WL Standard vs AoA Suite

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Hello,
We are planning our first trip to Disney for eleven days in early September 2019, and have narrowed down our resort choices to a WL standard room or an AoA suite. We are a family of four, and the kids will be 5 and 11 at the time of our trip. We plan on spending at least 4-5 days of downtime, so we will be spending equal days in the parks and at the resort. We love the extra space provided by the suites at AoA, but are drawn to the relaxed-looking atmosphere of the WL. We like the idea of the balconies or the first floor patios at WL to provide a little outdoor escape for us in the evenings, and for the kids to spread out a bit. We are a family who loves our downtime, and space and convenience is important to us. We want to be close to the pool, food choices, and transportation. We have researched both resorts, and like them both for different reasons. Cost seems to be fairly similar for each, although one is a Value and the other is Deluxe.
My question is: Which would you choose for our particular dates/family situation?

 

[Sue M]

I would pick WL. Beautiful resort, 2 great pools. The villas pool has recently been redone and can’t wait to check it out. Having a balcony or patio will be nice for extra space.
You have boat transportation to MK, and a resort boat as well that circles from WL to Ft. Wilderness and Contemporary.

We like down time too, so how we manage it is to go to the park till after lunch then head back to Resort during the heat of the day to relax by pool. Then return to the parks in the evening when it’s cooler.
Going in Sept, it will be really hot and can’t see you spending all day in the park(s) and only 5 park days. Since you’ll be there 11 days I think it would benefit you to do more park days with 5 hr afternoon breaks.
We always go Aug/Sept and it’s hot. We usually go for 2 weeks.

Disney is huge, and allocating just 5 days to the parks you will only just touch on things. So if this is your plan, going with a plan is key. I really recommend Walt Disney World The Unofficial Guide. Their touring plans are very good, and they work. You will get to experience more instead of just waiting on long lines for everything.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

I just got back from staying at AoA and then 9 days at WL.
I would definitely vote for WL but then I am a repeat stayer of WL and call it my second home.

AoA was filled with a little bit of chaos with so many children and parents & grandparents and the main pool and food court

I think if you have very young kids I definitely do see the appeal......but since yours are 5 & 11....I would go for WL...your whole family will enjoy the pools there and relax among the beautiful setting.
I loved on a windy day watching the geyser go off at WL and the kids crossing the bridge and feeling the mist of it.
Plus the quiet boat rides to MK.......except when the one captain serenaded "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as the birds flew by.

 

[Disneylover99]

I love AofA, but for roughly the same price, I’d choose WL.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

BTW..you could easily do what I did. I booked a day at AOA just to see what it was like (gave the Landscape of Flavors food court a try and the pool) then stayed the rest of our vacation at WL.

I actually did my reservation backward ( I booked WL for June & decided to add a day to the beginning of our vacation so I did a 1 night booking at AOA lion king family suite)

They move your luggage from hotel to hotel so it is no big deal to switch hotels.

We were going to go straight to the park but I got the text my WL room was ready at 9 a.m. so we did it ourselves.

 

[blessedby3]

I would choose WL for sure. We stay deluxe whenever possible. It is a world of difference from value to deluxe. The space would be nice, but I would pick WL for the more relaxed atmosphere. We have stayed at both. AOA's pools are very crowded. So many more people fit in the values so you have longer waits for everything

 

[HopperFan]

WL

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Thank you all so much for your input! So many of you have gone beyond just voting, and I truly appreciate all of your little nuggets of Disney wisdom. It looks like WL is winning out, so far. My gut has been telling me this was the right choice all along for the adults in our group. My main concern is that there may not be enough room in a WL Standard for my youngest to stretch his legs on rainy days (which are likely in September). I just don’t want the group to get stir-crazy after so many days in the same room. Maybe I am just overthinking things, because we are accustomed to renting two and three bedroom condos for all of our vacations. The price of Disney accommodations places space at a premium. So, to save some money, we will all have to adjust to the limited personal space on this vacation.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Questions for those who have stayed at WL: Are the patios off of the ground floor rooms nice? Can you avoid having to walk back through the lobby to get to the pool or other outdoor areas if you have a ground floor walk-out patio? Also, is a bunk room at WL comfortable? I like the idea of both kids having their own bed. Any specific resort room suggestions?

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

BTW..you could easily do what I did. I booked a day at AOA just to see what it was like (gave the Landscape of Flavors food court a try and the pool) then stayed the rest of our vacation at WL.

I love this idea, and I will definitely keep it in mind if we decide to add a day or two onto our vacation plans! Thank you!

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Since you’ll be there 11 days I think it would benefit you to do more park days with 5 hr afternoon breaks.
We always go Aug/Sept and it’s hot. We usually go for 2 weeks.

Agreed! I am considering adding three additional days to our itenary, bringing our trip to the full two weeks.

I really recommend Walt Disney World The Unofficial Guide. Their touring plans are very good, and they work. You will get to experience more instead of just waiting on long lines for everything.

I will look into this, and plan on getting Birnbaum for the kids. Thank you!

 

[HopperFan]

Thank you all so much for your input! So many of you have gone beyond just voting, and I truly appreciate all of your little nuggets of Disney wisdom. It looks like WL is winning out, so far. My gut has been telling me this was the right choice all along for the adults in our group. My main concern is that there may not be enough room in a WL Standard for my youngest to stretch his legs on rainy days (which are likely in September). I just don’t want the group to get stir-crazy after so many days in the same room. Maybe I am just overthinking things, because we are accustomed to renting two and three bedroom condos for all of our vacations. The price of Disney accommodations places space at a premium. So, to save some money, we will all have to adjust to the limited personal space on this vacation.

