Which resort for extra night?

[bpx2]

So this is the dilemma...

My husband and I are staying 7 nights in the Atrium Club at the Contemporary. I've been looking at flights and it is $200 cheaper to fly out the day before we planned. I'm trying to decide which resort to book for that one extra night at the start of our trip. The choices are Pop for about $133 or Animal Kingdom Lodge for $297. They are both new resorts to us.

We are trying to decide if we want to save money overall (we would save around $67 by flying out a day early and staying at Pop) or we could spend a little more and stay at AKL. How I look at it, if we choose AKL it will only be costing us $100 more to stay an extra night at a Deluxe (vs flying out a day later and spending more on flights). #DisneyMath

So what would you do? Save money and stay at Pop, or spend a little more overall and get an extra night at a deluxe?

 

[SarahC97]

I'd stay at Pop for a night. That'll make the Contemporary seem that much more awesome.

 

[buzzrelly]

I’d stay at POP. You wouldn’t be at AKL to appreciate any of the deluxe amenities so save the money.

 

[bpx2]

Thank you both for the input. What we're worried about is being let down on the first night of our trip. We are so excited to stay at the Contemporary and we're worried that staying at Pop the first night won't be on the same level as the rest of the trip and we won't be as excited when we first get there. Also, we would be getting there in the afternoon with no park time that day so we will most likely just be hanging around the resort that afternoon/evening.

 

[karen4546]

idk if those are your only 2 choices but if not then i would loI lk at a moderate resort preferrably Port Orleans FRENCH QUARTER. It is a lovely resort with a decent food court and you can take the boat to Disney Springs. My first few trips to WDW we stayed here and loved it. You can also walk over to Riverside and look around-the walk is not far and the grounds are great.

I LOVE AKL Jambo House and we are staying here again in a couple of months but I would not stay just the one night there since like previous poster stated: you would not get the full AKL experience but if you arrive before 4pm then you could do the restaurant tour and have a nice dinner at Jiko or check out SANAA.

have fun

 

[bpx2]

idk if those are your only 2 choices but if not then i would loI lk at a moderate resort preferrably Port Orleans FRENCH QUARTER. It is a lovely resort with a decent food court and you can take the boat to Disney Springs. My first few trips to WDW we stayed here and loved it. You can also walk over to Riverside and look around-the walk is not far and the grounds are great.

I LOVE AKL Jambo House and we are staying here again in a couple of months but I would not stay just the one night there since like previous poster stated: you would not get the full AKL experience but if you arrive before 4pm then you could do the restaurant tour and have a nice dinner at Jiko or check out SANAA.

have fun

POFQ is on my list of resorts I really want to try! However, I'm booking on a discount site and the only moderate available is Coronado Springs, which I've stayed at before and we want to try something new.

 

[karen4546]

POFQ is on my list of resorts I really want to try! However, I'm booking on a discount site and the only moderate available is Coronado Springs, which I've stayed at before and we want to try something new.

You could split the difference and just stay POFQ. Believe me you will like it better than POP. It is small and 2-3 minutes from any room to food court, buses, and boat access.

I have not stayed at POFQ since the food court refurb. since we absolutely love AKL and only stay there now-except for F&W and we stay YC even though i don't like the scent they pump through there.

Oh and the beignets are good at POFQ-from Louisiana so i have had great ones here. Enjoy your trip

 

[bpx2]

You could split the difference and just stay POFQ. Believe me you will like it better than POP. It is small and 2-3 minutes from any room to food court, buses, and boat access.

I have not stayed at POFQ since the food court refurb. since we absolutely love AKL and only stay there now-except for F&W and we stay YC even though i don't like the scent they pump through there.

Oh and the beignets are good at POFQ-from Louisiana so i have had great ones here. Enjoy your trip

Unfortunately POFQ isn't available on the site I'm looking at and it would be $270 to reserve through Disney, so it's just not worth it to me for that price when I could stay at AKL for around $25 more.

 

[jenmsmith]

We did that Disney Math and stayed at AKL for one night on the front end of our trip this past January. I’d recommend it. Have dinner at Saana, sleep in the next morning and have a late breakfast at Boma. Then head to the Contemporary. What a relaxing, nice was to start your vaca.

