Opinions on AKL Concierge

[Mrs.A]

Currently have a savannah view booked for 5 days in Aug. Myself, DH, DS 9, and DD 7. Is the concierge service worth the extra dollars?

What are some of the food offerings? How about the drinks and snacks? Also keep thinking about the Sunrise Safari, would like to surprise everyone with this. Is this hard to get a reservation?


I really want to book this and I need some advice. Thanks

[>>^..^<<]

Hi again Mrs. A.

Is concierge worth it? is a hard question to answer... you are certainly not going to eat 600.00 worth of bagels during your stay.

To me - it is well worth it.... not having to line up to check in, having all my PS's done for me including hard to get ones.

Having a beautiful and exclusive place to go to relax and enjoy (other than my room).

Breakfast offerings are oatmeal, bagels & toast (they have a toaster) jams, cream cheese, peanut butter etc, several cold cereals, several types of muffins, sweet rolls, danishes, fresh fruit, juices, coffee, tea, capuccino etc...

All day you can have coffee, tea, juices, african smoothies, lemonade, ice tea, bottled water, soft drinks.. etc...

Snacks are cashews, trailmix, goldfish, gummy bears, spicy african type trail mix... etc...

High tea - cookies, scones and pastries... I saw a platter of fresh fruit one day as well... sometimes they had cookies.. but not everyday, often they had a bowl of whole fruit. apples, pears.

Hot offerings 5:30pm, skewers of chicken, salmon, pork, beef, shrimp (usually 2 kinds a day) cheese, crackers and flat breads, dips, hummus, chicken nuggets, fruit.. more things - I can't recall..

Evenings... tarts, cakes., chocolate covered strawberries, cheesecakes, squares, cookies, wine, drambuie, grand marnier etc...

It is a quick elevator ride from the pool to the lounge - so we would often go up and get soft drinks to go, also an apple or cookie... whatever was out.

My daughter loved going up at night for dessert and to watch a Disney DVD on the big TV. The lounge is very relaxing to read the newspaper etc....

It was not busy at all in August... and there was so much food... etc.. It was a little busier on the weekend - people seemed to arrive Friday night and leave SUnday.

The only "bad" day was our checkout day - labour day and it was very busy.. with no available chairs at times.. we just took what we wanted to-go!

Sunrise - Safari - well I stayed there last August and went on the safari - it was sold out and there were people waiting to go standby...

A couple of guests did not have park admission to DAK Park and did not want to pay for it... so the stand by guests were very happy.

So like I say... to me this was worth the extra 1000.00 ++ for my concierge room.. the service was excellent and it was a relaxing trouble free holiday... did I eat 1000.00 + of cheesecake? well - I don't think so... but taking my little girl to have breakfast with Cinderella - when it was sold out... came pretty close in value.

Also we had EXCELLENT seating on anything that concierge booked us.. including front row at Hoop Dee Doo - and this was an afterthought booked just the day before.

Also one day we decided to try Boma for dinner.. I went to the restaurant desk and they had nothing until 8:00pm... I mentioned this to the concierge.. she got on the phone and said "how is 6:30"? Perfect.... for us... we enjoyed that meal very much.

I amnot sure if you have kids - but there were toys for the kids, movies and puzzles. even things they could keep - like 3D safari animal puzzles that they build.

We had one family from hell.. with out of control twins who threw stir sticks off the balcony and insisted on bringing out every toy - including the annoying lucky ducks battery operated game - which I eventually removed the batteries from myself... one of the kids was hitting the TV with a plastic golf club... the concierge staff did not say a thing... the parents just sat and ignored what was going on..... luckily they were only there for one night.

I have photos of the concierge lounge and the sunrise safari on my website link below...

>>^..^<<

[ducklite]

What she said ;)

IMHO the level of service you get from the AKL concierge is most definitely worth the extra moeny!

Anne

[gepetto]

AKL concierge is very nice. It was also LOT cheaper when we stayed there the year it opened. I priced it this year and it came up to around $470/night including tax and that was value season. :eek:

Good luck!

[JESW]

Cass - I have read the replies you have written about the AKL concierge and I have visted your web site (WONDERFUL!) Our family is going to the AKL concierge for the first time in June and we are VERY excited - and even more so from your writings! Sometimes I wish we were going there for the full week, but we want to spend some time at an EPCOT resort too. We have been to BC & YC so want to try something different this time at the BWI.


Thanks again for all your writings!

Jill

[>>^..^<<]

Hi Jill...

You know, I better stop writing about AKL Concierge - because every time I do - I feel sick that I am booked at the Beach CLub for 6 nights and AKL only for 4. LOL

Everytime I relay my experience at AKL I feel like I am making a huge mistake and should go change my reservation right away to 10 nights AKL.

