2017 Release Watch :)

[catfan98]

I'm think I'm going to go ahead and book our package for April...and of course I am hoping for a discount later....fingers crossed. I think it will probably be POR as we can live with the rack rates there if we have to.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Ugh...we always stay Deluxe, but my hubby is having a conniption with the prices this year! I think I am going to cry...I told him it was going to be more expensive this year than in previous years because my 1 son will now be 10 and our younger son will be 3...just that fact alone increases our prices all around...put that together with the annual Disney increase and I think I am going to cry...My husband wants to stay moderate but I am a little shy on the room size of a moderate compared to a deluxe resort. in 2014 we stayed TPV at the Contemporary and last year we had a deluxe room at the grand floridian. I was hoping next year to either stay AKL or WL but even those are expensive. My thought now is am I better off staying at a moderate or should I check our the family suites at AoA? My older son is also on the spectrum so crowded resorts aren't really a good thing (which is y we liked deluxe). Please someone make me feel better...I seriously am going to cry.

 

[Tiffemilee]

Ugh...we always stay Deluxe, but my hubby is having a conniption with the prices this year! I think I am going to cry...I told him it was going to be more expensive this year than in previous years because my 1 son will now be 10 and our younger son will be 3...just that fact alone increases our prices all around...put that together with the annual Disney increase and I think I am going to cry...My husband wants to stay moderate but I am a little shy on the room size of a moderate compared to a deluxe resort. in 2014 we stayed TPV at the Contemporary and last year we had a deluxe room at the grand floridian. I was hoping next year to either stay AKL or WL but even those are expensive. My thought now is am I better off staying at a moderate or should I check our the family suites at AoA? My older son is also on the spectrum so crowded resorts aren't really a good thing (which is y we liked deluxe). Please someone make me feel better...I seriously am going to cry.

Don't cry. We stay at AoA every time we go and we love it! Our 10 year old has SPD and DMDD and she's been just fine at AoA. It's really spread out so its not too crowded. The only thing you may have to get used to is the walk to the buses can be a little long. There's so much to look at on the way though that we haven't had a problem with that either. Good luck!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Ugh...we always stay Deluxe, but my hubby is having a conniption with the prices this year! I think I am going to cry...I told him it was going to be more expensive this year than in previous years because my 1 son will now be 10 and our younger son will be 3...just that fact alone increases our prices all around...put that together with the annual Disney increase and I think I am going to cry...My husband wants to stay moderate but I am a little shy on the room size of a moderate compared to a deluxe resort. in 2014 we stayed TPV at the Contemporary and last year we had a deluxe room at the grand floridian. I was hoping next year to either stay AKL or WL but even those are expensive. My thought now is am I better off staying at a moderate or should I check our the family suites at AoA? My older son is also on the spectrum so crowded resorts aren't really a good thing (which is y we liked deluxe). Please someone make me feel better...I seriously am going to cry.

Depending on your budget, you might be able to rent DVC points for AKL or WL and still get your deluxe resort. You don't get daily mousekeeping and you must add tickets and such on your own, but the villas are spacious and very nice.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Depending on your budget, you might be able to rent DVC points for AKL or WL and still get your deluxe resort. You don't get daily mousekeeping and you must add tickets and such on your own, but the villas are spacious and very nice.

We would love to do that...the only problem is we pay for our Disney trips out of a bonus that my hubby gets every year from his work...we always schedule our trips around the time when Disney needs the balanced paid off and thats when my hubby gets his bonus. When you rent DVC points you have to pay up front. If we could rent DVC points we would bc it would be so much cheaper!

 

[katiedid36]

We are booked April 3rd through April 8th at AOA.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

We would love to do that...the only problem is we pay for our Disney trips out of a bonus that my hubby gets every year from his work...we always schedule our trips around the time when Disney needs the balanced paid off and thats when my hubby gets his bonus. When you rent DVC points you have to pay up front. If we could rent DVC points we would bc it would be so much cheaper!

Aw, bummer! Well, I have a feeling AoA will be lots of fun, too. It was on our list of possibilities. On our last trip, we spoke with a family who was staying there, and they loved it. Their party consisted of two grandparents, their adult child and child's spouse, and one grandchild. I think they were in the Lion King suite. If you will have your own car, the cabins at Ft. Wilderness might be fun. They appear to be fairly remote, but it would allow for peace and quiet.

