Animal Kingdom Lodge without savannah view??

[All Tangled Up]

Is AKL still worth it and an amazing resort without savannah view? May I see your experiences and opinions please? Trying to decide the best option for us. Thanks!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes. The resort is gorgeous with fantastic pools and restaurants. They have a lovely public viewing area off the lobby. I wouldn't hesitate to book standard!

 

[steg]

Never stayed at anything but a Savannah View at Kidani Village 3 times, I would personally be fine skipping the Savannah view depending on how much time you spend in the room. For us it's not much and we wouldn't mind doing a standard view on our next visit especially with the available observation decks.

Again, the big factor is how much time per day do you plan to spend looking at the animals and then correlate that with the cost per night that a Savannah view costs over standard. If we were doing it again we would try first for Value view at Jambo but we've never been able to get it.

If you go savannah view, I would recommend requesting Lower Floor near Lobby the animals do rotate throughout the resort during the day but most appear to be around the observation decks near the lobby at least in my experiences at Kidani Village.

SOME standard views have partial or mostly Savannah views

We had an upper floor (4th) about halfway down the northern side of Kidani village and the majority of what we could see was tree tops. If I did it again I'd request lower floor.

 

[quandrea]

We always book standard now. There are lots of viewing opportunities. I realised one day that we were not outside all that often to justify the Savannah view. Now in January I'm going with friends who are first timers. I might surprise them with a savannah view.

 

[Sarahleigh]

We opted for a standard view deluxe studio over a regular room with a Savannah view. We had a Savannah view the last time we stayed there and while it was great we just didn't spend that much time looking at the animals so it's not a deal breaker for us. We can go to the public viewing areas when we want to look at the animals. It's still a fabulous resort to be at even without the view.

 

[kniquy]

I think the advice of some of the above it good. Really consider how much time you will spends in your room. If you are going to be up and out at the parks most of the day then it isn't worth it. If this will be more resort time, less parks then you might appreciate getting up in the morning, relaxing and watching the animals. We own DVC at AKL and had planned for a savanna view room for our next trip, but when i really thought about how much time we will actually spend in our room I decided it wasn't worth the extra points. From everything i have read there are many viewing areas. Some of the standard rooms, if you can request properly, can get you a partial savanna view. My guess is when we are at the resort we will likely be at the pool, dining or taking advantage of the viewing areas (night time viewing too), so I do not feel as though we will be missing out on much.

 

[Apopper74]

We stayed in a standard value DVC over looking the parking lot. Not a great view however it gave us the excuse to explore the resort. I would not hesitate to do book the same again. The resort is amazing with plenty of public viewing areas to see animals you can't see from your balcony. These areas also have guides that can help you find some of the shyer animals and talk with you in great length about them. I would book the same again without hesitation.

 

[summerlvr]

I had a pool view room last September and thought that the location was perfect. I was on Giraffe trail, 4th floor, about 3 rooms down in the second pod. Had a nice view of pool and was close to the elevator, bus stop and food locations. I really didn't use the balcony very much. I pretty much had to force myself to go out there, plus I really didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. I have another stay booked there for this May, and chose to go with standard view in order to save money since this will be a longer stay. I requested a partial savanna view, but will be perfectly happy with a parking lot view, especially if it is close to the lobby. It's a magnificent resort no matter what kind of view you have from your room. It has pretty much spoiled me from staying a Pop which used to be my go-to resort.

 

[Lvsdisney]

We loved our pool view! I would rather save the $$ since you can view animals from so many other locations.

 

[monorailmom]

We have stayed both savanna view and standard view. (DVC). While yes, savanna view is amazing, I wouldn't hesitate to stay standard view again. One time our balcony looked right out at the bus stops. There was no noise issue at all, and in fact many nights DH and I sat on the balcony with a glass of wine watching all the families come back from the Parks. It was really kind of nice!

 

[mickeynut1]

Is AKL still worth it and an amazing resort without savannah view? May I see your experiences and opinions please? Trying to decide the best option for us. Thanks!

We've never stayed standard view, but have had savanna and pool views and while the savanna view was nice, I loved our pool view just as much. It is nice to see animals from your balcony, but a savanna view isn't a necessity for us because as others have posted, there are several animal viewing areas around the resort. If you are concerned about what you might get with standard, compare that cost to a pool view as the last time I priced AKL pool view, it wasn't that much more than standard. With all of that said, I think any room type is good as AKL is an overall great resort. Good luck!

 

[Shanti]

I had a pool view room last September and thought that the location was perfect. I was on Giraffe trail, 4th floor, about 3 rooms down in the second pod. Had a nice view of pool and was close to the elevator, bus stop and food locations. I really didn't use the balcony very much. I pretty much had to force myself to go out there, plus I really didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. I have another stay booked there for this May, and chose to go with standard view in order to save money since this will be a longer stay. I requested a partial savanna view, but will be perfectly happy with a parking lot view, especially if it is close to the lobby. It's a magnificent resort no matter what kind of view you have from your room. It has pretty much spoiled me from staying a Pop which used to be my go-to resort.

How did you request a partial savanna view? We have standard view booked for April, but online check-in only offers choices like "near lobby", etc.

 

[Bree]

Many rooms that are categorized as Standard view will actually have a Savannah view. It's not considered a desirable view because the people pens are located below you when you look down. This was the view from our room on the 3rd floor overlooking Sunset Savannah.

 

[Shanti]

How do

Many rooms that are categorized as Standard view will actually have a Savannah view. It's not considered a desirable view because the people pens are located below you when you look down. This was the view from our room on the 3rd floor overlooking Sunset Savannah.

View attachment 224922

How do you request these?

 

[beachfan]

I called reservations directly this morning. I have booked a standard view but requested a partial savannah view/upper floor/Kudu trail room- shooting for the moon possibly! I am going in two weeks - a busy time- but it never hurts to ask! Beachfan

 

[Drummerdude1623]

It is still totally worth it. Animal kingdom lodge is an amazing resort no matter where you are staying in it. The views, theming and food are all incredible.

 

[billy1]

We booked a standard view but when it came time to do our on line check in we had the option of Kudu Trail and we had a very similar view to Bree. As others have said Animal Kingdom Lodge is so amazing it will be great where ever you are.

 

[Shanti]

We booked a standard view but when it came time to do our on line check in we had the option of Kudu Trail and we had a very similar view to Bree. As others have said Animal Kingdom Lodge is so amazing it will be great where ever you are.

I've read about that, but our online check-in is only giving generic options like "upper floor" or "near transportation". Was your room near the lobby or transportation? Lower or upper floor? Knowing that might help me optimize online check-in, since it gives no "Kudu Trail" option.

 

[billy1]

Our room was on an upper floor, sorry can't remember which one and it was not near transportation or the lobby. It was a short walk but enjoyable as we had lots of views of animals as we walked to and from our room. When we did on line check in we were lucky enough to have Kudu Trail as a request option. I could not believe my eyes when we arrived at our room and looked out of the balcony door and an assortment of animals were outside. It really was amazing.