Animal Kingdom Lodge vs. Polynesian vs. GF-HELP!

[ShannonBS]

I'm having a hard time deciding between these 3 resorts for our upcoming spring trip. I know people talk about loving the AKL, can you tell me what you love about it? We are bringing our 9 year old daughter to Disney for her birthday and I want someplace special and memorable. We have stayed at the Polynesian before and loved it (being on the monorail loop is just awesome) and we've been to the GF to visit a few times, but have only been to the AKL once for a quick look around. I actually found an amazing deal on a standard room at AKL which would make it quite a bit less expensive than the others, but no savanna view, is staying at AKL over the others listed still worth it if we don't have a savanna view? My daughter loves a great pool too, how does the AKL pool compare to the others? Anything else I should be considering? TIA!

 

[BriLovesDisney]

Yes, staying at AKL is still worth it with a standard view because there are observation decks around the resort. I don't know anything about the pools anywhere because I never swim in them.
If I had the money to stay at GF I would because it is a stunning resort.

 

[KenHutch]

We are staying at AKL on our next vacation (based on a great CM who showed me around including a room) and the girls are planning on spending 1 whole day just doing the different things offered here.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

AKL is beautiful, but the rooms are quite a bit smaller than the rooms at GF and Poly. The pools are very nice, but the slides aren't as big as the Poly and GF ones. We only stay at AKL for shorter trips as I feel it's a bit out of the way. Standard views there are fine as you can see the animals from the viewing area in back of the lobby.

Can you ask your daughter which resort she would prefer for her birthday?

 

[loves to dive]

Worth it is subjective and there are a number of factors to take into consideration. Are you going to spend more than 2 days at MK? If the difference in price is considerable, can your finances bear the difference with no pain. I would rule out Poly if you have already stayed there just because I'm a big fan of trying new things, you just can't know if you are going to like them or not unless you try them. AKL is really no further out than most of the moderate resorts and is actually closer than most of the value resorts. Everything is far from MK other than the monorail loop resorts and WL. Personally, it would depend on what the difference in price between AKL and GF is. I'm not a huge fan of the monorail resorts just because they force you to take the monorail to Epcot and I'm not a fan of the monorail. We have stayed in all three resorts and love the GF but,again, it would really depend on the price difference as to whether it would be worth it for me to stay there over AKL. If it were me, I might do a split stay with a couple of days or so at AKL and ending the trip at GF. Best of both worlds.

 

[FSU Girl]

How long is your trip for? Depending on length you could do a split stay and pick two of those resorts. I personally love AKL, but I wouldn't stay there unless I had a savanna room. The hotel is beautiful and seeing the animals right outside your room is something special that you won't find almost anywhere else. The buses worked great my entire trip, we hardly waited for any bus. I also didn't like my stay at the Grand Floridian. The decor was just not my style, it's also the last stop on the monorail back from the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

AKL is hands down our favorite resort. There is so much to do for all ages! I never understood the bus issue people have...we had great bus service. Wait times were less than 20 minutes.
AKL offers a relaxed environment that you do feel at the other two options listed. I have stayed at the POLY multiple times, and, while I love it, I find that it gets very hectic (thanks to O'Hana). If being on the monorail is not super important, definitely give AKL a try.

 

[Lovetherodent]

AKL is, IMHO, the most magnificent of the 3. We are adventurous eaters, so we loved the resort food options. However, all transportation is by bus, and getting from place to place is less convenient than the other 2. If anybody has motion sickness, this is a definite buzz kill. The pool, while large, is uninspiring: the water slide is pretty tame, and the water isn't very deep. My kids, who were 9 and 11 at the time of our visit, much preferred the Poly pool.

I love the look (and the smell!) of the GF. Can't say a negative thing about it, and with the latest discount, got my room for less than the room at the Poly. So, all I can say there is if you're looking at the two, check the price. Also, the beach pool at the GF will be closed for refurb for a while. If this is a near future trip, take that into consideration. The courtyard pool is nice, but I don't know if it'd be quite what the 9 year old wants. Another plus for the GF is the counter service area is so quiet. We always take a mid-day break and loved to go there rather than fight the crowds at lunch time.

My first choice is the Poly, mainly for the transportation. That short hop over to the TTC makes getting to 2 parks super convenient, and those are the two parks we spend the most time at.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm having a hard time deciding between these 3 resorts for our upcoming spring trip. I know people talk about loving the AKL, can you tell me what you love about it? We are bringing our 9 year old daughter to Disney for her birthday and I want someplace special and memorable. We have stayed at the Polynesian before and loved it (being on the monorail loop is just awesome) and we've been to the GF to visit a few times, but have only been to the AKL once for a quick look around. I actually found an amazing deal on a standard room at AKL which would make it quite a bit less expensive than the others, but no savanna view, is staying at AKL over the others listed still worth it if we don't have a savanna view? My daughter loves a great pool too, how does the AKL pool compare to the others? Anything else I should be considering? TIA!

