Hello!!
We stayed at AKL last Sept when DD was 1 and 1/2. We loved the resort and the theming and stayed club level so the free snacks throughout the day were great. The only downside was the room size. We had a basic 2 queen bed room. There was very little room for DD to play and she mostly played on the balcony where we were in constant fear of her tossing a toy to the animals
We had a rental car so transportation wasn't an issue. The splash park at Kidani (the vacation club side of the resort which is open to all Animal Kingdom Lodge guests) was a huge hit and we spent all day there. She loved it since at that age splashing and running is more fun than swimming/wading.
The second part of our stay was at the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs and wow the space difference was amazing. My parents were also there and it was so nice to have a separate living area to hang out in while she slept. But again the resort is far from everything except Downtown Disney but with a rental car it was fine.
We're renting points and getting a 2 bedroom at Wilderness this September. The price savings is amazing (about half off the standard rate) but there are a few downsides (prepayment in full, cancellation/reschedule not guaranteed) but for us the savings outweighed the risks. We paid $9/pt. some sites charge as much as $13/pt so do your research. Lots of threads over in the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) section of the forums.
And like most we assumed DD would have no lasting memories of the trip. 6 months later and she still talks about it. She says '"Dumbo, push button, up!!" So while she may not remember it when she's 20, I think the trip itself provided so many new experiences and interactions that have honestly helped to shape who she is becoming. She started talking up a storm during and immediately after the trip and hasn't stopped since.
We spent the majority of our time at MK which is why we chose Wilderness. Her favorite things were Small World, the Dreams Come True show in front of the castle, the parades, first haircut at barber shop (ok that was more for me but at $18 and free mouse ears it's such a bargain!), Pirates and of course the Kidani splash park. Epcot was fun for adults but not a ton of stuff for DD. She enjoyed the safari at Animal Kingdom (we did the sunrise savannah which is for AKL guest only, can't remember if club level was required) and she liked some of the shows at Hollywood Studios. This time we're planning 3 MK days, 1 AK and 1 Epcot. Not sure if we'll do Hollywood Studios. Although Doc McStuffins is there so we might have to. If only Dora was Disney...
If you have any questions just let me know. You are going to have so much fun and DD will be just fine whatever resort you choose. Oh and I recommend getting Photo Pass so you can get tons of family pictures. We pre ordered and it was $119 for a DVD with an unlimited amount of your photo pass pictures. Worth every penny for the pictures we got.