Yes, another request for help on choosing. Please!

[bhyer]

Hello!

It's just my adult daughter and myself and we will be at Disney World October 26 to November 11. We are doing a split stay and going over to Universal for a few days mid trip. The first time we visited Disney World (a few years ago) we also did a split stay and stayed at POR Riverside in the princess rooms for the first part of our trip and rented points to stay at the Grand Floridian Villas for the second half of our trip. While POR was lovely and the bus service was always good, we absolutely fell in love with the Grand Floridian Villas. Being on the monorail with such a quick commute to MK. And the deluxe studio with the lake view was stunning. All the sounds on the lake and from the front of MK. Sitting there having my coffee in the morning was pure magic. The bad news - we spoiled ourselves.

We are now planning another trip. The only way we can afford the deluxe resorts is by renting points and we have discovered we are too late for getting anything at the Grand Floridian. Then we decided the Poly would be a fun experience and subsequently learned that there is a huge waiting list for renting points at that resort and we likely won't obtain that either. Of course, still a small chance and we have our fingers crossed. We have the option of listing a second resort choice (of course if we do that and it comes available we lose our chance at Poly but if we wait for Poly and don't get it then the other resorts with DVC studios may be booked up too).

So, we started looking at AKL and Bay Lake Tower.
Both look like great resorts. Bay Lake Tower doesn't really appeal to us in appearance but the walk to MK looks amazing and it is on the monorail. Has anyone stayed at Bay Lake Tower who has also stayed at the Grand or Poly or AKL. Thoughts? What did you like? What did you not like? How are the buses overall?

AKL looks like a lovely immersive experience but our one concern is how far the commute would be to MK as that is our favorite park. How are the buses? Is is really a 40 minute bus ride from AKL to MK? Has anyone used taxis from this resort? If using a taxi is the commute faster?

Anything you can tell me would be greatly appreciated. We are so stuck! Blessed to be able to do another Disney World vacation but finding this decision more difficult than it should be. I blame staying at the Grand Floridian Villas on our first trip. Set expectations pretty high. Sigh.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

BLT studios are very small, but if it's only two of you, it might be okay. When the couch is folded out, it's very tight.

It's not a 40-minute bus ride from AKV. If you have to wait for a bus, the trip is longer, but that's true at POR as well. The buses aren't shared.

I would ask what the hopes for this trip are. If you're spending a lot of time at MK, BLT's location can't be beat, but the transfer for Epcot is a bit of a nuisance, and BLT will share buses for DHS and AK. AKV gets knocked for "being remote," but it's actually closer than BLT to every park other than MK, and doesn't share buses. The pools are nicer and the pool bars better there, and the overall theming is much lusher.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Anyone who states that it's a 40 minute bus ride from MK to AKL doesn't have a clue.

It's 7-8 miles. That's it. 15 minutes MAX.

 

[bhyer]

Anyone who states that it's a 40 minute bus ride from MK to AKL doesn't have a clue.

It's 7-8 miles. That's it. 15 minutes MAX.

That is good to know. Thank you. I was reading on the Touring Plans Site and it said a 39 commute time using Disney transportation. We aren't renting a car. Have you ever taken a cab from AKL to MK?

 

[bhyer]

BLT studios are very small, but if it's only two of you, it might be okay. When the couch is folded out, it's very tight.

It's not a 40-minute bus ride from AKV. If you have to wait for a bus, the trip is longer, but that's true at POR as well. The buses aren't shared.

I would ask what the hopes for this trip are. If you're spending a lot of time at MK, BLT's location can't be beat, but the transfer for Epcot is a bit of a nuisance, and BLT will share buses for DHS and AK. AKV gets knocked for "being remote," but it's actually closer than BLT to every park other than MK, and doesn't share buses. The pools are nicer and the pool bars better there, and the overall theming is much lusher.

We would be folding out the couch so good to know about the size of the BLT studios. Thank you.
We will be spending a lot of time at MK (it's our favorite park and at the time we are going there will be Halloween and Christmas parties). We also love the AK park. And when we go Pandora should be open (hopefully). Epcot isn't a favorite for us. Have you ever taken a taxi from the AKL to MK?
Very nice to hear the buses aren't shared.
We had such an amazing trip last time and I just want to make the best possible choices this time. I know, all of the resorts have their unique good points. And I KNOW we are lucky to simply be going again.
I guess I'm worried that if we pick AKL and the commute times are really bad we will regret it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Taxis have to drop off at the TTC or at the Contemporary. Taxis can't go to the Magic Kingdom.

The commute of AK is grossly overstated.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Agree with @_auroraborealis_ on the BLT studios. I can't stand them. Very odd in the way they're designed. Size-wise, they're the second smallest studios on property (behind only the AKV Values), and the way they're designed makes them seem even smaller than they really are.

 

[bhyer]

You good folks are telling me that commute time are over exaggerated which is what I WANT to hear.
Just got off the phone with the folks at the vacation club rental place and they just told me it's a 25-45 minute commute. So frustrating.

