Anyone 'underwhelmed' by the savannah view?

[Beavertails Queen]

I have stayed in AKL before and I thought the view was great. I spent an evening until 3:30 in the morning sitting on the balcony and just enjoying the view and the atmosphere. We were only on the 3'rd floor but it was great to sit in total relaxation and watch the animals walking around. I loved it!

 

[kimberh]

I have stayed in AKL before and I thought the view was great. I spent an evening until 3:30 in the morning sitting on the balcony and just enjoying the view and the atmosphere. We were only on the 3'rd floor but it was great to sit in total relaxation and watch the animals walking around. I loved it!

We have done the same thing. My husband would get up all night, just keep going to the balcony. This is his favorite resort. I have my own night vision glasses. We bring them to help us see in the distance.

 

[momof3poohlovers]

Tuesday 4 December to friday 7th December – Animal Kingdom villas.

Got to the Animal kingdom lodge at 3.30. At the door the medal floor design of animals and the wooden panels surrounding it were roped of, making the entry door seemed really small. The The lobby was also really cluttered with couches and other 'junk'. At least 10 people in line infront to check in. Only 2 people doing check in, but 5 or 6 at the concierge desk chatting and laughing with each other. Initial impressions were not good. Waited in line for about 30 minutes until we got seen. Really poor this. I had requested a room on the 5th floor overlooking the central savannah, near to the lobby as possible. Never got this the Cm whom I would characterise as rude said 'I dont care what you requested. Thats your room and I cant change it) She wrote 5548 on the a bit of paper and sent us on our way. I asked for the welcome pack, but she told me they were too busy to build them up and to come back later.

So walked up to the room. Took 3 breaks and aged a bit, but eventually got to 5548. put the key in. red light. Tried all three. All red light. Then the door opened and another lady said that this was her room. ARRGH!!!!!!! After that hike, She's given me someone elses room.!!!

So back to the lobby. Waited another 20 mins in line to get dragon lady again. 'I never said 5548' says Ros (nice monsters inc link there) . 'Yes you did says I' whilst showing her the room layout card that she had written 5548 on. Tut tut goes it and says, its 5549 and sends us off with a flee in our ear. Sorry? Not a chance.

Repeat 1 mile walk to the far end of the hotel to the worst DVC room on property. Remember the number. Its Room 5549.

So we walk in and the lampshade falls of the ceiling and smashes on the floor. Oh. There's an omen. So straight to the balcony. Its a 5th floor room overlooking a circular fenced of mud pit! Totally shocking and utterly unacceptable. I just cant believe they call this a savannah view. Never saw so much as a bird the whole time we were there. DW burst into tears. This hotel was her dream. So back to the lobby and after a 15 minute wait (see getting better) got Ros to get us the floor manager. He hid in the back for 10 minutes before being very sorry but there was nothing else he could do. We got the AKVversion of the dumpster view.

The room itself was also pants. No en-suite and a toilet in a cupboard. Whats that all about. But, but, wheres the tub? Someone has shrunk it! Tiny wee thing.
Ok says DW phone up members services and get a move. I am not staying here. So I phone up member service and shockerooni, nothing available apart from Saratoga springs. Here was a dilema. Do we leave the 'mud pit view' for the poor relation of DVC? She hummed and hawed and decided that SS was a step too far. So we stayed put and tried to go to a park. Waited 40 mins on a bus to epcot. Waited 30 mins on a bus at 730pm to get back. Eventually got back to the room and thought we would try out the HD tv. Guess what only one remote. So tried it on the living room tv. Worked fine. Pulled out the sofa and put the wee man to bed. Tried the bedroom tv. Nope. Only 2 channels working. So its channel 2 or 3. Everything else is choppy and unwatchable as if the cable is not properly tuned in. Wife looks out the balcony and cries again. Went to find the Mara food place. Walked around for a while. No signs anywhere. Asked a Cm to be met with a shocked look. 'Its near the pool sir' Oh of course it is. How stupid of me not to know this. Had I had a welcome pack...... Got a rotten burger on stale brown bun (what is it with the brown buns now?)

