BC or AKL?

[CatManDoo]

We are looking at visiting the first week of October and are trying to decide between Beach Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge. On the one hand, BC has the better location, especially considering the Food and Wine Festival and proximity to Epcot/World Showcase. Also, they probably have the better pool (?). On the other hand, AKL has the better theming and, of course, the animals. The distance from the parks (other than AK), though, is worrisome. It seems like it would be difficult to manage some of the nighttime offerings, (e.g. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, Illuminations, etc) being that far away. Our kids are both 11, so theming may not be as big a deal to them. Just having a hard time deciding. Are there things I'm overlooking that might tilt the scales one way or the other? Thanks all!

 

[mickeynut1]

We are looking at visiting the first week of October and are trying to decide between Beach Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge. On the one hand, BC has the better location, especially considering the Food and Wine Festival and proximity to Epcot/World Showcase. Also, they probably have the better pool (?). On the other hand, AKL has the better theming and, of course, the animals. The distance from the parks (other than AK), though, is worrisome. It seems like it would be difficult to manage some of the nighttime offerings, (e.g. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, Illuminations, etc) being that far away. Our kids are both 11, so theming may not be as big a deal to them. Just having a hard time deciding. Are there things I'm overlooking that might tilt the scales one way or the other? Thanks all!

We've stayed at both while I'm glad we tried the BC, we weren't wow'd by SAB and we find the CS options to be very limited (at least for my family). AKL is out away from everything, but we found the buses to be great as it didn't take more than maybe 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts. Since the buses only service AKL and Kidani, there's no sharing with any other resort(s). With all of that said, if you are planning to spend a lot of time at F&W, the BC would probably be the better choice; however, we prefer the theme/decor/atmosphere of AKL and that would be my choice (especially if you will be spending equal time at all of the parks).