How important is the Savanna view at AKL?

[Macysmom32]

Hi, I am new to the DIS boards but certainly not new to WDW. I am planning my 10th trip there in Feb '08 and have always stayed on property, and have never repeated a property!! I will be travelling with my Mom and my beautiful 3 year old little girl (her 3rd time to the World!! - once at POP and once at the Dolphin) and am really interested in the AKL. How important is that Savanna view. The price really skyrockets for that, and I would love to splurge and enjoy it - but do you AKL fans out there think that the money would be put to better use elsewhere? Is it essential for the AKL experience or not? Thanks!!!

 

[DznyDreamz]

Just my opinion, but the savannah view is the way to go at AKL. Granted I haven't stayed in another room category, but there was something so incredible to sit on the balcony at any time of the day and watch the animals go about their day. We got our breakfast boxed up to go each morning and ate on our patio. If you can swing it, I would absolutely say go for it!! It will be great wherever you say, but the savannah is incredible!!

 

[LegoJediMom]

We stayed at AKL with a savannah view and it was an amazing experience! My son and I would get up and go out on the balcony to watch the giraffe, zebra and wildebeest in the morning. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it if you are an animal lover. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Have a great time!
Lara

 

[Lauralei]

My son is going on his 9th trip this Feb. (he will be 8). We've went at least once a year since he was born. I'm a DVC Member and will be staying at Animal Kingdom Villas. 4 years ago we stayed at AKL. We had a deluxe savannah view room and it was worth every penny. We are also getting a savannah view our next trip. There is really something special about sitting on your balcony and seeing the animals. This is a really great resort. I think (and I know my husband likes it extremely) having the savanah view is the most important thing about staying there. If you weren't getting the savanah view I feel you should stay somewhere else and just visit.

 

[LoriZH]

Although I've never stayed there, I would imagine it would be worth it, kind of like a MK View vs. a garden view. I don't think that the other rooms would be horrible or a bad choice, I just think that the SV would be fabulous, so much so we are looking into AKV's!

BTW, has anyone never seen any animals during their stay?

 

[Macysmom32]

for your quick replies. No need to twist my arm anymore - I am going Savannah!!! YAY!! LIFE TAKES VISA - my main motto. (as does Disney - HAHA). Is there any specific area that is more preferrable than another - I am not a HUGE room requester, it is just too stressful to me to micromanage that much, but I really don't know much about the AKL, except that there are 4 main areas, correct. Any one in particular stand out? THanks again!!!

 

[Frankiesmom]

Our very 1st trip to WDW we stayed savannah view at AKL and it was so amazing sitting outside having breakfast watching the animals! On our last trip to WDW we stayed at AKL again and this time we took a bunkbed poolview room-it wasn't the same! The animals make up such a huge part of the resorts theming that I was really dissapointed! So if you can stay savannah view;it really makes the trip so much more special;and my DS was almost 3 our very 1st trip and he loves to look at the pictures of him sitting on the balcony watching out for the animals.

 

[A_NY_Outlaw]

We stayed in a savannah room and when we would come home late from the parks, the giraffe would be sleeping outside our balcony. In the morning, the other animals would be walking back and forth.....it was definately a good experience being able to have your morning coffee and read the paper on the balcony watching these animals stroll by.

Be prepared to pay top $$$ though.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

I don't think you could stay here and not see animals since there are so many viewing areas. I guess you could stay in a standard view, avoid the pool area, and go straight to the parks via the busses while also avoiding going to breakfast (the animals are also near the pool across from the restaurants). So I think someone would really have to try to avoid them in order to miss a glimpse entirely.

To the OP--we love the SV but we have stayed in pool view quite a few times and have loved it, too. There isn't a shortage of resort viewing areas and when we've been unable to splurge on the savannah or if that category was sold out, we still enjoyed our pool view stays tremendously. I have never tried standard view, but concierge was also lovely--it included a great SV. However, IMHO, I thought concierge wasn't worth the money with Boma, Jiko and the Mara right downstairs with wonderful food on-hand.

Although I've never stayed there, I would imagine it would be worth it, kind of like a MK View vs. a garden view. I don't think that the other rooms would be horrible or a bad choice, I just think that the SV would be fabulous, so much so we are looking into AKV's!

BTW, has anyone never seen any animals during their stay?

 

[shellybaxter]

I won't stay at AKL in anything other than Savannah view. I had a standard room once and it really felt like a second class room to me. We love the Savannah view and will gladly stay in one at the AKL

 

[pilferk]

Hi, I am new to the DIS boards but certainly not new to WDW. I am planning my 10th trip there in Feb '08 and have always stayed on property, and have never repeated a property!! I will be travelling with my Mom and my beautiful 3 year old little girl (her 3rd time to the World!! - once at POP and once at the Dolphin) and am really interested in the AKL. How important is that Savanna view. The price really skyrockets for that, and I would love to splurge and enjoy it - but do you AKL fans out there think that the money would be put to better use elsewhere? Is it essential for the AKL experience or not? Thanks!!!

I'd say it's certainly preferable (and worth the extra $$$) but not strictly necessary.

