AKL - pros and cons of a Standard room please

[pooh2001]

AKL - pool seems nice. We can be on the dining package if we stay at a WDW resort (so no stay at the Dolphin )

AKL Standard may all we can afford.
We do have to request bunkbeds (and pay for them).
DD will be 14 and DS will be 17 - no good sleeping in same bed.

How is the view from an AKL Standard room ?
Any noise from a Standard room view ?
Long walk to the buses, food court or pool ?


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From another website it says:
Standard View - then Water/Pool View then Water/Pool View w/Bunk

So do we have to pay for a water view to have a bunk-bed ?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any help wil be appreciated.

Thank you and Happy 2008

 

[BigOnDis]

From what I understand, you have to get at least a pool view to get bunk beds, maybe someone else will know for sure.

As far as the Standard room goes, the location is good as they are centrally located, so they are close to everything.

One of the best things about the Standard rooms are that quite often you get a free upgrade to pool or savanna view. But if you want to guarantee, and I totally understand with teenagers, then you might want to consider going up to the pool view.

 

[marivaid]

I could be wrong but I'm fairly certain that they do not have Standard view rooms with bunk beds. Only Pool or Savannah views.

We were in a Standard at AKL in October and the view was very bad (rain gutter!!) but that didn't keep us from loving the resort. Although, when we come back, I will probably book at least a pool view. The main advantage of standard view was that we were close to the elevators, lobby, and bus stop.

 

[Ali]

I think that after just being there for 2 days and being booked into a standard room but by a pixie dust miracle and an hour wait during check in and the fact that I printed out the DVC rooms chart and showed the Cm that the room they were putting me in was a value not a standard and then getting a fantastic savannah room for the problems they had , my trip would have left me regretting the decision to have a standard room instead of paying more for the animal view.

The resort itself was fantastic and there were places to sit and see the animals, but the concept of sitting on the balcony whenever I wanted in my pajamas and seeing the animals was incredible, so much so I can't imagine staying there again without a savannah view guaranteed.

So, just keep in mind how you will feel in a room looking at a parking lot, construction, or roof and see how much money you really saved and make your decision accordingly.

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

We stayed in a standard view room in Dec. and it was great! I asked about being upgraded when we checked in but they were booked solid for the first night. We could have changed to savannah on the second day for $70 a night but after we got to our room we decided that it was fine....it was on the zebra trail on the first floor at the very end of the hall right by the outside door. Right outside the door was a hot tub, the pool and to the left was a savannah where we saw all kinds of animals including giraffes and the flamingo area was close too. There was a picnic table right by the savannah where we had our breakfast several mornings and enjoyed viewing the animals. Our view from the balcony was of some foliage. The mara was pretty close also. It was a little bit of a walk to the lobby and bus stops but not too bad.

If you have to stay standard....I would recomend this area.....I think our room was 1463.

 

[Disney grandma]

We had a bunk bed standard view room and our view was of the parking lot. However, it was very quiet, close to the elevator to the pool and bus, and close to the gift shop. We have also stayed in a savannah view room and it is very nice, but we are going in 2008 and have requested a standard view room. There are so many places to view the animals that we are not splurging on an upgrade.

 

[DaisyLynn]

We stayed in Giraffe trail, 3rd floor, all the way to the end, closest to the busses (room 3036, maybe). We had a large group we were traveling with, and the family that was in the room next to ours had bunk beds. We were both standard view (had a view of the driveway)...but it really didn't bother me at all. We were close to the lobby, pool and the busses. Oh, so close to the busses! After a long day in the parks, it was a very quick walk to the "secret door" as the kids liked to call it, up the stairs and then steps away from the room.

Whenever we end up back at AKL, I will be requesting this same area of the resort, standard view. It was the perfect location, IMO!

 

[dbarker]

We have had 3 different type rooms.

The first was pool view (complimentary upgrade). It was very nice.

The second was Savannah view (we paid extra for this). We didn't see many animals -- mainly 3 or 4 cows (I'm from Texas and cows don't impress me)

The third was a standard view. This room actualy had a view of 2 different Savannahs and a "people pen". We saw more animals there than w/ the Savannah view.

We will never again pay extra for a Savannah view--it is not worth it to us. Even if we get a view of the parking lot, we will be happy.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I had a standard bunk bed room at AKL. It was on the 4th floor, like only the 3rd or 4th room from the lobby area elevators. My balcony was enclosed, and overlooked the front of the building and parking lot. I could always see lots of cars coming and dropping off luggage. I never used the balcony since there was a wasp's nest on it, and I never had time to go out there anyways. This was back in 2001, so no idea if the bunk beds have been moved. But if I stay at AKL again, I would get pool or savannah. I had pool view there twice, and absolutely loved it! I am a bit tired of always getting the parking lot view, so nowadays I rather splurge and upgrade!

 

[becka]

We had a standard room with bunk beds back in 2006. It was a room overlooking the lobby with a view from the balcony of the front of the resort and the parking lot. We were only there 2 nights so maybe this made a difference but when we went out to see the animals in the mornings in the public areas they animals were always away where we could not see them because they were cleaning the savannahs. We were very disappointed. I think maybe you really need a Savannah view to see many animals unless you plan on hanging around the resort for hours at a time. We just wanted to take 15-20 minutes or so in the mornings and just missed out.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I was under the impression that there were NO standard rooms with bunk beds, but that's what we had Dec. 12-16! Room 4009, with a stunning view of the taxi stand! My biggest concern with standard view is that it will be noisy, but our room was very quiet. I didn't ask for bunk beds, they told me at check-in that's what was in the room, which was fine. DS11 likes bunk beds.

 

[jaysbabe]

We have stayed at AKL twice this year. The first in Jan was in pool view room. It was actually pretty noisy for us (we had a 3 yo with us) at night because people were swimming late at night.

When we stayed in Dec, we had a standard room but our view was over Mara and the water below. It was nice and quiet. I would suggest that you ask for a courtyard room/no parking lot when you book the room.

We enjoyed our stay and really didn't spend much time in the room either time.

There is so much going on at the resort that you can keep busy, see the animals and find quiet places to relax.

Enjoy your visit!!

 

[septbaby]

Check the pricing it cost us $10 a night to upgrade to a pool view. Bunk beds appear to cost $20-25 more. I'd spend the $10 for a pool view and forget the bunks. Based on your question the view is a concern for your enjoyment and I think you're worth the extra $10.

The beds are queens so the teens should be able to share; even if they're large teens. Honestly the queen is probably more comfortable than the bunks would be for them anyway. However, you know your kids and how to keep the peace! If you offered them $30-40 extra spending cash or bunks what would they pick?

I'm not sure if the other bed in the room is a King or queen when you get bunks, but maybe having a king for you is worth that extra money.

We are booked at AKL in Sept; we're spending the $10! We don't need bunks there will only be 3 of us in the room. I can't wait to stay there.