FWIW, we also have stayed the first night at Pop due to flights. It was fine, but if you are going to have some time that evening to enjoy the resort, I’d stay at AKL.

 

[bpx2]

We did that Disney Math and stayed at AKL for one night on the front end of our trip this past January. I’d recommend it. Have dinner at Saana, sleep in the next morning and have a late breakfast at Boma. Then head to the Contemporary. What a relaxing, nice was to start your vaca.

FWIW, we also have stayed the first night at Pop due to flights. It was fine, but if you are going to have some time that evening to enjoy the resort, I’d stay at AKL.

Thanks! It's nice to hear from someone who has done something similar. We were actually talking about how it would be a relaxing way to start the vacation by having dinner at Sanaa and hanging around the resort if we do AKL. I'm just afraid we wouldn't get that same vibe from Pop - we would probably end up leaving Pop to spend time at DS and just end up spending more money anyway.

And saving money is nice, but we are the type of people who don't mind spending more for a nicer experience. So I guess it sounds like we are leaning more toward AKL...

 

[m3owbox]

On our last trip we added a night on to our stay and we stayed at POP. We thought it was wonderful, but we didn't spend much time there, we ended up going to sea world. We loved the resort but there arnt as many things to do during the day. For our next trip we actually added on a night at AKL and we are dining at Sanaa and we plan on animal watching and maybe some pool time. AKL has a splendid pool! and overall i feel that there are more things to do if you are trying to enjoy the resort more.

 

[SarahC97]

Jambo House pool is closed at AKL until "winter 2019." Not sure when you're going, but it's something to consider if you think you'll use the pool.

 

[bpx2]

Jambo House pool is closed at AKL until "winter 2019." Not sure when you're going, but it's something to consider if you think you'll use the pool.

yes I did notice that. We don't have kids and we're not really pool people at Disney so we're ok with it being closed.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

For $100 extra in "Disney math", I would do AKL. Especially if you will be spending the afternoon/evening at the resort. AKL is so beautiful and relaxing - make an ADR at one of the TS (they are all great!), go out to the public viewing area at Jambo, poke around in the gift shop and just enjoy a more comfortable room. I find the values to be very loud and uncomfortable. You would also only have access to a food court there (or by walking over to AoA).

 

[m3owbox]

Jambo House pool is closed at AKL until "winter 2019." Not sure when you're going, but it's something to consider if you think you'll use the pool.

It's closed until winter of 2018, not 2019.

 

[SarahC97]

It's closed until winter of 2018, not 2019.

Sorry, yeah -- looks like December 2018.

 

[m3owbox]

Sorry, yeah -- looks like December 2018.

Was gonna say thats a really wrong refurb!

 

[mickeynut1]

So this is the dilemma...

My husband and I are staying 7 nights in the Atrium Club at the Contemporary. I've been looking at flights and it is $200 cheaper to fly out the day before we planned. I'm trying to decide which resort to book for that one extra night at the start of our trip. The choices are Pop for about $133 or Animal Kingdom Lodge for $297. They are both new resorts to us.

We are trying to decide if we want to save money overall (we would save around $67 by flying out a day early and staying at Pop) or we could spend a little more and stay at AKL. How I look at it, if we choose AKL it will only be costing us $100 more to stay an extra night at a Deluxe (vs flying out a day later and spending more on flights). #DisneyMath

So what would you do? Save money and stay at Pop, or spend a little more overall and get an extra night at a deluxe?

And saving money is nice, but we are the type of people who don't mind spending more for a nicer experience. So I guess it sounds like we are leaning more toward AKL...

Another vote for AKL. We've never stayed at Pop (or any of the values), but we love AKL! For me, the extra cost would be worth it. As others have suggested, you can relax and have a nice dinner and check out the resort. In the morning you can get up at a leisurely pace, have breakfast, then head over to the CR to check in.

 

[stinkpickle]

If I were going to a park on day #1, I'd stay at Pop. If I were just going to hang out on day #1, I'd stay at AKL.

 

[karen4546]

Jambo House pool is closed at AKL until "winter 2019." Not sure when you're going, but it's something to consider if you think you'll use the pool.

no it is not closed until 2019 it opens mid December 2018-