AKL vs POFQ ?

[sandraB]

I have a reservation for rooms at both resorts for our trip in March.

We have stayed at CBR and Ft.W cabins on previous trips.

I have my heart set on AKL, but it is quite a bit more expensive. My question is, is it really worth the extra money? I have a savannah room booked, and am really excited about that aspect of it.

What are the advantages to a deluxe resort over a moderate? We also plan on doing MYW and Dinning package.

Does anyone have any reasons why I should pay more for AKl? I am leaning toward AKL, but how do I sell it to my husband. BTW, my sons are 10 and 7.

Any help would be great!

 

[Selket]

The POFQ and AKL are the only disney resorts I've stayed in and both are great. We had a standard room booked at AKL and got a free upgrade to a savannah room (this was in mid-August so a somewhat busy time of year). The resort is so beautiful I would have been happy to have stayed there in a standard room. Perhaps you could book at standard room instead. You may not get upgraded but you could still enjoy all the amenities of the resort. There are tons of places to view the animals, lots of kids activities and a very nice pool. The AKL doesn't share busses with any other hotel which is nice.

I love both resorts you've picked so I think you can't go wrong. The water slide at both seem similar and both pools are well themed but the AKL pool area is very large. Boma's is wonderful. You'll also get queen sized beds (or perhaps even a queen and bunkbeds if you want them) at the AKL and the room is somewhat larger. You'll get a balcony too - even in a standard room.

Have fun!

 

[Tiffany]

I have a reservation for rooms at both resorts for our trip in March.

We have stayed at CBR and Ft.W cabins on previous trips.

I have my heart set on AKL, but it is quite a bit more expensive. My question is, is it really worth the extra money? I have a savannah room booked, and am really excited about that aspect of it.

What are the advantages to a deluxe resort over a moderate? We also plan on doing MYW and Dinning package.

Does anyone have any reasons why I should pay more for AKl? I am leaning toward AKL, but how do I sell it to my husband. BTW, my sons are 10 and 7.

Any help would be great!

Let's see. We have stayed at POFQ twice and we are currently at the AKL in a savanna view room on our fifth stay since the resort opened in April of 2001. You cannot compare a moderate to a deluxe IMHO. The POFQ is set up like a motel. The door to your room opens to the outside. At the AKL it is a hotel. The door to your room opens to an inside corridor. The decor at the AKL is outstanding. While the POFQ decor is very good the decor at the AKL is outstanding. AKL has valet parking and two sitdown places to eat along with a food court and a lounge.

Oh yeah? The animals. We currently have a view of Bongo, Kudo, Tommies, Antole Cattle (mother, junior and baby). We also have Africian Spoonbills, Golden Cranes and assorted other birds.

My point is if the additional cost of the AKL is not going to break your vacation budget then go for it. If not then stay with POFQ but just keep your expections realistic to the services that the POFQ offers and I am sure you will have a great trip.

 

[Valera]

We have stayed at both WL and POFQ and have been to AKL to look at the resort as it is under consideration for our next trip. As the previous poster said there really is no comparison between a deluxe and a mod you really do get what you pay for in this instance. The outdoor cooridors mean a walk outside to everywhere no matter what the weather. It is nice to be able to stay inside to walk to refill the mug, to eat, ect.

There are also no balconies at the moderates which adds quite a bit of room IMO. It is so nice to have a place to go early mornings/late nights to sit and relax without disturbing the other members of my family.

POFQ is a very nice hotel with a fun slide and pool according to my DS. It does not have the extras ammenities that a deluxe has. If saving the $$ is very important then POFQ is a good choice ask for a close building, other wise I'd go with a deluxe. The only thing is that once you go deluxe it is hard to go back!!!

