convince me to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge

[Augustheather97]

PLEASE ........we have stayed at POR for the last 5 trips and are booked again there for 3/1-3/9.......hopefully when AP's come out in the next few days it will be cheap....We have a 5 1/2 year old daughter who I think will love it there...but will we miss the Riverside food court and the way we can walk around that resort at night.........how is Mara food court??? and is the Concierge level there worth the extra $$$.........we are just nervous about staying some where NEW???

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there...

I stayed at AKL for 9 nights last August and it was amazing.

You really feel like you are in Africa, the themeing and attention to detail is amazing. The lobby breathtaking, the pool glorious and what can you say about having zebras and giraffe grazing below you??

I have photos my AKL Concierge Stay on my website... have a look the photos might 'Help' LOL

Here is the link to my AKL photos

http://www.casshew.com/disneymain.htm

Good Luck - I know it is a hard decision.

 

[Eyesnur]

If you have a love for animals and adventure stay at the AKL. If animals are a five minute, 'oh, thats kinda nice' type thing for your family, then don't stay there. I think it all come down to the animals.

 

[JennSaint]

Why do you need convincing? It's a beautifully themed resort. Samantha Brown did a show the other night on the best Florida hotels and AKL won her vote for best theming. This resort is beautiful with plenty to do. At night there are different activities like storytelling and kids games. We loved our stay last February 2002 so much we are going back next month!

 

[castawayfan]

We love AKL. How can you beat waking up each morning, going out on your balcony and seeing the Giraffe's having their breakfast outside your window. It was amazing. Nothing better than sitting out by the pool and looking at the Giraffes's looking at you! On the bad side, I would say the food court is not the best. Very small, somewhat limited selection and very slow service.

 

[April in Disney]

You will love AKL
I have stayed in both POR and in AKL, so here we go:
The boat ride to DTD is very conv in POR.
AKL is gorgeous the rooms are so clean you think they just put the tile down, The pool is the largest of any disney property. The lobby is wow. They have the story telling pit fire every night. They have animal experts in lobby everyday with something new, They have the animal guides by different trails that you can walk around and enjoy looking and learning about the animals.She would love the bunk beds.
The food court was not our thing, we ate at boma every morning and very light lunch in parks, and great dinner every night. I personally will not stay in Con AKL having stayed at both 4 floor and third floor I actually requested a second floor room for our coming Nov visit. We want to be closer to the animals. There is only the three of us and we think boma's breakfast and Second floor savanna room is a better deal for us, we like sit down dinner.

 

[jennymouse]

We loved it there in October. Seeing the animals was an awsome experience....so if you're animal lovers this is a good choice. However, we weren't impressed with the food at either Mara or Boma. I've never visited POR food court but I hear it's awsome, so you would probably be dissapointed in Mara's selections. To me Boma's food just wasn't that good...we tried breakfast & dinner and enjoyed thier breakfast more, but still didn't feel the cost was worth it. But, would we stay there again? Absolutely! The pool is fantastic...they had some poolside activities (crafts) that my DGD7 enjoyed...great slide, 2 hot tubs. Most of the CM's were wonderful, especially the ones in the marketplace. The bus service was fantastic too! It's a tough decision for sure....if the foodcourt thing is that important to you, I would advise staying POR....if not AKL.

 

[susy]

I'm not that crazy about the animals, but still loved AKL!!! The resort is so beautiful and the service is out of this world!

The pool with zero-depth entry is perfect for moms with little ones (the pool bar isn't bad either!) The food court is right there and both resturants are wonderful! Our son used Simba's clubhouse and loved it!

The transportation is the best! Just one bus stop and no sharing! You get on the bus and go right to the park.

 

[Eyesnur]

Susy, I stand corrected! It just seemed that of the few negative reviews we get from the AKL it generally seems that the people don't paticularily care about the animals or African motif...

But I agree with your hotel sentiments as well, although without the animals I doubt that I'd have returned so frequently...

 

[KelliR]

I highly recommend not staying at the AKL! That way I won't have any trouble getting my reservations!!!

It is wonderful, in my opinion. My highlights:
-seeing the animals
-7:30 pm storytelling by the fire
-BOMA!!! Yummm!
-the tour of the resort held in the afternoon
-the EXCELLENT CM's

We rent a car and self parking is very convenient. The only drawback I can think of (and it is slight) was that it was a long walk to our room. But enjoyable along the way!

 

[dahess]

It is such an awesome place! I think anyone of any age would love AKL

 

[padisneylover]

Having stayed at both I would highly recommend you try AKL. The resort is beautiful and a totally different atmosphere than POR. The grounds are beautiful and there is so much to do at the AKL that you will never be boared. The food court at POR is better I will admit but the breakfast buffet at AKL is to die for (or at least in my opinion). The CM's are the greatest and you will not be disapointed I am sure it you try this resort. I can relate to how you feel though about making the change since I went through the same thing last year when I decided to stay at AKL instead of our usual POR. and was never sorry about the change once I arrived.

 

[Augustheather97]

 

[Beachangel]

Is simply fabulous and yes, concierge is definitely worth it!

 

[DisneyMSF]

We love the AKL. If your daughter likes animals, I think she would definately enjoy staying there. We loved being able to watch the animals from our balcony. We've stayed there twice, and both times saw lots of animals close to our balcony.

 

[lampy]

Is it possible to make dinner/lunch resservations at Boma and tour the resort? See the animals? and enjoy the other features? sans pool of course.

 

[Curly Q]

Is it possible to make dinner/lunch resservations at Boma and tour the resort? See the animals? and enjoy the other features? sans pool of course.

That is exactly what we did! We went there first just to check out the resort to see if we would want to stay there and spent around a hour checking everything out. Then we made PS for Boma and looked around the resort while waiting for our table! We will now be staying there (hopefully) in Nov.!

Augustheather97 - POR was our first resort that we stayed at and fell in love with it. It was very hard (after only staying there twice) to try another resort (WL). We LOVE the WL! When we visited the AKL we checked out the food court and were very impressed. Maybe we just LOVE Disney, but I think you will be very pleased staying at AKL. If not you can switch during your stay!

 

[Augustheather97]

well the March 1-9 ap rates werent that great so it is BACk to POR for $109 a night...AKL standard room was $195...almost double and that was with a parkinglot view so the dream was killed fast.......we aren't in the rooms that much but was hoping to go a little upscale for once......but not meant to be.I do love POR anyways..33 days and counting..........