First time at AKL, what do we need to know?

[nikkers]

I am looking for some info about AKL. We just booked a package at AKL, in a Savanna view room. This is our first time staying at the resort. Actually, this is our children's first trip to Disney DS (5), DD (2 1/2). I am hoping to get some great tips about the resort. Should we make any special requests for our room when we check in? Request a specific floor or view? Are there any amenities at the resort that you always take advantage of? Any info is appreciated. Thanks for all of your help!!

 

[720L]

Your family will LOVE AKL! My kids (dd9 and ds7) love the pool, it has a big curvy water slide for them that isn't fast or scary. There is storytelling around the firepit, musical parade in the gift shop, activities where you learn about animals and earn a free souvenier necklace. Be sure to walk on all the viewing area paths, there are CMs there that answer questions. There is a playground. We love eating at The Mara (the food court)--the kids like watching the tv they have while eating. Since your kids are so young, I would ask to be close to the bus stop so you don't have a long walk to/from your room.

 

[ms_missy66]

The only really important tip I have for the AKL is to keep your stroller with you. We went when our older daughter 13 months old and it only took us once to realize we needed to bring our stroller with us into the resort. Our room was soooooooooo far from the front door. We all appreciated the ability to put her in the stroller on our way to and from the buses or our car!

Oh and one other tip, you cannot have inflated balloons on the property. They are deemed potentially harmful to the animals. We didn't know this and had one tied on to the stroller. When we ended up at the pool with it, we were pounced on by a team of security! LOL We, obviously, gave it up without any protest and they replaced it with a new deflated one upon our checkout. That whole thing could be traumatizing for a kid who loves balloons, though.

Other than that, it was wonderful and I definitely plan to go back! You'll have a great time!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We stayed 5 nights there last month...make sure you take the time and go to the animal viewing areas all around the resort...we saw tons and tons of animals and they get pretty close to the fence, great for picture taking

The lobby has some great artifacts and history, we loved reading up on the culture

Boma breakfast is the most wonderful breakfast at WDW

When you arrive they will give you a list of activities at the resort, special pin trading time, music time where the kids parade around the lobby with drums and such, 4pm dining tour of Jiko and Boma and much much more

 

[disnut8]

The lobby and entrance to the resort is on the third floor. If you have a stroller, you might want to request a room on that level so you don't have to deal with stairs or elevators to get to and from the buses or parking lot. If you don't want to have what seems to be 1000 people trooping by your door every morning (as we did), request any other floor but the third.

Good tip on the balloons. They are not allowed on the grounds. The only straws you will find are the wax coated paper ones (unless you bring your own).

There are cameras directed towards the balconies of the rooms to monitor potentially dangerous activity towards the animals. The cameras cannot see very far into the room but be aware they are there.

The lighting in the rooms is muted. I didn't find it all that bad but it is lower than normal.

There is a pond outside of the Mara where coin tossing is encouraged. Save your change and have your kids make a donation to the wildlife fund.

Talk to the Cast Members about the animals. They are very proud to share information. If you want one on one time, go when there are no animals on the savannah. The Cast Members outside will talk your ear off if you want them to.

Just be respective of the animals and you'll have a great time.

 

[tandj]

We found out, after we got home, where the 'real' coffee is...at Boma. The Mara has nescafe. Good tip......in the back of the gift shop are larger quantities of cereal, soda pop etc.

Ask for a room near the lobby/pool, second or third floor, any savannah.

We almost made the mistake of waiting for the buses in the smoking section outside. Go all the way to the end of the sidewalk to the left. Bus waits were minimal and not far from the parks.

We landed at 6:30 and took the "not-magical" express. We ended up arriving at 8:15, and had 8:10 Boma reservations and still had to check in! The magical express was better on the way home....They stop at one other resort too. Coronado Springs on the way there and Pop on the way home.

The hotel was a very quiet hotel to sleep in. We were there late Oct. There were less animals than I thought there would be and farther away than what the pictures show, but still cool to see giraffes and zebras! Have fun!!

 

[Yen Sid]

You are going to have a great time, there is so much to do while you are there. They have guides out on the pathways near the savanah that you can talk to about the animals, the lobby alone can keep you busy for awhile, they have an activity board to let you know about the different things they do during the day for the kids, it is just amazing.

 

[tandj]

We found out, after we got home, where the 'real' coffee is...at Boma. The Mara has nescafe. Good tip......in the back of the gift shop are larger quantities of cereal, soda pop etc.

Ask for a room near the lobby/pool, second or third floor, any savannah.

We almost made the mistake of waiting for the buses in the smoking section outside. Go all the way to the end of the sidewalk to the left. Bus waits were minimal and not far from the parks.

We landed at 6:30 and took the "not-magical" express. We ended up arriving at 8:15, and had 8:10 Boma reservations and still had to check in! The magical express was better on the way home....They stop at one other resort too. Coronado Springs on the way there and Pop on the way home.

The hotel was a very quiet hotel to sleep in. We were there late Oct. There were less animals than I thought there would be and farther away than what the pictures show, but still cool to see giraffes and zebras! Have fun!!

 

[nikkers]

Your family will LOVE AKL! My kids (dd9 and ds7) love the pool, it has a big curvy water slide for them that isn't fast or scary. There is storytelling around the firepit, musical parade in the gift shop, activities where you learn about animals and earn a free souvenier necklace. Be sure to walk on all the viewing area paths, there are CMs there that answer questions. There is a playground. We love eating at The Mara (the food court)--the kids like watching the tv they have while eating. Since your kids are so young, I would ask to be close to the bus stop so you don't have a long walk to/from your room.

Thanks, great idea to ask to be close to the bus stop.

