Correct room at AKL?

[DJP1201]

We'll be there in a couple weeks. I reserved a Savannah View, and Ive been reading about Disney trying to place people who reserved Savannah View in standard rooms. How would I know if They tried to do that to us? Would anybody be able to give me some of the better room numbers to request? Any help is appreciated!

 

[dansdad]

We'll be there in a couple weeks. I reserved a Savannah View, and Ive been reading about Disney trying to place people who reserved Savannah View in standard rooms.

Where have you read this? Sometimes they have no choice if they have issues with a room, or rooms, and are booked up. But it's very rare.

How would I know if They tried to do that to us?

If the view from your balcony is anything but a full view of the savana.

Would anybody be able to give me some of the better room numbers to request? Any help is appreciated!

Depends on what's important to you. Close to elevators? Higher floor? Lower floor?

It's best to describe what you want in a room location as opposed to room numbers. It's much easier for the room assignors to grant your requests that way.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Where did you hear about that? Many standard rooms have views of the savannah so sometimes someone who pays for a standard will get a view, just not the perfect view for the savannah.

Check out Touring Plans hotel room views, it lets you search by room type and other features. If you subscribe then they will automatically send it over for you.
https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

We'll be there in a couple weeks. I reserved a Savannah View, and Ive been reading about Disney trying to place people who reserved Savannah View in standard rooms.

Where did you read that? I would really like the quote & source. I really don't believe that has happened, other than as mentioned above, perhaps a water pipe burst or some issue where a guest had to be moved, and there were not more savannah rooms available. If so, I am sure their bill would have been adjusted to reflect standard room charges. Was it just a disgruntled guest complaining because their expectations were not met? Many people will complain about anything and everything. It is astonishing!
It is actually the opposite, maybe that is what you are remembering. Some of the savannah rooms were reclassified to standard view rooms. So many people are pleasantly surprised when they get what they consider a savannah view room, and only booked standard. People also get confused. It is a booking catagory, yet people still believe they can request it, like requesting 1st floor, or near elevator. No, you can't book standard and expect to be moved to savannah view just by requesting, unless you are willing to pay the additional, and they have availability.

Was it a complaint from 10 or more years ago before some of the rooms were reclassified?
I think some of the rooms at BLT were reclassified too, but I may be wrong.

 

[DJP1201]

I want to say I saw something about it on disboards, and maybe trip advisor. I don’t know how old the posts were, but it seems like everyone who has replied doesn’t think this is the case, which makes me feel better.

 

[DJP1201]

I would like to be on the third floor or higher, and I would like to be able to see the giraffes and zebra if that is possible.

 

[paradesintherain]

Someone just recently in the AKL thread said they had booked savanna, but they tried to give them standard. I really don't think it's common at all, though.

 

[beesly]

Where did you read that? I would really like the quote & source. I really don't believe that has happened, other than as mentioned above, perhaps a water pipe burst or some issue where a guest had to be moved, and there were not more savannah rooms available. If so, I am sure their bill would have been adjusted to reflect standard room charges. Was it just a disgruntled guest complaining because their expectations were not met? Many people will complain about anything and everything. It is astonishing!
It is actually the opposite, maybe that is what you are remembering. Some of the savannah rooms were reclassified to standard view rooms. So many people are pleasantly surprised when they get what they consider a savannah view room, and only booked standard. People also get confused. It is a booking catagory, yet people still believe they can request it, like requesting 1st floor, or near elevator. No, you can't book standard and expect to be moved to savannah view just by requesting, unless you are willing to pay the additional, and they have availability.

Was it a complaint from 10 or more years ago before some of the rooms were reclassified?
I think some of the rooms at BLT were reclassified too, but I may be wrong.

It can happen. I posted this thread when I was downgraded from my reserved savanna view room to a standard room back in March of this year. I found out when I checked my MDE account in the morning prior to leaving. We were placed in room 3210, which is in the standard category but has a partial savanna view. We received a price adjustment and were refunded accordingly.

 

[sndral]

It can happen. I posted this thread when I was downgraded from my reserved savanna view room to a standard room back in March of this year. I found out when I checked my MDE account in the morning prior to leaving. We were placed in room 3210, which is in the standard category but has a partial savanna view. We received a price adjustment and were refunded accordingly.

