AKL or Beach Club???

[TrainsOfDisney]

Both are great. Resort wise Animal Kingdom Lodge wins by far. I love staying there and spending time at the resort relaxing and looking at the animals and enjoying the food. Even the quick service options are quite good there compared to others.

But location wise, Beach club wins by far. And beach club is nice too, especially when you consider the boardwalk, yacht club and swan / dolphin are all right next door. Watching the sun set over Crescent Lake isn’t a savanah of animals, but it’s pretty special as well.

 

[manmythlegend]

Both are great. Resort wise Animal Kingdom Lodge wins by far. I love staying there and spending time at the resort relaxing and looking at the animals and enjoying the food. Even the quick service options are quite good there compared to others.

But location wise, Beach club wins by far. And beach club is nice too, especially when you consider the boardwalk, yacht club and swan / dolphin are all right next door. Watching the sun set over Crescent Lake isn’t a savanah of animals, but it’s pretty special as well.

I absolutely love the Beach Club area. It's nice walking around there in the afternoon as many people are at the parks so the walks are usually quite peaceful, although quite hot.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Both are great. Resort wise Animal Kingdom Lodge wins by far. I love staying there and spending time at the resort relaxing and looking at the animals and enjoying the food. Even the quick service options are quite good there compared to others.

But location wise, Beach club wins by far. And beach club is nice too, especially when you consider the boardwalk, yacht club and swan / dolphin are all right next door. Watching the sun set over Crescent Lake isn’t a savanah of animals, but it’s pretty special as well.

With OP going over Thanksgiving, the amount of time spent at the resort might be higher, at least that is my thinking, so I agree being at a resort you can chill at is nice after battling super crowds all day.

 

[larryz]

Because this is a family trip
Every day will be lots of fun.
A prudent planner will
Consider all options and will
Have a good idea where they can stay.

Considering all the potential
Lodging available, it is practically
Unavoidable that you'll stay at the
Beach Club.

 

[MacVenture]

We (family of 5) have stayed at both. We prefer the Beach club for 2 reasons- 1) ease of access- you are literally footsteps away from Epcot. We enjoy eating at different restaurants so being close to Epcot is a huge plus. 2) the pool- best resort pool. We always plan at least one day just to hang out at the pool.

 

[BASS]

In terms of resorts, I agree with most here--the AKL is far more unique and attractive than Beach Club.

Now, for purposes of location, Beach Club is far more convenient. However, not $150/night convenient. If prices were equal, I'd say Beach Club, but since they're not, stay where you're at.

 

[WWWD]

If riding Rise of the Resistance is a top priority, and Disney is still doing boarding groups, then Beach Club. With Beach Club you can walk to Studios and control your time frame of getting there. Also, if you have to attempt a few try’s to get a boarding group and for the ride not to break down, it will be nice having a hotel nearby. Our last trip in early March we stayed at All Stars the first night before transferring to Beach Club. We thought that first morning we would ride Skyliner over to the Studios, well they didn’t start running until 8am. We then proceeded to wait for a bus for 50 minutes while seeing multiple buses for the other parks - I think Disney did this on purpose to spread the herd. Next morning we walked from Beach Club, and we were able to get a boarding group but it wasn’t until 3:30 pm. The ride broke down and we didn’t get on it until close to 6pm. We rode it a second time of the trip but went back to Beach Club to swim twice as the ride was down several times during the day.

Ride is unbelievable, but trying to ride it can be very frustrating.

 

[Raxel7851]

I should add, while the walk to Epcot is super easy, the one to HS, on a very hot day, can be brutal, and the boat just doesnt run frequently enough for me.

You can also take the Skyliner from Epcot to HS. It’s right at the back entrance. I agree that walk is brutal. And there’s always a line for the boat.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

You can also take the Skyliner from Epcot to HS. It’s right at the back entrance. I agree that walk is brutal. And there’s always a line for the boat.

I can’t imagine the skyliner would be quicker. It is another option though.

Good points about Rise. Waiting for a bus from AKL to Studios would be dreadful. I’d much rather walk over to Studios, get a BG, and then take a boat back to my room for a nap.

 

[WWWD]

You can also take the Skyliner from Epcot to HS. It’s right at the back entrance. I agree that walk is brutal. And there’s always a line for the boat.

In March the Skyliner was never in operation before 8am, so it was not an option to get to HS in time to secure a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. However, we did ride it back to Epcot when returning to Beach Club. And, when returning to HS later in the day. It’s about a 20 minute one way trip.

