AKL or Wilderness Lodge?

[hailbug]

I have never stayed at either resort, but I am thinking about staying at one of them in September. I need opinions I know Wilderness has the better location, but which one is better? Which has better food, bus transportation, better atmosphere and rooms? All opinions welcome!

 

[tgropp]

Would you feel better being amongst animals or in a woodsy secluded atmosphere. They are both very unique hotels and each have their own quirks.

 

[Kae]

We have stayed at both. I would only stay at AKL with a savanah view room. For it just made the trip way better. AKL has a ton of stuff to do. WL is just as great & the location is great. Tough choice-i know not alot of help.

Kae

 

[KatMark]

We stayed at AKL in September and fell in love with the resort. So much in fact that we are going back in 20-3 for our 30th anniversary rather than a cruise. We have never stayed at WL, it holds no appeal to us for a number of reasons.

 

[tiger4me2]

Stayed at both and WL hands down for us. AKL is too far for most of the parks at least coming back. Room size are the same. But both are nice but I would opt for the WL just me

 

[Jedimike]

We loved the AKL when we stayed there for a couple nights, but it *is* far away from the parks. Lots of activities for the kids, nice pool, good restaurants. We went to WL for dinner at Artist Point and we thought the two seemed to be pretty similar to each other. AKL has the animals, WL has the location. If you plan on bouncing back to the resort frequently, I'd go to WL. If you plan on making only one excursion a day, AKL may be better.

 

[BareNecessities]

I have never stayed at either resort, but I am thinking about staying at one of them in September. I need opinions I know Wilderness has the better location, but which one is better? Which has better food, bus transportation, better atmosphere and rooms? All opinions welcome!

- WL can be quite noisy in the common areas, but GREAT atmosphere.
- AKL quieter, with museum quality exhibits in common hallways throughout. LOTS to do, LOTS to look at in the resort itself (LOTS of great animal viewing areas, even if you don't have a savannah view room. There's nothing like being on one of the first few floors, and having a giraffe be at eye level with you!)
- AKL has/had REALLY good coffee.
- WL pool area unique. Resort can feel a bit crowded.
- AKL pool area has zero entry, and is designed (in shape and colours) to look like a natural lake, rather than a pool.
- AKL unusual and high quality food choices, along with more common food choices.
- WL is only close to MK.
Both are a good distance to most parks by bus.
- AKL great transportation in my experience.
- AKL rooms are dark - lighting is not great.
- AKL CMs very attentive.
- AKL gift shop has unique items.

 

[AshleeH]

We've stayed at both and AKL is one I would love to stay in again! WL, not so much. We had a savannah view at AKL and the kids loved it - it was a long walk to get there (we had the very last suite on the 3rd floor at Kidani Village) but even that was fun because we got to see all the savannah views every time we left the hotel from different areas. I felt cramped at WL (odd layout and the balcony was on the corner and was at an L-shape to the room next to us, so we were practically sharing a balcony when we were out at the same time as our neighbors). I also prefer the animals to the wilderness and the general ambiance. The two things WL had that were better than AKL were the pool (we didn't swim, but we walked by it to get to the dock and it was a great pool) and the quick service was the best I've had so far! It's really hard to go wrong with either one and you'll find people who absolutely love one or both, but I recommend AKL between the two .

 

[iteachlit]

FYI: The pool at AKL is no longer painted using a dark color to give the illusion of it being a natural body of water. It is now standard "swimming pool blue."

 

[hailbug]

Thank you everyone!

 

[mickeynut1]

We've stayed at both and, IMO, both are awesome resorts . However, we would probably choose the WL as we love the MK area and it's nice being so close to the monorail resorts that offer alot of TS options. For CS, Roaring Forks at the WL is one of our favorites, but we did also like Mara at AKL. But you really can't go wrong with either one as they are both great places to stay .

 

[stephgles]

It does depend on your family preference. My family loves WL (we are going back for our 5th year in a room to WL in September) My dd does not want to stay anywhere else nor do me or my DH. We do spend alot of our time a MK but also have taken the boat to CR and taken the monorail to Epcot. We try and avoid buses as much as possible.

 

[BLTLDZ]

Ok, we have stayed at both..so here's my 2 cents..

We stayed at WL for the first time LAST december..we loved it. It is a nice place to stay in the winter. At least, I think so.

We then stayed again this past october..maybe this sounds silly, but I did not like it as much in the warmer weather... It seems like a christmasey resort to me At any rate, we still enjoyed it, but not as much as december...

We just stayed at AKL this past december, and surprisingly, we fell in love We stayed in a Savannah view room.

It trumped the WL for us...let me ask you this: are you renting a car? Then I say AKL. If not, I would go with WL. They are both beautiful..I know, tough right?? Hope this helped!!

I also feel that there are a lot more activities at AKL, and the restaurants and quick service are better. But I guess that depends on your eating habits...WL is more "meat & potatoes" while AKL is more "exotic"

 

[starousse]

We just returned from the WL and loved it. We loved the theming and how compact the place seemed. It had a real cozy feel and was so conveniently located to everything. When we first booked our trip, we were originally planning on staying at AKL, but changed it to the WL. We did however visit the AKL for dinner on our Animal Kingdom day.
It had a similar feel as the WL, but it didn't have that wow factor for me. It also seemed really far from everything. The bus ride to Downtown Disney from there took about 40 minutes. We were very happy with our choice of the WL.

 

[Alabama Minnie]

We have now stayed at both and probably will someday return to WL (probably at Xmas time though). We will NOT be returning to AKL.
Both have the same room layout and size but we felt more crowded in the room at AKL (huge furniture).
We also liked the WL theme ALOT more, especially the lobby.
The BOAT option is great at WL and we found the bus system to be better there also.
I would NEVER recommend getting a standard room at AKL. We had a woods-view at WL and it was nice.
IMO you get more for your $$ at WL. I would stay at CSR anyday before I would pay for AKL again.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would go with the Wilderness Lodge because in my opinion they have a better overall location and you get more transportation options, such as their Boat to the Magic Kingdom and their other Boat to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness.

 

[CampbellScot]

I have stayed at both. I would pick Wilderness Lodge over AKL based on transportation. You have the buses and the boat to MK option. You are close to MK and the monorail that can take you to Epcot. We loved AKL in terms of the animals. We love the gift shop. We loved being so close Boma and all the choices at The Mara and ZEBRA DOMES!!! Unfortunately having only the bus for transportation and being SO FAR from everything except Animal Kingdom, we found ourselves frustrated waiting and waiting and waiting for buses. Once we were on the bus it felt like a long ride to everywhere. For someone who counts every second of vacation (my OCD husband!) the waits were just too long for us.

Maximizing fun time and minimizing transport/wait times makes Wilderness Lodge our resort of choice. PLus it's a lovely resort. The grounds are lovely and woodsy and the pool is fun and all the extra touches inside and out make this a really wonderful place to stay!!