Did you REALLY see giraffes?

[annsteere]

The one thing that really attracts me to the AKL is the mental picture of sitting on my balcony, sipping coffee and seeing giraffes up close and personal early in the morning.

Yesterday a friend told me that lots of people don't see the animals at all during their stay.

I'm interested in giraffes particularly---not zebas, ostriches, etc.

Did you or did you not see giraffes when you stayed at the AKL? What time of year did you go and where did you stay?

THANKS. This will help me choose a month to go and between staying long or staying first class

 

[ducklite]

I've stayed there three times, in February, March, and December, and have always seen giraffes from my room. I've also seen zebra, ankole, tommy's, etc.

Anne

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Mom & I saw giraffes everyday! We were in a Savannah view room right off the lobby. It was the end of May 2004!!!

Allison

 

[KathyTX]

We were there in March, and saw quite a lot of giraffes!

Here's one photo (of MANY!) I took from our balcony:

 

[SomeSayImGoofy]

Wow....Kathy! Which room/wing were you staying in when you took that photo?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Originally posted by annsteere


Yesterday a friend told me that lots of people don't see the animals at all during their stay.

Wow, I'm surprised by this. I've stayed at AKL several times and can't imagine how anyone could have a stay there and not see any animals. Even if you don't have a savannah view (which looks out over the animals) there are plenty of viewing spots around the resort (near the pool, near the lobby, etc.) that you would see animals from. There are always flamingoes next to the pool, and in the early evening the giraffes are fed right by the pool area so you can see about a half dozen up close at that time. Its great. We've had some views better than others in the savannah view rooms, but never once did we have a savannah room and not see any animals during our stay--far from it. Our best view was from our concierge room (which figures), but all of our savannah views were pretty good. I have a four year old whose favorite hotel that we've ever been to is AKL, and he asks me, "When can we go to the hotel with the animals again?" During one stay at GF, I asked him if he liked the hotel, and he said, "It's okay, but I like the animal hotel better..."

 

[KathyTX]

We were on the 4th floor, overlooking Arusha Rock... I'll have to go check my trip notes to remember exactly which trail.

I did use the zoon on that photo- those animals were near Arusha Rock, in the center of that savannah. The views were incredible!

 

[graygables]

We were there in Dec and again in Jan, both times with deluxe savannah views and saw many, many animals, including my favorite: giraffes! We had giraffes walking right beneath our balconies. It is by far my favorite resort. We were even able to see several animals at night on the different savannahs. BTW, we were on the Zebra trail, Uzima savannah both times and loved it.

 

[jarestel]

The animals roam around all day, they're not confined to a specific location. If you're not in your room much during the daylight hours, it's conceiveable you might miss their visits to your particular area, but we've never had that happen to us. I would check with the AKL staff for advice on the best viewing times for your savannah. Feeding time is an awesome time for seeing animals. Have a great time!

 

[flyball]

We were there last August and saw many giraffes from our balcony. It was an extremely relaxing experience to watch all of the animals roaming by our room. We were on Arusha savannah, Kudu trail. The only down side to our room was that we were pretty far from Mara and the pool, so refilling our mugs was quite a chore!

 

[poohlover]

We were there at Thanksgiving time 2 yrs ago, and my kids LOVED the resort.

The best was seeing all the animals, including girrafes, zebra, ostrich and some kind of a "cow" with BIG horns.

My kids got to talking to one of the CM's one day & the "cow"...sorry can't remember their names... but the animals are actually like cows...they are actually used as dowry!! Very interesting conversations followed.

We loved having a 2nd floor savanaha view, but the kids had to walk around to ALL the viewing areas every day also.

WEll worth the money!

 

[soccer mom]

Keep that picture in your mind because it does happen! We were on the Uzima savannah (rooms down Zebra trail on the right hand side) and we did have breakfast with the giraffe EVERY MORNING! We weren't in the room most of the day, but we always saw them in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening when we returned. It was wonderful, and after having since stayed at the Polynesian LV conceirge (a close second), Beach Club conceirge, and WL, my family has declared AKL their favorite!!!! Our goal was to stay at all of the deluxe before we returned to one, but I don't think that's going to happen!

 

[oogieboogie]

You're welcome to see some of the pics I took when we stayed in AKL this past May.

We got a pool view room so you can't see the savannah from our room but each savannah has lookout areas that you can go to and view from there. All the animal pics have been from the lookout areas.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

 

[webray]

We saw giraffes..oh yes we did. They are wonderful to watch..and very funny..especially when they are let out in the afternoon after their check up..and they are looking for the snacks.

The animals are rotated through out the savannahs, everyone gets to see animals. Just not between noon and around 3-4pm..that is when they are all taken in for check ups.

We were on the Arusha savannah..kudos trail. 5th floor, we loved it.

 

[lizfromfl]

Great pictures, oogieboogie...thanks for sharing them!
After seeing them it is making me want to switch a few
of our POFQ nights for AKL...

I stayed at AKL in September of 2001 and we saw lots of
giraffes from our room (sorry, don't remember the exact location but it was faaaarrr from the lobby ).

 

[disnemimi]

We missed them........bummer, no giraffes in our savannah(Arusha) back in February. I was so disappointed because our room was fabulous, but no giraffes. The other savannahs all had them, but not ours. So we are back to the Polynesian Resort.
Actually, we really did enjoy Animal Kingdom Lodge and would go back again.

Disnemimi

 

[stinkerbelle]

Originally posted by disnemimi
We missed them........bummer, no giraffes in our savannah(Arusha) back in February. I was so disappointed because our room was fabulous, but no giraffes. The other savannahs all had them, but not ours. So we are back to the Polynesian Resort.
Actually, we really did enjoy Animal Kingdom Lodge and would go back again.

Disnemimi

Just as an FYI - you might have not seen them, but Giraffes ARE on the Arusha Savannah as well as Uzima (which I think curves around to behind the pool)

Feeding time (in the afternoon at least) is between 5-6...you can get some GREAT views in that!

We took the Sunset Safari through AKL concierge...they take you down on this special van to all the AKL Savannahs - here are the pictures.

http://users.adelphia.net/~jareddewey/sunsetsafari.html

(oh - and those 'cows with the big horns' are Ankole cattle...)