AKL review just so-so

[dreamflight99]

Peter Pirate~

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

TAZ, what floor were you on? Lori

 

[nwdisgal]

Originally Posted by LadyHawke10: And it goes both ways! i.e. the poster who returns with "I got a double upgrade on check-in from a standard room to concierge suite, CMs decorated the room with big Mickey head balloons everywhere, all the CMs smiled and gave me pats on the back everytime I walked through the lobby, we got the pool to ourselves every afternoon, we were treated the the sunrise safari and got to ride the elephants and zebras, and then they gave free meal tickets at Boma for the whole stay...unbelievable!"

Priceless

Oh, and the towel animals my Mousekeeper made for me... it was the entire Disney on Parade

 

[sweet angel]

Priceless

Oh, and the towel animals my Mousekeeper made for me... it was the entire Disney on Parade

Hey, wait...did you see Uncle Sam in my post? I was pretty darn impressed with him (even though he scared the crap out of me when I came into the dark room and saw "someone" sitting there).

 

[Tiffany]

Just returned from a 6 night stay at AKL. While the resort and rooms were great, I found the service and attitude of the employees left alot to be desired. First we were a family of 4 who paid for a conceirge floor room and when we arrived was told they were full and none of those rooms were availiable till the next day.

What floor where you put on? When you arrived at the guard gate you should have been given a parking permit to put in your windshield and when you pulled into the valet area a bellmen should have been there to meet you and either take you to your room if avaiable or up to the concierge lounge which is on the 6th floor. Concierge rooms are located on both the 5th and 6th floors of the AKL but only the 6th floor requires key access.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyHawke10: And it goes both ways! i.e. the poster who returns with "I got a double upgrade on check-in from a standard room to concierge suite, CMs decorated the room with big Mickey head balloons everywhere, all the CMs smiled and gave me pats on the back everytime I walked through the lobby, we got the pool to ourselves every afternoon, we were treated the the sunrise safari and got to ride the elephants and zebras, and then they gave free meal tickets at Boma for the whole stay...unbelievable!"


Quote: Priceless

Oh, and the towel animals my Mousekeeper made for me... it was the entire Disney on Parade

Priceless

Quote: sweet angel:Hey, wait...did you see Uncle Sam in my post? I was pretty darn impressed with him (even though he scared the crap out of me when I came into the dark room and saw "someone" sitting there). Quote

OMG, towel animals of entire Disney character parade and uncle sams sitting about!!!
Can't wait to go back!!

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

And it goes both ways! i.e. the poster who returns with "I got a double upgrade on check-in from a standard room to concierge suite, CMs decorated the room with big Mickey head balloons everywhere, all the CMs smiled and gave me pats on the back everytime I walked through the lobby, we got the pool to ourselves every afternoon, we were treated the the sunrise safari and got to ride the elephants and zebras, and then they gave free meal tickets at Boma for the whole stay...unbelievable!"

What?!?...Michael Eisner wasn't there to personally lay a big wet sloppy one directly on your mouth at check-in?!?! I'd shoot an angry letter off to Disney immediately, if not sooner!! That lack of attention to detail is ruining the Disney experience for me personally!!!

 

[dancermom]

We just returned from AKL yesterday after a six night stay at AKL concierge. I have to agree with the title of the post, it was just so-so. It was nice to pull up to the hotel and not have to wait in line to check-in, but this is the way it has been handled every time I have stayed concierge anywhere, so I didn't find anything special about it. We were then taken to our room on the 5th floor, which seemed to be a mile from the elevator(I know it wasn't, but it was a much longer walk then I anticipated since we were in concierge.

We then went up to the concierge lounge, where the cast members were fine, nothing more, nothing less. The only other time I dealt with one of them was when I asked if they could get me Fantasmic reservations, which they tried, said were booked for the night, and offered no alternative, such as trying for another night.

The one big drawback for me was the bus service to everywhere. It seemed like a long wait for buses to get there, and an equally long ride to each park.

