DW and I took our three small children to AKL in December 2005. It was our first WDW trip (9 nights!) and we will cherish it for the rest of our lives! It was a great time to go.
We had a savannah room and were upgraded to a deluxe savannah room. Bell services was prompt with our bags. We arrived at 11:30PM so I guess they had no one else to wait on. But it was great that they promptly delivered our bags to our room while we were trying to drag three very tired children to our room. The front desk already had our room card keys waiting for us when we arrived. That was nice because it allowed us to get the kids to our room quicker. This stands out because we did not get this same service at POR in October 2006. Every CM interaction that we had at AKL was top notch!
The weather was not the best. DRESS IN LAYERS! Please note the clothing of my family in the pictures below. We had two days that got to 80 degrees, one day that was wet and cold all day long and the rest of the days reached highs in the high 60's or mid 70's.
We never had more than a 15 minutes wait for a bus the entire time that we were there. The Christmas decorations are wonderful throughout WDW and AKL was no exception. The crowds were light for WDW. We tried to take advantage of Fastpass as best as we could. However, our longest wait was only 15 minutes for those rides/attractions that did not have Fastpass.
I think the Mara at AKL is the best counter service at WDW in terms of price, quality and portions. I also think that Boma is the best buffet table service restaurant at WDW. There are lots of great unique dishes served at Boma that most people have never tried. The soups are phenomenal! And if you are not an adventurous diner, Boma still has plenty of dishes that will please you. I have not dined at Jiko so I can't throw in my two cents worth on that one.
There were not very many people at AKL during that time so there was not a lot of hustle and bustle. I don't think people should go to WDW expecting to have a relaxing vacation but when we returned to AKL, it was very very relaxing when we were at the hotel. It did not matter if we were in our room, in the pool, viewing the animals, having dinner... I could go on and on. But I must admit, I think going in December when the crowds were small had a lot to do with the relaxing time that we had at AKL.
You probably know that AKL is having some construction work going on for the AKL DVC. I don't know how that will affect your time. I wish you all the best on your vacation!
