AKL room request help!

[Chadm]

My wife and I are taking advantage of some fantastic AP rates for a spur-of-the-moment trip to WDW this weekend. I booked a savannah view room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this morning for 1/18 - 1/21.

I basically have no idea what to request as far as room locations go. What is the best possible room location for savannah view at AKL? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Our only requirement is non-smoking. Other than that, we can handle pretty much anything.

Thanks in advance!

 

[justhat]

We stayed in room 2507 on the Arusha Savannah, Zebra Trail and it was a great location. You're almost eye-level with the animals and there is a feeding station in front of the room so the animals are always right in front of your balcony. Also very convenient to lobby, restaurants, and pool. My mom was in 2708 on the Uzima Savannah, also Zebra Trail. Her room was across the hall from mine so we could see both savannahs. She also saw lots of animals and had a feeding area nearby, but not as close as mine was. The animals we saw were differnt though, so that may make a difference for you. She had more birds, thompson's gazelles, and it's the only savannah with kudu. We had lots of wildebeests, gemsbok, and zebras. Both had lots of giraffes and ankole cattle.

 

[justhat]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that both rooms were non-smoking. 2507 had bunk beds and the other room did not.

 

[Chadm]

Well, so far I've requested non-smoking / king bed / not ground level. It sounds like I would want the Arusha Savannah rather than the Uzima Savannah, but I'm not sure if they even take those kinds of requests.

Maybe I should not be picky and let the fates decide. I'm sure we'll be happy with whatever we get.

 

[Chadm]

Thanks for the replies so far. Any other information and/or advice about the resort would be great. We are very excited about getting the chance to stay here.

I know there are some AKL experts out there. Please tell us all there is to see and do there!

 

[MinnieGi]

Thanks for asking Chadm - we too just took advantage of those AP rates and booked a trip this past week for the first week in Feb. Now, I've been reading up and asking questions also on all there is to know about AKL.

Have a great trip!
Gi

 

[Miffy]

We are just back from 5 nights at AKL. It's awesome! We were in room 4515 on the Zebra Trail/Arusha Savanna. Beautiful views. We had wildebeests, zebras, ankole cattle, giraffes, and an occasional eland or two. Not to mention a crane every now and then.

We'd put in a relatively specific faxed room request, but were actually not happy with the initial room we were assigned (3417) because it was (for us) too near the lobby. The lobby of AKL is on the 3rd floor and this room was quite near it. Everyone on earth, it seemed, was walking by our room (and we were only in it for about 10 minutes!) and the disturbance factor was just too much for me (esp. after 5 nights at ASMu). We went back to the front desk and they quickly moved us. BTW, room 4515 is a famously wonderful room, apparently, since every person at AKL who heard we were staying there had a reaction something like "How'd you score that room?"

One thing I'd like to mention is that the animals you'll see depend on many factors, like, for example, what time of day you're in your room...or awake!...and what the animals feel like doing that day, since, of course, they can do whatever they like!

Something else to keep in mind: there are great viewing areas all over the lodge. We spent a day just at the lodge looking at animals and on a hidden-Mickey search (hint sheet provided by front desk). No matter where you're staying, there are other animals to see who won't be on your savannah. Walk out to the very ends of the lodge on both sides and walk down (or up!) the outdoor staircases. There is sensational viewing from there. From about 11 am until noon (when a portion of the animals go to the barn from this area), the stairs at the end of the Zebra Trail are a fantastic place to see tons of animals (ankole cattle, giraffe, zebras, wildebeest, cranes, tommies, kudu, ducks, gemsbok, blesbok, etc., I forget the rest!). Later in the afternoon, walk out to the end of the Kudu Trail to see bongos, waterbuck, and lots of other species I'm too tired to remember right now.

I think this message is too long! Sorry! There are tons of things to do at AKL--all detailed on the back of the map they'll give you on arrival. Have lots of fun! We did.

miffy

 

[JulieWent]

My room request was 1) Non-smoking 2)Bunk beds 3) Arusha Savannah 4) Zebra Trail.

I didn't try to specify a room number, and I made sure that the requests were in order of importance.

When we checked in, we got 4421 which was everything we asked for. We liked being up a bit. Third floor seemed like it would have been a bit busy. Our room was at the "end" of a section, so we only had one other room adjoining ours, and we never heard a single soul in another room.

We saw giraffe, zebras, Ankole cattle, elan, and wildebeast. We didn't see many birds, but then we weren't looking very carefully.

Have a nice trip.

Julie