I think most of the posts have talked about the relative merits of Savanna view vs. pool or standard view but that's not how I read your question - you said the upgraded view was beyond your budget.
So I think what you're really asking is, "should you spend the extra money to upgrade from a non-Deluxe (or off-property?) hotel to a standard or pool view room at AKL?" To answer that, it would help to know what you're upgrading from and what the price differential is. It's not about Standard (or Pool) view vs. Savanna, it's about what you would have booked vs. Standard or Pool view at AKL.
A standard view room at the AKL is what we've been booking for several years. We like certain amenities at Deluxe hotels in general and some things about the AKL in particular that make that the best choice for us. I'll lay those out for you and see how important they may be to you. They're roughly order by our priorities.
1) Interior hallways. We prefer this to "motel-style" room doors that open to the buggy, muggy outdoors.
1a) All rooms are accessible from the main building with a porte-cochère and valet parking. We often travel during the stormy season. It is really nice to be able to valet park (free with a handicap placard) and get to our room without getting wet at all. One of us is also a bit astraphobic. This is an advantage that AKL shares with some other Deluxes but not all of them. As much as we like the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian, in this regard, the AKL beats them for us.
2) We like looking at the animals and the savanna and there's a lot more opportunity to do that when you're staying in a standard view room at the AKL than if you're staying at Coronado Springs.
3) We like the theme and the activities. We've been going to WDW often enough and for long enough trips (and we aren't as young as we used to be) so we don't do too many open-to-close park days as we used to. After a nice dinner (often at another resort), we're frequently "in for the night." We've really enjoyed the evening cultural presentations. These talks and the CMs who give them are interesting. And a relaxed evening and an early bed time contribute to earlier and very productive mornings in the parks.
4) The pools work for us (not that we're huge pool people, though.) Going back a few years, we didn't care for the Jambo pool too much - the bottom was brown so it looked like a watering hole; nice idea but not terribly inviting for swimming. I'm pretty sure it's now a standard pool-bottom color. I'm not sure if the water slide is still disappointingly slow. The Jambo pool is good enough for us when we're looking for a convenient dip. BUT as an AKL guest, you can also go over to Kidani and use that pool. It's smaller but has a noticeably different atmosphere. Perhaps this is because it's a DVC pool. There were lots of activities and fun facilitated by the staff and a much better water slide. (There's a water playground, too, but that's not of interest to us at this point.) I liked how the staff splashed water on the hot concrete at Kidani. I have tender feet.
5) Even though we stay on-property, we've always rented a car. For us, this mitigates being a bit out of the way to some extent. At the AKL (or most of the other Deluxes), we're in and out through the lobby and themed common areas much more than we would be at the Moderates/Values. We feel more connected to the theme of the resort, the activities, and the staff.
6) On at least one of our trips, the extra cost was fairly nominal. That year, the Value season started earlier in the summer than at the Moderates and Values. The week we went, AKL was Value but Moderates were Regular. On top of that, the discount was steeper. This is why it's important to determine the exact price difference is for your dates.
The resort itself has so much to offer - it is absolutely unique and so relaxing. I would stay there in a standard view room in a heart beat.
