Resort Questions! (It's long sorry!)

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

 

[danceintherain]

The Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Wilderness Lodge are the least expensive of the Deluxes. Both are gorgeous. AKL is right around the corner from the Animal Kingdom and WL is across the lake from the Magic Kingdom.

After that, the Epcot area resorts are the next least expensive, and tend to be the same across the board. The Beach Club is where Cape May Cafe is. You can walk between all of them and to/from Epcot & Hollywood Studios.

The Contemporary resort is the least expensive of the monorail resorts. Then the Poly, and the Grand Floridian as the most expensive of all the resorts on the property.
Sometimes good deals can be gotten at the DVC resort, but the most likely are Saratoga Springs and Old Key West.

Value season is definitely the best time to get good deals at any of the resorts and actually our stay at CBR only ended up costing a bit less per night than our stay at AKL, because of the seasons and the discount we ended up getting. (Both were around $140/night)

We loved our stay at AKL, and even being in a pool view room, we didn't notice much noise. We were on the 4th floor which kept us from being too close to the ground and away from the lobby on the 3rd floor.

Honestly, I think you will do fine at any of the Deluxe or Mods as long as you put a request in to be away from the main areas (no rooms off the lobby). Pick something that fits your budget, and I doubt you'll end up unhappy.

 

[WildGrits]

If the loud theming isn't your thing, how about staying at Old Key West? You can either reserve through Disney or buy points from a DVC owner.

I have never stayed there but I did go there to eat and it seemed pretty tranquil.

 

[artemis908]

AKL I think would be completely worth it if you could do a Savannah view. The Wilderness Lodge is nice and like someone said the cheapest of the deluxe resorts. Just doesn't offer many benefits (ie. no monorail, not walkable to Epcot, no animals, etc.).

And btw Cape May Cafe is in Beach Club. Great resort, walkable to Epcot and a boat ride to Disney Studios.

You could probably just rent a car for when you want to leave WDW or stay off property the entire trip which would save you money and then the hotel would probably have transportation offered to all the Disney parks and Universal.

I haven't gone to Universal for a really long time, not a fan. When I was a kid one of the characters pushed me so hard I almost fell. Not a good memory

Moderate resorts are nice though, I personally love Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs seems really nice too. I'd recommend going on youtube and looking at videos of the resorts. It helped me a lot to decide on the resort I wanted to stay at (Boardwalk Inn).

 

[Sherrkel]

Maybe a price list of rack rates will help you decide; this link is for 2012 rates. The 2013 rates haven't been released yet.
http://www.mousesavers.com/roomrates2012.html

 

[toodycat]

I would go with AKL. It is one of the most reasonably priced deluxes. The lobby is a quiet place to sit and there are public areas from which you can view the savannah throughout the property.Also, you could go with a savannah view room. You say you're both AK fans, so the proximity would be ideal. The room might be a little bright, but there are plenty of earth tones in addition to the brighter colors. The pool is nice and it is not super-crowded. I would not recommend the Poly or the Beach Club if you aren't bringing kids and don't really want to hear them.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

Our fav is the Wilderness Lodge. It's pretty quiet, beautiful scenery, and the resort itself is beautiful. There is no monorail as another poster mentioned but you can boat to the other resorts that are on the monorail line and the MK. The Poly is our second fav just because we like the theming of the WL more than the Poly. It's quiet, beautiful, on the monorail line and you can watch the fireworks from the beach.

We liked Coronado Springs except for the noise. There were lots of people with rolling suitcases up and down the walkway (no carpeting) so it made for a rough time while trying to nap. It's a very spread out resort with 4 bus stops, and decorated very nicely.

We're staying at the WL our next trip, honeymoon suite, it costs a little more but I'm with you I don't want alot of noise after being in a noisey park all day. The honeymoon suite is off to the side away from other rooms so you won't hear your neighbor snoring or their kids yelling. Last time we stayed at the Poly our neighbors had 4 screaming brats. They screamed and cried from the time they got to the room until they went to bed. Then it started all over around 8:00 the next morning. I went and complained and someone had already beat me to it. They were being moved.

Hope this helps.

 

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

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[artemis908]

The car rentals are around $40, from what I priced out. I am pretty sure parking is free at resorts as long as you are staying there. There are a couple of on property places to rent cars, there is one conveniently located in the Dolphin building at the Dolphin and Swan. It's walkable from Boardwalk Inn and maybe walkable from Beach Club or a short boat ride away.

It might be easier and more cost efficient to rent a car just for your days off property. WDW has a great transportation system so I never felt the need to rent a car. Especially with the Magical Express!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thank you all for your input!

We are definitely considering the AKL, because my Mom was looking at it and saw that morning breakfast safari tour you can do in the early morning and then get a FP for the Safari at AK if it's available to do in January. We like the way it looks too. ...

That is only available if you are staying Club Level at AKL. And you need to book that through the Club Level staff. That stay will be a lot more than a Moderate resort stay.

When in January are you planning on going? The Disney Marathon will be Jan 9-13, so it will be tough getting to the MK on Jan 12th and 13th early in the morning.

 

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

That is only available if you are staying Club Level at AKL. And you need to book that through the Club Level staff. That stay will be a lot more than a Moderate resort stay.

When in January are you planning on going? The Disney Marathon will be Jan 9-13, so it will be tough getting to the MK on Jan 12th and 13th early in the morning.

If we do go in 2013, we are thinking of going Jan. 13 - 21st., so I suppose we will be going on the last day of the Disney Marathon and we probably will be arriving late afternoon. And I believe in the beginning of our trip we are doing WWoHP/AoA first, and then going to the Disney Parks.

 

[mousefan73]

Concerning overall quiteness. I can say that CBR was super quite, the rooms. I think larger resorts (moderte) may have guests be more spread out. Whn i think back i barely saw other guests near our rooms. Pool and ding were crowded, but our room area and the maller "quiet" pool by us was dead. I think mosr kids go to central pool with slide. Id distance is not an issue, ask for a room further off. Most larger resorts have multiple bus stops. Only haul would be main pool and lobby/ dining.

 

[cjsm&d]

If we do go in 2013, we are thinking of going Jan. 13 - 21st., so I suppose we will be going on the last day of the Disney Marathon and we probably will be arriving late afternoon. And I believe in the beginning of our trip we are doing WWoHP/AoA first, and then going to the Disney Parks.

WL and AKL are both a bit less expensive deluxes. AKL is beautiful and tranquil, but we had enough after a couple of days because there isn't much to do beyond looking at the animals or hanging by the pool. The food chaoices there are really good though!

WL sounds like something you might like. Lots of grounds, a very quiet quiet pool behind the villas, relaxing boats to MK, FW, and one of the monorail resorts.