Just back: 7 days, 3 Resorts (WL, YC, AKL)

[Music Mole]

When planning our trip (Oct. 1-7) we couldn't make up our mind on one resort, so we resort hopped. Here are our thoughts/experiences:

1 night: WL
Very friendly CMs at the front desk. A great place to start our vacation. Beautifully themed resort – we would definitely consider staying here again, and I know my mother-in-law would love the theming, so a possible contender for a future family trip.

4 nights: YC
Newly renovated room – beautiful theming! No noise from construction, even though they were still working on the room across from our when we checked in. Staff were fairly indifferent – not particularly bad service, but not the friendliest I’ve had either. I have friendlier front desk experiences checking in to a Sheraton Four Points or a Hilton. No real Disney Difference here. But oh- the location. Would we stay here again – yes – because we had no outright “bad” experience and the location can’t be beat.

1 night: AKL
Great theming – friendly cast members. The lodge itself could take you two days to explore. A very unique experience. We will probably spend the first two nights of our trip next spring here, before moving on to an Epcot area resort.

 

[corvair]

We have stayed at the WL. Next trip is AKL> How do they compare? Which has the bigger pool? Did you use the hottubs at AKL? HOw was the transportation at AKL? What was your favorite thing at AKL? Where was your room located? thanks...amy

 

[twinmomto3boys]

Did you use the Disney transportation system from WL to MK? Also, how were the YC rooms refurbished - was everything new? We are staying at these two resorts in December. Thanks!

 

[Music Mole]

TwinMom: from WL we took the bus to TTC - early (7:30 AM) because we had a PS at TOny's before the park openend. Then we caught the monorail to the MK. That was our only transportation experience there because we were only there 1 night. The new YC rooms - were all new - maybe the headboards were the same - but the dressers, desk, lamps, bedspreads - all new. Our Bellman said we were the first to stay in that room since the stuff came out of the boxes.

Corvair: re the comparison of WL & AKL - wow - it's kind of like apples to oranges - both are really great. We whirlpooled both places - wimpy jest (almost nonexistent) in the spa we used at WL (I think there's more than one) and quite strong at AKL (again there were two spas, we only used one). Pools seemd similarly sized to me - we saw them both at night so I think that can make it harder to judge. They were both nice large pool areas though - plenty of people could be there without it feeling crowded, IMO.

We were in Rm 3211 - the very first room facing the savannah as you turn left out of the lobby onto that "trail" (I think Kudu but could be wrong). We also saw a sav. view room at the very end of that same trail - had a view of chain link fencing separating two portions of the savannah. I think based on these two extremes (this is what I will request next time) that I would request a room more middle-ish - not so much to either extreme (our room had some noise from passers-by who didn't realize they were out of the lobby at that point).

Hope this helps - let me know if I can answer any more questions.

 

[Tess]

AKL for our arrival day at WDW before transferring over the Polynesian. At first we thought we'd try the concierge service just for comparison to the others we've tried. Now, however, I'm thinking why spend the excess cash since we've never been to this resort.

My thought is that our goal is to explore what the hotel has to offer and possibly try BOMA. Since our goal is to simply be out of the room and wandering, using the pool, etc., perhaps the best course would be to get the least expensive room possible. You indicated it would take 2 days to explore the hotel--do you think the plan I've outlined makes sense? We aren't real keen on the location of this deluxe, but felt if we weren't doing parks--who cares. We would be getting up first thing the next a.m. and checking into Polynesian no later than 8:00 a.m. in order to head out to the parks.

Effectively, we'd arrive around 11:00 a.m. at AKL and spend the first night totally at the resort. What do you think of the thought process given your experience staying at AKL?

 

[Music Mole]

Tess - I think if you arrive at 11 AM, and spend that whole day and evening at the resort, you could really feel immersed in it. You might not see every "art" type exhibit in the various spots in the hotel, like near the elevators, but I think if you weren't doing parks, you could really get the feel. I said two days for us to explore it, working on the premise that we would be gone to the parks during the days. Hope that helps!

 

[jds]

Tess:

We just returned from a long weekend at AKL, and I think your strategy would work just fine, although we enjoyed having more time to explore.

We had a "cheap" room---one of the few at the lodge without a "real" balcony. (We were in #5007, which has a tiny, enclosed balcony--no room for chairs---that has a small "window" looking out over the porte cochere and parking lot. We did see a couple of hot air balloons in the sky one morning, so the view wasn't totally nonexistent!) That didn't bother us because we spent little time in the room and a lot of time wandering around the resort. We saw LOTS of animals from the various indoor (window/balcony) and outdoor viewing spaces that are open to everyone, especially after a big rain storm on Sunday afternoon.

If you're really interested in seeing the animals close-up, I'd encourage you to get up early. We watched the feeding truck come through the Sunrise Savannah about 7:30 yesterday morning and it was really fun watching the giraffes come trotting in to get at the fresh branches they put out!

The art collection is fantastic--do take time to just wander the halls, because there are interesting displays on the walls almost everywhere.

Boma seemed very noisy and crowded most of the time we were there, but we had a very pleasant dinner at Jiko--the atmosphere there was much more relaxing (though there seem to be fussy little kids in every restaurant at Disney World...)

Have a great trip!

 

[jds]

Corvair:

Just returned from AKL. I think the pool there is much larger than the one at Wilderness Lodge, but my DH commented several times that he much preferred the WL one. I agreed that the theming at the WL pool is nicer. But the AKL pool was so big that it never felt crowded while we were there, even though it was very hot and the hotel was completely full.

Bus transportation was very efficient--this was the first time we'd relied entirely on Disney buses to get around, and had no problems and very short waits, though a few times the buses got very crowded, especially near closing times and after a big thunderstorm.

Overall, we were thrilled with AKL. Hope you enjoy it too!

 

[Tess]

I just happened to think though, my plan may be foiled by the number of people in our party. We're taking our nephew along this time so we will be 5 rather than our usual 4.

Aren't most AKL rooms only able to accommodate 4? Aren't you required to pay for a deluxe room in order to add the 3rd child?

My husband just called and said we might as well just add a night at Polynesian and make life easier. I'm not quite ready to give up on the AKL idea--guess we'll have to see how things go when AP rates are released for June OR if something better comes along.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Tess,
I have stayed at both the Polynesian and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you stay at AKL first, I think you will be terribly disappointed in the Polynesian...we were. The only advantage in my eyes is the access to the monorai. The Polynesian is an older resort with less theming to the buildings. Or at least they seemed rather bland to this Architect. The landscaping is beautiful, though.

I may be biased since the AKL is our favorite deluxe at Disney. We don't mind the distance from the parks.

As for your husband, I think he will be glad he tried the AKL. It seems the most masculine, but still elegant.

 

[Tess]

We LOVE Polynesian and have stayed there many times. We're open though and like to give the other resorts a shot for a night or two. So far though, we're still very enamored of Polynesian!

AKL looks intriguing--kinda' like that old adage: "Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!". Still, if I'm paying the money for a deluxe, I want more than one transportation option. That's why we thought we'd give AKL a whirl for a night, we won't be doing parks and will be able to get a feel for the place without the transportation issue.