Is AKL worth 3k more over OKW?

[Pea-n-Me]

We were disappointed with our Savannah view. We really didn’t see many animals except one type (can’t think of the name of them right now but they weren’t any of the more common ones). Anyway, one had a BM (yes, bowel movement, lol) down in front of our balcony and it smelled to high heaven. No one picked it up for several days so it was hard to even sit out there. I mean, seeing lots of animals outside your room sounds really cool, but our experience just wasn’t great. I do really love the resort though. But that’s a lot of money. I hope if they go there they have a better experience than we did. Don’t flame me, I’m just being honest.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Depends if it a once in a lifetime trip. If it’s for a special occasion.

The animals make the experience extra special imo. I would stay at AKV. But in full transparency I would never stay at OKW.

 

[VGCgroupie]

FWIW I had full view of animals and had zero complaints about the animals we saw. We didn’t smell any of them.

 

[DVC Deac]

We will be going when everyone is up and staying until park close

If that’s the plan, then stay at OKW and use the savings to enhance your experience in the parks. If you plan to spend any significant amount of time at the resort, then it’s worth the extra money to stay at AKV. If I’m at a bachelor party, then I’d much rather be at Victoria Falls or Sanaa Lounge and have Jiko and Sanaa on property.

 

[airjay75]

FWIW I had full view of animals and had zero complaints about the animals we saw. We didn’t smell any of them.

Same. Our deluxe studio with a Sunset Savannah view was fantastic. I look forward to staying again.

But in full transparency I would never stay at OKW.

I'm not quite in this camp, but I totally understand where @VGCgroupie is coming from. OKW and SSR and basically the simple, no frills way of staying in a Disney deluxe resort. They're perfectly serviceable. But, they just don't hold a candle to staying at most other WDW DVC resorts. Whether a GV stay that costs $3k more is worth it? Well, just depends on budget, group, and what you're looking to accomplish with your trip.

 

[Cfabar1]

I think a separate thread would be something along the lines of:
Is OKW worth it compared to Orlando World Center Marriott... Sabal Palms/Royal Palms/Imperial Palms

AKV is a very distinct experience compared to OKW... whether it is worth 3k is up to you...

 

[muppets3d]

If you aren't planning to take advantage of any of the extras that come along with staying onsite like early entry or extended evening hours, I'd take the free rooms offsite by spending Hilton points etc. Even if you planned on using those extras I'd still probably take the free room.

But if you're dead set on staying onsite, I would do AKV over OKW. I would pay more for AKV over OKW any day of the week. But it's easy to spend other people's money.

OKW is very nice but it looks and feels like an old school condo or retirement community. There's probably a late 80's vintage condo complex in your hometown that's very similar to it. That's not to say it's not a nice resort or that people are wrong for loving it. AKV is just magical, there's nowhere else on earth like it.

 

[VGCgroupie]

OKW is very nice but it looks and feels like an old school condo or retirement community. There's probably a late 80's vintage condo complex in your hometown that's very similar to it. That's not to say it's not a nice resort or that people are wrong for loving it. AKV is just magical, there's nowhere else on earth like it.

This was me way back when booking my first WDW trip for cash. Now that I know what I know now having seen OKW I am very happy I didn’t stick with OKW this trip.

We are normally DL goers. We stay at the DLH or GCH. For our WDW trip I originally booked POP to save money. I got really worried about space and it being a value resort (3 adults 1 kid, and people visiting the room) I saw a great deal for OKW on hotels.com last night and canceled my pop for okw. Now that Im researching Im seeing lots of complaints about the size of the resort and the transportation taking a very long time. We will be at MK 2 days, Epcot 1 day, AK 1 day and HS 2 days. Do you have any feedback or suggestions? 7 nights at OKW ended up being $3222 for the 1 bed villa. Which i thought was a slammin deal. But Im new to WDW

 

[zackiedawg]

Clearly opinions vary greatly - so as the OP you'll have to make the final call yourself. I love AK theming, especially Jambo, Jiko is my favorite overall restaurant on Disney property, and seeing the animals from your villa is great.

That said, I'd pick OKW over AK in your case. I don't think the price difference would be worth it for me. With as many people as you're going with (8), I think you're going to be spending more time in parks, planning dinners or entertainment, and chatting/interacting with each other than taking in long relaxing views of animals, so having the extra space of OKW and saving enough money to pay for some very nice meals or park perks seems more worth it.