I think AKL is worth it for the price, but I believe Poly has the best transportation on-site more than any other. Plus, I just love the atmosphere at Poly, but your DD might like the animals at AKL more.

 

[Scooter2376]

We stayed at AKL in January for our first visit to WDW. It is a beautiful resort, and we had a great time. BUT it took so long to get anywhere. The buses were fine. We didn't wait that long for them usually. It's just that the actual travel time was long. AKL is quite far from all of the parks except AK, and there seems to always be a ton of traffic. I said that if we ever returned to WDW we would stay at a monorail resort. We are going back in March and staying at the Poly. That said, I wouldn't rule out AKL. If you are the type of WDW visitor who likes to spend a lot of time at the resort and will probably only visit a park once a day, it may be perfect for you. But we had a busy itinerary each day and wanted to park hop and commuting back and forth took up too much of our day.

 

[mickeynut1]

We've stayed at all 3 and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. The Poly is our favorite overall, but we also love AKL and GF. AKL is out of the way from everything, but that's one of the things I love about it as I find it very quiet and peaceful. As far as transportation, the only choice is by bus but we have never found that to be a problem. We've had 2 stays at AKL and visit every trip to eat at Boma and have never had long waits or crowded buses. In our experiences, it's taken maybe 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts and since the buses only service AKL and Kidani, there's no sharing with any other resort(s). If you are able to get a great deal, I'd give AKL a try. We've never had a standard view, but have stayed pool and savanna and while the savanna view was nice, I loved our pool view just as much. There are several animal viewing areas around the resort so, for us, having a savanna view isn't a necessity. Good luck!

 

[amym2]

We stayed at AKL (AKV actually) a few years ago, and our kids loved it! We didn't have a savanna room, but there are plenty of spots around the resort to watch the animals. Don't miss the nighttime viewing with night vision goggles they provide!

Our favorite restaurant, Boma, is at AKL (both breakfast and dinner buffets are great!) and we had a fanstastic dinner at Sanaa. You can request a table by the windows so you can see the animals. The bread service is great, and our DD loved the kids meals there.

We didn't have any issues with transportation and found the buses to be consistent and frequent. The kids loved the pools, and they had my favorite Lava Smoothie at the pool bar. We'd stay there again in a heartbeat!

 

[ShannonBS]

AKL is beautiful, but the rooms are quite a bit smaller than the rooms at GF and Poly. The pools are very nice, but the slides aren't as big as the Poly and GF ones. We only stay at AKL for shorter trips as I feel it's a bit out of the way. Standard views there are fine as you can see the animals from the viewing area in back of the lobby.

Can you ask your daughter which resort she would prefer for her birthday?

We are planning this as a semi-surprise, she knows that we're going to Disney World but the hotel and other plans will be a surprise on her birthday. I have tried so hard though to figure out if there's one place she's dying to stay and I can not get a straight answer out of her. At first she kept asking for the Wilderness Lodge, which I couldn't figure out because we live in the midwest and often do quick cabin/lodge style trips, but it finally came out that she just liked it because it had bunkbeds! Sooo....that's one reason I ended up at the AKL, they offer bunkbeds too and it's very different from what we can find in the midwest! We are a family of 5 and AKL has always been on our disney wish list, we've never pulled the trigger on it for all the reasons you stated before. If we're all going for a week we want a little more space and convenience. This will just be a short trip for my husband, my daughter and I so it may be just the right time to cross it off our list. Thanks so much for the feedback!

 

[ShannonBS]

How long is your trip for? Depending on length you could do a split stay and pick two of those resorts. I personally love AKL, but I wouldn't stay there unless I had a savanna room. The hotel is beautiful and seeing the animals right outside your room is something special that you won't find almost anywhere else. The buses worked great my entire trip, we hardly waited for any bus. I also didn't like my stay at the Grand Floridian. The decor was just not my style, it's also the last stop on the monorail back from the Magic Kingdom.

Thanks so much for the feedback! My husband has the same feeling about the GF, and I wonder if my daughter would think the same thing. He always says that if we are staying at a Disney Resort, he wants to really feel like we're at Disney, not just a nice hotel. We are just planning on staying for 3 nights, not enough time to split this trip. The savanna room is almost double the price of the standard room and is so hard to justify when we're only going to be there a couple of days and will be spending most of our time in the parks.

 

[kiford]

We like both AKL and GF (not that keen on Poly) and usually rotate between those two and BC and BWI. What do we love about AKL? The theming. The animals. Jiko. Boma's. Victoria Falls. The lobby and observation areas. The pool is nice but not spectacular but the view is very nice.

