nice. The QS in the areas are subpar so it helps if you can park hop and go into Epcot for additional dining

 

[eandt]

We are FINALLY (after many years) planning our first adults-only trip for May 2026!

We've never stayed on Disney property before, and want to do a Deluxe resort (but still keep things within our budget). After lots of research, we narrowed it down to either AKL or WL. Both are beautiful and I think we'd like either, although I am slightly worried about transportation at AKL. We were leaning towards WL because of the boat access to MK.

We were looking to do a 7-night stay. But when playing around with dates and days, I discovered that if we do a 6-night stay BW is available and within our price range. Epcot is my favorite park, and I imagine we will visit several times.

Would you cut out a day to stay at BW, or move ahead with WL? Or, save a few coins and go with AKL?

If you are sure about your dates and there is little chance of a cancellation I’d suggest renting BWV points or reservation for an adults only trip Walk to 2 adult parks plus access to the amenities at Beach Club and Swan/Dolphin. If your desire is easy access to MK then look at renting points at any of the monorail resorts …. Saves a nice chunk of $ over cash stays even with discounts but you do give flexibility.

 

[eandt]

We are FINALLY (after many years) planning our first adults-only trip for May 2026!

We've never stayed on Disney property before, and want to do a Deluxe resort (but still keep things within our budget). After lots of research, we narrowed it down to either AKL or WL. Both are beautiful and I think we'd like either, although I am slightly worried about transportation at AKL. We were leaning towards WL because of the boat access to MK.

We were looking to do a 7-night stay. But when playing around with dates and days, I discovered that if we do a 6-night stay BW is available and within our price range. Epcot is my favorite park, and I imagine we will visit several times.

Would you cut out a day to stay at BW, or move ahead with WL? Or, save a few coins and go with AKL

Duplicate post

 

[gottalovepluto]

One of the best thing for us EP lovers is being able to walk to IG. You can just pop in whenever if you have park hopper, especially nice with adults only groups. Hands down I would kill a day and do BW.

Dark horse- price out Swolphin, remember resort fees and parking. Swan just finished a full renovation. Swolphin complex has numerous dining options too.

AKL’s location drove me nuts after 2 days. I’d lose my mind at a week.

Split stay? You could try a couple things! Easier with just 2 adults and you get a fully refreshed room half way through your trip. (Swolphin does luggage transfer with Disney resorts too.)

 

[tigerlilly]

Split stay? You could try a couple things! Easier with just 2 adults and you get a fully refreshed room half way through your trip.

I vote split stay if you are up for it. You could still get your 7 nights? Maybe? We did our big "Anniversary trip" split stay at Beach Club and AKL. Of course Hurricane Ian hit and we were shut inside AKL for 3 days lol...but it was actually awesome all things considered.

As middle aged adults we love split stays. Get to experience multiple resorts. We do our switch on a day we plan on being in the parks all day. Leave mid am and go to new hotel in evening.

We love AKL and find the transportation to be fine. WL transportation on our trips there (last June/Oct. 23) were not good. Shared busses. The boat was fine but long and lines were long at end of day.

We did BWV (Oct. 24) and had stayed there pre-covid. Loved it pre-covid. Did not love it our last stay. Walking to Epcot and Studios is awesome but bus transportation anywhere else is a slog.

All that said if Epcot is your favorite then maybe do BW.

One last side note lol. We did King room for 3 nights at CBR last June before split stay w/Poly. We loved it. You have the benefit of Riviera right there, the skyliner to two parks. Just an outside thought.

Good luck!!!!

 

[bbn1122]

You should price out a studio at Rivera. It is the best adult resort in my opinion. I own DVC and stayed there oftern.

You are a skyliner away from Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Great pools and restaurants. Bar Riva is fantastic. The QS is maybe the best on property. Le Petite Cafe in the lobby is delightful and delicious.

Good Luck with your planning.

 

[Mommb]

The "best" option depends on how you want to spend your vacation.

If you expect to spend a lot of time at the resort, then I would go with Animal Kingdom Lodge, because just staring out your window can be a treat and there are several great restaurants.

If you expect to spend most of your time at the parks and just go back to the room at the end of the day, then any of the resorts could work. Animal Kingdom Lodge doesn't share buses, but it is also a long ride from most parks.

If you like taking a mid-day break, I'd go with Boardwalk, because it's walking distance from 2 parks.

If you like exploring other resorts, Boardwalk will give you easy access to the Skyliner, and access to the monorail through Epcot. Wilderness Lodge is close to the other Magic Kingdom-area resorts.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I was worried about AKL transportation too but it wasn’t that bad. On paper WL transportation seems better but in my experience it was not. We were always sharing buses with 1 or 2 resorts, Fort Wilderness and/or Contemporary. The buses were rarely full but it took longer. Maybe I was unlucky but we always waited a long time for the boat to MK. Once coming back from Mk around lunch time, we waited almost an hour. WL was my dream resort and I was disappointed by it. The food court is too small for all the rooms they added to the resort. I liked the food options better at AKL.

Walking distance to two parks would be really nice but BW is a much busier resort than the other two. It might not be your vibe if you are considering AKL and WL. There is not a bad Disney resort, just ones that are more suited depending on what you are looking for.

