POFQ or GDT or AKL?

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it all. Next question...if we go with AKL... what do you think would be the better choice for us...Jambo House or Kidani Village?

 

[karen4546]

Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it all. Next question...if we go with AKL... what do you think would be the better choice for us...Jambo House or Kidani Village?

Jambo .. it has that “wow” factor. Pool area is great, Zawadi market -gift shop is great, Jiko is fabulous, Boma is delicious, quick walk over to Sanaa and get the bread service , the Mara is at Jambo and is very good (try the zebra domes).

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

Jambo .. it has that “wow” factor. Pool area is great, Zawadi market -gift shop is great, Jiko is fabulous, Boma is delicious, quick walk over to Sanaa and get the bread service , the Mara is at Jambo and is very good (try the zebra domes).

Thank you. We plan on making our first day just a resort day, so we would take advantage of the resort that day.

 

[Miffy]

Thank you. We plan on making our first day just a resort day, so we would take advantage of the resort that day.

I like all 3 resorts, for different reasons. But my top pick is definitely AKL, Jambo House. If you book a standard-view room, request a partial savanna view--those rooms have really wonderful savanna views, and sitting on the room balcony and watching animals is one of my favorite AKL things to do. Or you could pay just a little bit more for a pool-view room, and those rooms are pretty wonderful too, and from some of them you can see animals.

If you like art, AKL has one of the largest collections of African art outside of Africa. It's in all the hallways. You could literally spend hours just walking up and down the hallways in the building, looking at all the amazing artwork.

Another great advantage (to me) of AKL is its proximity to DAK, which is my favorite park, and the buses to and from DAK from AKL run very frequently. You didn't say if you're getting park-hoppers, but if you have them, you might enjoy, as we do, ending the day with an evening at DAK. It's beautiful there at night.

That being said, GDT is lovely and if you luck out, you could get a room (water view side of the resort) high up enough that you can see the MK fireworks from there.

We also like POFQ. As a PP mentioned, the boat to DS is great, the grounds are beautiful, the rooms are nice, and the food court is pretty good. Also, beignets. In the morning, POFQ doesn't share a bus with POR until after 11 a.m. (at least it was that way last month) and on the way back from a park, it doesn't matter, since POFQ is the first stop.

You have only 4 park days, right? Study up on Genie+ and ILL$. You'll want to maximize your use of them to do your most-desired attractions. Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, even if you don't care a twig about Star Wars, is just amazing. Well worth the extra $ for the ILL$, if you can swing it, since the queue there is often hours long. Ditto Flight of Passage at DAK.

Have fun! You will, no matter where you stay.

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

I like all 3 resorts, for different reasons. But my top pick is definitely AKL, Jambo House. If you book a standard-view room, request a partial savanna view--those rooms have really wonderful savanna views, and sitting on the room balcony and watching animals is one of my favorite AKL things to do. Or you could pay just a little bit more for a pool-view room, and those rooms are pretty wonderful too, and from some of them you can see animals.

If you like art, AKL has one of the largest collections of African art outside of Africa. It's in all the hallways. You could literally spend hours just walking up and down the hallways in the building, looking at all the amazing artwork.

Another great advantage (to me) of AKL is its proximity to DAK, which is my favorite park, and the buses to and from DAK from AKL run very frequently. You didn't say if you're getting park-hoppers, but if you have them, you might enjoy, as we do, ending the day with an evening at DAK. It's beautiful there at night.

That being said, GDT is lovely and if you luck out, you could get a room (water view side of the resort) high up enough that you can see the MK fireworks from there.

We also like POFQ. As a PP mentioned, the boat to DS is great, the grounds are beautiful, the rooms are nice, and the food court is pretty good. Also, beignets. In the morning, POFQ doesn't share a bus with POR until after 11 a.m. (at least it was that way last month) and on the way back from a park, it doesn't matter, since POFQ is the first stop.

You have only 4 park days, right? Study up on Genie+ and ILL$. You'll want to maximize your use of them to do your most-desired attractions. Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, even if you don't care a twig about Star Wars, is just amazing. Well worth the extra $ for the ILL$, if you can swing it, since the queue there is often hours long. Ditto Flight of Passage at DAK.

Have fun! You will, no matter where you stay.

Thank you! We were thinking either 2 or 3 park days. We like the parks, but we also like enjoying the resort. We aren’t rope drop people.

 

[k5xs]

We've stayed at all three resorts, and our absolute favorite is POFQ. It will be very warm when you visit, and the short walk to either the bus or the boat to Disney Springs will be a plus. The boat ride will be cool and breezy.

AKL and CSGT are big properties, and you'll be walking a bit to your room.

POFQ has plenty of shade, and the lobby and gift shop are downright intimate. We like that.

 

[Dug720]

AKL and CSGT are big properties, and you'll be walking a bit to your room.

Pretty sure AKL and GDT are both smaller land-footprint wise than POFQ. And at least you're walking inside where it's air conditioned.

 

[k5xs]

Pretty sure AKL and GDT are both smaller land-footprint wise than POFQ. And at least you're walking inside where it's air conditioned.

In our experience the walking distance from the bus stop to the room at either AKL or GDT has consistently been greater than at POFQ.

The bus stop at GDT is waaay down the walkway. At AKL it’s a pretty decent trek out the front door and down the sidewalk. At POFQ it’s right out the front door of the main building.

 

[Dug720]

In our experience the walking distance from the bus stop to the room at either AKL or GDT has consistently been greater than at POFQ.

The bus stop at GDT is waaay down the walkway. At AKL it’s a pretty decent trek out the front door and down the sidewalk. At POFQ it’s right out the front door of the main building.

I know I'm weird, but a few extra steps don't bother me. But having been at literally the furthest room from the main building in POFQ (I was literally closer to POR), I'd beg to differ that every room there is closer to the bus stops.

I'd still rather be in a/c the majority of the way and under cover the rest of it.

 

[k5xs]

I know I'm weird, but a few extra steps don't bother me. But having been at literally the furthest room from the main building in POFQ (I was literally closer to POR), I'd beg to differ that every room there is closer to the bus stops.

I'd still rather be in a/c the majority of the way and under cover the rest of it.

Fair enough. Each to his or her own.

A factor for us is that I push my DW in her wheelchair, so we're very sensitive to distance. The bus stops for AKL involve a serious grade, and the one for GDT is far away. POFQ's stop is on grade with all the rooms and is very convenient for us.