We want to try stormalong and explor EPCOT and MGM which we have really ignored on other trips... I wish someone would make me feel better about BC Concierge.. even if they are making it up!

LOL

Thanks Jill for your nice words, have an amazing time at AKL in June! Not too far off now....

>>^..^<<

[Morticia]

Good post Cruise List Mistress. There is nothing I can add to that.

The food was excellent & the Sunrise Safari is well worth the price.

[Alice Sr.]

We stayed for 2 nights after 6 nights in a 2 bdrm at BCV, I was concerned going to a small room after the BCV would be a bad experience. I couldn't have been more wrong, we never left the hotel. Everything was off the charts. Sunrise safari is definitely worth it. We are all so disappointed not to be going back next month.

Cass we were there Aug 9 & 10 and had family 2 doors down that had a gang of terrorists, they checked out early the next day TG. They treated the hall like their backyard (running up and down throwing a ball, screaming) My DDs opened the door real fast to try to scare them (like that was going to work :D ) after that they hung outside our door even more and would yell things trying to get a response from the girls, their parents finally called them home. Yikes they were wild.

Back to the subject, AKL is our favorite can't say enough, except that we loved concierge so much we wouldn't book AKL without it.

Alice

[ariel85]

Cass, that is amazing information, thank you for sharing.

Can you tell me is the Sunrise Safari included in the concierge price or do you have to pay over and above?

Also, does anyone know the rack rate for Concierge? I have seen listed Standard, Savannah, Deluxe, Deluxe Concierge - is there Savannah Concierge? I am confused how this works?

thanks
:D

[erikthewise]

I'm sure the others have this covered but I'll slip in anyway. I'm also considering AKL Concierge for this Fall.

Sunrise Safari is extra: $50 for adults, $25 for children (ages?). You must also have (and use) valid admission for Animal Kingdom park. When it's over you have a killer breakfast buffet at Tusker House and are then free to enjoy the park.

There is only one level of concierge (unless you get a suite:eek: ) and that includes a deluxe room on the fifth or sixth floor. Don't get too excited though, the deluxe rooms are just slightly larger than the regular rooms. (Almost as large as those at other deluxe resorts!) The concierge rack rates are $425(value), $480(regular), $545(peak), $610(holiday), but I've seen discounted rates as low as $239(AP-value).

[ducklite]

I've been in the deluxe and the standard rooms, and frankly size wise I couldn't tell the difference. They aren't much larger than the rooms at the moderates...a little larger than them in "hallway" space, but that's it. They are most definitely smaller than the rooms at the BWI/YC/BC.

Not all deluxe rooms have a daybed.

Anne

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by ariel85
Can you tell me is the Sunrise Safari included in the concierge price or do you have to pay over and above?

Also, does anyone know the rack rate for Concierge? I have seen listed Standard, Savannah, Deluxe, Deluxe Concierge - is there Savannah Concierge? I am confused how this works?

thanks
:D

Hi Ariel.. yes you have to pay for Sunrise Safari above and beyone the concierge rates.. it is 50.00 for adults and 25.00 for kids (I think). There is limited space... maybe 30 spots? (Anne do you know?)

Last summer I paid rack rates... there were no codes.. I did get a Disney Club Discount - the total was 3650.00 for 9 nights (not including park passes - just the room)

==============


<b>Cass we were there Aug 9 & 10 and had family 2 doors down that had a gang of terrorists, they checked out early the next day TG</b>

Hi Alice... glad those terrorists left after one night! Families like that can really put a damper on your experience - I could not believe the concierge staff said nothing to this wild family in the lounge.. but it was for only one night... obviously the staff would know that.

I wsa rather proud that I was able to get the batteries out of the lucky duck game... the battery housing was the type that had little screws so kids can't open it.. I had to use a nail file! lol

You should have heard the kid wail when he discovered it would no longer quack. lol It was worth the effort =)

>>^..^<<

[ariel85]

HI Cass

I noticed you are a canuck...please tell me you are quoting those prices in CAN funds...but alas:( I fear you are not.

I guess I have to work out the savings in meals (my kids not huge eaters, so even grazing off the concierge would fill them)

Can we do Sunrise Safari if we are not paying for concierge?

We are scheduled for Feb, a slow time I would assume (hope). In your experience do you think the upgrades would be forthcoming?

thanks :D

[>>^..^<<]

Oh my little naive princess of the Sea... lol

Those are US Dollars.... (I know I know - I must be crazy) and that was only part of my trip - I spent 5 nights prior at Universal.. + airfare and limos and food and shopping + Discovery Cove....

=========

You can only do the Sunrise Safari if you are a concierge guest at AKL... even concierge guests from other hoels are not permitted.

