Animal Kingdom Lodge

[ajmellu7]

Oops, meant the cabins at Fort Wilderness! Sorry!

 

[ekutchey]

Oops, meant the cabins at Fort Wilderness! Sorry!

The first question there should be does your family enjoy camping? Or a deluxe resort? If you enjoy camping then you should like the cabins but if not then I would go for one of your resort choices.

 

[mouse_luv]

Wow, thank you so much for all the replies, it is unbelievable that so many of you have responded, so thank you!

In terms of the simple facts, we are from England, so the budget/prices over here are very different to the US. We have a perk which I am not sure if you guys have or not, which is free dining if you book far enough in advance. We stayed in Old Key West last August and were blown away by how good it was and we would quite happily go back there, but I think that is on the upper end of budget and last year my parents paid for us all as it was their 40th wedding anniversary and wanted to take us away rather than have a party, so we got 3 amazing weeks in my favourite place on Earth!

We have narrowed it down I think to either Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Cabins at Wilderness Lodge or Saratoga Springs, either a 1/2 bedroom villa or a Treehouse, but obviously a big factor would be how much they cost, availability and what dining plan you get free included! This summer we had the Dining plan and it was fantastic. We did numerous character meals and my girls were just so happy, which made me very very happy and I don't mind admitting a few tears were shed as it was the first time they had both come as my youngest was just 19 months old! One very happy Daddy!

Thank you again for all your help, and if anybody can give any further help with regards to the accommodation and dining then I would be very very grateful.

I'd choose AKL, Saratoga Springs, and Wilderness Lodge in that order at this time. WL has a lot of construction going on.

 

[CheshireCat12]

Animal Kingdom is probably my favorite resort to stay at in WDW. I love the theming and I love to wake up and see giraffes from my balcony. Just walking in, the smell of the resort is something you will remember because it has a unique, sweet smell to it.
They have a wonderful pool. The dining options are awesome. They have a nice fire pit you can sit by at night right in the center of the savannah where you can relax and watch the animals. They also have places throughout the resort that offer rocking chairs where you can watch the animals as well.

Best advice-Make sure you get the savannah view. The standard will not offer you a lot.

Con- As stated earlier, the only con is how lengthy a walk can be to your room. Trust me, I've been at the end of the resort and after a long day in the parks, it sucks. My advice, request a room close to an elevator or closer to the lobby.

It really is a wonderful resort to relax at. It just has so much to offer for when you have downtime from the parks.

I 100% agree with this poster and have to add, the restaurants are the best! Boma is good for breakfast but fabulous for dinner if you like interesting spices and flavors. Just the smell wafting out of this place is dreamy!
On the subject of long walks from the lobby- I did laundry one night, our room was about three doors down from the lobby on the Kudu trail, main floor (upgraded room!!!!) and it was quite the hike to walk halfway down the wing and then down the elevator and on again to the laundry room. If the distance concerns you, I would request near lobby as my one important request. In the two times we stayed at AKL we got our near lobby request both times

 

[71dsp]

We have stayed at AKL a couple of times. Loved it each time. AKL is one of my favorites. We stayed in a savanna view room each time, and it was awesome to see the animals right outside your room.

The only real downside to AKL to me is the long bus rides at night. Morning isn't so bad, but at night after spending a long day in the park, standing (because my son and I end up standing 99.9% of the time - not a complaint, but a truthful observation) on the bus ride back to the resort can make the trip feel a lot longer than it really is! Especially if you had to wait for awhile to get on the bus.

The rooms can sometimes be a hike from the main lobby, but we all need our exercise so that never really bothered us.

However, the Christmas decorations are awesome, there are lots of things to do at the resort, we found the rooms to be very nice, and the "feel" of the resort is second to none.

We would stay there again, but being able to walk to/from Magic Kingdom has us spoiled.

 

[craig schuster]

I find AKL is the best. We have stayed at every resort on the property other than GF and we will also find that AKL is more relaxing than any other resort. I find the area to be remote and quiet, its own little world inside/from Disney World. A+ Resort not much to complain about.

 

[NelleBelle]

We stayed at AKL when our boys where 2 & 4. The bus was better than when we stayed at other resorts because they were rarely full so we always got a seat, even at the end of the day when the parks were closing. I don't remember thinking that the ride was any longer to the parks than when we had stayed at POFQ (where we stayed prior to that). Our kids loved the zero-entry pool--great for little ones! The 4-yr old loved the water slide. I found there was lots of shade, and being a fair-haired redhead, an absolute MUST! The food was incredible (but my mom disagreed, she doesn't care for "exotic" spicy foods). I would get a savannah-view room with the younger kids, especially if you'll be in your room any length of time as it's so neat to see the animals from your balcony. My kids were super excited to watch the giraffes in the morning while mommy and daddy got ready. All in all, it was a very peaceful, slower-paced resort that offered a lot of activities for the kids. It didn't feel crowded and coming back from crowded parks to that type of atmosphere was exactly what we needed. As an aside, we had split our stay and had stayed at the Contemporary the first 5 of our 10 day stay--we enjoyed this resort with our young kids. It might be different now that the kids are 10 and 12 (we'll see since we are going back this fall). Wherever your family decides to stay, you will undoubtedly have a terrific time. Good luck!

 

[lostpro9het]

Just booked our 6th stay at AKL five minutes ago for Christmas week, Kidani this time. We love both houses. This time we're bringing the in laws with us and we're trying our first two bedroom at AKL. Never had any issues with transportation and there is plenty to do at the resort. Some of our favorites include the night vision experience, roasting marshmallows, watching giraffe and African cattle from the pool/hot tub, and the arts/crafts for the kids in the lobby. Sanaa is awesome, Jiko is great, and I hear Boma is popular but we don't do the buffets. AKL was the first resort where the DD actually asked us to leave MK so she could go back to her room!!! She just loved the savanna view and activities for the kids.