Animal Kingdom Lodge Reviews????

[jenjen212]

We are thinking of going to Animal Kingdom Lodge in the middle of October this year. It will be myself, my godson (which will be 2), and his mother. He loves animals and going to the Zoo. So, I just thought that this would be a great resort to stay at with him.

But do you really get to see the animals that much? I have heard from a couple of people that had a savannah room, that they did not really get to see any animals - unless they were up at 5am watching them get fed. They said that it was not worth it. That they had to walk very far to get to everything around the resort, the rooms were very dark, and the beds were uncomfortable.

Any Pros and Cons that you could give would be greatly appreciated!!!

TIA!

Jen

 

[Connor&Cody'sMom]

We stayed at AKL this May and we loved it. We had a savannah view room and there were almost always animals outside our balcony. My DS (he's 9) would have sat out there all day and just watched the animals. The resort is large, and depending on where your room is, you might have a bit of a walk to the food, buses, gift shop, but there are several Disney resorts that are even larger and have longer walks. I thought the bus service was great. Most resorts share buses, but AKL does not. When the bus comes to pick you up, you don't have to worry about it being half full of people, and you don't have to stop and pick up/drop off people at other resorts. I thought the lighting and beds were fine. I would stay there again without question.

 

[currycook]

I recommend you do a search and you will find a lot written on the AKL that will answer your questions.

My view on the animals is that it is hit and miss. Sometimes you get just great and wonderful views, something very little or nothing. We actually now get the no view because we like to save the little extra money to eat at Bomos (which has become our new favorite) and still go out to see the animals.

I still would highly recommend the AKL

 

[disneyma2]

We stayed at AKL in Sept 2003, when our dd was 2...she absolutely loved it!!! All she talked about was seeing the animals on the balcony, we had a sav.view room. Every morning she'd rush out to the balcony to say good morning to them all. At night time, we did the whole good night routine too! It was adorable.

The poll is great for kids, zero entry. Boma has great food and the MAra was nice too for a quick bite to eat.

We went back in Jan 04, stayed at Ft wilderenss cabins, my mom went with us and we wanted more space. Dd loved that too, because of the petting zoo, golf cart, etc.

But.........we are headed back in Dec 2004, orginally booked the cabins, but have changed to AKL.......dd doesn't stop talking about the animals on the balcony!!

The AKL is by far my favorite resort hands down;0)

 

[bb_in_alabama]

As you can tell from my signature, we really do love this resort. We have three kids (DS8, DS3, DD10m) and the two boys (this December will be DD's first trip) love waking up every morning looking at the animals. If you can afford it, try to get a Savannah view room. If you don't stay in a Savannah view room, don't worry...there are dozens of places around the hotel to see the animals. With our Savannah View room, we were awaken every morning by the squeals of our kids as they are face-to-face with a giraffe. Pretty unique experience.

 

[Aisling]

Our family loves AKL. We had a savannah view, the very last room on the zebra trail/arusha rock, and it was great because, being at the end of the "horse-shoe", we didn't have other rooms across from us when out on the balcony. It was the same group of animals, I guess this was their "spot", and we got used to seeing our friends everyday. And we did see them everyday. In the mid-day, we saw them under the trees, a ways away from us, but there just the same. The giraffes were magnificent, and we watched them for long periods of time, stripping the bark and leaves off the branches to eat, and dropping the branch after they cleaned it!

Yes, AKL is dark, compared to other resorts. For us, this was welcomed. After a long day out in the sun, it felt good to come home to a cozy, darkish place. The room itself was not dark, because we had the balcony light pouring in.

As others have said, there are viewing areas all over the place, so you don't even need a savannah view room, if budget is an issue.

And I loved it that we didn't share busses with other resorts. I believe AKL is the only resort like this.

One more thing, it costs less to stay at AKL than to stay at other deluxes, and I really like that aspect! I'm surprised they don't charge more, it's such a beautiful place.

 

[Planogirl]

We just stayed at AKL a few weeks ago and I guess that we were lucky because we saw animals every time we looked and we didn't even have a savannah view. I explored the hotel and discovered several viewing areas. We regularly saw the giraffes, zebra, several gazelle and cattle kind of critters (DS is more into the exact types) and various birds. Even late on our last night while I took my traditional last walk through the resort, I saw all kinds of animals real close to the building.

