All-Star vs Animal Kingdom

[nervous1sttimer]

Hi everyone,

I am planning our very first Disney trip for November for our family of 4. We have booked at Animal Kingdom Lodge (7 nights), 8-day park tickets, and dining plan.

Since we booked, our friend was offered a free dining PIN for our dates and passed it along to us, but of course they are not transferrable. Since then, I am seriously second guessing the amount of money we are spending on the trip.

We are going to celebrate my 30th birthday and to amaze our 3yo and 6yo. I'm bitter about not getting free dining (not rational, I know) and am seriously considering downgrading to All-Star Movies resort to save about $2000 over the course of the trip. We already have all our dining reservations (Le Cellier, Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey, etc) and nothing would change except where we are staying.

How much would this change realistically impact the quality of our trip? We'd still get all the Disney resort benefits, spend most of our time in the parks, etc. The kids would have loved the preschool water area and the animals at AKL, but I'm not sure I think that's worth $2000 right now.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[pigletto]

Package discounts haven't been released for November yet. Depending on your dates you may very well still get free dining or another decent discount in the next few months so don't despair yet.
I think you could still have a great trip at the Allstars but there is a big difference in the overall feel of those two resorts that in my opinion, can't be compared.
If this is your first trip I would be hesitant to stay Deluxe because there's n going back after Deluxe.. and trust me.. you will go again
Have you considered the moderates? Port Orleans Riverside and Coronado Springs are on the top of our favourites list.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

For the difference in price I would downgrade. I haven't stayed at the Movie resort but have stayed at all the other value resorts.

My first choice of a value resort would be Pop Century. I think it is very cleverly themed. The other value resorts are also very cute.

While the animals are VERY cool at Animal Kingdom I think the kids would be also be very impressed with the theming of the value resorts.

My biggest problem with staying at the Deluxe resorts is 19 years later when you're excited to be taking the kids to Disney even though they are in college and money is tight you don't have to hear "Are we staying at The Polynesian?" (in your case Animal Kingdom Lodge) And when you say, "no" you don't have to hear that disappointment and want to kill him.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Could you "downgrade" to AoA instead of All Stars? Then you'd be in a really neat new resort and saving the $$ to boot. It's slightly more than All Stars ($5/ $10 per night?)

 

[MMS1125]

I THINK I'd go ahead and downgrade but what about downgrading to a moderate? Then if free dining comes out you can just add it to your pkg without having to pay to upgrade the dining at All Stars to cover your planned meals.

 

[Sue M]

You can't compare the 2. One is a value, one a Deluxe. "Worth it" is very subjective.
It's kinda like going for a beach vacation, choice of Super 8 or Hilton. Will you still have a good time at the beach? Yes! It's just what amenities you enjoy.

I'd go on allears.net and have a look at the resort photos and videos of both. http://allears.net/acc/faq_hot.htm

 

[tennessee]

i would downgrade. We always stay value and love it. Staying at little mermaid in sept. We save the money and stay longer or go to disney twice a year. We stay in the parks most of the time and just sleep and hang out at the pool. I like pop and sports. But have a feeling little mermaid will be our fav. You can go over to ak lodge and see the animals.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

Thanks for the input so far! Part of the trip will be running the Wine & Dine half-marathon, so there are only a few resorts that provide special event transportation:
- The All-Stars
- Caribbean Beach
- Saratoga Springs
- Animal Kingdom
- Beach Club
- Boardwalk

We picked AKL for a number of reasons, but now I'm second-guessing the cost. Maybe I will just wait and see if there is a GP FD offer later this summer.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I think some sort of discount will come out for your dates. That said, 2K is a huge amount of money. Only you can decide what that savings translates to in your real life. Will it give you something that will last far longer at home, maybe a home improvement, savings account boost, better holiday season, etc?

For me, having stayed at all levels of WDW resorts, I have learned that the middle of the road is what I like best, which means we stay moderate!

In the end, you canot make a bad choice, but for a first trip, when you will spend lots of time enjoying the parks, you may be paying for amenities you will not use and that your kids are too young to really enjoy staying in a deluxe. Or you may not! We are all different.