We stayed there one trip in fall with DH, myself, DS11, DS6 and DD 2. We had a bunk bed room. We needed down time for DD and we were there during rainy weather. We NEVER felt like the room was too small since .... we had the balcony, one of us would rest with DD while other would take boys to explore and even a few times when all kids were chilling in room with DH (bunks were great for their own space) I'd wander and photograph hotel. WL is STUNNING, love the pools and beautiful imagineering. Plenty to explore and wander and it never felt crowded or loud. I think it has WOW factor, especially for a first visit.

 

[Sue M]

Thank you all so much for your input! So many of you have gone beyond just voting, and I truly appreciate all of your little nuggets of Disney wisdom. It looks like WL is winning out, so far. My gut has been telling me this was the right choice all along for the adults in our group. My main concern is that there may not be enough room in a WL Standard for my youngest to stretch his legs on rainy days (which are likely in September). I just don’t want the group to get stir-crazy after so many days in the same room. Maybe I am just overthinking things, because we are accustomed to renting two and three bedroom condos for all of our vacations. The price of Disney accommodations places space at a premium. So, to save some money, we will all have to adjust to the limited personal space on this vacation.

It doesn’t rain for long in Sept usually. It’s the 3:00 T-Storm. Over in an hour. Don’t forget everything is under 1 roof at WL, so you aren’t confined to your room in inclement weather, you can go explore the resort, sit by the fire in the lobby, go wander the gift shop, I think they may have indoor children’s activity if pool party gets rained out. There’s an arcade too.
On a nice day we have enjoyed renting SeaRaycers from the marina. They also have bike rentals. Fun to ride over to Ft. wilderness to explore.
Having a balcony helps having a place to get away! I’ve never had a patio so can’t say much about them.

 

[mickeynut1]

I agree with everyone else that I'd go with WL. We've never stayed at AoA, but we love everything about WL. We are a family of 4 and have had both a bunk bed room and room with 2 queens and have never felt cramped or that we didn't have enough space to spread out .

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

We stayed there one trip in fall with DH, myself, DS11, DS6 and DD 2. We had a bunk bed room. We needed down time for DD and we were there during rainy weather. We NEVER felt like the room was too small since .... we had the balcony, one of us would rest with DD while other would take boys to explore and even a few times when all kids were chilling in room with DH (bunks were great for their own space) I'd wander and photograph hotel. WL is STUNNING, love the pools and beautiful imagineering. Plenty to explore and wander and it never felt crowded or loud. I think it has WOW factor, especially for a first visit.

Awesome! Thank you for reassuring me that space will not be an issue!

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

It doesn’t rain for long in Sept usually. It’s the 3:00 T-Storm. Over in an hour. Don’t forget everything is under 1 roof at WL, so you aren’t confined to your room in inclement weather, you can go explore the resort, sit by the fire in the lobby, go wander the gift shop, I think they may have indoor children’s activity if pool party gets rained out. There’s an arcade too.
On a nice day we have enjoyed renting SeaRaycers from the marina. They also have bike rentals. Fun to ride over to Ft. wilderness to explore.
Having a balcony helps having a place to get away! I’ve never had a patio so can’t say much about them.

I totally forgot about the arcade, and it sounds like there will be several things to do should we get rained out during any of our trip.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

I agree with everyone else that I'd go with WL. We've never stayed at AoA, but we love everything about WL. We are a family of 4 and have had both a bunk bed room and room with 2 queens and have never felt cramped or that we didn't have enough space to spread out .

Thank you for sharing your experience. It looks like WL is going to be our pick!

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

I want to thank everyone so much for your help! We will be booking WL for 13 nights early September 2019 when the packages are released tomorrow! I can not wait! Now the agonizing countdown begins...how will I pass the 1 year+ ahead?!

 

[HopperFan]

It doesn’t rain for long in Sept usually. It’s the 3:00 T-Storm. Over in an hour. Don’t forget everything is under 1 roof at WL, so you aren’t confined to your room in inclement weather, you can go explore the resort, sit by the fire in the lobby, go wander the gift shop, I think they may have indoor children’s activity if pool party gets rained out. There’s an arcade too.

On a nice day we have enjoyed renting SeaRaycers from the marina. They also have bike rentals. Fun to ride over to Ft. wilderness to explore.
Having a balcony helps having a place to get away! I’ve never had a patio so can’t say much about them.

THIS was huge for us, being able to cruise around in the resort during the afternoon showers. Finding the little nooks. It was our first time to do Hidden Mickeys and the kids had fun with that. I don't know if they still do it but we loved the ladybug release.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-resorts/wilderness-lodge/#recreation

Check this unofficial website for info ...

http://www.wildernesslodgesite.com/

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It looks like WL is going to be our pick!

You're welcome

I want to thank everyone so much for your help! We will be booking WL for 13 nights early September 2019 when the packages are released tomorrow! I can not wait! Now the agonizing countdown begins...how will I pass the 1 year+ ahead?!

You won't regret it! September 2019 seems a long time away, but it will be here before you know it! Have fun planning .