AKL LITE unofficial FAQ thread#10 - I believe that's known as a 'Jambo Dozen'

[la la limon]

BTW, just to add....You picked a great resort, and also a great ADR too... Have fun at both..

Thank you! So, so excited for this trip. August can't come soon enough!

 

[kimmar067]

Thank you! So, so excited for this trip. August can't come soon enough!

...it can for me...if it's August, that means I only have a few weeks before school begins again....

 

[kimmar067]

Evening,

Have any of you ever had to return to AKL after a dinner res at Ohana's? Not sure if I should monorail back to the park OR the TTC to catch the bus back to the hotel. Any insight is appreciated!

Thanks,

Amy

....depending upon what time dinner ends for you, you can walk [or take a monorail] from the Poly to the TTC and get a bus back to AKL...or, you could take the monorail to MK, but personally, I think the walk from the monorail station to the MK bus depot is longer than that of the TTC monorail station to those bus stops....

 

[gwynne]

I just booked an ADR for 1900 Park Fare at 7:00 pm. I'm thinking the best way to get there is by cab...right! Do I have to call that cab ahead of time? Or is there someone at AKL I can tell?

Thanks!

I was just at AKL last week and used a cab a few times. If you go out the front doors of the resort, there are folks working with unloading luggage from arriving guests. Tell them you need a cab, they will get one for you. There generally are cabs close by they hail, or they call and they are there pretty quick. I usually try to allow about an hour for travel to another resort for dinner, even with a cab. It's just easier that way. My cab fares from GF and Poly back to AKL were around 21.00.

 

[la la limon]

....depending upon what time dinner ends for you, you can walk [or take a monorail] from the Poly to the TTC and get a bus back to AKL...or, you could take the monorail to MK, but personally, I think the walk from the monorail station to the MK bus depot is longer than that of the TTC monorail station to those bus stops....

Good to know--I love to walk, though my little ones tire much quicker than I do!

 

[la la limon]

...it can for me...if it's August, that means I only have a few weeks before school begins again....

A teacher, I guess! I recall that feeling--I taught for a few years but have been home with my little ones since. Think it's time to hop back on the horse ;-)

 

[psac]

I was just at AKL last week and used a cab a few times. If you go out the front doors of the resort, there are folks working with unloading luggage from arriving guests. Tell them you need a cab, they will get one for you. There generally are cabs close by they hail, or they call and they are there pretty quick. I usually try to allow about an hour for travel to another resort for dinner, even with a cab. It's just easier that way. My cab fares from GF and Poly back to AKL were around 21.00.

Ditto this. We were at Kidani at the end towards Jambo, and we found if we went out the Kidani lobby it took a while for them to call a cab, but if we walked over to the Jambo entrance (which we think was actually closer for us), the cabs were really quick, usually there was one waiting there already.

 

[kimmar067]

A teacher, I guess! I recall that feeling--I taught for a few years but have been home with my little ones since. Think it's time to hop back on the horse ;-)

 

[GirlGoneTexan]

Just returned home late last night - great trip!!!

I assume we were upgraded because we had a standard AKL room booked, but had a nice view of the Sunset Savannah... saw giraffes, ostriches, and a few other animals from our balcony which was AWESOME! Also not a far walk to lobby, which was nice, and it was on the same level (3rd floor) which was convenient.

There was one big Disney transport FAIL... yesterday morning around 9am trying to get to Animal Kingdom, apparently the bus coming from Kidani was full, so they bypassed. We waited 45 minutes for a bus. A transport person came out and apologized, but people were really angry. The crowd waiting was large, so they couldn't fit everyone on the first bus, luckily they had a second one (empty) right behind it.

Buses were so-so. Typically waited the longest for MK buses for some reason (20 mins on avg, took it 4 times to MK), waited only about 5 -10 for Epcot & HS.

