Animal Kingdom Lodge

[spedtcr]

Has anyone used points to stay here? It seems like we'd just about break even renting our points and paying cash, or just using our points to stay here. Please steer me the right way if I'm wrong. Also, what's the difference between savannah, deluxe savannah, and consierge? thanks!

 

[spedtcr]

also, can we go on the sunrise safari the same day as checkout?

 

[chrissyk]

I have no clue about the sunrise safari, but I don't know if it would make sense to use points to stay at the AKL. This seems to be one of the deluxes that can regularly be had for a good price with a code rate. You could always rent out points to cover the cost of the code-rate room. Also, don't you need to stay on the Concierge level to go on the Sunrise Safari? I think you'd really come out ahead using a code rate in that case.

 

[spiceycat]

I would wait and see what the codes.

remember once you make a reservation to use a WDW resort you CAN'T use these points at a DVC resort.

So I would definitely see about codes - also remember in after Jan 2 - if you get annual pass then you get those discounts - much better.

 

[bbowers]

You do have to stay Concierge to do the Sunrise Safari (Or Sunset, for that matter), but you can do it on your check-in or check-out day - we verified both of those when we did it a few years ago (and yes, we stayed on points, as we had just purchased a resale with all banked points and had points to burn!).

 

[garylpn]

just came back from staying 2 days at ak concierge on points, same situation, had banked points to use from a loaded resale purchase
we felt it was worthnthe points, concierge service is nice, but here's a tip, don't go that level, either cash or points solely to see the animals from the room, you can end up dissapointed, i got all my best pictures from the overlooks, and most of all from the open fire escapes at the building ends
also about 1630 from the overlook near the pool, past mara on your left
the feed truck had stopped there to drop off some hay, etc, 2 giraffes, 4 eland, 2 kopi, several thompson's gazelles, most within 200 feet of overlook
gary

 

[ppiew]

When we were at AKL, both the Sunrise and Sunset Safari's are only offered on specific days of the week - two I believe. And yes, you must be in a Concierge level room to take advantage of them. The Sunrise Safari was by far the best in seeing the animals etc.

 

[bubbasmom99]

We just got back from a stay at the AKL, using cash for the Fri/Sat portion of our stay, and I won't do that again. It was a pain to change resorts - next time I will just pay the weekend points. It's hard to get used to a small room when you are used to a 2 bedroom villa.

The hotel itself has nice theming but we weren't there long enough to really enjoy the view - we were facing inward on one of the savannahs and saw giraffes eating breakfast, that was about it. It took forever to get anywhere and the buses were very crowded.

I was so relieved to "go home" to our villa on Sunday!

 

[EmptyNester]

We also had "free" banked points with our resale and on our first trip, stayed two days at AKL concierge just so we would do the Sunrise Safari. Yes, it was a lot of points, but we felt it was worth it.

 

[JimC]

We have stayed on points twice. The most recent, last August, concierge level. The Sunrise safari is great. They only offer it on certain days. There is also a sunset safari on certain evenings -- this is a very small group (8 total?) tour of the AKL savannahs and a private wine paring dinner at Jikos.

In 2003 the AP codes were better than the cost of our points so we used AP codes for non-DVC stays. This year we used points as they were a better deal (at our cost) than the AP codes.

We are also using points for GC in DL next September. When we booked the points were as good as any deal we could get for cash.

Many would say rent the points, pay cash and pocket the difference. For us the effort to rent was not worth the amount of cash it would put into our pockets after paying cash for the reservations.

 

[Dean]

Has anyone used points to stay here? It seems like we'd just about break even renting our points and paying cash, or just using our points to stay here. Please steer me the right way if I'm wrong. Also, what's the difference between savannah, deluxe savannah, and consierge? thanks!

If you'd break even, I still think renting is best as you have more options if you have to change or cancel. But it does become a more reasonable personal choice if it's basically a wash. Do not use the rack rates to compare though unless you've exhausted discount options.

 

[TarraLee]

We stayed at AKL Concierge level in August, but paid cash because AP rates were much better than using points. We did the sunrise Safari on Check-in day, so it would make sense that you could do it on check-out day too.

