POR River View OR AKL standard view?

[firstwdw]

AKL obviously costs more and not sure about standard view? River view rooms at Riverside are in a good location and not too far from main building/food. Important: pool, good pool slide, quick service, good arcade, good gift shop, quiet rooms. Is the AKL Kidani pool being closed going to make the Jambo pool more crowded in April? Are the rooms in Jambo house loud? Can you hear those above you with the wooden floors? Just not sure if AKL is worth the increase in price-we could use that saved money for Uber, Savi's Workshop, an extra nice meal etc.

 

[dez1978]

I've not stayed at AKL, but our 1st trip to WDW was POR and we had a river view room ( I Think, Aligator Bayou), and I thought it was a horribly long walk from everything. I hated it. We hardly used our reusable cups at all bc it was too far to walk to fill them up lol.

 

[Chupaca bruh]

For me the whole reason to pay that much at the AKL is to have a balcony to step out onto and sit and watch the animals. I don't think I would pay to stay in a standard view though I do love all of the lodge. It is a very wonderful property. There is something about relaxing on the balcony with coffee or a glass of bourbon and watching the wildebeeste running around. We have stayed 3 times in a river view at POR and loved it there. The walk form many of the rooms is a bit and depending on where you are situated not worth a refillable mug unless you use the food court a lot. We never found the walk too far as it is a beautiful place to walk around... even when it is super hot. Just walk faster.

 

[Average Joes]

It has been awhile but I stayed at POR twice and AKL Jambo three times. The river view room is not worth the money in my opinion. A preferred room would get you closer to the main building. All three times at AKL Jambo we rented DVC points and received a partial savannah view. We accepted the long walk to get such rooms. A non DVC standard room could very well get you a view of the parking lot.

The Jambo pool slide is a bit small. Riverside's is slightly larger if I recall correctly. The pool is certainly nicer than Riverside's overall and quite large. The area is stunning. The Jambo pool was closed when we went in September 2018. The Kidani pool was busy but not overly so. Jambo's pool is much larger than Kidani's and should be able to handle Kidani being closed without much issue.

The food court has more variety at Riverside. I seem to recall the gift shop being better at AKL but you could take a boat to Disney Springs at Riverside for much more variety. Both rooms were fairly quiet. AKL more so.

When I rent DVC I pay about the same as a slightly discounted Riverside room with a good chance of a partial savannah view. If I was to buy directly from Disney I would probably be reluctant to get a standard view room at AKL over Riverside for the increase in price.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

POR doesn't have balconies, so view is kind of relative. It's motel style with a window.

AKL you get a balcony and might be able to see something.

 

[MICKIMINI]

AKV Jambo House is such a treat! We were there in late October in a studio standard view. We enjoy the balcony and had a great pool view and wonderful sunsets at night. We've stayed in a savannah studio and 1 BR. We've DVC so it just depends on how many points we have available. The lobby is gorgeous as is the pool area not to mention Boma. There are covered, outdoor patios with rocking chairs for animal viewing. Worth the splurge!

 

[CynBeth]

We did a Royal room with a river view at POR about 3 years ago and loved it! The theming is great and there is a boat to Disney Springs. Everyone we encountered was wonderful. We stayed once at AKL but were up and out early and came back late so never got to see the animals from our room. We found it was a long walk to the bus stop and the front desk staff and other CMs were not great. Has not seemed to improve. The exception is the staff at Boma. We had dinner there this past Thanksgiving and needed a taxi back to our hotel as AK was going to close shortly and they refused saying they don’t do things like that we are on our own. We were staying at CBR and the few times we needed to take one to a breakfast at another hotel bell services took care of it. One day there was someone waiting for one before us and the CM felt he had been waiting too long so called the company again for an ETA. Thought that was so great that was done for him. Luckily ours always came very fast. I did not get why a moderate could do that but not the more expensive deluxe. We do have a dinner there every trip love Boma. Sometimes come for breakfast as well.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

I agree POR view isn’t important because you aren’t going to keep your blinds open with people waking by . We like the Acadia house rooms and location . Also the quiet pools are so nice there .

We stayed AKL standard and got an amazing partial savannah view . The next year we payed for savannah view and we had the lookout point in front of us. Not very magical. We loved our standard view room and had more animal interaction.

They are both amazing resorts . Good luck choosing !

 

[Haley R]

I would only pick AKL if you can get a savannah view otherwise I’d go with POR. We love pretty much everything about the port orleans hotels and don’t mind the walking if the weather is nice.