So in the morning we phoned up member services to take them up on SS offer. VAK was that bad. But no, that room has been filled. Bah. So we simply checked out of Vak and checked into a nearby resort called bonnet creek and forgo the points at the VAK. I would advise everyone to avoid the VAK until the new building is built. Its far too great a risk book a savannah room right now in case you get the rotten views. There really are a lot of them.

I agree with this poster as well as some of the others. We actually had the 2BR right next to the one mentioned here(I believe it was 5543/5545). It has to be the worst view there is. It is located right over the people pen on a very small savannah, as well as the fact that it is about as far away from the front desk as you can get. I wrote a review when we got back. We were able to see a couple of giraffes for a very brief time very early in the morning before they were let into the another savannah for the rest of the day. I believe that this savannah is just used as a pathway for the animals to go to the other savannah so unless you happen to be outside on your balcony for those few minutes, your out of luck. However, that being said, I loved seeing the giraffes, even if it was just a few minutes. Was it worth the extra points? Not for that room but I would never stay in that part of the resort again. The bad part about coming from California is we usually arrive late and so we seem to get "stuck" with the leftovers. I think if I ever get stuck with that area again, I would ask to have my extra points for the SV refunded as it truly isn't a Savannah view. Maybe more of us need to complain about these rooms so they can be "reclassified".

So, to answer your question (sorry it took me so long to get to it!)it just depends on where your room is as to what your experience is.

 

[Mr Man]

We were at AKL last October. I have to admit. We didn't sit on the balcony much.

We spent a lot more time at the Pool (and Pool Bar). It was very hot in October.

We will try it again next year, as we will likely be doing an "add-on at AKV in the near future.

I won't say we were underwhelmed though. We just didn't go out there much.

Regards,

 

[DVC Mike]

The Savanna view at AKV is what makes it my wife's favorite resort! We spend a lot of time just sitting on the balcony watching the animals.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

We just returned...had a 1 BDR on Kudu Trail..Room #5223...well, our balcony was huge..and the view...AMAZING!

We saw Giraffe, zebra, ankole cattle, eland, and some other horned animal...? Loved this room, location...
Our friends who were up in concierge had a studio, their view was a tiny little SV, with views of a roof of another bldg, and all the Kidani construction. They did have a view of giraffe and ostrich though...while I lvoe concierge, our SV was far superior!

 

[PinkTink63]

Late July:

We saw lots of animals! the savanna view and HUGE balconies.

We did meet and chat with some of the animal keepers who told us that most complaints about not viewing animals are usually from people who spend very little time in the room and unrealistically expect the animals to be on their schedule. (They come back to the hotel mid-day to escape the heat and are ticked that the animals are also seeking shade and not outside their window - then they go back to the park and stay gone till after dark).

Mid-day is typically not the best viewing time - but early morning and evening are great!!!

Great Pictures! Can I ask which savanna you are viewing and what kind of camera you used?

 

[TomD]

We stayed in a 1 bedroom this past October. I had alot of personal stuff happening at the time and I found it very relaxing sitting out in the balcony watching the animals.

 

[PutnamDS]

Based on all these posts, I phoned Member Services and asked for our three rooms to be on the Zebra Trail in the first of second block (5407-5422 or 5423-5437) facing the savanna (toward Arusha Rock, the center of the circle). Could someone who has been there let me know if this sounds like a good location? This is a once in a lifetime trip with my whole family - we've never been able to to this before and since my husband is ill, we may never be able to do it again. Anyway, it is important to me that I get this right, so your help would be so greatly appreciated. If I messed up, I would like to call them back and fix it. Thanks so much.

I have reserved a 1-bedroom and 2 studios (savanna views all). This is for January 2009.

 

[starbox]

Great Pictures! Can I ask which savanna you are viewing and what kind of camera you used?

I believe we were on Zebra trail facing Arusha (sp?). 4th floor. It was the first block of rooms opened.

