Should we splurge on a really nice hotel?

TinkerElle

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 30, 2017
My fiancé and I are planning to honeymoon at WDW next year. We are doing first class round trip to Florida from California and staying 7nights at a Disney hotel. We decided to do 5 days at the parks -do you think it's enough? He's never been but I have so I def want him to experience everything. My other question is we are considering staying at the Animal Kingdom hotel however I dont know how much it would be worth it? Because our other option is going cheaper and doing port orleans. Any advice?
 
Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of those places where you can spend an entire day just exploring, especially if you do any of their myriad (mostly free) activities. You also have a better chance of seeing animals from your room if you are there during the daytime. If you'll be spending all-day, every day at the parks, it might not be worth it. But for a honeymoon, when it's nice to take a day off from the parks, it's a fantastic resort.
 
If it was a choice between Port Orleans and AK, I personally like Port Orleans better. However, could I make an unsolicited suggestion for a different hotel? Swan/Dolphin might be an ideal honeymoon spot (I feel it's more adult and romantic) and you get the deluxe hotel without the deluxe price tag.
Any way that you go, you can't go wrong with a Disney hotel:)
 
We're big AKL fans, so I'm biased here. In my opinion, it would all depend on what the budget allows, and how much time you plan to spend at the resort. If you're going to do park touring from morning to night, it wouldn't be worth the expense for me. But if you want to take a day and just spend a good potion of it enjoying your resort, or even if you tour like we do and plan to take afternoon breaks at the resort most days to recharge, then I'd say it's worth it. If AKL is up your alley, I'd highly recommend it. The atmosphere is rustic and beautiful and the animals (whether from your savannah view balcony or just from the public look outs) are amazing. It also has some wonderful dining at various price points at Jiko, Boma, and Sanaa. The pool is fairly nice and the lobby is gorgeous, though a bit dark if that's not your style. If this doesn't sound like your style but you'd still like to stay at a deluxe, I know a lot of people also love Wilderness Lodge (which is a similar price range, but also kind of rustic-feeling), and there's a big following for Swan/Dolphin and its classy feel. (Personally, we haven't stayed there yet, so I can't report.) However, if you want to take that money and spend it elsewhere, like maybe on tours or romantic meals, etc., you may find it more worth it to stay somewhere like Port Orleans (which is also beautiful!) and just choose to go visit AKL for an afternoon or go there for a meal to get the experience. It seems Port Orleans Riverside gets more of a fan base, but we're actually in the minority that prefers Port Orleans French Quarter for how intimate/small and easy to navigate it is and how the theming of the buildings and "streets" feel so romantic. (It doesn't have its own table service restaurant though, and some find the decor too over the top and flamboyant/silly, etc.)

Sorry, that was probably way more chatter than you were looking for. But in the end I think it just comes down to what your priorities will be on your trip (resort time versus park time, and what experiences you want to have) whether it'll be worth it to you.
 


AKL is almost tied in 1st place with the Poly which is our favorite Disney Resort. It is a really close second for us and has so many activities and great restaurants. We stayed here for our wedding stay and it was phenomenal. If it is within the budget, I would definitely stay at AKL. :)
 
I would definitely splurge since it is your honeymoon. I do like AK - they do have 2 of our favorite restaurants - Sanaa and Boma (the best breakfast). The only issue about AK is the longer bus rides to the parks. Port Orleans is nice but very spread out. If I had to pick one I would pick AK over Port Orleans. Also check out the Boardwalk or Wilderness Lodge - we have gotten great deals at these hotels. We love the EPCOT area - so much fun - and you can walk to EPCOT.
 
My fiancé and I are planning to honeymoon at WDW next year. We are doing first class round trip to Florida from California and staying 7nights at a Disney hotel. We decided to do 5 days at the parks -do you think it's enough? He's never been but I have so I def want him
AKL is beautiful, laid back and animals and amenities are wonderful. If ur heart is to have ur fiancé do Everything....not convinced it's worth the extra cost if you ll be park warriors a full 5 days. While the food was good, I'm not the biggest fan of Boma, ($$175. 3 adults for a buffet dinner) and obviously African inspired cuisine thru out resort. A little darker yet Beautiful, yes deluxe, ...but unless you re prepared for Up charges for food and more, perhaps having more money to spend on Special moments ( pix, cruise, party, tour) both POR resorts ( mods) are lovely
You didn't mention month and that Can impact decision.
The Only way we stay at POR is preferred location. It's Very large, many bus stops and so beautiful, great food court, restaurant, multi pools, boat to Disney springs and in/outside bars.. romantic imho. Take that carriage ride!
POFQ is more intimate, one bus stop, more limited food court, no restaurant tho. Sister resorts .. you can share amenities, boat to Disney springs.
Oh the Choices!you can't go wrong at any but if at a Busier time of year, I'd do deluxe. We ve stayed at all three several times, recently back from AKL and headed to POR in a few weeks..
Best of luck deciding and most of all
Congrats on the upcoming Nuptials!
 


