Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort Frequently Asked Questions (slight update 5/14)

[armydark]

We're going to disney in April/May and I was wondering...with all of the WAR talk going on(on which I wont make a comment because this isn't about politics) what will happen at Disney? Will they continue to open the parks? Will it dramatically effect our vacation?

Any ideas?

thanks
armydark

 

[EmptyNester]

Originally posted by luvindisneyworld
hi all, i just have a couple of questions, we are going to be there in may for 5 nights and i was wondering if concierge is worth it or should we just do a savannah view,i am afraid if we do concierge that we will not get a savannah view and that is what we want. we will be staying using our points from DVC and is is 17 points less a night to do just savannah instead of concierge,so please help me decide, this will be our first stay at AKL and this will be myself and my DH first trip alone since our honeymoon so i want this to be very special.
thanks,misty

Misty:

We used our points last month to stay on the concierge level. I requested non-smoking, savannah view, king bed. We got room #5225 (two queen beds) Kudo trail/looking right out at Arusha rock. Lots of animals every day. It was wonderful!

The concierge staff was very helpful, the food offerings plentiful, the lodge is really very beautiful! Although DH remarked that the rooms were a little "dark", I[\I] thought it added to the ambiance. AKL is a great place for a romantic getaway ;-)

We did the sunrise safari and that, in itself, made it worth using all those points! Would I do it again? You bet!


Enjoy your stay!

- Sharon

 

[CJK]

We are SOOO excited to be staying at the AKL in a few weeks! We've only stayed at the Value hotels so this is an unbelievable treat! I wonder if anyone could tell me about noise in the standard rooms? How thick are the walls? We've had to change rooms at the All Star Resort because the walls were so thin that a baby kept us up all night. Do deluxe hotels automatically have thick walls regardless of what room you have (standard vs. concierge?)? Thanks for your help.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by CJK
We are SOOO excited to be staying at the AKL in a few weeks! We've only stayed at the Value hotels so this is an unbelievable treat! I wonder if anyone could tell me about noise in the standard rooms? How thick are the walls? We've had to change rooms at the All Star Resort because the walls were so thin that a baby kept us up all night. Do deluxe hotels automatically have thick walls regardless of what room you have (standard vs. concierge?)? Thanks for your help.

I do not know about wall thickness, but we have stayed at the AKL on three different trips and have never had an issue with being able to hear regular noise from the surrounding rooms.

What view did you book? When you refer to "standard room" do you mean size or view? I do not believe there is any difference in noise between the standard size rooms and the deluxe size rooms.

Some of the standard view rooms are on the walk way to the resort bus stop and I would assume that those rooms would have noise as a room overlooking the savanna or the pool would not have any bus noise. Hope this helps and hope you have a great trip.

 

[CJK]

Thanks for the quick response! We actually haven't put any requests in other than asking for a non-smoking room and a room with a king size bed. We are two adults so we'd like a quiet room with best view possible. We don't mind a little extra walking. Do you suggest we request a certain area of the hotel? Any suggestions? Thanks again!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by CJK
Thanks for the quick response! We actually haven't put any requests in other than asking for a non-smoking room and a room with a king size bed. We are two adults so we'd like a quiet room with best view possible. We don't mind a little extra walking. Do you suggest we request a certain area of the hotel? Any suggestions? Thanks again!

Just so you know the view is not a request. When you booked your room you booked on the following view; Standard, Pool or Savanna. You also booked a room size standard or deluxe. Depending on what you booked will help me suggest what the best view in the category you booked is.

An FYI on the King Bed request. My understanding is that all of these rooms are handicapped accessable. We were in one during our Sept 2001 trip and even though the bathroom was very large there is no tub and only one sink. We perfer the rooms witht he two queen beds so that we get two sinks and a tub.

 

[CJK]

We booked the $139 rate so that means we got standard view and standard size. Thanks for the info regarding one sink vs. two in the king bed rooms. I think we'll change our request. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by CJK
We booked the $139 rate so that means we got standard view and standard size. Thanks for the info regarding one sink vs. two in the king bed rooms. I think we'll change our request. Thanks for all your help!

If you have a standard view room then I would request the Ostrich Trail so that this way you will be away from the bus stop.

 

[currycook]

For those wanting more info on AKL

 

[Mrs.A]

We, Myself, DH, DS 9, and DD 7, will be staying at the AKL for 5 days in Aug. Currently have a savannah room booked. Where are the concierge rooms located? Do they have a good view of the savannah? l Thought I read somewhere that some are not savannag view? Do they offer bunk beds? We don't plan on going to the parks at all. This is the end of our trip and will be resting and relaxing for our trip home. (we drive) Would appreciate any info.