And that's a Canon Digital Elph. The SD700. I LOVE the digital Elph -this is my third one, we've kept upgrading the megapixels. IMHO, it's the best under 200$ digital camera on the market.

 

[RLRDA]

Based on all these posts, I phoned Member Services and asked for our three rooms to be on the Zebra Trail in the first of second block (5407-5422 or 5423-5437) facing the savanna (toward Arusha Rock, the center of the circle). Could someone who has been there let me know if this sounds like a good location? This is a once in a lifetime trip with my whole family - we've never been able to to this before and since my husband is ill, we may never be able to do it again. Anyway, it is important to me that I get this right, so your help would be so greatly appreciated. If I messed up, I would like to call them back and fix it. Thanks so much.

I have reserved a 1-bedroom and 2 studios (savanna views all). This is for January 2009.

We stayed in a 1BR SV on the Zebra Trail (room 5425) last August. We loved the view from our balcony! It's a great location and we'd definitely request the Zebra Trail again and again. It was very close to the elevators also which was nice. I hope you have a wonderful trip with your whole family!

 

[Mr Man]

Based on all these posts, I phoned Member Services and asked for our three rooms to be on the Zebra Trail in the first of second block (5407-5422 or 5423-5437) facing the savanna (toward Arusha Rock, the center of the circle). Could someone who has been there let me know if this sounds like a good location? This is a once in a lifetime trip with my whole family - we've never been able to to this before and since my husband is ill, we may never be able to do it again. Anyway, it is important to me that I get this right, so your help would be so greatly appreciated. If I messed up, I would like to call them back and fix it. Thanks so much.

I have reserved a 1-bedroom and 2 studios (savanna views all). This is for January 2009.

Last time we were there, we stayed in rm 2407 I think). it was the closest room to the lobby (and Victoria Fall bar) & restaurants on the same level. It had a very prominent view of the Rock. We had to look to the side to see animals but were very close.

We absolutely loved this location with small kids for it's convenience, but if Savannah view is important to you, I would move down a bit from where we stayed if at all possible.

 

[PutnamDS]

Thanks so much for the valuable feedback! Deb

 

[Chester's Mum]

We stayed in a "Savannah View" room March 4-8. No (well except for 1 ostrich very early one morning) animals on this savannah. To the right of the balcony was a wide driveway leading to a large concrete pad in front of (what looked like) 4 or 5 storage shed doors. To the left of the balcony was the dreaded people pen. Straight ahead was a small clump of trees, with a sort of a pond in the middle. In my opinion this was not worth the extra points I paid.

One morning about 6 a.m. I went out with my coffee. I saw an ostrich picking his way along the fence, probably looking for his friends. Hope he found them...we didn't.

I was thinking about adding on at AKV but won't do it now.

The last 5 days of our trip was in a standard studio at BWV, our first stay at our home resort. We could see the EPCOT fireworks from the balcony. I was thrilled with the room.

No more AKV for us, Boardwalk is calling me back already.

In case anyone was wondering that AKV room was 5212, the BWV room was 3111.

 

[pilferk]

We stayed in a "Savannah View" room March 4-8. No (well except for 1 ostrich very early one morning) animals on this savannah. To the right of the balcony was a wide driveway leading to a large concrete pad in front of (what looked like) 4 or 5 storage shed doors. To the left of the balcony was the dreaded people pen. Straight ahead was a small clump of trees, with a sort of a pond in the middle. In my opinion this was not worth the extra points I paid.

One morning about 6 a.m. I went out with my coffee. I saw an ostrich picking his way along the fence, probably looking for his friends. Hope he found them...we didn't.

I was thinking about adding on at AKV but won't do it now.

The last 5 days of our trip was in a standard studio at BWV, our first stay at our home resort. We could see the EPCOT fireworks from the balcony. I was thrilled with the room.

No more AKV for us, Boardwalk is calling me back already.

In case anyone was wondering that AKV room was 5212, the BWV room was 3111.