But for me, I'd downgrade to a moderate and feel like I reached a good compromise!

I will add we have always enjoyed the All Stars, Movies was the first resort I took my two kids to for our first Disney trip and they were totally enthralled and loved it. Dh and I taken them to Disneyland many times and always stayed at the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian, but that stay at Movies was a huge hit. We stayed value for many years (and still do sometimes) and they always enjoyed them as did dh and I. But I am older now as are my kids so the four story tall icons aren't as big of a thrill as they once were. But back in the day, I have on video the complete excitement of my kids walking out of our room the first morning (we had checked in very late the night before) and seeing that huge dalmation right outside. It was pretty wonderful! And easy on the budget which was wonderful for me!

 

[coup2516]

We are going to celebrate my 30th birthday and to amaze our 3yo and 6yo.

Okay, so we are definitely partial to AKL, and I'm sure you'd still have a great time if you downgraded your reservations. BUT if half of the reason you're going is to amaze your children, IMO there's something pretty amazing about waking up with giraffes and zebras right outside your window!

 

[Kim1964]

I'd stick with AKL. I know it's a lot of money, but when you booked the trip, you were OK with the price, right? I know you plan to be in the parks a lot, but with kids those ages and the energy it takes to do Disney, you may end up spending more time at the resort than you think. The extra amenities of AKL would be nice in that case. For example, being able to sit out on the balcony while the kids are napping, or enjoying a superior pool when you realize you need a day that's less go-go-go than the parks would be great at AKL and less so at a value.

If anything, I might look at whether or not I want to keep the dining plan. Its value varies from family to family. For my family, it isn't a good deal. We don't want to be tied to ADRs everyday....the one time we purchased the dining plan it felt like we had to keep leaving activities we were enjoying to get to an ADR. We also tend not to eat as much as the dining plan includes, so for us it is less expensive to pay OOP and have more flexibility in our dining choices (including going offsite). I know it won't save $2000, but it might save you some money to examine what you spend if you didn't have the dining plan.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Cassushi]

If you were okay with the Animal Kingdom Lodge until your friend received a pin code for free dining, then you should stay with your 1st choice of resorts. Don't let that sway your initial decision, you booked Animal Kingdom Lodge for a reason. It is a beautiful resort...you will love it.

 

[Mariep26]

If it were me, I would downgrade but I agree with others that it is really a personal decision. We stayed at ASMo because my kids are huge Toy Story fans. The over the top theme was so perfect.. my kids went nuts for it. If I thought my kids would go nuts over AKL, I would consider it but $2k would have me thinking twice.

 

[mousefan73]

I think many had a good point, I you were able and willing to pay the 2000 when orginally booked, then stay with what you really want.

Though to see the 2 grand saving in black and white will make some one re-think what they are spending.. I dont know your financial situation.. For some 2 grand is like 200$ where for us, right now, 2 grand is like 20,000!!


I have never been at the AKL lodge, are the animals always there to view? I would check. Or was it the theming. You kids might like ASMovies theming better. Go to youtube and check the pool videos to compare, this might be important when having resort time.

If its because of the animals, take the kids to AK a few times??


Another thing, with that extra money you could also book the other stuff that disney offers that cost an arm/leg.. ex. Pirates adventure, if you have a girl get her a biddy dooo- princess salon treatments. ( cant remember what its called)..Making all these "memories" will also run you a couple hundred..

 

[WildGrits]

Don't sweat that PIN. Historically the discounts for the time you are going are released in August.

Lately they have offered "Free Quick Service Dining" for the Value Resorts and "Free Dining" for the other resorts.

Our last visit we did one week at CBR and one week at AKL. The one thing about the "Free Dining" that I did not take into consideration was the tips. They truly blew my budget for the two weeks we were there.

I have to say that I was not thrilled with the AKL. The animals cannot come as close to your balcony as they show in the brochures. I understand that that is for the safety of the animals so people do not feed them in such. Also, I could hear buses all hours of the day from our balcony. And after a week at CBR, the bulky beds in the AKL made the room seem smaller. That's just my opinion of course.

