Animal Kingdom or Beach Club for F&W

[quietly]

Looking for some advice for an upcoming trip to WDW. We are a party of 3 adults who usually stay at POR but have decided to upgrade to a deluxe for this trip. We will be stayin 10 days in 1 room.

A couple of questions - we love food and dining is a huge part of our planning and excitement about WDW. We have never been to Jiko, Boma, or Sanaa and intend to go to all three on this trip. Is it worth staying at animal kingdom lodge for the convenience of having dinner at these restaurants instead of making individual trips out?

The other option is staying at beach club due to its proximity to EPCOT for the food and wine festival. We intend to try as much as possible and being able to be in walking distance to world show case sounds super appealing.

Is there a front runner for you guys? Have any of you had any negative or positive experiences at either resort that would sway your opinion? Thanks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would definitely do BC for F&W. You just can't beat that walk to Epcot. It's amazing. We stayed there once and fell in love with the Epcot resorts.

I'm going with DD12 in November and we are doing BWV. DD obviously can't drink but she likes food so I thought it would be great to be walking distance to Epcot.

 

[Hopefully]

Definitely BC for F & W

 

[Shellyb84]

BC.

Uber or drive to AKL for your meals there. We visit resorts frequently for ADRs, as long as you're not trying to rely on the bus transportation to get there it's not a big deal.

 

[mickeynut1]

We prefer AKL over BC, but in your situation, BC is the better choice for F&W as far as convenience.

 

[starry_solo]

BC for F&W

 

[FSU Girl]

Have you thought of doing a split stay? You could do the Animal Kingdom restaurants on the days you stay there and then focus on Epcot the rest of the trip?

 

[loves to dive]

I agree with the split stay, best of both worlds. 10 days is plenty long enough for an easy split stay, I do it even with just 4 nights. If you don't, or can't, do a split stay, I'd say BC. I go to F&W every year and always stay at an Epcot resort, lately that has been Swan/Dolphin because they are about half the price but being able to just run over to Epcot for a quick lunch at the booths or for a seminar or one of the special meals is priceless for me.

 

[Shellyb84]

A split stay is a great idea. I didn't notice before how long your trip was. 10 days is plenty long enough, I would probably do 4/6 or 5/5 to have plenty of time to get a feel for both resorts. Focus on AK and MK the first part and then Epcot and HS while at BC.

 

[PSUGuy]

We always stay at Board Walk specifically for F&W. I ever we go at a non F&W ti,e we'd like to do AKL but not in the Fall.

Bill From PA

 

[MrsDuck]

AKL is my favorite but if the purpose of the trip is to go to F&W, I'd opt for BC.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

If you are staying 10 days then a split day is doable. But I would prefer to be in the Epcot area the entire time during F&W. We are doing a split but only because I rented points for 7 nights at BWV. The first two nights we are doing POFQ. I would've preferred to just stay at BWV the entire 9 nights.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

BC or any other Epcot resort > AKL

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

While I do think that getting to resorts for dining from another resort can be a pain, I really think that you need to do Beach Club in your specific situation. I'm pretty cheap and wouldn't uber or take a cab to AKL, though. Instead, I'd walk to DHS or Epcot and take the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus from there.

 

[nkereina]

I'm not a huge fan of split stays, so my vote is for Beach Club. We liked AKL but it was just a hassle to bus to all the parks, especially at the deluxe price point. Beach Club is one of our favorite resorts and the convenience for F&W can't be beat. That said, make sure you book early if you go with BC. BC and BWI can often book to capacity during F&W for this very reason.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

BC and can/uber/Lyft to AKL. BC rooms are far bigger than AKL. A split would not be worth it to me to uproot just for a few dinners

 

[heidijanesmith]

Agree with BC! We spend a lot of time at EPCOT for F&W, walking back to the resort is awesome!

I really liked our stay at AKL, but if you are spending a lot of time at EPCOT the EPCOT resorts are the way to go.

 

[gharter]

As much as we enjoy AKL, for F&W we used to stay at Beach Club. Now we stay at Boardwalk. Same reasons. You can't beat being able to walk to EPCOT or Hollywood Studios.

 

[gillep]

AKL is my favorite resort, but we never stay there in the fall, we always choose and Epcot resort for F&W. I would Uber to dinner at AKL.

 

[piscesmama]

To the OP Thank You for posting this thread. Planning to do F&W September/October 2019 and was just browsing the board for info and this is perfect!!!