Animal Kingdom Lodge Vs. Boardwalk Inn

[Liam1230]

I am currently trying to decide between Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Inn for our upcoming trip in October. My spouse and I are planning on taking a five night trip during the week of our anniversary (October 31st) but I intended on doing a bit of a surprise. My spouse believes we will be staying at our "normal" resort, POR, but, in reality, I am actually making reservations at either AKL or BWI. This will be our first time staying a a Deluxe Resort since we generally find ourselves at Moderates due to the price. However, I was fortunate enough to receive a unique discount code for the exact time we were intending on visiting! Basically, the price difference between AKL and BWI is negligible due to the discount code.

So, my current problem is deciding between a pool view room at AKL or a standard view room at BWI. My spouse is a huge fan of Animal Kingdom and loves visiting AKL. Generally, on the last day of our trips, we make reservations at Boma for a big end of vacation breakfast and tour the resort before or after eating. I would imagine having a whole trip to explore that resort would be fantastic. However, we also love the Food and Wine Festival and feel as though being walking distance from Epcot during this time would be pretty great. My concern regarding BWI is basically the same as the draw. At previous Food and Wine Festivals, I've noticed a large amount of highly intoxicated people wandering around the boardwalk area following trips to Epcot. I'm a little concerned about this being a trend during our stay at BWI.

Any thoughts on first visits to Deluxe resorts? Pool view rooms at AKL? Stays at BWI during Food and Wine Festival, both pros and cons?

 

[izzylovesmickey]

I haven't stayed at BWI but did stay one night at AKL (staying 3 nights in less than 2 weeks!) My brother in law and his wife have stayed at BWI and really enjoyed it. We have stayed at BC & YC for F&W though and can say that there is nothing better than wandering in and out of Epcot to your resort during it. It is great to be able to visit the other parks and stroll over and back in the evenings if you want to spend more time at F&W. That said, AKL is such a unique experience. The resort is beautiful, there are many animal viewing areas, it's interesting to talk to the various CM that are from the African countries. We spent about 20 minutes talking to one on our stay and we truly enjoyed hearing about his culture. I think if you are looking to relax and enjoy a resort, then AKL is the way to go. If you are planning on spending most of your time at F&W then BWI is your best bet.

Oh, and just a warning...most times once you stay deluxe you want to continue to do so!

 

[MsThumper]

Yikes, that's a tough decision.

We love both resorts. We stay at AKL during the summer months when we don't go to the parks and stay at BWI in the fall to go to F&W. We love the animals and the dining at AKL. Jiko is one of our favorite restaurants.

We enjoy BWI's close proximity to EPCOT for F&W because we go into the park quite often to eat. We usually go to F&W two days, but other days we just go in to eat. BWI's non-club level rooms fall into two categories, either standard view or water view. We have stayed water view a few times, but we like to save money and book the standard view. We have been fortunate so far(knock on wood) and have always had nice views. The decor is a little brighter at BWI.

We've never encountered highly intoxicated people in the Boardwalk area, (not saying it doesn't happen) but then we don't stay over the weekend. Our trips are Sunday thru Thursday.

 

[raddisneyfan]

That really is a tough one--I too love, love, love both resorts. BWI has an intimate feel and has great access to both EPCOT and HS. I'm going to F&W at the end of September for 10 nights and am staying at WL. I love the F&W and it would be great to be so close to go back and forth. I'm not sure if a lot of the folks necessarily go over to the Boardwalk after F&W closes, but I certainly wouldn't enjoy that. Maybe you should request a room close to the quiet pool. That's where I was last time and I didn't mind the extra walk. As for AKL, it's the kind of resort you could just stay at and do no parks at all, but, that said, I went to EP often and the bus service was just fine--no sharing with other resorts. I didn't have a pool view, but I'm sure they're fine--just ask for the 4th floor and ask for a quiet room would be my recommendation. Good luck deciding; it's a tough decision for you, but i don't think you'll be disappointed either way and your wife will be thrilled at the surprise! Oh, and make sure to tell them it's your anniversary--might help a little with getting your room requests.

 

[loves to dive]

For me, it would be a no brainer, BWI. I've stayed there during F&W and have stayed at the other Epcot resorts during F&W and haven't really noticed any more drunk people than any other time of the year. Being able to walk over to Epcot to grab something at a booth then back to the resort or somewhere else, is heaven to me I love AKL and any time other than F&W I'd probably say stay there.

 

[disneyvoice]

We just got home from AKL last night and we absolutely loved it. We had several discussions about whether we prefer AKL or Beach Club (haven't stayed at BWI, but both are within walking distance of Epcot). We decided that the Epcot resorts have the definite advantage in terms of transportation to other parks as well as during F&W. If you want to spend more time at your resort then AKL is the way to go because there are so many cool things to do.