AKL or GF - Pls help me decide!!!

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

Hello all! I need help deciding where we should stay for our trip in August (4 night stay). Little bit of background - it will be myself, husband and two daughters ages 9 and 2.5. We have another stay booked in June which is our big trip at Poly for 8 nights. For August, we scored free dining at AKL and are booked in a standard view room. I do think my girls will love seeing the animals on property, but I worry about the length of the bus ride and being so far from MK. Our itinerary is loosely as follows - arrival day - late park day at HS for TSL. Day 2 - morning in HS or AK then nap mid-day with MK in evening followed by After Hours for just me and my oldest daughter. Day 3 - full day at MK. Day 4 - park hop between HS, Epcot or AK - not sure. Knowing we will be spoiled with the option of monorail, bus, or boat for our June trip and given our itinerary, I am leaning towards changing to GF lagoon view room. If we switch to GF I would likely change to a 3 day park hopper so we can have some more pool time at GF. I think my youngest will love the splash park at GF which is another reason we are considering the switch. I am really torn about what to do - price difference is roughly $700 more for GF, but I don't mind necessarily because I feel the ease of transportation and better splash area make up for it. I would appreciate any opinion if you have stayed at either with kids. I know my preference is GF, but again, the animals would likely be my girls' preference. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[thumper2]

Hi DisneyMom! We have stayed at both, our daughters are now 12 and 16. When they were younger, we definitely preferred the ease of staying at the GF. To us it was invaluable to be able to commute easily for naps and unexpected meltdowns Although we love AKL now that they are older, it definitely adds to commute time to any park, which they handle much better. Our routine back then was get up early, be at the park when it opens, ride as much as they wanted or could, then get back to GF for afternoon lunch at the pool. Worked great for us!

 

[Shellyb84]

Hello all! I need help deciding where we should stay for our trip in August (4 night stay). Little bit of background - it will be myself, husband and two daughters ages 9 and 2.5. We have another stay booked in June which is our big trip at Poly for 8 nights. For August, we scored free dining at AKL and are booked in a standard view room. I do think my girls will love seeing the animals on property, but I worry about the length of the bus ride and being so far from MK. Our itinerary is loosely as follows - arrival day - late park day at HS for TSL. Day 2 - morning in HS or AK then nap mid-day with MK in evening followed by After Hours for just me and my oldest daughter. Day 3 - full day at MK. Day 4 - park hop between HS, Epcot or AK - not sure. Knowing we will be spoiled with the option of monorail, bus, or boat for our June trip and given our itinerary, I am leaning towards changing to GF lagoon view room. If we switch to GF I would likely change to a 3 day park hopper so we can have some more pool time at GF. I think my youngest will love the splash park at GF which is another reason we are considering the switch. I am really torn about what to do - price difference is roughly $700 more for GF, but I don't mind necessarily because I feel the ease of transportation and better splash area make up for it. I would appreciate any opinion if you have stayed at either with kids. I know my preference is GF, but again, the animals would likely be my girls' preference. Thanks in advance!!!

We've stayed at both and love both for different reasons. My 8 yo DD is an animal lover as well but she would choose GF any day if she had the choice! Keep in mind your 9 yo is (likely) too tall to be allowed to play in the splash area. The slide at the Beach Pool at GF is better than the slides at AKL, in our opinion. AKL is a lovely resort and I would definitely choose it over some others, but with these two options I would have to choose GF.

 

[leebee]

With your schedule, it sounds like being at AKL will actually be a shorter trip when you want to come home for mid-day naps. It really doesn't take forever to get to AKL; really not much longer than from any non-monorail resort. I think people over-emphasize the whole "but AKL is so far away" thing. If you think your kids will love AKL, do that this time and do your monorail resort trip next June.

 

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

We've stayed at both and love both for different reasons. My 8 yo DD is an animal lover as well but she would choose GF any day if she had the choice! Keep in mind your 9 yo is (likely) too tall to be allowed to play in the splash area. The slide at the Beach Pool at GF is better than the slides at AKL, in our opinion. AKL is a lovely resort and I would definitely choose it over some others, but with these two options I would have to choose GF.

BC was another consideration for our August trip, but my husband was nervous about the pool being too large for our 2.5 y/o given all the alcoves and different pool depths. Good point about my 9 yo being too tall for splash park, which is very true. BC is on our list as the location for our June 2019 trip.