If you are interested in those splash areas, the new AOA has one that is themed with Squirt from Nemo, Epcot as one, the Marketplace has one, and Magic Kingdom just put a new one in.

This year we are staying at the AOA. It is our first visit to a Value and it's mostly for the fact that they are suits and we can get some elbow room.

I would suggest checking out the picks of the Mods and seeing if there is one that interests you. But no matter what you pick I'm sure you will have a great time. Heaven help you if you get bit by the Disney bug. You'll be hooked like the rest of us.

 

[gillenkl]

If money is no object, stay at AKL; if you do change resorts downgrade to one of the Port Orleans resorts.

 

[danceintherain]

I stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for my honeymoon, and even with a pool view room it was worth every penny. We got a 40% off AP discount though, which saved us quite a bit.
For our next on property trip, we stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort and loved that too (due to the discounts available and rack rate we ended up paying about the same nightly for both stays).
Depending on our budget, and when we were planning on going, I wouldn't hesitate to stay in either again.
We had a trip to stay at Pop scheduled once, but ended up canceling due to a number of personal reasons. I'm sure we would have loved it there too.

Ultimately, it depends on your priorities and expectations. If you're only planning on crashing in your room at night and maybe using the pool some, then it probably won't matter to you much. Honestly, a 3 and 6 year old probably won't care either way. Their parents are taking them to the happiest place on earth AND it has a pool. You probably COULD stay at the Super 8 and they may not care.

The point is that you have to make the decision that is best for you. It's easy to get swept up in the excitement and plan our dream trip rather than sitting back and figuring out what we can afford.

Honestly, I wouldn't make your decision yet, because the general public discounts haven't been released. Usually that happens before the package balance will be due. If a good discount hadn't been released for my honeymoon at AKL, I would have ended up in a Moderate and it would have been perfectly lovely.
Keep in mind that the Deluxe resorts will almost always be more expensive, and the prices will only go up.

 

[CanadianPaco]

We worked our way up the resort ladder starting with Movies to CSR on our last trip! If I could book a room at AoA in August (only suites will be availble) I would have but we're going to AKL! I have always wanted to try a deluxe and it was the least expensive. I already gave DH a heads up the Beach Club is calling my name for our next trip. So long story short, there's always another trip!

 

[Singinglizzie]

You've already gotten some good advice -but I will throw my 2 cents in. First, I am a big fan of AKL and have stayed there 4 times. I just love that place - I would stay there even without a visit to the parks - as I feel like I am on African Safari. I have stayed in a Savannah view, pool view, standard view (once each at Jambo and Kidani) and each time patted myself on the back for being able to swing another trip! This September, however, going to do a long weekend, and we are staying....value. Yup at Allstars Music since this is all I can swing this time around. Sure I will miss AKL, but I'd rather be able to go to WDW than not go. One year I had a free day and took time to drive around to many of the resorts, and honestly there is something great about each resort. I really liked the greenery at the Allstars, and while it is "value", rooms are smaller, etc. it still is onsite at Disney. I have also stayed off-site and personally I prefer on-site. Of the Mods, I really liked CBR and CS. I see CBR is on your list - if you wanted to go middle of the road, it would be a great choice, as your kids will love the pirate themed pool. I guess what I'm saying is that there is a good resort choice at each price point and only you can decide if you want to spend more or less. You will be at Disney and you will have a great time either way. If you feel you can spend the $2k stick w AKL. If you feel you want to spend less then CBR or Allstars would be a good compromise. Maybe a good November special will come out and you can save a few bucks. I do hope it all works out and you have a magical trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

Have you called to see if you have a pin? I did not get one emailed to me but I called and voila! There is was....pixie dust.......

A friend of ours had booked a moderate for their vacation and called to see if there was any kind of teacher discount. No but please hold.........for $100 more she was upgraded to AKL for the week. I am not suggesting that this will happen for you but before I made any changes I would call myself and see what options are available that I was not aware of.