My fiancé and I are planning to honeymoon at WDW next year. We are doing first class round trip to Florida from California and staying 7nights at a Disney hotel. We decided to do 5 days at the parks -do you think it's enough? He's never been but I have so I def want him to experience everything. My other question is we are considering staying at the Animal Kingdom hotel however I dont know how much it would be worth it? Because our other option is going cheaper and doing port orleans. Any advice?
yes no maybe
 
Okay, you want a bit more information then yes no maybe?

It really depends on your budget and how much you value luxury. I love luxury hotels so much. If I did not have the money to do them I simply would not travel. If you do not care about high-end luxury then maybe not. It really depends on what you value and what you want.

Personally, I would go to Hawaii at Four Seasons or Aulani !!!!

Why not have your wedding at Disneyland?
 
The only issue about AK is the longer bus rides to the parks. Port Orleans is nice but very spread out. If I had to pick one I would pick AK over Port Orleans.

This note about PO being very spread out is a good one to consider! I hadn't thought to mention that. Most of the moderates are pretty sprawling, really. We didn't find we felt like the bus rides from AKL felt too long most of the time (I had also been warned about this before going) but if you compare transportation there to an Epcot resort or one on the monorail, it's definitely much longer to most parks except AK.
 
I would definitely vote AKL if it's between that and Port Orleans, but I agree, you should splurge since it's your honeymoon! I personally love the Yacht and Beach Club, and another thing you could consider is doing Y&B or Boardwalk and doing club level! Then you get all the little extras and details that make you feel exra VIP. Just something to consider that they offer at the Deluxe resorts that could add that extra specialness to your trip! :)
 
There is also a difference between POFQ and PO Riverside. We love POFQ over PO Riverside. FQ is s much smaller and you can always go over to Riverside if you want by taking a nice stroll along the water. We have stayed at both POFQ and AKL. While hanging out at AKL is great you can plan on a meal or two over there and experience the animals and the lobby and save some money at POFQ.
 
I personally love the Yacht and Beach Club, and another thing you could consider is doing Y&B or Boardwalk and doing club level! Then you get all the little extras and details that make you feel exra VIP. Just something to consider that they offer at the Deluxe resorts that could add that extra specialness to your trip! :)

I agree about staying club level. I would do it too! We love staying club level.
 
We splurged for our honeymoon! I think you definitely should . We stayed in The Contemporary and we had a room with a balcony. It was so worth it for us.. The Monorail made it so much easier for us to get to the parks and to come back to the hotel in the afternoon to have a small rest.
 
My fiancé and I are planning to honeymoon at WDW next year. We are doing first class round trip to Florida from California and staying 7nights at a Disney hotel. We decided to do 5 days at the parks -do you think it's enough? He's never been but I have so I def want him to experience everything. My other question is we are considering staying at the Animal Kingdom hotel however I dont know how much it would be worth it? Because our other option is going cheaper and doing port orleans. Any advice?
Yes, I recommend AKL. It's a beautiful hotel & the rooms are very nice. We had a standard room, but we still had animals outside our balcony 24/7 because we were on the Kudu trail. Highly recommend it. The pools are great (you'll be allowed to use both the Jambo House pool & the Kidani pool), and so are the restaurants.
 
Hi OP we looked at GF, YC and POFQ/POR for our honeymoon ages ago. Our honeymoon was in November & we went moderate because we wanted to take a vacation in the next spring. We picked POFQ (liked the look more than POR ) & had a fantastic time and still go back to POFQ every trip. No regrets about going moderate.
 
I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but I apologize if I'm repeating anyone. Have you thought about booking AKL with DVC rental points? My fiance and I are looking into it for our honeymoon as well (though we're leaning toward staying at Boardwalk) and we've found that depending on the time of year and length of stay, staying at AKL (or Boardwalk) with DVC points can work out to be cheaper than POR through Disney directly. Our honeymoon happens to be in the fall when the free dining plan offer is going around which doesn't apply to DVC bookings so that's definitely something to keep in mind. Normally the dining plan can be paired with DVC no problem, it's just the free offer that doesn't apply, but the savings there might outweigh the room savings, depending. So there's definitely a lot of comparing and research to find what's best for you! Good luck!!
 
I love WL but I don't think it's where I'd stay for a honeymoon. It's just not romantic.
 
My fiancé and I are planning to honeymoon at WDW next year. We are doing first class round trip to Florida from California and staying 7nights at a Disney hotel. We decided to do 5 days at the parks -do you think it's enough? He's never been but I have so I def want him to experience everything. My other question is we are considering staying at the Animal Kingdom hotel however I dont know how much it would be worth it? Because our other option is going cheaper and doing port orleans. Any advice?
Hey there TinkerElle!

My husband and I got married at Disney and also had our honeymoon there as well! We stayed at Boardwalk for a couple of days, then went to Caribbean Beach, then to stay on budget we stayed at Movies Resort for the last couple of days. I would have to say that Boardwalk was so beautiful! Loved the rooms, service, we even had a balcony! Loved it!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top