Great 7 night stay at AKL!

[dw123]

We stayed at the AKL from Nov 24 - Dec 1 - and loved it!

We had a standard room on the Giraffe trail - which was outstanding. Our room was right by the gift shop and main entrance - which was extremely convenient. Being so close to the lobby was great - and we'd try to do that again. Out view was over Boma - and was actually very nice. We were concerned that not having a Savannah view might be a let down - but after the first day of checking out all the animals from Arusha rock and the other viewing locations, it was fine!

This was our first stay there, and the hotel was beautiful at Christmas. The quick ride to Animal Kingdom was a big plus - we love the park and went there a number of times. I thought the rides to the other parks were fine too. I had been concerned about the time to get to the Magic Kindom, but it worked out well.

There were a number of "stars" that were either visiting or staying in the resort for the Disney Christmas Day Parade taking - which happened while we were there - that we saw, like Helio from Dancing with the Stars and Patti LaBelle - which was neat.

The construction was not noticeable to us at all - only once did I hear any type of noise coming from the new dvc building. We highly recommend the resort!

 

[NJPluto]

Thanks for posting! DD (7) really, really wants to stay here!! We're considering it for our next stay but didn't know what room category to consider. Glad to hear that you don't necessarily have to get the Savannah View. Thanks again!

 

[4 Little Bears]

Thanks for posting your review. We're going to be there in March 2008 and I was starting to worry about our choice of resort. This disney trip is going to be the first one for all the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins...we are so excited we can barely contain ourselves!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I, too, am glad to hear that a standard view room at the AKL still provides a great stay. We've already booked a stay at the WL for next year but were thinking about the AKL for 2009. The only way we can afford either resort is to stay in a standard view room. Glad you had a good time.

 

[DVC Mike]

I'm glad you enjoyed AKL -- we love it! I can't wait to go back in March...

 

[GQ's Ghost]

You didn't miss that much.

The savanah view was nice the first day or 2. But by the 3rd day, it got boring. It became the running joke.

"Hey look, a giraffe"

If we were to stay at AKL again, it would be a water view. But AKL is like #5 on our list of the resorts.

 

[Cinderella1122]

Hey you were our neighbor! We were there the first week of December (starting on nov 30th), also on the Giraffe trail. I'm glad to hear that you had a great trip!

 

[Echo queen]

I am so glad I found this tread. We are planning for Christmas week 2008. This will be our 1st time on site, so what was the bus service like, departing and returning? We have the savannah view booked. We will have a car rental, just wondering if it would be worth while to use the bus. Did you do any of the AKL activities? Thanks I read here I should request Zebra trail?

 

[MommyBuzz909]

You just made me feel so much better about getting a standard room. My feeling about the animals is, IF and when I want to see them, I'll walk outside.... but I'm not going to pay an extra $200-300 a night just to be that much closer to them. No way..... I'd rather spend my money on other things!!!

Thanks for the input! We're staying at AKL mid-July!!

 

[Echo queen]

You just made me feel so much better about getting a standard room. My feeling about the animals is, IF and when I want to see them, I'll walk outside.... but I'm not going to pay an extra $200-300 a night just to be that much closer to them. No way..... I'd rather spend my money on other things!!!

Thanks for the input! We're staying at AKL mid-July!!

Good point, we are never in the room.

 

[Cinderella1122]

You just made me feel so much better about getting a standard room. My feeling about the animals is, IF and when I want to see them, I'll walk outside.... but I'm not going to pay an extra $200-300 a night just to be that much closer to them. No way..... I'd rather spend my money on other things!!!

Thanks for the input! We're staying at AKL mid-July!!

I agree. I had a savanna view my last trip and we spent more time at the overlooks than we did at our own balcony. Next trip we are going pool view.

 

[raven69david]

We've had the pleasure of experiencing 3 room types: standard, pool-view and savannah. We're in the room in the mornings and at night only. While having a savannah view room is nice, it's pricey; especially at rack rate. All of my trips have been with a 30% to 40% discount so we save tons of money on the room. None of my rooms have ever been at rack rate, with my last being $129 a night for 6 nights.

Looking at the animals can be done in the back of the resort or you can view them on the 2nd floor on all trails by using the viewing observatory's they have throughout the entire resort. We stare at the animals in our savannah view room as much as we do throughout the resort on one of these viewing platforms. So for us, it's cheaper to stay in a standard room and still get the most out of the resort by viewing all of the animals in the savannah.