Vacation at Disney help?

Question

My husband and I are thinking that a trip to Disney would be alot of fun next year.

However, I need suggestions about something...

We need to choose the hotel. Its between the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the Wilderness Lodge.

I personally love the idea of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Its incredible with all the animals about. But its slightly more expensive. I love the African theme. Its like being on a safari. I'm not sure about the African food but I'm willing to give it a try.

My husband likes the idea of the Wilderness resort. The thing is, I've seen reviews that say this is the best resort of the moderates. It has boat transportation as well as bus, where the Animal Kingdom Lodge has only bus. The restaurants are also supposed to be very good with good American food (which we all like).

So whats the problem, you ask?

The problem is that I'm from Canada and I've seen pretty much everything the resort has to offer. Its just a lodge. That means its kind of got a western Canadian theme with log designs, Mountyesque clothing designs, stone fireplaces, etc. I'd kind of like something different. Its a running theme in western Canada (where I'm from). My home city has a casino that even has a stuffed fake buffalos at the front door.

Mind you, I miss Canada (I live in the US now with hubby), but still... I grew up with all that stuff. I'm not sure I want to completely immerse myself in it for the whole time. I'd like to try something different.

But hubby loves it. He's just loved his trips to Canada (which I'm very glad he does).

I honestly don't know what to do. On the one hand, the Wilderness resort has more to offer than the Animal Kingdom Lodge, on the other hand, I've done all that before, right down to the stuffed bears.

What do you think? Should I just let go of the "theme" and focus on the other stuff? I mean, we won't be spending all that much time in the hotel anyway, it is Disney after all.

Suggestions please.

Answer 1

Go to Tripadvisor.com and look in the Orlando forum, you can find all your answers there.  You won't hate it because you will be in the parks and eating most of the time.  Enjoy.

Answer 2

I just got back from the Animal Kingdom Lodge and highly recommend  it. I agree with above that is was very relaxing after a day at the park. We had a balcony with a view of the animals, it was wonderful. There is a food counter service down by the pool which had great food. From Pizza and burgers to fresh fruit and salads.

Answer 3

i stay at the wilderness lodge.

its amazing.

(:

the animal kingdom lodge is far away from most of the parks except for ofcourse animal kindgdom.

deffinatly stay at the wilderness lodge or you'll be missing out.<3

Answer 4

I would say make a list of the good and the bad of each resort. I fell in love with Birnbaum's guide for good info.

Animal Kingdom, in my opinion, is a little more adventurous, yeah it takes a little bit longer to get places, but it still isn't that much longer. Remember, you are going on vacation, don't rush it so much.

The wilderness lodge is nice, but is is much more easily experienced in the US or Canada. But it is also much closer to the parks.

We have personally foregone the lodges and stay at the value resort anymore, to save a little cash. You can still go into the lodges to eat or look around. but all you really need the room for is sleeping.

Answer 5

I am not a fan of Animal Kingdom park, and so I would not consider to stay at that lodge.  I was very unimpressed with my visits to AK and never see any animals, so we do not even do that park anymore.  These are my reasons why I think that Fort Wilderness is better.

1) short boat trip to Magic Kingdom

2) easy access to Magic Kingdom gives you easy access to the monorail which you can use to get to Epcot if you want to go a different way than by bus.

3) you can relax by the gigantic fireplace and/or babbling creek in the lobby

4) you can enjoy the American food daily, and dine at Animal Kingdom if you have a desire to try something different.  True, you can do the opposite, but I would prefer to have food around me that I like and go somewhere to try something different.

5) you can view the Electric Lights Parade in the lagoon.  Yes, it is a little lame for adults, but worth seeing at least once.

6) the Fort Wilderness Campground (where we stay) is a short walk (or boat ride) away and offers horseback riding, canoeing, fishing, paddle boats and tennis courts.  You can also attend the Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner show, Mickey's Backyard BBQ, and there is a nightly fre Disney movie that plays and is available to all Disney guests at no charge.

I have grown up staying in the campground and continue to now that I am married and carrying on the WDW vacation tradition.  If for some reason we were not going to stay at the campground, I would opt for the Wilderness Lodge.  It is beautiful, and serene.  It is easily accessible, and a short distance from many other activities in case you are leaving days to just stay around the hotel.  

Have you considered the cabins at the campground?  Slightly more than the lodge, still rustic-y for you hubby, but not like your home for you.

Answer 6

I've stayed at both. Both are great.

Animal Kingdom is a bit dark, but I found it calming after a long day. It was nice to wake up to the animals, and they have neat things to do there (such as watch the animals with night visions goggles).

The AK counter service restaurant, Mara, was good. We did not get to try the two table-service restaurants, but they are supposed to be great.  I really enjoyed the theme at this resort. The downfall of AK is the distance from the parks. Although we usually only had about an 8-10 minute ride to Magic Kingdom.

Wilderness Lodge is great too. Again, their counter service was good. Also, the Whispering Canyon Cafe was pretty good too.  The walk from the buses was nice at night because they pipe in cricket noises.  They have boat service to the MK and bus service to all other parks.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the theme of Animal Kingdom a bit more.  Both are the lower-end Deluxe resorts, so the pricing should be fairly similar.  I think you may have the pricing for WL mixed up with Fort Wilderness which just went to moderate status.

Either way, you can't go wrong. Have fun!