Boardwalk Inn, Animal Kingdom or Carribean Beach?

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Member
Original Poster
My wife, myself and my son are thinking about booking a last-minute trip the first week in April. We are trying to figure out which property to stay at and was looking for some advice.

I should note that one day we might spend just at the resort itself relaxing. So where we would stay would need to have enough amenities, restaurants, etc. to make it fun and relaxing. Cost is obviously a factor as well, and so is the availability of rooms. In the past we have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, the Polynesian, and the Caribbean Beach resort but that was like 20 years ago.

I like the Caribbean Beach resort because of the price and the fact that I have an eight-year-old son and I think he would really enjoy it. But I'm not thrilled about the busing for transportation and since it's not a deluxe resort I wonder if we would enjoy a day away from the parks at this resort.

I like the Animal Kingdom Lodge the most and restaurant options look great but the fact that it's so far away and only uses bus transportation makes me a little bit nervous. We tend to return to the hotel midday (so my wife can get ready for dinner!) and then go back out for dinner at another resort or to the park and I feel like relying on the bus would keep us from doing that or take up too much time.

I have read great reviews about the Boardwalk Inn, however the themeing doesn't look too thrilling and I'm not sure how fun it will be for my son. That being said I love the close proximity to Epcot and the restaurants. But I've also heard that part of the resort is under construction but I'm not sure if it's just routine painting or more serious work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Boardwalk Inn and Animal Kingdom Lodge are faves for me and DH but being you have a young child I would definately pick Animal Kingdom Lodge!! Theming is the best in WDW in our opinion and with the animals added and great pools, restaurants (all of them from quick service to table service are delicious) etc you can't beat it! You will not regret picked picking AKL!
We are spoiled to Deluxes (so spoiled we even joined DVC in 2013 with AKV being our home resort) so we have never stayed at CBR so I can't give any info on that one but from what I do know the theming will be much better for your child at AKL. :)
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Rudyard Kipling said:
Does anybody Uber from AK to the parks or the restaurants to save time?
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Can't help you there because we always drive in from Louisiana and have our car so we drive most everywhere. We have ridden the busses from AKL and it really does not take that long to get anywhere. Yes driving is quicker but the bus still is not bad at all. :)
 
DizneyPryncess

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
Boardwalk is my favorite deluxe, so it would be my choice of your 3. The circus themed pool I think is fun for kids (if they don't mind clowns). My daughter is 4, and she always talks about the clown water slide, and the elephants that shoot water. We love the location to walk into two parks, as we stop back at the resort mid-day for naps. (I have a new baby also, and both of my kids nap.) We also like to walk to mini-golf. I don't think you can go wrong here. :)
 
Redsoxfn79

Redsoxfn79

Member
The bus situation at Boardwalk was terrible. I don't know how to describe how bad and long it took. It was covenant walk to Epcot and studios but anywhere else was bad. We started taking cabs because of the long waits and even longer rides as there were so many other hotels on the bus line. Painful! The family pool area was fun and you can linger around the hotel with the actual boardwalk area for the day. The quiet pool was fantastic.
 
RedDad

RedDad

Smitty Werben JagerManJensen
Any reason you aren't considering Beach Club? It's our favorite deluxe - particularly for hanging out at the resort. Kids love that pool and water slide. AKL would probably be next on our list for resort activities. Boardwalk is nice, but I've always felt it has more of an "adult vibe". Even so, you can't go wrong with any of the Epcot resorts IMO.

With regard to transportation - the Epcot resorts are really convenient for DHS and Epcot (obviously) and we never had any issues with buses to MK or DAK during any of our stays. There are times when buses will be shared between YC/BC and BW, but on most occasions that was not the case for us.

CBR is the only mod we haven't tried yet, but we were actually pleasantly surprised with our stay at CSR. The buses can be somewhat irritating when you have 4 different stops at the same resort (POR was similar), but I still never felt like we waited too long. If you're concerned about buses and want to do a mod, POFQ is the way to go.
 
lostpro9het

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
AKL for me!
Rudyard Kipling said:
I like the Animal Kingdom Lodge the most and restaurant options look great but the fact that it's so far away and only uses bus transportation makes me a little bit nervous. We tend to return to the hotel midday (so my wife can get ready for dinner!) and then go back out for dinner at another resort or to the park and I feel like relying on the bus would keep us from doing that or take up too much time.
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We did this during Christmas week without any problem. We would hit the parks early, come back for rest, and then head back out for dinner and more parks. The resort's location should not be a major concern, IMO. Regardless of where you stay, if you are eating at the parks or other resorts transportation could still be an issue and IMO transportation is no better, sometimes worse, at other locations when compared to AKL. We've stayed at AKL many times during all seasons and never experienced any transportation nightmares.
 
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Member
Original Poster
Thank you everyone for their responses! It seems like the to deluxe resorts are both are potentially great options. Based on everyone's input I think I have ruled out Caribbean beach.

