Concierge AKLV? All Savannah view?

[Jennasis]

Do all the concierge level rooms at AKLV have savannah views? We really wanted savannah view, but DH's uncle talked us into a 1-bedroom concierge room (cause It's his favorite, and he's giving us his points). We'll be happy wherever but I'm just curious. Actually DH may be more happy about having a King Size bed for the 2 nights we're staying there than seeing animals outside the room!

 

[erionm]

Three face the Sunset Savanna, the other two face the Uzima Pool.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The three that face the savanna have a somewhat blocked view of the savanna because of the roof overhang.

 

[ppony]

Does anyone know if there is a map as to where the DVC CL rooms are? There MUST be one somewhere. I'm also booked into a 1BR CL and would like to know what my placements might be.

 

[drusba]

See the AKL Jambo map: http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/aklmap.htm The concierge rooms are in the blue area right above the lobby. Rooms 6201-09 and 6402-06.

Of the three 2BR lock-offs that have savanna view, one of them is handicap assessible and none have that great of views, and you cannot request view, it is just luck of the draw. If you want concierge services including the lounge, go for concierge, but if you want savanna view, I highly advise you get a savanna view room instead of concierge.

 

[ppony]

See the AKL Jambo map: http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/aklmap.htm The concierge rooms are in the blue area right above the lobby. Rooms 6201-09 and 6402-06.

Of the three 2BR lock-offs that have savanna view, one of them is handicap assessible and none have that great of views, and you cannot request view, it is just luck of the draw. If you want concierge services including the lounge, go for concierge, but if you want savanna view, I highly advise you get a savanna view room instead of concierge.

OHHHH! that clears it all up! THANK YOU!! Our last stay CL was before the DVC conversion and we had eons to walk to the lounge. THIS will be WAY too convenient! We went for the CL for the lounge and service this time...and being able to do the sunrise safari. AND because I was actually able to get it. I just gave it a shot, if I hadn't, I would have just gone w/ a Kidani savannah room. Our last few visits were view ones. THANKS for the tidbits!

 

[thepops]

You are going to LOVE the sunrise safari. We did it the last time we were in concierge and it was a blast.

 

[ppony]

You are going to LOVE the sunrise safari. We did it the last time we were in concierge and it was a blast.

We have done it before. Back before Kidani was built and when the breakfast was at Tusker House. Definitely a worthy expense!

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed there with friends, it will be 4 years ago in June. We first had a pool view and my friend who booked it was really disappointed (it was a milestone birthday trip). She went to the desk the next morning and they were able to move us to the savannah side but it was the handicapped 1 bedroom. Kidani was under construction at the time and the view was mostly of construction. We did see some animals including a ostrich that was always crying. One morning we looked out and saw why, she laid a huge egg! She was pretty ticked when a keeper came and took it.

The Sunrise Safari was awesome!

 

[disneynutz]

IMO the Concierge Savanna views are horrible. The area is a dead end for the animals and other than to eat the food that is left out for them, they really don't hang out there. They don't pass by like on the other Savannas because there isn't anywhere for them to go.

Bill

 

[ppony]

IMO the Concierge Savanna views are horrible. The area is a dead end for the animals and other than to eat the food that is left out for them, they really don't hang out there. They don't pass by like on the other Savannas because there isn't anywhere for them to go.

Bill

Yeah. Ya know? The more that I think about it, the more I think these rooms give DVC members the total shaft for the points they are costing. It didn't even occur to me that the veiws ould be crud considering wat they should be and what I knew we had under a regular non-DVC CL room. Now I'm cheesed.

 

[LisaS]

We did see some animals including a ostrich that was always crying. One morning we looked out and saw why, she laid a huge egg! She was pretty ticked when a keeper came and took it.

There are no male ostriches at AKV so any eggs laid are sterile and would rot if they left them on the savanna. The keepers collect them for use in craft projects. I was also told that some CMs have been given ostrich eggs as awards, I think it was after they had worked a certain (large) number of hours.

ETA: We saw an ostrich lay an egg when we stayed in a CL level room so maybe that's a popular spot for egg laying. In that case, the ostrich laid the egg right in the roadway so we called animal care to tell them (so a truck would not come along and crush it). That's when we were told that it wasn't a viable egg but that they do collect them off the savanna. Someone came along in about 10 minutes and collected the egg.

 

[ppony]

There are no male ostriches at AKV so any eggs laid are sterile and would rot if they left them on the savanna. The keepers collect them for use in craft projects. I was also told that some CMs have been given ostrich eggs as awards, I think it was after they had worked a certain (large) number of hours.

