is AKL worth the money?

KYCruiseCrazy

<font color=blue>I'll be drooling and dreaming<br>
Joined
May 22, 2003
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ok im planning a 7 night stay in oct 06 at akl with savanna view room. me DW and DD9 are going. will DD love the pool and will we love the resort? we like to stay at value resorts but want to get away from the teen crowd at the value resorts. are the resturants ok or great. is the service worth it? thanks for all your information and pictures if you have them
also which is the best rooms with views. and which rooms if you know are the smoking rooms thanks
 
I stayed at AKL in 2001 and to this day remains to be MY FAVORITE HOTEL. While I was there (10 day stay) I felt like I was not anywhere I had ever been before. The atmosphere is amazing and of course gazing out into the savanna was great. I love the pool. It was great to be in and also to lounge around outside. AKL is amazing. I absolutely suggest staying there. The Mara (cafeteria) is great. Perfect for a quick pizza or chicken fingers to eat by the pool. The Boma is great too! Nice atmosphere and good food. Jiko, a little less desierable and pricey but still great all the same. I hope you do decide to go to AKL, it is an experience you will never forget! You get all the perks of a Disney experience PLUS even more! Hope this helps!

pirate: " yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me"
 
We absolutely love AKL, as do our kids. They love the pool, the atmosphere, meeting people from all over the world working there...plus of course the animals. We thought the restaurants were great, especially Boma. As far as service, as much as I love the hotel, the front desk service we've gotten can be a little disnant. Not bad, very efficient, just not gushingly friendly. Having said that, the rest of the resort more than makes up for it.

We loved the rooms too, especially the changing area with sinks (2) outside of the toilet/Shower area. Makes for getting ready in the morning much easier.

Best views? Everyone has their preference, but we like overlooking the Arusha Savannah. Don't know about the smoking thing as we don't smoke.

We also loved the dedicated bus service to/from the resort to the parks. No stopping at a bunch of different places and the busses were much less crowded.


Go for it, you won't regret it!
 

Yes it is definitely worth it! We have stayed savannah and standard and loved it both times. This is definitely the place to go to "get away" from things. This resort is ALOT more relaxed and peaceful compared to the values (where we usually stay also). We have never ate at the restaurants (kids too small to enjoy them), but they smell awesome. The Mara (food court) is as good as the All Stars and Pop, and it's less busy-and smaller. At first I didn't like it but it grew on me. The pool is beautiful and your DD will love the water slide. We were just there savannah view in April and waking up to the animals outside your room was awesome-priceless. The kids love it. And don't miss storytime around the fire pit. You should also check out the AK Lodge thread-lots of good info on there.
 
AKL is my favorite Disney resort. Definitely worth every penny! The animals outside your room, the decor, the pool, the food, even the smell in the lobby is awesome! I love the fact that AKL seems so away from it all. DH and I thought staying there almost made our trip like two seperate vacations - the hustle and bustle of the parks and then the relaxation of the resort. Mara is pretty good and Boma is fabulous! I also had a aromatherapy body wrap and massage at the health club spa - really nice.

Enjoy!
 
Is AKL worth the money? Yes. But it can be a bit pricey. It is our favorite resort, and it's the only resort in which we actually participate in the activities. We usually split our stay between All Stars and AKL, so the impact on our credit card isn't as great. All Stars is fine for us, because all we really need is a place to put our stuff and a place to sleep. Most days, we're out the door to the parks in the morning, and we don't come back until late. But when we stay at AKL, we like to spend some time there, and it is a much more relaxing couple of days. Boma and Jiko are two of our favorite restaurants, and whether we're staying at AKL or not, we always plan at least one meal in either of these restaurants.

Here are a couple of links to photos:

view from room 2517
view from room 2311
more resort photos

I will have some more photos here within a day or two. I lost my DSL connection last night when I was uploading files, and it looks like many of them didn't make it.


Hope this helps!
 
YES!!!!! :cheer2: :bounce: :banana:
I LOVE AKL! I stayed there for 4 days last year near for Turkey day( and they werent even that crowded) ( I got a great rate, otherwise I just cant afford it). My son loved the pool, I loved the hot tub. We both loved the views, no matter where your room is,the room was on the third floor, not close to the lobby, and our view was of the holding pin and 3 animals,not in the holding pin, BUT we saw the same few every day and I think we bonded LOL :) We could have moved our room, but I was just happy to be there.
Seriously, if you can afford AKL go for it. Once you walk into the lobby, you will gasp at the whole design and beauty of it. There are alot of kiddy activites there, the whole resort is awsome. Everyone was so friendly. You'll be glad you booked it. Oh and you have to eat at Boma for bfast and Dinner!!! Excellent!
I forgot to mention, when we were walking around the pool, three little duckies decided to go for a swim. No one was in the pool yet. We thought it was funny.
 
We just returned from 2 nights Savannah view at AKL. We got a great rate ($169/night) and simply couldn't pass it up!

The rooms are very nice, although smaller than we thought they would be. The bathrooms have very little light (I swear they use night light bulbs in there). Since there are 3 savannah's, it seems like you walk forever to get to your room, request something closer to the lobby maybe.

The pool. Where to begin. Within 10 minutes of arriving, picking out some chairs and getting in, the pool was closed for an "unscheduled cleaning". Now some of you may not know what an unscheduled cleaning is...neither did we. Think Caddyshack. Think Baby Ruth. What is wrong with people?!? The pool was shut down for about the next 3 hours.

The pool area is extremely crowded. They don't have enough chairs or spots to put them. After the Caddyshack incident, we weren't too fond of it anyway.

It was our 1st time staying there and we're glad we did, but just not sure we would do it again. People have said that after a few days, the novelty of waking up with a giraffe outside your window wears off, and they were kind of right. Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice resort, but for us it was like, been there done that.
 
thank you everyone for all the great information. we can afford it. we love all of the pictures. and will try to get a room close to the lobby. hmmmmm it's a Baby Ruth LOL we love all of the pictures tooo.
 
Animal Kingdom is the best themed resort in all of WDW. It's incredible and I would (and do) stay there without hesitation! It's my favorite resort and has my favorite restaurant-- Boma.

Go for it!
:sunny:
 
We were at AKL the first week of May and LOVED IT! It was great! Excellent mousekeepers, bus service and atmosphere! If it wasn't for the fact that we vow to stay at a different hotel each trip, I'd stay there again! :flower:
 
I have stayed there twice and it is my absolute favorite WDW resort. :banana:
 
My AKL must-do: buying a glass of South African wine at Victoria Falls and sipping it in front of the enormous fireplace in the lobby with my sweetie (or my mom!)
 
Twooldpoohs>> Your pictures are amazing! Thank you for sharing!

To the OP>> I have been to AKL four times, three times concierge and it is by far my favorite resort on property! Everything everyone else said.. and double it! To be there is an experience in itself. AKL is like a vacation within a vacation! I can't wait to be back this July for AKL part five!
 
Just returned from our third stay at AKL, it is well worth it. Make sure you check out both the Jiko (excellent place for the special night out) and Boma (great food for either breakfast or dinner). Boma is the only Disney place that we make multple PS.
 
Totally echoing everyone's thoughts here. AKL is an experience in itself --a truly relaxing and sensory experience. It's my favorite resort.
 
We stayed there in Apr. We were bumped up to a pool view(AP rates) room 3016. It was great. Right off the lobby, the elevator is to the left and there was a door out to the bus stop.Quick trip tp the pool. We enjoy walking around to see the animals so the lack of savannah view was not a problem.Dont miss the story telling around the fire pit.
 














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