Villas at the Grand Floridian vs Animal Kingdom Lodge

[FortuneShark]

Thanks for reading,

Wife won a trip to Disneyworld, 5 nights. We are upping that to 7. To be honest, Disney has been very slow in communication regarding the accommodations. I finally settled on Animal Kingdom Lodge but now after doing more research and understanding their only transportation is the bus, and is the furthest away it seems from MK along with the others I am starting to doubt my choice.

Our trip is in 6 weeks, so I am kind of understanding but when asked of other options I was told that the only other choice was Villas at the Grand Floridian. This will increase my 2 nights out of pocket quite a bit and I read there is a renovation going on. I am looking for advice on a few questions.

1. is AKL really that far away?
2. What is the renovation scene actually like currently, or more specifically going to be like first week of October.
3. is GF worth it, given proximity to resorts and access to Monorail even if a renovation going on?

Some details about plans if it helps

• Family of 5
• Most Likely will spend majority of days in parks; possibly enjoy hotel pools
• Park hopper and will plan to do at least 2 parks a day
• I am a hotelier, so the hotel is important to me
• Any upgrade potential?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any feedback!

 

[R&RsMom]

I have stayed at both resorts, but in the regular Grand Floridian rooms, not the villas. Animal Kingdom lodge is spectacular and has great dining options. Cool to see the animals, even if not in a savanna view room. We mostly stay at Disney resorts with bus-only service and don’t mind it. That said, I do have to say Animal Kingdom Lodge felt a bit remote. Grand Floridian is beautiful and has the monorail. Close to other hotels, so great dining options, and short trip to magic kingdom. You will still be bussing to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and getting to Epcot requires a monorail transfer. For me decision would take into account type of room you are being offered. The studios at GF will have either two real Queens plus a pull-down twin, or a queen, Murphy queen, and a pull-down twin. what did they offer at AKL? Another thought: is a split stay possible? You stay at a less expensive resort when you are staying out of pocket.

 

[hertamaniac]

I recently stayed at VGF and a few years ago at Kidani at AKL. The VGF 2-bedroom recent refresh is outstanding. I can't speak for the studios or 1 BR. Same with Kidani. Ours stays are resort only since 2019 and with no theme parks, so the resort amenities have to be strong.

The monorail is a major plus for the GF. It made transport a breeze. You'll have plenty of dining options in GF and a short monorail ride. There is construction for the new Poly tower (which we heard), but that was when they were driving pilings. I don't know if there is any appreciable noise now.

Kidani is so special (and remote). I feel the pool there is the best onsite and spent many hours relaxing there. The food offerings are above average at AKL/Kidani. Our balcony at Kidani was overlooking the savanna and was huge (both bedrooms were connected to the living room balcony making it one monolithic space (the same for VGF). The kitchen at Kidani is a little dated, but perfectly acceptable. Our 2BR also have an extra full bathroom next to the kitchen making total of 3 full bathrooms (very nice).

We are locals for almost 20 years, and in my opinion, Kidani offers a more unique experience. Waking up and opening the sliding doors to see giraffes and zebras frolic the area is surreal.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

WOW congratulations! How awesome!!

Not sure if disney provided you a room category for the villa, (studio, 1 bd, etc), but if they're similar accommodations, I would choose GF hands down. That's not to say that AKL isn't nice or doesn't have great accommodations, it's just personally not our preference given the location, especially when compared to a monorail resort. If you'll be at MK any portion of your trip, it's just so easy. Even easy to epcot with the monorail transfer. When we've stayed at AKL, it's been for a quick 1-2 night trip, but if I was there for a week, I'd lose my mind with the bus situation, bussing to every park, it gets old fast. And while both resorts are deluxe, they're on opposite ends of the spectrum with AKL being on the lower price point and GF being on the higher/pricier end.

As far as GF, yes, the construction will still be going on but from what I've read on the boards, most guests have said it's minimally impacted their stays. You can search "GF Construction" in the top right of the disboards and read all about it. I think a few people even shared photos. There are also a few vloggers who've shared recent footage.

GF has some great food options; AKL also has great food choices, but outside of the food options and the animals, I think that's where AKL benefits end. We found the most annoying thing about AKL is that the halls seem to go on forever. The nature of the building wrapping around the savanna lends itself to very long walks if you're room is far from the main lobby and elevator. GF has nicer pools, super easy access to the parks, great quick service/table service dining, nice shops, full service spa/gym, and much bigger villa rooms than AKL. And if you decide you're sick of the food or seeing GF, just hop over to the CR or Poly for other food choices.

