HELP me chose a resort. POP vs AKL

[Frank4202]

Pricing out a vacation for our family in January 14-22 2025. It will be my sons first trip and just before his 3rd birthday. My wife and I have been to WDW many times including our engagement back in 2018 but mainly stay at value resorts. I vote POP, and wife says AKL.

We priced out a trip directly through the Disney website for room only and a standard room at POP that came to a total of $1608 including taxes. I then went to our favorite DVC rental website and the same trip came to a total of $1610 so the cost is the same.

We have stayed at POP a few times before the Skyliner was installed so are familiar with the area. During one of our off days, we did a walk through of AKL including getting a snack at the Mara. Aside from that, we dont have any history here.

My reasoning for POP is

1. Larger food court with more seating
2. Accessibility to the Skyliner
3. Walking distance to AoA for exploring, food court, and photos.
4. Better themed for my almost 3 yr old son

My wife wants to stay at AKL because

1. We have not stayed there before
2. Extra Magic Hours (I say we wont use this because I dont think its fair to keep my son up that late)
3. See the animals on our non park days
4. Better pool (Its January so chances of using it are slim)

With that said, what hotel would you chose and why? Am I crazy for leaning towards Pop Century over Animal Kingdom Lodge?

-Frank

 

[olliesmom]

We also have two young children and I think I would actually lean toward the Pop Century. We stayed there on our last trip when our kids were almost 2 and almost 5. They absolutely loved the Skyliner and it was so so convenient. The large food court was great, and they actually loved the small kids wading pool with the spray jets.

If you could take advantage of the extra magic hours and swimming, I think it might be worth doing AKL despite the more limited transportation. But I think a toddler might actually enjoy the theming at the Pop more.

With all that being said - 2/3 year old will be happy anywhere. So if the adults would prefer the AKL experience (theming, extra amenities) then I’d say go for it!

 

[bdrex28]

So me personally if I had a 3 year old, I would hold out and try to get something right on the monorail. Perhaps rent points here on the site and try and do BLT or Poly. Or you could always do BRV or something. You may pay a bit more, it's 122 pts for a studio in Copper Creek or BRV so that's $2196 for a $18pp rental. Of course the price jumps if you do BLT.

But, when my kids were 3 it was all about time management. If your son gets up early, then the extra morning hours would be useful and the easy monorail ride to MK would also be helpful. Get out there early, grab a bite to eat, hit up all the MK fun and then head back to the room, take a nap and relax. It can be pretty cold in January for pool time, but if he's up to it you could go back out for a few hours in the evening.

We prefer staying near epcot, but I think with a small child I'd want to be the nearest to MK I could with the easiest and quickest transportation. To me that's worth a few hundred $ and I'd also cut my trip time down to maybe the 14th - 20th, but again that's with my kids at that age.

 

[TinkAgainU]

If you stay at a monorail resort (I also think being able to get back to the room for a break might be helpful), you can just do a nice dinner at Boma - Animal Kingdom Lodge especially if you do it before the last feeding of the night when animals are pretty active. Wherever you stay, allow for a couple Uber rides (maybe between whatever hotel and Animal Kingdom Lodge, and to catch the Skyliner once) ... the buses are good but Uber can be so cheap and no waiting when someone is tired

 

[Marthasor]

In terms of room comfort and resort amenities, AKL wins for me. I agree with PPs - I would seriously consider shortening the trip and looking for something on the monorail (or even WL) or in the EP area to make getting to the parks even easier.

 

[VickieMouse]

I probably won’t help your decision making, but our first stay was at POP with our smallest being almost 2 at the time. She loved the Goofy POP jets so much that we returned the following year and I insisted on staying at POP because of those Goofy pop jets. Well when we returned they were broken. It was heartbreaking. The stay wasn’t the same, and we haven’t been back since. We realized that we needed to find other new things to enjoy at other new resorts. And things break so learn from us and look at a resort experience as a whole, not just for one amenity.

While I do agree with other posters that the Skyliner is nice, it could be broken down at times. I would also argue that a 3 year old will be happy riding the Disney buses. My kids loved them at that age.

One thing I didn’t like about AKL is the theming is darker wood tones, everything seemed overgrown (I realize this fits the theming), and definitely not over the top bright, colorful, and in your face like POP Or AOA. If you think that is important, you won’t see anything like that at AKL. But you could stay at AKL and take a ride on the Skyliner and go visit POP and AOA- AOA is a fun and appealing resort, I would imagine especially for kids.

So, I’m torn. Part of me says go for AKL, especially with prices being the same. It will be a new experience for all of you with new family memories. It is a beautiful resort with great pools, great restaurants, a nice food court, and wonderful animal viewing. The other part says stay with POP, but mostly for the Skyliner and the ability to easily go visit AOA. The theming is fun and so geared to young ones! So many fun things to see. I could spend the better part of a day there walking around day and night as there is just a lot to look at

Good luck with your choice. You can’t go wrong either way.

 

[loves to dive]

That's a tough one. Usually I'd say since the money is the same go to AKL but with a little I'm not sure. You can always visit to see the animals. My hesitation would be what kind of room would you get. Frankly, if you don't get a room with some sort of Savannah view, even if limited, I don't think it's worth it. Don't get me wrong, I love the place but the draw for me is being able to sit on the balcony and watch the animals. If I'm sitting on the balcony and watching the parking lot, I can do that from anywhere.

Having said that, I'm one of the few who isn't a fan of the sky liner so I wouldn't pay the upcharge for Pop. If I were going value, I'd do one of the All Stars. Of, pay a little more and go up to CSR, that's just me. As far as shortening the trip and doing a monorail resort. That depends on you. We would never do that, MK was never my son's favorite, even when he was 3. We have always had PHs and hop over there often during a trip but it isn't the draw for us it seems to be for others.

