Is there anyone who does NOT like AKL?

[Terry S]

We did a short trip there last May and I was really glad it was a short trip. The only part I liked about the resort was sitting on the balcony and watching the animals. I will give it that much, the animals make it a really good experience that I am glad I did once, but never again! The decor and lighting are just too dark and gloomy for me. My mom was with us on that trip, we had stayed at the BC on our previous trip with my mom and she kept saying "I miss the Beach Club" the whole trip.

Good news is that there are many options at WDW for different tastes and opinions.

 

[kerrynic78]

Well count my family as people who LOVE the AKL!! Our last stay was split between AKL and WL and in our opinion AKL won hands down. The AKL was just amazing compared to the experience we had at WL, it is our hotel of choice by far! That is the best thing about Disney, so many choices and options for everyone.

 

[kimmar067]

...would you consider a split stay?? We tried that for the first time last year, and it really worked out nicely for us. We ate dinner at Boma for our first night at WDW (stayed at CBR) and loved it so much, that we made dinner ressies for another night! If it's more a "Disney feel" you want, then don't stay here. If you are looking for authenticity, then, by all means, this African theme is for you!! You will ABSOLUTELY feel like you are on another continent!! My DH and I definitely want to try AKL in the future.....

 

[minnie56]

I had no inclination at all to stay there but because of a good rate did this past December and absolutely fell in love with this resort!!!!

I have booked there again this coming August and can't wait. It's got a great feeling of being a 'bit away from it all' and yet it still has Disney all over it!!

 

[bru_ellman]

We're on the "not-too-keen-on" list for all the reasons already cited by Demosthenes.

We first visited AKL last Setember for dinner at BOMA and were very impressed. We made reservations for October (My birthday) and December (Our now annual holidays trip) and after our October stay wound up cancelling our December reservations (we wound up staying off-property at the Wyndham Palace).

We actually prefer CBR which to us has much more of a "resort" feel, though we'll probably try one of the other Epcot resorts for this year's holiday trip.

You know, to each his own.

Bruce

 

[Tigger Woods]

I don't care for the smallish rooms at AKL. I believe a standard room is approx. 335 sq. ft. By the way, I thought this subject line was 'Is there anyone who does NOT like AKL'? Half the people posting here are raving how great it is. That's hardly proper board ettiquette. (LOL)

 

[sherry8253]

Hi - We have stayed at all of the Disney resorts except for the AllStars. The WL was my favorite until I stayed at the AKL last December. I fell in love with the AKL resort. I love the smell, the architecture, the breakfast buffet at Boma (wish I had a nice tall glass of frunch right now along with one of those made to order omlettes), waking up to a giraffe outside my room, the friendly CM's. It is like a double vacation all in one - the parks and peace and laid back atmosphere of the resort. My DH did not think that he would like the AKL and agreed to stay there because he knew that I wanted to try it. He is now an AKL convert too. But there is one thing that I do not like about the AKL - the choice of restaurants for dinner. You cannot get a plain old fashioned meal like a strip steak. It poured several days we were there and we axed our plans for epcot dinners several nights and ate at the hotel. We very quickly grew tired of our food choices for dinner at Boma & Mara. My DH looked at Jiko's menu and said no thanks. We finally begged room service to make us an omlette one evening because we were tired of the spices in the foods. They were very pleasant and we had two excellent omlettes.

 

[franw]

Seems like there is something at Disney for everyone. I guess that is why you get such strong feelings pro and con when it comes to the AKL. We were booted from the CBR for renovation last year and ended up at the AKL for a week of our two week trip. I am someone who likes sunny and tropical and lots of places to walk around. I found the AKL very dark and cold (literally, I think the lobby and halls were at about 65 degrees). No place to walk except around pool area which didn't quite cut it. Our room was sooo dark. I did enjoy seeing the animals but after a couple of days even that was lost on us. We moved to the Poly for the second week and thought we had died and gone to heaven. I couldn't get anyone to leave the resort for a day they were so in love with the setting and the rooms. Like I said, there is something for everyone. People at the AKL were simply raving about the place. I'll admit the AKL is beautifully themed but we will not stay there again. I'd take the CBR over it any day and and as far as luxury resorts I'd stay at the Poly or the BWI first.