Wasn't crazy about how the pool set up is as far as the chairs/deck area. We did a half day at HS and returned to hit the pool around 3pm. All the chairs around the pool were "saved" so we ended up in the shade so we could be close to where the kids were swimming. But it is a nice (huge!) pool and the lifeguards seemed VERY attentive.

Wish we could have had more time to spend in the resort, but we had some long days at the parks on our short trip. Hindsight, I probably would have preferred Boma or Jiko over some of the Character dining we did.

Most exciting thing on our trip - we were on the Kali River Rapids yesterday and right at the top of the big hill, our boat started taking on water. They shut the whole ride down, drained the river down to a few inches (took about 20 mins), and then they came with ladders to get us off the ride. We had to walk down the river through a few inches of water to the back exit, through operations area. Shut the ride down for 2 hrs. Crazy!!!

 

[AngiTN]

Just returned home late last night - great trip!!!

I assume we were upgraded because we had a standard AKL room booked, but had a nice view of the Sunset Savannah... saw giraffes, ostriches, and a few other animals from our balcony which was AWESOME! Also not a far walk to lobby, which was nice, and it was on the same level (3rd floor) which was convenient.

There was one big Disney transport FAIL... yesterday morning around 9am trying to get to Animal Kingdom, apparently the bus coming from Kidani was full, so they bypassed. We waited 45 minutes for a bus. A transport person came out and apologized, but people were really angry. The crowd waiting was large, so they couldn't fit everyone on the first bus, luckily they had a second one (empty) right behind it.

Buses were so-so. Typically waited the longest for MK buses for some reason (20 mins on avg, took it 4 times to MK), waited only about 5 -10 for Epcot & HS.

Wasn't crazy about how the pool set up is as far as the chairs/deck area. We did a half day at HS and returned to hit the pool around 3pm. All the chairs around the pool were "saved" so we ended up in the shade so we could be close to where the kids were swimming. But it is a nice (huge!) pool and the lifeguards seemed VERY attentive.

Wish we could have had more time to spend in the resort, but we had some long days at the parks on our short trip. Hindsight, I probably would have preferred Boma or Jiko over some of the Character dining we did.

Most exciting thing on our trip - we were on the Kali River Rapids yesterday and right at the top of the big hill, our boat started taking on water. They shut the whole ride down, drained the river down to a few inches (took about 20 mins), and then they came with ladders to get us off the ride. We had to walk down the river through a few inches of water to the back exit, through operations area. Shut the ride down for 2 hrs. Crazy!!!

We had a similar issue with a bus when staying at Pop. We were leaving HS and heading back to Pop at the end of the night. Buses came and went for every other resort, 2-3 for each. None for Pop. Line got huge and it was going on 45 min after the park closed. Finally 3 buses came all at once with Pop on them. No one ever explained anything but clearly something was forgotten somewhere. That was the only other trip we've used buses rather than our car.

I'll admit I'm terrified of being at their mercy again. I don't want another incident like that, especially after a long and tiring park day. I'm seriously contemplating renting a car

 

[GirlGoneTexan]

I'll admit I'm terrified of being at their mercy again. I don't want another incident like that, especially after a long and tiring park day. I'm seriously contemplating renting a car

Yes. We actually said on our next trip, we'll probably either rent a car if we stayed at AKL again, or stay at a monorail/boat resort like Polynesian.

 

[aaturner]

We are staying at the AKL in June for 10 Days and I am planning to ship a box to be there when we arrive. I know I need to mail it directly to AKL and put my name and reservation number on it. But how far ahead should I mail it? I need to make sure it is there before us, but didn't know if having it arrive too many days ahead of us would be a problem. I have never done this before. TIA

 

[AngiTN]

We are staying at the AKL in June for 10 Days and I am planning to ship a box to be there when we arrive. I know I need to mail it directly to AKL and put my name and reservation number on it. But how far ahead should I mail it? I need to make sure it is there before us, but didn't know if having it arrive too many days ahead of us would be a problem. I have never done this before. TIA

Where are you shipping from and how are you shipping it? I would call them. I use software for both PO and UPS and they both give delivery estimates when I enter the shipping info. If their websites can do it I'm sure their reps on the phone can. Probably 3-5 days, depending on distance and method.

