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Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 364
We spent 5 nights last week in a two-bedroom concierge unit at AKV. We arrived on Saturday the 15th and left on Thursday the 20th. We really hated to leave and wished that we could have stayed for the whole week. But, church choir duties called.
Let me start by saying that we are completely spoiled now by the concierge treatment and by the joys of staying at AKV. We can only hope that the experiment with the concierge units at AKV leads DVC to introduce concierge units in other resorts (at least in the resorts linked to hotels).
We had a handicap-accessible unit, so the layout was not consistent with the floorplans we had seen. I'm not sure why we got the accessible unit and we would have preferred a regular unit, but we had a Sunset Savanah view, which was very cool. Our daughters (2 and 4) loved to sit out on the balcony and watch the animals when we were in the unit. The units have interesting furniture and decor, and the dishware is especially nice. Our master bathroom, being accessible, was a bit disappointing because we did not get the big shower.
The concierge service was excellent, very attentive and friendly. Everyone working in the Kilimanjaro Lounge went out of his or her way to help. The breakfast each morning was excellent (we especially loved the quinoa cereal and our girls loved the Fruit Loops). The cocktail hour snacks were substantial enough to serve as dinner, and the best of the Boma desserts made their way up for the evening sweets. We enjoyed the Sunrise Safari on Sunday morning and were surprised how reasonably priced it was, especially with the included breakfast at Tusker House.
This was our first visit to AKV or AKL. Having the savanah view was a real plus. I had to work late most nights, and as I worked I could hear the animals out on the savanah. It reminded me of my tented safair in Tanzania, when I would stay up each night just to listen to the sounds of the savanah. We loved the quiet, somewhat out of the way location. We had never really used the Disney transportation system before, but we shall use it much more on future visits. We ended up regretting renting a car for our stay, especially given how expensive cars were last week. We could have gotten by very nicely with the buses and an occasional taxi.
We had another great dinner at Boma. Honestly, we could live on the Boma soups alone. So good. We had the Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Parkfare and afternoon tea at the Garden Court, both at the Grand Floridian. (The afternoon tea had the potential for disaster with our girls, but with a little patience and creativity from our server we ended up having a great time. Our server brought them apple juice in a teapot and they enjoyed serving themselves their "apple tea.") We had our usual lunch at Crystal Palace, and the girls managed to join the Pooh parade twice. We also had a spur of the moment lunch at Marrakesh in Epcot when we went for the opening of the Flower and Garden Festival.
I have to say, I noticed significantly increased attention to detail, service and courtesy at every turn of our trip. My partner and I both remarked how attentive and helpful every CM seemed to be, from the valets (who gave us some pointers on how to avoid valet parking fees!), to the hotel staff, to the restaurant servers, to the folks in the parks.
We enjoyed the zero entry pool with slide (the Uzima Pool) at AKL. We can only imagine how neat the new water amenities at Kidani House will be. I know that it might be considered sacrilege, but we did spend a day at the new SeaWorld water park, Aquatica. While the theming (Australian outback) is not quite equal that of the Disney waterparks, the facilities are incredible, especially some of the adult slides and the childrens' facilities. We rented a four-person cabana for the day, which was secluded and quiet. We loved this waterpark and will make it a regular part of our Orlando circuit.
It was a great five days. We might not have gotten much rest, but we did have a lot of fun and a lot of enjoyable family time together.
Let me start by saying that we are completely spoiled now by the concierge treatment and by the joys of staying at AKV. We can only hope that the experiment with the concierge units at AKV leads DVC to introduce concierge units in other resorts (at least in the resorts linked to hotels).
We had a handicap-accessible unit, so the layout was not consistent with the floorplans we had seen. I'm not sure why we got the accessible unit and we would have preferred a regular unit, but we had a Sunset Savanah view, which was very cool. Our daughters (2 and 4) loved to sit out on the balcony and watch the animals when we were in the unit. The units have interesting furniture and decor, and the dishware is especially nice. Our master bathroom, being accessible, was a bit disappointing because we did not get the big shower.
The concierge service was excellent, very attentive and friendly. Everyone working in the Kilimanjaro Lounge went out of his or her way to help. The breakfast each morning was excellent (we especially loved the quinoa cereal and our girls loved the Fruit Loops). The cocktail hour snacks were substantial enough to serve as dinner, and the best of the Boma desserts made their way up for the evening sweets. We enjoyed the Sunrise Safari on Sunday morning and were surprised how reasonably priced it was, especially with the included breakfast at Tusker House.
This was our first visit to AKV or AKL. Having the savanah view was a real plus. I had to work late most nights, and as I worked I could hear the animals out on the savanah. It reminded me of my tented safair in Tanzania, when I would stay up each night just to listen to the sounds of the savanah. We loved the quiet, somewhat out of the way location. We had never really used the Disney transportation system before, but we shall use it much more on future visits. We ended up regretting renting a car for our stay, especially given how expensive cars were last week. We could have gotten by very nicely with the buses and an occasional taxi.
We had another great dinner at Boma. Honestly, we could live on the Boma soups alone. So good. We had the Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Parkfare and afternoon tea at the Garden Court, both at the Grand Floridian. (The afternoon tea had the potential for disaster with our girls, but with a little patience and creativity from our server we ended up having a great time. Our server brought them apple juice in a teapot and they enjoyed serving themselves their "apple tea.") We had our usual lunch at Crystal Palace, and the girls managed to join the Pooh parade twice. We also had a spur of the moment lunch at Marrakesh in Epcot when we went for the opening of the Flower and Garden Festival.
I have to say, I noticed significantly increased attention to detail, service and courtesy at every turn of our trip. My partner and I both remarked how attentive and helpful every CM seemed to be, from the valets (who gave us some pointers on how to avoid valet parking fees!), to the hotel staff, to the restaurant servers, to the folks in the parks.
We enjoyed the zero entry pool with slide (the Uzima Pool) at AKL. We can only imagine how neat the new water amenities at Kidani House will be. I know that it might be considered sacrilege, but we did spend a day at the new SeaWorld water park, Aquatica. While the theming (Australian outback) is not quite equal that of the Disney waterparks, the facilities are incredible, especially some of the adult slides and the childrens' facilities. We rented a four-person cabana for the day, which was secluded and quiet. We loved this waterpark and will make it a regular part of our Orlando circuit.
It was a great five days. We might not have gotten much rest, but we did have a lot of fun and a lot of enjoyable family time together.
.
