Animal Kingdom Lodge / Villas Smell

[jrdoa]

We are looking into the possibility of staying at the AKL later in the year. Heck, we are also researching the DVC as well.

We've heard wonderful things about the AKL and Villas, but one item we've heard a few times is that the resort smells due to the animals / Savana area. Is this true? Has anyone had this experience?

Thanks in response.

 

[Lynne M]

When I stayed there last March, I walked all over the resort and didn't notice any animal smell at all. I wasn't in the Kidani area, though, since that hadn't opened yet.

 

[Trinityloo]

I have never stayed there ( but will be next week!!!) but when we visited there was absolutely no smell at all. In fact, some people on these boards have commented that the lodge smells nice because of some kind of fragrance that they intentionally add. (Not to MASK the animal odours, I hope) We loved the ambience.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at Kidani in June with temps in the 90's, didn't smell anything but I'm not very sensitive to smells. We noticed that early in the morning there were a couple of workers whose job it was to "pooper scoop". I thought never complain about your job again!

 

[newlife]

im here now for my second stay at the villas, savanna view and i can say that i havent noticed any smell. i have been here when the weather has been hot and now when it is a bit frigid.

i thought that the lack of any smell my be due to the fact that i have been on the 5th floor both times but i have wandered around the resort quite a few times and i never noticed any smells that were animal related

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

Never noticed a smell when we stayed there.

 

[Hollymom1229]

I have stayed at AKL and AKV, and have never noticed a smell. I have a very sensitive nose, and have never been bothered.

 

[chalee94]

We've heard wonderful things about the AKL and Villas, but one item we've heard a few times is that the resort smells due to the animals / Savana area. Is this true?

not true. at all.

i've stayed there and visited many more times to eat at boma and jiko. there is some sort of cinnamon-y smell in the lobby (not sure if it's pumped in or due to boma being right downstairs.) but no animal smells in all the times i've visited.

 

[Nadjalu]

I haven't stayed at AKL but when we visited there to eat at Boma there was a smell in the building. It wasn't animals, believe me I know animal smells.....lol. It was more of a "burning" smell, kind of musky. I didn't like it at all.
By the end of dinner I had gotten use to it and wasn't bothered by it as much but man when I walked in that place I immediately was overwhelmed by it.

 

[louey]

We stayed there Xmas 2006 Savanna View, and spent alot of time out on the balcony watching the animals from our room. It never smelled, the way Disney, I am sure the Poop Police do a great job!!! It was a wonderful hotel loved it and would stay there again

 

[ColinCodyMom]

Definitely no animal smells. This has become one of my favorite places to stay and I can smell too well sometimes. We had a savannah view room and there weren't any smells at all. We loved it. We actually had worse smells at WL with a swamp below us then at AKL with animals. It must be magic...

 

[jojomoore]

I stayed at AKL-Kadani in November. High temperatures were between 65 and 85, but i never smelled any animal smells. The smell inside the elevators, lobby, and hallways was absolutely wonderful. We walked out to the Savanna overlook just outside lobby to observe the animals several times and never smelled any foul smells. Honestly, this place is so peaceful, serene, and absolutely beautiful. I hope i can stay there again someday. Also, every staff member was friendly and helpful.

 

[annej]

Well, i have to say that we did smell things! Not inside but on our balcony. We were in a room on the Sunset Savanna beginning of Nov. One evening there was a very strong food odor and the next morning there was a VERY strong animal odor that was then replaced with a very strong chemical odor as they were doing some kind of cleaning to the small waterhole that was right outside our balcony. Love the AKL but we changed resorts because this was our first night and morning and needless to say we were not thrilled. Our view was not even nice. We will visit there often but it is not the place for us to stay. Love the resteraunts and shops and all the places to look at the animals.

 

[Brave teacher]

I posted this very same question before we had our first stay at AKL/AKV! There were no smell issues at all. We were there during the summer and went out to our balcony every day. My children would actually eat their breakfast on the balcony while watching animals. If it stunk, I think they would have stayed inside.

 

[Dawn68PA]

AKL is my absolute favorite deluxe resort! That being said, we did find an odor but not in the resort. One day it rained and immediately became humid for a day and a half afterwards. During that time I did not go onto my balcony as it smelled. I have very sensitive sinuses. I would not hesitate to stay at AKL again. It was an absolutely magical experience!

 

[5boyz]

DebbieB....Did you like Kadani (spell)? I will be staying there in 5 wks in a studio on DVC points.

Thx

 

[glasslipper]

we've stayed at AKL 5 different times and this last Dec. is the first time I noticed a "bad smell". It was near the flamingo pond by the pool. It was cold while we were there and didn't actually use the pool, we were wandering around, but it did make an impression! I was really surprised as I never noticed any bad smells before

 

[Bearybear]

We stayed at AKL this past August. It was hot and humid, yet we never noticed a smell except in our room- it smelled like an antiseptic cleaner! (I like that smell ) We ate breakfast on our balcony every day, and spent a good part of the time at the resort either on our balcony or at one of the overlooks. We loved it there and would have no problem staying there again.

 

[ppony]

I'm pretty sensitive to smells and I can honestly say I never smelled anything remotely "animal stench-like" at all. I would ahve never bought into AKV if I did. I personally do love the smell of being in Florida. THAT is a smell I can "get behind".

 

[aussietravellers]

We stayed at AKL savannah view room for 21 nights straight and not once did we encounter a smell, other than some people with BO But that isn't the resorts fault.