Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge?

[Star87]

We stayed last year at AKL and loved it! next year we really wanted to try the Yacht or Beach club but realistically I think will be too expensive. Wilderness Lodge is only a little bit more than AKL. Has anyone done both, how did they compare? Thanks

[Lucyjane45xxx]

I haven't stayed at both but I have stayed at AKL. I did like it there but don't think I would stay there again. Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful though!

[MissRed]

I've done AKL, WL and YC! Admittedly all many years ago and I wasn't paying...
I love all three resorts, AKL is magical with the animals and a totally different experience to any other hotel. WL has a similar feel to AKL but without the animals, however WL is utterly stunning and I think it's underrated, I've never understood how it's cheaper than BC/YC! If money wasn't to come in to it, I would pick the one which is closer to the park you think you'd spend more time in. BC/YC is incredible for the closeness to the World Showcase and all the restaurants it has to offer. If it's Magic Kingdom, then you can't beat a little boat ride to the magic!
It's definitely all personal. For me, I prefer the theming of AKL and WL, but location-wise YC/BC wins every day of the week. I'm staying at AKL in August, but this is 80% due to cost and 20% because my OH has never been before, and as we may never be able to afford a deluxe hotel again and AKL is so unique.

Sorry if I've just rambled at you, and this probably hasn't helped much...but I thought I'd share my opinion

[Star87]

MissRed that all sounds amazing! And you've confused me even more 😂
Wilderness lodge would be great as we spend most of our time at MK. But we can't afford to stay at one of the hotels on the monorail line.

[Star87]

Lucyjane we loved AKL but would like to try somewhere new. Also it was a bit of a trek to get to MK and back.

[MissRed]

Originally Posted by Star87

MissRed that all sounds amazing! And you've confused me even more 😂
Wilderness lodge would be great as we spend most of our time at MK. But we can't afford to stay at one of the hotels on the monorail line.

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Sorry! Didn't mean to confuse.
If you spend most of your time at MK, I would choose WL. I like the boat trip! It's nice and chilled, much nicer than buses too.

I don't think BC/YC is worth the extra money to be honest, especially if MK is your preferred park.

[craigstacey]

Originally Posted by Star87

MissRed that all sounds amazing! And you've confused me even more 😂
Wilderness lodge would be great as we spend most of our time at MK. But we can't afford to stay at one of the hotels on the monorail line.

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Have you considered renting DVC points as works out cheaper than deluxe hotel prices? I'm going to try and get a deluxe studio at one of the monorail MK resorts next year.

[Star87]

I don't know much about DVC. Do you have to out a lot of money down? Or is renting different?

[LadyDebs86]

Originally Posted by Star87

I don't know much about DVC. Do you have to out a lot of money down? Or is renting different?

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You only put money down if you actually buy into DVC. Renting is just using a member’s points to book the DVC accommodations. AKL, WL and Beach Club have a DVC section, Yacht Club does not. Basically you pay a member to use their points, every room type at every hotel has a different point allocation, and members can set a charge for how much they want per point.

DVC accommodations are slightly different than the normal hotel rooms and you only get housekeeping every 4 days but it’s still awesome.

So say you want a night in a Beach club studio, which sleeps 5. You check the points calculator on the right ——> and see that it costs 15 points a night. You’ll usually pay £10-15 per point depending on who you use, so you’d pay that member say 15 points x £13 = £195, much less than it would normally cost to stay at that resort. They then book the room for you in your name and give you the ref number to add to MDE.

There are companies like David’s DVC Rental or DVC Rental Store who have loads of points available. Worth checking them out.

Hope this helps but feel free to PM me if you want more info.

[Ridersmom]

I have stayed in both but would only stay in either again with a deep discount. Last time we stayed in AKL we did so because it was only a few dollars more than a moderate.

I would not pay $300./night for either but have always spent about half that.

I have stayed in a one bedroom at OKW (with 4 adults and a baby) and felt it was wirth $300./night.