AKL warning: Main savanna closed

[jt2323]

As of today the main (Arusha) savanna remains closed for road construction. No animal were present on it at all and there was no obvious signs of work. Hard to tell when it will reopen. For those who arrived expecting the animals to be present on this savanna, there was disappointment. Unfortunately no notification was given to those with existing reservations to allow them to decide if they wanted to reschedule.

 

[jdwright13]

Arusha Savannah opens on the 18th per AKL front desk!

 

[js]

Thanks. I got the great rate of $109 for AKL for my upcoming October 11th trip after being moved from CBR. I think, though, I am the only person that has made ressies as Standard View and not Savannah. Either way, I can't wait. I would have never tried this resort if not for the discount. We will have our car too and always drive to the parks.
Is there any specific Standard View area I should request? Or, are they all together. Thank you.

 

[Disneylvr]

And I thought I was the only one with a standard view reservation! I will be at the AKL September 27-October 2nd. I'll let you know what room we get and if we liked the location. 9 more days till AKL!!!

 

[adisneynut]

Have a great trip. We have to wait until Dec. to go. So I look forward to hearing from others wh have been.

Miserable aint it

 

[las3888]

I thought we were the only ones also with standard view!!! I wonder if they will put us in the 'closed' savannahs seeing as there are no animals in them, so maybe there are alot of us with standard view rooms reservations???

We are going Oct. 22 - I was hoping the construction would be over by then...if it is, maybe it will increase our odds of having enough open savannah rooms that they might upgrade us!!!

JS and Disneylvr - please post and let me know what to expect or if you have any tips for good standard room locations!!! I hear standard rooms are either over the bus stop or the parking lot...I put in my ressie for 'best view possible'. One can hope!!!

 

[Peter Pirate]

I was there this weekend & the work is well over halfway complete. The Arusha Savannah is closed but the others have their animals. This should be complete in no time & should cause very little if any inconvenience...It caused us none...

 

[Disneylvr]

Hmmmmmm, I thought each savannah was suppose to take 5 days to complete the work and that they started with the Arusha Savannah nearly two weeks ago. Maybe it won't effect those with a savannah view as much but those of us with standard views won't have as many viewing areas to see animals if 1/3 of the available savannahs are closed.

 

[Peter Pirate]

Disneylvr, we didn't have a Savannah view room & were able to see animals to our hearts content at Uzima & Sunset Savannah's. It's true that Arusha is the area most convenient for non-room viewing but honestly it was the same animals just a different locale. Actually the viewing area just to the left of the lobby (through the museum) offered us animals at very close proximity (Ankole, Giraffe, Tommies, Ostrich's...Even Bunnies). The viewing area around by the pool was where we saw 4 Griraffes and they actually were running!!! Very cool!

I'd bet the work will be finished this week & certainly no later than 2 weeks.

Perhaps some may want to reconsider their plans but it was of no consequence to us & the animals are the reason I go to AKL!!!

 

[Disneylvr]

Peter Pirate, you are our AKL expert so I will just relax and enjoy my stay at AKL in 8 days!!!

 

[Peter Pirate]

Maybe not expert...but expertish

Ellen from Ellen's nightmare

Oh... I only know what I have experienced but I love AKL and I also know that if you have a problem of any kind, you can get it resolved with a courteous & calm complaint to the caring staff.

The really fun thing at AKL though is to hang out with the African CM's and chat. They're very cool people & I always learn a lot.

 

[Disneylvr]

Peter Pirate, in my eyes you are an expert. Thank you so much for all the excellent information you provide on AKL. I have one questions though.....Do you use the AKL transportation to get to and from the parks? We plan on seeing Spectromagic either Friday or Saturday night and are dreading the transportation nightmares we have experienced at Port Orleans and at All Stars.

 

[jdkdorn]

Disneylvr

We are going from Sept 26 - Oct 5, also stating at AKL. Must be a great time to go.

I was wondering, with the Arusha Savannah closed is it still good to stay in the Zebra Trail?

 

[Peter Pirate]

First with regard to the Zebra Trail, one side faces the Arusha savannah the other side faces the pool or Uzima savannah (I think that's the Uzima)...So you could still get an active savannah on Zebra Trail even with Arusha closed. But again, I'll bet Arusha is open again very soon.

Regarding the transportaion, we always use Disney transportation & AKL is the best with the dedicated bus service. That said, even AKL has some minor bus waits during the slow season as fewer busses are running, I'd guess. We waited for about 15 minutes a couple of times this weekend but more often the bus was there waiting for us. It's luck of the draw mostly, but still much better than the other resort busses...Also since the AKL is so much smaller (room number) you won't have the same crowd issues with them as AS & POR...

 

[Disneylvr]

Originally posted by jdkdorn
Disneylvr

We are going from Sept 26 - Oct 5, also stating at AKL. Must be a great time to go.

I received a postcard code that I couldn't pass up! I would of rather had a savannah view room but it would of been $50 more a night and we are lucky to be staying at a deluxe as it is. I was hoping an upgrade might be possible but with a savannah being closed during our stay I now know that an upgrade will probably be impossible. But that is okay! We will be in WDW and that is what really matters! Perhaps we will get a standard room view that is facing one of the closed savannahs. That view would be better than a parking lot.