Let me tell you, though, the concierge service itself was a big disappointment for us. The food offerings were minimal, the same things every day, and not often refreshed. Cold drinks were limited to lemonade, some form of african juice mix, or a room-size fridge with less than 6 cokes or waters at any given time. The staff on the whole were fine, although several were distinctly unfriendly. I asked nicely if they could print our boarding passes on check out day, and was given a snide answer, although this has always been done for me by the conc staff at the Poly. Our room was savannah view, but on the 5th floor at the farthest end of the lodge from the lounge. Not that big a deal, but annoying none the less. For me, the AKL Conc is far inferior to Poly or offsite.

The lodge itself is beautiful, and the sunrise safarai was great. Just go with a lowered set of expectations about the concierge service comapred to other resorts (both on and off-site) so that you aren't disappointed. The sunrise safari was all that made the concierge stay at AKL worth it to us.

 

[MickeyCrazed]

We stayed at AKL for 1 night before our VWL stay...
I won't say too much cause I hate posts full of complaints, but I thought the stay was less than magical.
We paid cash for a Deluxe Savannah view, and it was definately was not worth the price paid.
The room didn't seem any bigger than the standard size rooms, and our view was absolutely horrible.
DH feels that it was because we only stayed one night. It makes sense that they would give the better views to people who have longer stays, and truthfully, if someone was going to have a bad view, I guess I'm glad it was me versus someone else who doesn't have the benefit of DVC rooms!
I don't want to deter you from trying AKL, because you may be luckier than us and absolutely love it.
However, I would recommend not spending the extra $$$ for a Deluxe room. If there is a next time for us, we are going to take a chance on the standard savannah views.
P.S. I did consider concierge (paying cash) but they could not guaratee a savannah view. Seems weird to me that concierge guests would not get the best view possible.

 

[sandieb]

We also stayed at the AKL in a deluxe savannah view room for cash. I concur with a couple other posters that it is sort of a let down after DVC. We were on the 5th floor at the end of a wing...it was a very long walk. There were few animals to see. The room was nothing special - even compared to a studio!

We do love the AKL for the amibiance and decor...we will continue to visit for dinner and walks, but give me DVC anyday! Sandie

PS If you like the animals, I highly recommend the AK tour...hmmmm, the exact title escapes me at the moment. It was fantastic. Sandie

 

[Peggy Sue]

Just returned from AKL and VWL yesterday. Spent first two nights at AKL concierge - Room was nice, 5314 - Quite a hike from the main lobby and had to go through the lobby to a different bank of elevators to access the concierge lounge. Room had a nice balcony, and our view had lots of animals - although there were periods of time thorughout the day where they wasn't any animals at all - and we never saw anything out there at night. perhaps they were all laying down? We wondered if our concierge room was different than the others..as we've never stayed here before. It had 2 queen beds, and double sinks outside the bathroom. Nice, but can't compare to the 1 bedroom we had at VWL, or any other DVC resort for that matter.

We booked an AP rate, found it to be much less than the points required for concierge.

We booked concierge for the opportunity to take the Early morning sunrise safari. This was being offered on sat and Tues morning. We went on a Sat and they had 2 safari trucks full of guests going. Our guide was excellent and we spent 1 hour out on the tour and saw tons of animals up close and personal. Breakfast at the tusker house was very good with many different dishes to choose from. Wouldn't hesitate to book this event again.. Would have loved to do the sunset safari, which takes place at the lodge not the park, but it was fully booked.

We did learn that the animals at the lodge (200 in number) are called off the savanahs for about 2 hours a day. they are trained to respond to certains sounds to return to the barns. This is done to all the staff to clean the savanahs and replenish food supplies. At the park, the animals are only out during park hours, all other times they are in the barns. Again, this is done to allow staff to access the savanahs to clean and replenish food supplies. Lots of interesting information was shared on the ride over to the park and throughout the safari.

We thought it was worth the extra bump in room price to be able to attend this.

