flinkerfrosch
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2013
Have a 4 and 6 year old. Coming to WDW in Oct for 10 days. Which resort would be better and why?
Thanks!
Thanks!
I'm slightly biased, but I'd give the edge to WL due to the transportation. AKL is close to little save AK itself while WL is located close to MK and is a nominal bus ride from the other parks. WL also isn't as sprawling of a resort as AKL making it slightly easier to navigate. I'd give the nod to AKL for the pool areas but my vote for dining goes to WL if only barely. While Sanaa is much better than WCC for adults, the kids likely would enjoy the latter better. The CS areas at the two resorts aren't vastly different, and while I enjoy Jiko a great deal, my praise for Artist Point is a notch higher. Finally, overall ambience goes to WL since it has the geyser, the beach (perfect from which to watch EWP), and a nice walking trail over to FW. I think you'll love either one, however, so have fun making up your mind.Have a 4 and 6 year old. Coming to WDW in Oct for 10 days. Which resort would be better and why?
Thanks!
For 10 days I would split between them -- best of both worlds that way.
They are both beautiful -- WL has better transportation to the MK (but not to any other park), AKL has the animals and lots of activities for the kids, plus a better pool area (especially if you add the Kidani splash area).
I don't think you can go wrong with either one. If you think your kids would love being able to look at the animals each day, then AKL may be a better choice. If your plans are heavy on MK days, then the location of the WL would make things easier for you.
You can't really go wrong with either, but we personally love AKL, especially my kids. It's like a mini African vacation within a WDW vacation. They have a lot of fun activities for the kids if you take time to enjoy your resort. We never took down time to enjoy our resort until this last trip at AKL. It was wonderful! They have African drumming, an animal trekking activity, how flamingos eat activity, cookie decorating, animal bingo, etc. At each activity the kids can earn a special bead to string on a cord that creates a memory string from their stay. It really makes for a great memory. The pool is awesome too. We had a great experience with transportation as well, which was a big concern of mine. I noticed it was slightly longer to MK, but not much, and it took about the same amount of time to get to Epcot and HS as other resorts we've stayed at. It was only 5 min. from AK.
Good luck with your decision!
Funny enough, I was thinking of doing this. 5 nights at AKL and 4 nights at WL. I just find it so confusing.
I plan on getting the DP, so it makes it much more difficult to split it to make it 2 reservations. I would either only be able to have the dining the plan the first 5 days at AKL or I would have to buy park tickets for each reservation which would cost me more $$$ so I could have the dining plan at AKL and then at WL.
I don't understand why Disney makes it so difficult. I would LOVE to split it, but I don't know if the hassle is worth it
I am really hoping for the Free Dining Plan come Oct, and if this is the case, might make more sense for me to stay at one resort so I can take advantage of the DP the entire 9 nights.
I'm voting for AKL. I am biased towards AKL, but have stayed at WL (we didn't have the best room and I think that jaded my husbands experience). My reasons for AKL, yes it is a tad further from the Magic Kingdom than Wilderness lodge but not by that much. We've timed it in the evening (bit of a geek, lol) and in the evening it's 20 minutes to AKL and 15 to WL via the boat. 5 minutes is not bad, some people make it sound like it's a huge time difference. So please don't let the time to park/hotel be the only deciding factor. So many people have made the assumption either because they went on a crowded day or they got a late start that both resorts have a vast difference in time frames to each park that it's not true. Check into averages on travel times on line for yourself before you go off of what someone from a board online tells you (even me ). They might have no idea what they are talking about but just repeating rumors...
There are awesome things about both hotels, if you enjoy the up north woods feeling go with WL, if you enjoy a more earthy with views of animals, go with AKL. It is darker, but not that darlk like some will say. My husband and I love it for the fact that it's NOT Disneyfied. We LOVE Disney but after a day of overstimulation, we want to just chill. Our sons have been going to the AKL since they were 18 months old and hands down it is my oldest's favorite resort. He likes POFQ, as do my husband and I, but home is AKL. My youngest alas, seems to forget everything.
Both have fun things for kids and adults to do. This year we are FINALLY going to do the kitchen tour and cookie decorating at the AKL.
I am not sure if WL has a zero entry pool but AKL does which when our children were younger (they are now 10 and 8) it was really nice to have.
All in all don't base your decision on the travel times, it's really not that much further from the MK to AKL vs WL.
Enjoy your stay where ever you should end up! You will have an awesome time
flinkerfrosch said:Have a 4 and 6 year old. Coming to WDW in Oct for 10 days. Which resort would be better and why?
Thanks!
I have stayed in both and you can't go wrong with either. I loved the atmosphere so much more at AKL but the convenience of WL. I would be just fine with tossing a coin. I can tell you that your kids will love the animals at AK but they will love the entertainment at WL. Don't stress about deciding. You'll love both!
We've only stayed at WL, so I can't compare buses. But the WL shares the bus to Epcot, HS and AK with one other resort, usually FW, which made it a longer trip to the parks than the return trip, in which it was the first stop.
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