AKL Questions

[tndisneyfan]

We are trying to decide whether to stay at AKL or WL. We've stayed at WL twice and really liked it but would like to try AKL, but we have some conerns about AKL.

So is the bus stop as far away as it looks on the map? I know thse resort maps aren't to scale, but, it looks like it can be quite a hike from the further away room to the bus stop and to the food area. I like the thought of a quick walk to the food court and using our mugs.

How is the transportation? Does it share busses? Is it really far away from everything?

 

[rsimon]

Are you staying at Jambo or Kidani? The walks are significantly different depending on which one you are looking at.

Kidani has the potential of having very long walks if you are at the far end, however, it has better parking so if you are in a car that works out good.

Jambo can be a long ways depending on your room, however, once outside from the checkin desk, the busses are pretty close. Not far at all really.

I have yet to use the busses from Kidani as we had a car each time there.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Are you staying at Jambo or Kidani? The walks are significantly different depending on which one you are looking at.

Kidani has the potential of having very long walks if you are at the far end, however, it has better parking so if you are in a car that works out good.

Jambo can be a long ways depending on your room, however, once outside from the checkin desk, the busses are pretty close. Not far at all really.

I have yet to use the busses from Kidani as we had a car each time there.

I do not know which one I am looking to stay at. I guess whichever one is just the regular AKL, not a villa or anything.

Also is it much larger than WL or about the same size?

 

[WDWTeri]

We are trying to decide whether to stay at AKL or WL. We've stayed at WL twice and really liked it but would like to try AKL, but we have some conerns about AKL.

So is the bus stop as far away as it looks on the map? I know thse resort maps aren't to scale, but, it looks like it can be quite a hike from the further away room to the bus stop and to the food area. I like the thought of a quick walk to the food court and using our mugs.

How is the transportation? Does it share busses? Is it really far away from everything?

I haven't stayed at WL to really be able to compare, but at BWI and POR we have had much farther walks to food and busses. At least it is all inside the building, unlike POR where we got rained on several times just trying to get to dinner.

We haven't stayed at AKL since Kidani Village opened, but I would imagine they share a bus. Prior to that it was just a one stop, dedicated bus. Never a problem with busses filling up and waiting for another bus. It is pretty far away from everything except AK, but it never seemed to be that big of an issue, maybe an extra 5 minute bus ride to MK.

The food court has good selections, Boma(buffet) is very good, both breakfast and dinner and if you like something a little unusual, Jiko is very special.

The resort is beautiful and unique, and having the animals outside your room just makes it an amazing place.

 

[Magic3forme]

When we stayed at AKL the buses took forever!!! we waited at MK almost an hour one night. (it was in Feb... non busy time). hopefully it has improved since then. (05).

I would give it a try just to see if you like it or not.

I was worried about the POR and we loved it last year!!!!

 

[kindra657]

We've stayed at AKL-Jumbo (nov 07) and AKL-Kidani (july 09). In '07, before Kidani was built, I thought the busing system was better than any other resort I've had at. Even though you can't walk to a park, take a monorail, or a boat, the buses were frequent and never overcrowded. I prefer an all-busing system such as this vs having 4+ bus stops in 1 resort (CSR, OKW, CBR) or sharing a bus with other resorts (CR, GF, Poly, BC/YC, BWI, Swan/Dolphin). The location of WL is no better than AKL because WL is only close to MK and VERY far from everything else (just like all other MK resorts). The AKL is very close to AK (bus every 5 mins too), not too far from Epcot and DHS-- farther from DTD and MK. AK is also very close to Blizzard Beach.

Now that Kidani is open, Jumbo and Kidani share buses but even for July 4th week, the buses were never over-crowded. The park buses go to Kidani Village and then to Jumbo House. The DTD bus goes to Jumbo House and then to Kidani Village.
We've eaten at all the restaurants at the resort and love them! They have foods that you cannot find anywhere else and the QS (Mara) is great!
We are staying at SSR (our waitlist didn't come through for AKL) next weekend and we'll go to AKL to eat at Mara or Boma on our AK day! Honestly, AKL isn't my personal favorite resort but it's in the top 3! Take my opinions for what they are worth because I've never stayed at WL. I've been there a few times for dinner, but that doesn't make me an expert on comparing the WL to AKL, just offering information on the AKL. Hope the info helped!!

Either way, once you make your decision, try not to wishy washy about it. Be happy about it and confident that things will go well and will be fine!
Remember this, people seem to always find so many things to be picky about, complain about, and unhappy about. Remember that the grass is not always greener on the other side and Disney doesn't have a "perfect" resort. Each resort has its own things that make it special in 1 way or another. Find out what your family values most and make your decision based on that. No resort will be without flaws, but be excited that you're going to Disney World!!!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We stayed at AKL in Sept 08. We payed the extra for a pool view room (which I believe is not much difference per night vs. standard view). We LOVED the location. We were a 5 minute walk to the main lobby, 10 minute to the bus stop, and very close to the MARA and of course a 2 minute walk to the pool . Of all the resorts that we have stayed at using the bus system ( CSR, POFQ, Poly), we found the bus system to be the best at AKL. Although some say AKL is *remotely* located, we spent the least amount of time on buses because AKL did not share with any other resort, and there was (at the time) only 1 bus stop at the resort.
The atmosphere was absolutely AMAZING, the service was perfect, the rooms were very clean, the pool is simply divine, the animal viewing areas were breathtaking. We loved everything about our stay at AKL.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Thanks for all the input . We'll probably end up staying there. We've always wanted to and will probably regret it if we don't give it a shot.

 

[CyndieGrams]

We stayed at AKL this summer and are very glad that we did. We did pay extra for the savannah view room and it was well worth it. Nothing like waking up and taking your coffee on the balcony and watching the animals! However, we did have quite a long walk from our room to the bus stop. It wasn't bad, though, because it was all inside. Once outside it's just a short walk to the bus stop, and it's great that the busy doesn't share with any other resorts. The bus always stops at kidani first, and then goes to jambo house.

We just spent 3 nights at WL last weekend and LOVED it. The rooms are essentially the same at both resorts. We had a woods view and do not feel it would ever be necessary to upgrade for a different view. The walk to our room was much shorter. The biggest plus, for us, was that it was only a 6 minute boat ride to MK or about 4 minute bus ride to ML! We would stay here again in a heartbeat!

But, I do think everyone should experince AKL at least once. (and dinner at Boma was awesome!)