We did look at the Beach Club, and other resorts but these are the options that we got the best prices on and had rooms available when we wanted to stay.

Hmmm

Now I need to give this some thought, thanks again.
 
E

EngineJoe

Well-Known Member
Rudyard Kipling said:
My wife, myself and my son are thinking about booking a last-minute trip the first week in April. We are trying to figure out which property to stay at and was looking for some advice.

I should note that one day we might spend just at the resort itself relaxing. So where we would stay would need to have enough amenities, restaurants, etc. to make it fun and relaxing. Cost is obviously a factor as well, and so is the availability of rooms. In the past we have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, the Polynesian, and the Caribbean Beach resort but that was like 20 years ago.

I like the Caribbean Beach resort because of the price and the fact that I have an eight-year-old son and I think he would really enjoy it. But I'm not thrilled about the busing for transportation and since it's not a deluxe resort I wonder if we would enjoy a day away from the parks at this resort.

I like the Animal Kingdom Lodge the most and restaurant options look great but the fact that it's so far away and only uses bus transportation makes me a little bit nervous. We tend to return to the hotel midday (so my wife can get ready for dinner!) and then go back out for dinner at another resort or to the park and I feel like relying on the bus would keep us from doing that or take up too much time.

I have read great reviews about the Boardwalk Inn, however the themeing doesn't look too thrilling and I'm not sure how fun it will be for my son. That being said I love the close proximity to Epcot and the restaurants. But I've also heard that part of the resort is under construction but I'm not sure if it's just routine painting or more serious work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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You can walk or take the boat to both Epcot and Hollywood studios so that makes it totally worth it to me. You could also try staying at the Swan/Dolphin. I think they were advertising $150 a night.
 
Gojira ゴジラ

Gojira ゴジラ

Well-Known Member
Rudyard Kipling said:
And the winner is Animal Kingdom! My wife wanted something tropical feeling and a little bit more quiet, resort like and away from the hustle and bustle so we can relax. Thanks for the basic advice! Maybe next year will try boardwalk!
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Based on my experience, I think you made the right decision to go with the Animal Kingdom. This is just my personal opinion, but I'd encourage you to avoid the Boardwalk Inn until they replace the management or whoever is in charge of this sad establishment.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Transportation and the lack of quiet pools (if you care about them) are the only real downsides to staying at AKL.

Everything else is top-notch, and the overall themeing and restaurant situation are probably the best of any Disney Resort.
If there's a fatal flaw to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it's that you may enjoy the resort building and its attached animal exhibits so much that you don't want to leave to go to the theme parks.
 
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Member
Original Poster
Bairstow said:
Transportation and the lack of quiet pools (if you care about them) are the only real downsides to staying at AKL.

Everything else is top-notch, and the overall themeing and restaurant situation are probably the best of any Disney Resort.
If there's a fatal flaw to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it's that you may enjoy the resort building and its attached animal exhibits so much that you don't want to leave to go to the theme parks.[/QUOTE
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That is exactly why we chose this resort, we wanted to have a feeling of home and not rushed. My wife wanted to put the emphasis on relaxing at the resort and not necessarily park hopping. Thanks for everybody's input!
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
We own at the Boardwalk for various reasons, so we usually go there. The location can't be beat, and we found the busses to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs very prompt during our recent trip at Christmas. There's also a TV screen showing incoming busses for each park at the bus stop, which we found to be very accurate. If the wait on the screen is too long, the taxi station is literally just a few steps away. (By the way, I heard dozens of new bus drivers are being hired, which means that the busses will hopefully become more frequent.)

In our experience, on more than one occasion, the bus wait at Animal Kingdom Lodge was very long, with usually the wrong busses repeatedly showing up. When there, we've learned to usually take the first bus that shows up, and then grabbing an inter-park bus, monorail or boat at whatever park we ended up at. Also, the Animal Kingdom Lodge busses seem to stop on the return ride at Kidani Village. At certain times of the day, they also stop at a water park. If not for that, we would stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge for all of our trips.
 
Lord Starwalker

Lord Starwalker

Active Member
It depends on what type of trip you are planning to take. If your family is all about getting to the parks and attractions... the Boardwalk would be a better option due to location and easy transport by boat to two parks (Hollywood Studios and EPCOT). However, if your family enjoys spending some time at the hotel relaxing and watching the animals... then AKL is a great choice. The location of AKL is only close to the Animal Kingdom park and the transportation to other parks may take some time. There are some very interesting restaurants at AKL to enjoy, like Sanaa (the food and theme are both amazing).
 
slappy magoo

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
You made a very nice choice. Both AKL and BW have great plus-es, different enough that it would be hard to choose between one or the other. BW has the great location, walking distance to two parks and four other resorts...but AKL is a pretty unique place compared to all the other WDW resorts. We had an unforgettable stay there, even without a savannah view. Enjoy it.
 

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