Which resort AKL or WL?

[Robyn29]

We are going to WDW 11/29/03 - 12/04/03. I am having trouble deciding between the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Wilderness Lodge. Any recommendations???

 

[Kimberle]

Welcome!!

I'm going to "duck" for *that* question!! People seem to be divided into 2 "corners", they love AK & dislike WL or visa versa!

We're staying at WL next week. Haven't stayed at AK.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip no matter which one you choose!!

 

[kathylovesdisneyworl]

WL or AKL Lodge

We have stayed at both. They are both beautiful hotels with alot of the same decor. AKL has the added plus of the animals, which are seen from many places in the hotel. The bus system is very good since they don't share buses with any other hotel. WL is just as nice with the added plus of being able to use the boat for MK. The bus transportation did seem slower, since they share with other resorts.

I truly think you would be happy with both.

 

[HopperFan]

We have stayed at both and we love them both !!!!

They each have their perks and I think the main difference is their size!!!

Both have the big open lobby with so much attention to detail it is a pleasure to just explore. Both have good food to eat.

The WL is a small hotel for Disney.....
*The pool is great, nice slide for smaller kids, great design in the water moving from the lobby all the way to the pool, geyser etc. But it is physically smaller. Fine for us and you can actually sit and watch your kids just fine if they are smaller. Small beach on the waterway where you can watch the Electrical Water Parade. The boat ride to MK is great and if you will be visiting there often it is a real plus. Transporation depends on if you have a car or not. They had a character meal when we went and have a kid's club.

The AKL is a very large hotel.....but absolutely intimate in feel...
*The pool is great, nice slide, more than one hot tub, zero entry, pool games, lots of activity around the pool which is very large with plenty of seating. Big food court right there with showers, lockers etc which worked out great for us to swim on checkout day. LOTS of activity in hotel, animals of course, nightvision for animals, african storytelling around fire, african crafts, students from africa giving presentations about their country, games for the kids, big gift shop, and lots to do. We actually spent two days just enjoying the hotel.

I'd go back to either in a heartbeat!!!

The questions I would ask myself are:
* How much pool time are we going to use?
* How much hotel time do we have?
* Are we going to be going back and forth from MK?
* Are we using buses or driving a car?
Factor that with....if you have kids and how old.

Our youngest is 10 and I think they would want to go back to Animal Kingdom again over Wilderness Lodge.

But again, both awesome hotels !!!!!

Am jealous

 

[wld]

I've never stayed at AKL but did stay at WL and was not impressed and would not go back.

 

[MassMom94]

We stayed at WL from 8/23 - 8/30 and loved it. We'd definitely go back. We visited the AKL and were impressed with that as well. DS6 wants to stay at AKL next time because he thought the pool looked very cool. DD11 said she wanted to go back to WL. As previous posters have said, I don't think you can go wrong with either!

 

[Nuts4Disney]

Welcome to the DIS!

Whenever I can't decide, I dig up some WDW resort photos [which is pretty easy on the 'net, esp. right here on the DIS], & take a little virtual vacation.

WDW resorts are so heavily themed, that IMHO, I think it's really about personal preference, esp. when you're comparing deluxes to deluxes, mods to mods, etc. Some folks will *love* one, others will *love* another. Well, that's just my opinion, anyway.

Good luck & happy deciding!

 

[ehagerty]

We have stayed at both and enjoyed both. We have split stays among up to 5 resorts per vacation - so that is also an option. That said, if we could only choose one (WL or AKL), we would probably choose the WL for the following reasons:
1. Transportation - Boat access to MK
2. Dining - more food options easily available - that is, you can boat to the CR, then monorail to restaurants at any MK resort. This opens up many more dining options (good variety) than is as readily available at the AKL.
3. Family marina plan - my sons (13 & 15) loved the water mice on the marina plan. By staying at the WL, they could take out the boats on their own and bike to FW without having adult intervention. While they enjoyed LOOKING at the animals from our balcony at AKL, they like the activities for DOING at WL.
4. Pool - my sons claim to prefer the WL pool (with stream, water jets / currents and some deeper water) to the AKL which apparently is shallow throughout. (I didn't go in since I'd had a hysterectomy 2 weeks before)
5. Theming - they are very similar - both the lobby and rooms, but the WL motif and color scheme is just a little more to our liking.

 

[mep319]

Stayed at both...prefer AKL. And would choose AKL for a variety of reasons. If you can afford a savannah view I say stay at AKL. If you haven't stay at either and plan to sometime in the recent future do WL first..AKL next time. The other way around can be disappointing. I do however disagree w/ some points by the previous poster (no offense! lol) I didn't like the transporation at WL..found it to be one of the worst at any deluxe resort (there is a recnet thread in the transportation board I believe). I also found the food to be far superior. I think Mara is better than the fast food place at WL (roaring something.) I like Jiko & Boma better than the resturants at WL. My DD7 like the pool at AKL much better than WL...she did miss the gieser but the animal more than made up for it.
Regardless I'm sure you'll have a blast....I don't want bias but...AKL......AKL......AKL.......AKL....AKL!

 

[mrssalvaggio]

We are going 12/6-12/14 and have chosen WL based on the fact that so many have said it has the most beautiful Christmas decor. That may or may not be a considering factor for you. The pool does sound better at AKL, but you take your chances at that time of the year. Also, we plan on doing a lot of the activities at FW, and if nice weather we will go to water parks and would like to do the family boat plan (even cool pools get boring rather quickly for us).

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Robyn29
We are going to WDW 11/29/03 - 12/04/03. I am having trouble deciding between the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Wilderness Lodge. Any recommendations???

For us we would choose the AKL and here is why.

1. Even though the AKL has all bus service to the parks we believe that the transportation from the AKL is better then from the WL. We believe that the only park that the WL is convienent to is the MK and since we do not have children and spend the least amount of time at the MK that is not a plus for us.

2. The animals. We perfer the EC resorts for our Sept trips as we tend to spend more time in the parks. For our trips when we want to relax then there is nothing better to us then sitting on a balcony and watching the animals.

So my vote is for the AKL.

 

[litlpixie]

I have to agree with wld (poster), I have never been to AKL, but would be interested in staying there. I have, however, been to WL, and was very dissapointed with various things (pool size, transportation) Good luck in your decision.

 

[joyful1nh]

We love them both -- and a split stay between the two is wonderful if you are staying long enough. Otherwise, look at where you will spend most of your time -- if you are a Magic Kingdom fan and want to go there every day -- then the WL is your best bet. If you love the monorail -- WL is great because you can take the boat to the CR and hop the monorail to EPCOT. If you must go to DTD every night -- AKL is your better bet.

Whichever you decide you will have a wonderful trip! Try to visit the other resort for a dinner so you can check it out.