Quite often people book regular rooms and only stay concierge the night before - to do the sunrise safari... This might be an option for you. There was some talk that AKL was going to make a 2 night minimun stay in concierge to go on SS - but so far that has not happened.

I did save a fair amount in food and drinks by staying here.. breakfasts are convenient and some evenings we were full from snacking that we skipped dinners out... but seriously - you cannot eat enough to cover the extra cost... it is the other benefits you receive that make it worth it (to me anyway)

Then again there were all those double-bailey's and drambuies. I consumed =)

Good luck deciding and planning for your holiday.

>>^..^<<

[ariel85]

Cass

There is a lot to be said for my world of denial...lol

As you can tell this is our first trip and probably our only (well at least for a while) cause DH not a fan of theme parks. I promise him this will be different than Wonderland (wanna talk about naive) Another poster bought a shirt for her kids that said "I'm with Grumpy", thought about buying those too.

You mentioned you were at US. Can you tell me if you saw SpongeBob SquarePants - ds favourite. I imagine he will be near the Jimmy Neutron ride when we go. As well, wanted to see if they had character meals but it doesn't appear so. Do you know anything about this?

Thanks, I really am considering 3 days at AKL on concierge, but DH may have a stroke.

;)


:eek:

[>>^..^<<]

Hi Ariel

Isn't spongebob and those jellyfish a hoot?

We didnt' see him though... we saw Shrek, Cat in the Hat, Scooby, Shaggy, Spiderman (some other heros), Rugrats, the professer from Back to the Future, BeetleBaily, the Grinch, Dr, Suess weird things... and a few more.

Universal is alot of fun.... I am not saying it's better than Disney or Disney is better than it.. just they are both great fun for different reasons.

I will say that Universal Hotels are excellent and reasonable in the big scheme of things...

And I will say that all of the above is better than Wonderland LOL


Jimmy N, is a new attraction.. just opening now so I am looking forward to seeing it in August.

When are you thinking of going in August... ? we will be at Universal from Aug 16th - 22nd.. and at Disney from the Aug 22 - Sept. 1st...

I will watch for the guy in the grumpy tee short having a stroke =)

Did you see the photos on my website?

>>^..^<<

[floridafam]

<<^..^<<

Where did you stay at Universal? What was your hotel experience like there?

Do you think AKL Concierge is still the best? Even better than Universal?

[>>^..^<<]

Hi floridafam

I stayed at the Royal Pacific in a regular room... standard view.

The hotel was only open a few weeks by then and everything was great... The hotel lacked the "Disney" Magic and pixie dust - so to speak.... but for the cost it was amazing service and amenities.

This year we are trying the Hard Rock on the Club Level which is their version of concierge... but I still think the Disney deluxes are something else.

I have photos from Universal and the Royal Pacific on my website link below

>>^..^<<

[floridafam]

Thanks >>^..^<<

We are thinking about staying at RPR on their Club Level in a Royal Suite. I can't decide between that and AKL. I have heard very little about RPR but I kind of get what you mean about lacking that "Magic" or pixie dust.

Not to get too off topic, you can PM me if you want, but how was the rest of your stay at RPR? How would you compare the pools between RPR and AKL? I know about AKL's pool but have only seen pictures of the other.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I also PM'd you:D

[ariel85]

HI Cass

We are not going until Feb 04. (I am still working on the counter...promised dd that I would get that working today) I promsied dh the shortest lines possible, not to mention value season. ;) I have started paying off different aspects of the trip early so that it doesn't look like a strokecausing bill in March.

I did see on the US board that some people have seen SpongeBob which is good because ds will be devastated if he doesn't meet Bob. :( I don't need two Grumpies.

Your website is amazing. I have it bookmarked, look forward to more pictures after your August trip.

Hope you are having a good Easter weekend

:Pinkbounc

[>>^..^<<]

Hi floridafam... I tried to PM you this but it was too long!!

So here it is now....Re: Universal

Well to start at the beginning... I have always gone to Disney and I did not know a thing about Universal, what it was?, where it was?.. I didn't have a clue.

Then when I was taking my daughter for the first time to Disney... she said she wanted to go on the "Jaws" ride at Disney.. she said she saw it on TV.

I didn't remember a Jaws ride at Disney so I started checking on the internet and found out it was at Universal Studios...

I assumend this was a park and that I would still stay at Disney and just go there for the day.

When I went to Universal website - I saw that they had hotels and very reasonably priced as well. Then I learned about Front of the line access and decided it was too go to be true - I had to try it.

So I made a booking for 99.00 a night at the Royal Pacific - this included park passes, front of the line access, Seaworld admission, dinner or Wet and Wild and a movie passes... we stayed 5 nights and it was just over 580.00 for everything.

