Driving myself....and everyone else....crazy

[wallawallakids]

I am sorry if this is redundant. I am so beyond confused and I am spending way to much time thinking about rooms! I am making everyone around me (including myself nuts). So I really need some help from you great DIS people out there!!

BWI deluxe club level room or two standard rooms at AKL? Has anyone stayed at both?

Pros of BWI: Close to Epcot and HS.
We are guaranteed to all be in one room
Club level service
Hubby is in love with the idea of staying at BWI.

Cons: We will all be in one room....with one bathroom
More expensive
? if pool is as nice as AKL or if it is as kid friendly?
Heard that bus service to AK and MK isn't great.


Pros of AKL: 2 rooms gives us more space and another bathroom
Seems really kid friendly with lots of activities & animals
Great places to eat
Less expensive

Cons: We might not get our connecting rooms.
Further from the parks.
Heard buses can take awhile to MK, HS, and Epcot.
No club level service, but I am not sure we need that anyway with FD?

I have never been to either (never been to WDW at all actually). Is BWI nice? I am scared of getting split up, which makes me lean towards BWI, until I think about us all in one room, then I want AKL. aghh!! Hubby wants BWI, but just for the location. (We like to walk). Oh there are 6 of us btw. DD 10, DS 8, DD4 and DS 4. We are looking at end of August and plan to spend time at the pool. FD is included with both. Thank you to anyone that can help at all!

 

[Missytara]

If I were stressing that much about the details, and hubby is already happy about BWI, I would go that way.

Sounds like with your cons of AKL, you would be setting yourself up for disappointment from the git go.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

You answered your own question - AKL!
Even if they are ajoining you are better off the BWI.

Book it!

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

I have stayed at both, but not the CL of BWI.

Here are more pros/cons that we found:

BWI:
-shared bus with BC/YC and Dolphin/Swan for AK and MK, YUCK!
-Not many CS options, but with the CL you will have breakfast options right there so not as big a con for you
-Rooms are large! So, even in one room there is space

AKL:
-The bus ride can be long (50 minutes with the wait to get to MK one day)
-The walkway and waiting area for the bus is shaded, so a plus for late August
-The pool at AKL is one of the few with shade, nice for late August
-Rooms are kinda small

The kids (4 and 8) loved both. DD 4 liked AKL better and DS 8 liked BWI better...

Hope that helps!

 

[nolanboys]

As a family of 6 as well, I would go for the two rooms. One room, one bathroom...too cramped! AKL is lovely. We only stayed there once and found the bus service good. It is a longer ride to MK, but nothing too bad. You could also look into WL. It has close proximity to MK and is the same price at AKL. You may also want to look into getting a 2 bdrm at OKW or SSR. The larger units are great and you will have a ton of space to spread out. Because you have to get two rooms, the price may be similar. Before becoming DVC members, we used to get two rooms at a moderate and we never had a problem getting connecting rooms. Good luck with your decision.

 

[wallawallakids]

Thank you for your help!
How do the pools compare at the two of them?
As far as bus goes, comparing the two, which is better? If BWI shares and AKL is far, is it a was between the two then?
Is BWI kid friendly still?

 

[gabzee]

It is Disney so all hotels are pretty kid friendly. I find BWI to have a more themed pool compared to AKL. We have stayed at both. We find AKL to be great! We have never had a problem with the buses and have probably stayed there 5-6 times. It is farther away from MK but it is a matter of minutes. Since BWI shares buses there is always a possibility that the buses will be full and you have to wait for another one but is that a reason not to stay there. If I am not mistaken, I think they would give you connecting rooms since you have more kids than adults. I have never been in that situation before but this what I have heard. I would check out the both resort threads. Would you use the CL services or would you make breakfast ADRs for the majority of your trip? With 4 kids and 2 adults the mornings and evenings would probably be easier with 2 bathrooms.

 

[glocon]

We have stayed at AKL and loved loved loved it. Never stayed at BW but that pool does look like it has a cool twirly slide.