 

[Spencer Wright]

...I do think my girls will love seeing the animals on property, but I worry about the length of the bus ride and being so far from MK. Our itinerary is loosely as follows - arrival day - late park day at HS for TSL. Day 2 - morning in HS or AK then nap mid-day with MK in evening followed by After Hours for just me and my oldest daughter. ...

I absolutely love AKL, but based on your recommendation, GF may be a better choice. The ONE downside to AKL are the long rides to Epcot and MK (especially MK); and visits to MK for me are few in part due to the distance.

Especially after the MNSSHP last year, the bus ride back to AKL was pretty brutal!

Your leaning seems to be toward MK and Studios so the proximity is important.

Maybe on the day you are not sure what you are doing go to AK and do dinner at Sanaa? This will provide a great opportunity for animal viewing.

 

[Average Joes]

I cannot imagine you will have regrets staying at AKL. GF obviously has the transportation advantage. $700 is a lot for a shorter trip. I would emphasize AK and HS more for the August trip where there is no advantage to GF as both use buses. I never found the buses a problem at AK.

You might loose 20-30 minutes compared to GF going to Epcot and maybe slightly more to MK. Others would have a better idea than me.

 

[Shanti]

Hello all! I need help deciding where we should stay for our trip in August (4 night stay). Little bit of background - it will be myself, husband and two daughters ages 9 and 2.5. We have another stay booked in June which is our big trip at Poly for 8 nights. For August, we scored free dining at AKL and are booked in a standard view room. I do think my girls will love seeing the animals on property, but I worry about the length of the bus ride and being so far from MK. Our itinerary is loosely as follows - arrival day - late park day at HS for TSL. Day 2 - morning in HS or AK then nap mid-day with MK in evening followed by After Hours for just me and my oldest daughter. Day 3 - full day at MK. Day 4 - park hop between HS, Epcot or AK - not sure. Knowing we will be spoiled with the option of monorail, bus, or boat for our June trip and given our itinerary, I am leaning towards changing to GF lagoon view room. If we switch to GF I would likely change to a 3 day park hopper so we can have some more pool time at GF. I think my youngest will love the splash park at GF which is another reason we are considering the switch. I am really torn about what to do - price difference is roughly $700 more for GF, but I don't mind necessarily because I feel the ease of transportation and better splash area make up for it. I would appreciate any opinion if you have stayed at either with kids. I know my preference is GF, but again, the animals would likely be my girls' preference. Thanks in advance!!!

I've stayed at both GF & AKL and will say that they're equal. All guests at AKL are allowed to use both the feature pool at Jambo and the feature pool at Kidani (& there is a free shuttle between those two sections of AKL), so AKL has the edge on GF in regards to pools imo. The Kidani pool has a very nice kids' splash area that includes a kiddie slide & mini-waterfall. The Kidani pool also has a very nice spiral waterslide. We had efficient bus transportation during our stay.

This Trip Advisor link will show a photo of Kidani's splash area:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Locatio...om_Villas_Kidani_Village-Orlando_Florida.html

 

[Shellyb84]

BC was another consideration for our August trip, but my husband was nervous about the pool being too large for our 2.5 y/o given all the alcoves and different pool depths. Good point about my 9 yo being too tall for splash park, which is very true. BC is on our list as the location for our June 2019 trip.

BC is our favorite resort! It has a really fun sandy area in the pool that's great for little ones.

I'm not sure how they are at other resorts because we haven't tried, but they take the height requirement very seriously at GF! One day there was no other kids at all, and DD was just barely over the limit and they wouldn't let her play.

 

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

I've stayed at both GF & AKL and will say that they're equal. All guests at AKL are allowed to use both the feature pool at Jambo and the feature pool at Kidani (& there is a free shuttle between those two sections of AKL), so AKL has the edge on GF in regards to pools imo. The Kidani pool has a very nice kids' splash area that includes a mini-waterfall. The Kidani pool also has a very nice spiral waterslide. We had efficient bus transportation during our stay.

The splash area at AKL Kidani seems great. Good to know there is a shuttle if we wanted to use it. Both resorts truly seem wonderful.