 

[DISR]

I'd only worry about location if you have a very MK-centric trip planned with lots of trips back to your resort during the day. Nobody ever complains about the MK resorts being too remote, but you hear about AKL being too remote all the time. The MK resorts are just as far from the AK park as AKL is from the MK park. EP and HS are roughly between the two resort areas, or close enough that you shouldn't notice a big difference. AKL lodge is simply amazing and has a great pool and grounds as well as good restaurants options. That said YC is my other go to if I value location. BC gets a lot of preference here (probably because people prefer the theming), but I think the rooms are better at YC and it has more balconies on the rooms (fewer BC rooms have them).

 

[UNCgolf]

I'd only worry about location if you have a very MK-centric trip planned with lots of trips back to your resort during the day. Nobody ever complains about the MK resorts being too remote, but you hear about AKL being too remote all the time. The MK resorts are just as far from the AK park as AKL is from the MK park. EP and HS are roughly between the two resort areas, or close enough that you shouldn't notice a big difference. AKL lodge is simply amazing and has a great pool and grounds as well as good restaurants options. That said YC is my other go to if I value location. BC gets a lot of preference here (probably because people prefer the theming), but I think the rooms are better at YC and it has more balconies on the rooms (fewer BC rooms have them).

I think it's less about the bus trip distance and more that you can walk to both EPCOT and DHS from the Boardwalk area, and you have shorter bus trips to both MK and AKL.

 

[DISR]

I think it's less about the bus trip distance and more that you can walk to both EPCOT and DHS from the Boardwalk area, and you have shorter bus trips to both MK and AKL.

Yep...if you want to walk to both parks and location is the driver, you can't beat YC/BC. I tend to go back and forth on theming vs location as the driver for each trip....just depends on my mood and the specifics of my plan for the trip.

 

[UNCgolf]

Yep...if you want to walk to both parks and location is the driver, you can't beat YC/BC. I tend to go back and forth on theming vs location as the driver for each trip....just depends on my mood and the specifics of my plan for the trip.

I actually prefer Boardwalk Inn to YC/BC because I like the theming more, but they all have the same location benefit.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I actually prefer Boardwalk Inn to YC/BC because I like the theming more, but they all have the same location benefit.

I have DVC and was looking at the rooms at BWV because the public areas really are well themed. Unfortunately the living spaces might be the boringest ones at WDW. I have seen Holiday Inn's with more character. Somehow they already look dated even though the refurb wasn't too long ago.

 

[UNCgolf]

I have DVC and was looking at the rooms at BWV because the public areas really are well themed. Unfortunately the living spaces might be the boringest ones at WDW. I have seen Holiday Inn's with more character. Somehow they already look dated even though the refurb wasn't too long ago.
View attachment 463760

Yeah, I meant the public areas. I don't care that much about the room theming because I don't really spend any time there (ideally they would be well themed of course). I don't think the refurbished BC rooms look much better, if at all.

Plus, every room at Disney is going to look like that in the next 5-10 years, so may as well get used to it. Or at least they would have -- maybe not now because they won't want to spend money doing refurbishments.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Yeah, I meant the public areas. I don't care that much about the room theming because I don't really spend any time there (ideally they would be well themed of course). I don't think the refurbished BC rooms look much better, if at all.

Plus, every room at Disney is going to look like that in the next 5-10 years, so may as well get used to it. Or at least they would have -- maybe not now because they won't want to spend money doing refurbishments.

You got that right, I know they save a buck with simplified looks, but that's not what any of us want in a Disney room.

 

[UNCgolf]

You got that right, I know they save a buck with simplified looks, but that's not what any of us want in a Disney room.

Theming is such a delicate thing, too -- I like staying in the Royal Guest Rooms at POR because of the location. POR is a great resort and the Royal Guest Rooms are in the best place for easy access to both the lobby and the buses.

Those rooms are definitely themed, but I don't think they are themed well. They're kind of gaudy and just plastered with Disney characters everywhere.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Theming is such a delicate thing, too -- I like staying in the Royal Guest Rooms at POR because of the location. POR is a great resort and the Royal Guest Rooms are in the best place for easy access to both the lobby and the buses.

Those rooms are definitely themed, but I don't think they are themed well. They're kind of gaudy and just plastered with Disney characters everywhere.

I think the new Saratoga refurb is promising and copper creek's don't look bad either I know they are stating at AK on regular rooms, wonder how that will go because those are perfect.

 

[Meg4theMouse]

I am an older teen as I just turned 18 back in February. I have never stayed at the Beach Club, but have heard how fantastic the pool is. Now when I stayed at the AKL all I can say is wow. The pool is great and the lobby is just wow. The restaurants there are so good. The thing that was the best for me was we had a savannah view room which was amazing. It is by far my favorite resort in the few times I have been to WDW.