POFQ or AKL?

[SimonG]

Hi,
We stopped at POFQ on our first Disney trip last year and have booked to return in December. There has been some worrying reports of bad housekeeping there of late and I am thinking of changing to the AKL. Can anyone tell me what they think of AKL, would it be worth the extra $. We are not getting a car this time and my only concern is the transportation service with it being so far out. Any input would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Leota]

I can't do a direct comparison (yet) but I can give you my thoughts on AKL.
It is a truly special experience. I recommend a Savannah room for full effect. Transporation is a bit of an issue for me, but it was Spring Break & I think the bus system may have been overwhelmed. Even with the busses, it is totally worth a stay there at least once. The resort just engulfs you & sweeps you away to Africa - the sights, sounds, scents of Africa.
We loved it enough that we booked a couple days there this Dec to show it to the grandchildren.

I really don't think you can go wrong with AKL - It is a completely different atmosphere than FQ tho. Darker, cooler, quieter.....

 

[*NikkiBell*]

This is like comparing Hershey's Lindt to Godiva. lol

POFQ is a moderate while AKL is a deluxe. It is really hard to compare the two.

We stayed at POFQ in March with absolutely no problems at all. My parents stayed there in May and only had the best service. It would be silly to avoid this resort.

 

[*Fantasia*]

We were just there at POFQ a week ago and the mousekeeping was excellent! She even made us a towel animal! Our room was in excellent condition. We had a magical stay!

There has been some worrying reports of bad housekeeping there of late and I am thinking of changing to the AKL.

I wouldn't worry too much about one bad review on housekeeping and it doesn't mean that it will happen to you. It's just an isolated incidence and it just happened to them. Bad housekeeping can happen anywhere. And if it does, make sure you call the housekeeping and have them clean the room over again.

Which ever you pick, have a wonderful time!! Enjoy!!

 

[wannabee princess]

Having stayed at both resorts, I do have to say that my personal preference is AKL. However, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't go back to POFQ!! We had a very enjoyable stay there too.

I think it is pretty hard to compare a moderate to a deluxe since they are pretty different. The deciding factor to me has to come down to affordability for a family. The other thought is how much time do you plan on spending at the resort? When we have a shorter stay or plan to really spend time at the parks, I don't mind the moderate. When we are there for several days, and plan to spend more time at the resort I want the advantages of the deluxe.

We have had very good experiences with the CMs at both resorts - in fact, I think we ended up with a very creative Mousekeeper when we were at POFQ, the most creative we've had at any resort. We always were excited to get back to the room to see what she had come up with for my ds's "pets".

We also really liked the boat to DD at POFQ, the grounds were very relaxing (well, my dh and two ds's actually ended up using the large courtyard as a football field), the pool was a fun theme for the kids.

We love returning to AKL though. For AKL, the animals make it a whole different type of resort. For my animal-loving ds, it is tops! (He was happy at POFQ when he was able to see the squirrels, rabbits and lizards!) The benefit of the extra restaurants was nice too. We really like Boma for both breakfast and dinner. I love having CMs to tell us about the animals and also to answer questions about their homeland (if they are from Africa). The pool is great with the zero-entry depth and it is fun to get out of the pool, walk over to see the animals, walk back and have a drink from the pool bar. The shop at AKL is the best - great CMs every time we have visited.

I think the buses at AKL were better than the ones at POFQ - simply because you don't stop anywhere on your way to the park. It was great to get on and off at the first stop. The POFQ bus (only one bus stop) makes a few stops (usually) at POR bus stops on the way to the parks, but on the way "home" it does stop at the POFQ first.

 

[tekmom]

I had to make the same decision as you between POFQ and AKL. We chose Akl and although we would eventually still like to try POFQ, we loved AKL. We booked standard at an AP rate of $124.00 per night and were upgraded at checkin to Savanna. The animals were SO worth it. Housekeeping was great...towel animals and all. We never had a problem with any of the busses. They were very quick and we never felt like we were far from anything. Busses weren't crowded and the drivers were quite friendly and helpful. We were there last week.

 

[gigi1313]

i was faced w/a similar dilemma... we opted to get two rooms at POFQ for our first eight nights followed by one room at AKL for our last two nights... i expect to be thrilled with both