The Great Debate: WL vs AKL

[lclark0621]

Well it is happening again...

Obviously we love the WL. We stay there almost every trip. But everytime I get about 6-8 weeks out, I start debating maybe moving to the AKL.

Now my whole family LOVES the WL. We are always happy there & very comfortable. We seem to split our time among the parks, but we do spend more time in the MK. My DS is 4.5, so that will probably be the case again this year.

But my DS loves animals. I mean just loves them. And I think he would really enjoy the AKL. Though he also has the best time following the animal tracks at the WL, taking the boat to the MK, and just always says he loves "our hotel at Disney World". And I worry about the AKL location. I know each hotel is furthest from some park in WDW, but I just dont think we will spend more then a day, maybe a day and a half in AK, and even on those days we will probably end up back in the MK those evenings.

Now that being said we are traveling with friends this time. They came with us a couple of years ago, but they are now taking their 5 year old DD (who came with us when she was 3) & their new DD who will be about 6 months old.

But I still debate which hotel. Our friends dont care where we stay, but do want to stay in a hotel where everything is in one building (like WL or AKL). None of us really want to be treking around the hotel grounds at the end of the night. So really that leaves WL or AKL (as none of us want to pay the money for Contemporary Tower, etc).

So what do you think? Should we stick with the beautiful WL which we know and love? Or should we try the AK which I am sure is a great hotel and we would enjoy (except that we will spend most of our time in the MK)? Or should we try something completely different & not care if we have to walk to another building to get to our room at night (meaning being farther away from food court & store which could cause problems with 2 almost 5 year olds & the 6 months old we are traveling with)?

 

[ransom]

We've never stayed at AKL, but we did visit it this last time, and I feel like I've stayed there since a close friend loves the place and has umpteen hours of home video from there. (Which, let's face it, just can't compare to my umpteen hours of scintillating shots of the WL. )

But seriously...

If I were in your situation, I'd try out the AKL. The view is fantastic, the restaurants are exceptional, and even the gift shop is impressive. Not to mention the lobby, with its great little conversation areas and comfortable seating. And the camp fire out back. And the animals!

Plus, they have the best bus service on property. Everything is direct there, direct back.

Besides, trying new things is fun.

 

[boomhauer]

I had the same question. We just stayed at the WL for the 1st time in December and fell in love with it. We've always wanted to try AKL, so for JUly, we're doing a split stay - 6 nights at AKL and 7 nights at WL.

 

[wdwfan1]

We love the WL and do not really care for AKL, so I admit we are biased. We love the boat to the MK and AKL seems so far away from everything. (Just the way we feel. I realize lots of people love this resort.) If you do decide to try AKL, check to see if the construction will be finished during your planned stay. That may be a decision maker.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I would stay with WL

 

[Fionasmommy]

We just did both last month. Both are gorgeous hotels, but we preferred WL. We were upgraded to savannah at AKL but ended up at the farthest corner of the resort, so getting to the buses, pool or the Mara was quite a hike. We literally could not have been further away, and I probably would've requested a move if we'd been staying longer. If you're not in your room much it might not matter, but we like to refill mugs, eat at the hotel and use the pool, so we did a lot of walking.

The other thing I didn't like was the bus situation. I'd heard wonderful things about AKL buses so I was shocked at how bad it was. It wasn't a particularly busy time (second week of Dec), but the buses took forever to arrive at both the resort and the parks, and we had lots of long lines for buses. It always seemed like a long ride to the parks too, especially MK. We've previously stayed at POFQ, CBR and WL, and never had bus situations that bad.

I loved the design of AKL and the pool area is lovely - they have nice crafts for kids, too. I liked the food options at the Mara too. But we were thrilled to move to WL. It was just much, much more convenient and centrally located.