Animal Kingdom Lodge

[Scottish Mouse]

Planning a Holiday is sooooo much fun, but it's also sooooo complicated (LOL).

As you may know from previous posts we are considering moving on site rather than staying off site. DH suggested last night that we splash out and stay in the Animal Kindom Lodge.

SO Can you help.

Has anyone stayed here? What's it like? Is a Savannah room worth the extra expense?

 

[Firefly777]

I loved the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The theming is wonderful and the food was great. It is similar in design to the Wilderness Lodge except with an African theme.

The Savannah room is definitely worth it. I wouldn't do it any other way. Seeing the animals and hearing the insect noises right from your room is an incredible experience.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Oh yes - it is a fabulous resort to stay.

The one thing I would recommend is actually enjoying the resort too, not just using the bed, so to speak.

We stayed there for only a few days two years ago and loved every minute.

We had a Savannah View room and, as far as we are concerned, it was well worth the added expense. We were top floor on the Kudu Trail and had amazing views of animals from our balcony. No matter what time day or night (that's the problem with drinking all that water ) we went out on the balcony there was always something roaming around, or sleeping just below us. It enthralled us all and we couldn't wait to get back to the resort each afternoon/evening. We had ankole cattle, eland, gemsbok, zebra, impala, giraffe family, Thomsons's gazelle, wilderbeest and waterbucks around all the time, as well as any number of weird and wonderful feathered friends.

It's a great resort to explore, from the different animal viewing areas, with night-time binnoculars provided at these areas, to the different children's activities. The decor is stunning.

Some people have said they found the rooms too dark Don't understand that - the decor is quite dark wood and the lamps aren't particularly brilliants - thank goodness, a really calming place to be.

Boma - fabulous, we ate breakfast there one day. We didn't get the chance to eat at Jiko, but did have burgers late one afternoon before we went to MNSSHP at The Mara.

The pool was great fun, but rather busy late in the afternoon. The only problem with our room was that it was one of the furthest away from the pool, but it gave us a good chance to nose at all the little African artefacts along the way.

We stayed at the Poly last year. We couldn't fault it, especially for the monorail system into MK and Epcot, but we all agreed it wasn't quite as good as AKL. We'll definitely be back to the AKL It's not just somewhere to stay, it's a whole, fantastic experience.

 

[Goofyish]

Why not split your stay between 2 on-site resorts?

We did this last August; we did 11 nights at POR and then the last 3 nights at AKL (Savannah View). If you stay at AKL, then I would recommend a Savannah View - nothing beats sitting on your balcony watching giraffes feeding below
Moving hotels is a doddle - Disney bell services will move all your bags while you spend the day in the parks.
If you get an Annual Pass you can get some very good discounts on on-site resorts, upto 40% in some cases. That's how we managed to afford to stay the last few nights at AKL

Try booking through DreamsUnlimited (sister company to this site). They will book you rooms and then keep checking for any discount codes and apply them automatically to your booking.
You personal agent can also book your PSs for you

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/

 

[Penny12]

I stayed at AKL in May - I'm a critter lover so had promised myself for a long time that I would stay there but I'd been putting it off and putting it off because of the cost (for me it was Savannah view or nothing, after all I could stay anywhere and just visit the resort if I was only interested in the public viewing areas, it's the view from your room that makes that resort <i>unique</i>) - I <b>loved</b> it, a beautiful resort and waking up in the morning to look out and see a giraffe in front of your room is fantastic!

I would stay there again without hesitation, and thought the extra cost was well worth it

 

[UKDEB]

I agree with all the positive points, and especially that you really <b>do</b> need that savannah view.

A couple of negatives to consider:

- AKL is situated in the bottom left-hand corner of Disney property and, unless you have a car, that means buses to every other destination on site, even Animal Kingdom.

- The rooms are very dark and the decor isn't for everyone. We stayed there a couple of months after it opened, so everything was shiny new, but I have to say I didn't love the room.

The resort itself and the restaurants <i>are</i> fabulous, but you don't need to stay there to experience everything it has to offer.

 

[Scottish Mouse]

Thanks, all. It's just soooooo difficult to make a decision isn't it!

 

[florry]

We've booked a week off-site and a week in Animal Kingdom Lodge - we go in 10 days........WOW!
I will let you know all the pro's and con's when we get back(@4th Sept) and will have a monsterous trip report for you.
Can't wait now.
REALY EXCITED......

 

[Scottish Mouse]

Thanks, Florry - have a brilliant trip!!!

:

 

[KayleeUK]

How exciting

Have you looked at this page of this DIS lovely AKL info there as well as a video and lots of piccies

 

[Firefly777]

Originally posted by UKDEB
I agree with all the positive points, and especially that you really <b>do</b> need that savannah view.

A couple of negatives to consider:

- AKL is situated in the bottom left-hand corner of Disney property and, unless you have a car, that means buses to every other destination on site, even Animal Kingdom.

- The rooms are very dark and the decor isn't for everyone. We stayed there a couple of months after it opened, so everything was shiny new, but I have to say I didn't love the room.

The resort itself and the restaurants <i>are</i> fabulous, but you don't need to stay there to experience everything it has to offer.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the transportation situation at the AKL. I expected it to take forever to get to most places we wanted to go, but it was pretty short even to the Magic Kingdom. When we had used the busses at the Wilderness Lodge, we had to share them with the nearby hotels. That meant you had to either stop at other hotels along the way or worry about a full bus when it arrived. AKL doesn't share it's buses so we could go to the parks without stopping.

I didn't find the room to be too dark. I thought it was very relaxing.