Animal Kingdom Lodge-?

[KyMattDisney]

We are looking to stay at the AKL in July 2003 for 2 nights and then transferring over to our DVC for 5 nights......

Some questions about AKL:

1) Are there any discounts available for this hotel? What should we expect to pay in July for a room...either standard or savannah view (see next question)...........

2) Is the higher rate for Savannah view rooms worth it? Or can you see the animals in general hotel areas and just pay for the standard view? Is there an odor for the animal view rooms or in general near the hotel?

3) Which rooms are better for a family of 4.....2 queen beds or the 1 queen bed and bunk beds? ( I have 2 boys, ages 3 and 8)

4) What are the pools and restaurants like? Kid friendly?

5) What is the transportation like to the parks...I know it is buses but are they running frequently.......

6) Overall impressions of the hotel, staff, amenities and rooms.....


THANKS!!!!



Thanks!!!!!!!!

 

[julfre]

I'm staying there in about 2 months so most of this is what I read on this board rather than my experiences, but hopefully this will help

1) Are there any discounts available for this hotel? I just got a postcard for $109 standard for the value season. There are codes available, but July might be little too far out. Watch mousesavers.com for great info on discounts

2) Is the higher rate for Savannah view rooms worth it? I'm paying the extra $ in my case. I want to sit on the balcony and watch them all night, but there are lots of public areas if you are on a budget

3) that would depend on the kids

4) What are the pools and restaurants like? Kid friendly? The pool looks great-zero entry so little kids will probably really like it

5) What is the transportation like to the parksI have read that buses are really good to theis resort-Plus it does NOT share buses with other resorts which really adds time to the schedule

6) Overall impressions of the hotel, staff, amenities and rooms-I'll let you know in 2 months, but everything I have seen looks great. Rooms are said to lack lightling, but I plan on bringing a small reading lamp so that will not be an issue for me.

 

[Trekker]

bump

 

[gepetto]

1. Usually summer discounts come out in the spring.

2. Depends on how much time you spend in the resort. Last
summer the standard view rooms were pretty cheap. There
are plenty of places at the resort to view animals if you don't
want to spend the extra on savannah view.

3. My kids loved the bunk beds

4. Everything there is kid friendly.

5. Best transortation I've seen at WDW. We never waited for
longer than 10 minutes for a bus.

6. I didn't find the rooms too dark. Ummm...get a list of hidden
mickeys from the front desk. You kids might like looking for
them.

 

[Mom of 5]

AKL is great! We loved it there.

We had 2 savannah view rooms, and saw tons of animals. However, I wouldn't hesitate to go back and stay in a standard view room. There are lots of places to view the animals around the resort. Personally, I don't believe it's worth the extra money for SV unless you plan to spend alot of time in your room (which we didn't ).

We had 2 queens in one room, and a queen and bunkbed in the other. The kids loved the bunkbeds. The rooms are a bit dark, but it's all part of the theming and charm of the resort.

We were only there for 2 nights, but our experience with the transportation was great! We never had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes for a bus.

We at lunch at Mara, the food court there. It was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. We really enjoyed Boma, though. We at there for both breakfast and dinner on the same day.

 

[Jackie H.]

We LOVED AKL! It is our new favorite resort.

1. Yes, there are discounts, but I have no idea about July.

2. I think the higher rate for Savannah rooms is worth it. THere are LOTS of places to go view the animals besides your room. But sitting on your balcony while the animals are out there is a real thrill! Also, it will keep the kids occupied when you are needing to be in the room.

3. We got the bunk beds (8 & 11 years old) and we liked that. There may be more walking around room than with 2 queens, I really don't know.

4. The pool is very nice. Very large, very kid friendly with a nice slide. For your age kids, I think it will be perfect. The restaurants are great as well. We didn't do Jiko, but our kids liked Mara and we all loved Boma. We ate at Boma 3 times during our stay (once for breakfast and twice for dinner). Both are kid friendly. Mara is fast food type place and they have a TV in one corner with Disney Cartooons running contantly. Boma is a buffet of African foods. So there is no wait, although they will give the kids a coloring sheet and crayons. Also they have an island of "kid foods": chicken fingers, mac & cheese etc.

5. The buses were great. No waiting at all - the longest we waited was 10 minutes to be picked up at Typhoon Lagoon. And as stated above they don't share with any other resort. So it is straight from AKL to where ever you are going. (The one to DD does go by Blizzard Beach first.) It seems to me that WDW puts a little extra effort into the bus transportation at AKL. It would make sense that they would because it is the only deluxe resort that relies solely on buses.

6. The resort is fabulous. The rooms are not large - none at WDW are. And the rooms are dimmly lit, but it didn't bother us - I read the USA today under my lamp every night (they leave one at your door daily). The lobby is beautiful and the place is full of African art and artifacts. But the best part, IMHO, is the young people from African countries that Disney has hired to teach the guests about their home countries. There are lots of programs and they are always around to talk with guests about the animals, themselves, their homelands and their experiences in America.

In short, WE LOVED IT!