 

[Anthony1971]

As far as transportation AKL will be just as fast to get Studios and 9 times out of 10 faster to EPCOT. MK is the furthest with about 12-15 minute bus ride once on the Bus HOWEVER AK is 2 minutes and 12-15 BUs ride from GF.
The rooms have been mostly covered.
With that I stayed at GF in July and was just not a fan. There are some great parts to the resort however. We did not like the pools while the main is a mirror image of the one at the Poly which we love the direction the pool was facing just made look and feel cheesy. The quite pool was in a better location but it was on the small side. Jambo house by far has a much nicer pool but the slide is ahhhh. However you can use the pool at Kidani as well which has a great slide and a great Splash area if you have young kids. Jambo has a stand alone play ground as well.
This will all depend on you..... If you like to relax on vacation and want a very well themed hotel AKL is for you - and where else can you animals from a hotel- If you like Victorian a Mary Poppins theme with a more hectic feel and will spend a lot of time opening or closing MK GF is the better choice.
GF commands a higher price I understand why which has more to do with service (both are excellent but G does have more available CM around) and location to MK as that is where many want to be.... But side by side in the middle of nowhere AKL would certainly get the higher price.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Oh and totally forgot, GF is the only disney property with room service atm. We are not huge room service people but we do like to order in on occasion.

 

[FortuneShark]

THANK YOU ALL for your incredible feedback, this was amazing. We are going to stick with the Animal Kingdom Lodge! Now on to more research!

Cheers!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agree with some of the posters above - AKL is a spectacular place. The 'remoteness' is exaggerated at times, depending where you are planning to spend your time. If you were doing 5 days at MK, for example, then GF makes a lot more sense. But if you're doing all the parks throughout the trip, your transportation time between parks and resorts will be very similar from AKL and from GF. Keep in mind, AK park is just as far from GF as MK is from AKL! Now, a confession - AKL is our favorite resort - anywhere (not just Disney). So we always recommend it. We've also stayed a few times at GF and GFV, and we much prefer the AKL resort - just our opinion, that I'm sure others will agree or disagree with! The truth is, you have 2 remarkable resorts to decide between. There is no wrong answer! Have a great trip.

 

[FortuneShark]

Agree with some of the posters above - AKL is a spectacular place. The 'remoteness' is exaggerated at times, depending where you are planning to spend your time. If you were doing 5 days at MK, for example, then GF makes a lot more sense. But if you're doing all the parks throughout the trip, your transportation time between parks and resorts will be very similar from AKL and from GF. Keep in mind, AK park is just as far from GF as MK is from AKL! Now, a confession - AKL is our favorite resort - anywhere (not just Disney). So we always recommend it. We've also stayed a few times at GF and GFV, and we much prefer the AKL resort - just our opinion, that I'm sure others will agree or disagree with! The truth is, you have 2 remarkable resorts to decide between. There is no wrong answer! Have a great trip.

Thank you for your awesome reply! Please see my other post about a potential upgrade!?

 

[RoseGold]

GF HANDS DOWN. Then get an Uber, leave your bags at the counter, and move over to Dolphin. No big deal. There's no reason you have to stay at Disney property the last two nights, and Dolphin is right on the back door to Epcot and HS.

There's a reason AKL was $200 on Priceline last week, and GF is among or the most expensive Disney hotel.

If you are a hotelier, Disney in general will be disappointing for the price point, so temper your expectations. For example, I'd say the Marriott mattresses are much better. And the TP is yikes. It's things like that which just wouldn't fly in an $800 room elsewhere. The NBA actually replaced all the GF mattresses with their own, when they stayed there. GF is location, location, location, and that matters a whole lot at WDW. AKL is very remote, especially without a car.

 

[weather_lady]

(UPDATE: LOL, I see that in the time it took me to post this, the OP came back with a decision! Although it's now irrelevant, I'll leave this here anyway...)

My family of four (2 adults and 2 teens) has stayed at both -- AKL (DVC standard view studio, Jambo) 4 years ago, and VGF (DVC resort studio, Big Pine Key) 2 weeks ago.

My whole-hearted recommendation would be to go with AKL. The ambiance is so lovely and unique, the dining options are second-to-none, and although it's annoying that there's only one form of transportation, the resort never felt far-flung to us, or like it took longer for us to get places, than it had when we stayed at other resorts, and we relied exclusively on the Disney buses the whole week we were there.

While the monorail is a great amenity at GF, especially if you plan to spend the majority of your days at MK, the downside at present is the ugly construction, which occupies the entire lobby and the entire rear of the main building, and obliterates the views from most onsite restaurants and lounges, which have their windows papered-over to hide the scaffolding from inside.

Also, while it's a matter of personal taste, my family preferred the artsy, vibrant, African-inspired theming and art of AKL to the fancy Victorian theming and country-club-style shops at GF.

If you've checked out recent hotel walkthroughs and room tours on Youtube, and browsed the menus of onsite restaurants (and if you haven't, you should!), then you probably already know which hotel's theme, dining, and other amenities speaks to you the strongest. Go with your gut.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Thank you for your awesome reply! Please see my other post about a potential upgrade!?

I did!