 

[brockash]

AKL obviously costs more and not sure about standard view? River view rooms at Riverside are in a good location and not too far from main building/food. Important: pool, good pool slide, quick service, good arcade, good gift shop, quiet rooms. Is the AKL Kidani pool being closed going to make the Jambo pool more crowded in April? Are the rooms in Jambo house loud? Can you hear those above you with the wooden floors? Just not sure if AKL is worth the increase in price-we could use that saved money for Uber, Savi's Workshop, an extra nice meal etc.

We've stayed at both and we would ALWAYS choose POR over AKL. We were not impressed and it's so far from everything other than AK.

This is the only resort we've ever had rude CMs as well. I guess of you're a big zoo animal type person and were planning to just hang at the resort and had your own transportation then AK may be okay, but we were not fans.

 

[Dug720]

I'll just present this query...

Would you be a group that would use the evening extra hours? If so, AKL is your choice because those are only available to Deluxe and Villa hotels.

Personally I'd choose AKL even standard view over POR - even if I didn't get a partial view. I am not into the "Old South" themeing and it either feels stuffy (mansions) or junky (bayou) to me. Not relaxing at all.

 

[firstwdw]

We've stayed at both and we would ALWAYS choose POR over AKL. We were not impressed and it's so far from everything other than AK.

This is the only resort we've ever had rude CMs as well. I guess of you're a big zoo animal type person and were planning to just hang at the resort and had your own transportation then AK may be okay, but we were not fans.

I think this is what we are doing. We like the open spaces to walk around at the moderates....and multiple pool options too. If buses are annoying we will just get an Uber. River view rooms are pretty centrally located around the river path so I'm not too worried. We've stayed a lot at FQ and once at POR (years ago). I wanted something new but I think I'll save the extra $1k and stay at POR!

 

[firstwdw]

I agree POR view isn’t important because you aren’t going to keep your blinds open with people waking by . We like the Acadia house rooms and location . Also the quiet pools are so nice there .

We stayed AKL standard and got an amazing partial savannah view . The next year we payed for savannah view and we had the lookout point in front of us. Not very magical. We loved our standard view room and had more animal interaction.

They are both amazing resorts . Good luck choosing !

Thanks! We are going to do POR. I do not want to pay $1k more to possibly end up looking at a parking lot at AKL! We love the port orleans resorts anyways!

 

[rangerxenos]

Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not a fan of POR, honestly I don't get the appeal of the resort at all.

Just FYI, I always book a Standard room, and all but once have lucked out with a partial Savannah view. I ask for one, there are some Standard rooms with partial views. This was our view from our Standard room balcony two weeks ago at Jambo House.

Obviously there are no guarantees, but even if you don't get a partial view, there are a lot of areas to view the animals from around the resort.

 

[Dug720]

Not a fan of POR, honestly I don't get the appeal of the resort at all.

I honestly thought I was the only one who didn't get it!! Nice to "meet" someone else who doesn't!!

 

[karen4546]

AKL obviously costs more and not sure about standard view? River view rooms at Riverside are in a good location and not too far from main building/food. Important: pool, good pool slide, quick service, good arcade, good gift shop, quiet rooms. Is the AKL Kidani pool being closed going to make the Jambo pool more crowded in April? Are the rooms in Jambo house loud? Can you hear those above you with the wooden floors? Just not sure if AKL is worth the increase in price-we could use that saved money for Uber, Savi's Workshop, an extra nice meal etc.

AKL for sure. Many standard rooms @ Jambo have savannah view. I would make a request for "partial savannah view"-you may have to call. Deluxe resorts have extra evening hours at select parks on certain days. You may be a long way from the lobby but at least you will be INSIDE. The pool at Jambo house is great and if you have little ones, you can use the pool/splashpad @ Kidani also. Jambo House is a BEAUTIFUL building and full of African cultural artifacts. Zebra Domes are readily available at the Mara. Zawandi Market place has some great unique items.

I have never stayed in the rooms at POR but I have visited once or twice. I am from Louisiana and so the nostalgia of it all is not a deciding factor. I do like POFQ because it is so compact but I have not stayed there since falling in love with Jambo House.

