Any POSITIVE AKL Experiences in the last week or so??

[jwfla422]

OK, ALL of this negative talk about AKL over the past few days is starting to freak me out.

We are planning a stay over Mother's Day weekend and are staying at AKL for the first time. I originally wanted WL but it wasn't available for those dates (a standard or reg. woodsview room). We booked a standard at AKL, so I'm doubting we'd be in Zebra Trail anyway. I did request Ostrich Trail (of course I realize it's not guaranteed), but we do like to return back to the room in afternoon to "chill" a bit. Although I think only one day would be a problem with noise if we are near Zebra Trail at all because we're only there on Mon. during the week.

But I am concerned about the attitude of the front desk staff as reported by a few posters. Not to get off topic but we went out of town (North FL) area to a beautiful resort which was PACKED over spring break. And, their staff did have some issues!! And we had a similar situation with bad staff at another resort in WDW a few months back which I will not mention. SOOOO, I'm looking for some positive feedback here????? Has anyone JUST returned?? ANYTHING GOOD TO REPORT ABOUT AKL????

 

[Dis Ohana]

I think the bad experiences at the front desk were mostly because of the spring break rush. I did see a few recent good reports.

 

[jwfla422]

I'm wondering that as well. Seems like every resort EVERYWHERE was overtaken spring break (the week before Easter) this year. I guess everyone went away that week this year! I remember hearing MK closed to capacity on Tue. that week, very unusual!!

 

[Dis Ohana]

My best friend goes to Disneyland every year for spring break, she told me that this year was the worst as far as crowds go. I wonder if more schools are on the same schedule now.

Unofficial Guide website estimates crowds as 5 on May 13. So if anything at least your park experience should be relatively easy. Have fun!

(ps. love the picture in your signature!)

 

[StPeteDisneyers]

I was there about 9 months ago... with dearest wife and young toddler (age 1)

I actually drafted like a 4 page "summary" but i closed without saivng and my hour of writing went down the drain...anyway.. to sum up...

>>> THIS was our 1st family trip to Disney... my wife and i are both from florida, so we've done day trips for as long as i can rememebr but last year, we wanted to do the Disney resort thing, .....Everything was booked, except for AKL, but I have to tell you... we LOVED this resort!!!! I mean we LOVED LOVED LOVED it...
We booked and got a standard room with balcony over parking lot--- HORRIBLE!!!! but I went to concierge, and asked for upgrade and that I would pay for upgrade!!! and they charged me (so much for Anniversary comp-- but no matter... it was well worth the extra price... we got lush balcony over pool...AND TOTALLY PREFERRED THIS to Savannah rooms... which were all dry and hot!!!!... ALSO... we were given MAIN floor (3rd floor?) Giraffe wing.... which is right next to the gift shop... AWESOME- no elevators or long walks... YOU HAVE TO GET GIRAFFE--

Aside from our room, though,,,, the staff was super friendly, very accomodating, and always happy to make our trip a good one...((THE POOL BARTENDER, DAVE I THINK, was a bit nasty, but i took care of him in my tips!!!)... I'm soory you're a 40 y.o smthg tending bar! Now get my my friggin drink without attitiude thank you! God... i wish i could sometimes have such a carefree life...

but alaas, i digress./.. THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL RESORT... we loved exploring its nooks and crannies, and are having a tough time on deciding whether to go back, or whether to try WL later this year!

you WILL LOVE AKL... so get excited and bring your camera.. this is an AWESOME resort!

 

[CanadianGuy]

I really do chalk these up to almost all the resorts being at nearly 100% of operating capacity from March 23 to April 18th or so.

CBR, AS, AKL ... and there were others resorts with bad reports.. all during the 10 days before and 10 days after Easter. That time period is the 2nd busiest prolonged period at Disney each year. Disney told CM's informally this spring break/Easter was a 'record breaker' according to pals who work there. Unfortunately, sometimes when you break records, service standards suffer.

Hopefully things will be back to Disney standards by the time of your Mother's Day trip and we'll see some positive reports.

Knox

 

[aljer]

Hello,
Was just at AKL April 18th-April 22nd. I wish i was still there!! Check-in was good. At first they tried to give us a room way out at the end of KUDO trial, i said no way with 3kids under 5. I had requested arusha savanha, zebra trail(i know requests are not guaranteed, but i have been to disney 6-10times in the last 6years and have never had a request fullfilled ) Well back to check in. The CM was so nice and kept looking for a better room, we were even willing to change rooms after first night but did not have to in the end. The CM spent a lot of time with me and was very nice and patient. We ended up with a great room at the begininng of Kudo trail and my kids loved it. everyone was very friendly while we were there. The check in CM did say they were completly booked.
The pool was great and never very crowded. We ate at Mara alot and only a couple times was it extremly busy, usually around 8-8:30pm. Everyone was always polite to us. This was our second stay at AKL and will not hesitate to go back again. My family truly feels the disney magic while we are at this resort. Good luck and i hope you have a great time.

 

[mrsltg]

My stays aren't recent but both were exceptionally positive - to the point where I would not stay elsewhere if it weren't for my dh forcing me to try new resorts!

I take all trip reports with a grain of salt. Individual attitudes coupled with individual CM attitudes can be a recipe for great success or failure. I firmly believe that people expect WDW to be perfect all of the time and they build their expectations accordingly. No one person or place is perfect and so, often times, people are disappointed. Go with a positive attitude and see what happens.

