AKL Trip Report w/ Pics & Segmented Dining Success!

[Derf]

My DW and I visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge from 6/7-6/12/11 for our 7th Anniversary and had an AMAZING time! The DIS has always helped me plan and I have always enjoyed seeing others trip reports. So, I thought I would share some of the highlights from our trip.

We drove to Orlando from SC and knew we would need something to recover from the car ride and some quality time to start our anniversary trip. We decided to visit the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes Spa before checking into AKL and it was a great idea. The spa had a tasty cafe where we had lunch and amazing facilities that you can use when you book any treatment. We loved using the hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, relaxation rooms, and private spa pool before and after our Couples Massage at their 3 story facility. We spent the entire day here and only spent $247 for our massage with tip (they run a 25% off happy hour special during some weekday afternoons that we took advantage of). We will surely do this again and highly recommend it.

Private Spa Pool with the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes Spa building in the background - AMAZING!

 

[Derf]

Next we checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had originally reserved our home resort (SSR) back in October, but wanted to stay at AKL and really wanted to stay in one of the "Value" rooms to save on points. We tried to switch at 9 a.m. on the 7-month mark and were able to get all the days of our stay after being placed on a waitlist for a couple of the days for ~ 1 to 2 weeks. We requested a "dedicated studio on the Ostrich Trail" (MS would not let us request "Savannah View", but would happily take this request which is the exact same thing) to try to snag one of the Value Studios with a Savannah View and it WORKED! We actually ended up in a lockoff, room 5134 I believe, but it had a WONDERFUL Savannah view. We absolutely LOVED the room. It looks out on the Sunset Savannah and, true to its name, the animals came out in numbers around sunset and were a joy to watch!

We fell in love with the lobby at AKL Jambo House. Right up there with WL in our opinion.

Notice the flowers. I got these for the DW for the anniversary. She was surprised with them at check-in by a cast-member and was FLOORED! I originally looked at using the WDW Florists, but couldn't justify the pricing premium and any local florist will deliver to a WDW resort just like any other business or residence.

We were thrilled with everything in the room except for this "closet". It's small to start with and they load it up with the ironing board & iron, vacuum, extra linens, ect. The TV was the best we have ever had in a hotel before with a great big picture and great sound.

Such a beautiful room and all of these little African/Savannah touches are what made it so.

We spent a lot of time on our Sunset Savannah view balcony during week and really enjoyed it.

Just some of our friends for the week!

We thought it was nice how they place an identification chart in the room to help you distinguish which of the 22 animals on the savannah you are watching. We had no trouble identifying these guys!

We really enjoyed the hot tubs at the Jambo House. So, secluded and peaceful in their out of the way location.

 

[Derf]

We wanted to eat at both Jiko and Artist's Point during the week, but we didn't want that much food all week, so I was very excited when I heard that DVC members could now book the Dining Plan for parts of their stay. I was equally bummed, however, when I heard all the horror stories here on the DIS Boards with folks having to check-in and out multiple times and the KTTW cards not working at the dining locations. Despite the reviews, I decided we would give it a whirl. I called MS a week or so before our check-in to add the Deluxe Dining Plan to the Tuesday and Friday of our stay. They segmented my reservation into daily parts after being on hold for ~20 minutes (the agent had to enlist the help of a supervisor). Thankfully, this is the ONLY inconvenience that the dining plan would cause me. I am happy to report that EVERYTHING worked like a charm. A couple of Cast Members were initially confused by the wording on the KTTW card (It says "DVC MULTIPLE" instead of "DELUXE DINING PLAN", but we had no problems eating the following with our Tuesday/Friday plan:

Tuesday Evening - Dinner at Jiko (2 credits ea)
Wednesday Evening - Dinner at The Wave (1 credit ea)
2 Refillable Mugs
4 Snacks total

Friday Evening - Dinner at Artist's Point
Saturday Evening - Dinner at Tutto Italia
2 MORE Refillable Mugs
4 Snacks total

All of our meals were wonderful and we felt we got an excellent value by splitting the Deluxe Dining Plan in this way.

My DW had me wear our Anniversary buttons they gave us at check-in throughout our stay. I was reluctant at first, but it was a great idea. Not only were all the Cast Members great about wishing us a Happy Anniversary, but we received special perks at EVERY meal we had. They would give us complimentary special desserts, champagne toasts, etc. to help us celebrate - all very nice Disney touches.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Beautiful pictures! I'm glad you had such a grand vacation and enjoyed dining your way!

Bobbi

 

[Derf]

We also took part in the DVC BLT tour on Thursday. We signed up with the DVC rep in the lobby of AKL. They are currently doing these on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 1 p.m. We had never done this before, but were happy we decided to.

The reports here on the DIS Boards are correct. It is a great way to score a FastPass card with 3 INSTANT FPs for any FP ride that still has FP available. I believe the card was valid for 4 days and you get a card for each member in your party. These came in VERY handy when Soarin' FP return was 6 hours away and we were able to ride immediately.

The complimentary food provided was good and could stand as a light lunch. It was great to see the TOTW Lounge (where the presentation takes place) and the views from the observation deck. As others have stated, the presentation was fun and not too long and definitely is not a hard sell. About half a dozen folks won a DVC draw string bag for answering a trivia question (including DW) and one lucky individual won a $100 Disney gift card. Also, every family also left with a DVC tote and a really nice DVC legal pad folio.

I would highly recommend attending the 1.5 hour presentation. It was a nice respite from the heat and they supposedly had some presentation only special add-on offers for those that were interested in doing so.