 

[buzznina]

They may be adding in the default wait time "bus arrives every 20 minutes". The actual commute time is around 15 minutes. I heard Uber is good and cheaper then a taxi, we do not use either so I cannot give you firsthand information. We drive to WDW but always use their transportation, if we arrive 5-10 minutes later its not a big deal. Personally, I think you are putting way to much emphasis on transportation.

 

[Leelo]

I was told my comment was unhelpful so I removed it. I did not say anything rude and shared my personal experience from 10 years ago with a disclaimer of the time frame and was defending why someone would say it takes 40 minutes like it did for us.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

To put it into perspective, how long do you travel to even make it to property?

AKL/AKV do not share buses save in emergency situations. I don't think sharing an anecdote of 10 years ago is helpful.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is is really a 40 minute bus ride from AKL to MK?

Commute time includes everything. Time at the bus stop etc. any resort can offer a transportation experience that takes that long. They aren't saying the actual ride is 40 minutes.

As much as I dislike akl I have to be fair about that. (Though they did have the worst wait time for buses that I've yet encountered personally and their customer service has been from "meh" to atrocious for us)


I've stayed at GF, BL, and AKL both Jambo and Kidani villas. We own at BL which makes it unfortunate that we are now in love with GF.

FWIW I booked poly 7 months out. And then switched to GF studios (for 12/24-26) a month out. Availability can show up. Of course that doesn't help if you're renting points.

Sorry but I am one of those people. We timed it out when we went on our honeymoon it was indeed around 40 minutes (longest was 42 from AKL to MK). However, that was 10 years ago and routes and such could have changed. We stopped at other resorts on the way to MK (I remember one of them was Coronado Springs) and picked up more resort guests which is why it took so long. That was the only thing I did not like about staying at AKL.

Buses don't work like that anymore in general.

 

[bhyer]

I was told my comment was unhelpful so I removed it. I did not say anything rude and shared my personal experience from 10 years ago with a disclaimer of the time frame and was defending why someone would say it takes 40 minutes like it did for us.

Don't be sorry. I appreciate your feedback. I appreciate all of it.

 

[bhyer]

They may be adding in the default wait time "bus arrives every 20 minutes". The actual commute time is around 15 minutes. I heard Uber is good and cheaper then a taxi, we do not use either so I cannot give you firsthand information. We drive to WDW but always use their transportation, if we arrive 5-10 minutes later its not a big deal. Personally, I think you are putting way to much emphasis on transportation.

I probably am. Over analyzing. I wonder how I could find out how long a taxi takes from AKL to Contemporary. Just good to know if we decide to stay at AKL and have reservations we need to get to. I know I had heard bad things about buses from POR before we stayed there and when we stayed we had no problem at all. I guess I'm trying to compare how much longer it would take to get to MK from AKL vs POR. That would give me a feel for it.

 

[Marthasor]

Have you considered the Villas at Wilderness Lodge? WL is absolutely beautiful and you would have boat transportation from WL to MK. I think you would enjoy having your morning coffee on a balcony at VWL!

In terms of taking cabs, yes, we use Uber a LOT in WDW! It cuts down enormously on transportation time and only costs about $5 - $7 to get from resort to resort or resort to park. To get to MK (when we are not staying at an MK resort), we typically take uber to Grand Floridian and then hop on the monorail to MK. You can also get dropped off at the Contemporary and walk from there.

 

[bhyer]

Have you considered the Villas at Wilderness Lodge? WL is absolutely beautiful and you would have boat transportation from WL to MK. I think you would enjoy having your morning coffee on a balcony at VWL!

In terms of taking cabs, yes, we use Uber a LOT in WDW! It cuts down enormously on transportation time and only costs about $5 - $7 to get from resort to resort or resort to park. To get to MK (when we are not staying at an MK resort), we typically take uber to Grand Floridian and then hop on the monorail to MK. You can also get dropped off at the Contemporary and walk from there.

I have been reading about UBER and it sounds like a great option for us.
We hadn't considered Wilderness lodge because it's under construction. Not sure when it might be done - we aren't arriving until October 26th. Also, I guess because I live in an area where the Wilderness Lodge theme is like being at home - we kinda thought it would be nice to try something else. But perhaps I should reconsider. How long do you think UBER would take from Jambo house to say GF or Contemporary?

 

[sharadoc]

If you can't find something you like at the MK resorts, please consider Boardwalk. It's beautiful and you may find that the closeness to Epcot and DHS will make you explore more parks and appreciate them. The bus isn't bad from there to MK.

 

[crazylady]

We stayed in a BLT studio and I thought I wouldn't like it at all but we loved it. Walking to MK was great. We had a lake view which I found very peaceful. The rooms are all but there were lots of options with shelving and drawers to help keep the room neat and orderly.

I would love to stay at AKL and the commute doesn't seem too horrible but if your planning to go to MK every day or making multiple trips to the park each day, I think it would get old.

 

[Leelo]

I looked at what touring plans says about Disney bus travel times as of their most recent publication and it shows an AKL to MK time range average of 19 minutes with a max of 37 minutes door-to-door. I am glad to hear they no longer share buses with other resorts!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

When the average is 19 minutes and the max is 37, that means the 37 is an outlier.