 

[nikkers]

The only really important tip I have for the AKL is to keep your stroller with you. We went when our older daughter 13 months old and it only took us once to realize we needed to bring our stroller with us into the resort. Our room was soooooooooo far from the front door. We all appreciated the ability to put her in the stroller on our way to and from the buses or our car!

Oh and one other tip, you cannot have inflated balloons on the property. They are deemed potentially harmful to the animals. We didn't know this and had one tied on to the stroller. When we ended up at the pool with it, we were pounced on by a team of security! LOL We, obviously, gave it up without any protest and they replaced it with a new deflated one upon our checkout. That whole thing could be traumatizing for a kid who loves balloons, though.

Other than that, it was wonderful and I definitely plan to go back! You'll have a great time!!

Thanks for letting me know about balloons. My DD (2) LOVES balloons.

 

[nikkers]

The lobby and entrance to the resort is on the third floor. If you have a stroller, you might want to request a room on that level so you don't have to deal with stairs or elevators to get to and from the buses or parking lot. If you don't want to have what seems to be 1000 people trooping by your door every morning (as we did), request any other floor but the third.

Good tip on the balloons. They are not allowed on the grounds. The only straws you will find are the wax coated paper ones (unless you bring your own).

There are cameras directed towards the balconies of the rooms to monitor potentially dangerous activity towards the animals. The cameras cannot see very far into the room but be aware they are there.

The lighting in the rooms is muted. I didn't find it all that bad but it is lower than normal.

There is a pond outside of the Mara where coin tossing is encouraged. Save your change and have your kids make a donation to the wildlife fund.

Talk to the Cast Members about the animals. They are very proud to share information. If you want one on one time, go when there are no animals on the savannah. The Cast Members outside will talk your ear off if you want them to.

Just be respective of the animals and you'll have a great time.

Great ideas. I will definately save some coins. My kids love animals. Especially my DD. Also, good to know about the cameras.

 

[nikkers]

We stayed 5 nights there last month...make sure you take the time and go to the animal viewing areas all around the resort...we saw tons and tons of animals and they get pretty close to the fence, great for picture taking

The lobby has some great artifacts and history, we loved reading up on the culture

Boma breakfast is the most wonderful breakfast at WDW

When you arrive they will give you a list of activities at the resort, special pin trading time, music time where the kids parade around the lobby with drums and such, 4pm dining tour of Jiko and Boma and much much more

If you had to make a choice would you pick Boma or Jiko? We have all of our ADR's made, but I am thinking now that we are staying at AKL we need to eat at least one of the restaurants. But which one?

 

[Maggie19]

WE stayed there for the first time last year and out DD loved it! A lot of the floors have glass viewing areas so you can see different vantage points and another great place to see the animals are the roof top decks.
There are great big rocking chairs around the fire pit that are great to relax in at night!
My DD (9) LOVED the Boma buffet! It was the "best food ever!!" she said. They have mac and cheese, chicken fingers and fries for the unadventurous eaters but beware if you don't like cinnamon and nutmeg you may wan to pass on Boma. A lot of there dishes are spiced with them, we loved our meal there however..
Strollers are needed from the bus stop after a long day at the parks.. it is ALL uphill!
My husband was quite bothered by the smoking area (right outside the front door!) Every time we went outside we had to walk thru a cloud of smoke..Eventualy we discovered we can cut thru the giftshop to avoid it.
Have a GREAT time!!

 

[nikkers]

WE stayed there for the first time last year and out DD loved it! A lot of the floors have glass viewing areas so you can see different vantage points and another great place to see the animals are the roof top decks.
There are great big rocking chairs around the fire pit that are great to relax in at night!
My DD (9) LOVED the Boma buffet! It was the "best food ever!!" she said. They have mac and cheese, chicken fingers and fries for the unadventurous eaters but beware if you don't like cinnamon and nutmeg you may wan to pass on Boma. A lot of there dishes are spiced with them, we loved our meal there however..
Strollers are needed from the bus stop after a long day at the parks.. it is ALL uphill!
My husband was quite bothered by the smoking area (right outside the front door!) Every time we went outside we had to walk thru a cloud of smoke..Eventualy we discovered we can cut thru the giftshop to avoid it.
Have a GREAT time!!

Thanks for the tip about cutting through the giftshop. We are non-smokers, and prefer to avoid the smoking areas with our kids. We will definately be checking out the roof top. I think we are going to have to try Boma. Jiko doesn't sound as kid friendly. DS (4) a very unadventurous eater, but DD (2) will eat anything. That is funny you mention cinnamon and nutmeg. Just last night my DS told us at dinner he doesn't like cinnamon. LOL he has no idea what it is.

 

[DrmWvr1299]

nikkers, we will be there at the same time and have same view reserved as you! See ya around

 

[stacikristine]

Thanks everyone for the info! I'm planning on staying at AKV in September (hopefully!) and these tips were so helpful for me too!

 

[TheWog]

How come the lights are turned down? Is that for the animals or the ambience?

 

[nikkers]

You are going to have a great time, there is so much to do while you are there. They have guides out on the pathways near the savanah that you can talk to about the animals, the lobby alone can keep you busy for awhile, they have an activity board to let you know about the different things they do during the day for the kids, it is just amazing.

What activites did your kids enjoy the most?

 

[nikkers]

nikkers, we will be there at the same time and have same view reserved as you! See ya around

Woo hoo! I am even more excited after reading everyone's great tips.

 

[Beavertails Queen]

I love AKL. It is my home resort as a DVC member. The pool area is great. There is a zero entry spot so that the kids can walk into the pool. The flamingos are right near the pool and the other animals come nearby to eat. I love the ambiance in the lobby area. The fireplaces are awesome. I agree with suggestions to go to the lookout and talk to cast members. They have lots to say. I will be eating at Boma for the first time when I go next week. I will make sure to report back on how it was.