First time for Animal Kingdom Lodge

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

We booked a bounce back for August 2010....for Animal Kingdom Lodge Sooo excited and have been trying to read as much as I can on this lodge....we are staying at Kilak Lodge at the Jambo House...standard room....this will be the most expensive disney stay we have booked, so is it REALLY worth it to upgrade to the Savannah view?
We are staying August 15-20th with two of our sons, ages 11 and 13...any suggestions, ideas, comments are greatly welcomed and appreciated!!

Much thanks,
Melissa

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We stayed at AKL in Sept 08 and LOVED everything about the resort! At the time a savannah view wasn't in the budget so we booked a pool view room. For us it was the prefect location. It was close to the lobby, the Mara, the bus stop and of course the pool. There are plenty of animal viewing areas around the resort (we loved the nighttime viewing) so we didn't feel like we missed out on anything. We are in the early stages of planning our Aug 2010 trip and AKL is on the list of possibilites. If we do go back DH and I both agree we will book a pool view room again.

 

[ljcrochet]

I stayed at AKV last August and felt that the savanah view was nice but i would not spend the money for it again. We were never in the room so for us it is not worth it.

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

thanks for the responses, keep em coming!
When should I ask for a pool view? now or closer to arrival date?
We are looking into booking our dining ressies in Feb and are deciding between Cali Grill and Jiko...we really loved Jiko...in fact, the boys have voted for that restaurant over cali grill...any other suggestions/info...what are the pools like?

 

[chocovrdmicears]

thanks for the responses, keep em coming!
When should I ask for a pool view? now or closer to arrival date?
We are looking into booking our dining ressies in Feb and are deciding between Cali Grill and Jiko...we really loved Jiko...in fact, the boys have voted for that restaurant over cali grill...any other suggestions/info...what are the pools like?

Pool View is a category that you have to book when you make your reservations. It isn't a room request. I believe it is about $20 more a night vs the standard view room.

 

[PearlySwan]

thanks for the responses, keep em coming!
When should I ask for a pool view? now or closer to arrival date?
We are looking into booking our dining ressies in Feb and are deciding between Cali Grill and Jiko...we really loved Jiko...in fact, the boys have voted for that restaurant over cali grill...any other suggestions/info...what are the pools like?

^^^ Hi Carolina! We are on the same boat. We'll be staying at AKL during our next trip, and no, deluxe was not originally in the budget. Thanks to pixie dust we were able to book this amazing resort. We've decided for Jiko over Cali Grill. We've never been to either restaurant, but based on reviews and suggestions from friends and people here on the boards, we made the determination to stick with Jiko. We also made ressies for a Boma breakfast as we've heard great things about that AKL restaurant too. Did you read the AKL thread here on the Disboards? There is soooooooooooo much info. there it made our heads spin! Also check out wdwinfo.com here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Resorts/aklodge/index.htm

Here's wishing you a fantastic stay at AKL!

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

Thanks Choco and pearlyswan!
I will check out the link...also Pearlyswan....I would for sure do cali grill in the future...the sunset is TO DIE FOR! We are probably doing Chef Mickeys for breakfast? undecided on that one, too...our bounceback includes free dining and I have to read up on what meals take how many credits....

 

[Sue M]

We booked a bounce back for August 2010....for Animal Kingdom Lodge Sooo excited and have been trying to read as much as I can on this lodge....we are staying at Kilak Lodge at the Jambo House...standard room....this will be the most expensive disney stay we have booked, so is it REALLY worth it to upgrade to the Savannah view?
We are staying August 15-20th with two of our sons, ages 11 and 13...any suggestions, ideas, comments are greatly welcomed and appreciated!!

