Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah View - Worth The Money?

[cep101]

My husband and I are going on a Disney World trip at the end of September to beginning of October. I was wondering if the Savannah View at Animal Kingdom Lodge is worth the money?

We are looking at doing a split stay, and I was thinking of doing half off-property and the other half at AKL. I'm trying to not go crazy on the money, but we have never stayed on-property before and I hear it makes a difference.
We are driving in our car, so we will have that for our whole stay. If we stayed at AKL it would be for three or four nights.

Any reviews of the room or even pictures would be great appreciated!

 

[Trekkie]

We've only stayed there once, but it was fantastic.

And yes, to me, there's a huge difference, staying on property.

But obviously, it's a personal decision. And there are lots of options.

 

[pixarmom]

We've stayed both savannah view (club level) and pool view. Our kids really loved savannah view and I was OK with it only because it was included in the cost of a club level room. But if not booking club level, I'd go with pool view again. I loved the proximity to the pool, the more reasonable cost and I'll always prefer a view of water over a view of animals.

 

[clayfolks]

We stay at AKL/AKV frequently. We seldom get a savannah view. There are plenty of opportunities to view the animals without it and we love the pool view at Jambo House, which, to us, is stunning and exotic.

 

[fairygagamother]

I've stayed at AKL multiple times, always paying for a standard view. Maybe we've been extraordinarily lucky, but we've been upgraded to savannah view rooms just about every time. Sure as I say it, my luck will change! There are viewing areas all over the hotel should you not get upgraded. You will love the hotel no matter! But I wouldn't, & haven't, paid all that extra money for a savannah view.

 

[Dentam]

We also stayed club level with the savannah view and really liked it. However, we spend most of our vacations outside of the room (not sure about you) so the view isn't top priority. The only reason we had it that time was that my grandmother wanted to upgrade everyone's rooms since it was a family reunion trip. We do always stay on property though - it just isn't the same great experience when you stay off property in my opinion. We like to get away from the outside world completely during our stays.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm going in April on my honeymoon, and was going to split stay with half the week with savannah view at AKL. When I called to book my reservation, the CM talked me out of the split stay and said there are actual several standard rooms that have a partial view of the savannah, you just don't have the full 180 degree view guaranteed like you do with savannah view. So he put a note on our account saying we were honeymooning and wanted a partial view of the savannah. Obviously I don't know for sure that we'll get that, but the CM said he had stayed there several times himself and had a great view! Worth checking into at least.

 

[Dizduke]

We stayed in a partial savannah view last time as we originally booked standard. Its pretty awesome in the morning and evening to see whats out there. I'd say though at least go pool view if money is tight. You'd be upset if you were at akl and were looking at a parking lot.

 

[Babsy]

I really like the sava.nnah view. I have stayed pool view and liked it fine, but there is something special about watching the animals roam around from your own balcony.

Still, there are plenty of viewing areas to see them from if you decide to book pool or standard view, so AKL is enjoyable either way.

 

[figment_jii]

My family splurged at stayed in one of the Arusha savannah view rooms when we stayed at AKL. We loved being able to watch the animals from our balcony at almost any time (there was a little bit of time during the mid-morning when the animals were call called into their barns so the keepers could get into the area to replenish food, clean up, etc.). We loved the fact that there were even animals out and about in the middle of the night! If you're going to stay at AKL, I would go for the savannah view if possible. These were a few of the photos I took from our balcony.

 

[MyOtherSS]

i think the savannah view is totally worth the money, it was awesome being able to wake up, sit on the balcony and watch the animals.

 

[thisismyusername]

You'd be upset if you were at akl and were looking at a parking lot.

Obviously, each person has his or her own opinion, but we did have a view of the entrance at Kidani, and were absolutely fine with that. We also had an Arusha view at Jambo, and were fine with that, too. There's plenty of opportunities to see animals at both lodges just steps away from your room, and if it saves me enough money to stay an extra day or spend my money on something else I want to do, that's where my $$$ priorities are. We don't generally spend a ton of time in our room, and even when we did have an Arusha view at Jambo, there weren't very many animals out in the savannah. We didn't pay for that view (if I would have, I would have been extremely disappointed). Interestingly, what I would pay for at either resort is close access to the lobby!

