AKL or POP Help!

[tina95]

This trip is going to drive me crazy. I have reservations for POP at $55 per night in Jan. I will be taking my two youngest sons for 5 days. They are 13 and 11. I don't think we will go again any time soon. Not my husbands thing. Anyway today on expedia I saw AKL for around $135 per night. Is it worth the extra money to change? I think the boys would like AKL and if we could get the buckbeds that would be great. But, I don't think we will be in our room much and the boys did pick Pop out of the other values. The boys want the parks and Disney Quest.
TIA

 

[F1Julie]

I've stayed at AKL and loved it and will be staying at Pop in a few weeks. Since you said you don't plan on spending much time at your resort, I'd stick with Pop. If you planned on swimming or just relaxing for part of your trip, AKL would be worth it. There is a lot to do there. The boys will probably love Pop. Save AKL for a time when you'll be using your room more.

 

[johnsonet]

I would jump at the chance to stay at AKL. It is fabulous!

 

[cruise182]

I would jump out a window if I had to stay at POP again. It is horrible

 

[HopperFan]

Why don't you go to the AKL for dinner one night instead....you can walk all around the hotel, see all the animals, listen to the stories by the fire and enjoy a great meal at BOMA.

We love AKL and have stayed twice, but this past trip my DS/DD were 15 and 11............and were bored with it. At their age the ooh and aah were gone. I would have much rather spent the money on other things, more nice meals etc.

And especially since they picked POP....I would keep it !

Have a blast

 

[even1]

Tina,

If you won't be going back you may as well live it up and go for AKL!! You will love it and after staying at a deluxe property maybe your husband will decide it IS his thing!!!

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

Splurge! That's a good price!

 

[mariamouse]

I vote AKL

Even if you aren't at your resort that often, you will still be wrapped up in the atmosphere there when you are. Besides, if you end up loving it a lot while you're there, then you may choose to set aside more resort time during your stay... it's a gorgeous hotel and that's a great rate-- especially since you say you will not be back to WDW for a while. I say splurge and make the most of it!

I have visited it, although I'm making my first trip there in February!


mariamouse

 

[cyndibelle]

stay at pop.....its fun.....spend the money on something else....we stayed at pop in feb and we are going back in 19 DAYS!!!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I agree with HopperFan...stay at Pop Century and visit AKL one evening. Boma is wonderful and you can view the animals. I've stayed at both resorts and am going back to Pop 2 more times in the next few months. We do always visit AKL, however, since Boma is one of our favorite restaurants.

T&B

 

[johnsonet]

FWIW,
To me, the resort is the main part of the fun. Because I've been to the parks a lot, I am not so "commando" anymore and also not a huge souvenir person (yeah, RIGHT! ) I look forward to my deluxe resort the most of anything and really enjoy my time there. Just something to think about, depending on your personality, preferences and , obviously, budget. If the money is going to really take away from the rest of your trip, then go with POP. I've heard it's great...

 

[Minnie&Nana]

tina95,

I do this to myself too, so I know what youa re going through.

I am going to go out on a limb here and give my honest opinion!

We stayed at AKL - a Savannah room view and although I enjoyed the view I would probably not stay there again. It's a nice place to visit, maybe even stay once, but the $135 - if it is a standard - is not the best rate that can be found at AKL. (I got $109 from CRO during a code season) and a standard view, if not upgraded, can have really bad views. Even CRO will tell you this - people have written on DIS that with a standard view they got a view of the back of a building where trucks unload or a trash area. There is no way to know if you'd get upgraded, so unless you want to spend even more you might get a terrible view.Akl is one resort that is definitely all about the view!

Granted, POP is not for everyone and when we stayed there it took me a couple of days to adjust. I had never stayed at a value before and am used to the deluxe resorts (Poly, CR, GF, AKL). But the room was very clean, the resort grew on me and I enjoyed our stay.

Food court can be loud, but you can over to the Lounge side to eat where it is quieter. You boys will probably get a kick from the decor at POP.

It's not an easy decision! Also, I've read on the boards that a few people who had expedia reservations found they were not honored by Disney!

If you do decide on AKL I would only book directly through Disney CRO.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[bobcat]

I have stayed at both and love both resorts, but for different reasons. Pop is bright, loud, fun, upbeat. Great for a majority of my trips with my kids 9 and 12. They like to pools, the pop jets, the arcade where they can use the tickets they buy for lots of crap, umm I mean treasures. The food court has a lot of variety and you can get slushies with your refillable mugs. It's also fun to see all the decade icons and shadow boxes.

AKL I prefer to move to for the end of my trip when I want to relax and wind down and want to spend more time at the resort. AKL is simply beautiful and very restful. If you get upgraded to a savanah view room it is very cool watching the animals. They have a lot of activities for kids and adults to do and the hidden Mickey hunt is a great way to spend an afternoon. The pool is a zero entry and really looks like an oasis, very relaxing. Boma is a great restaurant. Mara leaves a bit to be desired.

What kind of trip do you want to have? You can always switch resorts mid week if you want to try them both.

 

[ScottNBecky]

We were in the same boat as you, with ressies at Pop over Xmas but found a great deal for AKL. We have always stayed at Value resorts and never stayed at a Deluxe one. So our choice was value and have a ton of $ left over, or spulge for one time at AKL. We went with....AKL. yeah it could have saved us about $350 but ya know what? We may not get a chance to stay at AKL for awhile, so we went ahead and choce it. Hopefully our girls (7 and 5) love it.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have used Expedia several times and I can tell you that you will probably get the bottom rung room! Whenever I use Expedia for the Disneyland Hotel for example I know that I will have a view of the parking lot. It will say in large letters on your ressie EXPEDIA and I always wonder if the CM's are told not to give those reservations too much preference. I saw those same rates on Expedia for our late Jan./early Feb trip to WDW but booked through Small World Travel and got an even cheaper rate. I have also heard horror stories on this board about Expedia reservations not being honored. I have never had such an experience but because of reading those reviews will not book through them again. Like you, I toyed with staying at AKL instead of POP for our visit but then realized that we like to spend so much on souveneirs our budget would really be off to a bad start! Also just keep thinking that the key to our liking the values is to not stay at the Deluxe's! Any way you go you will have fun. Any resort you pick will have pros and cons. Hope it all works out and that you have a great time!