We too we're not that impressed with the concierge service. It was "OK".. It was quite a hike over here and we didn't find it really offered much. We stopped by one evening around 6:45 and I had a coffee and David grabbed a glass of wine. We had to hunt down one of the staff to find a wine glass. We asked for bottled water to take with us, none was available. Only a large bottle set out by the lemonade. We asked if any sweets would be available and we were told, rather rudly, they would only be out between 8-10...we we're going to come back again just for a sweet, so we took a couple of cans of soda from the mini fridge and left. In november we were on a Holland America Cruise staying in a suite with concierge service...they have a wonderful lounge for suite guests that was heads and shoulders above what Disney offered here. We don't have any other disney concierge experiences to compare this one too..but it didn't impress us. The one bright spot was the check in process. You don't have to stand in line for anything. The bellhop takes you inside to the bell stand and they confirm your reservation and take you to your room (providing it is ready..our was, but it was almost 3 pm when we arrived) You're then asked to go to the concierge lounge sometime that day and meet with one of the staff to complete the check in process.

The AKL is a very peaceful resort ..a destination unto itself with all the animals and african art, etc. We are glad we had the opportunity to do this and if we return again we will book the sunset safari. This hotel is out in the "boonies" - but we had a car and were not at the mercy of disney transportation!

Peggy Sue

 

[slk537]

We just got back from a stay at VWL and spent the first night at AKL in a savanna room. We had a fantastic view of giraffes, ostriches, vultures, and many others I can't remember names to. However, the rooms were smaller than we're used to with 1,2 BR Villas and I learned I am allergic to something there (animal, grass, tree...dunno) - had a very long night with a stuffy nose.

However, although we're happy we've been there we won't be going back soon. But if it seems like something you'd be interested in, go! It is a magnificent resort! (Boma is great, too)

 

[SnowWitch]

We stayed at the AKL for the last 2 nights of our trip; just returned Sunday. We had a savannah view room and paid $139 + tax. I have no clue what the discount code was, when I asked he said that was the price of the room when he put in my info. We had stayed at the BWV's in a 2 bedroom the previous 7 nights. Yes, its hard going from alot of room to a hotel room; however, we used this time to rest for the trip home enjoy the animals and the dining options at the lodge.

To address your question, the is no way I would use points when there are multiple room discounts at this resort. Rent your points and use the extra cash.

Added note- the one time which was Sat night that we attempted to go to a park (MK) from this resort we waited 40 minutes for a bus. We saw 4 Epcot, 3 AK, 2 MGM, 2 Downtown Disney, 1 Special, and 1 VIP Cast Member bus- NO MK buses. This was about 6:30pm. We finally gave up and went back tot he resort and let the kids play in the pool and use the arcade. No way would I ever tour from this resort. It's great for a weekend to recover from travel or to recoup before travel but no touring. JMHO.

 

[pumpkinboy]

BY contrast to Snow Witch's experience with transportation from AKL, our experience was the opposite. We had very prompt bus service wherever we wanted to go; DTD was the only inconvenient place to get to since you have a water park stop en route. If you end up waiting more than 20 mins for any bus destination, you can always talk with one of the CMs at the entrance and they can get a bus sent over pretty quickly.

Despite the smallish room size, AKL is still our favorite resort. We love the detail, the architecture, the dining, the pool, the animals, the atmosphere... That being said, there is NO WAY I would blow my points on an AKL stay. I agree that it would be better to rent out some points and use the cash to pay for a discounted stay there (AP or other).

In April we are starting our stay at AKL for the weekend nights (2 rooms, on a code) then moving "home" to BWV in a 2BR for the rest of the week. I think starting in the smaller (but still lovely) rooms then moving to the luxury of a 2BR is a good way to do it. We are bringing along my parents and my 9 yr old niece, none of whom have stayed at WDW before. So we were looking for WOW factor for the first two nights, something AKL has in spades. Then on to the convenience of BWV and easy access to Epcot & MGM.

 

[MrShiny]

Isn't the Sunset Safari available to any "Grand Gathering" of 8 or more?

 

[spedtcr]

We don't have APs... what can I expect to pay for consierge? We'd really like to go on the sunrise safari!