Did anyone ever....

[leahjade]

pay for a Savannah view at AKL and never see any animals? I'm really debating spending the extra money and taking the chance. I'd be bummed to spend so much extra and be disppointed.

 

[spiceycat]

well I have never see a post about that.

considering the cost different would definitely expect anyone who saw no animals to be here complaining loudly!

 

[kirbsam]

you will see animals and plenty of them. disney has ways of making sure of that.

 

[MAKmom]

This is something everyone should do. The bragging you get to do with your friends who say Disney again is pricless. It is unreal!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Well, we do see animals, but they aren't always out there. It isn't like the planning video where you walk out and THERE THEY ARE! Sometimes they're there, sometimes they aren't.

One thing that disappoints me is that the animals don't hang out or walk much. They come, eat, and leave. I had more of a vision of animals just around, you know? Nothing wrong with the way it works, just different than I'd expected.

Not once has a giraffe come right up close to my balcony. I'm not saying it doesn't happen for some people, just that it doesn't happen for everyone.

 

[zumbergc]

The animals kind of come in at feeding times. They put the food in different places, sometimes the same places. Different food for different animals, in different spots.

There aren't animals all the time in visable range. Sometimes you see them, sometimes not. It all depends on what time they are feeding, what time you get up, and luck of it. Generally we saw them several times a day.
If your ansy, you can look for them on the other savannahs.

 

[Shell0616]

This is a great question! I would be so upset if I spent all that money and I didn't see animals!

 

[Suzanne74]

This is a great question and I am signing in as AKL will be our next resort to go too after GF this Nov - probably next year.

 

[klofan]

When I stayed there, the animals were ALWAYS out. It was unreal. Do it, its something you won't see at any resort.

 

[kikiq]

When we were 2 weeks ago, we spent alot of time talking to the savannah guides, this is what they told us...

There are specific groups of animals in each savannah. They are usually in the savannah all the time except for the early mornings when they are taken back to their pens to be examined and fed their "special" diets, vitamins and foods. They return to the savannah sometime in the morning.
The animals are not able to get close to the buildings or the viewing area fences because of the barely visible electric fences. The "fences" are tiny metal looking wires that you can barely see if you are just looking at the savannahs. They are in place to keep the animals away from the guests and the guests away from the animals.

There should be animals in the savannah 21/22 hours of the day. When we were visiting AKL, we saw a lot of animals including the red river hogs, which have become my dh's favorite animal to try to spot. I have to admit, seeing the mom and 2 babies behind her running across the savannah was cute.

 

[Wendi2000]

There was NEVER a moment when I looked out and didn't see several animals from our room last year. It was fabulous. However, I must say that I just booked a standard room this time. There are so many places to see the animals all around the Lodge. I love the hotel, and I won't be broken if I can't see animals from my balcony - I know it is extremely easy to see them from so many other places and we don't spend a huge amount of time in our room. Especially since we'll only have 8 days on this trip - we'll be out and about much more, not much downtime.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Well, we do see animals, but they aren't always out there. It isn't like the planning video where you walk out and THERE THEY ARE! Sometimes they're there, sometimes they aren't.

One thing that disappoints me is that the animals don't hang out or walk much. They come, eat, and leave. I had more of a vision of animals just around, you know? Nothing wrong with the way it works, just different than I'd expected.

Not once has a giraffe come right up close to my balcony. I'm not saying it doesn't happen for some people, just that it doesn't happen for everyone.

Our stay was of this variety, glad we were there for only 3 nights before moving to the Poly. Animals were few and far between, only when the browse truck came in and they would go to the feed spots. In the 3 days we were there, we saw the giraffe 3 times, one big horned steer and some gaxelle or Thompson deer but mostly odd bird and ducks here and there. Totally not worth the money on our occasion, because of this, and the view other when the animals are gone is just vegetation, not that lovely a sight, has turned us away from this resort plus being far away from the lights and glamour of the monorail loop resorts or EPCOT resorts. Its a grand resort, just too remote.

 

[disneyholic family]

our room looked out onto an area of giraffes...
they had food in the trees, close to the building which drew the giraffes close to us...
we saw them every single day, for long periods of time...

 

[Disney Fool]

I must chime in here. Some folks who say they never saw animals were busy doing other things when the animals were out and about. The animals rule at AKL. If they don't want to go out on the Savannah, they are not forced to. The animals basically do what they want. If they're not roaming about in your viewing area, go to another area. There are plenty of viewing areas in the resort.
One of the funniest things I ever saw was an animal handler at AKL on the Savannah trying to place the food for the giraffes. The poor guy was being teased by the giraffes, they licked his head, grabbed his hat, nudged him--quite funny, because he was getting annoyed but he couldn't show it, and they wouldn't leave him alone! It's a great feeling--being able to sit out on your balcony, sip coffee and watch the show.

 

[CapeCod53]

Actually we had a savannah view room that was really a pool view room. It was at the end of the hall & we went right down the stairs to the pool. The only animals we could see from the room were some ducks & flamingos right by the pool. We stayed at the end of the trip for R&R so we were around for 2 whole days. This was when the resort had just opened & only part of the resort was actually open. We had requested a savannah area that wasn't open yet(which we didn't know until we checked in). We also requested bunk beds because I had 2 teenagers, girl & boy & they did not want to share a bed, we didn't get that request either(this was before it was a separate price) whereas at the WL we always got our bunk bed request. We did see lots of animal at the resort but not from our room, we walked around outside & used the viewing areas inside. This was the only time I have ever gone back to the front desk to complain about a room & was told nothing else was available. If we ever stay here again, which is not likely, I would not pay for a savannah view.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

We also ALWAYS had some animal outside our window. Probably because the cattle preferred it there (zebra trail toward front and the Rock) so even in the heat of the day, at least they were there. The other animals (zebra, giraffe etc) wandered around, but except for the hot part of the day, some of them usually were in sight too. We thought it was AWESOME!

 

[corgi_monster]

Last year, we didn't spend much time looking for the animals. However, everytime we did look, there was always something out there. I was a bit dissapointed because most of the time, there were only birds out there! I believe that I saw a bunny or two, but they appear all over the place. Every once in a while, we'd see something really cool like a giraffe or a zebra. No meerkats, though.

 

[PlutosFriend]

My first stay at AKL will be this October. I too am concerned about not seeing a lot of animals due to the construction noise tho.

 

[leahjade]

I've been trying to get a price quote and can't find anything for AKL or villas for 5 people for next summer. Can everything be booked already??

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

We've been very pleased with our Animal views during our stays at AKL.