I am glad I stayed there once. I guess when you read such glowing reviews, you do expect towel animals in your room, extremely helpful staff, and mousekeeping to make up your room before 5:00, and for turn-down to occur before 9:00.

Of course this is why Disney has so many different resorts, because we all have different things that make us happy. For us, it's the Boardwalk, and I will be reviewing my schedule when I get back to work to determine how soon we can return.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

What?!?...Michael Eisner wasn't there to personally lay a big wet sloppy one directly on your mouth at check-in?!?! I'd shoot an angry letter off to Disney immediately, if not sooner!! That lack of attention to detail is ruining the Disney experience for me personally!!!

Well, he WAS but I was going to keep that detail to myself

 

[cjsmom5]

I always encourage people with bad stays to let Guest Services know through a written letter or email. Perhaps if they see recurrent complaints they will fix it. We've stayed at AKL three times and have had problems. But they have more than satisfactorily been taken care of either at the hotel or upon our return. It does pay to write a letter and/or email.

 

[nwdisgal]

I hate it when Michael blows me off at the front desk and does that I gotta' get back to the boardroom tapdance.

Uncle Sam, that dude is still around? Hey, just remember, don't expect any extra wet ones from Mikey because time is money and towel animals are ultimately expendable.

But hey, there is always the AKL lounge with appetizers and cocktails to sooth away those Mikeydidn'tgreetmeatthefrontdesktoday blues and get that warm fuzzy feeling .

Well maybe the zebra wasn't grazing in front of my balcony and the decor was too dark, but there were bunk beds to jump on

 

[LisaS]

I'm so sorry that some folks have had a bad experience at AKL because it is such a wonderful and special place. For the benefit of those who have trips coming up and are concerned, I thought I would describe our recent visit to AKL.

My husband and I stayed at AKL from Jan 30 - Feb 5. We made this trip to boost our spirits after one of our dear cats died from a sudden illness. After three weeks on an emotional roller coaster I told my husband I just needed to get away for a few days and the place I felt most drawn to was AKL where we could be surrounded by animals and eat some wonderful meals at Boma and Jiko. In my hypersensitive state, I think I would have reacted instantly to any rudeness from CMs or anyone else for that matter. I'm happy to report that we had a wonderful time.

The CM who checked us in was being trained so check in was a little slow, but that was OK. He was a little nervous and overwhelmed but he did a good job and we ended up in a room with a wonderful view of the animals. This was our third visit to AKL (all savannah view rooms) and this was the best view we've ever had.

We ate at Boma (5 breakfasts and 2 dinners), Jiko (1 dinner) and the Mara (breakfast, snacks) and the service was great most of the time. We did have a server one evening at Boma who disappeared for a while at a time when a couple of tables were ready to leave and wanted to get their bills. Since we were in vacation mode it didn't really bother us. The service at Boma the rest of the time, and especially at breakfast, was always good. Albert, one of our breakfast servers, even gave me a goodbye hug on our last morning. He's a terrific guy and probably one of the nicest CMs I've ever met.

No problems with housekeeping: the room was always clean and tidy when we got back. No towel animals but then we've never had them at AKL.

When I think about all three visits we've made to AKL, we've only encountered one CM that I thought wasn't particularly friendly and that was the woman who checked us in on our second visit. She assigned us a room that was in almost exactly the same spot as the room we had had on our first visit. When I asked if we could try a different view this time she acted like she was put out but went ahead and selected a different room for us. She definitely wasn't cut out for customer service work, especially at Disney! But we weren't about to let her lack of warmth color our second visit to AKL.

With that one exception, every CM we've encountered during our three visits to AKL has been great. The CMs from Africa who tell you about the animals are real stars. They are especially friendly and helpful and very knowledgeable about the animals.

We've only ever stayed at one other Disney resort (Yacht Club) so I can't really compare AKL with much else. The only real difference we noticed at YC is that we got towel animals there, but otherwise we didn't experience any real difference in the attentiveness or friendliness of the staff.

Maybe we've just been fortunate and that because nothing went wrong we didn't see what happens when the AKL CMs are asked to fix a problem. Given our experience at AKL, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Even after three visits, I am still amazed and excited every time I step out on the balcony of my room and see giraffes!