 

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

I absolutely love AKL, but based on your recommendation, GF may be a better choice. The ONE downside to AKL are the long rides to Epcot and MK (especially MK); and visits to MK for me are few in part due to the distance.

Especially after the MNSSHP last year, the bus ride back to AKL was pretty brutal!

Your leaning seems to be toward MK and Studios so the proximity is important.

Maybe on the day you are not sure what you are doing go to AK and do dinner at Sanaa? This will provide a great opportunity for animal viewing.

That is a wonderful idea and one I hadn't considered! Best of both worlds! I'm most concerned about the bus ride back to AKL from After Hours as I know my 9 y/o will be tired for sure even after an afternoon nap so I am glad you mentioned your trip back from MNSSHP. I do love MK so we spend a lot of time there. The opening of TSL will be our primary reason for HS in August.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Except for the MK, GF really doesn't have a travel advantage. Takes almost half hour to get to Epcot (resort monorail to EP monorail) and 20 min of bus time to AK and HS. AKL isn't much different, except AK is your quick trip and the journey to Epcot may take even less time.

 

[Average Joes]

That is a wonderful idea and one I hadn't considered! Best of both worlds! I'm most concerned about the bus ride back to AKL from After Hours as I know my 9 y/o will be tired for sure even after an afternoon nap so I am glad you mentioned your trip back from MNSSHP. I do love MK so we spend a lot of time there. The opening of TSL will be our primary reason for HS in August.

You could consider paying for transportation with the money saved at AKL for the after hours event. I have no experience doing so.

 

[Sue M]

Since you’ll be at Poly, I’d say go with AKL for August. Kidani has a super cute splash area. There is a shuttle, but it’s also a short walk thru parking lot. AKL has great bus service and MK isn’t all that long a ride, 20 min? AK is only 5min, and bus to Epcot and DHS is the same pretty much from GF or Poly.
The one think I’d do is check on pool opening at AKL. I heard it will be closed for refurb but didn’t pay attention to dates because we aren’t staying there.

Since you have 2 trips have you checked on price for the 7 & 4 day tickets vs AP? Sounds like you live fairly close since you can fit in short multiple trips. With APs maybe you can fit in another short trip!

 

[Average Joes]

AKL pool refurb starts after labour day so you are good for August. Disney knows Florida is not hot in September so it is a great time to close it.

 

[Kae]

Change to a 3 day hopper and enjoy all things to do at AKl

 

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

Since you’ll be at Poly, I’d say go with AKL for August. Kidani has a super cute splash area. There is a shuttle, but it’s also a short walk thru parking lot. AKL has great bus service and MK isn’t all that long a ride, 20 min? AK is only 5min, and bus to Epcot and DHS is the same pretty much from GF or Poly.
The one think I’d do is check on pool opening at AKL. I heard it will be closed for refurb but didn’t pay attention to dates because we aren’t staying there.

Since you have 2 trips have you checked on price for the 7 & 4 day tickets vs AP? Sounds like you live fairly close since you can fit in short multiple trips. With APs maybe you can fit in another short trip!

We actually live in KY so not close at all. Our second trip came about due to flight credits through Southwest as I caught a great sale on flights from our June trip. We have considered AP, but would not benefit much until my oldest is 10 since right now at 9, ticket prices are cheaper for her and my 2.5 is still free. I believe the pool refurb starts in September from what I have heard.

 

[DisneyMomof2Girls]

You could consider paying for transportation with the money saved at AKL for the after hours event. I have no experience doing so.

I am considering this as well. Thinking about using the Minnie Van for After Hours transport back to resort if needed.

 

[Sue M]

We actually live in KY so not close at all. Our second trip came about due to flight credits through Southwest as I caught a great sale on flights from our June trip. We have considered AP, but would not benefit much until my oldest is 10 since right now at 9, ticket prices are cheaper for her and my 2.5 is still free. I believe the pool refurb starts in September from what I have heard.

Pretty close! It’s all perspective. My flight is 6hrs!

 

[Dbktmc]

I'm not sure how they are at other resorts because we haven't tried, but they take the height requirement very seriously at GF! One day there was no other kids at all, and DD was just barely over the limit and they wouldn't let her play.

Do you know what the height limit is at the GF splash area? My very tall 6 year old is afraid of everything and he was really looking forward to the splash area. I need to know the height requirement so I can start telling him if he will not be permitted to play on it.