Which Resort : CBR vs ASM vs AKL?

[MichelinMan]

Just started looking to plan a trip to WDW. It will be myself, the wife and 7-8 year old son (depending upon whether we go in 2011 or 2012), staying anything between 14-21 nights. We will probably have to go in the summer as the wife doesn't like son missing school much.

We will definitely stay on-site. We went on honeymoon to Florida and loved it, but said when we come back with kids we would definitely stay on-site.

I like the look of Caribbean Beach Resort, and I think my son would love it and the pool. It looks well located, especially as I will be looking to go off-site a bit too.

But the All Star Movies resort is a lot cheaper, and I wonder if spending lots on the hotel room is a bit of a waste of money if you spend all your time in the parks.

And then at the other end of the scale the Animal Kingdom Lodge just sounds lovely with the animals, restaurants there and its pool. But can I really justify spending a small fortune to stay there?

I would welcome any thoughts on the pros and cons of each of these hotels. I would also appreciate any feedback on what the breakfasts are like at each of them - for example, do they all do toast, cereals, cooked breakfasts etc.

I would also appreciate any tips or websites on trying to get the best deals on the rooms and attraction tickets (I think I have already decided to use Virgin for the flights). My only question on this is if you buy your tickets and hotel separately, can you still get in to the Disney theme parks for EMH etc.

 

[disney_princess_85]

It really depends on how much you want to spend. Having said that, I think three of you in a room at ASM for 2/3 weeks would be a bit unbearable. CBR is probably a happy medium, in terms of both cost and room size.

By the way, breakfast is not included in any of the onsite hotels. There are counter service restaurants at each of the resorts you mention, which will all have plenty of hot and cold options.

As long as you're staying onsite, you will get EMH. It doesn't matter where you buy your tickets.

 

[Dimplenose]

We have always gone for the All Star Resorts and really love their laid back atmosphere. The only dining option at the hotel is a counter service food court but this suits my family well.

If you really want to go for a more expensive hotel but can't justify the cost you can always split your stay and spend some of your holiday at All Stars and some of it at the more expensive hotel.

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

It really depends on how much you want to spend. Having said that, I think three of you in a room at ASM for 2/3 weeks would be a bit unbearable. CBR is probably a happy medium, in terms of both cost and room size.

QUOTE]

Totally agree.We have also stayed at POP (which is very similar) with DD10 DS8 at the time for 17 nights and it was a little tight,but at the end of the day your in Disney,and that makes up for it.I would go for CBR,its spacious and more relaxing than AS Resorts.If you wanted to spend more money on the holiday and less on the room can i suggest Disney Dining Plan,it has saved us a fortune, as we very rarely go off site,Universal and Sea World and thats about it.I would certainly downsize room in return for DDP.
Happy planning

 

[crabbie1]

Another for CBR.Love this hotel. Stayed at AKLV last time and obv this was fav,loved pop as well but as others have said a bit tight for a family of 4 for nearly 3 weeks. Okw is a good option and only little extra if they have the offer on and you get the full DDP if going in certain months.

 

[wayneg]

Resort choice is such a personal decision, we don't like the values at all. Stayed at ASmovies a few years ago and it took us 8 years to try an onsite resort again, this was AKL which we loved but would only stay there if we had a savanah veiw, rather stay elsewhere than have a std room.
Last twice onsite (and again next August) we have stayed at OKW, love the resort and if you go Aug-Oct free DDP.

If you go when free dining is on this is the difference(last time I got quotes) in price for next August

All stars £77/night no dining
Pop Century £92/night no dining
OKW or SSR £117/night includes free dining for upto 4 peope(this year we avaraged $170/night of free food)

As you can see for an extra £25/night over Pop you can stay in a DVC studio with fridge and get your food included.

Moderates incl free dining also but only counter service, we would have to pay to upgrade to regular dining so OKW is a better deal for us.

Price up yourself on Disney.co.uk you can also get 3% cashback thru Quidco.

Edit to add Disney have limited room availabilty for some dates, also try completeorlando.co.uk if no availability with Disney.

 

[pigby]

Moderates incl free dining also but only counter service, we would have to pay to upgrade to regular dining so OKW is a better deal for us.

Price up yourself on Disney.co.uk you can also get 3% cashback thru Quidco.

I too would agree with this - we have booked OKW for next August - factoring in the free dining, it worked out at better value than All Stars.

We have stayed in different types of resorts at WDW - have had experience of deluxes and mods as well as values - in our opinion, we were perfectly happy for a 2 week stay in a value though. If no free dining, we would stay again in a value but would choose AS Music which was refurbed a couple of years ago - I belive AS Movies is in need of a make over still.

 

[dixonsontour]

Onsite wise we have stayed at OKW and All star movies. I'd stay at either again.

If he is into toy story the toy story section is great my DD loved it. There is a huge woody and buzz, stairs are like a bucket of soldiers.

We booked OKW through disney uk to get the free dining - DDP. Complete orlando do the same deal. In summer it is approx £1500 for a studio room for 14 nights - sounds alot but includes all your food eg character meals, ice cream etc.

We booked all star movies through disney US and got free qsdp which we upgraded to free DDP. That was in 2009 and I think it cost just over £1200.

If you are set on summer the last two weeks of August are popular as alot of US schools are back. Also free dining promotion runs then.

Flights are going to be your biggest headache. Summer flight prices are silly money.

I wouldn't be dead set on Virgin. We have flown with Virgin last 3 times but have booked with US airways for 2011. Flights were £1000 cheaper - no brainer for us.

If you are wanting the full disney experience then onsite with DDP is great.

 

[dixonsontour]

Nothing to stop you visiting other hotels eg when we ate at Boma at AK lodge we got there early, looked at the animals then had dinner.

That was an advantage of ddp for us we got to try alot of restaurants in the other resorts and have a look around.

 

[torsie24]

I'm a bit biased as I LOVE AKL.

We stayed there last trip, and loved every second of it, and have booked to stay there again in the spring.

You could always look at renting DVC points to stay at AKL, I think it can work out a lot cheaper.

http://www.dvcrequest.com/ is a good place to start.