Happy Planning!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We love both resorts and find them both to be very relaxing to stay at.
We have been to AKL twice with a savannah view room and loved it, DW said that she would only go if we have a savannah view, she does not think she would like a standard view and hoping to get a savannah view was not an option. We know you can watch the animals at the different public viewing spots at the resort, but just going out to your balcony to see them is 100 times better then getting ready and then walking to a public view spot. We absolutely loved the Jambo lobby, and it was always great to come back there after the parks. We would not want to stay in Kidani, for just that reason.
We have stayed at POR more times and can honestly say that all river view rooms are close to the main area and at most a 5 minute walk. The longest walk we had was about 10 minutes from the rooms at the back of the resort, which we had no issues with. Our family definitely likes the pool and slide better at POR and found the pool and slide at AKL to be be small. When our DDs were younger, they loved the splash area in Kidani a lot, but now there is a great splash area at POFQ that you can go and use. We are also a big fan of the boats to DS and the fact that it's a short trip over to POFQ to eat etc.
We also like the CS at POR much better than AKL which we use a lot more often than TS during our stays. I will say that we love Boma and Sanaa's and we have driven there to eat a even when not staying there.
Yes a balcony (most of the time) is better, but we also like the view from the window at a Mod. I never understood the need to keep the curtains closed during the day, we always opened them up. It brightens the room up so much, and makes such a difference, plus we enjoy the view especially on the river in the mansion section. It's not like tons of people are walking by your room always looking in, I have sat by the window many times doing work and enjoyed the view. A big plus for AKL now is the extra park hours and for our family that is big. Which ever resort you stay at, we hope you will have a great time.

 

[rangerxenos]

I honestly thought I was the only one who didn't get it!! Nice to "meet" someone else who doesn't!!

It seemed very nice, but I didn't get what all the fuss was about. I would like to give POFQ a try at some point to see if I like it better. Otherwise Coronado Springs is my choice of Moderates.

 

[firstwdw]

We love both resorts and find them both to be very relaxing to stay at.
We have been to AKL twice with a savannah view room and loved it, DW said that she would only go if we have a savannah view, she does not think she would like a standard view and hoping to get a savannah view was not an option. We know you can watch the animals at the different public viewing spots at the resort, but just going out to your balcony to see them is 100 times better then getting ready and then walking to a public view spot. We absolutely loved the Jambo lobby, and it was always great to come back there after the parks. We would not want to stay in Kidani, for just that reason.
We have stayed at POR more times and can honestly say that all river view rooms are close to the main area and at most a 5 minute walk. The longest walk we had was about 10 minutes from the rooms at the back of the resort, which we had no issues with. Our family definitely likes the pool and slide better at POR and found the pool and slide at AKL to be be small. When our DDs were younger, they loved the splash area in Kidani a lot, but now there is a great splash area at POFQ that you can go and use. We are also a big fan of the boats to DS and the fact that it's a short trip over to POFQ to eat etc.
We also like the CS at POR much better than AKL which we use a lot more often than TS during our stays. I will say that we love Boma and Sanaa's and we have driven there to eat a even when not staying there.
Yes a balcony (most of the time) is better, but we also like the view from the window at a Mod. I never understood the need to keep the curtains closed during the day, we always opened them up. It brightens the room up so much, and makes such a difference, plus we enjoy the view especially on the river in the mansion section. It's not like tons of people are walking by your room always looking in, I have sat by the window many times doing work and enjoyed the view. A big plus for AKL now is the extra park hours and for our family that is big. Which ever resort you stay at, we hope you will have a great time.

THANK YOU! This is helpful and a lot of good points that confirm what I was thinking. I do agree that River View rooms are in a great location at POR (some are even in the preferred area) and I also like having a view, even at a moderate. Walking out the door to a parking lot is not as magical. We also use CS more often than TS so this is also a great point. If we want to go visit AKL, we can eat and view the animals from a public area but save by staying at POR with a pool area that is more appealing (plus quiet pools if it's crazy) and have more CS options and a view. Hoping for a partial view at AKL just makes me nervous because I've seen a lot of cruddy standard views of roof tops, parking lot, bus stop at AKL and it's not worth spending that extra money to "hope." We ended up booking POR river view and we are going to keep it-as I think it's what best fits our needs and budget. Appreciated the insight!

 

[firstwdw]

It seemed very nice, but I didn't get what all the fuss was about. I would like to give POFQ a try at some point to see if I like it better. Otherwise Coronado Springs is my choice of Moderates.

Cheer and Dances groups at Coronado for our dates so we are staying far away but hope to give it a try someday!