This was really helpful! AKL was our top choice until I started overthinking things. I may just book there if the transportation isn't bad (and, we may be driving to FL, so we will have a car available if needed).

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I vote split stay if you are up for it. You could still get your 7 nights? Maybe? We did our big "Anniversary trip" split stay at Beach Club and AKL. Of course Hurricane Ian hit and we were shut inside AKL for 3 days lol...but it was actually awesome all things considered.

As middle aged adults we love split stays. Get to experience multiple resorts. We do our switch on a day we plan on being in the parks all day. Leave mid am and go to new hotel in evening.

We love AKL and find the transportation to be fine. WL transportation on our trips there (last June/Oct. 23) were not good. Shared busses. The boat was fine but long and lines were long at end of day.

We did BWV (Oct. 24) and had stayed there pre-covid. Loved it pre-covid. Did not love it our last stay. Walking to Epcot and Studios is awesome but bus transportation anywhere else is a slog.

All that said if Epcot is your favorite then maybe do BW.

One last side note lol. We did King room for 3 nights at CBR last June before split stay w/Poly. We loved it. You have the benefit of Riviera right there, the skyliner to two parks. Just an outside thought.

Good luck!!!!

Thanks for the great transportation reviews - I hadn't really thought about a split stay - the current promos require a 4-day stay, so we'd have to bump up to 8 nights and I am not sure that's feasible. Our dates fall right outside of the current room-only promo, so many something new will come out?

 

[focusondisney]

Thanks for the great transportation reviews - I hadn't really thought about a split stay - the current promos require a 4-day stay, so we'd have to bump up to 8 nights and I am not sure that's feasible. Our dates fall right outside of the current room-only promo, so many something new will come out?

Room only discounts don’t require a certain number of nights, but packages do. Make sure you’re checking for room only. Inventories change all the time, so sometimes the resort or room type is available for different dates or lengths of stay. But a minimum stay isn’t a requirement for the room only discount.

 

[eandt]

This was really helpful! AKL was our top choice until I started overthinking things. I may just book there if the transportation isn't bad (and, we may be driving to FL, so we will have a car available if needed).

Transportation is not an issue at AKL … we own there as well as BWV and love both for different reasons

 

[Marthasor]

I agree with others that transportation really isn't an issue at AKL. If that's what you are leaning toward, go for it!

I am going to put in another plug for Swan/Dolphin, however. It is considered a deluxe for WDW perks and they, very often, price out much less than the WDW deluxe resorts. I love staying there because you get all of the EP resort proximity perks without the extra cost. The EP resort area is really my favorite for an adult trip - you can't beat walking to EP and DHS (of taking a boat or Skyliner) and there are a ton of great restaurants in the area.

 

[hardcorestitch]

We are FINALLY (after many years) planning our first adults-only trip for May 2026!

We've never stayed on Disney property before, and want to do a Deluxe resort (but still keep things within our budget). After lots of research, we narrowed it down to either AKL or WL. Both are beautiful and I think we'd like either, although I am slightly worried about transportation at AKL. We were leaning towards WL because of the boat access to MK.

We were looking to do a 7-night stay. But when playing around with dates and days, I discovered that if we do a 6-night stay BW is available and within our price range. Epcot is my favorite park, and I imagine we will visit several times.

Would you cut out a day to stay at BW, or move ahead with WL? Or, save a few coins and go with AKL?

Go with WL! Not much difference here. That resort is COZY!

 

[georgina]

So many possibilities! We stayed at BWV for our 30th anniversary (DVC rental), but it was in October during Food & Wine. And because DH doesn't like the buses, we rented a car to drive to AK & MK.

 

[Robber Baron]

Transportation taking a long time at AKL is pretty much a red herring.

It takes as long to get from the MK area to AK as it takes to get from AKL to MK area, with Epcot and HS being halfway between.

We like staying at Deluxe resorts, our next stay is at Boardwalk Inn, but, we have stayed at AKL and WL probably a dozen times between them.

I think everyone should try WL if they get the chance when choosing a Deluxe. Great resort with good transportation options.

 

[Miffy]

Another vote for AKL here. The resort is beautiful, the restaurants are excellent, and the transportation is absolutely fine. Not to mention the animals!

It's my impression that people who are unhappy with the transportation at AKL are used to staying at a resort within walking distance of a park, either GF, Contemporary, or one of the Boardwalk properties. You can't walk to a park from AKL, but DAK is only a super short bus ride away and the bus transportation to the other parks is maybe a 15-minute ride.

I would not give up a night to spend at the Boardwalk. There's so much to do at WDW that more time is always needed. Always. Also, a few other posters have mentioned renting DVC points. If you decide to do this, realize ahead of time that you are pretty much locked in to whatever you book and that refunds are pretty much out of the question is you have to cancel or change your reservation.

As for a split stay, it depends on what kind of traveler you are. I like to unpack and not move again until I'm forced to leave! I have done split stays and to me the most annoying part wasn't even the repacking and moving--it was not having a room to go back to midday, if needed. Sometimes one can get a room early at WDW, but sometimes not. Just something to consider.