Give me your votes - AK Lodge, Boardwalk, or Contemporary?

[OurLittleLove]

Planning a trip for May 2016, where we'll celebrate our son's 3rd birthday in Disney.

We are new DVC timeshare owners (bought at Boardwalk) and haven't yet experienced other resorts.

Where should we stay - Boardwalk Villas, Contemporary, or Animal Kingdom Lodge (savannah view)? We've stayed at Wilderness Lodge a few times and love it there but want to try something new.

 

[eliza61]

Can't beat Boardwalk location. I'll be there in 6 days

 

[Jpepper2]

Do you mean Bay Lake Towers? Or the actual Contemporary?

 

[supersnoop]

Will you be spending more time at the Magic Kingdom or Epcot? With a three year old, I would suspect you'd be spending more time at Magic Kingdom, so I vote for the contemporary. Unless he really likes animals.

 

[OurLittleLove]

Do you mean Bay Lake Towers? Or the actual Contemporary?

I honestly have no idea, we are so new to DVC. Are there 1 bedroom villas in actual contemporary or bay lake?

 

[spiceycat]

bay lake towers is where the DVC villas are located.

 

[lovedisney123]

For your son's age I would go with Bay Lake Towers (Contemporary). You can go to Chef Mickey's and walk to Magic Kingdom where you will probably be spending a lot of time. Boardwalk is fun and I love it (it is my favorite), but my kids are 22. The clown slide is not a favorite of some smaller children and Epcot is usually not the favorite park that the age of 3. Now that you are members you will find that as your children grow, what works best will change. We became members when our twins were in the 3rd grade and now they are seniors in college. It has been wonderful!

 

[Mpadovani2]

Bay Lake Towers at The Contemporary. Less than 10 minute walk to MK which is awesome when returning home for the afternoon nap. Not my favorite decor and style resort but it is great for our 2 yr old. Monorail is awesome too should you go to Epcot as well.

 

[gdrj]

BWV is our home resort, and we love it. If your looking strictly location to MK, obviously BLT. We like Boardwalk to avoid busses to EPCOT and HS. Not sure how long you are planning to stay but you could do a split stay. This way you get to try 2 resorts and see what fits your style best. IMO You cant go wrong with any of your 3 choices. They have their own plusses. BLT will be the smallest but with a 3 yr old I don't see it as being too tight. Being able to walk from MK back to your resort for a nap or just to cool down is a real plus. Not to mention walking back in the evening for just a little while if you want.

 

[Brancaneve]

AKL has a relatively low amount of points and it's such an unusal experience. Enjoy!

 

[mouseclick1]

BWV and AKV are two of our favorites (we own at both), but I would go with BLT in your situation. My guess is that you will spend most of your time at MK, and the ability to walk there is such a bonus! The best thing about DVC is that you know you'll be back (many times!), so you can try out the other resorts on future trips!

 

[bigtony777]

As others have stated, if you plan on visiting MK most days, then BLT will be the best option. AKV is great for a trip when you will spend much of your time at the resort and not at the parks.

 

[MxRacer965]

We stayed at both BLT and AKV on a recent trip (we've stayed at AKV before as regular resort guests) and we liked the AKV resort much better than BLT; though BLT was certainly very convenient, especially after Wishes walking back without having to wait with thousands of other people for a bus. So you could give that a try if you want to split your trip up. We stayed at AKV for 4 days and BLT for 4. The 4 days we were at AKV we went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios. The 4 days we were at BLT we went to MK and Epcot. Only down side was having to pack our stuff. Disney handled the transfer of our luggage from resort to resort. Our March '16 trip we are just going to stay at AKV. 4 year old girl and son will be 1.5 during the trip.

 

[skorpie]

Just had a trip with a 5,4 and 3 year old and stayed at Kidani Village. Loved it for the animals and the splash pad however, the wait for the bus to the parks really pushed the 3 year old to the limit. If I had to do it again, I would stay at BLT.

 

[Murron]

I voted BWV then saw 3 yr old boy. Animal Kingdom! Savannah view...he'll love it.

 

[jimmytammy]

I love all 3, own pts. at BWV and stayed there 2-3 times, once at AKL and 2 times at BLT.
BWV is great for access to Epcot and HS, AKL for the animals and BLT for proximity to MK. Going with a 3 yr old, BLT would be my answer.

 

[DVC Mike]

They all offer completely different experiences. It's like should I take a snow vacation or a beach vacation (to use an analogy).

 

[Sleepy425]

Our last trip we did BCV and AKV. Our kids were 1,1,2,4. We loved the location of BCV (I know you're asking BWV, but they are in the same location pretty much), but AKV was awesome with the kids. The splash pad area at Kidani was fabulous. Kept all the kids occupied. And we loved having Sanaa right there for food (hello, bread service!).
Honestly if it is a long trip I would recommend a split stay so you can see both for yourself.
(I can't give an opinion on BLT since I'm biased and can't stay there due to the elevator situation - too many stairs for this claustrophobic!)

 

[suebeelin]

Keep in mind our oldest son is a very bad sleeper. He has never slept in a stroller, car seat, or even our arms. Never. Not even as a baby or toddler.

We did a split stay btwn AKL and BWV when our oldest son had just turned 3 (he is now 5.5)

At AKL, we were miserable bc we had to run back to our rock for naps and bedtime. Breaking down the stroller constantly was not fun. We even stayed in a 2bd (just three of us!).

Things were much more pleasant at BWV. He liked the magicians and mimes at night. The walk around the lake was nice. It was somehow easier to do Naptime and bedtime.

However, MK was the target park for age 3, and we went there more often than the other parks. I would recommend BLT for a child age 3.

In fact, we just bought BLT 6 months ago so we can walk to MK. My oldest, as mentioned, is 5.5. His little brother is 2, so we will want to stay walking distance to MK for a few more years!

 

[nkereina]

AKV has a great pool, savannah view is unique, and you will use a lower number of points. Bay Lake Tower is probably the most convenient, being walking distance from MK where you're likely to spend the majority of your time. It would be a flip of a coin between BLT and AKV for me. BWV would only be my vote if your kid was older or it was just two adults - walking distance to Epcot is the benefit there.