Help complete newbie AKL or POFQ?

[loldis]

If you're really torn, I think I would go with a week each. That way you get to experience AKL but save nearly 2k by staying value in the first week. Disney will transfer all your luggage between resorts on the day you switch, so it's quite easy to do.

I would either do as I said in the previous post and book value for full stay now and amend later, or if you're really worried AKL will sell out, you could do a 1 week hotel + ticket booking at All Stars, then a 1 week hotel only booking at AKL. Once free nights is released, if you qualify for the deal, phone and ask to switch. They may have to cancel and rebook you rather than a normal amend (I would probably only book 1 person for the hold just in case) but the savings should be significant.

[Claudette]

Originally Posted by Bovril82

The trip will be 14 nights, last two weeks of August if that makes a difference..

No availability coming up for the deal at all star movies, but music and sport available.

I think the choice is now between all star music and AKL 😬😬

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You don’t need to make a choice, do a week at each.

I am doing three resorts on my next trip as I want to try some places out and because the booking offer doesn’t effectively tie me to one resort as they have in the past.

[Bovril82]

Can I book AKL for 14 nights with this offer, and then if they do a free night offer change my booking to 7 nights and put the other 7 onto the free nights offer, or does it not work like that?

I'm not sure about changing hotels. My 8 year old is autistic and I think this is already going to be a bit of a challenging holiday for him. We are going for the princess mad 5 year old. (And me as it's somewhere I have always wanted to go since being a child myself)! I think having a predictable base to retreat back to will be quite important for my 8 year old. It takes him a while to settle.

But, thanks so much for the suggestion. It's great that Disney will move your bags for you!

[loldis]

Yes you can. Disney are very good with amendments. The free nights will go through as a second booking, but they should be able to link them together so you don't have to move rooms.

Honestly, knowing ASD upfront would have changed my recommendations. Does he have any special interests that you can find in a resort's theming that may make it more comfortable? As an example, my best friend (also ASD) is obsessed with Lion King, so I would book AKL (since the refurbed rooms have LK touches, but aren't as sensory overload as the LK suites at AoA) if I was travelling with them. You're also far more likely to need downtime at the resort, as you may not be able to manage full park days without meltdowns. Especially in the heat. So quiet spaces within the resort itself become more important than for other children.

[Bovril82]

His special interests are dinosaurs and dragons. Particually dragons!

I know animal kingdom park itself has some dinosaur themed areas. Though the indoor rides he is unlikely to want to go on and we wont press any of that on him. He really struggles with flashing lights and noise.

We made the mistake of taking him on Gruffalo ride at Chessington and he was found the whole experience dreadful, and I felt awful. He loves rollercoasters. He loves the dragon rollercoaster at legoland, but finds the inside tunnel at the start of the ride a challenge. We will spend a long time researching each ride before we go to Disney.

My husband and I spent hours watching videos of the different hotels last night. I think we will book AKL today. Another consideration that hadn't even occurred to us is that you can get around at AKL in air conditioning. At the values and moderates it looks like there would be a lot of outside walking around to get from a to b. Obviously we will be doing that in the parks, but it will be nice to have a break from that for part of the day at the hotel.

[loldis]

Yeah, nothing comes to mind for those in the resorts. Although the serpent slide at POFQ is a little dragon-like, he might like that. But on balance, I think AKL is a good choice for you. Just a shame the deluxes have gone up so much in price!

Dinoland has some cute things. He should like triceratops spin which is like the dumbo ride, but in a dinosaur. And if the meet and greets come back, Chip & Dale dress up as dinosaurs in that area. It's super cute if you think he'll enjoy meets, it was my favourite one last trip. And T-Rex cafe in Disney Springs but definitely watch some videos on that to see if he'd cope, can be very overwhelming.

Dragons are a bit lacking. There's Figment in Epcot although I'm not a fan of that ride. And if the MK parade comes back, the maleficent dragon is in that.

[DisneyDaft88]

Originally Posted by Bovril82

Thanks so much for your reponses! I think we have discounted Orleans.

One last question. This is probably a how long is a piece of string thing really. But, my husband wanted to book a value resort initially as he said we will never be at the hotel as it is our first time at Disney exploring the parks. Is he right? AKL is an extra £3500 to the value resort my husband picked out. Will we be at AKL on an average first timer's trip to make it worth it?

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i would be inclined to agree...first trip, you'll probably find you won't spend much time at your resort maybe other than afternoons at the pool or like another poster mentioned - to take afternoon naps/get ready for dinner.

The value resorts are really geared towards kids and the Disney theming is fantastic, although saying that we are both in our 30s and absolutely loved our stay at All Star Movies in the Toy Story section The pools were great too and the room was newly refurbished. For a value resort we really had no complaints other than not many locations for food but that's the same for all value resorts and we enjoyed going out to other hotels and DS for dinner. There is the food court which had (from memory) 5 or 6 windows which all offer different types of food and there was a big "grab n go" section and then the pool bar which again - was brill.

i noticed you also mentioned POFQ which we have also stayed at and if i'm honest, other than it being a very small/more personal resort - there was not much difference for us, both were really really enjoyable. the boat to DS was a lovely addition and very relaxing but then the buses are just as convenient IMO and really don't take long.

We've been a few times now and tend to take a slower approach to our visits so a moderate/deluxe resort suits us more as we're childless and enjoy lazing about in the hammocks, beaches, bars etc and really making the most of your resort

Regardless of where you choose, you will have an amazing time

[Bovril82]

It's done.

We are proud owners of a 2022 AKL booking! Really pleased with the decision now it's done and showed my son the AKL video when he got home from school and he loved the look of it.

Thanks so much to everyone for your help. And Thank you Ioldis for the dinosaur and dragon recommendations. Dino chip and dale sounds amazing. Hopefully they will have some Raya and the Dragon themed things by the time we get there as well.

I am sure I will need more help on bits and pieces nearer the time, so I will be hanging out on the forums!