POP or AKL in December

[jrmo]

The difference is about $700 with the code (Yay!) we got. We're traveling with a 2 year old so convenience is important. I'm concerned about walking distance at pop, but I've also heard there's a lot of walking at AKL. Experiences?

 

[helenk]

Both resorts to me have quite a bit of walking. The buildings at the POP are spread out and the shape of the AKL allows for alot of walking if you are in a section that is far from the lobby (which we were).
If you go for the POP I would pay the extra to stay in a preferred building, if you stay at the AKL try and get a room that is not far off from the lobby.
I know alot of people like the AKL because it is far removed from everything but while I liked that myself I often wondered about families with small children when leaving the parks at night and then the walk from the bus stop to the lobby and then to the room seem awfully long after a long night....Just my opinion.

 

[jrmo]

Also, what is transportation time like for these two hotels. I know they only have busses, but how is wait and commuting time? TIA!

 

[daisyduck123]

POP & AKL....you can't even compare the two resorts.

POP is wayyyy out of AKL's league. The two are not even remotely similar.

AKL gets my vote

 

[rkmassa]

700.00 is a whole lot of money. I would stay at POP and pay the extra for the preferred room. The bus service was great when I stayed. Very quick. I felt I walked more at POR than at POP. Very quick to the bus stop and food court. I think your little one would love the pools and the pop jet Goofy area.

 

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

A code is like permission to go to a deluxe resort. You are already saving money, so why not go for the luxury?

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

For just $700 difference I would stay at the AKL. I've stayed at both Pop and AKL and here's what I found.

Pop is very clean, nice and basic. I didn't use the bus transportation but from what I saw Pop didn't share a bus but the buses were PACKED 90% of the time. There are nice areas for the kids to play and three pools plus the food court is OK. We only stay at Pop for about 3 days as it is basic and we're used to more amenities. Plus the walk to everything is outside.

AKL is a whole different league. All of the rooms and amenities are inside! You have a lounge, two restaurants, one quick-service restaurant, on-site child care club (Simba's cubhouse), more kids activities than you can shake a stick at, a firepit, storytelling, a gorgeous lobby and gift shop, plus a fitness center and spa. The pool is absolutely stunning.

Plus they've got all those places you can watch the animals in the savannahs.

Yes, it can be quite a long walk when you get back from the parks (and I've done this with a sleepy 8 year old) but the difference between coming home to Pop and coming home to AKL is a world of difference. With the code you got, I say go for the AKL!

 

[Mike N Kathy]

AKL Hands down ... It was absolutely gorgeous

 

[GovieMom]

There is no comparing the two; POP is fine, but AKL ... wow!!! It is absolutely, definitely worth the extra money!

 

[princessreilly]

I've stayed at both and it totally depends on your vacation preferance. I found that we stay so busy we do not have time to enjoy the amenities we were paying for at AKL. And DD and DS loved all of the figures and pools at POP. We saved money at POP and the kids liked it better! If I were going only with DH I would say AKL, but with the kids I choose POP!

 

[DizzDoll]

Very interested in the opinions on the AKL - we'll be there for 5 days in August!! Can't wait. REgarding Pop I can tell you our experiences. We liked it very much and are staying there again in AUgust for the first 5 days of our vacation. The Pop is a big resort, very bright, very clean, very active.

We stayed in the 70s building, 4th floor overlooking the lake. We didn't find the walking to be a chore, and at any building, really, the walk to the bus or the lobby/food court/arcade is only minutes. However, they can be looooong minutes with tired little ones. What we didn't like about the entrance to the food court from the Hippy Dippy Pool is that's where one of the smoking areas is located.

But the CMs are marvelous, we had a breeze of a check in, towel animals, you name it. The grounds are gorgeous and are constantly being maintained.

Laundry: there's a laundry room off the Hippy Dippy pool that was in constant use. Even late at night!!! However, if you persevere you can get your laundry done, but I would bring from home those little boxes of laundry detergent that you can get for 50 cents as opposed to $1.00 on-site!!

The busses? Well, they were prompt most of the time. The only "problem" we had was when we had a bus driver who didn't know how to lock down a wheelchair, but I also think he was new to his job. Going to any park the bus wait was 15 minutes at the most, and coming home at night the busses ran one right after another, oftentimes with several busses pulling into the stop at the same time.

Would you like Pop? We did and we're pretty picky. But you know yourselves. There were TONS of little ones at Pop and they were having a blast.

 

[Nuchi15697]

AKL

 

[mpbs]

AKL- My family loves it there !

 

[Knavey]

AKL wins hands down.

My family tried out POP back in January. We were there for one night and requested a transfer to AKL. We had previously stayed at AKL and I suppose we were a bit spoiled.

As one poster said...POP is very active. Even though pool quiet time starts at 10pm, we still heard quite a bit of activity until midnight. And at 2am, we were still hearing people outside the rooms. At 6 am, I think they ran a herd of buffalo down the center of the resort. Combine 4 (if that) hours of sleep with a full size bed (been a while since we have tried that), and we decided to move to AKL.

The buses...whoa...remember the recent pictures of the transit problems they were having in China due to snowstorms? That is what the bus stop looked like the morning we got up to go to the park. And we normally take the later buses. Seeing that combined with no sleep convinced me to upgrade and we never looked back.

As other posters have said...they do not compare since they are at different levels of service. We gave the cheap Forida resident rates at POP a chance, but AKL has my heart and my $$$!