AKL..are Savannah Rooms worth the exra $

[murphnjamie]

Hello! I've been watching this board for a while now, and am working to plan a trip within the next year and a half. I really want to try the AK this time as I love the Deluxe resorts and having younger kids we spend more time at the hotel than many families. But I am wondering is it is really worth it to pay close to $500 for a savannah room versus a standard. I would think (I've never been to there) that we would have lots of ways to see the animals without having them right outside our window, right? But I'm also concerned we would get stuck in a back corner somewhere and have to walk a mile to get anyplace. I'm just wondering what your veteran opinions are on this.

TIA!!

 

[mrsltg]

I wouldn't stay at the AKL without the savannah view. It's a lovely resort and the amenities are great but what truly MAKES the experience is stepping out on your balcony and seeing the animals. It's an amazing experience!

 

[BrianD]

Well, first of all, I'm not sure I'm misinterpreting what you said about being stuck in a back corner some where, but you would have a better chance of that by booking the Savannah room. Most of the standard view rooms are near the front of the resort and mostly tend to be closer to the lobby. I think that having a Savannah view room is kind of what Disney sells about AKL being so cool. But having said that, we've stayed there three times and have yet to stay in a Savannah View room. (To be honest, if we stay there it's usually for budget reasons. If we were going to spend that much on a room, I'd probably be over on the monorail or the Boardwalk/YC/BC area anyway.) There is a place where you can walk out and view the animals, and just the whole atmosphere of the resort is great, no matter what your view is. Just keep in mind that if you do book standard view, then you will pretty much be looking out at the parking lot. We even had a decent view of US-192 once! Pool view is nice if want a little better view without paying up for the Savannah View. Plus, you are guaranteed of being in a convenient location.

 

[PrejeanPrincess]

We are currently booked in 2 rooms at AKL, in Sept., in Savannah view bunk bed rooms, however, 2 pool view bunk bed rooms is $675 less than savannah view. We are generally in the park most all day. My question: is savannah view really worth the extra $$$? Any thoughts would be great, also pictures would be really awesome too. Thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mika911]

We are currently booked in 2 rooms at AKL, in Sept., in Savannah view bunk bed rooms, however, 2 pool view bunk bed rooms is $675 less than savannah view. We are generally in the park most all day. My question: is savannah view really worth the extra $$$? Any thoughts would be great, also pictures would be really awesome too. Thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pool view is not terrible, the animals just aren't there. The pool room would also give you a better chance at being close to lobby/exit, since the pool rooms are up there by the lobby.

$675 I think depends on you. For me, my trip coming up, I decided I wanted the standard view because saving that money was important to me. I don't know how long you can stare at the animals anyway, and I'll barely be in the room, but I'm not saying that view isn't out of the world. It is, just I decided at this point I'd rather save.

 

[MonorailNate]

We have stayed Savannah view at the AKL. I, personally, wouldn't do it again. Loved the resort but would rather have pool view. There are so many places that you can animal watch anyway. The savannah view wasn't that great. As a matter of fact we felt it was a little undisney. The area our balcony overlooked was kind of barren, not lush. At night you could see the highway and a chickfila sign. We've never seen any sign of the outside world at any other other resorts we've visited. It was kind of cool to watch the giraff and other animals but, as I said, we could watch those at many other spots. The pool view was beautiful. We would definitely stay at AKL again but would request pool view.

1999 - WL
2000 - WL
2002 - WL
2003 - CR & WL
2005 - AKL & WL
2006 - BC

 

[Goofyzgurl]

We're going on our anniversary trip in two months and we booked a savannah view. But of course, we plan on staying in our room a lot, just talking and stuff .

 

[jennib5426]

We got a free upgrade to a savannah room a few years back, but I wouldn't count on that now that this hotel is so popular. We booked a standard view and were upgraded to a top level savannah room. It was in Sept and the parks and hotels were not busy. (Pre free dining time)
I would say save you money, buy the time we got back to the room at night it was dark and you couldn't see anything on the savannah. In the morning we did see some animals but not enough to pay an extra $600. I would need to see dinasors for that money..
I really enjoyed the hotel regardless of the view from my room. The walk way in the lobby to the savannah would be enough for me.

 

[raven69david]

We got a free upgrade to a Savannah view room during Magical Beginnings last year and the view was awesome. If you're going during non-peak season, then you can politely ask, while you're checking-in, to see if they can upgrade your room to a savannah room view. I politely asked while striking up a conversation during check-in and i got it.

If you don't get upgraded, there are several places around the hotel where you can see the animals. Either way, it will be a great stay as the AKL lodge is amazing. The smell alone is worth it. (once you get there you'll see what i mean)

 

[SuperDuperBounce]

If you want a pool view and save money, why not just stay out in town at HoJo's? We've always stayed (3 times) with a Savannah view - of course we enjoy watching the animals. There are viewing area around the resort but there not as good as the room balcony views. Some good views are to be had from the outside stairwells but who wants to stand very long in a stairwell? It's not like you can sit down and have a cup of coffee while watching the animals from there.

Viewing from your room actually gives you a chance to see the different personalities in the animals. For instances, the pelicans seem to be parts of different mafias the way they cluster into gangs and have showdowns. I remember a particular Ankola cattle that would always sleep in the same spot each night. Speaking of night, some of the best viewing is at night. The lighting on the savannah is done up equivalent to a full moon. Once your eyes get adjusted, you can still watch the animals foraging.