I hate that they do that...categorize the "people pen" area as Savanna View. They're really not....and animals seems to be scarce around those areas.

MOST of what I consider the "real" savanna view rooms, IMHO, are much better. We were there in January, in room 5525 (which is on Zebra trail, a bit more than 1/2 way down, facing Arusha savanna..the "center" one) and there were CONSTANTLY animals out there.

Sorry you had such a bad experience......maybe you'll give AKV another try (especially after Kidani is open) in the future and have better luck.

 

[WolfpackFan]

We just returned from AKV and had great views of the animals most of the time. We were on the Zebra trail. At any given time there were at least 4 zebras, lots of angola cattle, 2 giraffes and many other animals I didn't recognize. DW and DD also found the neatest "hidden" viewing area. You go all the way to the end of the Zebra trail, taking the last turn to the right. Then go out on the fire escape. You can see the holding pens and many animals. Sometimes you might need to leave your room to see the animals, but there are all kinds of viewing areas around the resort.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Based on all these posts, I phoned Member Services and asked for our three rooms to be on the Zebra Trail in the first of second block (5407-5422 or 5423-5437) facing the savanna (toward Arusha Rock, the center of the circle).

We stayed in 5413 last week and had fantastic views of the animals. One thing you do need to be careful of as you make the turn going down Zebra trail. At some point, you may have some trees hiding your view somewhat. The closer to the lobby, the better off you are IMO. Also, one more suggestion - if you are getting a studio and can get one that is the very first block of rooms in a section, you have a chance of getting a dedicated studio rather than a connector to a 1BR. By doing this you get a closet which helps a lot with the storage problems in studios. We had one of these rooms last year (I wish I could remember the room number).

 

[gppnj]

IMO...I have no love at all for the DZV (disney zoo villas)....I dont undertsand the fascination for a resort that is in the middle of nowhere....but I guess for each is own.

Bless you. People like you are why I was able to book AKV twice when the seven-month window opened. Don't change.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We LOVED AKL before DVC, and we LOVED our AKV DVC stay last month. It really is all about the atmosphere AND the animals AND conservation. When we have stayed savanna view, we had animals outside our door all night. I know, because I kept looking out there everytime I woke up to make a bathroom call! This trip we were pool view, but still had plenty of animal viewing from the fences along Uzima savanna as well as Arusha. The hallways on the left side of the resort have amazing views of both Arusha savanna as well as Sunset savanna. I also did NOT feel this was "out too far" as some seem to think. First of all, the bus transportation was fantastic from here, and it really never took us long to get anywhere. Sure, a bit longer than it does from OKW, but not as bad as I was expecting. Only DTD seemed far to me. Bear in mind that Disney works very hard to make everything seem like it is "its own little world", so it appears to be totally isolated when it really isn't. We even noticed we could see AKL from the highway when we were coming back from Fort Myers.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We stayed in a "Savannah View" room March 4-8. No (well except for 1 ostrich very early one morning) animals on this savannah. To the right of the balcony was a wide driveway leading to a large concrete pad in front of (what looked like) 4 or 5 storage shed doors. To the left of the balcony was the dreaded people pen. Straight ahead was a small clump of trees, with a sort of a pond in the middle. In my opinion this was not worth the extra points I paid.

One morning about 6 a.m. I went out with my coffee. I saw an ostrich picking his way along the fence, probably looking for his friends. Hope he found them...we didn't.

I was thinking about adding on at AKV but won't do it now.

The last 5 days of our trip was in a standard studio at BWV, our first stay at our home resort. We could see the EPCOT fireworks from the balcony. I was thrilled with the room.

No more AKV for us, Boardwalk is calling me back already.

In case anyone was wondering that AKV room was 5212, the BWV room was 3111.

I really respect your candid comments. So often, we can get caught up on the euphoria that owners bring to the forum. Its by objectional comments that others can try to draw a more "realistic" perspective. Yes, too each his own. That's why it is very important to try to see the resorts before you purchase, if possible.