AKL or CBR

[jdjbright]

I am new to this board. It looks like many of the people here give good advice. I am going to WDW in early May with my Wife and 18 mo. old daughter. We have an unbelivable deal $94 a night at CBR, but I just rec. a letter offering AKL for $134 a night. Is it worth it to change?

Thank you for any advice!

 

[JulesMom]

It is absolutely worth it!

We stayed in AKL in December. It is a beautiful resort. Seeing the animals is fabulous & I am not an animal lover.

They have cribs for the room. You can get room service.

Boma's & Jiko are fabulous restaurants. The lobby at AKL is amazing.

 

[JennSaint]

Having stayed and enjoyed both I would say you have to go with AKL. We just returned and it's a beautiful resort. Very unique!
If I didn't want to try different resorts I would go back to CBR again. We really enjoyed our stay there too.
At AKL you get queen size beds.

 

[MajorWoody]

Hello,

If the cost is not a problem, I would also say to go with AKL. The building itself is beautiful, and it is a very nice experience to stay there. One thing to note, the price they give you is most likely standard view, so you would not have a savannah view from your room. The savannahs are easily accesible from many spots throughout the resort however. Also, the AKL rooms are among the smallest at a Deluxe Resort, comparable to WL rooms. In fact, I believe they are very similar in size to CBR rooms, which are the largest of moderate rooms. While AKL is set apart from most of the parks, it's no more than an extra five minutes by bus for the most part to any park compared to CBR. And I've never seen a problem with AKL busses being mobbbed as often as I see it occur with CBR busses. You also have a small food court type place in The Mara, while you have Boma for a buffet restaurant, and Jiko for a sit down dinner restaurant. The pool is nothing special compared to other deluxe resorts.

Hope that helps,

Take care,

Bill

 

[jmarie]

Having stayed at CBR last year, I would recommend it as a moderate resort. But if you get the chance to pay about the same for a deluxe, you should take it . That is, if you don't mind being further away from the parks. inkbounc

 

[Ted and Holly]

I have stayed at both and I LOVE both! But, if the money isn't an option, AKL is a definite must!!! CBR is HUGE and really spread out. AKL is one building. It is a large building, but everyting is more central. The animals and the atmosphere is not to be missed. Deluxes have their priviledges. Plus, the resort isn't even a year old yet. Everything is new and shiny. CBR has been renovated, but the newness and the understated elegance of AKL makes it a far better resort than CBR.

We also got the $94 CBR rate and I'm looking forward to staying there again. I just LOVE their hammocks and beaches!

Holly

 

[susy]

If you can afford it , I would go with AKL. You don't know when you will get that good of a rate again. If it were me, I would take advantage of it. Have a great time. You could stay at CBR some other time when you can't get a good rate at a deluxe.

 

[snowwhitemom]

AKL all the way !!

 

[DarthGoofy]

If you can afford it, definately stay at the AKL. It is wonderful.

 

[Patio]

I had the same dilemma in Dec. I love CBR and didn't know what to do since AKL offered us the $134 rate. I ended up choosing AKL because its a deluxe, brand new so I knew it would be clean, bigger slide, balcony, plus my dh and kids wanted AKL. We ended up getting a free savanna upgrade at check-in and the view was incredible. We were on 4th floor, Kudu Trail, room #4306. There were plenty of animals all times of day. Boma's was great, as well as the spa, poolside bar's strawberry daiquirs, kids loved the pool, neat gift shop and even though we had a car, bus service was excellent.I did take a ride over to CBR to walk around and check out the renovated rooms and yes, I missed being there, but the $134 rate at AKL is too good to pass up. Go for AKL while you can and stay at CBR next time. Have fun and let us know what you decide.

 

[disneyholic family]

if the price differential isn't an issue, then go to the AKL...
it's really a one of a kind place...
beautiful architecture etc....
and it is a deluxe resort....the services are better than at the CBR (moderate resort)....
it's also nice to be in one building as opposed to having to go outside to a different building to get to your room.....
but please note one thing....is the $134 before taxes?...
remember that in florida the resorts taxes are psychotically high (totally looney in a tourist state)...
i think that on $134, you'll have to add on at least $10 to $15 /day to that...maybe more....(maybe someone here knows the calculation)
so if the rate you were quoted is before taxes, take that into account when you're making your decision...

 

[aurora19]

Taxes are 11% in addition to the quoted room rates. I agree - very high for any state.

BTW - we are staying at AKL 12/02 - have a DC rate of $174 for a standard view room - we'll be looking for codes.

 

[jdjbright]

Thank you very much for all the great advice, but it looks like we will be staying at the CBR. We called with the code as soon as we could. They said it didn't have any more rooms at the AKL at that rate and time.

I'm still excited to go to CBR.

Thank you again.

 

[SuiteDisney]

If you would really like to stay at the AKL keep calling back. Lots of times something will open up if you're persistent.

 

[happydays]

*********** said:

If you would really like to stay at the AKL keep calling back. Lots of times something will open up if you're persistent.

This is so true. I too booked the CBR last week as AKL was not available at the discounted rate - however, I took the advice from this board and Mousesavers and kept calling back. Lo and behold, last night it became available on the dates I needed and I snapped it right up. Good luck to you.