 

[Best Aunt]

We are staying at the AKL in June for 10 Days and I am planning to ship a box to be there when we arrive. I know I need to mail it directly to AKL and put my name and reservation number on it. But how far ahead should I mail it? I need to make sure it is there before us, but didn't know if having it arrive too many days ahead of us would be a problem. I have never done this before. TIA

Are you using the Post Office? If so, my understanding is that it will go to a central sorting facility before being taken to the resort, so you need to leave extra time for that. If you ship FedEx or UPS, it goes straight to the resort.

And by the way, I have shipped to AKL as well as other Disney resorts. I never include my reservation number and I have never had a problem. If you use FedEx, there isn't room on the shipping label for your reservation number.

I would, however, indicate whether you are going to be at Jambo House or Kidani Village, so your package is taken to the correct building.

When you go to ship the box, don't forget to take the resort phone number (which can be found on the Disney website). It seems like all of the shipping forms ask for the recipient's phone number.

 

[aaturner]

Where are you shipping from and how are you shipping it? I would call them. I use software for both PO and UPS and they both give delivery estimates when I enter the shipping info. If their websites can do it I'm sure their reps on the phone can. Probably 3-5 days, depending on distance and method.

And Best Aunt (sorry I don't know how to quote more than one person) I am shipping the box UPS from Dallas, TX.

Thanks for your help!

 

[iona]

I was just about to complete online check in when I hit the room request bit (we've got a DVC Studio at Jambo House with a savanna view). My options are:
- Corner Room
- Arusha Savanna View
- Kudu Trail View
- Near Lobby
- Near Elevator
- Sunset Savanna View

Arusha will give me giraffes and zebras right? So I think I'm going to pick that one. What I'm not sure about though is "Corner Room" - what are the advantages/disadvantages of this?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

[kimmar067]

I was just about to complete online check in when I hit the room request bit (we've got a DVC Studio at Jambo House with a savanna view). My options are:
- Corner Room
- Arusha Savanna View
- Kudu Trail View
- Near Lobby
- Near Elevator
- Sunset Savanna View

Arusha will give me giraffes and zebras right? So I think I'm going to pick that one. What I'm not sure about though is "Corner Room" - what are the advantages/disadvantages of this?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

...I'm guessing that it'd mean the corner of each 'pod' (section of building) and I don't see it as necessarily an advantage OR disadvantage....Arusha Savannah is a great location so I would pick that. However, I'd also pick Near Elevator, which provides great access to most areas of Jambo House...

 

[iona]

...I'm guessing that it'd mean the corner of each 'pod' (section of building)

Hmm, I wonder if that would result in a bigger balcony?

 

[DizDaD7]

I was just about to complete online check in when I hit the room request bit (we've got a DVC Studio at Jambo House with a savanna view). My options are:
- Corner Room
- Arusha Savanna View
- Kudu Trail View
- Near Lobby
- Near Elevator
- Sunset Savanna View

Arusha will give me giraffes and zebras right? So I think I'm going to pick that one. What I'm not sure about though is "Corner Room" - what are the advantages/disadvantages of this?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Corner room would mean at least no neighbors on 1 side of you, If thats a big issue or not?

 

[AngiTN]

I was just about to complete online check in when I hit the room request bit (we've got a DVC Studio at Jambo House with a savanna view). My options are:
- Corner Room
- Arusha Savanna View
- Kudu Trail View
- Near Lobby
- Near Elevator
- Sunset Savanna View

Arusha will give me giraffes and zebras right? So I think I'm going to pick that one. What I'm not sure about though is "Corner Room" - what are the advantages/disadvantages of this?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Don't the corner rooms overlook the feeding/holding areas? I thought I read that somewhere on here