 

[Ladyhawke10]

I hate it when Michael blows me off at the front desk and does that I gotta' get back to the boardroom tapdance.
[/I]

 

[LisaC]

Wow - what a range of experiences. We just returned from a stay from 2/11 - 2/14 and had a great concierge experience at AKL. Only one CM (who was at the front desk, for the record) was less than cordial, but we were very pleased with everything else about our stay. I'm sad to hear others have had such different experiences as we are looking forward to staying there concierge again, and hope that we aren't let down!

 

[Wee Annie]

We just returned from a stay at the AKL (2/13 - 2/18). It was our first time, and we really loved the hotel. The theme was wonderful, and we loved the Savannah view, animals, and pool. That being said, they did seem a bit overwhelmed (rooms often not made by mid-afternoon, and then not very well). I hear that they were fully booked. It seems that they need to work on some things like housekeeping. And the buses were a bit of a wait, and very crowded. But even with all that, we loved the place and will definitely consider returning!

 

[Danvers]

Guys, keep in mind that the CMs have to deal with a LOT of nasty nasty NASTY guests every single day. They can't help but be short with others as the day wears on.

 

[Danvers]

I hate it when Michael blows me off at the front desk and does that I gotta' get back to the boardroom tapdance.

Uncle Sam, that dude is still around? Hey, just remember, don't expect any extra wet ones from Mikey because time is money and towel animals are ultimately expendable.

But hey, there is always the AKL lounge with appetizers and cocktails to sooth away those Mikeydidn'tgreetmeatthefrontdesktoday blues and get that warm fuzzy feeling .

Well maybe the zebra wasn't grazing in front of my balcony and the decor was too dark, but there were bunk beds to jump on

I like your way of thinking!!

 

[Alice42]

We love AKL, but after our concierge stay in January, I don't think we will stay that level again. IMO, it's just not worth the extra $$$. We had some interesting observations: We were using our keycard to access the sixth floor CL one day and someone else was on the elevator with us, pressed his floor button and stayed on the elevator with us until we got to the sixth floor. He proceeded to get off and go directly to the concierge lounge. It just seemed fishy that he was originally going to go to another floor first, then as soon as he saw we were going up to the lounge (6th floor), he stayed on the elevator We notified staff of this, but I am not sure what was done after that. We saw him sitting on the couch, enjoying a glass of wine. I sure do hope that he was a paying concierge guest, but it seems to me that it can be very easy to sneak up there and access the lounge. The staff at the concierge desks were always busy and never really greeted us to know that we were concierge guests. We also are not big on alcohol and there was plenty of beer, wine, and cordials available. There was NO bottled water available-we were so bummed! We absolutely LOVED the cappucino/espresso machine, though!
I also love turndown service, and we did not receive it the last night we were there! I was looking forward to it, but by the time we arrived back at the room, I felt it was too late to call and complain about it. Oh well!
We will definitely be returning to AKL, probably staying in a savannah view and enjoying the scenery and ambience. After all, that is what AKL is all about!

 

[Muushka]

We had a thread on the DVC board about CM's being grumpy. I work in the medical field (lab) and have had to draw blood when needed. I hate to draw blood, patients hate to have their blood drawn. Usually they would come down to the lab after spending an hour waiting in the doc's office, grumpy. I was always professional, greeted them with a smile, made small talk and tried to make it as painless as possible (for both them and me!). This is what a professional does. I am really tired of people not doing their jobs correctly and people making excuses for them.

We arrive at AKL, totally in a good mood, just waiting to have fun and we are greeted with someone who will not even make eye contact with you let alone smile. I think that is just plain sad.

 

[KristiT]

I thought we were about the only ones who had a bad experience at AKL. Before we went last October, I keep reading about how wonderful AKL was.

We had a similiar room problem as the OP and the CMs at the front desk and even Lynette, the manager, could have cared less. I do have to say that the all the other CMs were great, but the front desk CMs need improvement. Of all the resorts we have stayed at, AKL is the only one we will never return to.