AKL dining question for value resort vacationer

[bwatlas]

OK, I'm doing a grand gathering in June 2009. We have one last dining meal to plan, and of course, we can't agree. Me and SIL families want AKL, but for some reason my sister (who seems to be in control of everything for this trip, and planning everything else) thinks that if you can't ride the monorail, it isn't worth going to. I however, have been reading and learning from DISers, and am pretty confident I can figure out how to get a bus to go there, and don't see it as that big of a deal. I mean, it has been since 1986 since I've been to WDW, right?!
So, my question is, is it going to be that big of a deal and/or hassle to go there for one meal? We plan to do it on a night where we have no other big plans, and aren't rushed. Will we be able to see animals or at least get a 'taste' of AKL?
I have suggested, since we have one meal left where all 11 of us are NOT together, maybe we should take one meal to go off on our own. I want to be sure that my nephew, 5, and DD, 16, will be able to see some kind of animal, possibly. Any info, input and/or suggestions? Will it be worth it?
Thanks!

 

[squirrel]

I would go if you are interested in the restaurant and seeing the resort.

We went to other resorts just to eat-they were on the monorail and we were at Pop. I would like to try going to AKL or the WL this next trip.

 

[webray]

Let your sister eat on her own, and you take whoever wants to go over to AKL for dinner. Jiko is excellent, Boma is the best buffet on disney property, and yes, it is worth it just to see the lodge and the animals.

The place is fantastic!

Depending on how many of you there are, I would consider a cab though. Load everyone in and head over!

 

[septbaby]

You don't have to wait for your sister to plan it, you can make a reservation for Boma dinner, you don't have to do every dinner together. Boma is the best buffet Disney has to offer. There is no guarantee that you will see animals, but there is plenty to enjoy at the Lodge anyway. We did see some giraffes back at the overlook beyond the pool area.

If your sister is sticking just to monorail places you'll miss a lot of the good stuff.

 

[Pakey]

While we love BOMA and Jiko, if I had to ride the buses to and from there for dinner, I would not go. It's a long ride, esp after dinner when everyone is full. We always grab a cab.

We do not see many animals, if any, at night.

I agree with PPs on doing every meal together. We are going on a GG in 4 weeks that I planned and we are only doing about 30% of our meals together.

 

[pinkerbell]

If you are staying at an All Star Value AKL is probably the closest place to go other than the food court. Boma is by far our favorite buffet (biergarten is a close second). Look to the map section, All Star Resorts are considered AK resorts when following the traffic signs

just do it

 

[pinkerbell]

here's a link for the property

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm

bottom left is AKL and the three all star values 26 27 28- to the right a bit is POP 31 AKL is 30

 

[MickeyNicki]

I would go out of my way to eat breakfast at Boma and dinner at Jiko....both meals are just incredible

 

[Wendi2000]

I would definitely go. You might want to plan to go right over after a day at the Animal Kingdom - the bus literally takes about 5 minutes from AK to AKL. You will love seeing the animals, you can see them while it is still light out if you go looking before dinner and you can go out and use the night vision scopes after your meal for a whole different picture. It is very cool, the kids and grown-ups will absolutely love it.

Jiko and Boma are two of our very favorite restaurants in all of WDW, you really can't go wrong with either of them.

After dinner, you can either take a bus back to one of the parks or DTD and then another bus or the monorail back to your resort, it's really not that big of a deal. If your sister can't pull herself away from the monorail line, I would wave goodbye to her as she rides off and hope she enjoys her meal as much as you will enjoy yours. I do understand that it is convenient, but I would hate to limit myself when there is so much more out there.

 

[bwatlas]

I would definitely go. You might want to plan to go right over after a day at the Animal Kingdom - the bus literally takes about 5 minutes from AK to AKL. You will love seeing the animals, you can see them while it is still light out if you go looking before dinner and you can go out and use the night vision scopes after your meal for a whole different picture. It is very cool, the kids and grown-ups will absolutely love it.

Jiko and Boma are two of our very favorite restaurants in all of WDW, you really can't go wrong with either of them.

After dinner, you can either take a bus back to one of the parks or DTD and then another bus or the monorail back to your resort, it's really not that big of a deal. If your sister can't pull herself away from the monorail line, I would wave goodbye to her as she rides off and hope she enjoys her meal as much as you will enjoy yours. I do understand that it is convenient, but I would hate to limit myself when there is so much more out there.

AND.. see, it's been since 1986 since I've been there, and I am still learning about where everything is, and this poster made me realize that there is an AK theme park! SO... Why, exactly, would it be out of the way to go, again??
So, yes we are there in June 2009!

 

[henrylovespooh]

When we stayed at All Star Movies, we took a taxi over to Boma at AKL - we loved it so much we did it again later that stay! The cab ride was not expensive and made the trip much quicker. I think it was around 10 dollars, but don't quote me on it.

In addition to dinner, you can check out the hotel and the animals. I thought it was a wonderful evening and would highly recommend it.

That's your best option for dinner because AKL closes early.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Why not make it easy? On the day you go to Animal Kingdom, enjoy the park and then take the AKL bus to the resort. You can have dinner and then walk around. Take the bus to the nearest park and then go back to your resort from there.

Both Boma and Jiko are 100% worth a trip to. There are tons of others that I recommend regularly that are not on the monorail loop. I'd consider visiting them!

 

[TDC Nala]

If your sister is planning to go only to places on the monorail line, she is not going to see very much of Walt Disney World.

 

[ShannonMB]

AND.. see, it's been since 1986 since I've been there, and I am still learning about where everything is, and this poster made me realize that there is an AK theme park!

Oh, my dear sister, you have so much to learn!!! Lucky you are in the right place!!!

There is an Animal Kingdom park, chock full of animals, so you don't have to worry about the kiddies getting to see the animals. There are also a lot of other cool things to do there. If I were you, I would probably get a book about all WDW has to offer these days and stay on this board. YOU ARE GOING TO BE BLOWN AWAY!! (at least I was when I went in Oct 07 -- first trip since the 80s). 4 theme parks, all awesome in their own rite, and wonderful restaurants!

I would (definitely) plan on going to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check it out and eat! Boma is fantastic!!!! And such a different experience! We are going there the evening we go to Animal Kingdom park. We will take the resort bus from the park to the lodge (easy!). Then after dinner, our choices are to take a bus BACK to a theme park, then another bus to our resort, OR (what we will do) take a cab from the Lodge back to our resort -- All Star Movies. We did this last time with a group of 7. They had a cab/van, and it cost us $6.

Please keep posting your questions here. These nice folks can really help you!! And congrats! It's your first trip in so long, but I bet it won't be your last!

 

[ryanmcin]

It is worth going. The meals there are always great and it is a great resort to explore. I suggest taking a cab back to your hotel, we have taken a cab from AKL to Port Orleans and it is only about $15-18, the values are even closer so the ride would be less. There is nothing fun about having to hop from bus to bus to get back to your hotel.