Decisions are hard!

[eileensmiles]

DH and I are planning a trip to Disney in March 2017, taking 11y/o son and 4 y/o daughter. We have been before, most recently in fall 2014, stayed at GF. Have stayed at Boardwalk Villas, Dolphin and off-site in past trips.

We are trying to decide between a 1 BR standard view villa at AKL and a preferred room at POR. We would rent the villa through DVC rental store for about $2400, while PO is about $1500. If we do POR, I would spring for park hopper passes, but probably won't if we go to AKL. Is the villa worth the price difference? Will the kids love one resort that much more than the other? Our daughter does love animals, but if we don't have a Savannah view, does it even matter?

The other consideration is that we generally like to get suites or two adjoining rooms when we travel with the kids so that DH and I can stay up later once the kids are in bed, but maybe we will all be exhausted at Disney anyway?

 

[Sunshine11]

When our kids were that age we were in one room at POFQ and loved it. We spent a good amount of time at the parks and used the room to sleep and shower. We have moved onto the deluxe hotels these days but we don't commando-style the parks like we used to and have slowed down to enjoy the resort amenities more. Only you know what your vacation style will be. You can't go wrong with PO Riverside and FQ if you choose a moderate. If you choose AKL, you will have a balcony to further the amount of space in the rooms.

 

[Kbendig]

There are a lot of areas at AKL where you can sit and watch the animals, you don't need to be in the room for it. We did have a Savannah view and loved it, but there was a public area a few feet from our room to sit outside and animal watch as well. We did spend a lot of time on the balcony, my son (9) called it his happy place.

We didn't like POR, we only stayed one night but it wasn't the right place for us. Our issue was mainly that to use the stroller we often had to walk around buildings to get a ramp. Just found it less stroller friendly, and we were exhausted after being awake at 3 AM to get there. Otherwise the grounds were very pretty.

Personally, I would go for AKL. Bigger room, and I really loved the vibe in the hotel.

 

[dkrauss]

Given the ages of your younglings............I'd go with a Royal Room at POR. They look so cool...................my wife and I are doing a split stay in November and spending 1 night in a Royal Room.............."we're younglings at heart"

Doug

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Both resorts are beautiful, but our preference will always be a 1-bedroom at a DVC resort. We love having separate spaces and I love having a washer/dryer in the room to cut down on packing. We also love having a balcony.

 

[Disneypapa]

I agree with other posters to your question. I would book a stay at a 1 BR DVC resort. You will enjoy having the extra space.