Animal Kingdom or French Quarter?

[Hagar55]

We have reservations for the French Quarter but I can upgrade to the Animal Kingdom for a minimal charge...what would you do?

I have never stayed at either of them before and have heard great things about both. We are traveling with kids 3 and under so the food court and bus stops are our biggest concerns.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[Lou Mongello]

I have never stayed at AKL, although I have visited a number of times. The resort is visually stunning, and the savannah is wonderful. I think what you need to take into consideration are a couple of things:

1. Location - the Lodge is (relatively speaking) distant from all the parks, shoppoing, etc. except DAK of course.

2. The resort and the rooms overlooking the savanahha are great. However, if you do not spend much time at the resort or in your room (e..g don't come back for naps or to relax, use the pool, etc.), than you are paying a premium for afeature you will never take advantage of.

Just some thoughts.

[Jiminy Cricket]

We have reservations for the French Quarter but I can upgrade to the Animal Kingdom for a minimal charge...what would you do?

I have never stayed at either of them before and have heard great things about both. We are traveling with kids 3 and under so the food court and bus stops are our biggest concerns.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

All the resorts have fast food courts. Of course, the Deluxe resorts such as AKL are just that--deluxe. They have everything any other premium resort would have like a lounge, fitness areas, sit down restaurants, character breakfasts, etc.

The Moderates like FQ are not as fancy, but again you are paying way less most of the time. They will not have most of the extras mentioned above.

IMHO, the Values are the best for small chidren. The bus service at the All-Stars is the best at WDW. Also, while all WDW resorts have small children at them, the Value resorts are more screaming/crying friendly then say the Deluxe where you will find many more "couples only" and/or older folks who might get a little bit annoyed.

Hope that helps.

[Pipper]

I agree with Lou and JC above.

What is your objective: distance to each Park/amenities/and things like that.

My last two trips to Disney World (NOV 01 and DEC 02) we stayed at the All Star Movies in '01 and then the Contemporary in 02. We have 4 kids (4-12 yrs). As far as they were concerned they seemed to like the All Star Movies better than the Contemporary because of the oversized characters and decor of the ASM and the different and fun pools. The busses weren't too bad either. The Contemporary is VERY close (walking distance to MK) and the kids loved that plus we just walked into Chef Mickey's for the character dining. We could also see the fireworks from our room. The weather was unusually bad in December of 02 (heavy rains almost continually for the entire week we were there) so we only got one day on the beach behind the contemporary but the kids loved having their own "mini-beach". We rented Water Mice (the little speed boats also from the contemporary). It was awesome to see the 7 seas Lagoon and the bay from a whole different perspective and the kids loved riding in them. I've got to dig up some photos I took while in one - different perspective of things. I'm not sure if you need to be a guest at the Contemporary or the Polynesian to rent the water mice? Anyone know?

But all in all I think the kids more enjoyed the All Start Movies.

Oh the other thing is room size. The contemporary rooms are pretty big compared to the All Stars. We need 2 rooms for 6 of us. We always get connecting rooms and leave the doors open which gives us some room to spread out. Of course it's twice as expensive for rooms that way but well worth the expense in terms of the relaxation factor!

Just my random thoughts.

Pipper

[Hagar55]

Thanks for the advice, you guys always seem to be right on with your opinions, that's why I like posting questions here.

We are mostly concerned with the walking distance from rooms to bus stops and to the food courts. We will not spend a lot of time in the room so AK is out, and is too far from anything else. At this time, I think we'll stick with the FQ. If they offer a special for any of the MK hotels on the Monorail, then we'll look into that.

Thanks again for the input.

[MandaBella]

All the resorts have fast food courts.

The Boardwalk Inn and the Boardwalk Villas do not have a food court. I wish it did. That's the only thing I don't like about this resort. However, there are plenty of places to eat at the Boardwalk.