AKLFan3
AKV Owner...I DO love the neighbors!
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 337
Happy Holidays everyone! I have returned home from a 5 night stay at AKV-Jambo House Kilimanjaro Club Level Concierge (CL). I stayed in a 1 bedroom villa on the 6th floor. This was not my first time staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge's Club Level room. My first time was December 2007 as a cash paying guest. This was before we joined DVC. So while this was my second time at the Kilimanjaro Club, it was my first time as a DVC guest using points.
I have to say that I did enjoy the amenities but the CL has scaled back considerably since 2007 with regards to the food offerings in the lounge. Each morning, I ate breakfast in the lounge, we had fresh fruit such as watermelon, pineapple, grapes, delicious strawberries and canteloupe.
They also served a variety of muffins, pastries, fruit juices. The warm breakfast food was oatmeal and quinoa. I absolutely LOVE the quinoa and I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on top to add more flavor. The breakfast and afternoon snack offerings were pretty much the way I remember them.
The major difference was the 5 pm - 7 pm appetizer offerings. In 2007, it was actually possible to use the appetizers as a dinner substitute. I remember eating kebabs and chicken wings, and if you're a light eater, it could serve as dinner. However, during this trip, they did not offer any meats. Instead, they had very small pastries such as samosas (very tasty) and goat cheese with a tiny sliver of lamb on top of a pastry. I really loved the flavor of these items but missed the generous portions of food they used to offer.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that they were stingy on the refills. One evening, I entered the lounge 15 minutes before the appetizer session ended and they did not offer any refills of food items! They used to replenish the items constantly until about 5 minutes before they closed. The lounge was still quite busy so I'm not sure why they didn't refill the plate.
Dessert offerings were from 8 pm - 10 pm and they once again, they have cut back. They only put out a few desserts on a plate. And when I say "a few" I mean 4-6 desserts. Needless to say, they were snatched immediately because at any given time, there were easily 10-15 people in the lounge. The cast members replenished quickly but I felt as though the guests had to stampede to the counter to grab their desserts.
The concierge cast members were courteous, friendly and helpful at all times. A few even cleared our plates right after we finished eating even though it is a "bus your own table" system where you can place your used dishes on top of a podium where the trash is located. I think the cutbacks are just a sign of difficult economic times.
I encourage everyone to try AKV's CL and I highly doubt that anyone who is stays there for the first time would be dissatisfied. Only those who know how it used to be would see the major difference.
With regards to everything else that CL offers, our room was cleaned daily and our beds turned down with mints on our pillows. I view this one of two ways: It's really nice to have the room cleaned daily since unless you pay extra for it, it is not part of the DVC housekeeping system. However, if you like the fact that once you check in, housekeeping will only enter your room once or for short stays, they won't enter at all, then I can see how the every day cleaning may be disruptive.
We didn't take any special tours that are only offered to CL guests since we have taken them previously.
I did enjoy staying on the 6th floor since it was much quieter and had a private feel. We requested a savanna view but they were unable to accomodate us. Our room faced the pool so we didn't have a view we enjoyed.
One special thing we booked (but it has nothing to do with CL), was the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party in Magic Kingdom. For those who have never experienced it, it is a dessert buffet offering that you must book and pay for in advance. I love desserts but don't care for buffets. However, I wanted to try it and I'm glad I did. I won't book it again because it was a little too...busy for my taste. I also felt that the desserts were heavy and too sweet. They were delicious but I was stuffed after sampling 6 small desserts. I don't know how other families managed to eat plate after plate after plate! The best part of the party was the view. We had an unobstructed view of the Wishes fireworks and Tinkerbell's flight! Tinkerbell actually flies from the castle to the top of the roof we were standing under. This was the closest I had ever seen her and she waved at all of us as she soared above our heads.
Overall, it was a great trip! I don't think we will do concierge again any time soon. I don't feel it was worth using 160 points but I am glad we tried the Kilimanjaro Club on points instead of paying cash.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
I have to say that I did enjoy the amenities but the CL has scaled back considerably since 2007 with regards to the food offerings in the lounge. Each morning, I ate breakfast in the lounge, we had fresh fruit such as watermelon, pineapple, grapes, delicious strawberries and canteloupe.
They also served a variety of muffins, pastries, fruit juices. The warm breakfast food was oatmeal and quinoa. I absolutely LOVE the quinoa and I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on top to add more flavor. The breakfast and afternoon snack offerings were pretty much the way I remember them.The major difference was the 5 pm - 7 pm appetizer offerings. In 2007, it was actually possible to use the appetizers as a dinner substitute. I remember eating kebabs and chicken wings, and if you're a light eater, it could serve as dinner. However, during this trip, they did not offer any meats. Instead, they had very small pastries such as samosas (very tasty) and goat cheese with a tiny sliver of lamb on top of a pastry. I really loved the flavor of these items but missed the generous portions of food they used to offer.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that they were stingy on the refills. One evening, I entered the lounge 15 minutes before the appetizer session ended and they did not offer any refills of food items! They used to replenish the items constantly until about 5 minutes before they closed. The lounge was still quite busy so I'm not sure why they didn't refill the plate.
Dessert offerings were from 8 pm - 10 pm and they once again, they have cut back. They only put out a few desserts on a plate. And when I say "a few" I mean 4-6 desserts. Needless to say, they were snatched immediately because at any given time, there were easily 10-15 people in the lounge. The cast members replenished quickly but I felt as though the guests had to stampede to the counter to grab their desserts.
The concierge cast members were courteous, friendly and helpful at all times. A few even cleared our plates right after we finished eating even though it is a "bus your own table" system where you can place your used dishes on top of a podium where the trash is located. I think the cutbacks are just a sign of difficult economic times.
I encourage everyone to try AKV's CL and I highly doubt that anyone who is stays there for the first time would be dissatisfied. Only those who know how it used to be would see the major difference.
With regards to everything else that CL offers, our room was cleaned daily and our beds turned down with mints on our pillows. I view this one of two ways: It's really nice to have the room cleaned daily since unless you pay extra for it, it is not part of the DVC housekeeping system. However, if you like the fact that once you check in, housekeeping will only enter your room once or for short stays, they won't enter at all, then I can see how the every day cleaning may be disruptive.
We didn't take any special tours that are only offered to CL guests since we have taken them previously.
I did enjoy staying on the 6th floor since it was much quieter and had a private feel. We requested a savanna view but they were unable to accomodate us. Our room faced the pool so we didn't have a view we enjoyed.
One special thing we booked (but it has nothing to do with CL), was the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party in Magic Kingdom. For those who have never experienced it, it is a dessert buffet offering that you must book and pay for in advance. I love desserts but don't care for buffets. However, I wanted to try it and I'm glad I did. I won't book it again because it was a little too...busy for my taste. I also felt that the desserts were heavy and too sweet. They were delicious but I was stuffed after sampling 6 small desserts. I don't know how other families managed to eat plate after plate after plate! The best part of the party was the view. We had an unobstructed view of the Wishes fireworks and Tinkerbell's flight! Tinkerbell actually flies from the castle to the top of the roof we were standing under. This was the closest I had ever seen her and she waved at all of us as she soared above our heads.
Overall, it was a great trip! I don't think we will do concierge again any time soon. I don't feel it was worth using 160 points but I am glad we tried the Kilimanjaro Club on points instead of paying cash.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
