Disney's Animal Kingdome Lodge

[Cricketmint]

Help me out!!

In august we'll be taking our WDW trip and we are staying at AKL, We have never stayed here before and i was hoping to get some oppinions about the resort from your experiance!! My questions are: What do you think of the resort overall, and will it be fun for my 5 year old?? Im just nervous because we are use to staying at the Beach/Yaught and corinado springs, am i gonna like it????

 

[kathie859]

Being so close to the animals is a neat thing and the lobby is immense. The theme is so well executed throughout. I hope you enjoy the experience.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We really loved it. The theme is a little dark, but we like that. If you like light and airy, it will be very different, but if you like dark exotic decor, it will be right up your alley. It really is a very unique experience that everyone should try at least once. I love the smells in there too!

 

[eddieras]

ditto on everything -esp the smells! the firepit and stories are great - for a five year old to wake to animals outside the window will be fantastic! my son was 5 the first time we went. they also have a lot of activities and crafts for kids--- your sons age too. be sure to check the daily activitiy board to the left of reception daily.

i'm sure you'll love it! we do!!

 

[3littleHalls]

We found AKL to be the most relaxing/calm of those resorts we have stayed(Poly, AKL, and CB) The kids loved having the Savannah view!!! and the bunk beds too! It is darker inside like others have said. But I feel like it is part of the theme. Our room was also almost to the very end of the hallway which can be quite the walk so don't forget anything before leaving the room. I think the trade-off to being on the end(at least for us) was that the animals loved the area right out our window. Everytime we got back to our room there were different animals there. Plus you could see other savannahs on the walk to the room. We truely had a very nice time there. Have a magical trip!!

 

[blanq]

AKL is a wonderful resort! We stayed there a few years ago, and are going back in October. The theming is incredible, and the rooms comfortable. I know some complain that it is too dark, but I think it is just plain cozy! Boma and Jiko are great restaurants, and Mara is nice for a quick service meal. I like the pool, especially the zero entry feature, but did find it can get quite crowded. Just know that the pool is going to be nothing like SAB at Y&B; that pool just rocks!

 

[Vickie46]

we did a split stay with WL and AKL... we LOVED WL much better.. it seemed everything was closer together... at AKL it was very dark, long long walks.. and we had to take 2 elevators just to get back to the lobby or pool area....... it just wasn't our thing... but our opinion or likes... might be totally different than yours... our daughter was 5 also. We had the giraffes at night but in the mornings... nothing was there... they roam.... they come and go.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Beautiful resort, great theming throughout, good service - I'm sure your family will love it, esp. your 5 YO.

 

[bzzymom]

DS was 7 when we stayed at AKL. There are children's activities there. There is a schedule handed out when you check in, plus a list of the activities by the bell desk. DS especially liked the animal tracking one. They had a timon stuffed animal with a tag on it with a radio transmitter, like how they tag animals in the wild and the kids get to go find timon. It was cute.

 

[SeaSpray]

I LOVED Animal Kingdom Lodge! Here's a link to my web site with my pictures and comments, from my trip last year:

http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com/html/AKL comments.htm

Enjoy!

 

[stepdisney]

I LOVED Animal Kingdom Lodge! Here's a link to my web site with my pictures and comments, from my trip last year:

http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com/html/AKL comments.htm

Enjoy!

Seaspray,

Not to hijack the thread, but... you have stayed everywhere. I love your pictures and would love for you to tell me which resort, WL or AKL, you liked better and why. I am currently booked at WL but...I can't get AKL out of my head. It seems you really can't get a bad view at AKL where WL seems like there is a ver BIG possibility we may get pine trees or the villias, neither of which would be considered a good view for us. We have a wooded back yard and a view of the pool is not a beautiful view to me and could be quite loud.

 

[MagikMom]

You will love AKL. Sitting on the balcony watching the animals is amazing! I would request one of the higher floors, 3rd or 4th for a good view and also somewhere in the middle so you are not so far away from the main area.

 

[disneyjammin]

Going to the zoo $30
Waking up and looking out your balcony to see the giraffes and zebras ............priceless

 

[NJDISMOM]

We've stayed there 2 times and my 2 boys absolutely LOVE AKL. Most of the CMs are from African countries and are very knowledgeable about the animals, etc. They love to interact with the guests. My older DS was even pen pals with a CM from South Africa until she left WDW to get married. (he met her on the first trip and we saw her again on our 2nd stay, she remembered us! ).

A couple things my boys really loved were using the night vision goggles to see the animals (at Arusha I think) and doing the activities to get the different beads. I'm not sure if they still do the beads, but it was a really neat (and free ) souvenier. We were upgraded to a savannah view room for our first trip and it was wonderful to be able to open the drapes ever morning and see the zebras or giraffes outside! Our second trip, we didn't have a savannah view, but we still had plenty of viewing time because of all the public areas.

We aren't going to stay at AKL for our upcoming Aug trip, but I've made sure to get an ADR at BOMA so we can get our AKL fix .

Have a great time!

 

[Tiffany]

Help me out!!

In august we'll be taking our WDW trip and we are staying at AKL, We have never stayed here before and i was hoping to get some oppinions about the resort from your experiance!! My questions are: What do you think of the resort overall, and will it be fun for my 5 year old?? Im just nervous because we are use to staying at the Beach/Yaught and corinado springs, am i gonna like it????

Hi,
We love the AKL. We will be back for our eighth stay this coming September. What view did you book? The resort is beautiful and relaxing. They also have activities for kids throughout the day at the pool and there is storytelling by the firepit at night. If you have a savanna view room booked there is nothing like watching the wildlife go by why you are sipping your morning coffee on your balcony. Enjoy.

 

[Cricketmint]

Thank for all the feed back everyone!! Im getting really excited now!!