Much thanks,
Melissa

We loved our stay at AKL. But I have to say I haven't heard of Kilak Lodge?
Who did you book with? I'd ask what that is!
As far as I know there is Jambo House, which is the main Lodge, and the new Kidani Village, their DVC resort.
We booked a standard room, but got a magical upgrade to savanna view
There are loads of viewing areas around the resort. Our hallways had large windows looking out to the savannas, there is a nice porch off the lobby with rocking chairs looking out to Arusha, and on lower level there is Arusha Rock with many views of savanna. Also by pool area looking to Uzima savanna.

 

[PearlySwan]

...our bounceback includes free dining and I have to read up on what meals take how many credits....

^^^ Lucky you!!! Here's the 2010 dining plan restaurant credits:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm#restaurants2010


Signature Restaurants take 2 TS credits from the DP. Chef Mickeys is 1 TS while Jiko and Cali Grill are 2 TS

 

[ercrbc]

We stayed in the AKV Jambo house and had a pool view last Fall. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Never once felt we were missing out w/o the savanna view. There are tons of places you can see the animals, it was fun for my DD to go from one looking spot to the next to see each and every type, I believe you would be limited to what animals you would see from your balcony.

Both the pool at Jambo and Kidani are fabulous! (Jambo is bigger but IMO Kidani was a lot more fun! Better slide and great kids splash area) There are great viewing areas right next to both pools as well.

I don't think you will regret not getting a savanna view, pool view is awesome!

 

[Harlemgirl720]

We stayed at AKL in August as well. We did stay in a SV room and it was nice. I have to agree with previous posters that it is nice is not worth the extra money if your budget doesn't allow. I would book the pool view room. Only a $20.00 difference than a standard. And it is close to the amenities.

We loved AKL so much that we bought into DVC - Kidani Village. Going again in February with son. 3 nights at SSR and 3 at AKV- SV. Gotta love that view.

 

[BCV23]

....we are staying at Kilak Lodge at the Jambo House...standard room....

Has anyone ever heard of Kilak Lodge?

Melissa, very exciting.....happy planning!

 

[purpliequeen]

Has anyone ever heard of Kilak Lodge?

Melissa, very exciting.....happy planning!

I would love to know this as well. I like to think of myself as decently knowledgeable regarding AKL, but this post as well as a different thread with the OP mentioning booking "Etmak Lodge" has made me wonder. What are the Kilak Lodge and Etmak Lodges?!

 

[Harlemgirl720]

I would love to know this as well. I like to think of myself as decently knowledgeable regarding AKL, but this post as well as a different thread with the OP mentioning booking "Etmak Lodge" has made me wonder. What are the Kilak Lodge and Etmak Lodges?!

I thought it was only Jambo House and Kidani Village. Am I missing something?

 

[heart4dis]

We booked a Savannah view because it's only the two of us (DH and me) and we DO plan to have a half day of just hanging out at the resort. I think if we had the kids (all four of them), it wouldn't be in the budget and we wouldn't spend as much time @ the resort, so I would save the money for park stuff.

 

[floridascgirl]

We just returned from our second stay at AKL and we booked a bounceback before we left for next December. It is such a fantastic resort, you will just love it. We stayed in a Pool View room (I think it was only $10 more than Standard) and it was a lovely view (check out the Resort Photo Thread). Like others have said, we found plenty of opportunities for animal viewing around the lodge and we were happy not to have spent the extra money on the Savannah Room. We were only there for 4 days, so we were too busy to hang around our room.

Make sure to do the night vision goggles and definitely eat at Boma (we had dinner and breakfast). I've seen several posts on the DIS of all the lodge activities...do a search for it so you can preview them before your trip. It's amazing how many activities that they have going on for the kids.

 

[DisneyGirl614]

My husband and I stayed in the AKL with a savanna view room for our honeymoon and it was amazing. We stayed two weeks and it was worth it because we did end up relaxing a lot in our room, but it was really a once in a lifetime trip. The hotel has amazing atmosphere, and you can walk past the pool and look at animals without having to have a room with a view. We haven't tried Jiko, but we actually canceled a dining reservation somewhere else to try Boma because it smelled so delicious every time we walked past it, and I highly recommend it!