Quite a number of years ago I know they used to collect them for Easter projects. It took them the whole year to get enough. My DS sooooooo wanted to decorate one, but it wasn't that time of year. CMs moved mountains and got us one. Now, I have actually carved them myself and know you can get them for $6 from an ostrich farm. Ive got a dozen here and an emu egg, just waiting for me to finish. It all came purely from AKL's inspiration.

 

[DebbieB]

Yeah. Ya know? The more that I think about it, the more I think these rooms give DVC members the total shaft for the points they are costing. It didn't even occur to me that the veiws ould be crud considering wat they should be and what I knew we had under a regular non-DVC CL room. Now I'm cheesed.

There are 2 sides to this. The DVC rooms are on the same floor as the lounge. People who stay in the regular conceirge complain that they are not on the same floor. It was very convenient in the evening to walk over to the lounge to get the appetizers and then desserts. Grab a glass of wine. The people in the regular conceirge rooms have to walk to the elevator and go from the 4th to the 6th. Not convenient.

 

[LisaS]

There are 2 sides to this. The DVC rooms are on the same floor as the lounge. People who stay in the regular conceirge complain that they are not on the same floor. It was very convenient in the evening to walk over to the lounge to get the appetizers and then desserts. Grab a glass of wine. The people in the regular conceirge rooms have to walk to the elevator and go from the 4th to the 6th. Not convenient.

I agree. The whole AKL Concierge setup was odd from the start. It would have been great to have the lounge face the Arusha Savanna with the CL rooms located adjacent to the lounge with a view of Arusha. Instead the lounge has a great view over the AKL lobby and the 6th floor rooms have easy access to the lounge but less than stellar views.

Given that is the setup DVC inherited, I prefer being on the 6th floor just steps from the lounge than on the 5th floor with a better view but having to trek up to the lounge. It's especially nice if you book a CL studio since the lounge feels like a large shared living room. In our case it helped that we had stayed at AKL a few times with great savanna views so we had already had the pleasure of that experience. Our CL trip was so that we could do the Sunrise and Wanayama safaris and experience what the lounge has to offer. We knew we wouldn't have the greatest view of AKL's savannas for most of the trip but during the Wanayama Safari we would have the best possible view, if only for a few hours!

 

[ppony]

There are 2 sides to this. The DVC rooms are on the same floor as the lounge. People who stay in the regular conceirge complain that they are not on the same floor. It was very convenient in the evening to walk over to the lounge to get the appetizers and then desserts. Grab a glass of wine. The people in the regular conceirge rooms have to walk to the elevator and go from the 4th to the 6th. Not convenient.

I understand that as I've been in one of the 4th floor CL rooms waaaaay down in the 4th "pod" down the Kudu trail. It was the most inconvenient thing ever. Hated it! In fact, after that, we never thought we'd do CL again. BUT, we had the points and the room was available so we made the plunge to try again. I guess I'll have to see for myself if I missed the view enough to go back to Kidani. It's not like they HAD to put the rooms where they did though. They just decided that if you wanted the service and were paying points for it, then you'd have to get screwed on the view. It's no secret that $ speaks louder than points.

 

[DebbieB]

I understand that as I've been in one of the 4th floor CL rooms waaaaay down in the 4th "pod" down the Kudu trail. It was the most inconvenient thing ever. Hated it! In fact, after that, we never thought we'd do CL again. BUT, we had the points and the room was available so we made the plunge to try again. I guess I'll have to see for myself if I missed the view enough to go back to Kidani. It's not like they HAD to put the rooms where they did though. They just decided that if you wanted the service and were paying points for it, then you'd have to get screwed on the view. It's no secret that $ speaks louder than points.

Keep in mind that AKL Jambo was built without DVC. DVC did not design it this way. The 6th floor was built with only a handful of rooms. Originally those were AKL concierge plus some rooms on the 5th floor. Then they decided to convert the 5th & 6th floors to DVC. DVC got most (or all?) of the former "deluxe" size rooms on the 5th floor and AKL concierge was moved to smaller rooms on the 4th floor. So if anyone has complaints, it should be people who liked AKL concierge. They got moved farther from the lounge plus smaller rooms. DVC decided to make those few 6th floor rooms adjacent to the lounge as the first DVC concierge rooms. I don't think the lounge has the capacity to also include some of the 5th floor DVC rooms. When I stayed there, it was crowded in the morning and evening.