RadioFanatic
Mouseketeer<br><font color=6d6b70>SO not a jewelry
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2005
- Messages
- 4,410
Just got back from an 11 day WDW/DCL trip on 12/6. Probably one of the best trips we have ever had and we were lucky enough to stay in two studios - BLT (lake view) and AKL-Jambo (savannah). Thought I would discuss both and give my opinions.
We first stayed in BLT from 11/26-11/28. We stayed the night before at ASMovies so we got there at 9 am. Shockingly, they could give us a room righ away if we didn't mind non MK side. We decided to wait (we got in about 3 pm) and we got the MOST AMAZING room - 7708. View of MK and Bay lake. We loved the studio itself. Even with three of us, one needing a pack-n-play, we thought there was a ton of room. There was a great spot across the hall from the kitchen/sink area to place the pnp in the alcove in front of the connecting door. We didn't mind the kitchen configuration at all and the bathroom door didn't even bother us. Thought the room was in great condition and the access to MK and the other resorts was so nice and made everything easy! We had reservations at the Luau, Ohana's, CP and CRT and it was so nice to only have to leave the room 15-20 minutes early to get to them instead of the plus hour we usually have to! We also didn't mind the pool - the slides were perfect for my two year old and the splash area was a hit with him and a hit with us bc I could sit on a lounge chair reading my book while watching him have a blast - and I don't get to sit like that often as parents of two year olds know!
We then spent 12/2-12/6 at AKL in Jambo - fifth floor about 10 doors down from Mariah Carey. The check in was awful bc they just started a new computer system the night before and everything was a mess. Took over an hour just to check in bc they couldn't print cards at all. Room ready at 12:38 pm (we checked in at 9:30 am as we came from a DCL cruise). Room was bigger than BLT but much darker and I didn't like the spot we had to place the pnp in as much - not out of the way like we could at BLT. Also didn't like the light system. the lights by the bed could only be turned on by a switch which also turned on other lights which made it too bright for DS to sleep. Wish you could just use the bedside lights alone. Did like the fan. Not the fault of AKL, but bc it was so cold, the animals just weren't out so our using extra points on savannah view was wasted. The four nights there, just saw one zebra, one giraffe on one day each, one bull each day, and a ton of birds.
The bus system at AKL was ATROCIOUS!!!! We were at JAMBO, so we were picked up to go to the parks after Kidani and then Kidani was dropped off first so they got the better end of the deal. One morning, trying to get to Epcot (and a lot of people were waiting), we had two buses pull up already filled to capacity from Kidani. We finally took a taxi to Epcot after waiting for 45 minutes with no success and concerned it would just continue that way. And that's just one bus example. Other buses took forever to get there, people weren't giving up their seats for parents holding little children so they didn't have to stand and hold their kids at the same time (this happened to dh twice with our 34 pound 2 year old - I always gave my seat up to a parent), and it just seemed to take too long to get anywhere.
So my final verdict? Dh and I both decided BLT just made life at WDW easier. And we really enjoyed the room and had no issues with it. And to watch wishes at night from the comfort of our balcony? Priceless. It has become our favorite resort by far. While AKL was nice, it just wasn't for us.
We first stayed in BLT from 11/26-11/28. We stayed the night before at ASMovies so we got there at 9 am. Shockingly, they could give us a room righ away if we didn't mind non MK side. We decided to wait (we got in about 3 pm) and we got the MOST AMAZING room - 7708. View of MK and Bay lake. We loved the studio itself. Even with three of us, one needing a pack-n-play, we thought there was a ton of room. There was a great spot across the hall from the kitchen/sink area to place the pnp in the alcove in front of the connecting door. We didn't mind the kitchen configuration at all and the bathroom door didn't even bother us. Thought the room was in great condition and the access to MK and the other resorts was so nice and made everything easy! We had reservations at the Luau, Ohana's, CP and CRT and it was so nice to only have to leave the room 15-20 minutes early to get to them instead of the plus hour we usually have to! We also didn't mind the pool - the slides were perfect for my two year old and the splash area was a hit with him and a hit with us bc I could sit on a lounge chair reading my book while watching him have a blast - and I don't get to sit like that often as parents of two year olds know!
We then spent 12/2-12/6 at AKL in Jambo - fifth floor about 10 doors down from Mariah Carey. The check in was awful bc they just started a new computer system the night before and everything was a mess. Took over an hour just to check in bc they couldn't print cards at all. Room ready at 12:38 pm (we checked in at 9:30 am as we came from a DCL cruise). Room was bigger than BLT but much darker and I didn't like the spot we had to place the pnp in as much - not out of the way like we could at BLT. Also didn't like the light system. the lights by the bed could only be turned on by a switch which also turned on other lights which made it too bright for DS to sleep. Wish you could just use the bedside lights alone. Did like the fan. Not the fault of AKL, but bc it was so cold, the animals just weren't out so our using extra points on savannah view was wasted. The four nights there, just saw one zebra, one giraffe on one day each, one bull each day, and a ton of birds.
The bus system at AKL was ATROCIOUS!!!! We were at JAMBO, so we were picked up to go to the parks after Kidani and then Kidani was dropped off first so they got the better end of the deal. One morning, trying to get to Epcot (and a lot of people were waiting), we had two buses pull up already filled to capacity from Kidani. We finally took a taxi to Epcot after waiting for 45 minutes with no success and concerned it would just continue that way. And that's just one bus example. Other buses took forever to get there, people weren't giving up their seats for parents holding little children so they didn't have to stand and hold their kids at the same time (this happened to dh twice with our 34 pound 2 year old - I always gave my seat up to a parent), and it just seemed to take too long to get anywhere.
So my final verdict? Dh and I both decided BLT just made life at WDW easier. And we really enjoyed the room and had no issues with it. And to watch wishes at night from the comfort of our balcony? Priceless. It has become our favorite resort by far. While AKL was nice, it just wasn't for us.
