Animal Kingdom Lodge split stay

[DocMcs]

We are starting to plan our first Disney trip for next year (Sept/Oct/Nov 2018 or Jan/Feb 2019) when our kids will be 3 and 5. I love the idea of a Savanna view at AKL, but we also really like having separate bedrooms and laundry so I’m thinking of booking two nights in a savanna view room and then moving offsite and stay the rest of the week at one of the Marriott condo properties. (I’ve looked into it, and am not interested in renting points for a DVC 1br)

My questions are- 1. Would it be better to start or end the trip at AKL? 2. Is there enough to do at the resort if we don’t do any parks during the AKL part of the stay? I assume Sept/Oct the pool would be a big part of our days, but know we can’t count on pool weather in Jan/Feb.

Also, during Jan/Feb, would you risk saving money booking a standard view room and hope for an upgrade to a savanna view when we check in? We’d pay for one at check in if a magical free one is not available, but would a paid one likely be available?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Book the room you want. Upgrades are much rather than blogs make them out to be, and if you upgrade at check in you will pay rack rate.

 

[Shellyb84]

I've never stayed offsite (and would rather not go than stay offsite), but I would say to end the trip at AKL.

There is plenty to do at the resort without going to the parks, if it's nice enough for the pool. I wouldn't want two resort days with no pool time. However I don't think 2 nights is enough to get a good feel for a resort, I like split stays but only with at least 3-4 nights per resort.

I second the PP to book the room you want. Also, there are standard rooms with excellent views. We got a wonderful partial savanna view room, if I hadn't know better I would've thought we had been upgraded. If you don't like the room you're assigned first, you can always ask for something else. 90% of the time when I've asked nicely I was given a better room than the first one I was assigned.

 

[3disAddicts]

With 13 trips to Disney, we too have never stayed offsite, and have no desire to. The deluxe resorts are an experience in and of themselves. Have stayed at the AKL lodge, and the whole ambience of the place is awesome, IMHO. I agree about booking the room view you think you'll be most happiest in, as well as at the end of your vacation. I wouldn't bank my hopes on a free upgrade, but hopefully a nice discount will come out for the dates you'll be there.

The members on these boards are awesome, and they love helping others get the most out of their Disney vacation. Happy planning! But be warned, it can get addictive once the Disney bug bites you.

 

[Lesley Wake]

If you check touring plans hotel room view A Lot of standard rooms have partial savannah views. But because they aren't the most perfect, they don't market them as savannah views and have people paying $$$ to book them. If you have a touring plans subscription (highly recommend), you can also fill out a room reservation request that they will fax over. I had great luck with that on my september trip, even getting one only a few doors down from the requested room when I booked less than 48 hrs before we would arrive!

If you want to do the condo/AKL, I would probably do AKL last. We went for breakfast at Boma and I loooved it so much! Just a beautiful hotel. Loved it enough that I'm staying there in March and again in November next year! At that point in your trip you may be so tired, it will be nice to have some relaxation time at the resort, and it is well worth that! If you put it first, you may be itching to get to the parks, you can't enjoy all AKL has to offer!

For your trip, I would avoid October. The crowds this year appeared to be crazy! September was much better for that, but still really hot. November can have lower crowds since it is post-halloween and pre-Thanksgiving, as well as cooler temperatures.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

We've stayed at the AKL and we loved it! I agree with PPs that there's a lot to do at the resort, especially with kids. The kids can participate in activities with cultural representatives from Africa and with the animal specialists. When we were there, the kids earned beads for participating in some of the activities - their favorite was making a "puzzle feeder" for the giraffes!

Since you're not sure which end of the trip that you're going to stay onsite, you might want to check out the Fastpass sticky thread on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies forum. There's a section on split stays that might be helpful since the fastpass booking window is different for onsite stays vs. offsite. Happy planning!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/fastpass-frequently-asked-questions.3491680/#post-55337492

 

[SharonZ]

I would do AKL at the end of the trip, I think it might be a letdown to do it first and then stay offsite. I agree with the others that say book what you want/can afford, as upgrades are few and far between. Waiting to pay for an upgrade will cost you a lot more money at check-in, than if you book it ahead of time.

 

[DocMcs]

Thanks for the responses! I’m still a little confused about the view advice...we would be happy in a standard room that has partial animal views; it sounds like that is not considered an “upgrade”, just a “request”, is that correct?

