Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House pool or savannah view or Riverside river view

[JoDisney]

What would you choose if you are going in May this year? From what I have seen Riverside is a very crowded resort. It quickly fills up. Buses fill up quickly. It does have a great food court, lounge, restaurant, pools, bikes and boat to Disney Springs. AKL has animals, great pool, lounge, restaurants and theming. Many people think it is a longer bus drive to many parks, but 5 or 10 mins longer is not a big deal to me. I very much looking forward to responses. Thank you.

[Zippy 1]

Personally I would choose Riverside. We stayed at AKL in November and I was not impressed with the rooms. They have wasted space (with 4 adults we found it a little crowded) and we were in a room overlooking the parking lot. Not usually a big deal for me but the buses from Magical Express come almost 24 hours a day. We felt the rooms could use a little updating The resort is beautiful in the Lobby and the savannah. The food court has limited choices. We did really enjoy Boma. But eat there often and it gets really expensive. We did find the bus ride longer which going to the parks is no big deal but when you are on a packed bus on the way back at night it seems like forever. For the price difference I would stay at Riverside. We are not in the room that much anyway. Just my opion

[SBETigg]

I would choose AKL Savannah view (Sunset Savannah). We loved watching the animals and learning more about them on our last stay there. The bus rides were fine, unless it was to MK or back. Still not bad, but those buses got crowded (which, I imagine, would be the same at other resorts with buses to MK).

[ThanxForNoticin]

Our choice would definitely be Animal Kingdom Lodge. The preference would be the savanna view, but the pool view is also very nice - and you will have other options for seeing the animals outside of your room. The animals, some of our favorite food options, and the TWO pools make it one of our favorite places to stay. The only slight advantage Riverside has with transportation is the boat to Disney Springs, if that's important to you. And we believe Riverside is also an extremely nice resort - just not when compared with AKL! Enjoy your trip, wherever you decide to stay!

[lawgirl]

AKL for sure. My favorite resort. I've only had a "savannah" view room once, but every time we've stayed there we've had some kind of partial view of the savannah. I would probably request a room away from the parking lot if that's a concern. Mara is a great quick service spot, and Boma is great- maybe not for every day as it is expensive, but we love AKL. I'd try to get a studio or 1 bedroom villa if you can.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Although I've never stayed there I would pick AKL-we stayed at POR in January and the beds were awful. The grounds are beautiful but not enough to get us to stay there again.

[Clay Ransone]

I would do POR over AKL in a minute. The location of POR is so much better than AKL. You are close to Epcot and MGM, not far from MK, and can take the boat to Disney Springs. At AKL you are close to AK. If you are going to have a car this is less of an issue but you are still pretty out there staying at AKL rather than POR. Additionally, I really don't think the additional cost to stay at AKL is worth it over POR.

[ThanxForNoticin]

I would do POR over AKL in a minute. The location of POR is so much better than AKL. You are close to Epcot and MGM, not far from MK, and can take the boat to Disney Springs. At AKL you are close to AK. If you are going to have a car this is less of an issue but you are still pretty out there staying at AKL rather than POR. Additionally, I really don't think the additional cost to stay at AKL is worth it over POR.

You might be surprised to see how far away AKL actually is (and this is very unscientific through mapping tools and Disney bus routes). If you stay at AKL and take Disney buses round-trip to AK, MK, HS, and EPCOT - then you do the same thing from Riverside back and forth to all 4 parks.... The total miles driven in the bus is 10%-15% less from AKL than Riverside..... AKL is definitely more remote than many Disney resorts, but it's not the least convenient when taking Disney transportation to/from the parks.

[WiltonJohn]

AKL Savannah view for sure. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt (and DVC).

best,

..............john

[#1donaldfan]

We have stayed at both and for AKL do the Savannah view so you can see the animals in the morning. The pool is great but to have a room facing it seems a waste to me. The bus rides do seem longer and actually seem to be fewer of them, in our experience. Riverside I'd get a preferred building rather than a view. I like being closer to the bus and main building rather than seeing the river or bushes or pool. Riverside is a huge resort but never really seems overly crowded to me. The food court can get chaotic at times, but once you learn when "not" to go, it's by far a great resort. FQ is our favorite, but Riverside is a very close second. The busses are not that bad, again, you have to know when to head out to get to your destination timely ....