Booked AKL...having second thoughts..Help!

[seaprincess]

I currently have a pool view room booked at AKL with Free Dining and Passes for 9/30-10/04. I have spent hours reading the Dis Boards and was so "settled" with my decision. Because we are celebrating a birthday, a surprise for DH, I thought it would be nice to try something new.

Ironically, DH and I were watching the Travel Channel last week and they featured none other than AKL. We watched and I was trying to keep a straight face, couldn't contain my excitement , when my DH pipes up and says, "what a great resort, but I never would stay there, it's too far away". So I smiled and said, "I think it would be fun", and left it at that.

The next day, I was back on the internet reading the DIS Boards trying to figure out what to do. We have stayed at the Contemporary and Yacht Club before...so here I am now trying to get some suggestions. My concern, the construction at CR and the greater expense to stay at the Yacht Club.

Any suggestions???? Thanks

 

[Nik's Mom]

We stayed at AKL in May and had no problems with transportation. MK was a 10 minute bus ride for us. The great thing is that you don't share bus service with another resort. I say try it!

 

[graygables]

We had a split stay with GF and moved to AKL. My DH said when we walked through the doors, "Why didn't we just stay here the whole time???" He won't stay anywhere else and he is so NOT a resort snob! We love the AKL, and it is our first resort of choice. It is not that far away, the buses were always prompt and quick (and we've never had to stand), but it's 'just far away' enough that you aren't bombarded with everything. It's peaceful and thrilling all at the same time.

 

[beagle744]

I agree with everything graygables and Nik's Mom said especially about the busses. We were there in July, a pretty busy time of year. We never had to stand.

And the atmosphere at AKL is wonderful. graygables hit it on the head by saying it was thrilling and peaceful. I almost never wanted to leave the hotel to go to the parks.

 

[minnie61650]

AK resort only
looks far away on a map/
It is near the main road so bus ride times are quite short
Bus ride times accpurding to PassPorter.com

AK resort------Contemopary------Yacht club
MK 20 min-----20 min (mono)-----20 min (mono)
Epcot 15 Min---!5 min------------10min walk+10 min mono
MGM 10 min----20 min-----------20 min walk--15 min boat
AK 5 min------20 min------------20 min
DTD 15 min------15 min----------15 min

See AK is realy closer to the parks than you thought!!!
Have a wonderful time.
Linda

 

[plutospup]

As Minnie 61650 pointed out with her "time sheet", don't be fooled by the CR and the Monorail. Yes, the CR is close to the MK, but when you travel to the MK by monorail it does take 15-20 min! (It was quicker to walk from CR to MK)

 

[DiscussDisney]

We'll be there the same time as you We were deciding between the CR Standard Wing Room and AKL Pool View and went with AKL. We always rent a car, so the location of the resort was a non-issue for us. IMO, the whole "AKL is so far from everything" is way overdone. We visit AKL on every trip (for Boma) and it never takes more than 10 minutes to get there from wherever we are on Disney Property. Also, from all that we have read, AKL is one of the "quieter" resorts which is perfect after a long, hot day at the parks.

I currently have a pool view room booked at AKL with Free Dining and Passes for 9/30-10/04. I have spent hours reading the Dis Boards and was so "settled" with my decision. Because we are celebrating a birthday, a surprise for DH, I thought it would be nice to try something new.

Ironically, DH and I were watching the Travel Channel last week and they featured none other than AKL. We watched and I was trying to keep a straight face, couldn't contain my excitement , when my DH pipes up and says, "what a great resort, but I never would stay there, it's too far away". So I smiled and said, "I think it would be fun", and left it at that.

The next day, I was back on the internet reading the DIS Boards trying to figure out what to do. We have stayed at the Contemporary and Yacht Club before...so here I am now trying to get some suggestions. My concern, the construction at CR and the greater expense to stay at the Yacht Club.

Any suggestions???? Thanks

 

[s&k'smom]

We had a pool view last 10/30 to 11/6. It was fantastic. I think DH was apprehensive but now it's his favorite. We also found the bus service very efficient, never waited more than 10 minutes. If you DH is a BIG eater like mine you must go to BOMA. The ribs alone are worth the stay.

 

[VSL]

I know how you feel (although to a lesser extent).

I was seriously thinking of switching from ASMo to POFQ this year. I've stayed in ASMo before and wanted
- to try a Mod (Deluxe is a little out of my price range, and while I could stretch to AKL - as it has the cheapest Deluxe price - I'd rather do a split stay with it (ie, the second half of a holiday to relax in))
- to splash out a little more (going for my 21st Birthday)
- to suprise my BF

But when I brought up (casually) the idea of switching resorts, my BF was like 'NO WAY'. He really wants to stay at ASMo as he's never been there before.
Hoping to go next summer and stay at POFQ though..

 

[Harambe]

As Minnie 61650 pointed out with her "time sheet", don't be fooled by the CR and the Monorail. Yes, the CR is close to the MK, but when you travel to the MK by monorail it does take 15-20 min! (It was quicker to walk from CR to MK)

I know this sounds silly but I just hate that big ramp you have to walk up to get to the monorail! And if you're going to Epcot that's TWO big ramps to walk up and down!

 

[golfgal]

We stayed at AKL and never waited more then 8 minutes for a bus to get there when we got to the bus stop (we timed it because my DH is a geek ) with the exception of one time when a bus broke down in route to AKL. It didn't seem like any of the trips to any of the parks took 20 minutes. We had a rental car and drove that in the evenings if we had a ADR at one of the other resorts, but other then that, we took the bus. We never had to stand on the bus. Since the buses are dedicated to AKL only, they are probably better then staying at any other resort.