If you're not that interested in watching the animals, a visit to any zoo would you the equivalent of public viewing areas so why pay to stay at AKL? You could get just as much staying at a monorail resort and simply visit AKL one evening.

 

[SuperDuperBounce]

We're going on our anniversary trip in two months and we booked a savannah view. But of course, we plan on staying in our room a lot, just talking and stuff .

Hmmm.....might be a good ideal keeping your curtains closed because there are binoculars and night vision devices all over the place not to mention the security cameras. These security cameras are not watching the savannah - they're watching the balconies for people smoking or dropping food and small children down to the animals.

 

[disneydance]

When we stay there next month we are staying in savaanah view room with bunk beds we were origginally staying in a pool view room w/ bunk beds but when we switchrd our ressies from AAA to Boeing travel (my dh works for boeing and they offer 20% off wdw) they said they only had savanniah view rooms and it was actually $50 cheaper than a pool view so we upgraded and now are very excited so are happy with our decisions

 

[PrejeanPrincess]

Okay next question, I decided to go with pool view bunk bed rooms, right now we are guarenteed savannah view bunk bed rooms, but they said that there was not an option to connect the pool bunk bed rooms with any other room. Has anyone ever heard of this? I know some say that there is no such thing as guarenteed connecting rooms, but we have had this guarenteed before and it works (it is on my confirmation I received in the mail, also, I am not trying to start "are there guarenteed connecting rooms or not"), just wondering if there are connecting pool view rooms at all, bunk beds or not, just connecting?

 

[hogue123]

We just got back from our first AKL stay. We LOVED it. We got an AP discount on the room and because of the discount, we were able to get a nice savannah view room pretty cheap. We absolutely loved it. We were not in the room much but when we were, we hung out on the balcony and watched the animals. I am not sure what area the other poster was in but at night we could see animals just fine from the room. They have some type of lighting in place to make it appear like there's a full moon. It's not pitch black out there on the savannah. There are a few areas around the resort for viewing animals but it's nice to be able to get up and see them from the privacy of your room. The kids really enjoyed it as well.

 

[PrejeanPrincess]

We just got back from our first AKL stay. We LOVED it. We got an AP discount on the room and because of the discount, we were able to get a nice savannah view room pretty cheap. We absolutely loved it. We were not in the room much but when we were, we hung out on the balcony and watched the animals. I am not sure what area the other poster was in but at night we could see animals just fine from the room. They have some type of lighting in place to make it appear like there's a full moon. It's not pitch black out there on the savannah. There are a few areas around the resort for viewing animals but it's nice to be able to get up and see them from the privacy of your room. The kids really enjoyed it as well.

If you did it over again and didn't get the AP discount, would you pay for the savannah view (full price)?

 

[Donald is #1]

I had a Savannah view room a couple of weeks ago and loved it! I also used an AP discount for a room.


Here are a few of pictures that were taken from my balconey on the Arusha Savannah.

For me, yes it would be worth the extra money. However, in my case, I saw more animals outside my room in the 3-6 PM time frame than in the 7-9 AM timeframe. So if you are going to be in the parks all day, I am not sure which option I would choose.
By the way, normally I do spend all day in the park (i.e. from opening to after the fireworks). But on this trip, it was so humid, I ended up going back to my room about 3 and then heading back to a park about 6.

 

[SuperDuperBounce]

However, in my case, I saw more animals outside my room in the 3-6 PM time frame than in the 7-9 AM time frame.

I've noticed over the years we've stayed at AKL (2003, 2005, 2006) that you see fewer animals in this time frame. Last stay I figured out why. I've always known that the animals spend 22 hours a day on the savannah and then go to the barns for feeding, vet care, and such. On the last day, I was revisiting various staircases taking some final pictures. From the staircase of the farthest wings off the Zebra trail I noticed all the animals from the Arusha savannah collecting in that area. On the hour (I think it may have been 9 a.m.), the keepers opened the gate between Arusha savannah and the barns and all the animals streamed through the gate. AKL opened in 2001 and it appears the animals have gotten use to the feeding time and start getting in line early (just like all us lining up minutes before the parks open).

 

[hogue123]

If you did it over again and didn't get the AP discount, would you pay for the savannah view (full price)?

If we had to pay full price we would not stay in the Savannah View. We could not afford to. All our other vacations to Disney were in standard rooms with no view. This was an exciting vacation for us because we were able to get a view for less than we'd pay for a standard without the discount. We loved the resort so much that we bought into the DVC for Animal Kingdom Villas.

 

[koobs]

For us the savannah view was absolutely worth the money. I could have spent the whole time just watching the animals and birds (especially the pelican gang). Here are some pictures from our balcony on the Arusha savannah.

The pelican gang hangout right below the balcony.

And looking to the left a little bit

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

Im torn on the AKL. When we stayed there, it was nice to watch the animals from the balcony, but all the animals were conditioned to go where the food is everyday. So I'd wake up and before I even opened the curtains I knew that the giraffes would be at one of the three trees that had feeders on them. Disney needs to add more feeders and change which ones they use on a daily basis so the animals have to walk around and search.

Not sure If I'd stay there again. Maybe?!