 

[Sugar Jones]

Yay!!! We are booked with 4 rooms at Beach Club February 8-15th for my parents 50th Anniversary!!! It will be my 71 year old father's first trip ever!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Aw, bummer! Well, I have a feeling AoA will be lots of fun, too. It was on our list of possibilities. On our last trip, we spoke with a family who was staying there, and they loved it. Their party consisted of two grandparents, their adult child and child's spouse, and one grandchild. I think they were in the Lion King suite. If you will have your own car, the cabins at Ft. Wilderness might be fun. They appear to be fairly remote, but it would allow for peace and quiet.

I never even considered Ft Wilderness...has anyone ever stayed in the cabins before? They are way bigger than the resort rooms at AKL & WL, plus they are cheaper than the cheapest option at either of those resorts. Can someone give me some feed back on the cabins...I thought they use to have a double bed and a bunk but on the web it said they now have a queen and a bunk in the bed room...did they refurb the rooms? Also how far away would the cabins be from the main stuff like the restaurants, circle D, the pool, the marina, and the playground? I heard someone say on another board that unless you rent a golf cart its hard to get around there. Can you rent golf carts from Disney and if so do you have pre order the golf cart before you arrive or can you just rent 1 when you arrive there? Also for trail riding I know you have to be 9 to go on the trails, my son will be 10 at the time of our vacation, but do you have to have parental supervision on the trail rides? In other words does 1 of the parents have to go with you or can I send him by himself on the trail ride if he wanted to go? Any other useful information would be great! Thanks so much!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

StirlingSilver83, I believe the cabins also have either a sofa or Murphy bed in the living room in addition to the bunks and queen in the bedroom. From what I've heard you really might want a vehicle of some sort (either golf cart or car) to make it easier to get to the common places at the Fort and to get anywhere else on Disney property. There is the bus service, of course, but that means waiting. You used to be able to take water transportation from the lodge, too, but I don't know if that is up and running again since they stopped the small watercraft after the gator incident. I imagine they will allow those to run again at some point if they haven't already. I think you could probably indicate which loop you prefer to stay in in your room preferences. So, if you want to be closer to the common areas, specify the loop that is closest. If you want to be close to a bus stop, specify that. You can find video tours and reviews of the cabins on Youtube. I really want to try these one day, but I cannot remember if they have laundry facilities, and I've become kind of spoiled having laundry machines right in the AKL Villa. Still, though, I'd go for the cabins if we ever took a short trip. We love the outdoors and staying in cabins at parks, so I'm sure we'd enjoy these. It would be great to hear from those who have actually stayed in them, though.

 

[Sugar Jones]

My sister has stayed at the Cabins, and while she loved the cabins, and the resort anemities she didn't like that the resort was so big. Having to take the internal busses to get to the pool, restaurants etc....

 

[StirlingSilver83]

My sister has stayed at the Cabins, and while she loved the cabins, and the resort anemities she didn't like that the resort was so big. Having to take the internal busses to get to the pool, restaurants etc....

Thats the biggest downfall, bc my hubby HATES buses, so I think on that fact alone the Cabins are out...my kids really really want to stay at AKL...if I shorten my trip by 1 day the prices aren't so much of a HUGE shock to him, plus I have convinced him that these are the rack rates and that more than likely there will be discounts in the future (and I know that discounts aren't guaranteed on certain resorts/rooms), but hopefully we can either apply it to our current reservation or maybe have a different resort thats comparable.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Just Booked! My hubby said if we got rid of 1 day on the trip we could stay Animal Kingdom Lodge...So we are now going for 9 days and 8 nights...thats still plenty of time I think, lol...I was also determined that I wanted bunk beds, but my hubby said he wasn't paying $1000 extra just for bunk beds...but then we noticed on the room descriptions under Standard View it said you can either have 2 queens, or 1 queen and 1 bunk, or 1 king. So I got on chat with Disney and they said after I book the reservation to call them and let them know my preference so the can note it on my reservation...so heres to hoping I have some pixie dust and we actually get the bunk beds room!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Yay, StirlingSilver83! I hope you guys love AKL as much as we do.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Yay, StirlingSilver83! I hope you guys love AKL as much as we do.

