Which resort? Your favorite?

[NicholeB630]

I am starting to think about our next trip. I would love to stay in the Bungalows but not sure that is possible because of price. But outside that resort we can def do any of the other one. I am thinking between the Grand Floridian or Animal Kingdom lodge. Distance is not an issue from parks as we rent a car.

 

[mickeynut1]

I am starting to think about our next trip. I would love to stay in the Bungalows but not sure that is possible because of price. But outside that resort we can def do any of the other one. I am thinking between the Grand Floridian or Animal Kingdom lodge. Distance is not an issue from parks as we rent a car.

Both the GF and AKL are great resorts, but are also very different. We have had a couple of stays at both and love them both.

Reasons we love the GF:

~ larger, spacious rooms
~ close to MK
~ variety of great dining options
~ great pools
~ convenient to the Poly & CR
~ beautiful grounds

Reasons we love AKL:

~ resort is kind of isolated so it's peaceful and quiet
~ great dining options
~ several animal viewing areas around the resort
~ bus transportation is good (at least in our experience)
~ beautiful, relaxing lobby
~ great pools


With all of that said, you really can't go wrong with either resort as they are both great. If location isn't an issue, I would look at both and see which theme/decor you like the most and go with that resort . Another option would be to do a split stay. Depending on how long your trip is (and if you wouldn't mind moving), you could always split the nights up and try them both! Good luck.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Animal Kingdom Lodge is my choice, just like the theme more than the Grand Floridian. Walking the paths to view the animals, viewing the animals from the room, talking with the CM from Africa; love hearing their story, don't forget to ask them for their card, Boma is my second favorite place to eat (Ohana at the POLY is my favorite), like exploring the lobby and building more.

You can't go wrong with the Grand Floridian should you choose to stay there, it too is a beautiful resort.

 

[jeepwreck]

We love POFQ

We love the charm, size and location of this resort,. I love being along the river and watching the water ferries go by. Also it is just a 10 min walk over to the sister resort River Side and just a boat ride to downtown Disney. Since POFQ it is the smallest resort it seems to be one of the quietist in my opinion however with that said the food court I believe could use some work. Also it can get pretty busy during peak dining times.

 

[TeamSy]

If you're renting a car anyway, I would choose an offsite hotel with close proximity to the parks and with an amazing pool), but for onsite, I really like the Boardwalk area resorts. Decent pools (SAB if you choose Yacht or Beach Club), unique room options (I always think the rooms overlooking the Boardwalk are SO COOL), walking distance to Epcot, boat to HS, lots of food options/things to do on the Boardwalk once the parks close (shopping, nightlife, games, etc).

My second choice would any of the Magic Kingdom resorts. For the GF... I think everyone should stay there once if it's a "dream" of theirs. The monorail to MK/Epcot is easy, and there are also A LOT of food options between the three monorail resorts, all easy to get to. Plus, who doesn't love the monorail? I find the GF pool(s) disappointing, and as long as you realize you're spending the big $$$ to be close to the parks and not necessarily for service/luxury for the cost, it's great. You can't beat being THAT CLOSE to Magic Kingdom.

For Animal Kingdom (because you mentioned it), we have our first stay there at the end of this month. Personally, if we didn't get SUCH a great deal, I'm not sure we'd be staying there. It seems far from everything and the point to staying onsite is to be immersed in the Disney bubble, which is why we don't rent a car. If we did, we'd stay offsite, but that's just my opinion. For a deluxe, you don't get the same dining options and such as you would if you stayed at an Epcot resort or MK resort.

 

[moonshadow]

It is too hard to choose just one. If we wanted to stay near Epcot then it would be BC. If MK it would really depend on which resort we were just at and of course what discount we were able to get. I think it would be between WL, AKL, or Poly.

 

[NicholeB630]

We will rent a car no matter what and stay on property its just part of the experience for us but we like renting a car. We enjoy being able to leave when we want and its great when it only takes 10 minutes to get anywhere. When planning our last trip I just couldn't wrap my head around giving ourselves an hour to get to AK from Bay lake tower via bus when we could just drive ourselves and leave 15 minutes before we wanted to get there. I do like the idea though if we stay at GF we can at least take the monorail to MK which is the best transportation and we can drive everywhere else. I have plenty of time to think about it though. I honestly just dont know which one appeals to us more ha.

 

[brinkley07]

We prefer AKL because we find it very relaxing when we go back. Usually we have a car as well, but we rarely use it while there. I haven't had much trouble with the buses or long times in transit.

 

[Newsies]

Grand Floridian in a heartbeat!

- The hotel is beautiful
- The food options are great
- The pool area, while not as extensively themed as others, is nice.
- Even if you drive to the parks, it's sort of fun to hop on the monorail and go to MK spur-of-the-moment late at night

 

[NicholeB630]

I have so much time to figure out where we will stay but I am really torn. I started thinking that the GF probably wasn't the best for kids, seems to appeal more to adults then little ones (7 & 4) so I was thinking it would be between AKL and Poly but I have no idea which is better. I am a bit of a hotel snob so I have high expectations. Only staying at Bay Lake tower I just dont know. I did love it there but we def want a change and something themed a little better. We will def stay in a 1 bedroom suite. Thinking we dont need a villa like we've had in the past but def a suite.

 

[Disneyhenry]

I love AKL, maybe a 1 bedroom Villa at AK would be better, GF does have a great pool for kids, I think your boys would love it! I suggest just start reading reviews of what resorts you maybe interested in and looking at pictures, location and think of everything that is important to you, try to narrow it down from there. There is so many good choices and honestly I don't think any of the deluxe are bad

 

[NicholeB630]

I love AKL, maybe a 1 bedroom Villa at AK would be better, GF does have a great pool for kids, I think your boys would love it! I suggest just start reading reviews of what resorts you maybe interested in and looking at pictures, location and think of everything that is important to you, try to narrow it down from there. There is so many good choices and honestly I don't think any of the deluxe are bad

The more I look I think AKL will be the best for us. We have a son & daughter and they both love animals. The resort looks pretty amazing. I'm not worried about location because we rent a car!

 

[RustManFan]

We love POR. In fact I just made my Nov-Dec 2016 reservations about an hour ago!! I'm on cloud nine!

I would pick AKL over GF also

 

[BrdwayBoy]

Another vote for AKL. Especially with kids. My favorite resort in all of WDW! The theming is incredible and completely immersive.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I'll add to the AKL vote. It has so much to offer. As for location, it's so close but so far away, meaning you still have the Disney vibe, but it's MUCH more laid back and relaxing. In terms of park travel time, over the course of 4 days it's not much different than anywhere else. After our 2nd stay at the Lodge in 2012, we loved it so much we bought DVC there.

 

[NicholeB630]

Yes I think we will def do AKL I think my kids would love it and the drive around wont bother us especially since were in our own car. Plus this last time kids were 2 and 5 I thought we'd take more breaks than we actually did so I doubt we will need to drive back to resort everyday mid day. Maybe just on the days we know we will have a later night and even so its a short drive! Going in Sept with lowest crowds roads shouldn't be to bad. We had no traffic issues when driving around back in December. I really like renting a car. To see the kids faces at the AKL will be priceless I know they will LOVE it. Thanks everyone for your input. I'd still love to stay at the Poly bungalows one day but for price I'd say we just fork out a little more and stay in real bungalows in Fiji!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The hidden gem of WDW is Old Key West, wonderfully theming, landscaped and layed out. No bus issues (well not never, but rarely),. The units are very large, with spa tubs. Great main pool, slide and kids play area. and 3 smaller pools. Olivia's, their TS is great!

AKK