 

[3Mousketeers]

Tiffany - I'm glad I found you - I need some info! We'll be at AKL for our first time in 11 short days. My kids (6 & 5) watched the travel channel special today about AKL and the look on their face was priceless when I told them that we were going there in 2 weeks.
A couple questions if you don't mind - is there a store at AKL to buy a few groceries (just need Milk and maybe a couple snacks)? have you used the laundry facilities? if so, was it a pain? my DH (who travels alot) figures we could just pay to have our laundry done if needed, but I've been told the price is huge!!! have you been using the bus service? most on this board seem satisfied with AKL's bus service but it would be nice to hear a current opinion? ok - you don't need to spend your entire vacation answering my questions. lol!
Hope the rest of your trip is magical!

 

[tink2]

OK- maybe I'm in the minority here, but we've stayed at both and to me, AKL wasn't worth the extra money. Now, let me say this- we are park people. We are at the parks when it opens and leave after the night shows- so we don't spend a great deal of time at the resort anyway. The savannah view room was neat- we loved that- especially my kids. But, we were disappoited in the room size- it wasn't much larger than the ones at POFQ. I did not like the food at the food court at AKL- Mara. POFQ is much smaller- not a far walk to anywhere. AKL can have long walks if you are near the end of a wing. The cms at AKL were horrible- especially at check -in. Very uninformed. I also had to make about 10 phone calls over the course of 2 days to finally get bed rails which were requested on my reservation and at check-in. However, this may have just been a bad week- Thanksgiving week and very busy. AKL is a great resort- we just aren't in our rooms enough to pay the extra money. Yes, the inside corridors are nice. This is just a personal decision. Do you spend enough time at the resort to pay the extra money? If you do spend time at the resort, I'd say go for AKL- there is a lot to see/do there. But, if you are park people like us, I'd stick with POFQ.

 

[sandraB]

thank you for all the info.

I am still leaning toward AKL, but will keep both reservations a little longer to be sure.

I heard if you have a late check in you probably wont get your requests. I requested bunk beds. We aren't arriving until after 8pm. What are our chances of getting good rooms?

Should I just downgrade to a standard room if we aren't going to get good rooms anyway?

ANother question.....

Can you add MYW tickets to the room for only 3people ( I am getting the AP), and the dinning package to all four?

thanks!

PS....they should put a warning pop up on this website

"Highly addictive, could cause neglect of housework and basic childcare duties, proceed with caution!"

 

[Stitch Inside]

Have you thought about maybe splitting your stay? You could save some money and still get to experience AKL. Spend the first part at POFQ and move on Up for the last part.
And since they don't have a warning on this site, can I sue when I lose my job because of them?

 

[shruley]

Our last trip we did a split stay between POFQ and AKL. While I really enjoyed POFQ it was a world of difference. Just being in a "hotel" vs. a "motel" was a big deal for me. The rooms weren't much larger but I though were much nicer. I thought the furniture at AKL was beautiful. And it was so exciting for me to be able to open my curtains in the morning and see the animals grazing. We sat out on the balcony at night in the "moonlight" (they have fake moonlight so you can see the animals at night) and it was so beautiful and peaceful. The whole resort in gorgeous and there are lots of places to watch the animals from. There are CMs with nightgoggles around the Savannah. We also really enjoyed the pool and hot tubs at night. We were there during a pretty slow period so we had a great time relaxing at night in the hot tub (just us, sometimes!) feeling as though we were in the middle of no where. We also really love Boma so another plus there. They had lots of kids activities when we were there. One night while waiting for our PS at Boma we listened to the storyteller around the campfire and that was one of the more magical moments of the trip! So if I had a choice, it'd be AKL hands down!!! I thought transportation from either resort was very good. We didn't care about the extra stops at POFQ as we always had a seat and were the first dropped off, but we also didn't have kids who may have been getting cranky.

I'd stay at POFQ again in a heartbeat if my budget only allowed a moderate but if we can swing it we will always go for a deluxe from now on. This trip we're trying either Poly or WL to be closer to the MK for our toddler or we may be back at the AKL again!