AKL or Contemp which to choose? Help please!

[KimDis]

Hey DISers,
Need your help with this one. Staying for a long weekend before Thanksgiving and can't decide if we should do AKL or Contemp.

Here's the thing - CM told me the Christmas decorations will be up at AKL by my stay and that would normally make it an easy pic, except I love Epcot area resorts for the same reason I think I'll love the Contemp - location, location, location. Also - it's the Contemporary! Who didn't wish they could stay there one day as a kid riding the monorail to and from the TTC and the MK?

BTW: just adults, no kids so I'm not worried about anyone wilting after a long half day in the parks, but I do love being able to go back to my hotel easily.

I really need your expertise - you're my only hope...

 

[GovieMom]

Well you've already basically decided on the Contemporary, so I don't even know why you're considering AKL ...

 

[KimDis]

Yeah, but I wanted to stay at CBR years ago and ended up at BC instead and that led to me discovering the Epcot resort area (which I love)... so sometimes it doesn't hurt to switch things up a bit and do something different.

I've just heard AKL is a great resort and even more so at Christmas time. Hoping someone who's stayed at both or either could share and help me weigh any pros and cons I haven't considered.

 

[StratMan]

You said it: "location, location, location." I love the CR and would encourage anyone to stay there at least once. Especially on a short trip like yours (I think), the advantage of being able to walk to MK or hop on the Monorail cannot be overstated.

Have a great trip!

 

[raven69david]

Easy solution: Split Stay!!!

I will be doing this in about 4 weeks. 2 days at POP, 3 days at AKL and 3 days at Contemporary. We're CR first-timers so we're very excited. We could do the additional days at CR, however AKL is near and dear to our hearts and we could not go on our trip without staying there at least 1 night. That's how special AKL is, at least to us and many others on the AKL thread, so therefore I'd suggest a split stay to get the best of both worlds. Since you won't have any kids packing up and moving will be faily easy, especially since you will be able to transfer your luggage through bell services from one resort to the other.

Whatever you decide, both are excellent hotels.

 

[KimDis]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try a split stay for our longer trip next year and will do CR for the time savings.

 

[Alice BlueBonnet]

Ok, I know in your last post you'd made up your mind, but I still wanted to give you my opinion since I've actually stayed at both those resorts this year.

AKL is really only super close to AK. You have to take buses everywhere. That being said, the buses run all the time, we hardly ever had to wait, and you don't share buses with other resorts. AKL also has very good dining, both at Mara the CS and for Boma and Jiko for TS. Boma was always taking walk-ups the entire time we were there, which was very convenient. The pool here is over the top awesome, plus the animals, all the african artwork, etc. And for your time from, the Christmas decor. Now, so that they can maximize Savannah view rooms, the hotel is rather spread out, sort of like a really stretched out W. This can make the walk to the room seem long.

Contemporary is really close to MK. However, when you take the monorail, it's the entire loop. You stop at the T&TC, the Poly and the GF before reaching the MK. Estimated total loop time is about 11-15 minutes. Taking the monorail to the T&TC, getting off and changing to the Epcot monorail, catching that monorail and going to Epcot is about 20-25 minutes total. Your buses are also very fast (as in little wait time), but they share with other resorts. Sometimes it was just WL, sometimes it was Fort Wilderness, WL, and the GF. Sometimes the Poly was in there too. This made our bus rides exceptionally long. Cont has great dining (obviously, Cali Grill). However, without children, I'm thinking no need for Chef Mickeys. We were iffy on the Wave, and you'd probably already have to have ressies at Cali Grill to eat there. The pool here was disappointing, and I may be understating that. However, that seemed to be the theme for the resort, a sort of understated calm slick motif, so it did blend? When we were there at the end of September, there was still quite a bit of construction going on inside the main lobby, but that may be overwith now. We stayed in the tower on the 14th floor, so we really were in the main building. The walk to the GV rooms did not appear to be that far, maybe 4-5 minutes from the far end of GV to the main building would be my guess.

I hope this helped!!

 

[KimDis]

It really does - I was hoping someone who'd stayed at AKL would chime in but didn't want to seem unappreciative of the great responses I'd already received.
I hadn't fully considered dining - this is a very last minute trip and usually I'd have ADR's set up already. I got an e-mail for free dining a few months ago but the $$$ to book only came in last week.

I'd also forgotten about Boma... really want to eat there. May have to see where I can get my ADR's at this point and then decide frmo there.

Thanks again for the AKL info - if I don't stay there this time I'll definitely stay there in the Spring.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

We planned a split stay this past April....4 days at AKL, followed by 4 at CR.
We felt the AKL was lovely but very dark. We checked in at concierge on one floor and then took the elevator to another floor to our room (they were renovating at the time). Our room seemed very cramped (there are 4 of us), and the balcony seemed very tight as well. We were there for about 45 minutes and begged the nice manager to see if we could switch over to the CR. We just didn't feel the "Magic" at the AKL. We were able to switch over and were very happy to be "home". We have tried many resorts but always end up switching back to the CR....when will we ever learn???!!!

(We just purchased points at OKW - visited but never stayed over nite there - and just booked our first trip for April. OMG I sure hope we feel the love...haha!! Of course we will be attempting to stay at the BLT for future trips if we are able to book at 7 months out.)

Whatever you decide....ENJOY!!! WDW is extra "magically" special during the Holidays!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The location of the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom and the better transporation options all around make it a better place to stay.