AKV Concierge vs. Savannah Dilemma... advice?

[mousestruck]

Hi all! We are planning our very first trip home to AKV next November. We are very excited about finally booking a savannah room (which wasn't always in the budget prior to DVC... or at least I couldn't rationalize the added expense!)... but I'd also love the opportunity to experience concierge and do the Sunrise Safari. If I understand correctly, I cannot book a savannah view concierge (I would only have a 50% chance of getting a savannah view), so I either roll the dice or split my stay between the concierge and savannah on two separate reservations. Does that make sense? I hate to switch rooms, but I guess there is no other choice unless I'm missing something.

Also, since Sunrise Safari is offered on Sundays and Thursdays, does that mean I would have to be checked in on Saturday or Wednesday... or could I still do it if I checked into Concierge on Thursday?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated! I'm so excited to book my first trip home!

Aimee

 

[dianeschlicht]

Your last question first....You must be registered in the concierge room the day you are taking the safari. We are doing ours on our checkout morning, so obviously, they do allow that.

As for savanna view. We figured we will have plenty of opportunity to stay in savanna view rooms in the future, so we decided to make this stay in concierge with a savanna view request, and take our chances. We'll book a savanna view room NEXT time.

 

[Poohs Pal]

We are also booking our November stay. My group will be staying in a GV because savanna view is important to me. DD and her group will be booking concierge because she love's AKL concierge and add that with a DVC room and she will be in heaven . Either way there are plenty of areas to veiw the animals. I just like sitting on my balacony in the morning before everyone else rise's and watching the animals while I drink my coffee. DD prefers the service's of the concierge and their great cappucino machine. Have fun choosing............ Susan

 

[dgaston]

Perhaps because of my AKL pool view of a Disney boulder (rm 1030) my first AKV stay is in a SV 2 br. Then in July DH an I will stay in a Concierge studio, hoping for Savanna view, but knowing it'll be ok no matter what. I am very excited about the Sunrise Safari.

 

[hematite153]

When I spoke with concierge about possibly doing the safari on our Jan trip they told me that I would qualify for the Sun Sunrise Safari if I was staying in concierge on either Sat or Sun night.

We ended up opting for savanna view this time around. (Btw, you can now do the safari from a regular room--it just costs more.)

 

[ldo]

I saw this somewhere, as well. Do you recall how much more it costs--and does concierge have booking preference?

 

[hematite153]

I saw this somewhere, as well. Do you recall how much more it costs--and does concierge have booking preference?

I can't seem to remember where I read about this change. Based on my phone call, when I was waitlisted for concierge, I think that booking is first come, first served.

Why don't you call them and ask about cost?

 

[LisaS]

(Btw, you can now do the safari from a regular room--it just costs more.)

Are you sure about this? I know that the SunSET (Wanyama) Safari is open to non-Concierge guests for a higher price but have not heard that the SunRISE Safari is available to anyone but Concierge guests.

Re: Sunset/Wanyama Safari pricing, I believe it costs $170/person for Concierge guests and $220 for non-Concierge guests for those 10 years old and up.

ETA: I have seen posts where non-concierge guests were given an opportunity to do the Sunrise Safari if it was not full. I don't think you can sign up in advance however since it would only be allowed if there was space available. I have no idea how far ahead of time they make any open slots available to non-concierge guests. You might want to post a question on the Resorts board.

 

[hematite153]

Are you sure about this? I know that the SunSET (Wanyama) Safari is open to non-Concierge guests for a higher price but have not heard that the SunRISE Safari is available to anyone but Concierge guests.

You might be right. I thought I'd read that both were now available at higher prices.

It is possible that it was only for DVC members staying on points or only the sunset safari because we'll be staying on points and were more interested in the sunset one. So, I might have converged the information based on my interest.

If anyone has spoken to the concierge desk about this recently, please correct me if you know better.

 

[Inkmahm]

You might be right. I thought I'd read that both were now available at higher prices.