My kids are so excited lol...I thought it was going to be this long winded conversation Bc we can never agree on anything lol...but AKL was what everyone wanted surprisingly lol. It really came down to AKL and WL, but the fact that AKL has giraffes just pushed it over the top lol. What really surprised me though was my older son said he would rather do AKL Bc his little brother loves giraffes and would really like to see the giraffes there. Total shocker! LOL probably y NJ is getting all this crazy weather right now

 

[mdsouth]

Ugh...we always stay Deluxe, but my hubby is having a conniption with the prices this year! I think I am going to cry...I told him it was going to be more expensive this year than in previous years because my 1 son will now be 10 and our younger son will be 3...just that fact alone increases our prices all around...put that together with the annual Disney increase and I think I am going to cry...My husband wants to stay moderate but I am a little shy on the room size of a moderate compared to a deluxe resort. in 2014 we stayed TPV at the Contemporary and last year we had a deluxe room at the grand floridian. I was hoping next year to either stay AKL or WL but even those are expensive. My thought now is am I better off staying at a moderate or should I check our the family suites at AoA? My older son is also on the spectrum so crowded resorts aren't really a good thing (which is y we liked deluxe). Please someone make me feel better...I seriously am going to cry.

I have stayed at three of the moderates, and they have been very relaxing. So, for anyone thinking about a moderate versus a deluxe or value, they are nice and do not seem crowded, except for the food courts in the morning. And we even stayed at CSR once right around the 4th of July.

Don't cry. We stay at AoA every time we go and we love it! Our 10 year old has SPD and DMDD and she's been just fine at AoA. It's really spread out so its not too crowded. The only thing you may have to get used to is the walk to the buses can be a little long. There's so much to look at on the way though that we haven't had a problem with that either. Good luck!

PORFQ is a good option for those wanting less of a walk to the bus stop in a moderate.

Just Booked! My hubby said if we got rid of 1 day on the trip we could stay Animal Kingdom Lodge...So we are now going for 9 days and 8 nights...thats still plenty of time I think, lol...I was also determined that I wanted bunk beds, but my hubby said he wasn't paying $1000 extra just for bunk beds...but then we noticed on the room descriptions under Standard View it said you can either have 2 queens, or 1 queen and 1 bunk, or 1 king. So I got on chat with Disney and they said after I book the reservation to call them and let them know my preference so the can note it on my reservation...so heres to hoping I have some pixie dust and we actually get the bunk beds room!

Glad it worked out for you to book AKL. It is a beautiful resort.

My kids are so excited lol...I thought it was going to be this long winded conversation Bc we can never agree on anything lol...but AKL was what everyone wanted surprisingly lol. It really came down to AKL and WL, but the fact that AKL has giraffes just pushed it over the top lol. What really surprised me though was my older son said he would rather do AKL Bc his little brother loves giraffes and would really like to see the giraffes there. Total shocker! LOL probably y NJ is getting all this crazy weather right now

Wow, that is so sweet your son was thinking about his little brother. Sometimes children have a nice way of surprising you.

 

[Revf]

Rack rates are pretty high for May.

 

[terri33inne]

Rates seem pretty high, even factoring potential discounts on rack rates... I'm pretty bummed May have to look into renting points.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Rack rates are pretty high for May.

Rates seem pretty high, even factoring potential discounts on rack rates... I'm pretty bummed May have to look into renting points.

I'm glad I am not the only 1 who was thinking the rates seemed high, lol...although I just thought it was everything put together bc we were going for 1 extra day, plus we now have to pay for my 3yr old and my oldest will now be considered a "disney" adult...put that all together with the annual rate increases and our trip is pretty much cost us 2 arms and 2 legs, lol

 

[terri33inne]

I'm glad I am not the only 1 who was thinking the rates seemed high, lol...although I just thought it was everything put together bc we were going for 1 extra day, plus we now have to pay for my 3yr old and my oldest will now be considered a "disney" adult...put that all together with the annual rate increases and our trip is pretty much cost us 2 arms and 2 legs, lol

Our last few trips we've mostly stayed deluxe... I don't think that's an option now... I also had annual passes. With their increase & the increase in room rates I'm not sure what we'll do next year. :-(