 

[msim]

With the exception of the bellman at check in, I was very disappointed with the whole experience. Poor service, unfriendly and unhelpful cm's, and multiple billing errors. (major ones) The Sunrise Safari had 50 something people on it, which pretty much eliminated the educational aspect I had planned for my daughter- good tour guide though. Just couldn't hear-especially with all the crying toddlers. I am an annual pass holder and a frequent visitor to Disney World and as of now, I'm not all that sure I even want to go back. Even the CM's in the park were not smiling and a few were just downright rude!!!!!!!!!! Considering I had to take out a loan to afford this trip, I am very disapointed.

I do wish to complain to someone at Disney about several "things" at the hotel. Does anyone know the email address?

By the way, bring extra shampoo, soap and toilet paper with you if you're planning to stay here. They are very stingy. One day, we were completely out of shampoo and they would not bring a second bottle. They did not restock us everyday. We finally had to use up the last of the Kleenex for toilet paper on our last day!!!

 

[floridafam]

msim,

I PM'd you.

 

[ducklite]

Wow msim--except for the crying kids on the SS, I have twice stayed at teh AKL and had COMPLETELY different experiences. My rooms have been spotless, and my requests for extra soap/shampoo always met with a smile and overabundance (I came home from my last trip with 18 bars of soap that I sent to a kids homeless shelter!)

I've always found the CM's there to be incredibly gracious and frendly, and my aslt trip was just over a month ago.

Anne

 

[disnaholic]

I am really surprised about the soap and toilet paper. When we stayed in a Standard Savannah view room in Dec., we had plenty of shampoo, soap, etc.... that was replaced every day. I guess it just depends on who your housekeeper is. Give Disney a second chance. WE had a wonderful experience at AKL and can't wait to go back and try AKL again plus give WL a try.

 

[madcoco]

Sorry to hear. Your experience sounds like a rarity at the AKL Problems can happen anywhere We had a few problems with inconsiderate guests not staff in the concierge lounge on our last visit there in Feb, but still had a wonderful stay.Always have had more than enough supplies for the room. Agree with the others; the CMs at the AKL have always been among the friendliest and most helpful. For our upcoming stay, the concierge staff has E-mailed and phoned more than 5 times in helping us plan some special events.

 

[Tiffany]

Sorry to hear about your bad experiance msim. My husband and I stayed AKL Concierge back in Feb of this year and we had the exact oppisite experiance. Durning turndown service the room was restocked with clean towels and anything else we needed. This was after the regular housekeeper took care of everything earlier in the day. We also thought that the $100 we spent on the Sunrise Sarfari was the best $100 we have ever spent. I would have dealt with the issues when they occured but since that did not happen write the GM of the resort and be specific about your issues so that this way he/she can address your concerns.

 

[Nathan's Grandma]

I want to thank everyone for this thread. I decided to search for AKL so we could learn more about it for this trip and the amount of information is awesome.

Thanks to each and everyone of you for contributing to this thread.

Kathy

 

[msim]

It seems like it's been about three weeks, but so far, no one at Disney has responded back - other than the automated reply you get when you first email them. I wonder if they actually read them and respond......................

 

[harperwi]

O.k., I just finished the entire FAQ (whew!), and I am still unclear on one thing.

Is it true that there are rooms, or rather suites, with more than one balcony, say, on the ends of the hallways? If so, how are these rooms classified (are they concierge only? suites? etc.)

I was thinking about splurging for a concierge level room, but if the type of room I'm describing is available and is not concierge level, I'd like to look into splurging for that instead.

Thanks, everyone.

Jon

 

[floridafam]

The suites are situated at the ends of the arms that jet out from the resorts or at the end of hallways. Don't quote me.

There are 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and the Royal suites.

The one bedromm is $710 per night in regular season. You can view the prices on the DisneyWorld website under their resorts section.

The suites at AKL come with concierge service but this could change at anytime even though I was assured it would probably always be like this.

The 1br suites have 2 queens in the bedroom and a parlor with a pull out couch and the 2br suites have a king in the bedroom with a pull out sofa in ther parlor and another bedroom that could have one of a few configurations.

Sometimes they will block off the 2nd bedroom of a 2br suite and turn it into a 1br.

The balconies on the suites are larger than the regular balconies. I also think balcony size in the suites at AKL may be a little larger on the 5th floor from the pictures I've seen.

We are staying in a suite in October and I will be sure to do a trip report.

You can also check out ourlaughingplace.com for pictures. I apologize if I'm not allowed to post this website.

Janet2k from these boards has some awesome pictures of the 1 and 2br suites.