I love having access to Disney Springs via boat (or a long walk), as it provides lots of restaurant options as well as nighttime entertainment, bars, etc...with a large group, that can be nice to have. And it's a neat way to get around to other resorts too - enjoy the boat ride to Disney Springs, then take a bus from there to any other resort. Same for heading back to OKW - you can use Disney Springs almost like a transportation hub, bussing there from other resorts and hopping the boat back to OKW.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Clearly opinions vary greatly - so as the OP you'll have to make the final call yourself. I love AK theming, especially Jambo, Jiko is my favorite overall restaurant on Disney property, and seeing the animals from your villa is great.

That said, I'd pick OKW over AK in your case. I don't think the price difference would be worth it for me. With as many people as you're going with (8), I think you're going to be spending more time in parks, planning dinners or entertainment, and chatting/interacting with each other than taking in long relaxing views of animals, so having the extra space of OKW and saving enough money to pay for some very nice meals or park perks seems more worth it.

I love having access to Disney Springs via boat (or a long walk), as it provides lots of restaurant options as well as nighttime entertainment, bars, etc...with a large group, that can be nice to have. And it's a neat way to get around to other resorts too - enjoy the boat ride to Disney Springs, then take a bus from there to any other resort. Same for heading back to OKW - you can use Disney Springs almost like a transportation hub, bussing there from other resorts and hopping the boat back to OKW.

If Disney Springs is the reason then SSR may be a better option. I wouldnt stay at OKW for DS.

 

[gzmtlock]

I've stayed at both and love both.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is bar service at the pools or in the resort. Kidani and Jambo both have pool bars and resort bars. The bar at OKW is very small, adjacent to the pool. Single bartender, seating for less that 15 people or so. If bar service is important, you may want to take this into consideration. You can always order alcohol to the villa, of course. But when I go to the pool, I don't want to be hauling more than one tumbler of adult beverage.

 

[Lionezz]

My vote goes for AK. 3k is nothing I this context. Disney is all about buying happiness for money. More money spent equals more happiness. You will probably regret any other choice.

 

[CarolynFH]

both OKW and AKL would be a 3 bedroom grand villa.

To be honest, it might come down to which owner has that many points to rent when it’s time for you to book. If you book from 11 to before 7 months out, you’ll need an OKW owner for OKW or an AKV owner for AKV. If you wait until 7 months or less from checkin, any DVC owner with sufficient points can book, but by that time availability may be an issue. IOW I don’t think I’d set my heart on one or the other; you’ve gotten enough information to know that either one will be wonderful!

 

[BostonEd]

Everyone. It is not $3,000 more. It is "only" $375 additional per person.

Does that change anyone's mind about staying at the ordinary OKW vs truly unique AKL? I vote AKL/Kidani.

The almost-free Signia does complicate things. Nevertheless, if you go that route, I would absolutely plan to budget many Ubers, regardless of the shuttle situation, quite frankly.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Everyone. It is not $3,000 more. It is "only" $375 additional per person.

Does that change anyone's mind about staying at the ordinary OKW vs truly unique AKL? I vote AKL/Kidani.

The almost-free Signia does complicate things. Nevertheless, if you go that route, I would absolutely plan to budget many Ubers, regardless of the shuttle situation, quite frankly.

This right here.

 

[muppets3d]

Everyone. It is not $3,000 more. It is "only" $375 additional per person.

Does that change anyone's mind about staying at the ordinary OKW vs truly unique AKL? I vote AKL/Kidani.

The almost-free Signia does complicate things. Nevertheless, if you go that route, I would absolutely plan to budget many Ubers, regardless of the shuttle situation, quite frankly.

The offsite shuttles typically run rather well. They may not run to the places you want to go or the times you want to go there, of course. But in my experience they run rather well.

 

[kathy884]

I'd probably go AKL, as I just love the theming. And my parents tell me it's so much like game lodges in South Africa. I've never been on an African Safari and doubt that's something I'll ever do, so ALK is really kind of the closest I ever get to that. It's a unique place (feels really special to me) vs. a nice timeshare condo place (nothing at all wrong with that either). The AKL restaurants are wonderful., but restaurants are pricey too for a large group and sort of a splurge. Sometimes with a condo we even do a lot of eating in. It's fun to watch the animals and wander around that place.

Another question, though, might be how much time you will be spending at the resort? And what does $375 mean to everyone's budget?

I know on my next trip which is just a mini one (three night and two days) I'm going to be at the parks from rope drop to closing and am only using the resort as a place to sleep for the most part. I am doing onsite though to get the earlier access to lightening lanes as well as rope drop (the rope drop early 30 minutes is available at some non-Disney Disney springs properties - including your Hilton, but earlier lightening lane selection is only for resorts classified as onsite Disney and I wanted that). I have a plenty big budget for this mini trip but I just picked a value resort in this case, the POP, as deluxe prices would be a waste of money if I'm hardly going to even be at the resort too and there are only two of us.