It is possible that it was only for DVC members staying on points or only the sunset safari because we'll be staying on points and were more interested in the sunset one. So, I might have converged the information based on my interest.

If anyone has spoken to the concierge desk about this recently, please correct me if you know better.

I just did the sunset safari Dec 1 and loved it! It was $160 per person, staying in concierge. I think it was $210 if not concierge. There were 10 of us (max is 14).

Sunrise safari is still for concierge guests only. We didn't do it this trip as we weret here only one day before our cruise. I've done it before and loved it. Will do it again next April when we are staying concierge.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We are also booking our November stay. My group will be staying in a GV because savanna view is important to me. DD and her group will be booking concierge because she love's AKL concierge and add that with a DVC room and she will be in heaven . Either way there are plenty of areas to veiw the animals. I just like sitting on my balacony in the morning before everyone else rise's and watching the animals while I drink my coffee. DD prefers the service's of the concierge and their great cappucino machine. Have fun choosing............ Susan

I got all giddy when I read CAPPUCINO!!!

Back to the topic at hand..............

 

[PatMcDuck]

We are staying VAK concerge in late June. We also are nervous about the view. We decided to stay concierge for Sunrise safari, and we will try checking in really early on our first day (a Friday), and begging for a Savannah view room. 4 night stay. We decided if we did not get Savannah view straight off, we would try and switch rooms mid way, even if that meant paying the room switch fee. I am a BCV owner, and I do not know when I will get back to VAK.

 

[JsMom2]

We are staying at AKV next September for a week. I originally booked a 1BR concierge so we could do the safari. But after thinking about it, I decided I'd rather have the Savannah view for our 1st stay. Plus, one of the things I loved about our stay at SSR last week was that we didn't have someone coming in the room everyday. It felt more like home. So I changed us to a 1BR SV.

We'll see if we can still get on the safari in September. If not, we'll do the concierge for a shorter stay another time.

 

[llmurphy17]

We booked Concierge in October in AKV to do the sunrise safari. Just wondering what the other benefits are of Concierge?

 

[irish dancer]

We just booked AKV Concierge for Oct. too. Now I'm wondering if I should just do savanah view. I kind of assumed that all concierge rooms would be savanah view, guess that's what happens when you assume, lol.

Hmm....decisions, decisions......

Either way I'm OTT excited to try AKV.

 

[pyrxtc]

We booked Concierge in October in AKV to do the sunrise safari. Just wondering what the other benefits are of Concierge?

The pother benefits are the food, they will make your ADR's for you if you ask and they will help you do anything you need to do. If you need something in the room, they will try to help. They will answer any questions you ahve and go above and beyond with most any problem you stumble inot regarding your stay.

 

[DVC Mike]

We booked Concierge in October in AKV to do the sunrise safari. Just wondering what the other benefits are of Concierge?

Kilimanjaro Club Concierge accommodations include the following Kilimanjaro Club Level Services:

• Advanced Walt Disney World itinerary planning service
• Personalized front desk and Concierge service
• Daily housekeeping service and evening turndown with chocolates
• Secured key access to 6th floor and Club Level lounge
• Weekday newspaper delivery of USA Today
• Assistance with special events planning and shopping
• Club Level Lounge refreshments

 

[llmurphy17]

Thanks for the Concierge details. Sounds Great

 

[sophielab1]

So if I understand correctly, only 50% of the concierge rooms are savannah view? If so what are the other views? And can you request savannah view when booking concierge? We are booked for a 2br concierge Nov 2008.
Thanks.

 

[LisaS]

So if I understand correctly, only 50% of the concierge rooms are savannah view? If so what are the other views? And can you request savannah view when booking concierge? We are booked for a 2br concierge Nov 2008.

Concierge consists of five 2BR lockoffs. Three of the 2BR lockoffs face the Sunset Savanna, the other two face the pool. You can request a savanna view but it's just a request, not a guarantee, particularly since everyone is probably requesting the same thing.