With one that small, you are really going to have to go at their pace. There may be days he is just not feeling it, ain't gonna sleep in that stroller and if you don't get him back to the resort right now for a nap, it isn't going to end well. I'd save the money, go with the value resort and enjoy the trip, you can always go up to another resort when he is older and able to enjoy it a little more. The resort is not going to matter to him right now, as long as there is Disney on the TV and the characters to see, maybe a ride now and again, they are usually happy.

 

[Skippyboo]

They do the annual maintenance on the Skyliner in January so be prepared for it to be down for your stay.

 

[Mle8308]

One thing, don’t use the value studio when pricing out AKL. It’s the most difficult room to get for owners, and as a renter, you’re not likely to get it. It won’t add a lot on to the price, but it will increase the cost if that is what you were using for a room comparison. And @Skippyboo has a great point about the Skyliner being closed. I’d look into renting the points at AKL, but do it now as it’s past the 11 month owner booking window. Just make sure you are comfortable with the stricter refund policies when renting points.

 

[jo-jo]

Where will the kids sleep? If it's pack and plays, that goes for either. But if it's in a bed, I think AKL still has the sofa bed. not the murphy bed.

AKL Kindani has a great kids splash area. But I've really soured on AKL after having a room almost at the end of the wing. Probably it's the old in me, but those long hallways seemed really really really long. Of course if the kids walked them, they would be exhausted and ready for bed.

 

[BarlowFamily]

We're doing a split stay with Pop and AKL for our upcoming trip. DS will be 9 then. When he was around the age of your little one, we had a great stay at BLT in a studio. The room was a little small, but the convince of walking over to take a nap and taking the monorail to Epcot was worth it. If there's any way to rent points at stay at BLT I'd recommend that. We do love AKL though. Looking t your reasons to choose Pop...if theming is important and you have a vehicle I'd stay at All Star Movies. That Toy Story section was a hit with DS a few years ago. The extra magic evening (aka late night) hours are wasted on our family of early birds as well. You can always spend a an afternoon or evening enjoying AKL without stating there.

 

[Frank4202]

Couple notes:

-Will not be having a vehicle. Flying in from Detroit
-Forgot the Skyliner is usually down for maintenance during this period
-We are arriving 2 days after a RunDisney event
-Noticed All Star Movies will have a pool refurbishment during that time

So far, I think were leaning towards Pop or an All Star Resort. Staying at an All Star will save us $516

 

[BarlowFamily]

I'd stay All Stars! January is not prime pool time, and there are other pools at ASMovies. You'll also have arrival day option to go to the water park.

 

[TinkAgainU]

Random reminder, if he is "out" of the stroller by January, try to keep and bring one anyway (maybe sell him on Disney decorating it) ... that stroller will be a lifesaver if you have a room far from the buses and you already know how much walking is involved at theme parks. A lot of people leave the stroller for others when they leave.

 

[brockash]

Pricing out a vacation for our family in January 14-22 2025. It will be my sons first trip and just before his 3rd birthday. My wife and I have been to WDW many times including our engagement back in 2018 but mainly stay at value resorts. I vote POP, and wife says AKL.

We priced out a trip directly through the Disney website for room only and a standard room at POP that came to a total of $1608 including taxes. I then went to our favorite DVC rental website and the same trip came to a total of $1610 so the cost is the same.

We have stayed at POP a few times before the Skyliner was installed so are familiar with the area. During one of our off days, we did a walk through of AKL including getting a snack at the Mara. Aside from that, we dont have any history here.

My reasoning for POP is

1. Larger food court with more seating
2. Accessibility to the Skyliner
3. Walking distance to AoA for exploring, food court, and photos.
4. Better themed for my almost 3 yr old son

My wife wants to stay at AKL because

1. We have not stayed there before
2. Extra Magic Hours (I say we wont use this because I dont think its fair to keep my son up that late)
3. See the animals on our non park days
4. Better pool (Its January so chances of using it are slim)

With that said, what hotel would you chose and why? Am I crazy for leaning towards Pop Century over Animal Kingdom Lodge?

-Frank

Pop (or Allstar) for sure. We are not AKL fans. It's just too far from everything for us. Save the money and do Pop.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

As far as Skyliner maintenance, I believe it usually goes down the day after MLK day which would be Jan 21. That would mean only the last full day without the Skyliner. Obviously, Disney could change their maintenance schedule so YMMV.

I would vote Pop for value, easy access to AOA, CBR, RIV, BC/YC, BW, EP and DHS and the fun atmosphere for a little one.

 

[justafigment27]

I love the Skyliner, but I’d vote for AKL over Pop if they were similarly priced.

DVC studios are great with little kids - you have the kitchenette, the couch area for relaxing/down time (my kids always used the coffee tables for playing with action figures or coloring during down time) and a balcony (which can be great for parents during nap time and when bedtime is super early and you’re not ready to sleep).

Value resorts are great for commando touring, but not as great for relaxing stays. When my kids were toddler and preschool age, we definitely didn’t get a ton of park time in during our trips and I really appreciated having a nice space and a relaxing resort. Renting points for studios in January was also a great value.

I have always found bus service at AKL to be fine.

 

[Frank4202]

We noticed a RunDisney event is 2 days before our arrival. So we decided to book at Music (we wanted Movies but it was more expensive for some reason)

My mother is a Cast member. She was saying she can check rates 4 months before our arrival. Hopeful she can find us something else cheaper with her discount but if not, we have something were satisfied with.

Thanks for everyones suggestions.