 

[Anjelica]

but we decided to book CSR for our next trip to and to try a moderate resort (have only done deluxe before) but we will be switching to AKL as we have stayed there before and LOVED it. My husband, a "manly man", said it was beautiful and he loved staying there. So after a little bit of "thought" we decided not to mess with a good thing and go back and stay there.

This will be our daughters first trip to disney world (she will be almost 3) and she loves animals. Even if we decided not to do a savannah view, there are soo many animals aroun you won't even miss them.

 

[Tiffany]

I currently have a pool view room booked at AKL with Free Dining and Passes for 9/30-10/04. I have spent hours reading the Dis Boards and was so "settled" with my decision. Because we are celebrating a birthday, a surprise for DH, I thought it would be nice to try something new.

Ironically, DH and I were watching the Travel Channel last week and they featured none other than AKL. We watched and I was trying to keep a straight face, couldn't contain my excitement , when my DH pipes up and says, "what a great resort, but I never would stay there, it's too far away". So I smiled and said, "I think it would be fun", and left it at that.

The next day, I was back on the internet reading the DIS Boards trying to figure out what to do. We have stayed at the Contemporary and Yacht Club before...so here I am now trying to get some suggestions. My concern, the construction at CR and the greater expense to stay at the Yacht Club.

Any suggestions???? Thanks

It is really not that far away from things. It just gives you that feeling when you are on the resort grounds so you can get the feeling of being on a savanna. The buses are great. It is less than 5mins to the AK park and maybe 10 to MGM and 15 to EC and the MK. None of the rides are long and none of the resorts are convienant to all of the parks.

 

[wld]

this is our new favorite, but only if I can get a good code. We too, felt like we were not riding busses all that far, nor did we wait for them. It is great driving up to your resort as you really feel like you are getting away from it all. The lobby is really beautiful as you step in, it really feels inviting and not loud and overcrowded. I would stay here and try it.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Try WL or Polynesian.

 

[tekmom]

We just stayed at AKL last month and never waited long for a bus. The bus driver even said that AKL isn't much farther away from the other parks, but that the roads, on a map, make it seem like it is. I thought my family might feel isolated, but we did not. We are going back next year and I offered up a different resort...WL, Poly, Beach Club...but everyone was so happy with our stay AND the transportation that we are going back to AKL. As there are people who would just rather visit Akl and take in the sites....we can do the same at the other resorts. As much as I loved the look of the monorail resorts, as long as I can visit them, I am happy. Only you can decide what would be good for your family. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[seaprincess]

Thanks to all that responded so quickly. I am feeling much better about my decision and will stick with AKL. I feel much more confident knowing that so many people are enjoying their stay there!! I think we will have a great time and I am sure he will too after he sees how beautiful the resort is!!

Now, just keeping the birthday surprise under wraps!!

Big to all on these boards!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

 

[jcemom]

We spent 10 days at AKL in February 2004. My DH did not want to stay there. He said the same as your DH...looks nice, but I wouldn't want to stay there. He wanted to stay as inexpensively as possible...ie Value Resorts. I ended up with a great rate at AKL, so I booked it anyway. He LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it! In June we stayed at POR, which I thought was very nice. The entire trip DH would say "Well, that's nice...but it's not as nice as AKL." Ugh.

I booked WL for our upcoming January trip, thinking it's in a good location for what we're planning to do. However, I'm reasonably certain that I'm switching our reservation to AKL. I'll surprise DH. I know he'd be happier at AKL, and I really wasn't terribly impressed with WL. It's nice, the courtyard is breathtaking, but our room looked so worn. It really needs a refurb, IMO. DH hasn't been to WL (I went with my mom and sis that trip), and I think he might be disappointed. I don't know if I want to hear "That's nice...but not as nice as AKL" again.

He even wanted me to call Disney and suggest that they sell a candle with the "AKL smell" so that our house could smell like AKL's lobby.

As others have said, we found AKL transportation to be quite good. Buses came often, were never crowded, and it's nice to not have additional stops to make.

 

[Tikiman]

I have been to the AKL twice now and the themeing of the resort could not be better. The food there is worth the trip over to the resort also when staying at another resort. The staff has always been friendly.

I will say that if your husband gets the impression it is too isolated than that may be a factor once you get there. As with many other resorts there are other parks, activities or resorts you can walk to from your resort but my one complaint about the AKL is that there is nothing else around and you can’t even walk around the resort much other than near the pool and the small viewing area for the animals. I don’t want to debate about the bus but the first time I went we commented on how long we had to wait for a bus and we saw some of the same resort busses come multiple times. Than I figured it was an isolated incident but even last week I felt the same way. I say rent a car. I am sure your husband will be glad he stayed at the AKL and not hate it but if the location is a concern than you might want to think about another resort. The YC and BC seem to have the most nightlife and things within walking distance if doing things later in the day besides the parks is important.

Aloha

Steve

 

[kimisabella]

We'll be at the AKL from 10/2 - 10/7 We're also celebrating dd's 2nd birthday 10/4 and our 7th anniversary 10/5. I switched from POP to AKL thinking we were celebrating so, we'll do something special - I'm so happy I switched now everyone's 10X more excited to go (even dh)!!!!!!!!!