Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge?

[KarenNYC]

Well, we decided to splurge this go around as we will only be at Disney for two nights and are looking at Wilderness vs. AKL - any thoughts on which is better as we are traveling with our two year old son. He would LOVE the animals at AKL but he would also like the beach/pool at Wilderness (altho how much time are we really going to be at the pool? an hour, maybe two?). I know nothing about the pool at AKL so he might love that too.

also, are the Savannah rooms really worth it or do the animals roam?

I am editing this to add that we will have a car and will be driving to the parks and not using the WDW transportation. This is also not my son's first trip - we are just going to two nights.

Karen

 

[lovmy2girls]

My thought would be you will be close to the MK if you stay at the WL. Easy boat ride back to your resort.

 

[rcraw45425]

Ditto, another vote for WL. This would allow you to return to the hotel and rest for a few hours, then hop on the boat or bus to another park.

 

[tinkerbell60]

Another vote for WL

We stayed their last year at Easter and are going back this July. We noticed that AKL is far away from everywhere except for AK. WL is convenient to both Epcot and MK, and the activities at Fort Wilderness.

 

[ruttie]

having just returned today from AKL here i would go with WL and just hop on a bus for an hour or 2 in the evening around 530 ish to the AKL and just got to one of teh observation areas to see the animals we had a savanah room and we saw giraffe every day in the mornign and evening and zebra on the way to our room but the lodge was very big long walk to anything plus teh bus waits even though we never waited more than 15 minutes but we still waited and teh long walks to the bus, food etc.. welll for us with kids WL just seems like a better fit more compact theming was just as nice pool slide was better for the little ones had a much better kids pool etc and the boat ride made it worth it... hope this helps...

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I don't know how long your trip will be but I would suggest splitting your stay so you can experiences both lodges.

We did 5 nights at WL then the last 2 at AKL. We LOVE both resorts. There are many viewing areas at AKL so you will still see many animals even if you're not staying in a Savannah view room. The animals do roam freely in the savannahs so the view is constantly changing.

 

[Polofan87]

I gotta say I stayed at the Wilderness and I found it to be very unrelaxing. The neighbors seemed to be very loud and the Geizer was extremely annoying. From what my friend says, he told me he loved Animal Kingdom being able to wake up and see so many animals.

 

[AKLgirl]

2 yr olds need their sleep. He/She will get what they want in the parks and you both get balcany advantages!
If you both want a little "get away" You will love the AKL! It is sooo relaxing to watch the animals!My DH could not get me to even go to bed! "how can I go to sleep with Giraffes and Zebras outside my balcany?"
Bonus...The pool has life guards, and a zero depth entry.
But, This park takes about 20 minutes (bus ride) from all parks.
Lots of luck!

 

[vegasnw]

I'll have to vote for Wilderness Lodge as well. Soending the first part of the day in a theme park and returning the resort for a rest is alot easier for us when staying at the WL. Animal Kingdom Lodge is a beautiful resort but my vote is with the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[mport]

We have stayed at both and it is really neat to see the animals right outside the room. But the WL is still our favorite and that is where we will stay next time. I am glad we stayed at the AKL for the experience.

 

[catbertdave99]

I vote for WL as well, but I agree with Ruttie and others -- take a visit to AKL -- lots of places there you see the animals without having your own room. Both will be great, but the boat ride to MK will be worth it for your 2yo.

 

[FSUGrad97]

We are going in December and we are staying at the WL because of it's easy access to the MK. Our DD will be 2, and I thought it would be much easier to get back to the hotel if she had a meltdown.

 

[Laurajean1014]

AKL all the way. The pool is much, much nicer than WL and the food is better, as well. WL cannot give you giraffes and zebras outside your window (if you opted for a savannah view).

GO AKL!

 

[Laurajean1014]

My thought would be you will be close to the MK if you stay at the WL. Easy boat ride back to your resort.

Not exactly. You see, everyone does this, so at times my family and I waited over 55 minutes to get on the boat because it takes all Wilderness and Ft. Wilderness guests. The boats come frequently, but so do the guests...

 

[Stitch Inside]

We have loved WL from its beginning, but now prefer AKL because it is the newer and cleaner resort. WL's popularity is beginning to wear it down and also makes it noisy.

 

[zcubed]

We are going this summer, also only staying for a couple of nights, and we decided to do AKL instead of WL.

The pool looks awesome, and we figure that a bus ride can take us anywhere we want to go.

We have waited a long time in the past for a boat, but we have also had to wait a long time for certain busses before. Good luck deciding!

 

[KarenNYC]

but we are going to have a car and will drive to the parks each day. I've been to WDW so many times and always found that the buses take forever and with a two year old it is just not worth the wait. Does that change any of the WL votes to AKL? I should also mention that this is my son's fourth trip to Disney (we were just there for an extended trip in January).

 

[cdrn1]

I have stayed at AKL several times and I stayed at WL for the first time in May. I love AKL and overall I would say to stay there for sooo many reasons but...the WL was very nice as well, and for a two day trip I think it would be quite a bit more convenient with a little one. We took our 16 month old granddaughter and it was so easy to just wheel her stroller right on to the boat and over to MK. It was easy to go back to the room for a nap as well. The boat ride was like a "ride" for her as well. She loved it! I do have to say, though, that if you are dead set on driving, I would go with AKL. I just liked the theming much better and it's pretty easy to drive to the parks.

 

[SkipperBubba]

DW (doombuggybabe ) and I are huge WL fans. We've found it to be relaxing, very homey, and convenient. We also rent a car and use it to go everywhere except the MK. We've never had a problem getting back to the WL when we wanted to, either.

One other thing to keep in mind. I've heard a lot of people complain that the Mousekeeping staff and staff in general are not as nice and helpful at the AKL as they are at the WL. So, we will continue to pick WL.

Just my $0.02

 

[Princess Glenda]

For us the nice thing about WL is that DD could fall asleep in the stroller and we could just roll the stroller onto the boat back to WL without switching her into the car seat to drive back to the resort. We've never waited more than 20 minutes for a boat to take us to MK or back to WL from MK, but we go in May and I'm sure that makes some difference. I think you can't go wrong with either but we really enjoy being so close to MK when we stay at WL.