one night at AKL, is it worth it?

[tiggerthepuppy]

my dd and i will be going down for her 18th/hs graduation in october and now we cant decide where to stay. We found that we could split and do 2 days at the cbr and one day at akl and stay within our budget. Is it worth just staying one night or should we just stay at cbr for the whole trip?

 

[Sue M]

IMO, for such a short trip, I'd stay at 1 resort.

 

[tiggerthepuppy]

We are staying october 2-5 if that helps anyone!

 

[Sue M]

I'd still just pick one If you switch resorts for the last day, all you'll have is a partial day at AKL, and sleep there. Not worth it. Go book a meal at Boma and walk around. Sometimes we do that if we aren't staying there. We arrive an hour before our ADR to go walk around the savana viewing areas.

 

[Pakey]

While I am a huge fan of split stays, I would not split on a 3 night trip.

 

[Elleshoodat]

Yes, it's a short stay, but to me Animal Kingdom Lodge is an *amazing* resort and I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to stay there, especially if you're planning to stay savanna-view.

I say go for it!

 

[JennyDrake]

On a 4 day trip I did one night at AKL (my first stay ever in a deluxe!). _I_ would not do it again.

 

[AquaDame]

Too short... I wouldn't' bother if its not at least two nights at a resort. You don't have enough time between check in and out to really enjoy it and even if your room IS ready first thing in the morning, its still not very long at all. Are you not going to the parks?

 

[mickeynut1]

my dd and i will be going down for her 18th/hs graduation in october and now we cant decide where to stay. We found that we could split and do 2 days at the cbr and one day at akl and stay within our budget. Is it worth just staying one night or should we just stay at cbr for the whole trip?

I agree with the pp's that I would do just one resort for such a short trip.

 

[RapunzelsGoodMom]

I did one night recently on a short trip and loved it. BUT only because I wanted hotel time more than park. We got in the afternoon, spent the evening and night at the pool, Mara, and kids activities. Went to bed and woke up for the flamingo class, more swimming, and searching out the animals. We didn't head over to the WL until about 2pm. It was totally worth it. But wouldn't have been if it was just a place to sleep. So depends upon how you use it!

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I'd put the extra $$ towards something special, like a nice dinner or something like that. Have you done LaNouba? Maybe a tour? One night at a deluxe resort is not worth it if you are going to be at the parks, etc. Have you thought about doing AKL for the whole trip and staying in a standard or pool view room? This way you could enjoy the resort and walk around to enjoy the animals.

 

[wonder4fam2011]

We are spending 1 night at WL then 10 nights at an offsite rental. We have no plans to visit any parks the next day and are super excited to do this. Crazy yes. Thank goodness for cast member discounts. But because we decided to fly on 12/31 how can you not want to spend New Years Eve on the beach of a Deluxe resort . I say go for it if you really want to and can afford to. And yes, if you have no plans the following day. We plan exploring the WL and Fort Wilderness pretty much most of the next day anyways before we check into our condo rental.

 

[WDW Crawl]

Love that resort but I'm going to say no. Too much back and forth for the one night and not enough time to enjoy it.

 

[carly chloe]

We did 1 night there before our cruise. That was worth it as we just stayed there. It was AWESOME!! I wouldn't do a split with only 3 days but you can go over to the resort and spend time. There's so much to see and enjoy (and you wouldnt have to pack and unpack and check-in and out)

 

[karriealex]

For a trip so short I would stay at one resort. I have stayed at AKL and found it to be my least favorite resort. I would save the money and maybe go to dinner at Jiko at AKL and walk around the resort.

 

[FireDancer]

I have never had the desire to change hotels during a trip anywhere unless it was a necessity. I'd just pick a resort and stay there for the whole trip.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I am in the go for it class. Here's why.

We have done 1 night split stays just for the eating and relaxing and pools.
We drive down so as far as luggage goes, we put all the luggage in the van and just take in one small overnight bag.
Change to a bigger bed for a good nights sleep before heading home.
Kids were always thrilled to be somewhere "new" and the new hotel peaked their interest.

After a four days at Pop, the one day at AKL was like a spa day for us. Pampered. Table service meal. A water slide and a pool bar.