CB or deluxe??

[cannp123165]

We are going to WDW next April.
We are most likely going to stay in the CBR. Is it worth splashing out for the AKL?
We have not been for 4 years, and I do not know how many years it will be until we can go back.
In my family there are 2 children: 13 yr old boy and 15 yr old girl (massive Disney fan). They both like the look of the AKL a lot. Do you always get rooms with a view?
They like swimming a lot. We will be in the parks most of the time.

Thank You. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
. .

 

[DVCLiz]

If you're willing (and many are not!) I'd consider a split stay. Spend most of your time at CR, then switch to AKL for the last night or two of your stay. If you're going to be in the parks anyway, just pack your luggage and bell services will transfer it over to AKL while you are at the parks. Go over to AKL and check in before you hit the parks, then when you get back all you have to do is get your room numer, which can be done from the phone in the lobby if the line is long at checkin, and go to your room. Once you're in your room, call for your luggage. I've never had to wait very long for the bags to be delivered. If you want, you could put bathing suits in a small tote or backpack and take it to the parks with you. That way, you could swim when you get "home" even if it takes a little while for your luggage to arrive.

Have fun!!!

 

[ADisneygirl]

If you can afford it, I'd go for AKL. We have stayed there 3 times and we loved it. Twice in a savannah view room and once in a pool view room. Even in a standard parking lot view I'd prefer to be at AKL. The resort is beautiful, very elegant and interesting. Their restaurant Boma is delicious. The Mara food court type restaurant is convenient. (We haven't eaten in Jiko's, their other full service restaurant)

We are a little biased, because we just returned from a week at WDW for Thanksgiving and we stayed at CBR. It was our first, and last time there. While some people rave about it, we did not have a good experience there. (But that is only our little opinion. Many people love it.)

Plus there is more room in a deluxe for a family. They have queen size beds as opposed to full size, and with two teenagers with you, I am sure they would appreciate more room in the beds.

Good luck deciding! You'll get lots of opinions I'm sure!

 

[catbertdave99]

We have been to AKL and to CBR -- both are great, and you can't go wrong with either one. At AKL, while you can see the animals from all over the resort, a Savannah View Room gives you a balcony overlooking the savannah where the animals are. We had a great view of all kinds of animals -- my kids were 13 and 10 at the time and really got into the animals.

This year we were at CBR, and I now had a DS14 and DS11 -- they loved CBR, the beaches, hammocks, food court and renting the boats for the lake. We had a preferred room, Martinique 2549, which overlooks the Martinique beach and is about as close to Old Port Royale as you can get. For the savings, we loved it. The pool at AKL is better, but CBR has quiet pools in each village, along with the main pool.

Bus transportation to the parks was great at both resorts. We hope to return to CBR in 2007.... you'll like it wherever you go!

 

[jtlover]

I am going to AKL in February - have not been to either AKL or CBR before.

I wanted to go to a luxury disney hotel and AKL was the cheapest of all of the deluxe ones - though everyones opinions are different.

I am sure whatever you decide you will have a great holiday.

By the way I am doing a split - I am staying at the AKL and then transferring to GF for only 2 days!

 

[safetymom]

CBR is a beautiful resort. You could save some money and use it for dinners or something else at WDW.