 

[Dizduke]

Agreed with many of these points. Each person has their own opinion. Despite having the partial savannah view we were SO far from the lobby and buses so that may be a deal breaker for some. Each morning and night it was awesome to just take a breather and look at the animals from the comfort of our room, but yes there are tons of opportunities to see animals. When we were considering a standard view or savannah we opted for the standard because the price jump was just too much for us.

 

[DisDad4Life]

We absolutely love AKL and have stayed there numerous times. The first few we stayed in pool view rooms (which were great) and simply enjoyed the view of the animals from the numerous viewing stations. Then we decided to splurge a little and try a savannah view room ... and I was hooked. As with most vacationers, we don't spend a lot of our down time in our room, but being able to sit out on the balcony with my coffee in the morning or with a cool beverage in the evening while watching giraffes and zebras stroll by ... priceless!

 

[kathy884]

I think a Savannah view room would be awesome. For us, though, it's a matter of budget and priorities. We're planning on doing the pool room view with a queen and bunk bed (didn't want a parking lot view). And that will leave room for some pricey tours that I'd like to do (The Wild Africa Trek and the Keys to the Kingdom tour). It's hard for me to pay Disney deluxe prices period -- even the lower end lol. We travel high season too, which doesn't help matters.

 

[L&Lfan]

We stayed Club Level Savannah View where the view was terrible and Arusha View non club level where the view was FANTASTIC! From now on we will always pay for an Arusha Savannah view unless we can get a guaranteed good view at club level. It's just worth it to us.

 

[nkereina]

I've stayed at AKL multiple times, always paying for a standard view. Maybe we've been extraordinarily lucky, but we've been upgraded to savannah view rooms just about every time. Sure as I say it, my luck will change! There are viewing areas all over the hotel should you not get upgraded. You will love the hotel no matter! But I wouldn't, & haven't, paid all that extra money for a savannah view.

The way I understand it is that standard view is essentially any view - could be the savannah, could be the dumpsters, could be the parking lot. So I don't know if it was an upgrade per se, but more like you were lucky enough to get a room with a good view over a bad one. Savannah view (or other views) just guarantee that you'll get the view you want. For me, based on PPs, I'd roll the dice and book a standard room and request savannah. If you don't get it, you can still view the animals in one of the many other places AND you'll have that extra money in your pocket.

 

[mickeynut1]

Like a few of the other posters, we've stayed both pool view and savanna view and while it was nice watching animals from our balcony, I enjoyed our pool view just as much. I agree with pixarmom that a pool view room is great as far as proximity to the pool (as well as to Mara) and you still get a great room/view, but at a cheaper cost. There are plenty of animal viewing areas around the resort that for us, a savanna view is not a necessity.

 

[SnoopMary]

My family splurged at stayed in one of the Arusha savannah view rooms when we stayed at AKL. We loved being able to watch the animals from our balcony at almost any time (there was a little bit of time during the mid-morning when the animals were call called into their barns so the keepers could get into the area to replenish food, clean up, etc.). We loved the fact that there were even animals out and about in the middle of the night! If you're going to stay at AKL, I would go for the savannah view if possible. These were a few of the photos I took from our balcony.

I splurged and booked the savannah view based on your pics.

Thanks for sharing them!

 

[tinkerpea]

Does anyone have pictures of there pool room view, or standard like carears etc view?
We stayed at Akl jambo in 2010 for 3wks we had 2 rooms and seriously lucked out! We had the very end 2 rooms on the arusha savannah! And it was amazing we didn't pay for a savannah view, and this was just before they stated charging etc for the arusha savannah.
Even though we used to joke that we was walking the green " mile" to get to our room it was so worth it.
We didnt have one moment where there wasn't giraffe right outside our window along with a huge amount of other animals,
As we was right next to the feeding station the view in the morning was insane.
However we have booked our first cruise ( disney of course) and can not afford the savannah view.
We're happy knowing we can see animals just walking to our room, but I'm a huge planner and need to know what type of views we could end up having
Thanks