There are lots of activities going on. We have no children so don't partake but I noted the number of things happening last year when we were there and I thought it would be great to be a kid staying there.

Because it's so spread out, it can be a bit of a walk to your room but it also tends to be quieter as a result.

Lots of people complain about the buses but we had no issues. I actually like the fact that, when you got a bus from the parks it only went to AKL Kidani before dropping you off at Jambo House and when you got the bus at Jambo House it went straight to the parks. So maybe only one method of transportation from AKL but it's fairly quick and we never waited terribly long for a bus. Also convenient that there is a screen that gives you the ETA of each of the buses (of course that's also at GF too). Now if they only put that on MDE and/or the resort room TVs.

Rooms are smaller than GF but there was only two of us and the bathroom and sink area is large enough. EDIT: we get a savannah room and I love it, but it's not a necessity IMO if it's way more expensive. You can spend time on the observation deck (where there is a set of mounted binoculars IIRC) or walking through the pathways if you want to watch the animals and it's just as good especially if you don't spend much time in the room.

Other than that, I'm not really sure what we like about AKL that I can put into words. There's just something about the atmosphere there that makes me very happy when I walk in even if I'm not staying there. I feel very warm and comfortable and at home.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I would vote for AKL. If you check Touring Plans hotel room views (https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-animal-kingdom-lodge), there are many standard rooms which have a partial Savannah view. It's just not the majestic, main savannah view you would need to pay extra for. And if you get a subscription (something like $15/year), you can set up a room request form that they will automatically fax over 5 days before you arrive. I had great luck doing that, ending up with a room next to the one I originally requested. I can imagine your daughter would love the atmosphere at AKL, with the animals and marshmallow roasting.

Poly is my dream resort to stay at, but the price just is too much for me to swing.

Grand Floridian I thought was gorgeous in the lobby, but could feel a bit too-fancy for a 9-year old.

I would get AKL and use the savings for another unique birthday experience. If you are worried about transport, you could also use the savings for Minnie Vans 1-2 times per day!

 

[jaiminee krikit]

If money were no object, I would want to stay at Poly, but only in a DVC studio (love the 2 bathrooms). DD14 really wants to stay at GF, though, so that's probably what we would do.

We stayed at AKL last summer and I didn't love it there. The grounds are gorgeous, and we got an obstructed savannah view (standard) room. It was amazing going out on our balcony and seeing so many animals. But that's all I liked about the resort. The rooms are dark and gloomy, even during the day. I did not like the Mara. We didn't utilize the pools, so I can't say much about them except that they looked fun. The resort is surprisingly huge! Our first night, we went straight to our room but it felt like we'd walked miles. The beds were horribly uncomfortable, and they gave us a room with bunk beds. DD14 is a little claustrophobic and scared of heights so that was tricky (and she was really looking forward to a queen bed to sprawl out on). We won't stay at AKL again, but we will visit for lunch at Sanaa.

FYI - you can request an obstructed savannah view if you have booked a standard room. That was the only request I made to increase our chances of getting one, and we did love that, my DD was out there all the time, morning, noon, and night.

 

[sndral]

I'm not a Poly fan - it was a one and done for me. Love both AKL & GF for different reasons.
I think it boils down to what type of child your DD is. If she's an animal lover/outdoorsy type then AKL will suit her perfectly, maybe use the money you save to do the morning behind the scenes + breakfast at Boma tour.
If she's Princess crazy then it's GF and breakfast at 1900 Park Fare.

 

[kreckl]

I would definitely stay at AKL, but would want to be sure its Jambo, not Kidani! The resort is beautiful-be sure to plan some time there and not be at the parks every second, or you won't get a chance to experience it. Its truly unique- the dining ( Boma breakfast AND dinner are a must, IMO) , the kids activities ( get a schedule- they have African crafts and music and stories by the fire pit), and the speakers/talks. Don't miss those- we still talk about the ones we did. The cast members are full of stories and information and we have met so many wonderful people. We enjoyed the speakers ( in a library-type room off of the lobby) talking about what its really like to see animals on safari in Africa, music ( with instruments for all to try), etc. We just love it there, truly feels like you are in another land.
We've never had uncomfortable beds- but the pull out sofas, like anyplace, are bad. The buses were never a problem either, although we may sometimes grab a cab back if we are tired or in a hurry, but we do that at any resort.

A savanna room is not necessary, but they are amazing.
The pool is huge and has animals in the same area so you can take a swim break and go see them. There are other savannas as well, away from the pool. The slide at Jambo is small, but the pool has a nice deep section off to the side which our older kids enjoy jumping into. The pool slide at Kidani is longer and more interesting, and you can get a free shuttle there and back anytime.

If you are not planning a significant amount of resort time, I would save your visit there for another trip. You'll miss out on so much.