 

[Derf]

We visited all four parks spread over two days. The weather was great for June - not unbearably hot and not a single shower. Crowd levels were VERY manageable.

The new Star Tours was great. It did seem smoother than before and the 3D is crisp and adds a lot to the experience. The queue enhancements were clever and funny.

The Let the Memories Begin overlay on the Castle was MUCH better than I expected. No one seemed to know about it as Main Street cleared out after Wishes. The show starts around 10:30 and it is amazing what they can do with the projections and how they can make the Castle morph. It is definitely worth sticking around for.

Here are a couple of pictures of some new things at MK:

The new interactive queue option at Haunted Mansion is fun addition

This book writes itself at HM - AMAZING!

 

[Doug7856]

We also took part in the DVC BLT tour on Thursday. We signed up with the DVC rep in the lobby of AKL. They are currently doing these on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 1 p.m. We had never done this before, but were happy we decided to.

The reports here on the DIS Boards are correct. It is a great way to score a FastPass card with 3 INSTANT FPs for any FP ride that still has FP available. I believe the card was valid for 4 days and you get a card for each member in your party. These came in VERY handy when Soarin' FP return was 6 hours away and we were able to ride immediately.

The complimentary food provided was good and could stand as a light lunch. It was great to see the TOTW Lounge (where the presentation takes place) and the views from the observation deck. As others have stated, the presentation was fun and not too long and definitely is not a hard sell. About half a dozen folks won a DVC draw string bag for answering a trivia question (including DW) and one lucky individual won a $100 Disney gift card. Also, every family also left with a DVC tote and a really nice DVC legal pad folio.

I would highly recommend attending the 1.5 hour presentation. It was a nice respite from the heat and they supposedly had some presentation only special add-on offers for those that were interested in doing so.

This sounds like something we would like to do. Do you know if they have child care available during the tour? Do kids just tag along?

 

[Derf]

We also spent a day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure to see the Harry Potter addition. It is truly an unbelievable addition. The theming of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade rivals anything that Disney has done as much as I hate to admit it, but the re-purposed rides fell well short. The Forbidden Journey ride is thrilling eye candy, but it does a number on your stomach (especially after a Butterbeer!) Speaking of Butterbeer, the Frozen Butterbeer is like crack! IT IS SOOOO GOOD! We were amazed by all the lines for everything (including the shops and eateries) given the fact it has been open for over a year now. So bring your patience as there is no FastPass at Universal!

Hogwarts

Inside the impeccably themed queue at Hogwarts.

And... the... BUTTERBEER!!!!!!

 

[Derf]

We were able to visit Blizzard Beach on this trip for the first time in about 8 years I would guess. We usually end up at Typhoon Lagoon due to it's proximity to DTD and we love the Crush and Gusher ride there.

But, Blizzard Beach offered up a great water park day and we really enjoy the clever story and theming. We loved the chair lift to the slides and floating in the gentler wave pool. The special cabana areas looked very nice and seem like they could be a good value for a larger group as they include refillable mugs. Lines were surprisingly small and the hot, fresh mini-donuts were amazing as usual (a favorite of ours at Typhoon Lagoon as well)!

 

[Derf]

Lastly, I wanted to share one other highlight of our trip. We wanted to see a movie and we had heard about the brand new "Fork and Screen" theaters and the AMC at DTD. We tried it out and were thrilled that we did. The seats alone are worth the $3 ticket premium and everything else is just a bonus. It's great having a server that you can summon with a call button (I wish they would have these in some restaurants!) and the food and drink options were delicious and reasonably priced - especially for a movie theater. A great movie watching experience for sure.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the highlights from our trip!

 

[Derf]

This sounds like something we would like to do. Do you know if they have child care available during the tour? Do kids just tag along?

Yes, they do offer child care during the event. It may be capacity controlled though because I remember the DVC rep that signed us up told us to arrive around 12:30 if we had kids in order to ensure they could receive the complimentary child care.

 

[RCharnay]

We loved our stay at AKV. I can't wait to try the Fork and Screen.

 

[rascalmom]

Great report - thanks for sharing. DH and I did a "adult" only trip last month and enjoyed every moment. Love the spa idea - will try to work this in sometime in the future.

Our two dd's sort of grew up with Harry Potter - we've planning a trip to Universal during our Christmas Break trip. We'll be sure to try the Butterbeer!

 

[Ms. WDW]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing!

I'm heading down Wednesday and have a couple of days free until my brother and his family join me. Are all the movies at the AMC at DTD "Fork and Screen" or just some? I would love to try that!!

Thanks!

 

[Derf]

I'm heading down Wednesday and have a couple of days free until my brother and his family join me. Are all the movies at the AMC at DTD "Fork and Screen" or just some? I would love to try that!!

If memory serves, I believe that 6 of their 24 screens were converted to Fork and Screen. So, you can catch most anything that you want to see in one of these theaters. Have a great trip!

 

[supersuperwendy]

Great review of your trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Did you go down to the desk to check in each time your dining plan changed?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for the report, especially of your value studio. I stayed in a value studio a few doors down recently, and I agree that it's a great area.

 

[Derf]

Did you go down to the desk to check in each time your dining plan changed?

No, that was the beauty of it. I only had to check-ing the one time and it just worked on the days it was supposed to. We had a wonderful experience with it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

No, that was the beauty of it. I only had to check-ing the one time and it just worked on the days it was supposed to. We had a wonderful experience with it.

That's great, what people were hoping for all along!