I think if it were me, I would go with the option where I had more than one bathroom though. One toilet is kind of tough with so many people, not to mention baths/showers.

I'm sure both would be a ton of fun, how can you go wrong? It's Disney!

 

[jujube]

We stayed at both in November.
Can you get 2 rooms at BWI that are not CL? That would be a lot less expensive. Or you could get a BWI deluxe that has a sofa bed in the sitting area.
There's lots to do in the BW area.
AKL is gorgeous and we love it! We only book it for 1 or 2 nights though because it is so far from everything.

To throw another option out there, have you priced the Swan and Dolphin? There are Executive suites there that have 1 bd with either 2 doubles/queens or with a king bed. Then the parlor(at the Dolphin) has a Murphy bed and a sofa bed. These rooms might be inexpensive enough to make up for not getting free dining. You'd get the Epcot/DHS location with the 2 rooms. The will guarantee connecting rooms if you want to book 2 rooms.
This is the link for their discounts but you could call too because not all of them are always listed:
http://www.swandolphin.com/offers/index.html

Go to this link to price them:
https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/dreamsres/sd.cfm
This is the floor plan but note that you get either the double beds or the king room not the 2 that are shown in the picture:

 

[Wendy31]

I'd go w/ the deluxe room at BWI. I'd love to be able to walk to EPCOT!

You have free dining, but that's just one quick service & 1 table service meal & 1 snack per day. W/ the club level service, you'll be able to have breakfast & will have all the extra snacks you need.

Plus, while I like the themeing better at AKL, I'd hate to be so far away from the MK.

Since your kids are younger, I'm sure you'd fit in deluxe room w/o feeling cramped.

Plus, your DH wants BWI!

Just to throw another option out there... Have you considered the deluxe club level rooms at WL?

 

[padawans]

BW by a mile. The room will be big enough. The location just can't be beat. I would be willing to sacrafice a little room for a better location and pool. Your 10 and 8 year old will like the BW pool better.

 

[pixarmom]

We stayed at both last year - AKL standard (with just our youngest son) and BWI CL (but not deluxe) with all 5 of us. Our boys are ages 5, 11 and 12. I enjoyed both, but I'd absolutely vote for BWI.

1) Location / Transportation

The BWI location is outstanding, especially with kids. And if you're still using a stroller for the youngest two, you can't beat walking out of Epcot and DHS with that stroller and either strolling or boating to your room. The Epcot area is so lively and there are so many entertainment and dining options at a number of different resorts around the area. There is just so much to do and so many places to eat!

AKL is more contained and not connected to other resorts. We loved Sanaa and Jiko, but a one-night stay during a non-parks visit was good for us. The bus transportation everywhere is a deal-breaker for us when we're planning to spend time in the parks.

2) Rooms

I prefer the bright, light room decor at BWI, but both resorts are in good shape. The down comforters at BWI are so much more comfortable than the bedspread style at AKL.

3) Pool

The BWI pool is fun and the slide is one of the best at WDW. AKL is great for a non-parks visit because their pools are so entertaining. I'd say second only to SAB at WDW. The ability to use both the AKL and Kidani pools when staying at either is a huge benefit. Again, this was great when we stayed at AKL for a non-parks visit and spent the day at the resort, but not enough of a benefit to sacrifice the BWI location/transportation when spending time in the parks.

4) CL vs. Space

CL at BWI is OUTSTANDING. With three kids, I'd take CL over space any day. To have breakfasts, afternoon snacks, drinks and desserts easily available is just wonderful. And it really cuts down on the need to buy snacks in the park or for the room. I also love that the evening appetizers include healthy items, so if our youngest falls asleep at dinner, he already drank milk and ate some healthy snacks. CL also helps to get our three boys in from the pool or parks for some down time - they all enjoy the snacks and the CL CMs at BWI are so friendly that everyone wants to stop by the lounge. We fit 5 in a standard BWI CL room quite comfortably. We just take turns in the bathroom area and wake up early enough to make sure everyone gets in. Or we get the kids showered at night instead of in the morning.