Elephants at AKL?

[becka]

My DS loves elephants and giraffes. I know that all of the savannahs at AKL have giraffes but do any of them have elephants. I have never seen them mentioned.

Thanks!

 

[AJKMOM]

Never saw an elephant. I don't think they are on the list of animals.

 

[Tinkbell]

There are no elephants at the AKL. The giraffes more than make up for it. It's a beautiful resort.

 

[becka]

Another question...I just read a review on Mousesavers that says that the animals are not out during the day at AKL. Is that true? One of the advantages of this resort is that we can spend a resort day looking at the animals.

Thanks!

 

[wvjules]

We only stayed at AKL one night so my experience is limited. If you really want to get a good look at the animals, be out early. The day we checked in they weren't easy to find. But the next morning, they were everywhere. Ain't nothing like sitting on the balcony, enjoying a cup of coffee and watching the animals roam while you wake up. I can't tell you about daytime though, we checked out and headed to the parks.

 

[liznboys]

We saw the animals out during the day several times in Feb. We spent a lot of time stuck at AKL during the day doing laundry and resting (we all had a stomach bug ) and I remember on my many trips back and forth to the laundry room, I would stop at one of the lookouts and watch a giraffe or other animal. I would imagine that during the hotter months, the animals aren't out during the day as much.

 

[Tinkbell]

The animals were the most active in the mornings, but I did see them during the day as well.

 

[Scott_6767]

I know an keeper at DAK and I asked her. She said that the Animals are out during the day, but there are moments when the they go backstage for training. Not sure what type of training they are learning. I love AKL. It is so amazing with the artwork and the pool is awesome

 

[budwmn]

We were just there for 4 days and there were animals out all day (and even some at night).

 

[becka]

Thanks so much for the info!!! I think DS will LOVE AKL....now I just need to hope for a great code or AP rate so we can get a savannah room instead of a standard view.

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

Elephants are possibly very destructive - the savannahs as they are currently designed couldn't handle their size and strength. Only small wires with slight electrical current, a dry river bed, and an access road separate the savannahs from the lodge.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Another question...I just read a review on Mousesavers that says that the animals are not out during the day at AKL. Is that true? One of the advantages of this resort is that we can spend a resort day looking at the animals.

Thanks!

I've read that some of the animals do go in during the day ... usually just to get checked up etc. but it's not all of them and not all at the same time.

They're out during the day but you might have to walk around the resort and look for them. I've noticed that sometimes if there is a lot of noise in one location, the animals (especially the giraffes) will move to another area.

 

[LisaS]

The animals are out for most of the day but are free to roam around their savannah. I did see one interesting thing on one of our stays there. I had walked out on one of the fire exits at the far end of one of the savannahs to see if there were any animals hanging out at the back of this particular savannah. It was around noon, I think, but I can't remember for sure exactly what time this was. The back gate of the savannah was open and the animals were filing through the gate areas in groups: all the giraffes, then all the zebras, then the wildebeests, etc. It was like watching Noah's ark being loaded! Once the animals were out of the savannah, a maintenance crew came in with shovels and started cleaning up the savannah. So maybe there are times during the day when they have to come in and "scoop" (if you know what I mean) and maybe to make it easier for everyone, they take the animals into the buildings out back. I think I also read that the grazing they do while out in the savannah makes up only part of their diet and that they are also removed from the savannah for a while every day to be fed.

 

[jenr812]

The back gate of the savannah was open and the animals were filing through the gate areas in groups: all the giraffes, then all the zebras, then the wildebeests, etc. It was like watching Noah's ark being loaded!

This must have been really neat to see

 

[mhelsley]

I also got to see what Lisa discribed and they use whistles with different tones for each animal. I got to see this from my balcony. Now here comes the odd thing i left the balcony door open when in the room and dozed off only to wake up to Elephants sounds. I was very confused as i'd been here twice and never seen Elephants on any savanah so i jumped up quick to look...no Elephants. I called to ask and they told me i wasn't crazy as the AK Elephant barn was locate close to the side my room was on.

 

[epcotfan]

I called to ask and they told me i wasn't crazy as the AK Elephant barn was locate close to the side my room was on.

Can you imagine if there were actually Elephants on the AKL Savannah? Guests would be complaining because of the noise. I think they chose the animals they did because they get along with one another and are relatively quiet and not destructive.

 

[720L]

Can't remember what Savannah we were in but we saw giraffes almost every morning (8am-ish) for a little while, they didn't stay long. There were always ankole cattle & big birds (I know some were Ostrich's). The kids loved it.

 

[cottontail]

Hi: First of all we love the akl. We spent 4 nights there about 3 years ago.

The best was in the morning around 7 a.m. watching the animal keepers drive in with their pickups filled with food. They would put giraffe food in the trees, groundfeeders food on the ground etc.
Before they could do this the giraffes would all walk over to the back of the pickup truck and try to get to their food, the keepers would play with them, pet them and even hug them, as the other ground feeders would try to come over and get little tidbits of food, wildebeests, zebras, and some kind of antelope. It was amazing, everyday we would have our breakfast on the balcony and watch this. Actually we couldn't wait to get back from the parks to see what was happening.

I think the animals go back to their barns in the afternoon to give the grounds crew a chance to clean up the doo doo so it will remain odour free. I have seen them all marching back around 3 to 4 usually. It is kinda of funny to see these animals marching in a line one after the other.

Another funny story, we saw the groundscrew actually put in new plantings one afternoon, it looked like an area about 15 feet by 15 feet of new long grasses, plus other smaller areas.
When they were finished the animals came marching back. Most of the animals looked at it but kept on going, but these ankelole cattle with 3 foot long horns who normally just laid around and seemed to be couch potatoes, went to the grasses, and actually looked like they were angry starting jumping in it and attacking it with their large horns, what a sight. They actually ripped most of it out of the ground.

My 20 year old daughter was glued to the balcony every minute that we were in the room like she was watching a show. Get a savannah view, check out the savannahs for which animals you would like to see and make a request, and see what happens. These are memories you will never forget. You will not be sorry.

Deb.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Another "Deb" totally agreeing with Cottontail's story! We had a horrible time pulling ourselves away from the "show"!
The animals get vet checked during their brief barn visit, also. Since they don't go in at night like the animals at AK, they need to be checked during the day.

 

[LisaS]

I also got to see what Lisa discribed and they use whistles with different tones for each animal. I got to see this from my balcony. Now here comes the odd thing i left the balcony door open when in the room and dozed off only to wake up to Elephants sounds. I was very confused as i'd been here twice and never seen Elephants on any savanah so i jumped up quick to look...no Elephants. I called to ask and they told me i wasn't crazy as the AK Elephant barn was locate close to the side my room was on.

Wow! Hearing elephants would definitely add to the atmosphere at AKL! In what part of the hotel was your room?

After we returned from our trip, I heard (on the Travel Channel maybe?) that the keepers at AK train each group of animals to respond to a unique sound, so it makes sense that they use the same technique at AKL. Very clever and it makes for a great display when they are filing through the gate area.

Since animals seem to like a fixed routine, I imagine each savannah is emptied at the same time each day. When I saw this, it seemed that all of the animals were already congregating at the back of this particular savannah even before the gate was opened for them. So, if you're spending a day at AKL and there are no animals visible in your savannah, check the back of the savannah to see if they are hanging out back there. Also, they probably empty one savannah at a time (so that all the animals don't disappear at the same time) so if your savannah is empty, check out the viewing areas for other savannahs.

I think my dream job would be to work at AKL in some capacity. Heck, I might even be willing to work as a "scooper" provided they continue with their "no elephant" policy!