 

[erikthewise]

I haven't made up my mind about AKL yet. We stayed there for three days last Dec. We had torrential rains during our stay, and we didn't use the pool or eat in the restaurants, so I feel like we didn't give it a fair chance. We may go back sometime.

With two young boys who need a lot of room, room size is an issue, and it was tough moving to AKL after being spoiled by BCV.

If you think *your* room was dark, you need to try it during a very dark & rainy December day with one light bulb burned out!

If you don't want to stay there after watching the Travel Channel special, by all means stay away. Samantha makes the case for AKL about as well as it can be made.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I haven't stayed there, DH and I were debating but decided against it. When we got to WDW and visited it, we were glad we didn't stay there.

It seems so far away from everything. And I think its the only deluxe that relies on just bus transportation. For us, good transportation was the deciding factor to stay onsite, and we felt that if we were just going to have buses (plus smallish rooms) we might as well stay at a moderate. We are the type that are in the parks from open til close, and spent very little time at our resort.

I say visit it, have dinner there, but stay someplace else.

 

[KarenMick]

My family and I are staying at AKL May 8th-14th. And to tell you the truth, we will probably only be in the hotel room to sleep and to get ready in the morning. We always rent a car so that we have unlimited options on where to eat and what to do in the evening. I've read on this board that being at AKL is like a vacation within a vacation and I am certainly looking forward to that. Besides where in the USA can you stay at an "African" hotel and see wild animals outside your hotel window. Lighten up everyone!!!

 

[chrissyk]

We've stayed there twice, but it's on our "never again" list now. We like the decor and the pool, but we didn't like the paper-thin walls. That place needs some soundproofing! We were awakened all throughout the night by turbo-toilets flushing and we could hear people doing their business too! BLECH!! This is so not what I want to listen to when I'm on a romantic vacation with my DH, LOL!

 

[jojomg]

We stayed at akl last summer and I didn't feel that disney feeling. I can't say what it was but the rooms were smaller than the wilerness lodge and we had the savanah view and once in a while we saw some giraffes and some antelope , and thats about it also I didn't like the color of the pool it was suppose to look like a sand bottom but it looked like a mud pool and just looked dirty.

 

[JOC]

Originally posted by erikthewise:

If you don't want to stay there after watching the Travel Channel special, by all means stay away. Samantha makes the case for AKL about as well as it can be made.

Samantha had nothing to complain about...she was staying in a suite at AKL!!!

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by KarenMick
My family and I are staying at AKL May 8th-14th. And to tell you the truth, we will probably only be in the hotel room to sleep and to get ready in the morning. We always rent a car so that we have unlimited options on where to eat and what to do in the evening. I've read on this board that being at AKL is like a vacation within a vacation and I am certainly looking forward to that. Besides where in the USA can you stay at an "African" hotel and see wild animals outside your hotel window. Lighten up everyone!!!

I don't think anyone needs to lighten up. We are all expressing our opinions on whether we like a resort or not. I do not like the african theme. I kind of hate it to tell you the truth. Dreary colors and pretty depressing. Some like this stuff however I don't. We drive down so we always bring our car but it sits in the parking lot from the day of check in to check out. I like having the monorail and boat to rely on and not just the busses as AKL does. One of the reasons why AKL has the best deals is because it has less to offer then the other deluxe resorts, only uses bus service, and the rooms are small. I love the Poly and I'm sure there are people here that absolutely hate the place but that is fine with me. Leaves more room at the pool!

 

[sherry8253]

Hi Erikthewise... I bet we were there the same week last Dec. It rained and rained and rained some more. I felt sorry for the animals standing out in the pouring rain. We always go during the same time period in December and the weather was never that bad. Hopfully it will be better in Dec this year.