As for other amenities, the lobby is great. It seemed like there was always something going on and the CM's were very nice. We returned during a bad rainstorm one afternoon and a CM was in front of the entrance handing out towels to everyone. I have NEVER seen that at any other resort! The lobby and side rooms and so on were real active in a pleasant way. The bar is open to the lobby and very nice. The only plus or minus to consider is that you always smell Boma while you're in the lobby. We did not notice the odors while we were in our room.

The pool was very nice. I never swam but enjoyed just relaxing in the evening. DH and DS really liked the pool and spent quite a bit of time there.

Boma was excellent and fun and Mara was adequate. We did not go to Jiko.

Now as for the room, we had one with a bunkbed and DS was in heaven! The room isn't huge but bigger than a moderate where we usually stay and the decor is very pretty and relaxing. But this is what I prefer after a long day of lights and colors and noise, a quite, peaceful resort and the AKL is definitely that. Another plus is that we were actually facing the lobby but heard absolutely nothing once the door was shut. I really like a resort with activity but no noise in the rooms! As a matter of fact we all slept like logs.

The buses could be a minus. We drove and only took a bus once and that was to DD. I looked at it as an interesting tour of Disney property because it took forever!

 

[ibouncetoo]

I LOVE AKL....I'll be there in two weeks!

However, I think if I had a toddler, I'd really consider a monorail resort, if you want a deluxe. I'm assuming with a little one most of your time would be spent at MK (if not, then I guess it isn't an issue).

You certainly can visit AKL and see the animals while there. And there's nothing wrong with choosing AKL because it's the one YOU really want

 

[lucysdad]

We were at AKL at the end of June and we loved our stay there. We had room 5221 which had a savannah view on the zebra trail overlooking Arusha rock. It was fabulous. We spent much time on the balcony just watching the animals. The hotel also had many activities for children and we enjoyed participating. However, these were geared to older kids. Our five year old had great fun earning her activity beads to assemble a bracelet. The pool has a zero level entry that was popular with the little kids. There is also a toddler pool and a playground. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time at AKL, but maybe you would also like to consider staying at the POLY. It is on the monorail and is a quick boat hop to the MK. The Poly also has a nice pool and children's activities. We stayed at the Poly when our dd was almost three and we loved our experience. Either way, you'll have a great time.
Lucy's Mom

 

[lyncruiser]

Since your godson likes animals and zoos, don't think twice about it. Book a Savannah view room and you will love it. We did AKL Concierge and my mother still talks about it. Says it is her favorite hotel ever. I suggested going back and staying at the GF. She said that might be nice but she'd really rather stay at AKL. The animals were endlessly fascinating and they were out there day and night. When we returned to our room, my parents would rush to the balcony to "see what the animals were up to".

My only hesitation is your godson's age -- 2. The monorail resorts are very convenient with a child that age. So easy to return to the hotel for a nap. We had a good price on a garden annex room at the Contemporary recently. Even though the hotel can't begin to compare with AKL, the convenience couldn't be beat.

Whatever you choose, enjoy!

 

[lucy_love_]

hi

try this site

http://www.tripadvisor.com/

i had a good look on here before i booked our first trip to wdw and chose the akl. you can also look up any hotel on this site anywhere in the world. its very cool.

hope it helps

love

lucy

 

[Skylarr29]

well i stayed there last sept and prob wont stay there again. It is a beautiful resort and I had giraffes and other aniamals out my window almost the entire day so that was really great. ......... But it is soso soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far to walk to anything . we only used the pool one time in over a week long stay. We never even bought the refilable mugs because the walk was so far from our room and we never ate any food there either. This year we are going back to our nice warm cozy and easy to walk around fave resort The Wilderness Lodge.

 

[heidijot]

Hello,

My dh and I honeymooned there in July and absolutely loved it. It was beautifully decorated and the cm's were very friendly and helpfull. We had animals outside our balcony every morning and enjoyed our coffee out there. Booma had wonderfully different food and we were treated to a special dessert because we were honeymooning. The Mara was small but had a very tasty African soup. The pool was large and fun to swim in, I liked the water slide but the kids kinda look at you funny while you wait in line The bus service was quick, we never waited more than 10 minutes. There were lots of activities going on, we only went to the night time animal viewing. It was great to see them through the night vision goggles. This was the first time we had ever been to a deluxe and we feel it was worth the money. We split our honeymoon at the CR and were very dissapointed. We felt the AKL was the better of the two choices.

Heidi and Bob


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