Swan/Dolphin or Animal Kingdom?

[mollyrryan]

We are going to WDW in October 2014. We have the hotels narrowed down to Animal Kingdom Lodge club level room and Swan/Dolphin thru Costco. I LOVE the theme of Animal Kingdom, but it is about $1,500 more for the week than Swan/Dolphin. I really want the whole magical Disney experience, but is it worth that much more to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge?

[brittone2]

I have never stayed at Swan/Dolphin but we enjoyed exploring the boardwalk area when we visited this past February for the first time as a family. I can now totally see the appeal of hoppers to run over to Epcot for dinner, snacks, drinks in the evening.

We ate dinner at AKL and I loved walking around AKL in general. I thought it was beautiful. I'm not sure how I'd like the transportation aspect. We stayed at POR and drove, which I enjoyed vs. buses.

One thing that would influence me is how much you plan to hang at the resort. Are you planning any down days/pool days? Will you eat at AKL more than a night? I am not at all a Disney expert compared to the many women here who love it, but I think the extra cost would be easier to justify if I knew we planned more resort days/down days vs. go-go-go. Pools, outdoor movies, restaurants, etc. would all be easier to enjoy if you have more downtime built in. We didn't keep an insane schedule, but we were still so go-go-go that I didn't feel like we got to spend much time at the resort or our room. In our case, that was totally fine, and I was happy I didn't spend a lot extra on our room. The monorail was also being serviced a lot the week we were there, and it was out of commission for large portions of the day. I would have found that difficult to stomach if we had paid for a monorail resort like Poly or Contemporary, which we had considered.

[TwinFoxes]

I love the location of the Swan and Dolphin. And in October it's the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, so their location will be even cooler IMO. Does club level guarantee a savanna view? That's the only way I'd even consider it, and even then I think I'd go for the D&S.

[hellokitty]

I'd do swaphin due to the location.

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[smilequeen]

We've stayed at both. There is some definite fun with AKL and the kids loved it. It's farther away though. The Swan/Dolphin is so close to the boardwalk and Epcot though, which is also fun. The one we stayed at was the one that is Westin (I can't remember if that is Swan or Dolphin)...so typical Westin rooms, which are nicer than the nice Disney rooms, but it was smaller since it was just a hotel room (that was when we just had 2 kids :)). There was a character breakfast that was easy to get in on, no reservation. I'd stay at either again, really, so I don't think you'd lose magic at all by saving the money :)

[123LuckyMom]

We've stayed at both. There is some definite fun with AKL and the kids loved it. It's farther away though. The Swan/Dolphin is so close to the boardwalk and Epcot though, which is also fun. The one we stayed at was the one that is Westin (I can't remember if that is Swan or Dolphin)...so typical Westin rooms, which are nicer than the nice Disney rooms, but it was smaller since it was just a hotel room (that was when we just had 2 kids :)). There was a character breakfast that was easy to get in on, no reservation. I'd stay at either again, really, so I don't think you'd lose magic at all by saving the money :)

This! If you're planning a down day at the resort, you might choose AKL to take advantage of the activities and the ambiance, but otherwise, you'll be closer to the action at the swan/dolphin. I haven't stayed there for over 20 years, but I remember my mother being angry that my dad had booked us into a non Disney hotel. My sister and I didn't notice that much of a difference except that there were a lot of convention attendees around. The theming was good: it had the extra hours; it was close; and there were characters around. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Do go to Boma at AKL one evening, though, just to experience it. It's my favorite resort as far as theming. I think it's beautiful.