POR or AKL?? Help!

[TikiBeckie]

I can upgrade to AKL for the week from POR for $650. I can't decide if it is worth it! I have heard hte busses at POR are terrible...so AKL is sounding nice. I know it's better because it is a deluxe, but it is really worth it? Help me decide, I have never stayed at either! Thanks!

 

[DisneyChik17]

Here's my take on this:

We booked dinner at Boma on our last trip and went over AKL early. We were extremely disappointed. Everyone, not just here -- on TV too, had given AKL such great reviews, but we found it lack luster. It seemed small and not as grandiose as everyone had spouted.

We have stayed at POR MANY MANY times and we LOVE it. The bus service is not bad at all. I am not too sure where you heard that, but it has been FAR from our experience. They have a great food court and the grounds are so beautiful. This is far and above our favorite resort. I would stay there over anywhere!

 

[H20Babie]

A lot of people will complain about the bus service at POR but I have never had a problem. POR is my home away from home.

POR is pretty much centrally located so the actual bus rides are shorter than from AKL (except to AK, of course). POR also has boat service to DTD as a nice alternative. I think if I were to make the switch to AKL, it would only be worth it to have a Savannah view.

Depending how long you are going for, is it possible to do a split stay between the two, and get the best of both worlds?

 

[jjgoo]

I would say yes especially if you are getting a Savanah view. My DW and I visited the AKL and walked around and everything when we had dinner reservations at Boma and we fell in love with the hotel (without even seeing a room!).

We are real animal lovers so the thought of sitting out our balcony and watching Giraffes and Zebras is really appealing. Plus by staying at AKL you now have the option of taking the sunrise safari (it's not just concierge level anymore, but you do have to pay extra).

As far as bus service you also have to figure that even with good bus service AKL is kind of far away from everything except AK.

For us, I think we would have fun at AKL even if we did not go to the parks. As soon as we can afford it, AKL will be at the top of our list of places to stay. So if you can afford the extra $650 (that's a lot of Dole Whips you could have) I say go for it!!!:wave:

 

[TikiBeckie]

Well we wont be getting a savannah room, but we are ok with that as I know you can see the animals by walking around in certain areas of the hotel. I dont mind that places are farther away, as long as we are on the actual bus! I like that it is smaller, as my MIL cannot walk all that easily, and I think this might be easier for her. Ahh, I dont know!

 

[jjgoo]

Here's my take on this:

We booked dinner at Boma on our last trip and went over AKL early. We were extremely disappointed. Everyone, not just here -- on TV too, had given AKL such great reviews, but we found it lack luster. It seemed small and not as grandiose as everyone had spouted.

We have stayed at POR MANY MANY times and we LOVE it. The bus service is not bad at all. I am not too sure where you heard that, but it has been FAR from our experience. They have a great food court and the grounds are so beautiful. This is far and above our favorite resort. I would stay there over anywhere!

WOW. I guess this just shows how different of an impression people can have.:wave:

We did not find it to be small or less then grand at all. Of course we had not done much research on the hotel at all so we did not have much expectations to begin with. We did find it impressive and very nice. I guess to each their own.

 

[IMPoppins]

Hmm, tough call. I've stayed at both AKL and POR. I loved AKL. We were upgraded to a Savanah View - words cannot begin to describe how amazing that was. The resort itself was an attraction. However, $650 is a significant amount of money. POR is a GREAT resort. The grounds are beautiful and the flowers smell so good. I love the theming of the rooms - they were really pretty. You would not be disappointed.
I remember a CM telling me that, in terms of amenities and such, there is a huge difference between values and moderates but not a big difference between moderates and deluxes. We have found that to be true.
Good luck with your decision!

 

[TikiBeckie]

How much is the sunrise safari? What time is it?

 

[KingStefan]

I've not been to AKL. Keep meaning to go visit on each trip, but something always comes up. I've heard it's nice, though.

Having said that, the bus service at POR is not bad. It's just that there is a loop that stops at 4 places and if you're at the last one on a busy day, you might have to stand. On a VERY busy day the bus may be full, but this is rare, and Disney quickly remedies the situation if this is the case by putting on extra busses.

I've only stayed at the POFQ, and during a not-so-busy week. During those times, the bus service for POFQ and POR are combined, so there are 5 bus stops instead of 4. POFQ was first on the loop, so outbound took a few extra minutes. The whole time I was there, there was never a problem.

So it really depends on which bus stop is yours, and what time of year you are going. If the bus stop closest to your room is the "River Delta/Blue Bayou Platorms", the ones closest to the building with the front desk ("Sasagoula Steamboat Co."), you will not have a problem anytime of year. It's just that outbound will take an few extra minutes.

If you go during a slow time of year, you won't have a problem anywhere. The only real problem times are the peak weeks. Then there are problems everywhere, but admittedly probably it is better at the deluxe resorts. When are you going?

 

[jjgoo]

Well we wont be getting a savannah room, but we are ok with that as I know you can see the animals by walking around in certain areas of the hotel. I dont mind that places are farther away, as long as we are on the actual bus! I like that it is smaller, as my MIL cannot walk all that easily, and I think this might be easier for her. Ahh, I dont know!

As far as seeing the animals. We were obviously not even in a room and found many places to sit and look at the animals. It was really neat to see them at night. We even saw posted on one of the hotel bulletin boards that they had different viewing activities set-up and one was at night using the night vision goggles. I think that is cool.