Also, if we book it at the end of the trip, would our magic bands be valid for the part of the trip where we’d be offsite? Or do we not need them for anything then? Thanks!!

 

[jaiminee krikit]

Thanks for the responses! I’m still a little confused about the view advice...we would be happy in a standard room that has partial animal views; it sounds like that is not considered an “upgrade”, just a “request”, is that correct?

Correct, it is just a request. We stayed at AKL last summer and the only request I made was Kudu Trail View and I was pleasantly surprised by the view. The "obstruction" was simply a fenced in area to the left of our balcony, but it did not obstruct our view whatsoever.

 

[sndral]

For a first visit with 2 young children I'm not sure that I see the advantage of booking a stay split by 2 days on site and 5 days off site - that's a lot of time w/out a room for a relatively short vacation, room unavailable until 3 pm check in time twice and must be out by checkout time 11 am twice - not sure it's worth it.
Second thought is why start or end the vacation w/ non park days? The cost goes down incrementally w/ each ticket day added. To take a break mid stay makes sense to me, but to not visit parks for 2 days at the beginning or end does not. Also, most people pay a bit more to stay on site for the benefits that come w/ that such as extra magic hours in the parks when on site guests get extra time in the parks and Disney transportation around the property and/or free parking at the parks. I'm not seeing why you'd want to just stay 2 days on site w/out actually visiting the parks and then move off site to do your park visiting. W/ the new good neighbor 60 day FP+ thing the onsite FP+ booking is less important than before I suspect.
Regarding AKL's room views, many of the standard views are in fact 'partial' savanna views, however there is no way to guarantee you'll be assigned one of those rooms. There are many rooms which overlook the front of the resort as well as the pool view booking category, so if a savanna view is very important to you you really need to book that view. Disney is not known for it's amenability to at the check in desk upgrades. Rooms are blocked off and assigned 3 or more days before arrival.
One thing AKL does have is a lot of activities for kids, so if you do opt for a short AKL visit w/out parks (which I'd do first before the park intensive portion of your stay) be sure to check out the activities and allow your children to really enjoy all that AKL has to offer. Be aware that the children's splash area is at the Kidani pool which is up by the DVC building but it's open to all AKL guests, so if it's swimming weather venture over to that area as it looks like lots of fun for the younger set.

 

[Texans_loyal]

End the trip at AKL. once you check in, you will never want to leave.

 

[DocMcs]

For a first visit with 2 young children I'm not sure that I see the advantage of booking a stay split by 2 days on site and 5 days off site - that's a lot of time w/out a room for a relatively short vacation, room unavailable until 3 pm check in time twice and must be out by checkout time 11 am twice - not sure it's worth it.
Second thought is why start or end the vacation w/ non park days? The cost goes down incrementally w/ each ticket day added. To take a break mid stay makes sense to me, but to not visit parks for 2 days at the beginning or end does not. Also, most people pay a bit more to stay on site for the benefits that come w/ that such as extra magic hours in the parks when on site guests get extra time in the parks and Disney transportation around the property and/or free parking at the parks. I'm not seeing why you'd want to just stay 2 days on site w/out actually visiting the parks and then move off site to do your park visiting. W/ the new good neighbor 60 day FP+ thing the onsite FP+ booking is less important than before I suspect.
Regarding AKL's room views, many of the standard views are in fact 'partial' savanna views, however there is no way to guarantee you'll be assigned one of those rooms. There are many rooms which overlook the front of the resort as well as the pool view booking category, so if a savanna view is very important to you you really need to book that view. Disney is not known for it's amenability to at the check in desk upgrades. Rooms are blocked off and assigned 3 or more days before arrival.
One thing AKL does have is a lot of activities for kids, so if you do opt for a short AKL visit w/out parks (which I'd do first before the park intensive portion of your stay) be sure to check out the activities and allow your children to really enjoy all that AKL has to offer. Be aware that the children's splash area is at the Kidani pool which is up by the DVC building but it's open to all AKL guests, so if it's swimming weather venture over to that area as it looks like lots of fun for the younger set.

Thanks, this is helpful to think about. I hadn’t thought too much about check in/out times. My thinking is that we’d likely only do 3-4 Park days total, and I’m not totally sold on the benefits of “staying onsite”. I just think AKL looks really cool and I thought it would be nice to have a full non check in/out day to enjoy the hotel. Maybe a full Marriott week with a lunch at AKL makes more sense though.