Even the day I arrived - I had no idea what to expect... when we pulled up to the lobby of this fabulous newly opened resort hotel - I could not beleive it... the place is gorgeous with large sweeping views of rice patties, streams, orchids, glorious flower gardens etc...

Check in was a breeze and even though we arrived at 12:00noon our room was ready.. it was just a standard room but had a view of the roller coaster at Islands of Adventure.... I also had no idea about Islands of adventure.. this is a whole other park - I didn't even know it was there...

Well we were starving so we decided to go to the park... a short walk to the water taxis that run about ever 10 - 15 minutes between the hotel and parks... we jumped on one and it took us to City Walk.

City walk is the area in between the two parks... is is built on either side of the water canal and is filled with restaurants, clubs, shopping and the big movie theatre.... right away I spotted Margaritaville and it looked cool so we went there for lunch and it was great.. they had a kids menu that was 3.99 for all entres, including a drink and ice cream.. my daughter loved it and we ended up eating here 3 times.

Then we decided to try Islands of adventure first... this park is beautifully themed and layed out around a lake.. Noel loved the dinosaur area with rides and a discovery centre where you hatch dino eggs etc.... The first ride we tried was Jurassic Park River adventure... the wait was 45 minutes - but then I saw the "Express" lane for Front of the line access and went through the gate... we were on the ride in 2 minutes... in fact we came off and did it again and again and again and kept passing this same family in the regular line... .. they were scowling at us when we went passed them for the 4th time and they had not been on the ride yet...LOL

The next day we tried Universal and it was just as great except the rides are more based on movies...... we LOVED Jaws, ET, Men In Black, Back to the Future, Earthquake, Twister, Terminator and King Kong... we just had an excellent time

The hotel is modelled after a south pacific island.... our room was lovely and comforatble, the pool is huge and has a play area themed like the bridge of a ship with water cannons and fountains to play with.

The hot tubs were nice too... the pool bar had great drinks and burgers/sandwiches... they did not have the luau at that time - the hotel had just opened.. also there was still construction on the convention area and Emeril's restaurant was being built.

We had breakfast at the Islands restaurant a few times and it was just your normal modern hotel breakfast... expensive but good...

We used our free meal at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was great... we used out free theatre tickets to see "SIgns" it ws so scary LOL we had the creeps walking through the hotel grounds afterwards in the dark with all the rustling of the palms... my daughter was practcally running to the lobby...

This year we are going for 6 nights on the club level at Hard Rock... we wanted the extra day to try sea world.. last year we did discovery cove which was wonderful...

I don't know if you saw my photos on my website

http://www.casshew.com

It shows the Royal Pacific, photos from the parks and Discovery Cove...

Hope this info helps...

>>^..^<<

[ariel85]

Cass

Did I understand you to say you stayed at a US resort for $99 (ps, I know that's $99US) and you had your park passes included in that???

Park Passes on their own for one day for the 4 of us, rack rate, are $270. What am I missing?

(note, the clock is now ticking and is just under 300days...lol whohooo almost there)

[>>^..^<<]

Hi Ariel...

The hotel had just opened a couple of weeks before.... there was still constructions etc..

This was an introductory offer... I guess to give people incentive to try it... also it was one adult/one child... just the two of us =)

I have seen rates reported for this hotel at 139.00- ish recently... are you checking out the Universal board on this site?

>>^..^<<

[floridafam]

Thanks for the info Cass.

I have looked at your pictures and they are wonderful.

We are going to stick with Animal Kingdom. Maybe we will try RPR next April. I haven't been able to find any pictures of the suites at RPR. If you ever come across any, let me know.

I'm looking forward to hearing your trip report from HRH.

Have fun.

[goofygreb]

We are thinging about staying at the AKL in Oct. We are still debating about a concierge room.The sunrise safari looks like fun!
Was wondering how far in advance you can make reservations for this. Can you do this before you leave home?
Thanks for any info.

[hightown]

MrsA, I'm so glad you started this tread because I was going to ask some of the same questions here.

Cass, your information is just great and your web site too.

I'm scheduled for AKL and considering concierge and really want to do Sunrise Safari but don't think I can swing the whole time. Had thought about doing a few days but can see myself crying having to leave and go down to the lower floors. Could do it 2nd part but don't think I can stand to wait. If daughter and I get all mushy, think they'll let us stay? (kidding)

To the Spongebob fans, we didn't see last two years at IOA or this March at Universal Hollywood. BUT daughter loves wearing her Spongebob t-shirts when at WDW or when we were at Disneyland. The cast members like like him too and often would comment on the shirt, way COOL! whatever. Picked up that tip on these boards.

Sharon