So I was a knucklehead and booked room only at YC. Couldn't modify that to Free Dining and the only thing left was AK Savanna View. Help me love it! How bad are the busses? Why do you love it? Any advice would really be appreciated!
I'm a bit confused. Did you book the AK hotel or the
DVC resort (AKVillas)? If you booked the hotel, you will be in Jambo House. My preference would be a low floor facing Arusha but rooms facing Arusha might be a separate booking category, I can't remember. A low floor facing Sunset would be good too.
If you booked AKV, did you book Jambo House or Kidani Village? If Jambo, you will be on the 5th floor. (All of the DVC rooms in Jambo House are on the 5th and 6th floors, with the 6th floor being Club Level.) I would request Arusha (first choice) or Sunset. If you booked Kidani Village, I would request Sunset Savanna, Low Floor, in that order. As KAT mentioned, a room facing Sunset is preferable to those that face Pembe because Pembe does not have giraffes or zebras. It does have other interesting animals (okapi, red river hogs) but I really enjoy the giraffes and zebras so I always make Sunset Savanna my first request when I book Kidani Village. I prefer a low floor to be closer to the animals.
Whether you booked the hotel or the DVC resort, you have access to the same facilities at the resort. With a Savanna View room, it can feel as if you've been transported somewhere else. The sights and sounds of drums and African music create a wonderful atmosphere. And in case you are concerned, there is no smell coming from the animals! The CMs do an excellent job of keeping the savannas clean. No smells, no flies.
We stayed at the AK hotel on our first trip to WDW. The AKV DVC resort did not exist at that time. I found it hard to leave the room to go to the parks because it was such a unique experience seeing giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, ankole cattle, ostriches and many other animals and birds roaming the grounds right outside my balcony. I still feel that way after many stays there. DH and I enjoy sitting out on our balcony at night with a glass of wine, looking around the savanna (it's lit up at night, moonlight bright) to see who is wandering around or snoozing near our balcony. Many of the animals are pretty active during the late evening and the CMs are still restocking food supplies, even up to 10:30 PM or so.
Bill
Then go check out animals with night vision goggles outside. The pools are wonderful with a great splash pad/play area for small kids and a great water slide. Avatar Land is opening soon and you'll be close to the action! Bus service is actually better there than our recent stay at BCV (and my view of giraffes from my balcony was far better than my woods view at BCV). The only downside (in my opinion) is that you have to bus everywhere, but if this bothers you overly, Uber is pretty darn reasonable. (We have friends that Uber most places at Disney now because it's just faster and not terribly expensive- way cheaper than the VIP transportation pass). I really like the theming and colors of AKV and the food is pretty darn fabulous there. Location may be better at other places but theme is pretty hard to beat there! I'm sure you'll have a great time!!
