AKL or Contemporary?

[kandb]

Is it really much more convenient to stay at a hotel that has the monorail attached to it. We'll probably be going to MK for 2-3 days and I just starting to think that getting to and from the resort via the monorail will be really convenient. How is the Contemporary? Any opinions? We will be taking our almost 3 year old twins in September. Thanks, Linda

 

[PolyAddict]

Is it really much more convenient to stay at a hotel that has the monorail attached to it. We'll probably be going to MK for 2-3 days and I just starting to think that getting to and from the resort via the monorail will be really convenient. How is the Contemporary? Any opinions? We will be taking our almost 3 year old twins in September. Thanks, Linda

Oh My, not just the monorail, but you can walk. It takes about 10 minutes. It is a lovely walk. Th path was empty every time we took it. We saw bunnies in the morning. My DD5 absolutely loved walking there, she thought is was our special path. She is a little upset about not being able to walk from the Poly.

 

[eeyoregon]

Sounds like you can't beat the Contemporary for location/convenience (don't flame me but I can't get past how UGLY it is!!!). Animal Kingdom Lodge was quite possibly the most amazing resort I have ever stayed at. Truly beautiful inside and out but definitely out of pocket location wise.

 

[SnowBound]

Contemporary hands down. And I like how it looks. Very Walt.

 

[cruiserkaren]

I haven't stayed at the AKL.

We did stay at the Contemporary with our almost 2 year old and it was fantastic! We picked this resort solely (sp?) based on being able to walk to MK. We enjoyed the walk and my dd loved chasing the little lizard thingys all over the sidewalk! As an added bonus we were steps from the playground and DD adored playing and running around on the sandy beach.

It was so convenient to be able to have so many food options within walking distance. Concourse Steakhouse, California Grill, food court and of course, Chef Mickey's. DD LOVED watching the monorail. We'd go out on the observation deck, where the monorail passes right over your head, and just wait. She'd get so excited and just wave and wave while the "train" went over us!

As you can tell, we loved it! The convenience factor alone is all it took for me.

 

[beattyfamily]

My vote is the Contemporary. You can't beat the conveniece and the views.

 

[my3kidsmom]

We stayed at AKL just last month. While the resort itself was beautiful and I loved the views, I kept wishing we were at Contemporary! With little ones I just don't think you can beat the convenience factor. The bus ride to MK felt sooooo long. Plus, you always have to fold your strollers to get on the bus. Our first night at WDW we had dinner ressies at Chef Mickey's (in Contemporary). After dinner we took a loop around MK on the monorail. The monorail was nice and cool and we were able to leave ds in his stroller and just push him right onto it. This is probably not possible when it's crowded, but still better than a bus in my opinion! I really, really wish we had gone for a monorail resort.

Bridget

 

[mikymouse]

We choose AKL for the animals and were very happy. The kids always looked forward to going back "home" and the bus ride was a nice way to get them in rest mode for the afternoons. I am glad we didn't have a view of the Magic Kingdom as they would have never want to leave to rest and it would have been melt down city. Anyways it worked well for our family to get away for a while and the AKL had a wonderful calming atmosphere that was much needed for young and old.

The bus service from AKL to MK was very often and it was nice not to share with another resort. I would say about 15-20 minute ride and 5-10 minute wait for bus. The kids liked riding the bus and playing with the other kids at the bus stops(they have fun no matter where they are).