 

[ckmoore]

I can't say anything about the construction, but my family stayed at this resort last October, and we had a great experience. I was worried about the staff as well, because of what I had read, but didn't have any problems. We had a savannah view room and I could have stayed on that balcony the entire trip. But african animals are my thing.

If you have children take time to enjoy the free kids programs. The African staff there is wonderful. We really enjoyed learning about their lives and their country. We also did the scavenger hunt, which took us all through the hotel learning about just a fraction of the amazing African artifacts at the hotel. My kids received a bead for every activity they did (from playing African instruments to using a tracking device to track animals)and they are hanging in our living room still.

Well, enough about us. I truly believe you make your own magic to some extent. Wherever you stay you will have a great time. Good Luck!

Cindy

 

[grannyminnie]

I just returned from a stay at AKL and had no problems. I did hear some noise during the day but not a problem, as it was while we were at the pool.
Check-in was fine. Even tho I ended up going to check in at the concierge desk by mistake, the CM went ahead and did the paperwork....and, to my delight, I actually got an upgrade to a savannah view just by asking! YAY!!
Beautiful hotel...my second stay. Love Boma!!

 

[ktink]

I just returned from a stay at AKL and had no problems. I did hear some noise during the day but not a problem, as it was while we were at the pool.
Check-in was fine. Even tho I ended up going to check in at the concierge desk by mistake, the CM went ahead and did the paperwork....and, to my delight, I actually got an upgrade to a savannah view just by asking! YAY!!
Beautiful hotel...my second stay. Love Boma!!

Glad to read some positive reviews. Although I do feel very bad for the ones who had bad experiences during their vacation. We decided to go ahead and book AKL even w/ the construction. Glad you were able to get an upgrade.

 

[raven69david]

We were there last August and it was a phenomenal experience. We even got a free upgrade from a standard room to a savannah-view room. We loved it so much that we will be staying there exclusively for the next few years unless an unbelievable deal comes out for Poly or GF.

Dont worry about this isolated issue and go enjoy yourself. You will love it and you will love the staff as much as we did. Mousekeeping was awesome and everyone was courteous; felt like royalty the whole time there at AKL.

 

[Disney Spaz]

I am so glad to hear all these wonderful reports. We are staying in a pool view in about a month and was starting to worry. Thanks for the reassurance.

 

[jwfla422]

I am so glad to hear all these wonderful reports. We are staying in a pool view in about a month and was starting to worry. Thanks for the reassurance.

Yes! YES!! DITTO!! We'll be there prob a week or so before you will (in a standard but that's fine). I was hoping some of the recent NEG feedback was due to the overcrowding of spring break (a time you just couldn't pay me to go to WDW! ) although we're lucky enough to only live a few hrs away so we have the choice to go for a long weekend if we want whenever we want to go.

I was concerned about the noise but plan to ask for anything but KUDO Trail when we check in if they can't give us Zebra Trail. I expect a standard room and my biggest request was a "quiet" room...

Anyway, yes I know you can't please all the people all the time, that's for sure. We're big S/D fans and I hear positives and negatives all the time. We were just looking for something new and different this trip and I'm sticking to it and looking forward to it!!

Thanks everyone for your input!!

 

[StPeteDisneyers]

I'll just post this here... but okay... wife and toddler son (turns 3 the day we leave) and new addition are going back this fall. WE ARE NOVICES, and have learned a great deal from these threads. Thank you.
We will likely go back to AKL, but are considering WL... but now the e-mail reservationist said if we book AKL, we get FREE DINING.... there's a ton of info on these threads about :Availibilty, price, dates, packages... but can someone tell me... WHAT IS FREE DINING?????
I get the impression its good for meals at the sitdown restaurants at parks/resorts (BTW Boma at AKL is fantastic).. is that correct?... is it good for your entire stay.. what aboput snacks along the way... or the walk up restaurants... it's just that with the 2 y.o (almost 3 y.o) and 6 month infant... I don't know if we can really enjoy many "sitdown" restaurants....we get about 10 minutes max, before DS is off to his next great adventure or project (like flooding our bathroom this p.m.)
THOUGHTS... IDEAS...? Thanks.

 

[mrsltg]

I'll just post this here... but okay... wife and toddler son (turns 3 the day we leave) and new addition are going back this fall. WE ARE NOVICES, and have learned a great deal from these threads. Thank you.
We will likely go back to AKL, but are considering WL... but now the e-mail reservationist said if we book AKL, we get FREE DINING.... there's a ton of info on these threads about :Availibilty, price, dates, packages... but can someone tell me... WHAT IS FREE DINING?????
I get the impression its good for meals at the sitdown restaurants at parks/resorts (BTW Boma at AKL is fantastic).. is that correct?... is it good for your entire stay.. what aboput snacks along the way... or the walk up restaurants... it's just that with the 2 y.o (almost 3 y.o) and 6 month infant... I don't know if we can really enjoy many "sitdown" restaurants....we get about 10 minutes max, before DS is off to his next great adventure or project (like flooding our bathroom this p.m.)
THOUGHTS... IDEAS...? Thanks.

Free Dining is a promotion Disney has been running in Aug/Sept of the past few years. They are offering it again this year. Basically, you pay rack rate for your room but get the Magic Your Way dining plan for free (one snack, one counter service, and one table service meal per person, per day). It works out to be a good deal. You do need to make reservations for sit down restaurants to really get the 'benefit' of the free dining. Sounds like it may not be a good fit for your family this year as you need more of a "by the seat of your pants dining plan!