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Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom?
- Thread starter atterris
- Start date
Space Ranger
Member
My wife and I have stayed at AKL 2 times and are going again in Sept. So far it is our favorite resort. We have also stayed at WL and CBR. People say AKL is far away from everything else, but if you are taking the buses, the time to get from AKL to the parks is "similar" to what I experienced at WL. The reason is the the buses run directly from AKL to the parks without other stops. From WL, the bus stoped at 2-3 other resorts which really added time. If you plan on using the buses, I don't think you will find AKL significantly longer to get to a park than taking a bus from any other resort because other resorts tend to have multiple stops. Now, we really loved taking the boat from WL to MK. It seemed faster than taking the bus and was very relaxing. Being able to take the boat to MK is one of my favorite features of the WL. If I was planning on spending most of my time at MK, I would probably lean toward WL becasue the boat.
Also, we really enjoy the pool and hot tubs at both resorts. We prefered the dining choices at AKL a little more than WL. For moderate dining, WL has Whispering Canyon, which has good food and is entertaining. But it is also very loud and all the entertainment going on sort of prevented it from being a nice peaceful meal. Once per trip would be enough for me or I think the atmosphere would get old. Boma at AKL had very good food and was buffet style so you could try many different things and didn't have to wait for your food. We really liked Boma as do many other poeple as long as you are willing to try something a little different - it has an African inspired menu.
For quick serve dining, we found the Roaring Forks at WL didn't seem to have as many choices as Mara, the quick serve at AKL. Also Roaring Forks is smaller than Mara and seemed to get over run and backed up with people waiting in line faster than the Mara did. Roaring Forks has alot less seating the the Mara. Definitely prefered the Mara for a quick in and out breakfast before going to the parks.
We have eaten at Artist Point, the signature restaurant at WL. The food and service were outstanding! Expensive though, we only did this one time when we stayed at WL. Have not tried the signature restaurant at AKL - Jiko. But we have heard that it is fabulous and expensive also.
Since we tend to do more grab and go type eating at the resort, we prefered the dining at AKL overall.
I wouldn't worry about only being able to stay in a standard view room at AKL. There a many, many, places to see the animals other than your balcony. But this depends on how much time you plan on spending in your room. We don't tend to spend much time in ours other than sleeping. So the price difference is hard to justfy for being able to seem some animals out your balcony door for 10-15 minutes in the morning before breakfast and then in the evening before bed. Regardless of your room type, the AKL has such a great theme and we found it be be extremely relaxing!!
Can't say enough good things about either resort. We would stay at either one again, but we prefer AKL overall.
Also, we really enjoy the pool and hot tubs at both resorts. We prefered the dining choices at AKL a little more than WL. For moderate dining, WL has Whispering Canyon, which has good food and is entertaining. But it is also very loud and all the entertainment going on sort of prevented it from being a nice peaceful meal. Once per trip would be enough for me or I think the atmosphere would get old. Boma at AKL had very good food and was buffet style so you could try many different things and didn't have to wait for your food. We really liked Boma as do many other poeple as long as you are willing to try something a little different - it has an African inspired menu.
For quick serve dining, we found the Roaring Forks at WL didn't seem to have as many choices as Mara, the quick serve at AKL. Also Roaring Forks is smaller than Mara and seemed to get over run and backed up with people waiting in line faster than the Mara did. Roaring Forks has alot less seating the the Mara. Definitely prefered the Mara for a quick in and out breakfast before going to the parks.
We have eaten at Artist Point, the signature restaurant at WL. The food and service were outstanding! Expensive though, we only did this one time when we stayed at WL. Have not tried the signature restaurant at AKL - Jiko. But we have heard that it is fabulous and expensive also.
Since we tend to do more grab and go type eating at the resort, we prefered the dining at AKL overall.
I wouldn't worry about only being able to stay in a standard view room at AKL. There a many, many, places to see the animals other than your balcony. But this depends on how much time you plan on spending in your room. We don't tend to spend much time in ours other than sleeping. So the price difference is hard to justfy for being able to seem some animals out your balcony door for 10-15 minutes in the morning before breakfast and then in the evening before bed. Regardless of your room type, the AKL has such a great theme and we found it be be extremely relaxing!!
Can't say enough good things about either resort. We would stay at either one again, but we prefer AKL overall.
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Summitplummet14
New Member
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I stayed at both and loved them both, but i would prefer AKL just because it is more exciting, dont get me wrong wilderness lodge is great but it is just like a campsite with disney caracters!
I stayed at both and loved them both, but i would prefer AKL just because it is more exciting, dont get me wrong wilderness lodge is great but it is just like a campsite with disney caracters!
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happymom52003
Active Member
Are you confusing WL with Fort Wilderness?:shrug:
I can't give an opinion on AKL because we have never stayed there.
But I can say that we love WL and plan to continue staying there on future visits. We love the atmosphere...especially being on Bay Lake. And we love the boat ride to the MK.
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