cant decide on what resort

[kwhitt3202]

We are looking at going this year and not really sure when. Due to the economy we have decided to take our usual 7night vacation down to 5 nights. We have stayed at all the value resorts and the Polynesian and grand Floridian. For the last 3 yrs we have stayed on the monorail. We have a 3yr old son and not sure where to stay. We were looking at the AKL or the Pop. Would we be happy with these? What are yalls opinion.

[PetefromRI]

When are you going?The buy 4 get 3 deal is extended to August I believe.

[RedSoxFan]

AKL is a great resort. I bet your DS would love to see the animals. My kids did and they were older. The lobby is great; the gift shop is unique and BOMA's is yummy. The busses were great -- didn't share with any other resorts.

[Figaro0826]

Wilderness lodge is the closest deluxe off the monrail. and the cheapest of the deluxes near MK. its a short boat ride.

this has become our favorite .

[liz]

Polynesian, AKL and Grand Floridian are our favorites. If you can stay at one of those you are golden

[RobWreck]

Are you really asking people their opinion in comparing a Deluxe resort (AKL) with a Value resort (POP)? That's kinda unfair... like comparing hamburgers from Pecos Bill's to a steak from Le Cellier. AKL is a beautiful resort, from the parts I've seen, but if you go with the POP you'll save more than enough money so that you don't have to cut the 2 days off your vacation. It all really depends how much time you spend back at the resort during your vacation... if it's just a place to sleep and shower between your trips to the park, then there's really no contest.
Enjoy,
Rob

[kwhitt3202]

We dont know if we will be able to do the deal disney is offering. my husband also has blackout days for vacation. We were wanting to take our son for his bday in Aug. but that is a blackout month. So we were kind of looking at october. I know its kind of unfair to comapir Pop with AKL. My husband is a steak and potatoes guy no frills and he said boma was his least fav restaurant in wdw. We however loved the food court at Pop. We dont ever use the slides at the resort pool and are used to not having a hot tub. They are both buss only and to stay in the savannah view at the AKL would only be $300 cheeper than garden at the Poly so if we stayed at the AKL it would be the standard room.

[DisneyHoneymooners]

We stay at AKL every year and love it. Your son will love the pool, it has a large zero entry area, a nice slide and a great poolside bar.The atmosphere around the resort grounds is our favorite, and the lodge itself is a must see at least once. Even without a savanna view room there are a ton of great areas to view the animals. They also have animal related activities for the small kids every afternoon around the lodge. Bus service is the only transportation to and from AKL but due to that fact they seem to have more buses and less wait time. Due to the animals no balloons or straws are allowed at AKL. Also both Jiko and Boma are fantastic places to eat. Have a great trip

[Mfarquar]

If rooms and pools aren't super important to you, you may want to keep an eye out for free dining and book at POP. It usually runs from late August through the end of September. Last year, they let me start my vacation in late September and verge into October with free dining. I had heard some reports last year that all of your traveling would have to be done within the time frame of the promotion in order to get free dining for the entire trip. However, we received free dining for the entire trip because we STARTED our vacation within the promotion dates.

Free dining saved us a TON of money. There are 2 of us and we went to POP for 10 nights, 11 days with a 9 day park hopper, water parks & more ticket with free dining for $1602.

If you get lucky, you may be able to do that 7 day trip after all!

[kemps@wdw]

My vote, obviously, for WL. It's the cheapest of the deluxes, and closest to the MK. The northwoods lodge atmosphere is very relaxing, the pool is way cool, and IMHO we just seem to spend less time on transportation, than when we've stayed elsewhere! If you decided to stay there, be sure to ask about being the "flag family of the day". Your little one will LOVE it!