Contemporary Garden View or AKL Savannah View?

[im4pacers1]

We’ve done both. I’d pick the contemporary garden wing and we own at kidani. The contemporary rooms are tons bigger, walking to MK cannot be beat. We stayed in the garden wing and the walk to the tower was fine. No issues. It’s a covered walkway and it’s not far IMO. We were there during hurricane matthew and even walked to the main building during the storm. Love love the contemporary and wish I owned at BLT.

 

[westie55]

I have stayed at both. I would pick AKL. The Garden wing of the CR was majorly underwhelming to me. In May, the walk from the MK to the Contemporary will be hot. We went in July and we opted to go on the monorail to avoid the long walk in the heat. It isn't all that close, and there is no shade along the way. The theming at the Contemporary is one of the poorest on property, IMO, and the theming at the AKL is superb. The AKL lobby says "WOW" whereas most of the decor at the Contemporary says "this is rather unattractive" lol. I liked being on the monorail, but I really missed the theming of other Disney resorts when I stayed at the CR. I will not stay there again in all likelihood. Since you aren't dealing with strollers, I say 100% pick AKL. I look forward to the day my kids are a bit older and I won't feel so compelled to stay on the monorail to avoid waking them up from naps to get on buses. When that day comes, I can't wait to get back to AKL because it is a stunning resort with great dining options.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Thanks for the responses! The Contemporary room is a Garden Wing-Garden View. Main reason for considering it is how close it is to MK (our favorite park). AKL Savannah interests us because my wife and daughter love animals and wandering the resorts on our breaks. Such a tough decision. Thanks again for the responses and am open to anymore.

I can only speak to my experience at AKL since I've never been to CR for a stay.

My dad and I stayed at AKL Savannah view on our first adults only trip. It was great waking up to the animals or just sitting on the balcony watching them as they roam. The lodge also has a walkway where you can also view the Savannah. That said a con as mentioned is you're pretty far from the parks. If you like to wander the resorts CR might be the better option.

But there is a lot about AKL to enjoy in itself too. All the restaurants are good (hard to go wrong with any one of them). Not sure if this is still true, but I've seen people on these boards about being able to view the savanna with nightvision goggles (I'm doing a paid version on my next visit where we actually go out on the savanna at night but apparently you can do it for free from that aforementioned area). And from what I've seen, I like decor better than the Contemporary too.

 

[Surgie2]

I love the location of the CR since MK is your favorite park. And so easy to get to Epcot as well. AKL would be nice for a resort-only stay it is too far from parks for our family’s travel style.

 

[rstevens333]

If you enjoy the castle show, there's no beating walking back to the CR afterwards. (at least until the GF bridge opens.)

Food and quiet-wise, you're also a short boat ride from the Wilderness Lodge.