Note also that you can visit the AKL, eat there, walk around there without staying there too if you have time in your schedule and want to do that. We've done that numerous times. I can't see your doing that though on such a short trip and resort to resort takes a long time in some cases just using Disney transport.

Note: I have stayed in offsite condos many a time too, but Disney was not really a main focus (mostly extended family meet up with extended family who really like a value - visiting SeaWorld for a day or two, just one day at a Disney park, and lots of resort time). This though for us means cars or lots of ubers to get where we want to efficiently. I'm not as big a fan of driving around Orlando as I used to be either.

 

[bethwc101]

Everyone. It is not $3,000 more. It is "only" $375 additional per person.

Does that change anyone's mind about staying at the ordinary OKW vs truly unique AKL? I vote AKL/Kidani.

The almost-free Signia does complicate things. Nevertheless, if you go that route, I would absolutely plan to budget many Ubers, regardless of the shuttle situation, quite frankly.

I'd probably go AKL, as I just love the theming. And my parents tell me it's so much like game lodges in South Africa. I've never been on an African Safari and doubt that's something I'll ever do, so ALK is really kind of the closest I ever get to that. It's a unique place (feels really special to me) vs. a nice timeshare condo place (nothing at all wrong with that either). The AKL restaurants are wonderful., but restaurants are pricey too for a large group and sort of a splurge. Sometimes with a condo we even do a lot of eating in. It's fun to watch the animals and wander around that place.

Another question, though, might be how much time you will be spending at the resort? And what does $375 mean to everyone's budget?

I know on my next trip which is just a mini one (three night and two days) I'm going to be at the parks from rope drop to closing and am only using the resort as a place to sleep for the most part. I am doing onsite though to get the earlier access to lightening lanes as well as rope drop (the rope drop early 30 minutes is available at some non-Disney Disney springs properties - including your Hilton, but earlier lightening lane selection is only for resorts classified as onsite Disney and I wanted that). I have a plenty big budget for this mini trip but I just picked a value resort in this case, the POP, as deluxe prices would be a waste of money if I'm hardly going to even be at the resort too and there are only two of us.

Note also that you can visit the AKL, eat there, walk around there without staying there too if you have time in your schedule and want to do that. We've done that numerous times. I can't see your doing that though on such a short trip and resort to resort takes a long time in some cases just using Disney transport.

Note: I have stayed in offsite condos many a time too, but Disney was not really a main focus (mostly extended family meet up with extended family who really like a value - visiting SeaWorld for a day or two, just one day at a Disney park, and lots of resort time). This though for us means cars or lots of ubers to get where we want to efficiently. I'm not as big a fan of driving around Orlando as I used to be either.

The groom is paying for the room or rooms by himself (I'm the future bride) and he wants to do whatever I want. I am usually frugal, but he did get me on the animal view part of the AKL . But I do see it as 3k extra that could go to honeymoon or just savings.

 

[Brian Noble]

If the two of you are paying for it yourselves, I'd think hard about OKW unless you would not miss $3,000. You have a lifetime together to enjoy looking at the animals at AKL, and that can be done from a much less expensive studio.

In fact, I have another suggestion, based on this observation:

It will be the first time at disney for 6 of the people so will not be doing rope drop. We will be going when everyone is up and staying until park close

Rent a 4-5 bedroom pool home at Windsor Hills. The early risers can hang out in the pool or the hot tub, no one has to sleep in the living room, and folks who don't want to share a bed don't have to. Rent a few cars with a small bit of the large chunk of the money you are saving and drive to/from the parks. You will still have money left over vs. an OKW Grand Villa.

If you want more of a resort feel, see if you can't rent a 4BR Presidential at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. That will probably be more than a pool home, but still less than the OKW GV even with the rental cars.

When our kids were little, we did the Windsor Hills thing. When they were older, we used our Wyndham points at Bonnet Creek. Both are fantastic ways of doing WDW.

 

[Cfabar1]

When our kids were little, we did the Windsor Hills thing. When they were older, we used our Wyndham points at Bonnet Creek. Both are fantastic ways of doing WDW.

How do these experiences compare to OKW?

I have never stayed at any of these three options, but I would imagine they are more similar than they are different…

Whereas, I would imagine AKV is more different than similar to OKW, WH, and BC.