Someone who just returned also reported that initially they were placed in a standard room, but were able to correct it w/ the front desk. AKL seems to have found it’s audience and w/ higher occupancy rates these issues occasionally arise, which is no excuse, IMO. I love staying at AKL (in fact I’m arriving there tomorrow.) OP if this happens to you, and it 99% probably won’t, stop by the front desk and correct the problem via either reassignment to the correct room category or a reduction in price, savanna view costs a lot more so no one should have to settle for standard view who paid for savanna view. Through the years here on DIS I’ve read about most of the resorts giving people rooms in both more expensive and less expensive room categories than what they booked. Both situations are very rare, tho’.

 

[AngiTN]

I would like to be on the third floor or higher, and I would like to be able to see the giraffes and zebra if that is possible.

Here's your problem. They can put you in a savanna view room but they can't make sure a giraffe or zebra walk by. We have stayed at AKL and not seen a single zebra. Giraffes we have seen but point is, even with a view of the savanna they can't/don't have control over where the animals go.

Vast majority of guests at Disney get put in the exact room they book. I would never go in to my trip worrying about the small chance that you don't. If you don't, you deal with it then. To worry about it now is pointless. Honestly.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

as noted, you can request what floor you want to be on, you can request what area you want, but those are just requests, and you can't do anything about whether or not you will see certain animals.

A downgrade is another matter and should be taken up with the resort if it happens. if they can't provide you with the room type you booked, which should be the only reason for a downgrade and that is why they are rare, they should refund the difference.

 

[jpeterson]

We had the opposite happen to us, we had a standard view room for our final night of our trip after a week in a savannah room. We did have to move rooms, but the new room still had a full view of the savannah, so that was a nice perk.

 

[Haley R]

We had a Standard room, but I easily would have considered it a Savannah room. We had amazing views of different animals.

 

[bumbershoot]

Here's your problem. They can put you in a savanna view room but they can't make sure a giraffe or zebra walk by. We have stayed at AKL and not seen a single zebra. Giraffes we have seen but point is, even with a view of the savanna they can't/don't have control over where the animals go.

Yep. An ostrich and ankole cattle are pretty much what we’ve seen from Jambo and Kidani Savannah’s views.

 

[prettyprincess624]

We had a Standard room, but I easily would have considered it a Savannah room. We had amazing views of different animals.

Same thing with my stay in September

 

[Haley R]

Same thing with my stay in September

It was great! We saw so many animals. We did have to move after our first night to get that room, though.

 

[jo-jo]

We were disappointed with our savanna view....we were right at the edge of the savanna.

We were right next to the pool. Hardly any animals came down that far and a lot of noise from the pool.

 

[KenHutch]

You are far more likely to get the opposite. They try very hard to give people with a standard view a partial savanna or if they have the room a savanna room. A friends daughter did her CP time there and really pushed me to book there. She had nothing but good things to say about the place and the full time people there.

 

[disneyvoice]

We have not experienced that but I do remember that someone several months ago posted about this. I believe the issue was the Savannah View room they were assigned to had to be taken out of inventory for some reason and there were no other Savannah View rooms available. It was a one off situation, strictly because of an issue with the room.

I would add that if you are concerned about not getting a "good" Savannah View room don't worry if at first it "seems" like you don't have a the best Savannah view. When we were there in July we ended up in a Savannah View Room that was kind of tucked into a corner and at first we thought it wasn't going to be a good room in terms of seeing animals. It ended up being great. We saw plenty of animals every day and night (even watched an ostrich lay an egg directly below our balcony and the excitement of the cast member when she drove by and found it, held it up, and shouted "Still warm!!!" to another CM across the way). The best part was we were literally just steps away from the lobby. We didn't actually see any giraffes from our room but we were able to see them from other locations around the hotel. I can't remember if we saw any zebras from our room or not. We were also hoping to see giraffes from our room but I assure you, we had a wonderful stay even though we had to walk some place else to see them

 

[figmentedfollies]

We'll be there in a couple weeks. I reserved a Savannah View, and Ive been reading about Disney trying to place people who reserved Savannah View in standard rooms. How would I know if They tried to do that to us? Would anybody be able to give me some of the better room numbers to request? Any help is appreciated!

Someone already linked the Touring Plans website, which will give you a good idea of what rooms are considered 'Savannah View' rooms. However, I believe hotels usually try to UPGRADE guests from their booked views rather than downgrade if they do not have enough rooms in that particular category. Mostly because it looks better from a PR point of view.