AK Lodge

[DizzDoll]

Hey all - been lurking for the past few weeks, as like everyone else at this time of year, I'm in the process of losing the remaining functioning brain cells I have left!!

Anyhoo - several questions re the AK Lodge, such as:

With the ME, does the resort share a bus or does it have its own.

For those who have stayed there, is a Concierge Room the way to go or would a standard suffice - I know it's basically personal/financial preference but we haven't stayed there before so any information is welcome. What's wonderful about the Concierge besides those fabu-sounding safaris?

When taking Disney Trans to the parks other than to the AK, approximately how long is the bus ride? How many stops does the bus make?

Are the busses dependable? An approximate wait time would be welcome.

In your truly honest opinion, is this resort worth it or should I stick with Pop? We've been to POFQ, POR, the CR and POP, and I'm basically on a fishing trip for a new resort to try, although we really enjoyed Pop.

Can I get an AA discount here? What about a Disney Visa Cardholder discount/rate?

When we stayed at the CR the bus went to the WL, Poly and the GF and I'm really not interested in touring the World, if ya know what I mean .

Thank you all for your input - negative as well as positive - and for the negatives, were there any positives to offset it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We love AKL. We'll be there in 2 weeks, and we'll be there again next summer.

ALL ME buses are shared. When we went to WL in August we were the 5th stop for our ME bus. I thought the max # of resorts for an ME bus was 3, but I was mistaken. When we have been to AKL in the past it is the 3rd stop for the ME bus. (This is coming FROM the airport, not going back.)

We've only done regular rooms - hopefully others will have concierge info!

The bus ride to the other parks is maybe 15 minutes. MK is the longest - it is maybe 20-25 minutes.

We have never had to wait very long for a bus. 10 minutes, maybe?

We love Pop, but we like AKL better. We like the bigger beds, coffee maker, and more space in the room. And you don't have to walk through the rain to get to the gift shop and restaurants!

You can get AAA and Annual Passholder discounts because we have had those before. I would assume you can also get Disney Visa discounts, but we just got our Visa a couple of months ago so we haven't tried that before.

I HATED that the buses at WL went all higgledy-piggledy before you got where you were going! AKL buses ONLY go to AKL, which is wonderful!

 

[teentoddlermom]

We loved AKL, and we had great bus service. No sharing with other resorts. They really do come every 15 min. We seemed to always catch the bus as it came. The criticisms about the resort being so far away are wrong. It is very near everything. The longest bus ride is to DTD or TL, about 20 min, MK is about 15 min, EP and DS about 10, and AK about 2. There is only one bus route with more than one stop, I do not remember which, but one sometimes stops at BB. BB is very close to AK and AKL.
I am disappointed at some of the other bus sharing we experienced at some of the deluxe resorts. GF shared with WL and Cont for a lot of routes.
Can't help you with ME and Concierge.
We loved this resort, it was unique and a must see for at least once. The animals were interesting, the architecture of the resort is fascinating, and the pool is great.
Only slight criticisms I have were:
1. No quiet pool.
2. The Mara is too small for the size of the resort. Too crowded.

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

We're staying at AKL for the first time in February. So I can't give you any exact info on the resort, but I can tell you that there was a Disney Visa cardholder promo going on for the dates I'm staying -- BUT they had already booked all the rooms they were going to with the promo. But they hadn't booked all the rooms for WL with the promo, and I could save over $650 by switching resorts.

Talked to hubby about it, but he was determined to stay at AKL.

 

[heatherlynn444]

we are going to be there in 2 weeks for the first time and are very excited!

concierge services has a few perks some people think it is worth it, some dont. they have differnt foods they put out during teh day, breakfast, etc. these are not full meals though. also, if you stay concierge, the IPO office of that resort will book all your ADR's for you and take care of any other little thing you may need.

we are staying in a standard room due to finacial reasons. i ahve stayed concierge twice at the GF and loved it, it is just not possible for us this trip (husband in law school makes a LOT of things financially not possible, but thats neither here nor there)

good luck!

 

[MinnieCandi]

We stayed at the AKL for the first time in November. It was wonderful.

As for the ME, We were the 3rd (and last) stop. It stopped at CS and one of the Pop resorts. On the way back to the airport, we did not stop anywhere. Just went straight to the airport.

We stayed in a standard room with no concierge. IMHO, as long as you get the savanna view, nothing else matters. We had the best view ever during our stay and would only get the savanna view again. The special safari's do sound wonderful, but they are extra money as well.

The buses were fantastic. They came often and we never shared a bus with another resort. We must have been lucky because at AKL, we never waited more than 5 minutes for any bus, any where...At the parks we never waited more than 10 minutes to get back (most waits were less than 10 minutes). The bus to MGM also stops at BB, but BB is so close that it was not bad at all. The buses were very dependable and very quick to return to AKL. I don't think we were on any bus for more than 20 minutes and that was to Downtown Disney.

This resort was great! It was really worth it to us to stay there and see all the different animals right from our own private balcony! The gift shop, check in, the CM's, everything was perfect! Definately worth staying here!

And lastly, I know that you are allowed to use discounts if they are available during the time of your trip. We used one for ours!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Our only issue with AKL was the buses. We actually found the buses to be WAY fewer and far between than at POP. I don't know if this is because we went in September so- due to low crowds- they sent fewer buses. We particularly had a problem in the mornings for the "breakfast bus" One day we seriously waited 40 minutes for a MK bus for our CRT ADR. We had to ask the Epcot bus driver to call a bus for us since we were waiting so long. I think this was a fluke that day but overall I wasn't too thrilled with the bus services LEAVING AKL. Leaving the parks, we never had to wait to long...which was nice.

 

[monami7]

We have stayed there and Always eat at Boma no matter where we stay. The gift shop is my favorite on property and basically has decorated my LR at home! I have only driven past POP but to me there is no ccomparison. AKL is the BEST!
The busses have never been an issue. There has always been one for wherever we are going withing 10 minutes.
I say stay at AKL you won't regret it.
Heidi

 

[DizzDoll]

Hey everyone! Thanks for your responses. I'm going to do what we did last year and do a split stay - the first 5 days at Pop and then the second 5 days at the AKL. I'm fairly confident that the busses won't be an issue in August when half the planet usually decides to visit. We've wanted to try Boma for a while now, and next year we can! Since the Lodge is pretty much off the beaten path, I really did want to know if it was worth a stay, and it seems like it is! Can you walk to the AK from the Lodge or is it too far? Monami7, your little Princess is just adorable!!!! Give her a big hug for me.

 

[girt25]

You can't walk to AK, it's a 5 minute bus ride.

The biggest drawback to AKL it's distance from everything else on property, and to me, that's offset by.. well it's distance from everything else on property. I grumble about it during the extra 10 minutes it takes to get to a park or DTD, and I grumble about it on the way back. The 14 -16 hours a day I'm at AKL thou, I just love how the remoteness enhances the resort. You really get to leave the hustle and bustle behind (except at boma). Personally, i'll take the 14 hours vs. 20 minutes.