For the size, yes it is not as spread out as a lot of other Disney hotels, but you will probably still have to request a room that is closer to the lobby to minimize the amount of walking.

I am probably replying so much because I want you to stay and take pictures and report on how much fun you had.

Good luck in your decision!

 

[DisneyChik17]

WOW. I guess this just shows how different of an impression people can have.:wave:

We did not find it to be small or less then grand at all. Of course we had not done much research on the hotel at all so we did not have much expectations to begin with. We did find it impressive and very nice. I guess to each their own.

We get that a lot. :lol:

I really think we had our expectations set too high, but they were only put there by reviews and even pictures. My mom and both said that we should have known about "camera tricks" as she is a photographer. But we never considered them lying to us about it. Oh well, just one less time we will be away from POR & POFQ.

 

[Eyekimore]

We stayed at the AKL in a room that was not in the interior main Savannah view- however we had a terrific view of the animals! Our room was by a feeding trough and every morning the animals would wander over for their morning meal. It was great!

The AKL food court is small with not a lot of choices. We don't do the DDP and we save money by eating mostly at food courts. POR has just redone their food court with some great choices!

We also love POR- esp. Alligator Bayou.

It's up to you- but I would do 2 nights at AKL just to be able to say- been there- done that and then travel back to POR. You'll still save some money which can go toward your next Disney vacation!

 

[jjgoo]

How much is the sunrise safari? What time is it?

I was only able to see prices for what was formerly offered to just Concierge level, but it was $55 for adults and $27.50 for kids and that included breakfast and some fast passes. It started at 6:30 am.

I know the offering to the general people staying at the hotel is new. You may just want to call the hotel and ask what is offered and how much. I would guess you probably should book ahead of time too.

 

[KingStefan]

Remember that you can always go visit AKL for meals and shopping or just even strolling around even if you are not staying there. And even though activities at the resorts are intended mainly for guests of that specific hotel, I have attended activities at Wilderness Lodge, and Poly when staying at a different resort, and I have never been told that I cannot.

Of course, staying there makes enjoying the amenities more convenient. Witness my case: The last three trips I said I was going to spend some time visiting AKL, and I still haven't made it!:lol:

 

[YankeeMouse]

We've stayed at both, but I would only switch for the higher-priced AKL if you have a Savannah room, and appreciate animals. I do, and the sight of zebra and giraffe outside my balconey every time we returned to the room was really special. We expected to feel that we were too far from the parks and the bus rides would be long, and we do rent a car, but did take the bus occasionally and it was uncrowded and has only one stop, unlike POR which has several. SO it depends on if you are inclined to take the bus often, and whether or not you are opting for the higher-priced savannah view rooms. Either way, you are going, so that's the important part!

 

[captcanada]

I am like some of the others...only visited AKL, never stayed there.
But...every trip I've taken, I have stayed at POR.
I absolutely LOVE this resort. Especially mid-spring, when there seems to be bunny's everywhere. Just sitting around. Being bunny's. Quite cute.

In summary....POR is fantastic.

 

[Hotdogs]

I have heard that the AKL is a reduced price because of the building work that is going on there, we decided to give the POR a go instead as we heard a lot of good things about it.

 

[DisneyChik17]

I am like some of the others...only visited AKL, never stayed there.
But...every trip I've taken, I have stayed at POR.
I absolutely LOVE this resort. Especially mid-spring, when there seems to be bunny's everywhere. Just sitting around. Being bunny's. Quite cute.

In summary....POR is fantastic.

THE BUNNIES!!!:sohappy:

I loved those things! They were ALL OVER for our Summer '06 trip. Then, they came to visit at the POP SB '07. It was so nice to see! I love the bunnies!

 

[Christi22222]

Wow, this is clearly a POR leaning thread, so I hope that I don't offend anyone......

I have stayed at both AKL and POR-Alligator Bayou within the last three years. I have one son who was 6 and 7 at the times we stayed in both. My husband and I are very outdoorsy and don't mind walking at all. I bore you with these details because I think it is very important to consider your sources and how they compare to you when assessing information. All that said, we are going back to the AKL and probably never staying anywhere else again. We have tried lots of on property resorts from value to deluxe and this one won for us hands down. We didn't stay in a Savannah view, but felt that our opportunities to interact/view with the animals were plentiful. The atmosphere is warm and comfortable. The walking at either resort obviously depends on room location, but POR is soooo spread out and we felt like we had to hike for everything from busses to mug refills to the parking lot and we hated it. Much more convenient at AKL. We found the food court to be adequate, and the food options just fine. It was smaller, but also less crowded than POR as it serves far less people. However, we don't tend to eat in food courts much for anything other than snacks and breakfast. The staff was AMAZING. We got lots of personal attention, especially my son. While I've not had bad experiences at other resorts, at AKL we felt they went out of their way for us. The activities for my son were so numerous and fun that there were days he asked to not go to the parks and just be able to stay at AKL and do activities there. The pool is very nice and didn't seem very crowded. POR main pool is great, but always seemed very crowded. The courtyard pools, however, never had a soul, but my son found them boring. POR does have a great boat ride to DTD, also.

It all depends on you and your family, but I can't tell you how much we enjoyed AKL. We felt that we had a little "down time" from the park chaos, but without losing any magic. At POR, we felt the chaos followed us everywhere - busses, food court, pools. So there's a little more input. Hope it helps!

 

[Christi22222]

Rats! Sorry for a double post.