A Day at Animal Kingdom lodge without going to the parks?

[surgefest]

What types of things are there to do at the AKL??? Is there enough to do to spend a whole day there without going to a theme park?? a list or review of things would be great. How is the pool area???? How many different savanah view locations are there around the resort?? Anything else that's fun that i wouldnt know having never stayed there. Thanks!

 

[simonkodousek]

Are you staying at the AKL? If not, you cannot use their pool facilities.

 

[soccerchick]

I am staying there for the first time in August. I have a few "rest" days planned to recuperate from a few late nights with the kids (Fantasmic/Spectro).

The pool/slides look cool. There is some info about story telling around the rock (don't have the name handy).

We aren't doing conceirge, so we won't be able to do the safaris, but those are available for concierge level guests. I believe the evening safari is for age 8 and over, so we couldn't all do that anyway.

Would love to hear other details from those who have BTDT.

 

[iluveeyore]

We stayed there in October at the AKL, and are going back in May to AKV. I know what to do there all day without visiting the parks, because in oct. we arrived at 6am after driving all night, and our room wasn't ready until 4pm! I know we could have went to the parks, but we were so tired, we hung out at the lodge hoping our room would be ready early (plus they knew our story, but no pixie dust this time, even for DH's 40th). So, I know the lobby is relaxing since I spent a lot of time in a comfy leather chair reading, trying not to fall asleep (didn't want to wake up with drool on my chin in front of complete strangers! ). The pool is nice and relaxing, found a chair after changing in their nice change rooms into my suit, more reading time. DH enjoyed the fitness centre while I lounged - he thought some exercise would wake him up a bit. I was able to enjoy the fitness centre as well, but only for the shower room to freshen up before we had some lunch. The gift shop there is great for killing time as it's large and has many uniqe African items along with the usual Disney ones. Just wandering the lodge and seeing all the different art throughout, and enjoying the outside savannah views helped us relax instead of stressing about our room not being ready.
The room was beautiful - we only had a standard view of the parking lot, so we are looking forward to our savannah view in May, but the standard view was fine for the amount of time we spent in the room. We had reservations for Boma at 5 pm, so we quickly showered and changed once we got in the room and went and had a wonderful meal (we've been to Boma before, but it was soooo nice to eat and just wander around until we wanted to go back to our room). At 9 pm you could go to the Arusha savannah by the pool and use night vision goggles to view the animals - that was really cool. There were many other activities during the day, all of which are listed on a bulletin board downstairs by the restrooms beside Boma - I think there was cookie decorating in Boma, a taste-testing tour in Jiko, some crafts for the kids (or big kids like us), and much more. We didn't get to experience any more of it, as we hit the parks the rest of the week.
Enjoy! We can't wait to go back!

 

[Mr Man]

We stayed there in October at the AKL, and are going back in May to AKV. I know what to do there all day without visiting the parks, because in oct. we arrived at 6am after driving all night, and our room wasn't ready until 4pm! I know we could have went to the parks, but we were so tired, we hung out at the lodge hoping our room would be ready early (plus they knew our story, but no pixie dust this time, even for DH's 40th). So, I know the lobby is relaxing since I spent a lot of time in a comfy leather chair reading, trying not to fall asleep (didn't want to wake up with drool on my chin in front of complete strangers! ). The pool is nice and relaxing, found a chair after changing in their nice change rooms into my suit, more reading time. DH enjoyed the fitness centre while I lounged - he thought some exercise would wake him up a bit. I was able to enjoy the fitness centre as well, but only for the shower room to freshen up before we had some lunch. The gift shop there is great for killing time as it's large and has many uniqe African items along with the usual Disney ones. Just wandering the lodge and seeing all the different art throughout, and enjoying the outside savannah views helped us relax instead of stressing about our room not being ready.
The room was beautiful - we only had a standard view of the parking lot, so we are looking forward to our savannah view in May, but the standard view was fine for the amount of time we spent in the room. We had reservations for Boma at 5 pm, so we quickly showered and changed once we got in the room and went and had a wonderful meal (we've been to Boma before, but it was soooo nice to eat and just wander around until we wanted to go back to our room). At 9 pm you could go to the Arusha savannah by the pool and use night vision goggles to view the animals - that was really cool. There were many other activities during the day, all of which are listed on a bulletin board downstairs by the restrooms beside Boma - I think there was cookie decorating in Boma, a taste-testing tour in Jiko, some crafts for the kids (or big kids like us), and much more. We didn't get to experience any more of it, as we hit the parks the rest of the week.
Enjoy! We can't wait to go back!

This is a good list. The only things I would add are

Sunset lounge has a lot of activities that we have enjoyed such as Music of the Savanah, cultural safari & different wildlife games.

Storytelling at the firepit was nice also.

