AnninIowa
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2005
- Messages
- 2,009
My dad (76) and I (34) just returned from our second stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge....and it was another wonderful stay!! We had a pool view room (although they tried to put us in a King Room, until I explained I was with my DAD!). As usual, the room was clean and well appointed. We were in room 2462, which was close to the lobby and on a few rooms down from an outdoor viewing area.
Boma - We had breakfast at Boma on our first full day. YUM! I've read where others are worried it will be too diffferent from normal breakfast food, but I'm a picky eater and most of the food was regular American food...just higher quality! If you love a good breakfast, definitely try Boma!
Mara - We aren't big eaters (we only ate 3 table-service meals the whole trip - Boma, tea at GF, and Big River Grille), preferring to eat several smaller meals a day. We ate most nights at Mara - chicken Ceasar salads, butternut squash soup, turkey cibata, ham and cheese sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, ice cream bars. Everything was fresh and well made. I know most people wouldn't want to eat every meal here like us, but if you want to grab a quick bite while staying at AKL, Mara should have something for you!
Gift Shop - I LOVE the AKL gift shop! In addition to all of the great African and Disney souveniers, they have a section of toiletries and grocery items. Not a huge selection, but we were able to get milk and large bottles of water. They also had the standard cookies, chips and other "junk" foods. We packed cereal and granola bars with us, and bought bananas at Mara for breakfast.
Noise - I know people have been concerned about construction noise, but I never heard any. We were in the room a lot, too; we took naps every afternoon. As far as pool noise, it only bothered me one night when some kids were screaming. Otherwise, it was relatively faint. Granted, I have excellent hearing...I usually CAN hear a pin drop! My dad never heard any pool noise.
Pool - I managed to get into the pool one afternoon. It is quite large - bigger than it looks in the pictures on the website. The deepest it goes is 4'11"; mostly the depth was around 3'. Kids and adults were enjoying the slide, and there were plenty of lounge chairs to go around. However, I could see where, during peak times of the year, the pool could get very crowded.
Activities - Everywhere I went it seemed as though there were activities for the kids! When I was in the pool, the lifeguard blew the whistle and annouced they were making key chains. Whether by the pool or in the lobby, free crafts, stories and games were seemingly always being offered.
Animals - I've now stayed in a Savannah room and a Pool room, and if you are looking to save money, don't worry about not having a Savannah room. There are so many places to view the animals, and I actually think you see more in the public viewing areas.
Overall, AKL remains my favorite resort of any, Disney or otherwise!!
Boma - We had breakfast at Boma on our first full day. YUM! I've read where others are worried it will be too diffferent from normal breakfast food, but I'm a picky eater and most of the food was regular American food...just higher quality! If you love a good breakfast, definitely try Boma!
Mara - We aren't big eaters (we only ate 3 table-service meals the whole trip - Boma, tea at GF, and Big River Grille), preferring to eat several smaller meals a day. We ate most nights at Mara - chicken Ceasar salads, butternut squash soup, turkey cibata, ham and cheese sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, ice cream bars. Everything was fresh and well made. I know most people wouldn't want to eat every meal here like us, but if you want to grab a quick bite while staying at AKL, Mara should have something for you!
Gift Shop - I LOVE the AKL gift shop! In addition to all of the great African and Disney souveniers, they have a section of toiletries and grocery items. Not a huge selection, but we were able to get milk and large bottles of water. They also had the standard cookies, chips and other "junk" foods. We packed cereal and granola bars with us, and bought bananas at Mara for breakfast.
Noise - I know people have been concerned about construction noise, but I never heard any. We were in the room a lot, too; we took naps every afternoon. As far as pool noise, it only bothered me one night when some kids were screaming. Otherwise, it was relatively faint. Granted, I have excellent hearing...I usually CAN hear a pin drop! My dad never heard any pool noise.
Pool - I managed to get into the pool one afternoon. It is quite large - bigger than it looks in the pictures on the website. The deepest it goes is 4'11"; mostly the depth was around 3'. Kids and adults were enjoying the slide, and there were plenty of lounge chairs to go around. However, I could see where, during peak times of the year, the pool could get very crowded.
Activities - Everywhere I went it seemed as though there were activities for the kids! When I was in the pool, the lifeguard blew the whistle and annouced they were making key chains. Whether by the pool or in the lobby, free crafts, stories and games were seemingly always being offered.
Animals - I've now stayed in a Savannah room and a Pool room, and if you are looking to save money, don't worry about not having a Savannah room. There are so many places to view the animals, and I actually think you see more in the public viewing areas.
Overall, AKL remains my favorite resort of any, Disney or otherwise!!
! She said they saw it was two adults and thought we'd like a king. I do wonder where the room would have been, though. Now had it been a King AND Concierge, then Dad would have been on the floor!!
