Resort Hopping - Non EPCOT or Monorail Resorts

[BK2014]

DW and I will be back at WDW in January. We were there on our first shared trip last December. We stayed at BWV and toured the EPCOT and monorail resorts. We will be at BWV again. We are trying to figure out which of the other resorts are worth a visit from an architecture/theme standpoint. We are also looking for a good plan for seeing multiple resorts in during a single day since the rest of the resorts that we haven't seen are not as easily accessed together like the EPCOT or monorail resorts. I think we both want to go to AKL, but it seems out of the way for one resort.

So, where would you go, and why? Thanks!

 

[Wood Nymph]

You are right that AKL would be a good one to tour. It had the same architect as the Wilderness Lodge and is just as gorgeous as that resort.If you haven't seen WL yet then that would be a must do on your list.

You can go to a park like DHS and catch the bus to POR, then walk or take the boat to POFQ, then the boat to Disney Springs. POR has lovely grounds and POFQ is only a ten minute walk along the river. Keep in mind that the boat doesn't start running until 11am. From Disney Springs you can go to another resort.

Art of Animation is a really cute resort and well worth taking the time to tour it. Pop Century is right across the bridge from AoA and you can check out the huge icons in front of the buildings.

We enjoyed touring Coronado Springs. It has more restaurants than any of the other moderate resorts.

 

[bookgirl]

Wilderness Lodge is just a boat ride away from either MK or the Contemporary. It's very nice and it's done by the same designers as AKL.

Take a bus to MK boat over to WL then back to MK and then a bus to AKL.

There are some nice restaurants at AKL (CS and the TS) so you could tag lunch on to AKL to make the trip over worth while.

 

[DG25]

I would second, WL and POR or POFQ, if you have a little money all three of these resorts have horse drawn carriage rides around them for about $40 or $45, such a nice way to see the resorts, especially POR and POFQ where you can ride between the two and it is so nice.

 

[Haley R]

We rented a car this year and drove to every single resort in one day. It was fantastic! We rated them by category (value, mod, deluxe) to help us decide where we wanted to stay next! My favorites were Grand Floridian, AOA, POP, French Quarter and All-Star Sports. I liked ASSports because the baseball pool was super cool. We have already stayed at French Quarter, but it is our favorite because of the carriage rides, the river, and of course the beignets in the food court. The two resorts we really didn't like were Old Key West and Saratoga.

 

[BK2014]

Thanks for all the information, I think AKL and POR/POFQ are at the top of our list of resorts to visit this trip.