Regards,

 

[figment fan21]

We stayed there in October at the AKL, and are going back in May to AKV. I know what to do there all day without visiting the parks, because in oct. we arrived at 6am after driving all night, and our room wasn't ready until 4pm! I know we could have went to the parks, but we were so tired, we hung out at the lodge hoping our room would be ready early (plus they knew our story, but no pixie dust this time, even for DH's 40th). So, I know the lobby is relaxing since I spent a lot of time in a comfy leather chair reading, trying not to fall asleep (didn't want to wake up with drool on my chin in front of complete strangers! ). The pool is nice and relaxing, found a chair after changing in their nice change rooms into my suit, more reading time. DH enjoyed the fitness centre while I lounged - he thought some exercise would wake him up a bit. I was able to enjoy the fitness centre as well, but only for the shower room to freshen up before we had some lunch. The gift shop there is great for killing time as it's large and has many uniqe African items along with the usual Disney ones. Just wandering the lodge and seeing all the different art throughout, and enjoying the outside savannah views helped us relax instead of stressing about our room not being ready.
The room was beautiful - we only had a standard view of the parking lot, so we are looking forward to our savannah view in May, but the standard view was fine for the amount of time we spent in the room. We had reservations for Boma at 5 pm, so we quickly showered and changed once we got in the room and went and had a wonderful meal (we've been to Boma before, but it was soooo nice to eat and just wander around until we wanted to go back to our room). At 9 pm you could go to the Arusha savannah by the pool and use night vision goggles to view the animals - that was really cool. There were many other activities during the day, all of which are listed on a bulletin board downstairs by the restrooms beside Boma - I think there was cookie decorating in Boma, a taste-testing tour in Jiko, some crafts for the kids (or big kids like us), and much more. We didn't get to experience any more of it, as we hit the parks the rest of the week.
Enjoy! We can't wait to go back!

this helped me out too!! i'm staying at AKV for the first time this october and I was wondering the same thing! It sounds great! Thanks!!!

 

[Cinderella1122]

There is plenty to do at the lodge. There is a list of activities and times posted in the lobby and I believe another downstairs in the middle of Boma and Jiko.

 

[aljer]

We stayed there last April with three kids. We had plenty to do. The kids did the bead collection activities which are listed when and where in the Lobby. We stayed by the pool most of the day and they had a couple different craft projects that went on during the day. The kids loved the pool, it has one end that is zero entry and a slide that my 6yr old loved.
They also have a great playground by the pool. Walking around the hotel and looking out all the different observation windows is very fun. My son is into animals alot so we took the guide that is in the room listing all the animals that you could see and went around the hotel marking off the ones that we could find.
At night they have the story teller out by the fire and the nightvision goggles. They also have a music parade that starts in the gift shop. Each child gets to pick an instrument from the gift shop and use it around the lobby. They get a certificate when they are done.(The kids also then want you to buy the instrument)(HA HA).
Hope this info is helpful and have a wonderful time. AKL is a great place to stay.

 

[MegRN]

My family and I just returned 2 days ago. There is plenty to do in a whole day at the resort. The pool is great! A nice water slide for the kids (and some adults). There were 3 life guards on duty. There is also 2 spa tubs on each side of the rear area of the pool. There is an exercise facility. Apparently, they do some spa treatments there too. There is a jungle gym for the little ones. Many opportunities to see animals from all different points in the lodge. There is child care from 4p-12a in the Simba club. There is an arcade. Night binoculars to watch animals in the dark. There are also different activities around the lodge. The AKL also has one of the largest African art collections. Many of the pieces are amazing! There are 3 different resturants to choose from depending what you are in the mood for. Also, there is a store on the main level that sells Disney items, food items and items hand made in Africa. They also had some beautiful art work for sale. In the lobby and outside there are fire pits to sit around in rocking chairs.

If you have to opportunity to stay concierge I would recommend it. They got us reservations to CRT with 3 days notice! (That is probably the hardest ticket in town). We also did the breakfast safari which is amazing. It is a nice slow tour with lots of opportunities to take pictures. The guide with you is an actual person who works with animals and is very knowledgeable and helpful. We then ate a yummy breakfast buffet. Our guide came around the tables and answered more questions then gave us fast passes to kilamajaro safari ride.

The buses to the parks are quick. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. The buses do not stop at any other resort to pick up more people. It is a straight shot to where ever you are going.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[vod2117]

If you are staying there then yes there is enough to do like use the pool but if not, its just fun to watch the savannah outside the hotel buildings.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

We did a 10 night stay this past December and there was plenty to do for the two days we spent 'off' from the parks. In addition to all of the activities kids can do to earn 'beads', there are places to go watch the animals, relax in the pool, visit the spa, do the self-guided tour of all the wonderful African art spread around the resort. One Saturday my daughter went to the Bush Camp and had a wonderful fun-filled three hours while I explored the resort.

I wish we had more time to just stay and enjoy the resort!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We got there very early from the airport and our room was not ready. So we did the pool which is fantastic. Zero entry was great for our little one. The playground and 2 hot tubs are right there next to the pool as well as the Mara CS restarant. We took our food out to the tables by the pool to eat. They did the Flamingo feedings and it was funny to watch all the kids. Then we tried out the hottubs over at the sunset savannah. The CM there was very knowledgeable and told us the giraffe feeding was in a few minutes so we watched this from the hot tub. There were bead activities listed in the lobby. The kids can decorate cookies at 1pm daily and then trace the medallions in the lobby. There really was just a ton of stuff for the kids to do every day. I cant remember all of it but the sign was up in the lobby every morning of what to do at what time. I am sure you can occupy yourselves. Have fun!!!