There are SO many different animal viewing areas, around the resort, that there's ample opportunity to see them even if you DON'T have a savanna view. The only view I'd stay away from is standard (ie: mostly parking lot view). There IS something sort of "magical" about having your morning coffee with the giraffes and zebras, but only you can decide if that's worth the extra $$$. I think it is.....

 

[pwrflpills]

Wow, I didn't think I'd be the only negative post on here.

I had a SV room in Dec. '05 and was really underwhelmed. The only animals we saw were 2 giraffes for the 10 minutes or so when they were led to our area to eat. Beyond that there was a loud crane or stork outside our room late at night with a few cattle-like animals standing around a watering hole, but in the dark. They never returned during the day. Also, there was a large fenced-off concrete area below our room, so even if something was in the "area" it couldn't get anywhere near our balcony. I suppose it was bad luck, but it was one of lots of rooms in this area. The hotel was nice, the room pretty nice, but I wouldn't go back. Needless to say I wasn't too happy about ponying up the extra coin for almost nothing.

There is the large general viewing area, which saved the stay somewhat.

 

[pilferk]

Wow, I didn't think I'd be the only negative post on here.

I had a SV room in Dec. '05 and was really underwhelmed. The only animals we saw were 2 giraffes for the 10 minutes or so when they were led to our area to eat. Beyond that there was a loud crane or stork outside our room late at night with a few cattle-like animals standing around a watering hole, but in the dark. They never returned during the day. Also, there was a large fenced-off concrete area below our room, so even if something was in the "area" it couldn't get anywhere near our balcony. I suppose it was bad luck, but it was one of lots of rooms in this area. The hotel was nice, the room pretty nice, but I wouldn't go back. Needless to say I wasn't too happy about ponying up the extra coin for almost nothing.

There is the large general viewing area, which saved the stay somewhat.

Sounds like you got one of the "people pen" view rooms. Did the enclosure you're talking about looks something like this:

(pic courtesy of poster mom2aredhed via the Jambo AKL thread)

If so, that's been a major complaint of lodge guests since those rooms were switched from standard view (which is what they started as) to savanna view (which they really are NOT). Many guest who've been assigned those rooms have complained and been successfully moved to a "better" savanna view room. If you're very unlucky enough to have that happen to you, again, I'd suggest a call to the front desk expressing your displeasure.

 

[Got Quattro?]

If it's your first time staying there....yes...it is worth it....however....it gets old real quick.

There 1st evening and morning...it was neat. But buy the 3rd morning, it became the running joke...."hey look, theres a giraffe"

We didnt care for AKL as a hotel beyond the inital WOW factor. It's get "been there done that" real fast.

For this reason we wont go back, but, we are glad we did one time.

I would recomend a 3 night stay at AKL, and the jump to another resort.

 

[raven69david]

To see the look on your 3 year olds face when she wakes up in the morning to see the animals is absolutely PRICELESS. Our first stay at AKL in 2006 with DD2 provided a turning point in our future visits to WDW. We now stay exclusively at AKL until DD is older and chooses a different resort, if any.

Our 2 visits have yielded us a free upgrade to Savannah room view from our Standard room view. This was done by simply asking at the desk "are there any free upgrades to Savannah view today?" I got it and now we're AKL lifers.

Even without the free upgrades, i would go to the Savannah room view until DD is older and then a standard room would be fine as we could always go outside or view the animals inside the resort at any of the viewing areas within the hotel.

 

[CarolA]

This is the ONLY resort I will pay for a view at. If I can't afford the Savannah View I stay someplace else.

IMHO the "free upgrades" are going to get harder to get. Disney took a good number of rooms out of service and "sold" them to DVC. That means there are fewer rooms to fill and therefore "fewer" to upgrade to. I think Disney did this because they weren't getting the amounts they wanted per room there.

IMHO this is the only deluxe at all worth paying Disney prices for.......

 

[pwrflpills]

Sounds like you got one of the "people pen" view rooms. Did the enclosure you're talking about looks something like this:

(pic courtesy of poster mom2aredhed via the Jambo AKL thread)

If so, that's been a major complaint of lodge guests since those rooms were switched from standard view (which is what they started as) to savanna view (which they really are NOT). Many guest who've been assigned those rooms have complained and been successfully moved to a "better" savanna view room. If you're very unlucky enough to have that happen to you, again, I'd suggest a call to the front desk expressing your displeasure.

Haha! That's exactly where we were. Literally about 2-3 rooms to the left from where this picture was taken. Seeing those 2 giraffes for 10 minutes was
about the extent of the viewing from our room. Not to mention they were 200ft away at that feeding tree.

What's the deal with these areas??!!

 

[pilferk]

Haha! That's exactly where we were. Literally about 2-3 rooms to the left from where this picture was taken. Seeing those 2 giraffes for 10 minutes was
about the extent of the viewing from our room. Not to mention they were 200ft away at that feeding tree.

What's the deal with these areas??!!

The "people pens" are there so that they can evacuate the resort in case of a fire or building emergency. Since they can't have guests traipsing through the savannah in the event of an emergency, that's where the guests NOT close to an exterior exit would be funneled. They REALLY are pens to hold the people in.