AKL - Is Savannah View worth it?

[mlggator]

I am not sure if I can swing AKL, much less savannah view room this year, but I am thinking of giving it a try. Can anyone tell me if savannah view is worth the extra money? Do you really see a lot of animals? Do the animals come around often? Or is it more likely that may see one if you are lucky?

Thanks,
Michele

 

[OKW Lover]

While I can't address the value part of your question, I can tell you that you will indeed see animals for most anytime of the day. They put out food for the animals at various times during the day to make sure the animals stay close.

 

[Dawn68PA]

I'm giving it a try this year as I've read wonderful things about seeing animals all over the board. We're renting a villa from a DVC member so I've seen pics on those boards as well.

I hope you are able to swing it and have a grand time!

 

[Connor&Cody'sMom]

We thought it was worth the money to have the savanna view room. After a day in the crowded parks, it was nice to have your "own space"; your own private balcony to watch the animals. My younger DS was in awe. At night they had artificial moonlight, so you could sit on the balcony after a day in the parks - it was so peaceful and beautiful. I remember it was so quiet at times you could hear the animals chewing their food. We had animals outside our room all the time. We were on the Arusha Savanna.

 

[justhat]

You will see animals almost all the time from your room. We've stayed in rooms on every savannah and the only one we didn't care for too much was the Sunset savannah. We saw mostly birds during the day and some cattle at night, but the giraffes usually stayed far from our room. We could still see them, but not up close.

We have also stayed in a pool view at AKL, and while it was okay, it wasn't worth the money to stay at AKL for that view, to us. We don't hang out at the resort much, so we never really go to the savannah outlooks, so it's either the balcony or nothing for us. The pool view was pretty, and we got a super cheap AP rate for it, $149/night, but we would have just as well saved that money and stayed at POR or wherever as the pool view didn't do much for us.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Honestly, I think only you can answer that for yourself.

First of all, it's not like the animals come right up to your window. They are confined at some distance from the window of your room. And if you are higher up, you would see more, but be further up, so in that sense fartehr from them. It's not that they are very far, it's just that they don't like lick your window or anything.

Second, most of the time you can look out and see a number of them at any given time. Sometimes they are more remote, but they have put discreet feeding stations out so the animals are often near those areas, esp. at feeding time.

The two times I have stayed tehre, I had pool view, which was lovely. I could view the safari area from an outdoor lounge across the hall, more or less, from my room ( you may have to walk a little ways down the hall to it, but ours was right near the elevator) Our room was such that we had great pool and restaurant access, so that was a big plus. thre are some pool view rooms which are arcross the hall form the standard (parking lot view) roooms, so I imagine those rooms are not as nice. In either the cooler months, or even the hotter months, this in itself is worth paying extra over a moderate, where there are LONG outdoor walks to get from places to place (At all mods except POFQ, there is a lake in the middle of the resort, and you have to go around it or across it to get the pool/dining.)

We were told one of the two rooms we had was deluxe, but the difference was minor, just a different bathroom layout, as far as we could tell.

No matter where you stay you can go to the outside animal viewing areas (backside of resort ground level), but maybe from the standard rooms you probably won't do it too often. Also, they have activities for the kids all day long at this resort, so that is a bonus, too.

Although the transportation is strictly via bus, I've always found the busing to be very good. Our family has dined at Boma many times, so even when we weren't staying there we had to take the bus from there, and it's always been very quick.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

For us, the allure of AKL was the animals and the savannah view was a must.

We would probably not stay there without that view.

However, it's a fantastic resort so I recommend it - one view or another.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Honestly I enjoyed my pool view just as much as the savannah view. The pool view was closer to the lobby and very pretty. The savannah view had tons of animals but was far away. If it is gonna break the bank go with pool view and you can see the animals from all over the lodge. This is tied for our favorite resort with BW.

 

[Proud Papa of 3]

We love the Savannah view and have stayed there three times. This year to save money we are getting the pool view because there are 10 of us going. If anyone has stayed in a pool view room, let me know what you think.

Scott

 

[DisneyJosh]

Pool view rooms are great! Honestly I wouldn't pay the extra amount per night for the savanna view. There are so many places around the resort where the animals can be viewed that it's really not worth it. There are lookout areas everywhere and most have binoculars in case you want to see something up close or can't see it that far away.

 

[amycishere]

Honestly,for me, the Savannah view is a must. The hotel is so large, it is nice not having to look for all the windows and public viewing areas to find the animals.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR PERSONAL OPINION, only . . .

1) If we want to stay at AKL, it is for the animals.
2) With that in mind, I would want to see animals - often.
3) Thus, we would pay for Savannah View.

NOTE: This is our opinion. Other stay with a Pool View and are quite satisfied, as you can see animals from several non-room locations within the resort. But, I would want to see them from the room.

 

[JennsAStar]

we went last may, and had savannah view. it was so nice to wake up with animals! one day we had room service and sat on the balcony watching the animals! it was a nice change of pace! worth every penny!

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

We're staying in a STANDARD room at AKL in March -- DH has a conference and this is one of the conference hotels. I've always wanted to stay at AKL, but we had to book through the conference (it was almost half price) and the price was for a STANDARD instead of savannah. Once the reservation is in the system, I'm hoping to call and see what our options are, if any.

I'm just excited to be staying in a deluxe, even if I have a view of the parking lot!!!